Ethel Merman News

Today we are talking to a celebrated comedienne and actress known for her decades-spanning career on screens and stages large and small - from making her Broadway debut in the original Jerome Robbins production of GYPSY on Broadway in 1960 to her many musical roles throughout the 60s to her countless game show and variety show appearances following that all the way to creating an unforgettable character in MOONSTRUCK in the 1980s, as well as her subsequent oft-Neil Simon stage work; now, playing Tina Fey's sweet and daffy mom on NBC's 30 ROCK and, most recently, appearing in Nora & Celia Ephron's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE and the Playwright's Horizons premiere production of THE BIG MEAL in the new millennium - the one of a kind Anita Gillette. Analyzing her nearly sixty-year career and sharing candid stories of her brushes with some of Broadway and Hollywood's brightest talents - Jule Styne to Ethel Merman to Irving Berlin to Burt Lancaster and beyond - Gillette paints a vivid portrait of the tail end of the Golden Age of Broadway and the heady game show days of TV in the 1960s and 70s to her lauded stage work with Neil Simon and many of the great comedy and musical writers in the years since. Additionally, Gillette and I discuss her current essaying of the role of Mae Peterson in the new Regal Music Theatre production of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's BYE BYE BIRDIE in Massachusetts as she looks towards opening night tomorrow and relates her joy in participating in a production that has some behind-the-scenes help by her loving granddaughter (while another attends their summer camp). Plus, Gillette's observations on sharing a soundstage with Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Elaine Stritch and Buck Henry for a recent 30 ROCK shoot, reflections on her fondest and most celebrated comedy roles, hilarious memories of appearing in some short-running flops (JIMMY, SKYSKRAPER) as well as in some big hits (GYPSY), her upcoming series of master classes titled "Life In The Business", her return to Birdland with her concert show, AFTER ALL, her role in an upcoming Ed Burns film and maybe even a role in a new Alexander Payne film - all of that, all about attending the Diamond Jubilee celebration in the United Kingdom and much, much more!

The economy is the worse it's been in fifty years and a bunch of Delawareans decide to cheer things up by staging a musical at Longwood Gardens. Sound familiar? This is how The Brandywiners got their start in the Great Depression when Frances Tatnall and W.W. (Chick) Laird staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirate of Penzance way back in 1932. Of course, it didn't hurt that Pierre du Pont, owner of Longwood Gardens at the time, was Lairds's uncle and had just built Longwood's beautiful Open Air Theatre. Now, 80 years later, and in the midst of another economic turndown, The Brandywiners are doing it again with Hello, Dolly! , one of the greatest American musicals of all time. Opening in 1964, Hello, Dolly! set a record for Tony Awards (10) and performances (2,844). The title role of Dolly was originated by the legendary Carol Channing, and has been played by a who's who of female stars including Barbra Streisand, Mary Martin, Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman and even Phyllis Diller. Hello, Dolly! is a lavish Broadway-style musical that is as humorous as it is heart warming. Based on Thorton Wilder's The Matchmaker, it tells the story of Dolly's matchmaking mis-adventures in New York City just before the dawn of the 20th century. In keeping with the times, Director Cal Bracken has given The Brandywiners' production a feminist twist to an otherwise over-the-top sexist plot line. The women in this show do more than "clean out the stables" as they join the budding suffragettes demanding respect and equal rights. In another timely line, two of the characters sing "JP Morgan scrapes and bows to us" as they try it impress their girl friends. In true Brandywiners' fashion, this production brings eye-catching costumes, a professional orchestra and a cast of nearly sixty talented performers singing and dancing their hearts out. The Brandywiners' shows come as close as you can get to touring Broadway show quality and at less than half the price. Hello, Dolly! is playing July 26-28 and August 2-4 at Longwood Gardens Open Air Theater. Tickets are available by calling 800 338 6965 or through www.brandywiners.org.

The Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography returned with its new edition Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter, last night, June 25. Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter plays the Triad Theater. Headlining last night's event was Tony Danza, along with Autobiography regulars Rachel Dratch, Marsha Mason, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Sherri Shepherd, Michael Urie, and Alan Zweibel.

The Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography returns with its new edition Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter, tonight, June 25 at 7pm. Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter performs at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72 Street. The cast is scheduled to include Tony Danza, Rachel Dratch, Marsha Mason, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Sherri Shepherd, Michael Urie, and Alan Zweibel.

Masterworks Broadway continues to make good on its promise to open its vaults with more classic cast recordings previously unavailable in the CD era. Working (1978 Original Broadway Cast), Call Me Madam (Dinah Shore and the Original Broadway Company, 1950) and Desert Song (1959 Studio Cast) will be available as downloads through all major digital service providers and as disc-on-demand with the original cover art, via Arkivmusic.com and Amazon.com.

The Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography returns with its new edition Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter, Monday, June 25 at 7pm. Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter performs at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72 Street. The cast is scheduled to include Tony Danza, Rachel Dratch, Marsha Mason, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Sherri Shepherd, Michael Urie, and Alan Zweibel.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was thrilled to sit down and speak with nearly all of this year's Tony Award nominees at the official Tony Brunch on May 2, 2012, and we will be bringing you special coverage on all of them throughout the awards season. Today we bring you Artie Siccardi, awarded the Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre.

A veteran of stage and screen, Pamela Myers has starred in several of Sondheim's works, including INTO THE WOODS, GYPSY, SWEENEY TODD and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. She was also a member of the original Broadway cast of COMPANY, for which she received a Tony nomination. Trained at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Myers also enjoys teaching and has spent the past four summers sharing her knowledge with students in the Cabaret Conference at Yale University.

54 BELOW, Broadway's nightclub, will host "Celebrate the Tonys," a Tony Awards® viewing party for the theatre community and fans on Sunday, June 10 beginning at 6PM.

Today in the 2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown we are setting our sights on one of the most notable early examples of mega-star casting on Broadway - that of none other than the iconic Katharine Hepburn - in a brand new musical composed by Andre Previn and staged by a young Michael Bennett: COCO. One of the most celebrated clips in Tony Awards history, the fifteen-minute dialogue scene and ensuing production number is nothing like we have ever seen on the show before or since - this puts the razzle in razzle dazzle, for shizzle.

Bob Lappin and The Palm Beach Pops, Florida's premier Pops orchestra, is offering another sensational season of sophisticated musical entertainment with the announcement of six signature concert series. Audiences are invited to hear "The Music You Love, Live" as the orchestra celebrates 21 years of outstanding music from The Great American Songbook with special guest artists including American Idol Finalist Tamyra Gray, pianist and vocalist, Tony DeSare, Broadway leading lady, Christine Andreas, and Vegas superstar Clint Holmes and more.

Musicals Tonight has announced that its upcoming season will include the following shows.

A new book, "MARILYN MONROE: MY LITTLE SECRET" by Tony Jerris, explores Marilyn Monroe's relationship with her fan club president.

Today in 1959, Gypsy opened at the Broadway Theatre, where it ran for 702 performances. Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The musical contains many songs that became popular standards, including 'Small World,' 'Everything's Coming up Roses', 'Some People', 'Let Me Entertain You', and 'Rose's Turn'.

Following a journey of iconic performances - from Sondheim's Company to her Tony award-winning show Elaine Stritch at Liberty to her Emmy award-winning appearances on 30 Rock - the ferociously age-defiant "Broadway Baby" makes a rare West Coast appearance for Elaine Stritch Singin' Sondheim…One Song at a Time, her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut.

Theater actor, writer, and director Gerard Alessandrini's brainchild, the 30-year-old Off-Broadway hit parody series FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, finally premiered at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati City last weekend. Joel Trinidad, Upstart Productions' president and the show's director, had picked FORBIDDEN BROADWAY'S GREATEST HITS, which has two volumes to date, and features some of the more popular spoofs of Broadway musicals and theater legends culled from more than a dozen FORBIDDEN BROADWAY editions.

Today in 1946, Annie Get Your Gun opened at the Imperial Theatre, where it ran for 1147 performances. Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley (1860-1926), who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler. Songs that became hits include 'There's No Business Like Show Business', 'Doin' What Comes Natur'lly', 'You Can't Get a Man with a Gun', 'They Say It's Wonderful', and 'Anything You Can Do.'

Fanny Brice, America's Funny Girl will open May 23, 2012 and run until June 17, 2012. Previews begin May 20. Fanny Brice, America's Funny Girl is a reworking of Maltz Jupiter Theatre's 2009 hit production Fanny Brice: The Real Funny Girl. Writer and Director David H. Bell modified the script and is bringing Asolo Rep the most inspiring version yet. TCPalm raved, "Marya Grandy may not be the real Fanny Brice…but she just might be a new version of Ethel Merman. That's with a little Patti LuPone and the emotional singing delivery al a Judy Garland tossed in for good measure". WJTW FM said "what really brought the audience to its feet for a standing ovation however was the finale…it doesn't get any better than that."

The Warner Stage Company will bring the Tony Award-winning musical Gypsy to the Warner's main stage, tonight, May 12 through May 20.

Bob Lappin and The Palm Beach Pops, Florida's premier Pops orchestra, is offering another sensational season of sophisticated musical entertainment with the announcement of six signature concert series. Audiences are invited to hear "The Music You Love, Live" as the orchestra celebrates 21 years of outstanding music from The Great American Songbook with special guest artists including American Idol Finalist Tamyra Gray, pianist and vocalist, Tony DeSare, Broadway leading lady, Christine Andreas, and Vegas superstar Clint Holmes and more.