Harold Arlen News

This week's THEATER TALK focuses on both the new PBS documentary Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy and the 100th Anniversary of the Actors' Equity Association. Guests are filmmaker Michael Kantor, producer of the PBS film, followed by Nicholas Wyman, President of Actors' Equity, and Robert Simonson, author of Performance of the Century: 100 Years of Actors' Equity Association and the Rise of Professional American Theater, which chronicles the powerful union's history.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) today announced its programs for the 2013-14 concert season, conductor Jacques Lacombe's fourth year as the Orchestra's Music Director. The season exemplifies the dynamic programming and high-quality artistry that have led the The New York Times to call the NJSO 'an ambitious, admirable orchestra.' The season features 14 weeks of subscription classical programs, four pops programs in both Newark and New Brunswick and three family concerts, as well as several special concerts.

If you have always dreamed of getting married on the most romantic day of the year, here is a opportunity to make it even more special. Now you and your beloved can get married Somewhere OverThe Rainbow on Valentine's Day, February 14th.

Even her biggest fans among the opening night crowd were likely befuddled, slightly bothered, and even a tad bewildered when they heard that Christine Andreas' first cabaret show at 54 Below was called "Bemused," and not exactly sure what that meant. But they would ultimately end up being thoroughly bewitched by a wonderfully engaging show by this totally entertaining pro. While most current or former Broadway stars who are staging shows at 54 Below are performing what amounts to mini-concerts, the lady who first became a Broadway audience favorite as Eliza Doolittle in the 20th anniversary production of My Fair Lady (and is two-time Tony Award nominee) knows her way around cabaret and developed a charmingly creative conceit for this run (continuing on Jan. 29, Feb. 1, 2 at 8:30 pm and Jan. 30, 31 at 7 pm), which included songs from Broadway, pop, the Great American Songbook, and even Edith Piaf.

On Sunday January 27 singer/TV executive producer Joe Lupariello brought his musical show Where or When to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Lupariello has had a background in musical comedy, but chose a mix of contemporary and traditional pop standards for Where or When, some of which worked better than others. Backed by great versatile Brian Graden at the piano, Lupariello worked like a charm with his SRO crowd, bringing the set in at under 60 minutes.

With her tribute show to the music of Harold Arlen and Duke Allington, 'When Harry Met The Duke' is Rosemary Loar's creative foray back into the caressing arms of the Great American Songbook. If you consider that the contemporary cabaret scene in New York is 30 years on (since the opening of Don't Tell Mama in 1982 and the start of MAC in 1983), there have been likely been thousands of cabaret shows with GAS themes and the interesting new ideas may be down to a precious few. And Loar, who has been performing cabaret shows during that same time frame, has managed to come up with yet another variation and her erudite and accessibly sophisticated show goes down like a delicious vodka martini topped with a skewer of blue cheese stuffed olives.

On February 23, 24 and 25 Lyrics & Lyricists tours Miss Peggy Lee's hip musical landscape with guest artistic director Billy Stritch and vocalists Barbara Fasano, La Tanya Hall and Gabrielle Stravelli. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye, who frequently includes Peggy Lee classics in her shows, joins the show as a special guest.

New York City all-female group Red Molly returns to The Barns At Wolf Trap to deliver their polished covers and original arrangements, featuring bluegrass harmonies, crooning lullabies, and a Western twang.

Broadway's "Golden Couple", husband and wife team Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, will bring their newest show 'He Said/She Said' to The Annenberg Theatre for one very special performance on February 23 at 8:00 pm. He Said/She Said is a musical conversation that features brand new arrangements by many of the Great American Songbook's leading composers including Fats Waller, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen and Sammy Cahn. Program highlights will be ballads such as 'Something's Gotta Give,' 'Too Close for Comfort,' 'Come Back to Me,' and 'Love Me or Leave Me.' The couple most recently performed together on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical NEXT TO NORMAL.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

Tonight, January 19th, 2013, Rosemary Loar unveils her newest cabaret creation: a show that showcases the genius of songwriting legends, Harold Arlen and Duke Elliington. An inventive force in the cabaret world for over 30 years, last year Rosemary Loar was honored with the 2012 MAC Hanson Award for continuing excellence.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

On Saturday January 12 and Sunday January 13 internationally renowned Cabaret pianist/singer Steve Ross, who has been called the 'Crown Prince of Cabaret', brought one of his many evenings of song The Music of Fred Astaire called Puttin' On the Ritz to Vitello's Upstairs in Studio City. Ross began his career, some forty years ago, primarily as a pianist, at Ted Hook's Backstage in New York. With no singing experience, he thrust himself into the spotlight singing at the piano, developing his unmatched, uncanny style of song and repartee... and the rest is history.

The Encores! 20th Anniversary season opens on January 30, and Encores! alums have been sending in their best wishes. Below, check out a video of Stephen Wallem, Victoria Clark, Mylinda Hull, Chuck Cooper, Elizabeth Stanley, Judy Kaye, Mayor Bloomberg and more riffing on their Encores! experiences!

Segerstrom Center's Cabaret Series welcomes the return of beloved Broadway duo and leading vocalists, Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, as they join in a special new program He Said/She Said February 14 - 16 in Samueli Theater.

Producers Alan D. Marks, Barbara Marks, Wade Turnbull, Steve Hendel, Ruth Hendel, and Tom Kirdahy have just announced that COTTON CLUB PARADE, the Encores! Special event that played two acclaimed runs at New York City Center, will arrive on Broadway this fall.

It may be more than 50 years since the 72-year-old Donna McKechnie made her Broadway debut in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,' but she seemed as nervous as an ingenue--in a good way--on the opening night of her new cabaret show Same Place-Another Time. Entering in a sparkly black blouse over a black skirt, and boogieing to the classic disco strains of "Do the Hustle," McKechnie and Musical Director/Pianist John McDaniel (leading a five-piece band) turned her opening number into a mashup with Rodgers and Hart's "Where or When" and a few bars of "Native New Yorker" thrown in just to keep up the funky disco flavor.