Ghetto Klown News

If there's one thing this town can't resist it's a gal who can reinvent herself, and in director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall's smashing new revival of the Cole Porter classic, Anything Goes, Sutton Foster foregoes the spunky wholesomeness that made her a Broadway star for a sleek, sophisticated and sexy turn as nightclub singer turned evangelist, Reno Sweeney.

Last night, more than 360 people gathered to celebrate the neighborhood playhouse with the national reputation: theatre lovers, gourmands, and philanthropists stepped into the spotlight at ONSTAGE, a theatrically delicious feast held on the 43rd birthday of the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

John Leguizamo's GHETTO KLOWN, directed by Fisher Stevens, is currently playing at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). Leguizamo was recently featured on 'Charlie Rose,' where he discussed his Broadway history as well as his current one-man hit, GHETTO KLOWN. Watch the entirety of Leguizamo's one-on-one interview with Charlie here.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will present the 25TH ANNUAL EASTER BONNET COMPETITION on Monday, April 25 (4:30 PM) and Tuesday, April 26 (2 PM) at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre (200 West 45th Street). The event celebrates and concludes six intensive weeks of fundraising by the theatre community benefiting BC/EFA.

To spruce up New York City with even more greenery this spring, the New York Restoration Project has partnered with leading online charity auction site, charitybuzz.com, for the first annual Earth Day Auction. Available through May 5 at charitybuzz.com/auctions/NYRPEarthDay, the Restore New York City, Restore the Earth Auction offers bidders the chance to spend the day with the organization's founder, Bette Midler or take advantage of one of the many experiences offered for Broadway and off Broadway productions. Highlights, include:

John Leguizamo's GHETTO KLOWN, directed by Fisher Stevens, is currently playing at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). Watch Leguizamo talk with Wendy Williams about his journey to Broadway tomorrow morning on the nationally syndicated 'Wendy Williams Show,' airing in NYC on Channel 5 at 10:00 AM. The appearance will also run on Channel 9 at 5:00 PM. Click here for local listings.

'Cute' is probably not the adjective that Robert Lopez, Matt Stone and Trey Parker were going for when they co-authored the book, music and lyrics of The Book of Mormon.  Neither is 'cute' a word I'd expect to use when describing a musical where genital mutilation and the belief that having sex with an infant will cure an adult of AIDS figure significantly in the plot and the big Act I showstopper has a chorus of villagers happily singing, 'f**k you, God!'  But The Book of Mormon - which absolutely should be praised for its non-traditional material that, to borrow what Brooks Atkinson wrote of Pal Joey, attempts to draw sweet water from a sour well - sets us up for intriguing social satire and then settles for being well-structured, sharply mounted, terrifically performed innocuous entertainment.

The Drama Desk presented a Special Panel Discussion and Luncheon at Sardi's on Friday, April 15, titled 'Movie and TV Stars on Broadway,' reflecting the current trend of casting film and TV stars in plays and musicals on the New York stage. The Panelists include (in alphabetical order): Jim Belushi (Born Yesterday), Maxwell Caulfield (Cactus Flower), Margaret Colin (Arcadia), Stephen Kunken (High), Dan Lauria (Lombardi), John Larroquette (How To Succeed in Business Without Even Trying), John Leguizamo (Ghetto Klown) and Annabella Sciorra (The MotherF**ker with the Hat).

John Leguizamo's GHETTO KLOWN, directed by Fisher Stevens, is currently running on Broadway at the Broadway's Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street).

As it consolidates its offices and workshops at a new campus, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre is holding a massive clearance sale at its former storage facility.

'One man's facts are another man's fabrications,' notes Ghassan (Ted Sod) as he and several other characters in Mona Mansour's Urge For Going try to explain to the audience the circumstances that brought this family of Palestinian Arabs to live in a South Lebanese refugee camp that has been serving as a temporary settlement for nearly 60 years.

Entertainment reporter Robin Milling of Milling About on www.Blogtalkradio.com and W*E*N*N will host the Drama Desk panel Movie and Television Stars on Broadway at Sardi's restaurant on April 15, 2011, from 1pm to 2:30 pm. The prestigious panelists come from the world of movies and television; all of them making a successful impact and transition to the stage.

