Dessa Rose News

Broadway leading lady Rachel York will guest star on the Disney Channel's top rated children's show 'Hannah Montana' on Saturday, August 3 at 8:30 p.m.

Tony Award nominee Gavin Creel (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and 'American Idol' finalist Diana DeGarmo (Hairspray) will star in the new Broadway production of GODSPELL. The first Broadway revival of the landmark rock musical will officially open on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street) on Thursday, October 23, 2008. Previews will begin on Monday, September 29, 2008.

Director Billy Porter and Grammy nominee Ledisi mark their debuts with Reprise Theatre Company in the 1990 musical 'Once on This Island,' opening the 2008-2009 season, September 2 to 14 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. The press opening is September 3.

The legendary Ladies of Summer continue their captivating hold on Hartford Stage audiences with the swinging sound of the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald, in Ella, starring Broadway veteran Tina Fabrique.

Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (NPC) and Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director of the National Music Theater Conference (NMTC), announced the actors cast in their 2008 projects. The actors include a mix of award-winning actors from stage and screen, seasoned O'Neill performers, and new talent.

New Professional Theatre's limited Off-Broadway engagement of Lisa B. Thompson's SINGLE BLACK FEMALE -- a comedy about single black women and their search for love, dignity and clothes -- directed by Colman Domingo (currently on Broadway in the Tony-nominated musical PASSING STRANGE ) and costarring Soara-Joy Ross (seen at Carnegie Hall in JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA) and Riddick Marie, at The Duke on 42nd Street (229 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan.

Broadway, film, television and recording star Rachel York entertained 300 patrons and guests at the New Repertory Theatre's annual fund-raising Gala on Tuesday, May 6 in Watertown, Mass. Performing her celebrated cabaret 'For the Love of It,' York thrilled the festive crowd with her vocal versatility and dynamic personality.

For the Love of It is an evening of stories and song in which York celebrates her love of singing and performing. She includes numbers made famous by early inspirations, favorite show tunes from her Broadway career, jazz and pop standards from her solo album, Let's Fall in Love, and a few surprises that touch her heart in a special way. Critics have hailed her cabaret as 'crowd pleasing and purely delicious,' 'a blissful night of entertainment,' and 'an experience not to be missed.' Cabaret Scenes called it 'perfection.'

New Repertory Theatre's New England Premiere of Ahrens and Flaherty musical is powerful, passionate storytelling with a tour de force performance by Uzo Aduba in the title role

Award-winning Broadway favorite Rachel York brings her acclaimed cabaret 'For the Love of It' to the Metropolitan Room for one night only Sunday, May 4 at 9:30 pm

'Passing Strange' star Colman Domingo to direct limited engagement of 'Single Black Female' beginning June 10th.

'Sammy & Me' a new musical aiming to open on Broadway in 2009 to have industry reading in Manhattan on May 2nd.

Darius Danesh and Jill Paice lead the cast in Trevor Nunn's production of Margaret Mitchell's classic novel, Gone with the Wind, playing the iconic roles of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. The show opens on April 22.

Darius Danesh and Jill Paice will lead the cast in Trevor Nunn's production of Margaret Mitchell's classic novel, Gone with the Wind, playing the iconic roles of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. Joining them are Edward Baker-Duly who will play Ashley Wilkes, Madeleine Worrall who plays Melanie, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Mammy and Jina Burrows as Prissy.

New Repertory Theatre announces the New England Premiere of Dessa Rose, from the award-winning composer-lyricist team of Ragtime. This powerful story of two strong-willed women explores diversity and unlikely friendship in the antebellum South. Dessa Rose opens for the press on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. and plays through May 18, 2008 at the Arsenal Center for the Arts.

