Billy Rose News

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will launch its new Unsung Cabaret Series with Unsung Jimmy Van Heusen, an intimate evening celebrating the centennial of legendary four-time Academy Award-winning and three-time Tony Award-nominated composer Jimmy Van Heusen (Skyscraper, Walking Happy, Thoroughly Modern Millie) on June 17. Hosted by Tony Award nominee Tom Wopat (A Catered Affair, Catch Me If You Can), this concert will be held at 8pm at The Cutting Room.

Lyric Stage presents the premiere of the restored TOO MANY GIRLS April 26-May 5 in the Irving Arts Center's Carpenter Performance Hall. Performances are April 26, 27, May 2, 3 and 4 @ 8:00 PM and April 28 and May 5 @ 2:30 PM. Tickets are available online or by calling the box office @ 972-252-2787.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) presents a developmental reading of the 1958 backstage comedy SAY, DARLING by Tony Award winner Richard Bissell (The Pajama Game), Tony Award winner Abe Burrows (Guys and Dolls) and Marian Bissell. The play with music features songs by the Tony Award-winning team of Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne (Bells Are Ringing, Do Re Mi).

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will present a developmental reading of the 1958 backstage comedy SAY, DARLING by Tony Award winner Richard Bissell (The Pajama Game), Tony Award winner Abe Burrows (Guys and Dolls) and Marian Bissell. The play with music features songs by the Tony Award-winning team of Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne (Bells Are Ringing, Do Re Mi).

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) presents The Fig Leaves Are Falling, now playing at the Connelly Theatre. Natalie Venetia Belcon (Avenue Q, The Glorious Ones), Jonathan Rayson (Legally Blonde, Adrift in Macao), Matt Walton ("One Life to Live", Burn After Reading) and Morgan Weed (Rent, Next to Normal, Saved) lead the cast of the 1969 musical comedy which also features Karen Hyland (Ghost The Musical), Nathan Keen (West Side Story), Antuan Raimone (In The Heights), and Morgan Rose (Shrek The Musical). Get a first look at the cast onstage below!

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) has announced casting for its upcoming production of The Fig Leaves Are Falling beginning performances tonight, January 10, 2013 at the Connelly Theatre. Natalie Venetia Belcon (Avenue Q, The Glorious Ones), Jonathan Rayson (Legally Blonde, Adrift in Macao), Matt Walton ('One Life to Live', Burn After Reading) and Morgan Weed (Rent, Next to Normal, Saved) lead the cast of the 1969 musical comedy which also features Karen Hyland (Ghost The Musical), Nathan Keen (West Side Story), Antuan Raimone (In The Heights), and Morgan Rose (Shrek The Musical).

Riverside Theatre's Simply Amazing Season continues with the Broadway smash musical hit, Funny Girl. Nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best Musical Best Lead Actor and Actress and Best Original Score, the show was an immediate hit with audiences with an inspiring and beloved score including classic favorites 'Don't Rain on My Parade,' 'I'm the Greatest Star,' 'The Music That Makes Me Dance' and the iconic hit, 'People. Funny Girl performs on the Stark Stage from January 10 through 27, 2013 and is presented through the courtesy Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) has announced casting for its upcoming production of The Fig Leaves Are Falling beginning performances January 10, 2013 at the Connelly Theatre. Natalie Venetia Belcon (Avenue Q, The Glorious Ones), Jonathan Rayson (Legally Blonde, Adrift in Macao), Matt Walton ('One Life to Live', Burn After Reading) and Morgan Weed (Rent, Next to Normal, Saved) lead the cast of the 1969 musical comedy which also features Karen Hyland (Ghost The Musical), Nathan Keen (West Side Story), Antuan Raimone (In The Heights), and Morgan Rose (Shrek The Musical).

The Northern Stage Company of White River Junction, Vermont announced today that the Board of Directors and Founding Artistic Director Brooke Ciardelli have agreed that the current production will be her last with the company. Ms. Ciardelli has led the artistic team at Northern Stage since its formation in 1997, guiding it through 16 seasons of critically acclaimed professional theater. She has served in many capacities for the Company including Artistic Director since its inception, director of more than 50 percent of the main stage productions, as well as serving as Managing Director and CEO for many seasons and as a member of the Board of Directors.

ANNIE, the new production of the Tony Award®-winning musical, opens November 8, 2012 at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street). Looking to expand your knowledge on the history of ANNIE before the revival's big opening night? Check out some vintage photos of the original Broadway production and more below!

Katharine Hepburn was an icon of theater, film and fashion, where her style was both distinct and influential. Her unique fashion sense is the subject of a new exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen. The exhibition includes over 40 costumes and clothing items from Hepburn's personal collection. The exhibition - organized by Kent State University Museum and travelling the US - was created in conjunction with a new book released this month, Rebel Chic (published by Skira Rizzoli, 2012). Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen will be on display in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery from today, October 18, 2012 thru January 12, 2013 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Admission is free.

Katharine Hepburn was an icon of theater, film and fashion, where her style was both distinct and influential. Her unique fashion sense is the subject of a new exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen. The exhibition includes over 40 costumes and clothing items from Hepburn's personal collection. The exhibition - organized by Kent State University Museum and travelling the US - was created in conjunction with a new book released this month, Rebel Chic (published by Skira Rizzoli, 2012). Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen will be on display in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery from October 18, 2012 thru January 12, 2013 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Admission is free.

