Edna Ferber News

Giant's Kate Baldwin, Brian D'Arcy James and Michael John LaChiusa attended a CD signing and performance at Barnes & Noble (86th & Lexington Ave) yesterday, August 1. BroadwayWorld was there for the special event and you can check out photos below!

Giant's Kate Baldwin, Brian D'Arcy James and Michael John LaChiusa will be present for a CD signing and performance at Barnes & Noble at 86th & Lexington Ave in NYC tonight, August 1, 2013 at 7 PM.

Lakewood Theatre Company will begin its 61st season with six productions on its Mainstage and three productions on its Side Door stage beginning today, July 12, 2013.

Giant's Kate Baldwin, Brian D'Arcy James and Michael John LaChiusa will be present for a CD signing and performance at Barnes & Noble at 86th & Lexington Ave in NYC on Thursday, August 1, 2013 at 7 PM.

Actors who dedicate their life to the theatre are a passionate, unique and rare breed. Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in THE ROYAL FAMILY, an uproarious comedy about a family of actors.

On Saturday night, BEHOLD: A Gala Performance, honoring 50 years of the Guthrie, took place on the theater's Wurtele Thrust Stage before a packed house. The performance featured a glittering array of contributors including actors and artists linked to all aspects of the Guthrie's past and its vision for the future. BEHOLD, the centerpiece of a weekend that captivated the Twin Cities and marked the long and vital relationship between the Guthrie and the community that it calls home, marked the half-century milestone for the flagship of the American regional theater movement that first opened its doors in 1963.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, June 23, 2013 - Sunday, June 23, 2013.

Today we are talking to a spectacularly talented composer/lyricist noted for his incredibly impressive and accomplished oeuvre thus far, having collectively composed more than twenty full-length musicals, operas and specialty performance pieces - Michael John LaChiusa. Discussing his vast array of projects from BUZZSAW BERKELEY to FIRST LADY SUITE, HELLO AGAIN and THE PETRIFIED PRINCE Off-Broadway through to his double-header in the 1999-2000 millennial season with MARIE CHRISTINE and THE WILD PARTY both on Broadway to his Off-Broadway, regional and international successes since, ranging from LITTLE FISH to another two-show-season in 2006 with BERNARDA ALBA and SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE as well as THE HIGHEST YELLOW and the recent Americana-themed epic musical pseudo-trilogy of LOS otros, QUEEN OF THE MIST and GIANT. Additionally, LaChiusa touches upon some of his lesser-known work, such as his musical revue HOTEL C'EST L'AMOUR, various operatic pieces, additional material he provided for pieces such as THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS and his previous and upcoming solo musicals for continuing collaborator Audra McDonald, such as SEND (who are you? i love you) and MARLENE DIETRICH'S ABCs OF LOVE. Most importantly, LaChiusa takes us behind the scenes of the sparkling new deluxe cast album for GIANT, starring Brian D'Arcy James, and discusses the themes, ideas and adaptation of the Edna Ferber novel itself in a fascinating and revealing analysis of the vast, enveloping and vivid score he has composed for GIANT. Also, LaChiusa offers the 411 on this year's Tony Awards specialty song composed for host Neil Patrick Harris and some starry cohorts (Megan Hilty, Laura Benanti and Andrew Rannells), as well as previous Tony show one-offs penned for Hugh Jackman and others. Plus, LaChiusa clues us in on his upcoming projects - including FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE - and much, much more in this career-spanning conversations with one of modern musical theatre's most daring and prolific artists.

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic directorEllen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores,George S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are 'defacto' Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member Susan Angelo directs.The Royal Family opens today, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th Anniversary Summer Repertory Season.

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores, George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are "defacto" Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member SusanAngelo directs. The Royal Family opens on Saturday, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th AnniversarySummer Repertory Season. Check out a first look below!

The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston hosted Jaston Williams, of GREATER TUNA fame, on Saturday, June 15, 2013 for two command performances of BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS. BLAME IT ON VALENTINE, TEXAS, one of four one-man shows crafted by Jaston Williams, had its World Premiere on February 14, 2009 at the Lubbock Civic Center Theater as a benefit for Lubbock Community Theater. To create the show, he pulled several of his autobiographical vignettes from I'M NOT LYING and COWBOY NOISES. He also wrote a new piece, "The Screaming Part of China."

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic directorEllen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-lawAbby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores,George S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are "defacto" Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member Susan Angelo directs.The Royal Family opens on Saturday, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th Anniversary Summer Repertory Season.

Edna Ferber has been proven to be plumb inspiration for grandiose and sweeping musicals. 1927's SHOW BOAT was based on her 1926 novel Showboat. Recently, her novel Giant was musicalized by Michael John LaChiusa (SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE, FIRST LADY SUITE, THE WILD PARTY). The show features a book by Sybille Pearson, Music and Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, and luxuriant orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin with additional orchestrations by Larry Hochman. GIANT had its New York City premiere in a production that was co-produced by The Public Theater and Dallas Theater Center last fall. The acclaimed musical's rousing and extravagantly epic score has been resplendently captured by Ghostlight Records on their 2-disc GIANT (Original Cast Recording) album.

Ghostlight Records will release the Original Cast Recording of the acclaimed epic musical GIANTonline and in stores on May 21, 2013. Performance rights for GIANT will be licensed through R&H Theatricals, a division of Rodgers & Hammerstein, an Imagem Company. Applications for performance are not yet being accepted and will be announced at a later date. In the meantime all inquiries should be directed to Theatre@rnh.com. For more information please visit http://www.rnh.com/show/335/GIANT.

Ghostlight Records will release the Original Cast Recording of the acclaimed epic musical GIANT online and in stores today, May 21, 2013.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 19, 2013 - Sunday, May 19, 2013.

Today in 1946, the second Broadway revival of Showboat opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, and ran for 418 performances. Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, from 1880 to 1927. The show's dominant themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love.

SHOW BOAT is back in an appealing production by the Washington National Opera. The Kennedy Center Opera House is a fitting berth for Captain Andy's Cotton Blossom and the happy/troubled show folk who make it their home. Boasting a cast and chorus of 100, WNO's SHOW BOAT allows the story to roll along the 40-year time span and the glorious music to enthrall the audience once again.

The Off-Broadway League today gave out awards in 14 categories and two additional special awards for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Lortel Awards were handed out on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at NYU Skirball Center, hosted by acclaimed stage and screen actors Aasif Mandvi and Maura Tierney. This year's event once again benefited The Actors Fund.

The Off-Broadway League previously announced award nominations in 14 categories and two additional special awards for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Lortel Awards will be handed out today, May 5, 2013 at NYU Skirball Center beginning at 7:00pm EST, and hosted by acclaimed stage and screen actors Aasif Mandvi and Maura Tierney. This year's event will once again benefit The Actors Fund.