Cy Coleman News

When Tuesday night the formidable Chita Rivera opens her debut Cafe Carlyle show, An Evening of My Favorite Songs, with "I Won't Dance" (Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh), it's like watching a thoroughbred nose the racing gate. There's too little space on the small stage to do much more than shimmy, twirl, and display Bob Fosse-like arm moves; the performer exudes an urge to cut loose. At the ripe age of we-all-aspire-to-that-kind-of-unquenchable-joie-de-vivre, she shoots off sparks.

The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced today, April 19th that two-time Tony Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick and multiple Tony-nominated director Marshall W. Mason will be this year's recipients of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its May 2016 schedule, featuring: BOSSABRASIL, Ann Hampton Callaway, Iris Williams, Laura Osnes, Eliane Elias, Bill Charlap Trio, Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Birdland Big Band, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more. Scroll down for details!

At yesterday's CinemaCon in Las Vegas, 20th Century FOX announced that the highly anticipated musical movie GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH, starring Hugh Jackman is a 'go' for 2017.

Drama Desk, Tony®, and Emmy® Award nominee and Theater World Award and NAACP Image Award winner Vanessa Williams (Into The Woods, The Trip to Bountiful, 'Ugly Betty') and Drama Desk, Tony®, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Drama League Award Nominee and SAG & TV Land Award winner Matthew Morrison (Finding Neverland, Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza, 'Glee') will announce the nominations for the 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards on Thursday, April 28th, 2016 at 10:00 AM at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 W. 54th Street), it was announced today by Charles Wright, Drama Desk President and Gretchen Shugart, CEO of TheaterMania.com.

Director/choreographer Ilyse Robbins pays homage to Bob Fosse, but puts her artistic stamp on the 1966 Tony Award-winning musical. You will love Vanessa Dunleavy as the hopeful dance-hall hostess looking for love in all the wrong places. Stoneham Theatre veterans and newcomers comprise a stellar ensemble that delivers the songs and dances with panache.

Raising the bar ever higher, Celia Berk (who in the past year has won “Best Debut” Awards from BroadwayWorld and MAC and received a Bistro Award) celebrated the release of her new CD Manhattan Serenade with the first of four shows at The Metropolitan Room on Sunday night (others are April 10, 17, and 24). Her dream band, helmed by MD/arranger/pianist Alex Rybeck, featured Jered Egan on bass, Dan Gross on percussion, and Dan Willis with his invaluable woodwinds.

Stoneham Theatre continues Season 16 with the toe-tapping, Broadway musical hit SWEET CHARITY. Performances run now through April 24, 2016. Press Opening is today, April 2, 2016 at 3:00pm.

Stoneham Theatre continues Season 16 with the toe-tapping, Broadway musical hit SWEET CHARITY. Performances run from March 31 - April 24, 2016. Press Opening is Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 3:00pm.

"I'm a black woman in America; breathing is political," stated Natalie Douglas, wryly, early in her March 21 concert at Birdland to celebrate the release of her excellent new recording Human Heart. I felt myself inwardly fist pump-yes! Douglas dared to acknowledge the contemporary political circus-which I, for one, am completely obsessed with-on the cabaret stage! Okay, I can relax-I will make it through this show without listening to a political podcast or reading a David Brooks New York Times opinion column after all. Phew! I have not entered a purely escapist fantasyland, but surrendered to the capable musical ensemble on stage. Douglas wore a long white gown (chosen out of the pile when her husband made an approvingly bawdy comment as she tried it on for him) and her band-all six of whom appear on the record-wore all black. The appearance was a study in contrast, but the group, was most assuredly a cohesive instrument.

Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah's premier professional theatre, will open its 2016-17 season with the THE LAST SHIP, the new musical with music and lyrics by the pop superstar Sting and book by the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning writers John Logan and Brian Yorkey. PTC's production will be the first since the show's Broadway run in 2014-15.

Maize & Blue on Broadway is a one-night-only benefit concert on May 16, 2016 at 7PM at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street) to celebrate the University of Michigan and its renowned Musical Theatre Department, as well as honor its longtime chair, Brent Wagner, who is retiring in May after 32 years of being the department's heart and soul.  

MAD COW THEATRE announces the return of a singular downtown Orlando event - the 14th annual Orlando Cabaret Festival, featuring cabaret artists from Central Florida and beyond. Among the headliners for the 2016 Cabfest will be Broadway star Andrea McArdle, a leading lady ever since she played the very first Annie in the beloved Broadway show of the same name.

Two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated Michael Feinstein returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with a special celebration of Academy Award-winning lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman for five performances only - May 18-22, 2016. Considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards, Feinstein will perform some of the Bergman's greatest songs, including 'The Way We Were,' 'Nice N' Easy,' 'A Piece of Sky,' 'How Do You Keep the Music Playing,' among others. Alan Bergman will join Feinstein onstage nightly through the engagement. The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m.; Thursday, May 19 at 8 p.m.; Friday, May 20 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 21 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, May 22 at 3 p.m. Tickets range in price from $80-$95 and are available now by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

The Jazz Magic of Cy Coleman was brought to life by host, artistic director, co-writer, pianist & vocalist Billy Stritch at the 92Y and BroadwayWorld was there for the performance. Check out the photos below!

Lakewood Theatre Company will begin its 64th season with six productions on its Mainstage and three productions on its Side Door stage beginning July 8, 2016.

SONGBOOK is an album featuring ten live performances by Joseph Lorenzo Wise. It also features a bonus track 'Papaparazzi,' the new hit single featuring the Beethoven Fifth. The inspirational songs range from spirituals, to pop hits, to Sibelius. The CD also features one original song -- 'Dreams' -- written in New York City in the '80s by Joseph Lorenzo Wise.

Stoneham Theatre continues Season 16 with the toe-tapping, Broadway musical hit SWEET CHARITY. Performances run from March 31 - April 24, 2016. Press Opening is Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 3:00pm.

NEW YORK, NY (For Release 3.7.16) — Hailed for his vocal and operatic music, award-winning composer/conductor/teacher Scott Wheeler showcases his omnivorous compositional style during the 2016-17 season. From the album release of Portrait (Bridge Records) and the world premiere of his latest opera Naga by the Boston Lyric Opera to nationwide performances of his Ben Gunn song cycle and debut as a composer for dance, Wheeler continues to lead the new-music vanguard. A continual point of reference for contemporary music, Wheeler serves in numerous leadership roles including: 2016-17 Affiliate of NYUâ€s Center for the Ballet and Arts, 2016-17 Composer-in-Residence at the Brooklyn Art Song Society, and Professor at Bostonâ€s Emerson College.

Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce the quintessential backstage musical comedy classic 42nd STREET will celebrate a two-week engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph) with a sparkling new production, tonight, March 8, through March 20, 2016.