Frank Sinatra News

According to her official blog, stage star Caroline O'Connor will return Leicester Curve Theatre in November to star in Hello Dolly! as the title role. O'Connor will reunite with Curve's Artistic Director Paul Kerryson (Director) for the season.

Today we are talking to Patricia Kelly, the widow of one of the most iconic and influential performers in entertainment history, Gene Kelly, all about her husband's incomparable career on Broadway and in Hollywood, in honor of his centennial. Tracing Gene Kelly's journey from his theatre roots starring in Cole Porter's LEAVE IT TO ME!, Rodgers & Hart's PAL JOEY and William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE on Broadway to his unforgettable screen appearances in many of the greatest movie musicals ever made - COVER GIRL, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, THE PIRATE, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and many more included - Mrs. Kelly gives us a look into the life of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. In addition to behind-the-scenes stories involving Kelly's frequent collaborators - such as esteemed director Vincente Minnelli, songwriter and producer Arthur Freed, arranger Saul Chaplin and others - Mrs. Kelly also shares candid anecdotes involving her husband's involvement with directing Rodgers & Hammerstein's FLOWER DRUM SONG on Broadway, helming the feature film adaptation of HELLO, DOLLY! starring Barbra Streisand, as well as his appearing in two idiosyncratic movie musicals later in his life, LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT (THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT) for Jacques Demy, as well as his au revoir to movie musicals in form of the Olivia Newton-John roller disco starrer XANADU. Additionally, Mrs. Kelly fills us in on all the details about this weekend's two-night Gene Kelly retrospective celebration, which she leads and narrates, as part of GENE KELLY @ 100 and her future plans for the multimedia presentation - each evening titled AN EVENING OF GENE KELLY and CHANGING THE LOOK OF DANCE ON FILM, respective - as she begins to tour the show across the country. Plus, reflections on SINGIN' IN THE RAIN's 60th anniversary and the recent Fathom HD premiere presentation in theaters, the impact of Kelly's work behind the camera, his choreographic legacy, what a legend is like at home, memories of attending the opening night of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (starring HELLO, DOLLY! lead Michael Crawford), what the master would say about GLEE, SMASH, BUNHEADS and today's movie musical renaissance, as well as much, much more!

On July 24th, award-winning keyboardist/composer/author Kevin Toney will be releasing an inspired project that blends traditional acoustic jazz trio music with the compositional expanse of classical movements. Titled New American Suite, the album introduces the artist's dynamic new group, The Kevin Toney 3 (a.k.a. "KT3" featuring Kevin Toney on piano, Michael Bradford on bass and Chris Coleman on drums).

From Thursday, October 25 through Saturday, October 27 at 7:30 PM, OUT COLD/ZIPPO SONGS-a double-bill of dramatic song cycles with music and lyrics by Phil Kline (Unsilent Night,John the Revelator)-will be presented as part of BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)'s 30th Next Wave Festival, in a co-production with American Opera Projects (AOP).

When the original Broadway production of Fela! closed in January of 2011, Zuccotti Park was little more than a block-long plaza where Wall Streeters would enjoy a bit of lunchtime sun.  For now, at least, the park has pretty much returned to that status, aside from the tourists taking photos of themselves at the spot now famous for birthing the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Tony Award winner Ben Vereen brings his hit show, "Steppin' Out with Ben Vereen," to 54 Below, through July 21. A high energy tribute to the music of Broadway, along with musical selections made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr., audiences can expect to hear classics such as 'Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries', 'Mr. Bojangles' and even 'Defying Gravity'. Check out BroadwayWorld's highlights from the show below!

Let The Game Begin is described as 'a nostalgia tinged, sultry song written and recorded in London. The track is packed with visual references, a nod to how the songstress finds music to be a very visual experience. The single is also available in vinyl format to pay homage to the era by which Helena is so heavily influenced. Let The Game Begin provides a stunning introduction to Helena's classic soul roots and cosmopolitan background, the first single from a stunning debut album.'

For its 52nd season, the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts will host a series of return engagements of favourite shows, and new theatrical treasures for Toronto audiences.

Some of Broadway's legendary leading ladies came out for Ben Vereen's opening week at 54 Below. Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera and Bebe Neuwirth were among the stars to catch 'Steppin' Out with Ben Vereen' and visit with the star backstage following the performance. Other notable guests included Rachelle Rak (Catch Me if you Can). Check out photos of Vereen and his guests below!

BroadwayWorld.com and Broadway Records are co-sponsoring a liner notes essay contest for the new Jekyll & Hyde studio concept recording. Fans will have the opportunity to submit a 250 to 500 word essay for consideration. Five finalists will be chosen by the staff of BroadwayWorld.com in consultation with Broadway Records. Frank Wildhorn, Constantine Maroulis and Broadway Records will select the Grand Prize Winner who will have his or her liner notes essay will be included in the upcoming recording.

4TH WALL THEATRE will host an end of season fundraiser entitled 'A JERSEY VOICE: Sinatra to Springsteen...and Everyone in Between" featuring John Michael Coppola, a former Bloomfield resident. The concert will be held tonight, July 16 at 7:30 pm, at the Westminster Arts Center on the campus of Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, NJ. The concert is the final fundraising event of 4th Wall's 15th anniversary season.

The Town Hall, New York's landmark theatre and concert venue kicks off the 6th Annual Summer Broadway Festival, with Frank Sinatra Jr. in Sinatra Sings Sinatra tonight, July 16th at 8pm. Presented on three consecutive Monday nights at 8pm, The Summer Broadway Festival continues with Broadway's Rising Stars on July 23rd, and concludes with Liz Callaway's new show, Even Stephen (with Jason Danieley, Joshua Henry and Norm Lewis) on July 30th.

Cabaret and Jazz vocal stylist, New York and Los Angeles actor/singer - Pinkie Washington will perform her original cabaret show, ELLA AND HER FELLAS - the story behind icon - saluting Ella Fitzgerald, at the M BAR HOLLYWOOD, tonight, July 15, at 7 p.m., at the M Bar in Hollywood, Calif.

Today's spotlight falls on one very special member of the cast, who just happens to be in every sense of the phrase "Nashville's own…" Meghan Glogower. Graduating from Belmont University's amazing musical theater program in early May, she auditioned for her first Broadway-bound show (aka The Nutty Professor Musical) and was cast! After whirlwind weeks of rehearsal in New York City, she's back in her adopted hometown-Megan's a native of Winter Haven, Florida, which means an invasion of Floridians is expected in the coming weeks, as well-dancing her butt off ahead of the show's opening.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Cumming takes on MACBETH, Broadway plays Bryant Park, ALADDIN opens at the Muny, and so much more!

After a successful first half of the year in Arts Centre Melbourne's State Theatre, the Morning Melodies concert series returns to its home in the newly refurbished Hamer Hall. Opera diva Suzanne Johnston finishes off the State Theatre season, before the likes of Orchestra Victoria, Victorian Opera and Kane Alexander perform in the acoustics of the new Hamer Hall.