Dan Willis News

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its end-of-year schedule, running December 31 - January 18, including: The Birdland Big Band featuring Jane Monheit on New Year's Eve, Dave Stryker Group, Barbara Carroll, Joe Lovano, and more!

Alysha Umphress, currently starring in the new Broadway revival of ON THE TOWN, and Tony Award-nominated composer and performer Jeff Blumenkrantz will celebrate their new album, I've Been Played: Alysha Umphress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz with a concert at Birdland (315 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036) on January 5, 2015 at 7pm. Tickets are available now at www.birdlandjazz.com.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its January 2015 schedule, featuring The Birdland Big Band, Jane Monheit, Beegie Adair Trio, Barbara Carroll, Jay Leonhart Trio, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, Dena DeRose, Lindsay Mendez and Marco Paguia, and MORE!

I've Been Played: Alysha Umphress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz will be released on Yellow Sound Label in January 2015, featuring the vocals of Alysha Umphress, currently starring in the new Broadway revival of ON THE TOWN, and original jazz songs and arrangements by Tony Award-nominated composer and performer Jeff Blumenkrantz. Produced by Jeff Blumenkrantz and Michael Croiter, the album will be available via Amazon and iTunes beginning January 6, 2015. It is now available for pre-order at ?Amazon.com.

There was a happening on West 44th Street! For a week, Chita Rivera brought her joyful, razzle-dazzling nightclub act to Birdland, which she calls her favorite room in the city. “These walls are filled with the best music! Playing Birdland just makes me feel cool,” she proclaimed. As if her iconic Broadway career wasn't cool enough, “Chita's Back” was a concert for the history books – with the ever-youthful legend in fine fettle; singing, dancing and telling some of the best insider stories any theater-lover could hope for. Material from Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, West Side Story and The Visitwere included, as well as a James Taylor duet with daughter, Lisa Mordente. The swinging was band led by guitarist/percussionist Michael Croiter, with Michael Patrick Walker on piano, Jim Donica on bass, and Dan Willis on saxophone.

The quintessential portrait of maniacal ambition and lust for power is on stage in William Shakespeare's epic history play Richard III at Folger Theatre. Robert Richmond

Click below to watch a time-lapse video of the transformation of Folger Theatre into an in-the-round venue for the very first time for the production of RICHARD III! The video also features interviews with director Robert Richmond and actor Drew Cortese. Check it out!

The quintessential portrait of maniacal ambition and lust for power is on stage in William Shakespeare's epic history play Richard III at Folger Theatre. Robert Richmond

The legendary Birdland was packed to the gills for the latest presentation of Jim Caruso's Broadway at Birdland Series, Jonathan Brielle's I Saw Broadway. An all star gathering of Broadway's greatest vocalists and musicians wowed the audience with one crowd pleaser after another from the musicals of the prolific Brielle.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series recently featured Jonathan Brielle's I Saw Broadway on Monday, November 25. Composer Brielle's very special musical guests included Deborah Cox, Jessica Burrows Van Kipp, Veanne Cox, Rose Hemingway and Ken Prymus. Check out a look back below!

Jonathan Brielle and Friends will bring 'I Saw Broadway' to Birdland, featuring Deborah Cox, Matt Bogart, Veanne Cox, Rose Hemingway and Ken Prymus. The Broadway at Birdland concert series presents Jonathan Brielle's I Saw Broadway tonight, November 25 at 7pm.

Jessica Burrows Van Kipp will join Jonathan Brielle & Friends In I Saw Broadway on Monday, November 25 at 7pm. The night also features Deborah Cox, Matt Bogart, Veanne Cox, Rose Hemingway, and Ken Prymus.

Jonathan Brielle and Friends will bring 'I Saw Broadway' to Birdland, featuring Deborah Cox, Matt Bogart, Veanne Cox, Rose Hemingway and Ken Prymus. The Broadway at Birdland concert series will present Jonathan Brielle's I Saw Broadway on Monday, November 25 at 7pm.

Come enjoy the Ted Nash Big Band premiere performance of 'Chakra' tonight, October 31-November 3, 2013 at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. The newly released Nash masterpiece features a 16-piece big band with a long-form composition in seven movements. The intimate club setting will highlight the GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist's talents as a performer/composer/bandleader.

Come enjoy the Ted Nash Big Band premiere performance of 'Chakra' on October 31-November 3, 2013 at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. The newly released Nash masterpiece features a 16-piece big band with a long-form composition in seven movements. The intimate club setting will highlight the GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist's talents as a performer/composer/bandleader.

Despite a torrential rainstorm midway through the performance, the 4th Annual Broadway Under the Stars played to an SRO crowd in an elegant tent on the historic Tewksbury, New Jersey property of Cherie King, The Development Wing and her husband composer, lyricist and book writer, Jonathan Brielle, Artistic Director of The Development Wing and Vice President, The Johnny Mercer Foundation. Scroll down for photos from the festivities!

Stars and casts from the current Broadway line-up have been busy in the studio, recording for the 2013 Broadway's Carols for a Cure, Volume 15. Singing traditional and original holiday songs, this annual holiday music CD benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you exclusive photos from Kinky Boots' recording session for 'Carol of the Boots' with castmembers Robert Pendilla, Kyle Post, Paul Canaan, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Joey Taranto, Lucia Spina, Annaleigh Ashford, Cortney Wolfson, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Tory Ross, Adinah Alexander, Jennifer Perry and Harvey Fierstein.

The Development Wing which has dedicated itself to nurturing new musicals via partnerships with regional, not for profit theaters will hold its exclusive, intimate one-night-only benefit concert featuring Broadway stars singing songs from several new musicals at the historic Tewksbury, New Jersey home of Cherie King, President, The Development Wing and her husband composer, lyricist and book writer, Jonathan Brielle, Artistic Director of The Development Wing and Vice Chairman, The Johnny Mercer Foundation.