Howard Dietz News

The York Theatre Company continues its 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of the new musical, Inventing Mary Martin, conceived, written and directed by Stephen Cole, with music supervision and arrangements by David Krane, music direction by Lawrence Goldberg, co-directed and choreographed by Bob Richard, and original music and lyrics by legendary composers Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, Vernon Duke & Howard Dietz, Kurt Weill & Ogden Nash, Noel Coward, Irving Berlin, Jule Styne & Carolyn Leigh, Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz, and Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, among others. The four-member cast will feature Cameron Adams, Jason Graae, Lynne Halliday, and Emily Skinner. Scroll down to meet them!

The York Theatre Company, and its acclaimed Developmental Reading Series, will present the new play Storm written and directed by P.J. Barry, and the new musical, God's Country with Book & Lyrics by Erik Johnke, and Music by Elaine Chelton at The York Theatre Company's home at Saint Peter's (Entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

The York Theatre Company continues the 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of the new musical , Inventing Mary Martin, conceived, written and directed by Stephen Cole, with music supervision and arrangements by David Krane, music direction by Lawrence Goldberg, co-directed and choreographed by Bob Richard, and original music and lyrics by legendary composers Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, Vernon Duke & Howard Dietz, Kurt Weill & Ogden Nash, Noel Coward, Irving Berlin, Jule Styne & Carolyn Leigh, Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz, and Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, among others.

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met tonight, December 31, with two Broadway stars appearing.

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met on December 31, with two Broadway stars appearing. Check out a preview video below!

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met on December 31. Jeremy Sams, writer and creator of the Met's Baroque pasticheThe Enchanted Island, makes his company debut as director with the new staging, which is set in Vienna at the turn of the 20thcentury. Sams also contributes new lyrics for Strauss's work, which will be performed entirely in English; Tony Award-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane makes his Met debut with new dialogue. Adam Fischer conducts a cast of rising opera stars and Broadway performers. The cast is led by Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman as the unhappily married Rosalinde and Eisenstein; Jane Archibald as Rosalinde's feisty maid, Adele; Anthony Roth Costanzo as Prince Orlofsky; Michael Fabiano as Rosalinde's former lover, Alfred; Paulo Szot as the bumbling Dr. Falke; and Patrick Carfizzi as the prison superintendent, Frank. Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Betsy Wolfe make Met debuts as the drunken jailer, Frosch, and Adele's sister, Ida. Robert Jones is set and costume designer for the production, with lighting design by Jennifer Schriever and choreography by Stephen Mear in their Met debuts.

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met on December 31. Jeremy Sams, writer and creator of the Met's Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, makes his company debut as director with the new staging, which is set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. Sams also contributes new lyrics for Strauss's work, which will be performed entirely in English; Tony Award-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane makes his Met debut with new dialogue. Adam Fischer conducts a cast of rising opera stars and Broadway performers. The cast is led by Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman as the unhappily married Rosalinde and Eisenstein; Jane Archibald as Rosalinde's feisty maid, Adele; Anthony Roth Costanzo as Prince Orlofsky; Michael Fabiano as Rosalinde's former lover, Alfred; Paulo Szot as the bumbling Dr. Falke; and Patrick Carfizzi as the prison superintendent, Frank. Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Betsy Wolfe make Met debuts as the drunken jailer, Frosch, and Adele's sister, Ida. Robert Jones is set and costume designer for the production, with lighting design by Jennifer Schriever and choreography by Stephen Mear in their Met debuts.

Toronto – Soprano Karine Bocher from Quebec City took home first prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Canadian Opera Company's third annual Ensemble Studio Competition on November 26, 2013, at the

The ongoing Broadway Concert Series at the gorgeous John W. Engeman Theatre of Northport always make for a wonderful evening. During their dark week between shows, producer and host Stephen DeAngelis gathers the best of Broadway for an evening of songs and stories about their careers. Although this time there were brief moments of complete insolence from the audience, the sold out show was very well received.

For their 2013-2014 season American Classics brings three 'firsts' to their programming. For the first time American Classics will present a guest performer in their own concert, acclaimed entertainer John O'Neil in his popular salute to Danny Kaye, 'So Kaye, a one man 'tongue-twisting tour-de force' showcasing songs, stories and monologues culled from Kaye's illustrious career. 'So Kaye was nominated for the prestigious IRNE award in 2001; since that time O'Neil has performed the show up and down the East Coast from Maine to Florida. 'Adding John O'Neil and 'So Kaye to our season is exciting for us. John has appeared with us in the past, but we are delighted to be able to showcase him in one of his most popular shows,' says Producing Director Benjamin Sears, who notes, 'this is Kaye's centenary year, so it's a perfect time to feature John in an American Classics season.'

