Ethel Merman News

Billy, Klea and Jim are back for a twelfth year with their smash-hit holiday show... and lots of Christmas lights.

Acclaimed actress, singer, and comedienne, Klea Blackhurst has been hailed as one of the top interpreters of the works of legendary composer, Jerry Herman. She brings her Broadway tune filled tribute, 'One of the Girls: The Worlds and Lyrics of Jerry Herman,' to Bucks County Playhouse for one special performance on Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m.

Live theatre is officially back and Concord Theatricals is celebrating! 'There's No Business Like Show Business' is a digital celebration that launched just last month, marking the return of live theater and all of the incredible people who help to make it happen. The celebration coincides with the 75th anniversary of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun and its iconic showstopper 'There's No Business Like Show Business,' a song that has more resonance than ever this year.

Lee Goldsmith, lyricist and book writer for what is thought to be the first musical on Broadway to feature lead characters who were gay (“Sextet,” which played the Bijou Theatre in 1974), died Oct. 5 in Cutler Bay, FL, at the age of 98. 

Fall has arrived and chilly weather means lots of time to snuggle under your favorite blanket with a great book. You're in luck, because this year, Broadway's best have put pen to paper to turn out theatre page-turners of every kind.

Today's top stories include the long-awaiting casting for the upcoming Wicked movie! It was announced yesterday that the film will be led by Ariana Grande as Glinda, and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.

This holiday season, prepare yourself for sleighing belles, rabid yells, and tidings of joy from New York’s most iconic “octogenarian” lounge act, Kiki & Herb, created and performed by Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman.

But when all is said and done, after the big speeches are made and the morals have been imparted, TOOTSIE's 1982 DNA proves inextricable. Its parting lesson is fundamentally that women should be women and men should be men. The show's progressivism is limited to a fairly surface-level, lighthearted second-wave feminism that never rises above a 'very special episode' of any '80s sitcom. (Indeed, Michael's apartment set looks strikingly sitcomish, and all the dialogue there fits the bill.)

The role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, is a role embodied by some of the most respected performers, like Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Barbara Streisand, Bette Middler, and Bernadette Peters. It's only fitting that the role in the Little Theatre production should go to a multi-hyphenate celebrating 40 years in local theatre, Karen Buchheim.

The York Theatre Company is celebrating the legacy of the great American songwriter Irving Berlin with a four-part virtual multimedia series. Theater historian – and York favorite -- Charles Troy returns to NYC with From Russia to Berlin: A Century of Irving 1888-1989, a multimedia presentation of Irving Berlin’s extraordinary 101-year journey.

Blackhurst is no stranger to the world of Jerry Herman. She played Dolly Levi in the 50th-anniversary production of Hello, Dolly! at the Goodspeed Opera House with the enthusiastic endorsement of Herman himself. Her show is a loving tribute, filled with the big hit songs as well as some more enchanting obscure tunes, all tied together with some informative and sometimes dishy stories about the legendary composer of Milk & Honey, Hello, Dolly! Mame, Dear World, Mack & Mabel, The Grand Tour, La Cage aux Folles, and many others.

On PAR Productions and Producers Patrick Riviere and Shane Adams have finished their short documentary film, Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley after five years of filming, archival research, securing permissions, delays due to the pandemic and ultimately, finding the right editor for the project: Laird Ogden.

Tour members meet on the Flying Opera Magic Carpet for a week of American and international performances. Our first stop is at San Francisco Opera, for Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven online October 14, 17, and 30, 2021. Cost- $25.

BIRDLAND THEATER will present Klea Blackhurst: “One of the Girls: the Words and Music of Jerry Herman” for three shows from Wednesday, October 20 through Friday, October 22 at 8:30 PM. Blackhurst turns her long association with Broadway’s Jerry Herman into a brand new concert, her first new show in almost eight years.

For one night only, the iconic musical GYPSY will play a concert performance at Alexandra Palace  Theatre. The evening will feature seven leading ladies sharing the role of Rose. 

BroadwayWorld chats with Cate Hayman, star of 'CHESS in Concert' at 42nd Street Moon. The show marks Moon's return to live, in-person performance and features a killer score by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson and renowned lyricist Tim Rice. It remains the only musical of the modern era to generate multiple, massive hits on the pop charts.

Straight from the New York Off-Broadway stage, The Winter Park Playhouse presents the professional Southeastern Regional premiere of the hilarious musical comedy hit, The Book of Merman, September 24 - October 17, 2021. 

On September 2, Waitress celebrated its return to Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, and following in the great Broadway tradition, ensemble member Anastacia McCleskey was awarded the Legacy Robe.

The Broadway League has launched THIS IS BROADWAY, a new initiative to welcome theater lovers back to Times Square following the industry’s 18-month shutdown.  

Bonnie Milligan is what Broadway used to sound like: brassy, belted, and funny. Thank God, there are still women around who know how to do it. There is a huge difference between selling a song with some charm in a big voice, and 'screlting' at the top of your lungs. Ethel Merman knew the difference. So does Bonnie Milligan. She made one of the most talked-about Broadway debuts in seasons as the deliciously vain Princess Pamela in Head Over Heels. She confessed that it’s been 3 years since she last did a solo show. Tonight at Feinstein’s 54 Below, she made up for lost time, delivering a stellar, and surprisingly vulnerable self-titled show.