Katharine Hepburn was an icon of theater, film and fashion, where her style was both distinct and influential. Her unique fashion sense is the subject of a new exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen. The exhibition includes over 40 costumes and clothing items from Hepburn's personal collection. The exhibition - organized by Kent State University Museum and travelling the US - was created in conjunction with a new book released this month, Rebel Chic (published by Skira Rizzoli, 2012). Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen will be on display in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery from October 18, 2012 thru January 12, 2013 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Admission is free.

Tony Award nominee Liz Larsen (The Most Happy Fella), KT Sullivan (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Chris Hoch (La Cage Aux Folles, Shrek The Musical), Michael Mastro (Twelve Angry Men), Pilin Anice (Junie B. Jones), Cicily Daniels (The Little Mermaid), Tim Falter (Some Like It Hot), Nadine Isenegger (42nd Street), Matthew Labanca (Young Frankenstein), Drama Desk Award nominee Garrett Long (South Pacific, The Spitfire Grill), Kristin Maloney (The Talk of the Town), Brent McBeth (White Christmas), Jim Middleton (Goodspeed's 1776), Kevin Vortmann(A Little Night Music) and Tiffany Westlie (The Truth About Jane) have joined the cast of UnsungMusicalsCo.'s benefit concert presentation of the legendary 1935 musical revue At Home Abroad, set for tonight, October 15, 2012. Get a first look at the stars in rehearsal below!

Tony Award nominee Liz Larsen (The Most Happy Fella), KT Sullivan (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Chris Hoch (La Cage Aux Folles, Shrek The Musical), Michael Mastro (Twelve Angry Men), Pilin Anice (Junie B. Jones), Cicily Daniels (The Little Mermaid), Tim Falter (Some Like It Hot), Nadine Isenegger (42nd Street), Matthew LaBanca (Young Frankenstein), Drama Desk Award nominee Garrett Long (South Pacific, The Spitfire Grill), Kristin Maloney (The Talk of the Town), Brent McBeth (White Christmas), Jim Middleton (Goodspeed's 1776), Kevin Vortmann (A Little Night Music) and Tiffany Westlie (The Truth About Jane) have joined the cast of UnsungMusicalsCo.'s October 15, 2012 benefit concert presentation of the legendary 1935 musical revue At Home Abroad. Get a first look at the stars in rehearsal below!

Today we are talking to Patricia Kelly, the widow of one of the most iconic and influential performers in entertainment history, Gene Kelly, all about her husband's incomparable career on Broadway and in Hollywood, in honor of his centennial. Tracing Gene Kelly's journey from his theatre roots starring in Cole Porter's LEAVE IT TO ME!, Rodgers & Hart's PAL JOEY and William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE on Broadway to his unforgettable screen appearances in many of the greatest movie musicals ever made - COVER GIRL, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, THE PIRATE, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and many more included - Mrs. Kelly gives us a look into the life of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. In addition to behind-the-scenes stories involving Kelly's frequent collaborators - such as esteemed director Vincente Minnelli, songwriter and producer Arthur Freed, arranger Saul Chaplin and others - Mrs. Kelly also shares candid anecdotes involving her husband's involvement with directing Rodgers & Hammerstein's FLOWER DRUM SONG on Broadway, helming the feature film adaptation of HELLO, DOLLY! starring Barbra Streisand, as well as his appearing in two idiosyncratic movie musicals later in his life, LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT (THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT) for Jacques Demy, as well as his au revoir to movie musicals in form of the Olivia Newton-John roller disco starrer XANADU. Additionally, Mrs. Kelly fills us in on all the details about this weekend's two-night Gene Kelly retrospective celebration, which she leads and narrates, as part of GENE KELLY @ 100 and her future plans for the multimedia presentation - each evening titled AN EVENING OF GENE KELLY and CHANGING THE LOOK OF DANCE ON FILM, respective - as she begins to tour the show across the country. Plus, reflections on SINGIN' IN THE RAIN's 60th anniversary and the recent Fathom HD premiere presentation in theaters, the impact of Kelly's work behind the camera, his choreographic legacy, what a legend is like at home, memories of attending the opening night of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (starring HELLO, DOLLY! lead Michael Crawford), what the master would say about GLEE, SMASH, BUNHEADS and today's movie musical renaissance, as well as much, much more!

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the theater once again, we welcome you to the debut installment of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating (okay, so we obviously don't have enough to occupy ourselves) live theater industry (we're trying that out-does it work? Let us know, theaterati!) Here amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit elsewhere, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

Fanny Brice, America's Funny Girl will open May 23, 2012 and run until June 17, 2012. Previews begin May 20. Fanny Brice, America's Funny Girl is a reworking of Maltz Jupiter Theatre's 2009 hit production Fanny Brice: The Real Funny Girl. Writer and Director David H. Bell modified the script and is bringing Asolo Rep the most inspiring version yet. TCPalm raved, "Marya Grandy may not be the real Fanny Brice…but she just might be a new version of Ethel Merman. That's with a little Patti LuPone and the emotional singing delivery al a Judy Garland tossed in for good measure". WJTW FM said "what really brought the audience to its feet for a standing ovation however was the finale…it doesn't get any better than that."