Danny Kaye News

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) continues its Spring 2018 Music Series on Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 7:30pm with a presentation of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time conceived and directed by Sarah Rothenberg with lighting designed by Jennifer Tipton, performed in BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater. An all-star ensemble of instrumentalists - Joshua Rubin, clarinet; Geoff Nuttall, violin; Christopher Costanza, cello; and Sarah Rothenberg, piano - bring to life this timeless work, which Messiaen wrote and premiered in 1941 while in confinement at a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany during World War II.

When Judy Garland stepped out onto the stage at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, the raucous standing ovation that greeted her was just the start of what has been called the greatest night in show business history. Award-winning actress/singer Jody Briskey will channel Garland and recreate that night's iconic performance in Garland in Word and Song at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park. The production, produced by Black Box Booking (The Jazz Singer, Danny Kaye & Sylvia), will run from January 26th through February 11th.

From January 12th-21st, North Carolina Theatre will be presenting A.R. Gurney's LOVE LETTERS at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater. I recently had the great pleasure of stopping by rehearsal to interview the stars of this production, two-time Emmy nominee Sandy Duncan and Ira David Wood III.

When Judy Garland stepped out onto the stage at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, the raucous standing ovation that greeted her was just the start of what has been called the greatest night in showbusiness history. Award-winning actress/singer Jody Briskey will channel Garland and recreate that night's iconic performance in Garland in Word and Song at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park. The production, produced by Black Box Booking (The Jazz Singer, Danny Kaye & Sylvia), will run from January 26th through February 11th.

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the second production in its 2017 2018 season of Chicago's hit musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway 1959, hosted by Gene Weygandt, directed by Adrian Abel Azevedo with music direction by David Fiorello, Monday, Feb. 26 at Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave in Skokie at 7:30 p.m. In tribute to the original New Faces series that ran on Broadway and on film from 1934 1968, Porchlight Music Theatre created the Chicago musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway as a showcase for the best emerging music talent now performing on Chicago stages.

Ninety-nine years before television producer Aaron Spelling first invited viewers aboard 'The Love Boat,' Gilbert and Sullivan made good on their promise of shipboard romance with their enduring hit, H.M.S. PINAFORE.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) opens its Spring 2018 Music Series with Anton Batagov and the Attacca Quartet on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 7:30pm in the Jerome Robbins Theater. This varied evening of music features the World Premiere of Different Things from influential post-minimalist Russian composer and pianist Anton Batagov, paired with Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 18, No. 6. Batagov's Different Things will be performed by the composer (at the piano) and the Attacca Quartet, one of America's premier young string ensembles, along with Kris Saebo, double bass; Linda Jones, soprano; Luthien Brackett, mezzo soprano; Andrew Fuchs, tenor; and Steven Hrycelak, bass.

Sandy Duncan soared on Broadway in Peter Pan, made a splash in My One and Only, and rocked it as Roxie in Chicago. OnTuesday, January 9, the multi-talented, three-time Tony Award nominee comes to Palm Beach Dramaworks to take part in the popular series Dramalogue Talking Theatre! Duncan will appear live, onstage with Sheryl Flatow, to discuss her fascinating, 60-year career that began in a summer production of The King and I in Dallas when she was 12. The program will be presented twice, at2pm and 7pm, at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre.

This year, New Orleans has had just about as white of a Christmas as we've seen in quite a while. With the excitement of last week's snowfall and Christmas coming up on Monday, the touring production of Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS couldn't have come to the Saenger Theater at a more perfect time.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announces the Spring 2018 Music Series, which runs January through April and features an eclectic lineup of premieres and performances by international musicians. All performances will be held at BAC (450 West 37th Street, Manhattan). Tickets ($20-25) are on sale now at bacnyc.org or 866-811-4111.

