Gwen Verdon News

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS announces that incomparable superstar Barbra Streisand will be the 2015 addition to its Broadway Legends holiday ornament collection.

This week FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visitwww.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestras begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: Jessica Keenan Wynn at 54 Below; Bring Him Home: Celebrating Kyle Jean-Baptiste; Lee Roy Reams Salutes His Leading Ladies; Lisa Howard at 54 Below; and Tovah Feldshuh: Aging Is Optional.

This October, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For

The Musical Theater Project presents PERFECTLY MARVELOUS: THE SONGS OF JOHN KANDER on Saturday, Oct. 31 (8pm) and Sunday, Nov. 1 (2pm) at the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

On Sunday September 27 at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal, dancer Mark C. Reis debuted his brand new cabaret show I'd Enjoy Being a Girl...on Broadway. Reis had tremendous success in 2012 with his first show at Sterling's called Diapers, Dishes and Dreams...Stories of a Dancer about his gay married life, which has included raising a small child. It is always a big risk, a bold endeavor to return with a new show, particularly if you veer 360 degrees in another direction. Reis has a great fan following. Since his audience for the most part truly love him, even if he falls on his face, as does a child learning how to walk, they will pick him up and encourage him to try again, to move on. The new show has much promise, but does need further work-shopping and retooling.

Some of Broadway's biggest names will come to Philadelphia's Kimmel Center this season in a series produced by Mark Cortale and hosted by the man The New York Times called the 'Mayor of Broadway,' Sirius XM star Seth Rudetsky.  First up will be Audra McDonald - the historic 6-time Tony-winner and star of Broadway's "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," "Porgy and Bess," "Ragtime," "Master Class" and TV's "Private Practice" -  for one show only on Wednesday, October 7 at 8:00 PM.

One remarkable dance team. One big chance. One small twist. You gotta be over 60. Broadway In Chicago and Producers Dori Berinstein and Bill Damaschke announced the individual tickets for GOTTA DANCE, the new Broadway-bound musical about professional basketball's first ever aged 60-and-older dance team, go on-sale to the public on Sunday, September 13. GOTTA DANCE begins performances on December 13, 2015 and runs through January 10, 2016 at Broadway In Chicago's Bank of America Theatre (18 W Monroe St, Chicago).

Everything you love about Broadway -- unique showbiz treasures, the opportunity to meet your favorite performers and the chance to bid on exclusive backstage experiences -- will come together as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presents the 29th Annual BROADWAY FLEA MARKET & GRAND AUCTION on Sunday, September 27, 2015. And BroadwayWorld can report that pre-bidding is now open!

Clips of Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Norbert Leo Butz and Rebecca Naomi Jones bringing Broadway to your television screen.

Today in 1977, Chicago closed at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre), where it ran for 936 performances. Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago, with music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Chicago's 1996 Broadway revival holds the record for the longest-running musical revival on Broadway and is its fourth longest-running show.

Audra McDonald has a big year ahead of her! After embarking on a concert tour this fall, the six-time Tony winner, who recenty wrapped filming for Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast, will be back on Broadway, starring alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon in SHUFFLE ALONG. Before all of that, McDonald will head to Provincetown, MA to take part in the acclaimed Broadway @ Town Hall concert series, hosted by SiriusXM radio star Seth Rudetsky. For one show only on Monday, August 24 (6:30 PM), she will be joined onstage by her husband and fellow Broadway star Will Swenson, with whom she is currently starring in Williamstown Theatre Festival's A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN. McDonald recently checked in with BroadwayWorld about Monday's concert, and updated us on all of her upcoming projects! Check out the full interview below:

The acclaimed Broadway @ Town Hall concert series in Provincetown, MA, produced by Mark Cortale, will welcome Audra McDonald -- the historic 6-time Tony-winner and star of Broadway's LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL, PORGY AND BESS, RAGTIME, MASTER CLASS and TV's PRIVATE PRACTICE -- for one show only on Monday, August 24 at 6:30 PM. She will be joined onstage by a very special guest, her husband and fellow Broadway star Will Swenson.

The replacement star. One of the trickiest and most problematic facets of any production facing an enterprising producer and director is casting a fitting replacement, particularly for a star role. Of course, John Kander and Fred Ebb's vaudeville-based performance opportunity extravaganza CHICAGO allows for a copious amount of star turns, so the likely candidates for filling the famous shoes of the roles of Roxie, Velma, Billy Flynn and Matron Mama Morton are nearly overwhelming to consider. Furthermore, August 8 marked the momentous day in Broadway history when legendary Broadway and Hollywood superstar Liza Minnelli famously stepped in for an ailing Gwen Verdon in the original Bob Fosse production of CHICAGO on Broadway. Now, with notable pop star Brandy Norwood as the current Roxie and reality competition show standout Rumer Willis poised to take over in early September giving a slew of fresh buzz to one of Broadway's longest-running musicals of all time, the 1996 revival of CHICAGO, now is an ideal time to consider some familiar faces who have excelled in the role in the past and could continue the tradition and keep the momentum going for a production that has now played nearly 8,000 performances on the Great White Way. Time may have marched on, but these ladies certainly still have the stuff!

'You really don't choose this business; it chooses you,' Jessica Lee Goldyn says of her becoming a professional dancer and actress while still in her teens. That bright career which has taken her to Broadway and around the country performing in musical theatre now brings her to Brunswick, Maine, to reprise the role of Elizabeth in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, which opened at Maine State Music Theatre August 6th. The role of Frederick Frankenstein's glamorous and fickle wife has been tailored to her extraordinary dancing abilities by director Marc Robin, and, as she tells Broadway World a few days before opening, she is enjoying the experience enormously!

Over in Addison, WaterTown Theatre has had a nearly invincible season. With stellar performances of BONNIE AND CLYDE, ALL MY SONS, and even the new work THE SPARK, the past ten months have been exciting and successful for the first-rate group. As their season finale, however, SWEET CHARITY fails to live up to WaterTower's well-deserved reputation.

Director Ryan Gibbs gives a production of the classic sports musical that's got miles and miles of heart behind it

Do you enjoy theatre trivia and anecdotes? How about talking about a performance immediately following the show with other theatre enthusiasts? Would you like to hear the actors' motivation for their characters? Are you interested in hearing from guest speakers? If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then TheatreZone's TalkBack is a must for you.

Happy Birthday, Bob Fosse! Fosse won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning for his direction of Cabaret. Amonst his many Broadway credits are The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Sweet Charity, Pippin, Chicago, Dancin' and many more.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is pleased to announce the fourth season for the 2015-2016 TRUST Cabaret Series. This popular series provides audiences with a rare opportunity to experience the finest cabaret artists and their outstanding musical accompanists at the intimate Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, in downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District. The 2015-2016 TRUST Cabaret Series will showcase award-winning Broadway, stage and film stars Tommy Tune, Stephanie J. Block, Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana performing together on one night, followed by Rebecca Luker and closing the season will be a performance by Paulo Szot. These exceptional performers will share a special evening of cabaret featuring songs from current Broadway, Jazz, American Standards and more.