George Gobel News

BroadwayWorld is saddened to have learned that writer Christina Tippit Brown has passed away at age 94. 

Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation is announcing that Judith (Judy) Cullen has been named as the organization's new Executive Director. Judy recently retired from PepsiCo where she supervised the award-winning teams responsible for Global Control Compliance for the Mid-Missouri locations of Columbia, Sedalia and Springfield, MO.

Following the critically acclaimed 'Lost West End' album series, Stage Door Records present the launch of 'Lost Broadway', a new series of albums that will focus on celebrating Broadway's forgotten and obscure musicals. With each album dedicated to specific years in Broadway history, the 'Lost Broadway' series launches with 'Lost Broadway 1961', a particularly abundant year in the Broadway calendar for musicals whose residencies were short lived but deserve not to be forgotten.

Movie stars, music, suspense, hilarity, pathos, and the truth behind the Hollywood mystique, as told by those who've been there and done that. The 10th Anniversary production of the L.A. Times 'Recommended' AUDITION! THE MUSICAL, based on the all-too-true-life Hollywood experiences of the award-winning creative team of Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie, is back and brings ten years more harrowing, haunting and hilarious Hollywood horror stories than when it opened in 2006. It's the show for anyone who's ever wanted to be the best. At anything.

Peggy King, one of the last of the great Golden Age singers still performing today, will return to Feinstein's/54 Below for a special appearance on Saturday, March 5 at 9:30 PM, accompanied by the acclaimed All-Star Jazz Trio.  She will be celebrating the release of her first new recording in 36 years, "Songs a La King" on Fresh Sound Records.

On December 12 singer Frank Sinatra Jr. will perform a 100th Birthday Celebration of his father Frank Sinatra's music at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills at 9 pm. In our talk he describes the concert in detail. He also talks about his mentors and what music he prefers to listen to nowadays. When and how did this celebration concert come about? When Frank Sinatra died back in 1998 I engineered a celebrational show which I intended to run for eighteen months to two years, to celebrate his life and his career. The show at that time was called Sinatra Sings Sinatra. As it turned out, the audiences and the people who hired our program wanted very much to keep Sinatra Sings Sinatra going long after two years had passed. By now we were getting close to going into the 21st century, and it has been so ever since. Now we come to December the 12th forthcoming here which will have been his 100th birthday. OK! Two years ago I discussed with my family and the people that we work with the importance of organizing a special series of events to commemorate his 100th year. I was wondering whether or not  this was a little bit of overkill at the time, but I have been told such things happen for people like Duke Wayne, Bing Crosby and people of that situation that they have these big festivals, recapitulations, tributes, you name it. In 2013 I started writing a show for the end of 2015. That show debuted in May this year.

In a one-of-a-kind concert created especially for Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC), the world's most seasoned Gershwin interpreter, Peter Nero, will perform Gershwin's timeless works from Broadway and film on Saturday, November 14 at 8pm. This two-part program will be a special evening dedicated to the work Gershwin composed in Los Angeles after relocating from New York. 

Austin Film Festival (AFF), the premier film festival that recognizes the writers' and filmmakers' impact on film, television, and new media, is thrilled to announce Norman Lear as the recipient of the "Outstanding Television Writer" Award at the 22nd Annual Austin Film Festival, this October 29-November 5.

Peggy King, one of the most popular TV and recording stars of the 1950's, will make her first Los Angeles appearance in more than 30 years on Sunday, July 27 at 7:30 PM at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. Joining her will be acclaimed pianist, harpist and vocalist Corky Hale, leading an all-star quartet including Lymon Medeiros on bass, Jack LeCompte on drums and John Chiodini on guitar.

As the result of her recent successful appearances at the Metropolitan Room, singer Peggy King will be joined by the entire All-Star Jazz Trio for her next show on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 PM. The award-winning group consists of Andy Kahn on piano, Bruce Klauber on drums and Bruce Kaminsky on drums and they have been performing with King for the past year, but this will mark their debut at the Metropolitan Room.

As the result of her recent successful debut at the Metropolitan Room, singer Peggy King has added a revised new schedule. She will do a special St. Patrick's Weekend show this Sunday, March 16 at 12 Noon and then return on Wed., April 9 at 7 PM and Tuesday, April 29 at 7 PM, accompanied by Andy Kahn on piano. One of the best-loved stars of TV's Golden Age, as well as stage, screen and nightclubs, Peggy continues her resurgence after nearly a 30-year absence. She was re-discovered last year in the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO film 'Behind the Candelabra,' in which Michael Douglas and Matt Damon watch a lengthy 1955 video clip of the young Peggy King singing 'When Liberace Winks at Me,' with the real Liberace on piano. It also became a popular YouTube video and is included on the Elektra soundtrack album. 'Pretty, perky Peggy King' has worked in films and television with nearly every star imaginable, from Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme (with whom she co-starred on a 50's TV series) to Sammy Davis, Jr. and Andre Previn, and her dozens of recordings through the years show just why she remains a favorite of America's finest composers and lyricists.

Vocalist Peggy King, one of the best-loved stars of TV's Golden Age, as well as stage, screen and nightclubs, continues her resurgence after nearly a 30-year absence, with a series of performances at the Metropolitan Room, starting Sunday, Feb. 23 at 4 PM, just a few days after celebrating her 84th birthday. She will be accompanied by musical director Andy Kahn on piano. She was re-discovered last year in the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO film 'Behind the Candelabra,' in which Michael Douglas and Matt Damon watch a lengthy 1955 video clip of Peggy King singing 'When Liberace Winks at Me,' accompanied by the real Liberace on piano. It also became a popular YouTube video and is included on the Elektra soundtrack album. 'Pretty, perky Peggy King' has worked in films and television with nearly every star imaginable, from Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme (with whom she co-starred on a 50's TV series) to Sammy Davis, Jr. and Andre Previn, and her dozens of recordings through the years show just why she remains a favorite of America's finest composers and lyricists.

Vocalist Peggy King--one of the few, certifiable stars of stage, screen, television and nightclubs still performing today-is returning to New York City for the first time in several decades, along with the charismatically swinging All-Star Jazz Trio. Peggy King and The All-Stars will appear at 54 Below-"New York's Supper Club," 254 West 54th Street-on Monday, December 30. Showtime is 7:00 p.m. Tickets are priced from $25 to $35, and are available in advance via www.54below.com Reservation details:646-468-7619.

The Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts at Sacred Heart University inaugurates its 2013-2014 American Legend Series with Mitzi Gaynor - in an Interview Live On Stage of the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts on the Campus of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut on Sunday, October 27 (2013) at 3pm.

The Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts has announced its 2013-14 schedule. Check out highlights below!

Catch the new episode of Dave's Gone By (#407 -Circle Gets the Square) - LIVE, today, January 12, 10am-1pm (MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com).

Mitzi Gaynor will bring her incomparable brand of showmanship back to the stage in this new theatrical production, a glittering multimedia one-woman tour-de-force of music and memories from her show-stopping life and career.

Mitzi Gaynor will bring her incomparable brand of showmanship back to the stage in this new theatrical production, a glittering multimedia one-woman tour-de-force of music and memories from her show-stopping life and career.

On April 7, ArkivMusic released eight long-unavailable cast recordings on cd for the first time. New releases include DisinHAIRited, Hazel Flagg, Jimmy, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac, Let It Ride!, New Faces of 1952, New Faces of '56, and The Threepenny Opera.

Nytimes.com reports that Jerry Mathers, best known as Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver in the 1950s sitcom series 'Leave it to Beaver,' will be making his Broadway debut in the cast of Hairspray on June 5.