Complete with the String of Pearls Orchestra and the IN THE MOOD Singers & Dancers, IN THE MOOD, a 1940s musical revue creates a nostalgic atmosphere that transports the audience back in time a time when everyone was singing and dancing to the same kind of music. IN THE MOOD returns to the Duke Energy Center on Thursday, January 25 at 7:30pm. Tickets go on sale Friday, December 15 at 10am. For tickets visit the Duke Energy Center Box Office or DukeEnergyCenterRaleigh.com.

You'll find plenty of humor and drama in playwrights Marni Freedman and Phil Johnson's A JEWISH JOKE, which is now playing at the New Jewish Theatre. Set during the McCarthy 'red scare' hearings during the early 1950's, the play offers up an examination of a Jewish comedy writer named Bernie Lutz who, along with his partner Morris, suddenly finds out about his name appearing in Red Channels, which published the names of individuals who had been implicated, or in anyway affiliated, with groups that promoted Socialism and Communism. For most, the results, if true (and even if it wasn't), resulted in an immediate blacklisting. That was it. Your career was over. But some survived, and under other names continued to work on films and TV, while others named names and slipped off the hook to continue working as themselves. This is an excellent examination of how quickly a career could fly off the rails during that period in time, and here, taking place in a single, stressful day. It's powerful and relevant material, laced with great helpings of humor, and it deserves a hearty recommendation.

Starting at New Jewish Theatre, November 29 December 10, is the one man play A Jewish Joke written and performed by Phil Johnson. The play looks at a dark time in US political history. In 1950's Hollywood, at the height of the Communist Blacklist, when careers were ruined by a whisper, we meet irascible comedy screenwriter Bernie Lutz. A Jewish Joke catalogs the most important afternoon in Lutz's life. He's a 50-something half of the comedy screenwriting duo of Lutz and Frumsky. Having worked together since they were both 13, they have moved upward from a Newark Nickelodeon, then on to vaudeville, the Catskills, New York Yiddish theatre and finally sunny LA where they are supplying scripts for the Marx Brothers, Danny Kaye and NBC. The icing on their cake is their big fancy Hollywood premiere that evening for their latest movie, The Big Casbah!

The LA Phil's Deck the Hall concerts feature performances by an eclectic array of artists who bring the joy of the holiday season to people of all ages during this special time of year. Returning to Walt Disney Concert Hall this holiday season: the family-friendly fun of the annual Holiday Sing-Along (Dec. 16), the rich harmonies of Chanticleer (Dec. 19), exquisite jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves (Dec. 20), and the heartwarming White Christmas Sing-Along (Dec. 23).

Triple threat performer David Engel needs no introduction. He is one of the top 5 musical stars on local stages and has won multiple Ovation Awards in the process. He is currently preparing to open White Christmas for two weeks at Musical Theatre West (MTW) Saturday December 2. In our chat he tells us about the show and why MTW is so important to him. How many times have you done this role? What attracts you to it? This is my sixth time performing White Christmas. 10 years ago I toured with the

Dutch Apple's production of White Christmas is a great night of theater for those wishing for some nostalgic memories of holidays from long ago. Simply put, If the Ghost of Christmas Past had a favorite musical, this would be it.

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the first production in the fifth season of Chicago's lost musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits Woman of the Year, starring Meghan Murphy and Brandon Dahlquist, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and book by Peter Stone, with direction by Porchlight's Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreography by Florence Walker Harris and musical direction by David Fiorello.

AMY MARIE MCCLEARY (Director/Choreographer) is currently a resident director/choreographer for Prather Entertainment Group where she has performed, directed and choreographed for the past twelve years. Most recently, she choreographed the new national tour of The Wizard of Oz with Apex Touring. At the Dutch Apple she has directed and choreographed Cats, Hairspray, 9 to 5 and I Love A Piano.

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the first production in the fifth season of Chicago's lost musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits Woman of the Year, starring Meghan Murphy and Brandon Dahlquist, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and book by Peter Stone, with direction by Porchlight's Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreography by Florence Walker Harris and musical direction by David Fiorello.

Next up for New Jewish Theatre, November 29 December 10, is the one man play A Jewish Joke written and performed by Phil Johnson.