Feinstein's/54 Below will present the triumphant return of Rita McKenzie's award-winning ETHEL MERMAN'S BROADWAY, the country's longest-running one woman musical. This special one-night-only event will be presented on Tuesday, October 27th at 7 PM at Feinstein's/54 Below as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Rita McKenzie has performed her critically acclaimed show throughout the world - from New York's Carnegie Hall to Pasadena Playhouse - from Canada to Europe and Asia. And now she's back in New York City for this one performance and this great cause.
Deaf West Theatre's acclaimed production of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's SPRING AWAKENING, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Spencer Liff, opened on Sunday night, September 27, at Broadway's Brooks AtkinsonTheatre. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the whole evening, starting with the sacred Gypsy Robe ceremony. Check out photos of gypsy robe recipient Van Hughes with the company!
Al Hirschfeld immortalized celebrities, politicians, Broadway productions, films, television shows and beyond with his iconic linear drawings for nine decades, establishing himself as one of the most important contemporary portrait artists. Over a decade since the legendary artist drew his final line drawing, he continues to inspire. Tonight, September 29, at 6:30PM, The Art Students League of New York (215 W 57th Street) will host a discussion on the art and influence of perhaps the most popular graphic artist of the 20th century.
Portland's Good Theater opened its 2015-2016 season with No Biz Like Show Biz, a stylish tribute to two legends of the Broadway stage, Ethel Merman and Mary Martin, created and directed by the company's artistic director, Brian P. Allen. The one-hundred-minute arrangement of songs associated with these legends from the decades of the 1930s-1960s focuses on the work of iconic composers and lyricists such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, and Stephen Sondheim and is performed by three delightfully talented and distinctive singing-actresses.
When word spread quickly among Nashville's theater community that Nan Gurley had been cast as Mama Rose in Studio Tenn's 2015-16 season opening production of Gypsy, the response was universal: artistic director Matt Logan once again had proven his brilliance. Simply put, Nan Gurley - a member of Nashville theater's first family - was the perfect choice to play the overpowering and flawed mother of stripper/entertainer/author/raconteur Gypsy Rose Lee.
Good Theater, the professional theater company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, kicks off its 14th season tonight, September 23, with the original musical revue, NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ. This show is a tribute to Mary Martin and Ethel Merman starring three singers: Marie Dittmer, Lynne McGhee and Jen Means.
In 1930 Manhattan, George and Ira Gershwin opened 'Strike Up the Band' on Broadway, while ingenue Ethel Merman stepped into the spotlight in 'Girl Crazy.' Not far from the glow of the marquees, Etta and Herbert Sondheim became the co-producers of a son who would revolutionize American musical theater.
Al Hirschfeld immortalized celebrities, politicians, Broadway productions, films, television shows and beyond with his iconic linear drawings for nine decades, establishing himself as one of the most important contemporary portrait artists. Over a decade since the legendary artist drew his final line drawing, he continues to inspire. On September 29, at 6:30PM, The Art Students League of New York (215 W 57th Street) will host a discussion on the art and influence of perhaps the most popular graphic artist of the 20th century.
Theatre Charlotte's revival of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES allows us to catch up with its true meaning as director Dennis Delamar sets his star, Steve Bryan, free to add uproarious blandishments of shtick and impersonation.
In 1964, HELLO DOLLY opened on Broadway, starring a relatively unknown, 43-year-old Carol Channing as the lead. Reviving the show in 1978, 1981, and 1995, Channing's personality is almost synonymous with the title character. With the demanding role requiring someone with a true star quality, many celebrities have tackled the bold character (including Ginger Rogers, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Merman…and, of course, Barbara Streisand). It is no surprise that Arlington Player's has gambled on a local small-town-star as the headliner in their current production.
Beginning Monday, October 5th, Jennifer Diamond will assume the roles of Louise Lerman and Eve Allabout in RUTHLESS! The Musical at St. Luke's Theatre in the heart of the Theatre District. She's replacing Tracy Jai Edwards who is departing the show to appear in the new musical Gotta Dance, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.
