Cy Coleman News

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.

From Sweet Charity to City of Angels, "Witchcraft" to "The Best is Yet to Come," Cy Coleman lived on both Broadway and the pop charts, with firm roots in the jazz world. He wrote standards made famous by such singers as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole, and partnered with lyricists like Carolyn Leigh, Dorothy Fields and Peggy Lee. Grammy-winning singer-pianist Billy Stritch, a friend and protege of Coleman, celebrates the jazz side of this versatile, quintessentially New York composer in Witchcraft: The Jazz Magic of Cy Coleman.

In a follow-up to their 2013 presentation Sin Twisters, on Wednesday night at Feinstein's/54 Below, show biz veterans Anita Gillette and Penny Fuller offered stories from the Broadway trenches, songs from their musical history, and affectionate one-upmanship, again deftly directed by Barry Kleinbort.

Picture this: a quartet hanging around a lamppost in 1940's Hollywood dressed in warm yellow and red tones, singing in close harmony while shadowy gray figures dance in the background. A shot rings out and CITY OF ANGELS opens with a bang at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

CITY OF ANGELS, running tonight, March 4, through April 3, 2016, in the Hawks Mainstage Theatre at the Omaha Community Playhouse, is a film noir-style musical that pays homage to glamorous 1940s Hollywood. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, this clever show has two plots running simultaneously (the real world and the 'reel' world) as a man writes a screenplay that mirrors his own life. Intrigue, mystery and incredible music make CITY OF ANGELS a must-see production. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

AMERICAN SHOWSTOPPERS, featuring Fred Barton & His Orchestra in 'An Evening with Cole Porter', stars a cast of today's best Broadway performers. The concerts take place at Pace University's Schimmel Center in New York tonight, March 4 at 7:30 PM and then Kingsborough Community College's 'On Stage at Kingsborough' in Brooklyn tomorrow, March 5 at 8:00 PM.

Jack F. Lee (born John Francis Lee), beloved musical director of both stage and screen, passed away peacefully on March 2, 2016 in his home at the age of 86. Mr. Lee was one of Broadway's leading conductors and musical directors who worked with composers/lyricists John Kander & Fred Ebb, Cy Coleman & Dorothy Fields, Jule Styne, Richard Rogers, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse, Alan Jay Lerner, Maury Yeston, Robert Wright & George Forrest, Sandy Wilson, Bob Merrill, Betty Comden & Adolph Green and Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones.

Drama Desk Award winner Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar, 'Ugly Betty') will serve as host of the 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards on Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 8:00 PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street), it was announced today by Charles Wright, Drama Desk President, and Gretchen Shugart, CEO of TheaterMania.com.

Michael Weber, artistic director of Porchlight Music Theatre, has announced Porchlight Music Theatre's 2016 - 2017 mainstage season which includes In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda's first big hit and winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, September 9 - October 16, 2016; End of the Rainbow, the Chicago premiere of the Judy Garland bio musical play, a recent smash hit in London and New York, November 4 - December 4, 2016; The Scottsboro Boys, the long-awaited Chicago premiere of the final collaboration of Kander and Ebb concerning one of the most infamous events in American history, February 3 - March 12, 2017; Marry Me a Little, Jeff Award-winning Porchlight Artistic Associate Austin Cook stars in this rarely seen Stephen Sondheim production, April 14 - May 21, 2017.

CITY OF ANGELS, running March 4 - April 3, 2016, in the Hawks Mainstage Theatre at the Omaha Community Playhouse, is a film noir-style musical that pays homage to glamorous 1940s Hollywood. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, this clever show has two plots running simultaneously (the real world and the 'reel' world) as a man writes a screenplay that mirrors his own life. Intrigue, mystery and incredible music make CITY OF ANGELS a must-see production. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

The Hollywood and Broadway theater community have come together to save the late Lucille Lortel, Queen of Off-Broadway's White Barn Theater in Norwalk, Connecticut. A recent New York Times article has rallied the theatrical community to voice their concern and support for the historic theater.

Theater Works presents the Tony Award-winning musical CITY OF ANGELS, beginning tonight, February 19.

Broadway stars Lisa Howard (It Shoulda Been You) and John Bolton (A Christmas Story: The Musical) are joining the cast of AMERICAN SHOWSTOPPERS featuring Fred Barton & His Orchestra in 'An Evening with Cole Porter' next month.

FOX's musical movie THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH is making progress, having just presented a reading to executives prior to filming. Starring the previously announced Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum and directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, the reading also starred Cynthia Erivo, Keala Settle, Carrie Manolakos, Marcus Paul James, Adam Halpin, Natalie Weiss, Loren Allred, Tamika Lawrence, Alison Luff, and Ben Thompson.

It's time to put in your late winter pre-orders! Masterworks Broadway has just announced its slate of releases for Winter 2016, including three classic albums from the archives - SWEET CHARITY (February 12), SALAD DAYS (March 18), and KISMET (April 15). On February 26, Masterworks Broadway releases THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN SONDHEIM, celebrating the 85th birthday year of the legendary theater composer and lyricist.

The 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards will be held Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 8:00 PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street), it was announced today by Charles Wright, Drama Desk President and Gretchen Shugart, CEO of TheaterMania.com.

The Winter Park Playhouse, Central Florida's only professional musical theatre, announces their 2016-2017 Mainstage Series of musical productions plus their 2016 "Sizzling Summer" show!

Today in 1966, Sweet Charity opened at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 608 performances. Featuring music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon, the musical was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon. It is based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and also ran in the West End as well as having revivals and international productions.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Jesse Luttrell with the Fred Barton Broadway Band tonight, January 29 at 9:30PM.

54 Below just released a new block of tickets with 35% off MAIN DINING ROOM seats using the code LUTTRELL35.