Betty Comden News

Single and group tickets for all ten of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's spectacular Silver Anniversary Season shows, including encores of the smash hits Peter Pan the Musical, Bear Country and Menopause the Musical, will go on sale Monday, July 19.

Theatre A La Carte Presents ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY July 16 through 25.

Single and group tickets for all ten of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's spectacular Silver Anniversary Season shows, including encores of the smash hits Peter Pan the Musical, Bear Country and Menopause the Musical, will go on sale Monday, July 19.

Aurora Theatre continues to lead the way in Gwinnett County entertainment. As such, they have planned a year-long celebration to commemorate their 15th Anniversary Season.

London Revival of 1950s CLASSIC MUSICAL BELLS ARE RINGING to open at the Union Theatre. Directed by Paul Foster, Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Music by Jule Styne Starring Anna-Jane Casey

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

Westchester Broadway Theatre ss Proud To Present The Family Theatre Production of PETER PAN from July 8 - August 15, 2010. The show will have music by Mark Charlap and Jule Styne, Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green, Directed by George Puello, Produced by John Fanelli and Starring Christine DiTota as Peter Pan

WESTCHESTER BROADWAY THEATRE is Proud To Present The Family Theatre Production of PETER PAN from July 8 - August 15, 2010.

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

As part of their upcoming productions of Leonard Bernstein's madcap musical On The Town and his mid-career masterpiece Candide, The 5th Avenue Theatre announced that they will be sponsoring a series of Show Talks during the runs of both shows, focusing on the life, music and influence of the conductor, composer and 20th-century Renaissance man.

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

Theatre World Awards for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut performances during the 2009-2010 theatrical season will be presented by former Theatre World Award winners. Past award recipients expected to present (or perform) at this year's ceremony include: Kate Burton (Winners, 1983), Michael Cristofer (The Cherry Orchard, 1977), Viola Davis (Seven Guitars, 1996), Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening, 2007), Robert LuPone (A Chorus Line, 1976 Special Award), Alli Mauzey (Cry-Baby, 2008), Michael McKean (Accomplice, 1990), Brian Stokes Mitchell, (Mail, 1988), Alfred Molina (Molly Sweeney, 1996) Loretta Ables Sayre (South Pacific, 2008), John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, 2004), and Vanessa Williams (Kiss of the Spider Woman, 1995). The award-winning composer, arranger, and pianist Alex Rybeck will serve as musical director for the event.

Composer/pianist/singer/actor/bandleader Hoagy Carmichael wrote four of the most-recorded American songs of all time: 'Stardust,' 'Georgia on My Mind,' 'The Nearness of You,' and 'Heart and Soul.'

Composer/pianist/singer/actor/bandleader Hoagy Carmichael wrote four of the most-recorded American songs of all time: 'Stardust,' 'Georgia on My Mind,' 'The Nearness of You,' and 'Heart and Soul.'

The Gretna Theatre has announced their 2010 summer season. Productions will include Nunsense starring Sally Struthers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Will Rogers Follies, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan, Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, and Mame. The season will begin with Nunsense, opening June 3rd.

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1971 Tony Awards in the title song from that year's Best Musical. The song is performed by the chorus members of the ALL ABOUT EVE musical, the Lauren Bacall-led APPLAUSE. This clip features a twenty-six-year-old Bonnie Franklin leading one of two featured numbers (and she was nominated for Best Featured Actress - losing out to Melba Moore for PURLIE) who would later find fame on the hit 80s sitcom ONE DAY AT A TIME… APPLAUSE had all the makings of a truly great musical: a score by then-white-hot songwriting team Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, a book by legends Betty Comden and Adolf Green, and a leading lady the likes of whom simply don't exist anymore in Lauren Ball. Stars like her don't shine, they radiate. They just ARE, and Bacall was (and still is). Don't let the fact that she can't really sing fool you: she could put over a number as well as Merman, Callas or Lotte Lenya, for that matter. So here, with a nod to the currently-running shows of that time - among them CABARET, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, HELLO,DOLLY, MAME - and many others in a fun parody sequence that is not a part of the original cast album for what we would assume would be questionable copyright issues given the uncanny homage. Also, viewer beware that there is some slight nudity in the form of some bare backsides at one point in the clip, but surely something broadcast on national television nearly forty years ago could not be held accountable for too much prurience. It's a bit of a desperate ploy in a bit of a desperate song from an even more desperate show. It just screams "Like me!" but one may find it hard to fully embrace the at-times pure camp and over-the-top elements on display in an entirely serious way. Take it for what it is: frivolous fun. Whatever the case with APPLAUSE, it truly seems they threw everything and the kitchen sink into this number - with interesting, if not entirely successful, results. Be sure to stay tuned past the seven minute mark for a quite unexpected surprise. Speaking of which: Bonnie Franklin sure could tap, but her other talents are seemingly a bit less pleasurable from an audience member's point of view judging by this clip. See if you don't agree. The over-the-top camp and hokey allure of this clip justify this as the sole, perhaps, for-diehards-only entry in our Top Ten Tony Moments countdown. After all, a little frothy fun never hurt anybody. 'Til tomorrow…