Daniel Melnick News

Uncool: The Party is back! Come party with some of Broadway's best as we celebrate all of the hilarious things that make us the weirdos we pretend so desperately not to be! There will be SPIKED PUNCH, brand spankin' new rock 'n roll theater tunes, games, stories and dancing! Uncool: The Party promises to be a night you won't forget... unless you drink too much of that punch!

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director, announced the nine musicals and twenty-six writers selected for the 2014 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, its fourth year of providing working retreats for musical theatre writers. For nine consecutive weeks beginning June 29th, each writing team will have an individual weeklong residency in Rhinebeck, New York to write their musical. They are provided with a private home, transportation, food, and a stipend. All costs are fully funded by donors including The ASCAP Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, and The Noel Coward Foundation. Writers participating this year include Broadway's Mindi Dickstein (Little Women), this year's Kleban Prize winner Nathan Tysen (Burnt Part Boys), and Peter Mills, past winner of the Kleban, Fred Ebb Award, and Richard Rodgers prize. The musicals' subjects cover 19th century nautical mysteries, 20th century fairy tales, a 1970's gay bar, and modern-day meth addicts. Every score is original and styles include 16th century Renaissance, big band, folk, rock, and electronic music.

Coleavens Industries will present Lies We Tell Ourselves (when flamethrowers aren't enough) as part of the 17th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. Premiering at FringeNYC, Lies We Tell Ourselves will be presented at The Players Theatre (115 Macdougal Street, Fringe venue #17).

Coleavens Industries will present Lies We Tell Ourselves (when flamethrowers aren't enough) as part of the 17th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. Premiering at FringeNYC, Lies We Tell Ourselves will be presented at The Players Theatre (115 Macdougal Street, Fringe venue #17).

The Flea Theater's spookiest serialized play is now a full-length musical. The Management (MilkMilkLemonade by Joshua Conkel, Cut by Crystal Skillman) team up with The Bushwick Starr to bring The House of Von Macramé to gory, glamorous life. Performances run January 23 - February 9, Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8pm. Preview performance: tonight, January 22nd at 8pm.

The Flea Theater's spookiest serialized play is now a full-length musical. The Management (MilkMilkLemonade by Joshua Conkel, Cut by Crystal Skillman) team up with The Bushwick Starr to bring The House of Von Macramé to gory, glamorous life. Performances run January 23 - February 9, Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8pm. Preview performance: Tuesday, January 22nd at 8pm.

P. H. Lin's new drama, ZELDA AT THE OASIS, directed by Andy Sandberg (The Last Smoker in America), began previews on Friday, November 16th at 5 pm at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, (west of 8th Avenue), with the official opening tonight, December 4th at 7 PM. ZELDA AT THE OASIS, which features Edwin Cahill and Gardner Reed, is an open-ended Equity production.

P. H. Lin's new drama, ZELDA AT THE OASIS, directed by Andy Sandberg (The Last Smoker in America), will begin previews tonight, November 16th at 5 pm at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, (west of 8th Avenue), with the official opening on Tuesday, December 4th at 7 PM. ZELDA AT THE OASIS, which features Edwin Cahill and Gardner Reed, is an open-ended Equity production.

P. H. Lin's new drama, ZELDA AT THE OASIS, directed by Andy Sandberg (The Last Smoker in America), will begin previews on Friday, November 16th at 5 pm at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, (west of 8th Avenue), with the official opening on Tuesday, December 4th at 7 PM. ZELDA AT THE OASIS, which features Edwin Cahill and Gardner Reed, is an open-ended Equity production.

Zelda at the Oasis, a new play by P. H. Lin, directed by Andy Sandberg (The Last Smoker in America), will celebrate its New York Premiere on Friday, November 16th when it begins previews at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, in the heart of Times Square. The official opening is Tuesday, December 4th at 7 PM. Zelda at the Oasis, which features Edwin Cahill and Gardner Reed, is an open-ended engagement.

Sometimes once is just not enough, so, today, we have a super-special encore conversation with a recent InDepth InterView participant who shares even more candid tales from her impossibly colorful, genre-spanning career on Broadway and in Hollywood - star of properties as diverse as the Broadway musicals MR. PRESIDENT, KELLY and THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG, to movies like MOONSTRUCK and SHALL WE DANCE to her numerous TV appearances on everything from MATCH GAME to QUINCY to 30 ROCK - chameleon-like comedienne and actress Anita Gillette. Discussing some of the more ribald and hilarious stories from her idiosyncratic showbiz career - such as the riotous backstage goings-on out of town at the tryout of one of Broadway biggest bombs, KELLY - as well as spine-tingling "you had to be there"-type memories of the Golden Age - like Irving Berlin stopping by the Winter Garden every Wednesday just to see her Act One showstopper in ALL AMERICAN - Gillette paints a vivid picture of an era gone by, and, also, looks ahead to exciting future endeavors - especially the upcoming Ed Burns-directed feature film, THE FITZGERALD FAMILY CHRISTMAS, opening wide later this year. Of course, Gillette returns to the NYC stage the next two Mondays - September 24 and October 1 - with her new Birdland show, AFTER ALL, so in this all-encompassing conversation we also discuss the themes, style, songs and stories we can anticipate from that intimate solo piece, as well, and she generously shares her recollections of working with some of the men who penned many of the sensational songs she will be performing and figure in to some of the tales she will tell - Charles Strouse, Marvin Hamlisch, Jule Styne, Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and the aforementioned Irving Berlin included. All of that and much, much more!

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences screened the 1979 Best Picture nominee and Bob Fosse film 'All That Jazz' May 7 as part of the 'Great To Be Nominated' series. Cast and crew members including actors Deborah Geffner, John Lithgow and Kathryn Dody and associate producer-assistant director Wolfgang Glattes, who joined in on a post-screening discussion...

The characters and conventions of film noir get flamboyantly comical facelifts in Adrift in Macao, a new musical by Peter Melnick and Christopher Durang that, as presented by Primary Stages, will open at 59E59 Theaters on February 13th. Melnick has previously written musicals and has scored many films and TV shows, and Adrift in Macao is the talented composer's most high-profile project to date.