Dick Van Dyke News

On June 7, 2018, Charles Strouse, the Tony Award-winning composer of Annie, Bye Bye and Applause, and some of the most popular music from the last 60 years of Broadway, film and television, turns 90. To mark the occasion, a year-long celebration of events, including tributes, concerts, revivals and international productions, will take place across the United States and around the world.

Broadway legend Chita Rivera will be presented with a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards on June 10, 2018. This award recognizes theatre artists that have made significant contributions to theatre throughout their life.

Calling all plastics, cool moms and wannabes! Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, creators of Tony nominated Mean Girls The Musical, are taking over Spotify's groolest "Best of Broadway" playlist to share 68 hidden gems about songs from the Broadway show and discuss their favorite show tunes. Listen to the podcast HERE!

Last night's star-studded event, Backstage at the Geffen, at the Geffen Playhouse grossed more than $1 million for the theater's education, outreach and artistic initiatives. The fundraiser, which recognizes leaders in the artistic community, supports the theater's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its education and community engagement programs, honored legendary stage and screen performer Dick Van Dyke and award-winning composer, lyricist and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda. Comedian Jim Carrey presented the Distinction in Theater Award to Van Dyke and EGOT award-winning actress Rita Moreno presented the Education Impact Award to Miranda.

Kim Maresca is currently playing Judy Denmark in Ruthless! the Musical, a role she played Off-Broadway in the show's most recent run. She also recently did her fifth one-woman show at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City.

Backstage at the Geffen, the Geffen Playhouse's annual fundraiser event, has launched its online auction featuring luxury vacations, one-of-a-kind artwork and VIP experiences. Proceeds will benefit the Geffen's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its award-winning education and community engagement programs, which bring live theater to more than 15,000 disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans annually.

On Friday, May 11, PBS will present an encore broadcast of their enormously successful Great Performances special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' to Do, a career retrospective of the legendary theatrical icon. The program features interviews, archival performance footage and songs from Rivera's concert repertoire including such numbers as "A Boy Like That," "America," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," "All That Jazz," and "Nowadays."  The encore broadcast will air in the New York area on THIRTEEN/WNET Friday, May 11 at 10:00 PM ET. (Check local listings in your area). 

37 PROBLEMS, the award-winning fertility comedy series by playwright Lisa Ebersole (Mother, Brother) is back with a Special 'Mother's Day?' Episode starring ERIC BALFOUR (Haven, Six Feet Under, 24).

When I was a kid, my parents took me to the theater a lot. As a mom with a child on the autism spectrum, however, it's been hard to share my love of the theater with my daughter. So imagine my delight when I heard that Raleigh Little Theatre was collaborating with Arts Access to do a sensory-friendly performance of Alice @ Wonderland. To think that a community theater here in the Triangle was making theater accessible to special needs kids was just, in the words of the young Alice herself, awesome.

Marcie Gorman, Executive Producer & Artistic Director for MNM Theatre Company, today announced the cast of its second production in 2018, the witty musical I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, which will run July 27 to August 12 at the Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse. MNM's first show this year is Avenue Q, which opens at the Rinker on May 25 and runs through June 10.

The National Comedy Center is proud to announce the acquisition of an expansive archive chronicling the nine-decade career of pioneering comedienne Rose Marie, who passed away at the age of 94 in December 2017.

LA BELLE: LOST IN THE WORLD OF THE AUTOMATON can hardly be called a play. It is a play, but also so much more - it's also a musical, a puppet show, a clown act, a dance performance, a visual art installation, and an automated wonder.

Before his guest starring role on Young Sheldon, last season's off-Broadway production of The Portuguese Kid and of course nearly a decade as George Costanza on Seinfeld, Jason Alexander was a song and dance man on Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in Merrily We Roll Along in 1981, followed by a continual decade of shows: The Rink, Broadway Bound, Jerome Robbins' Broadway (in which he won a Tony Award for his performance) and Accomplice. Highlights of how his Broadway career began will be hilariously re-told next week, as his tour heads back to his home state of New Jersey to perform with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at NJPAC in Newark and the State Theater in New Brunswick. Newark is actually where Alexander was born before growing up in Maplewood and Livingston.

Emily Blunt appeared on last night's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she discussed the enjoyment of playing Mary Poppins, and the strange feeling she gets when thinking about the character. Check out the clip below!

With ELECTRICITY, the hit LGBT comedy/drama starring stars Terry Ray ('My Sister is So Gay') & Mel England ('Best Day Ever'), sparks fly again in Palm Springs April 9-11. This  immersive theater experience plays inside an actual motel room at INNdulge Resort, 601 S. Grenfall Rd., Palm Springs, CA. I had the opportunity to catch up with the actors as they prepare for this upcoming engagement to talk about their own careers and coming together for this very unique production. Here are a few experts from that conversation:

Academy Award and Golden Globe winning performer George Chakiris and acclaimed dancer, Barrie Chase have been named the honorees for the Professional Dancers Society's (PDS) annual Gypsy Awards Luncheon, it was announced by PDS President, Mitzi Gaynor and PDS Board Chairman, Joni Berry.  Emmy and Grammy nominated choreographer/director/singer Toni Basil will receive the organization's Choreographer's Award.  PDS' 31st Anniversary Luncheon will be held on Sunday, April 15, 2018 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel (9876 Wilshire Blvd.) in Beverly Hills, CA.

According to Variety, NBC has again delayed production of BYE BYE BIRDIE LIVE, starring Jennifer Lopez until 2019 at the earliest because of Lopez's schedule.

What do Jay-Z, Kobe Bryant, Archie Bunker, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ed Koch, Bart Simpson, Bruce Campbell, Bonnie and Clyde, and J-Lo have in common?  The answer: Charles Strouse (and his hit songs)!

The Michael Bonanomi Foundation is excited to announce that Dustbowl Revival will headline the third annual 'Brighter Sun' benefit concert at El Rey on Saturday, March 10 at 7:30pm. Proceeds will support the Foundation's efforts to encourage children and adults to pursue their musical talent, through donations, scholarships and financial assistance to those programs or individuals who demonstrate both a financial need and a commitment to music.

Second CHARLES IN CHARGE Co-Star Accuses Scott Baio of Harassment