New Repertory Theatre in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts announces the World Premiere of According to Tip, a play with music by Dick Flavin, starring Tony and Emmy award-winner Ken Howard. Just in time for election season, According to Tip will open for the press on Friday, June 27, 2008 and will play through Sunday, July 13, 2008. 'Just in time for election season, New Rep brings you the World Premiere of According to Tip. Featuring Broadway and TV star Ken Howard, this play traces the colorful and historically memorable career of Thomas P. 'Tip' O'Neill, former Speaker of the House. Tip will escort you back in time from Barry's Corner in Cambridge to the White House. Get the inside scoop on politics during the Red Scare, Watergate, and Vietnam in this touching played filled with humor, music, and beguiling Irish wit,' press notes state. New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, direction, and production. Programming at New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Lead Sponsor for According to Tip, Bank of America. The Artists Rick Lombardo (Director) is now in his twelfth season as New Rep's Producing Artistic Director. Earlier this year: A Streetcar Named Desire, A Pinter Duet: The Lover & Ashes to Ashes, The Clean House, and Dessa Rose. Last season: The Pillowman, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (which he also adapted), Silence, and The Wild Party, as well as Hamlet for Actors' Shakespeare Project. Other New Rep Credits: Ragtime (IRNE Awards-Best Director of a Musical and Best Musical); Bill W. and Dr. Bob (which he also directed Off-Broadway in the spring of 2007 at New World Stages in NY); Romeo and Juliet; Into the Woods (multiple IRNE Awards); Quills; Approaching Moomtaj; The Threepenny Opera; A Girl's War; his new musical adaptation of Moliere's Scapin; Waiting for Godot (IRNE Award, Best Drama); Sweeney Todd (2004 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director, IRNE Award for Best Director, and Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Production); The Weir (IRNE Award, Best Drama); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Director); The Scarlet Letter; American Buffalo; A Moon for the Misbegotten; Twelfth Night; Beast on the Moon; Das Barbecu; Tartuffe; and The Real Thing; among others. Additional credits include the world premiere of Moby Dick: An American Opera, for which he received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre by Northern Ohio Live. He is honored to be a two-time recipient of the Elliot Norton Award from the Boston Theatre Critics Association for Outstanding Director. Ken Howard (Tip) Ken Howard launched his acting career in 1968 when he won a role in the original Broadway production of Promises, Promises, for which he won both a Tony and an Emmy. He originated the role of Thomas Jefferson in 1776 for which he won a Theatre World Award. He returned to the role for the 1972 film version. He won a Tony for his work in Child's Play in 1970. From 1976 - 1981, he starred in as the title character in the TV series The White Shadow. He earned an Emmy in 1980 for his narration of The Body Human: Facts for Boys. Other film and television includes: The Thron Birds, The West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Crossing Jordan, Rambo, Cane, Smother and Michael Clayton. Upcoming work includes: Conrad in Still Waters, Sheriff Sedgewick in Two: Thirteen, Officer Ford in The Beacon, and Phelan Beale in the film adaptation of Grey Gardens. Dick Flavin (Playwright) is a nationally known writer and speaker. He has made thousands of speaking appearances all across America, chiefly addressing groups on the subject of how to use humor as a strategy in business and in life. His television commentaries have appeared on NBC-TV, CNN and WBZ-TV in Boston. He is the winner of seven New England regional Emmy Awards for writing and commentary. He was the narrator of The Teammates, an ESPN documentary that was nominated for three national Emmy Awards. Known as the 'Poet Laureate of the Boston Red Sox,' he has written countless poems and song parodies about the team and its history, some of which are being compiled into a compact disc and DVD. The most well-known of them, Teddy at the Bat, a salute to Red Sox legend Ted Williams that is based on Ernest Lawrence Thayer's immortal Casey at the Bat, has been performed by Mr. Flavin at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, at Fenway Park and in cities and towns across the country. He was the co-host of and contributing writer to Red Sox Stories, a weekly television series that ran during the 2007 baseball season. He has also written and performed special material for the Boston Pops and Symphony orchestras. In addition to According the Tip, his play on the life and times of the late Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill, Mr. Flavin has also written I Feel a Song Comin' On, a soon to be produced musical about the lyricist Dorothy Fields.

On Tuesday, March 18, CHICAGO is pleased to welcome Kecia Lewis-Evans as cell block diva Matron 'Mama' Morton for an 11-week engagement through Sunday, June 1. Also on Tuesday, March 18, Broadway veteran Jeff McCarthy begins an 11-week return engagement as slick criminal lawyer Billy Flynn.

On Tuesday, March 18, 2008, Broadway's razzle-dazzle hit musical Chicago is pleased to welcome Kecia Lewis-Evans as Matron 'Mama' Morton for an 11-week engagement through Sunday, June 1 at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre. On Tuesday, March 18, Broadway veteran Jeff McCarthy will begin an 11-week return engagement as slick criminal lawyer Billy Flynn.

Darius Danesh and Jill Paice will lead the cast in Trevor Nunn's production of Margaret Mitchell's classic novel, Gone with the Wind, playing the iconic roles of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. Joining them are Edward Baker-Duly who will play Ashley Wilkes, Madeleine Worrall who plays Melanie, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Mammy and Jina Burrows as Prissy. Gone with the Wind will have its first performance at the New London Theatre on Friday April 4, 2008, officially opening on Tuesday April 22, and is initially booking until September 27, 2008.

Broadway, film, television and recording star Rachel York will be the special guest performer at the 2008 San Francisco Equality Awards to be held on Saturday, February 9 at historic San Francisco City Hall.