John Leguizamo's Broadway show GHETTO KLOWN is currently running at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street); today he and director Fisher Stevens visited WNYC Radio's Leonard Lopate Show. Lopate calls the GHETTO KLOWN 'hilarious, brash, exhilarating and yes, moving.' Listen to the interview below!

John Leguizamo's Broadway show GHETTO KLOWN is currently running at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre (149 west 45th Street) and he is currently featured on WNBC TV ‘s '1st Look ' talking about the things in New York City that he can't live without.

Audiences and critics on both coasts embraced Eurydice and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), two shows steeped in longing from playwright Sarah Ruhl and director Les Waters. Now this talented team turns its attention to a fresh translation of a masterpiece: Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. Ruhl enlivens this classic with the same elegant understanding of intimacy that infused those earlier collaborations, while Waters and a cast of 14 deliver another sumptuous production. This West Coast premiere begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage on April 8, opens April 13, and runs through May 22. Three Sisters is a co-production between Berkeley Rep, where Waters serves as associate artistic director, and Yale Repertory Theatre.

The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Gabriel Shanks, Executive Director) is pleased to announce this year's honorary co-chairs for The 77th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon.

There aren't many concerts around where you can hear a full house go berserk at the promise of hearing Jill Eikenberry sing a number from Onward, Victoria.  Or where the mention of the name Bruce Yeko draws spontaneous applause and the audience enjoys a running gag about Lenny Wolpe.

This week, in a corollary column to tonight's InDepth InterView: John Leguizamo, who can currently be seen nightly in his one-man-show GHETTO KLOWN on Broadway, we have an abundance of performance clips from his past stage shows - FREAK, SEXAHOLIX, SPIC-O-RAMA and more - as well as clips from his most beloved films - THE PEST, CARLITO'S WAY and TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR, among others - as well as a look at his most memorable and mind-blowing characters - ranging from Tybalt in Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET to Toulouse Lautrec himself in MOULIN ROUGE - all coming on the heels of the nationwide release of his newest feature film, THE LINCOLN LAWYER, co-starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas and William H. Macy, which we take a cursory look at, too, of course. Plus, some musical theatre parodies, celebrity impressions, his debut appearance in a Madonna music video, and even a visit from Elmo himself!

The all new 21st Season of Broadway Beat is here! This week catch up this weekend with Broadway Beat at the openings of PRISCILLA, GHETTO KLOWN, ARCADIA and a look inside the annual BC/EFA Broadway Bears auction!

To accrue all the characters, characteristics and components of a career as diverse and varied as that of stage and screen star John Leguizamo would be near-impossible for even the most gifted performers in the galaxy. Having appeared in nearly ninety films so far in his twenty-five year career - including a musical, MOULIN ROUGE, and an adaptation of Shakespeare, ROMEO + JULIET, both for noted directed Baz Luhrmann - as well as five off-Broadway and Broadway solo shows - MAMBO MOUTH, SPIC-O-RAMA, FREAK, SEXAHOLIX and, now, GHETTO KLOWN - Leguizamo is consistently challenging himself and revealing new sides to his personality and skills as an actor and performer with his daring choices of roles and searing performances. In this comprehensive career retrospective, we cover Broadway, Hollywood and much more and we even have his first comments on his new feature film opening this weekend, THE LINCOLN LAWYER. From Todd Haynes' POISON to Brian DePalma's CASUALTIES OF WAR and CARLITO'S WAY, to Spike Lee's SUMMER OF SAM, to TO WONG FOO, SUPER MARIO BROS. and more; singing Sondheim's 'Send In The Clowns'; plus, stories on his recently departed co-stars Dennis Hopper (LAND OF THE DEAD) and Brittany Murphy (SPUN), and first news on the David Koresh biopic WACO co-starring Kurt Russell and Adrien Brody, and FUGLY with Radha Mitchell - Leguizamo‘s performances speak (and sing) for themselves. King, cartoon, criminal, artist, clown or klown - Leguizamo can play them all. And play them damn well, as well.