Birth Place: Detroit, MI, USA
The daffy and delightful Christine Pedi's newest cabaret concoction, the Jolly Holly Christmas Folly is an inviting cocktail mixing old favorites with a few new routines; very merry, raucously funny and abundantly cheery.
It's my firm belief that if composer Leroy Anderson, lyricist Joan Ford and bookwriter/lyricists Walter & Jean Kerr had named their brash and funny 1958 musical comedy about the love/hate relationship between a silent movie director and his reluctant star anything other than Goldilocks, it might not only have had a longer run than its five months on Broadway, but would have been a popular choice among regional and amateur theatres as well. With a good collection of snazzy tunes and well-crafted lyrics (most notably the semi-standard torcher, 'I Never Know When To Say When') and a book loaded with guffaws and wise-cracks (originally quipped by stars Elaine Stritch and Don Ameche), Goldilocks is a solid example of a show that, if not exactly a musical theatre triumph, provided a fun night out for audiences in an era when affordable ticket prices meant that not every Broadway production had to be a huge event.
Noel Coward once asked in song, 'Why Must The Show Go On?' That thought might have been on the minds of Neil Diamond fans that, according to this article, walked out on his concert Monday night when the singer, who was diagnosed the next day with acute laryngitis, performed a complete concert in a raspy voice. Diamond has offered refunds for anyone making a request.
The history of Broadway's attempts to make commercially successful sequels of hit musicals is not a pretty one. But the Opening Doors Theatre Company, now in its second season at The Duplex staging pocket-sized versions of some of Broadway's most beloved flops, can offer a fabulously fun time from even the most legendary disaster. Having premiered their Closing Notice series a year and a half ago with Bring Back Birdie, this small but increasingly impressive company headed by Producer/Artistic Director Suzanne Adams now offers a fast and funny mounting of The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public.
The Palace Theatre. An engagement to appear before an audience at that aptly named showplace, where the kings and queens of vaudeville would hold court on a 2-a-day schedule, was once the Holy Grail of show business. 'Playing The Palace' was the dream of every vaudeville performer and the term is still used today to describe someone who has reached the top of their profession. And for those who headlined at The Palace… Well, having top billing at The Palace used to mean that you were among the best stage performers that American entertainment had to offer.
On Monday, November 2nd at the renowned Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, This is Tisch! honored Academy Award® winning producer Brian Grazer, two-time Academy Award® winning director Ron Howard, Academy Award® and Tony Award® winning actress and Tisch alumna Marcia Gay Harden, arts philanthropist Diana King, and Academy Award®, Emmy Award® and Peabody Award® winning Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentary Films.
Presented in association with Ontological-Hysteric Theater, previews for IDIOT SAVANT continue through November 3. The show opens officially on Wednesday, November 4 and runs through Sunday, December 13.
Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell of the Tisch School of the Arts announced today that Kristen Johnston '89 will host this year's annual gala, This is Tisch!, on Monday, November 2nd at the renowned Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. This is Tisch! will honor Academy Award winning producer Brian Grazer, two-time Academy Award winning director Ron Howard, Academy Award and Tony Award winning actress and Tisch alumna Marcia Gay Harden, arts philanthropist Diana King, and Academy Award®, Emmy Award and Peabody Award winning Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentary Films.
Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell of the Tisch School of the Arts announced today that it will hold its annual gala, This is Tisch!, on Monday, November 2nd at the renowned Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Celebrated cabaret performer Jamie deRoy will host a special edition of the acclaimed 'MAC/ASAPC Songwriters' Showcase,' an ongoing series exploring the role of Songwriters in America on Saturday, October 31st from 2pm to 4Ppm at the Metropolitan Room. The afternoon program will focus on Songwriters from the West Coast with participants including Melissa Manchester, Mark Winkler, Shelly Markham and Geoffrey Leigh Tozer.
Arena Stage presents an innovative take on the world's longest-running musical, The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Director Amanda Dehnert (Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s All's Well That Ends Well and Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Cabaret) and famed set designer Eugene Lee (Tony Award for Broadway's Wicked, Candide, Sweeney Todd) take a spin on this timeless love story by staging it in Rocky Point, an abandoned amusement park in Rhode Island. This whimsical twist on the classic musical is full of buoyant humor, charming music and incredible magic that will thrill audiences of all ages. The Fantasticks runs November 20, 2009 - January 10, 2010 at Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre, with an official opening on Friday, November 27, 2009.
Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays have officially launched at the Public Theater. The series Part 2, The Brothers Size and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet, directed by Robert O'Hara, began previews on October 21. Tonight Part 1, In the red and Brown Water, hits the stage. Tina Landau directs. McCraney, one of America's most acclaimed young writers, returns to The Public to complete his trilogy following the success of The Brothers Size in 2007. Official opening night it November 17. Performances will run through December 13.
Celebrated cabaret performer Jamie deRoy will host a special edition of the acclaimed 'MAC/ASAPC Songwriters' Showcase,' an ongoing series exploring the role of Songwriters in America on Saturday, October 31st from 2pm to 4Ppm at the Metropolitan Room. The afternoon program will focus on Songwriters from the West Coast with participants including Melissa Manchester, Mark Winkler, Shelly Markham and Geoffrey Leigh Tozer.
The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will present the New York premiere of THE LAST CARGO CULT, created and performed by Mike Daisey and directed by Jean-Michele Gregory in the Public's Newman Theater.
The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced initial casting today for the world premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks' THE BOOK OF GRACE (previously titled Snake).
The Public Theater's highly anticipated world premiere of IDIOT SAVANT, written and directed by Richard Foreman, kicks off tonight with the first preview. Presented in association with Ontological-Hysteric Theater, previews for IDIOT SAVANT continue through November 3. The show opens officially on Wednesday, November 4 and runs through Sunday, December 13.
Tony Award nominee Liz Callaway returns to the Metroplitan Room to celebrate the release of her album 'Passage of Time.' Callaway will perform a series of concerts, which began October 20th and runs through October 25th. The album, her first in 8 years, includes music by Stephen Sondheim, James Taylor, Rogers and Hammerstein, Maltby and Shire, Ahrens and Flaherty, Stephen Schwartz, and Carly Simon.
The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announces a return engagement of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, the critically acclaimed rock musical that played a sold-out run last spring as part of the Public's Public LAB season.
The world premiere of Rajiv Joseph's (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) Gruesome Playground Injuries features Selma Blair (Hellboy, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Storytelling, Legally Blonde, NBC's Kath & Kim) playing Kayleen and Brad Fleischer (Center Theatre Group's premiere of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Broadway's Coram Boy, Off Broadway's Streamers) playing Doug.
Tony Award nominee Liz Callaway returns to the Metroplitan Room to celebrate the release of her album 'Passage of Time.' Callaway will perform a series of concerts, which began October 20th and runs through October 25th. The album, her first in 8 years, includes music by Stephen Sondheim, James Taylor, Rogers and Hammerstein, Maltby and Shire, Ahrens and Flaherty, Stephen Schwartz, and Carly Simon.
Videos
