Betty Comden News

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…

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.'

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.

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 Is Proud To Present The Family Theatre Production of PETER PAN runs July 8 - August 15, 2010. The show features Music by Mark Charlap and Jule Styne, Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green, Directed by George Puello, is Produced by John Fanelli, with Musical Direction by Michelle DeAngelis, Choreography by: David Arzberger and Starring Christine DiTota as Peter Pan

92nd Street Y has announced the 2011 line-up for Lyrics & LyricistsTM, its celebrated American Songbook series. Deborah Grace Winer will return for her third season as artistic director of the series. Guest artistic directors of the season's individual concerts will be John Pizzarelli, Jessica Molaskey, David Loud, Ted Chapin, and Amanda Green; Winer will create one of the season's shows as well.

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

Marcia Milgrom Dodge, whose critically acclaimed production of 'Ragtime' transferred from the Kennedy Center to Broadway last fall and is nominated for six Helen Hayes Awards, will direct and choreograph the Reprise Theatre Company production of the 1962 Pulitzer Prize winner 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.' The production will end its run May 23rd.

Masterworks Broadway showcases an unparalleled collection of historical recording session and production photos culled from over 60 years of the Columbia Records and RCA Victor archives. Painstakingly researched and catalogued, these rarely seen images convey the story of the cast recording in a way no other anthology has done before.

Feinstein's at Loews Regency will continue its star-studded Winter/Spring 2010 season with the New York city debut of Hollywood legend Mitzi Gaynor in a limited engagement from May 18 - 22.

Three world premiere productions with settings in Montgomery, Alabama from the 1860s to the 1960s will be among the highlights of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's 25th Anniversary season. The ten-show lineup will also include three encores of ASF's biggest-selling hits ever, as well as a Shakespearian comedy and tragedy-and Tigger, too.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed 'Best of New York' by New York Magazine, and 'an invaluable New York institution' by The New York Post, will continue its star-studded Winter/Spring 2010 season with the New York city debut of Hollywood legend MITZI GAYNOR in a limited engagement from May 18 - 20.

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

Feinstein's at Loews Regency will continue its star-studded Winter/Spring 2010 season with the New York city debut of Hollywood legend Mitzi Gaynor in a limited engagement from May 18 - 22.

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.'

Three world premiere productions with settings in Montgomery, Alabama from the 1860s to the 1960s will be among the highlights of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's 25th Anniversary season. The ten-show lineup will also include three encores of ASF's biggest-selling hits ever, as well as a Shakespearian comedy and tragedy-and Tigger, too.

Merriam-Webster defines satire as 'a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.' To explore satire in song lyrics, the 92nd Street Y's Lyrics & LyricistsTM offers Poisoning Pigeons in the Park: The Art of the Satiric Comedy Song.