Some shows I can see again and again, especially those composed by the forever upbeat Jerry Herman. Hello Dolly bowed on Broadway when I was a teenager in the 60s and it had a long run with original star Carol Channing, followed by turns with Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Pearl Bailey, Martha Raye and Molly Picon, to name a few. Every major star wanted to do it because the role offers a female actress the chance to sing, dance and act the hell out of it. It's a big, splashy gut buster about a woman who has more moxy than the Pied Piper and enough wisdom and panache to win over an army or a whole kingdom, for that matter...and, for the audience, it's one of those extra-special feel-good musicals that just doesn't quit... for a moment. You leave the theatre actually humming the tunes.Welk Resort's current production of Dolly! in Escondido through November 15 is right on target...it's wondrously delectable.
Motion Pictures Collective will present IN DENIAL, a play about a clown who's dream is to be a Broadway superstar or Hollywood starlet as skinny and famous as pregnant Angelina Jolie as part of the 16-day San Francisco Fringe Festival (Tonight, September 11 through 26, 2015). IN DENIAL plays September 11th, 13th, 17th, 19th, and 23rd at EXIT Theatre (156 Eddy Street).
The Drama League, embarking on a landmark year of celebration commemorating its 100 years of service to the American theater, will honor Golden Globe and three-time Tony Award winner and musical theater icon Bernadette Peters as their Centennial Honoree. The Drama League Centennial Gala is set for Monday evening, November 2, 2015 at The Plaza (768 Fifth Avenue) in New York City.
Boston's 115-year-old Colonial Theatre, where so many notable (and not so notable) Broadway-bound productions worked out their kinks and licked their wounds, will be closing in October for at least a year, its future not determined.
Joel Paley has earned accolades for over two decades with RUTHLESS! The Musical, for which he wrote the award-winning book and lyrics. He also directed the original 1992 production at the Player's Theatre, as well as in L.A., South Beach, the record-breaking concert event starring Bernadette Peters, and the current smash Off-Broadway production at St. Luke's Theatre. If that isn't enough, Paley is also starring in the show this week as the 8-year-old murderous, uber-talented Tina Denmark. The role is normally played by Tori Murray who is taking a brief, well-deserved vacation as she prepares to enter sixth grade next week. She's set to return to the role tomorrow, and Joel Paley will offer audiences his showstopping take on the role one more time tonight at 7 PM. When asked why the 59-year-old Paley was interested in stepping into this seemingly impossible assignment, he merely shrugged and explained, 'The show must go on.' Scroll down for photos!
Good Theater, the professional theater company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, kicks off its 14th season on September 23 with the original musical revue, NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ. This show is a tribute to Mary Martin and Ethel Merman starring three singers: Marie Dittmer, Lynne McGhee and Jen Means.
The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present Klea Blackhurst in her return to the Birdland stage with EVERYTHING THE TRAFFIC WILL ALLOW, on Monday, August 24. BroadwayWorld has photos from the concert below!
Jim Caruso's Broadway at Birdland concert series had all the traffic Monday night as Klea Blackhurst brought her hit concert, 'Everything the Traffic Will Allow' to the Birdland stage.This is Blackhurst's loving tribute to the songs made famous by the quintessential stage personality Ethel Merman. Not an impersonator and not an impressionist, Blackhurst offered a paean to the great Broadway legend that serves as a potent and happy reminder of Merman's sheer, undeniable importance to both the history of twentieth century entertainment and the iconic composers like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Jerry Herman, who wrote songs just for her.
Radio show co-hosts Jill Whelan (Love Boat, Airplane, Celebrity Wife Swap) and Alexander Rodriguez (Happy Hour) from Universal Broadcasting Network's newest show "On The Rocks" will hit the stage on August 24th debuting their new duet cabaret show, 'Musical Madness!' - a roller coaster of stories, audience participation, and dramedy, belted out by your co-hosts featuring music from stage, screen and pop.
