Christine Pedi News

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents three benefit performances of "Villain: DeBlanks," a fill-in-the-blanks whodunnit, at 11:30 pm on July 24, July 31, and August 7. The performances will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Written by Billy Mitchell, "Villain: DeBlanks" is a late-night fundraiser where the cast needs the audience as much as the audience loves the cast.

Virginia's Signature Theatre opens its' air-conditioned doors once again for the annual Sizzlin' Summer Nights Series. For two and a half weeks, Signature's intimate cabaret venue hosts an eclectic mix of Signature favorites, DC-area stars, and some of New York's most exciting performers. The cabaret series runs today, July 9 through July 26, with a different performance each night.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) continues its 2014 developmental reading series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center with a special presentation of I Had a Ball, the 1964 Coney Island musical comedy with a book by Tony Award winner Jerome Chodorov (Wonderful Town) and a score by Stan Freeman & Jack Lawrence. The reading, directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Make Mine Manhattan), will be held Thursday, July 24 at 2:30 PM in the Bruno Walter Auditorium.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) is proud to present a special workshop production of the all-new musical revue The Passing Show for five performances only this weekend, June 26-29 at MTC Creative Center.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) is proud to present a special workshop production of the all-new musical revue The Passing Show for five performances only June 26-29 at MTC Creative Center.

Award-winning songwriters Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler ('Taylor the Latte Boy', 'Alto's Lament', Ever After) brought their their vivacious, eclectic, romantic, and seriously funny songbook to 54 Below last night, June 12. Check out coverage of their performance below!

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will continue its 2014 Unsung concert series at 54 Below with Unsung Bob Merrill and Unsung Carolyn Leigh, Vol. 2, following its recent sold-out, critically acclaimed Unsung Carolyn Leigh concert for Lincoln Center's American Songbook. The two all-new evenings are created and directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad) with musical direction and arrangements by Fran Minarik (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, At Home Abroad).

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

A reception at 6:30 precedes the ceremony, which will begin at 7:30. All are welcome to attend the free event, which is fast becoming the theater-networking event in the state.

Virginia's Signature Theatre opens its' air-conditioned doors once again for the annual Sizzlin' Summer Nights Series. For two and a half weeks, Signature's intimate cabaret venue hosts an eclectic mix of Signature favorites, DC-area stars, and some of New York's most exciting performers. The cabaret series runs July 9 through July 26, with a different performance each night.

I never thought that writing a rave review would be more difficult than constructing a less than positive critique, but Carole J. Bufford, damn her, is causing me creative problems. That's because for the third time in three years I'm compelled to praise this attractive powerhouse cabaret singer to the skies (you can find my two previous essays on her unassailable talent here and here) and my author's arsenal contains only so many superlatives. With yet another outstanding performance last Thursday night at the Metropolitan Room, the young woman who was named BroadwayWorld.com's 2013 Cabaret Vocalist of the Year has snatched my mental thesaurus (not to mention my online one) and trampled all over it. She's given me the writer's block blues.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will launch its 2014 developmental reading series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts with a special presentation of Peggy-Ann, the hit 1926 musical comedy with a book by Tony Award winner Herbert Fields (Annie Get Your Gun) and a score by the legendary songwriting team of Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (Pal Joey, On Your Toes). The reading, directed by Ben West (Unsung Carolyn Leigh, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad), will be held Thursday, May 22 at 2:30 PM in the Bruno Walter Auditorium.

Leslie Uggams performed 'Now I Have Everything' from the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Symphony Space's FIDDLER AT 50 gala celebration on April 28. Watch her sing in the video below!

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Symphony Space's annual Spring Festival has become one of the season's most keenly awaited events. This year's installment, Sleeping Around: The Cultural Lives of New York's Hotels, may be the most provocative yet. Running from April 26 to May 21, the monthlong festival celebrates New York's landmark hotels, their occupants, and the lengendary boites that nurtured and sustained the evergreen songs and performers of cabaret. Sleeping Around also credits New York's hotels as incubators for film, classical music, and literature, with programs devoted to Andy Warhol, Virgil Thomson, and Dorothy Parker.

The annual Spring Fling luncheon of the Beaux Arts Socisty, Inc. honored a new group of Distinguished Artists from the stage, screen, and cabaret worlds

Hello everybody at BWW! My name's Andrea! What's yours?!

On Monday, April 28, Symphony Space hosted its spring gala, Fiddler at 50 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof. The evening also honored the 90th birthday of Sheldon Harnick, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist behind the iconic musical. The Symphony Space's Gala, held at Capitale, was co-chaired by Lenore Davis and Amy Wilson. Honorary co-chairs for the evening were Mary Rodgers Guettel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Harold Prince, and Stephen Sondheim.

The Tony winner talks about her Brooklyn upbringing, her Broadway triumphs and her brand-new cabaret show.

Tonight, April 28, Symphony Space will host its spring gala, Fiddler at 50, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof.