Ethel Merman News

Incoming Artistic Director Mark Clements announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2010/11 season at a special Season Announcement Event held in The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse. The season includes two American Premieres, a classic of American theater, a play featuring triple threat Australian star Caroline O'Connor and the first ever full-scale musical to be staged on The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse stage.

Le Petit Theatre brings the long-running Tony Award-winning revue FORBIDDEN BROADWAY to the Main Stage November 5-19. This hilarious and ever-evolving show, tailored for New Orleans audiences, features parodies of hits and hitmakers old and new that will strike the funny bone of even those with only the most glancing knowledge of the Great White Way. And for even the most hardened aficionado, it's fall-down funny. Cast members Leslie Castay, Dianna Duffy, Vatican Lokey and Cliff Thompson - accompanied by one-man-piano-orchestra Jesse Reeks - sing and dance their way through rapid-fire costume changes and madcap impressions in a loving satire of Broadway's biggest songwriters and stars.

With an imaginative staging and details-oriented direction by Matt Logan, with the superb musical direction of Nathan Burbank and the spirited choreography of Ashley Anderson McCarthy (who does double duty as 'Minnie Fay' in the cast - and has never looked lovelier onstage), Studio Tenn's first official season kicks off in high style with this charming production that is as colorful and heartwarming as any we've seen.

The Town Hall, New York City's landmark concert venue (123 West 43rd Street), will honor Tony ® and Emmy ® Award winning theatre legend Elaine Stritch, (who is currently starring in A Little Night Music) and Merryl H. Tisch, (Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents) with The Town Hall 'Friend of the Arts' Award on Sunday, October 17th, 2010.

Eric Hafen, Artistic Director of the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road in Morristown, NJ, proudly launches his 2010-2011 'Stage & Screen' Season with Jerry Herman's most-beloved musical, Mack & Mabel, running on the Bickford Mainstage from Thursday, September 23, through Sunday, October 17.

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 W. 45th Street) on Wednesday, October 13, 2010. A long-standing opening night tradition on the Great White Way, the fabled Gypsy Robe is bestowed upon a veteran Broadway chorus member for each opening production. In what has now become a theatrical ritual, originating on Broadway 60 years ago, BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON cast member Heath Calvert received the Gypsy Robe and BroadwayWorld was there for the celebration.

When asked how she kept her voice strong and healthy week after week while starring on Broadway, Ethel Merman famously quipped, 'You have to live like a f***ing nun!'  If that's the case then I suppose Scott Shepherd should be up for sainthood any day now.  In Gatz, the Elevator Repair Service's cover-to-cover, word-for-word staging of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Shepherd reads the narrating role of Nick Carraway, which I'm guessing is roughly 75% of the text in this theatre piece which, at the performance I attended, began at 3pm and let out around 11:20, allowing for two fifteen minute intermissions and an hour and fifteen minute dinner break.

The Music Theatre of Connecticut 2010/11 MainStage Season will open with award-winning cabaret performer Klea Blackhurst, direct from New York in 'Everything the Traffic Will Allow: The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman.' Klea Blackhurst - hailed as an 'improbably terrific young performer' by the New York Times - will bring her critically acclaimed show, 'Everything the Traffic Will Allow: The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman' to Music Theatre of Connecticut for a limited engagement with performances beginning October 8. Since its original New York debut in 2001, this knock-out show continues to take the country by storm with Klea delivering bright new interpretations of Merman's signature songs such as 'I Got Rhythm, ' 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and 'There's No Business Like Show Business,' as well as rarely-performed obscurities including 'Just A Moment Ago,' 'I've Still Got My Health,' and 'World Take Me Back.'

The Music Theater of Connecticut has announced its upcoming season which will feature EVERYTHING THE TRAFFIC WILL ALLOW, LOVE LETTERS, and more.

Ginger Rogers danced her way into our hearts in the arms of Fred Astaire, setting the gold standard for grace and elegance on the silver screen. In her surprising true-life story, we follow her from the vaudeville stage at the age of 15 through her ascension to Hollywood goddess. BACKWARDS IN HIGH HEELS tells the story of this legendary dancer, singer and actress through the music of some of the 20th century's greatest composers and with plenty of dance numbers worthy of the Hollywood icon. BACKWARDS IN HIGH HEELS plays in Tucson at the Temple of Music and Art from September 10 through October 2. It continues its run in Phoenix at the Herberger Theater Center from October 7 through October 24. The Tucson media sponsors for the 2010-2011 season are Tucson Lifestyle, KGUN9 and MIX-FM. Arizona Theatre Company's season sponsors are I. Michael and Beth Kasser.

The world premiere of Bernhardt on Broadway, a one-woman musical about Sarah Bernhardt, will take place at Maxim's: The Nancy Goldberg International Center in Chicago's Gold Coast. Bernhardt was arguably the most famous actress who ever lived. Set in the 1890s at the height of her career, the show is the story of the world's first superstar, the daughter of a Jewish courtesan who overcame countless obstacles, formed her own theater company, and traveled the globe performing (in French only) to sold out crowds.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) announces Tony and Academy Award winner Joel Grey will return to Broadway to join the cast of the new Broadway production of Anything Goes, starring Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as 'Reno Sweeney.'

San Diego Theatres continues to offer a wide range of the best entertainment for their audiences with the announcement of a full 2010-2011 BALBOA THEATRE SEASON! Following the initial 2010 presentations of Video Games Live and 'An Evening with' Mary Chapin Carpenter and Craig Shoemaker will be the previously announced Bellydance Superstars' BOMBAY BELLYWOOD on Sunday, October 3; 4TROOPS on Thursday, October 7; and DRUMLINE LIVE on Wednesday, October 13.

Sutton Foster, the beautiful and delightful Tony Award-winning star of Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Young Frankenstein and Shrek the Musical is returning to San Diego for One Night Only in the historic and intimate BALBOA THEATRE, Friday October 1, 2010; with 'AN EVENING With SUTTON FOSTER, MICHAEL RAFTER Music Director,' as a Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation.

Sutton Foster, the beautiful and delightful Tony Award-winning star of Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Young Frankenstein and Shrek the Musical is returning to San Diego for One Night Only in the historic and intimate BALBOA THEATRE, Friday October 1, 2010; with 'AN EVENING With SUTTON FOSTER, MICHAEL RAFTER Music Director,' as a Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation. Tickets are available now only as part of a Broadway/San Diego 2010-2011 Season subscription package; individual tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, August 12.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) announces Tony and Academy Award winner Joel Grey will return to Broadway to join the cast of the new Broadway production of Anything Goes, starring Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as 'Reno Sweeney.'

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) announces Tony and Academy Award winner Joel Grey will return to Broadway to join the cast of the new Broadway production of Anything Goes, starring Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as 'Reno Sweeney.' Anything Goes will mark Mr. Grey's seventh Broadway production.

Musical Theatre West is proud to announce the complete cast for its upcoming production of ANNIE at the beautiful 1070-seat Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

The world premiere of Bernhardt on Broadway, a one-woman musical about Sarah Bernhardt, will take place at Maxim's: The Nancy Goldberg International Center in Chicago's Gold Coast. Bernhardt was arguably the most famous actress who ever lived. Set in the 1890s at the height of her career, the show is the story of the world's first superstar, the daughter of a Jewish courtesan who overcame countless obstacles, formed her own theater company, and traveled the globe performing (in French only) to sold out crowds.

Hattie Maloney(Julie Cardia), a nightclub singer in Panama City, tries to fit into the elite world of the American colony to which her fiancé, and single parent, Nick Bullett (Paul Anthony Stewart), belongs. Her prospective marriage to Nick hinges on the approval of his precocious 8-year-old daughter, Gerry (Madeleine Rose Yen), as well as that of his boss. Gerry has been chaperoned on her trip from the States by Vivian Budd (Jackson R. Best) a 'gentleman's gentleman' who gets bent to the breaking point by the wiles of Hattie's best friend Florrie (Lara Seibert). Nick's boss, an Army officer/engineer, Whitney Randolph (Daren Kelly), and the girls in the Canal 'social set' - Leila (Victoria Huston-Elem), Kitty-Belle (Claire Russell) and Mildred (Allison Maldonado) - prove even harder to win over than does Gerry. So what's needed are some major heroics and that is supplied when a plot to blow up the canal is foiled. Helping thwart the 'enemy' are three less-than-robust soldiers - Woozy (Antonio Addeo), Skat (John Bambery) and Windy (William Nash). Also contributing to our revival of this 1940 musical farce are Anne Marie Behr, Matthew Conti, Greg Etling, Jefferson Grubbs, Vanessa Hernandez, Annemarie Rosano and Christopher Woods. Director - Thomas Sabella-Mills. Music Director - David B. Bishop.