This spring, a former Broadway theater just off Times Square will be resurrected as the lavish and risque playground of Florenz Ziegfeld and his Follies for SPEAKEASY DOLLHOUSE: ZIEGFELD'S MIDNIGHT FROLIC, the third interactive show in the Speakeasy Dollhouse series from author, artist and playwright Cynthia von Buhler.
Whoopee, Musicals Tonight!'s next production, has a book by William Anthony McGuire, music by Walter Donaldson, and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It opened on December 4, 1928 at the New Amsterdam Theater. It starred Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, and Buddy Ebsen. Performances run tonight, March 3 - 15, 2015 at The Lion Theatre.
The National Theater Institute is committed to diverse theatrical and educational experiences. Therefore, two weeks of each semester are spent in-residence in one of the world's most prominent theater capitals -- the NTI Semester and NTI-Advanced Programs study in London -- while the National Music Theater Institute train in New York City. In both cities, students met with alumni of the National Theater Institute who shared their theatrical experience, NTI stories, professional advice, and insight into the various ways to make a life in the theater. Today, RISK AGAIN! introduces them to you!
Whoopee, Musicals Tonight!'s next production, has a book by William Anthony McGuire, music by Walter Donaldson, and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It opened on December 4, 1928 at the New Amsterdam Theater. It starred Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, and Buddy Ebsen. Performances run March 3 - 15, 2015 at The Lion Theatre.
This year, ASCAP brings its 100th birthday celebration into the holiday season by unwrapping the top 30 ASCAP holiday songs of all time. Topping the list is 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,' written by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie.
Monday, November 24th will be "Eddie Cantor Day" at "One Night with Fanny Brice," the long-running musical play at the 13th Street Repertory Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC).
Where else to present a concert version of a new, original Broadway musical titled "Song Of Solomon than at the Actors' Temple. The historic building, constructed in 1923, has been designated a national landmark and the synagogue has been home to many of the greats in show business. Some of it's members and congregants were Al Jolson, Edward G. Robinson, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, Eddie Cantor and countless other lesser-known actors, comedians, singers, playwrights, composers, musicians, writers, dancers and theatrical agents. Academy Award winner Shelley Winters kept the High Holy Days in the Actors Temple. as well as The Three Stooges, and Harpo Marx who attended services. Ed Sullivan, whose wife Sylvia Weinstein was Jewish, was also a member.
ASCAP Award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa's 'The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue'-currently playing at the 13th Street Theater in repertory with Deffaa's long-running 'One Night with Fanny Brice'--is to receive a cast recording. The cast album will feature all of the singing actors currently appearing in the show: Rayna Hirt, Ken Adams, Michael Cyzz, Maite Uzal, Michael Kasper, Jonah Barricklo, Emily Bordonaro, Missy Dreier, K.W. Andersson; Andrew Lanctot, Ann Marie Calabro, Brandon Pollinger, and Timmy Thompson, with musical direction by Richard Danley. Deffaa will produce the album; Slau Halatyn will be the recording engineer; with production to begin later this month at Be-Sharp Studios in Astoria. The album will be released in the United States on the Original Cast Records label. It will be the sixth show of Deffaa's to get a cast album.
ASCAP Award-winning writer/director Chip Deffaa will be joined by special guests, including noted showbiz biographer Herb Goldman, writer/entertainer Brian Gari, and actor Michael Townsend Wright, for special audience 'talkback' sessions, following select performances of Deffaa's shows 'One Night with Fanny Brice' and 'The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,' which are playing in repertory this fall at the 13th Street Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC).
The new Broadway revival of On The Town, directed by John Rando (Tony Award for Urinetown) and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse (Emmy Award winner for 'Smash') officially opens tonight, Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre (213 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). BroadwayWorld wants you to get to know the talented cast of Broadway's latest revival. Meet the company below!
For one of their KickStarter rewards, creators Michael Paul Smith and Gillian Pensavalle are thanking their supporters in a pretty unusual way. They are making videos for KickStarter contributors that include classic jokes from a 70-year-old joke book edited by Eddie Cantor. Now where else are you going to get that kind of 'Thank You?' And let's be honest, Gillian's reactions are just as funny as the jokes themselves. Check out some of these videos below.
If you are a regular reader of BroadwayWorld, you should know that the fantastic comedy webseries THE RESIDUALS is currently in pre-production for their second season exclusively here on BroadwayWorld. As part of their preparations, they are in the middle of a KickStarter campaign, and creators Michael Paul Smith and Gillian Pensavalle are thanking their supporters in a pretty unusual way. They are making videos for KickStarter contributors that include classic jokes from a 70-year-old joke book edited by Eddie Cantor. Now where else are you going to get that kind of 'Thank You?' And let's be honest, Gillian's reactions are just as funny as the jokes themselves.
Here we are again, back for the second episode of BOARDWALK EMPIRE's final season. The episode, entitled “The Good Listener”, hit the ground running this week as we caught back up with that major ensemble of brilliant characters we've been missing. The episode opened with a montage of Eddie Cantor singing, fish frying and other oddities, as abstract openings appear to be a theme this season. We pull out into the episode through the ear canal of Eli Thompson, who we find worse for wear, waking up from what appears to be a drunken stupor.
The 18th Long Island Al Jolson Festival coming up on August 16 is a whole-day affair featuring film presentations, lectures, memorabilia displays and sales, and a performance--'The Heart of Al Jolson'--by singer and Staten Island native Tony Babino (photo below), who can sing Jolson songs like, well, you ain't heard nothin' yet. The other day, like clockwork, I received my yearly invitation to attend from Oceanside, LI resident Jan Hernstat, who for the past 10 years has been the President of the 62-year-old International Al Jolson Society (which was formed in early 1950, a few months before Jolson died), an organization with a worldwide membership hovering around 1,000. I am proud to say that for 30 years, I've been one of them. I'm even prouder to say that I've been an Al Jolson fanatic for much longer. Here's my story about how it happened.
The 13th Street Repertory Theater will offer audience talkbacks after the following performances of Chip Deffaa's new musical play 'Irving Berlin's America': Sunday, June 22nd at 8 p.m.; Thursday, June 26th at 8 p.m.; Sunday, June 29th at 8 p.m.; Monday, June 30th at 8 p.m.; Sunday, July 6th at 8 p.m.; and Thursday, July 10th at 8 p.m.