For their 2013-2014 season American Classics brings three "firsts" to their programming. For the first time American Classics will present a guest performer in their own concert, acclaimed entertainer John O'Neil in his popular salute to Danny Kaye, 'So Kaye, a one man "tongue-twisting tour-de force" showcasing songs, stories and monologues culled from Kaye's illustrious career. 'So Kaye was nominated for the prestigious IRNE award in 2001; since that time O'Neil has performed the show up and down the East Coast from Maine to Florida. "Adding John O'Neil and 'So Kaye to our season is exciting for us. John has appeared with us in the past, but we are delighted to be able to showcase him in one of his most popular shows," says Producing Director Benjamin Sears, who notes, "this is Kaye's centenary year, so it's a perfect time to feature John in an American Classics season."

Monterey Jazz Festival's 2013 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, the Festival's internationally-renowned high school all-star big band, featuring the best high school jazz musicians in the country, launches its tour today, July 3rd, 2013.

Monterey Jazz Festival has announced the members of its 2013 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, the Festival's internationally-renowned high school all-star big band, featuring the best high school jazz musicians in the country. Major funding for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra comes from the Surdna Foundation and generous individuals.

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC), in a collaboration with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, will record three songs from the little-known 1947 musical comedy Barefoot Boy With Cheek featuring performances by Jenn Colella (Chaplin, Closer Than Ever), Max von Essen(Evita, Death Takes a Holiday) and Robert Lenzi (South Pacific, Hello Again). UMC's recordings will be released for free digital download on the New York Public Library's website as part of its Musical of the Month blog series, which recently featured UMC's reconstruction of the Barefoot Boy libretto. The musical has never received a cast album.

Mark Nadler is one of those cabaret performers who serves up his entertaining antics with healthy portions of art education and history lessons.  In I'm A Stranger Here Myself, now transplanted from its nightclub roots to the York Theatre stage, Nadler gives a frequently fascinating overview of the pre-Hitler period known as the Weimar Republic; Germany's first democracy and a haven for individualists and eroticists who gleefully indulged in a period of artistic freedom.

Bayou City Concert Musicals continues its popular cabaret series with Alone Together: The Songs of Arthur Schwartz, on three consecutive Monday nights in May, beginning Monday, May 6, and continuing on May 13 and May 20 at 7:30 p.m.

A human ball of silver glitter hanging from a cord is lowered above what looks like a bungalow-sized muffin top.  (It's supposed to represent a turtle shell.)  Before the glitter ball makes its landing the cover is removed to reveal what looks like a tribe of humanish amphibians bouncing on trampolines and twirling on the muffin/turtle's frame.  Shortly after, a sleazy-looking clown in a tropical shirt tosses a condom to a woman in the front row and says, 'Call me!'  Yes, dear readers, Cirque du Soleil is back in town.

Proving that class is indeed a rare commodity these days, this lady, who co-starred on Broadway with Sergio Franchi in Nine, presented a marvelously varied bill of fare which highlighted songs from Amanda McBroom, Randy Newman, Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel and by the evening's musical director, renowned composer Michele Brourman - by no means your typical evening of predictable songs. Apart from having an exquisite soprano voice, Barnett is down-to-earth, warm and very funny.

Tony Award nominee Liz Larsen (The Most Happy Fella), KT Sullivan (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Chris Hoch (La Cage Aux Folles, Shrek The Musical), Michael Mastro (Twelve Angry Men), Pilin Anice (Junie B. Jones), Cicily Daniels (The Little Mermaid), Tim Falter (Some Like It Hot), Nadine Isenegger (42nd Street), Matthew Labanca (Young Frankenstein), Drama Desk Award nominee Garrett Long (South Pacific, The Spitfire Grill), Kristin Maloney (The Talk of the Town), Brent McBeth (White Christmas), Jim Middleton (Goodspeed's 1776), Kevin Vortmann(A Little Night Music) and Tiffany Westlie (The Truth About Jane) have joined the cast of UnsungMusicalsCo.'s benefit concert presentation of the legendary 1935 musical revue At Home Abroad, set for tonight, October 15, 2012. Get a first look at the stars in rehearsal below!

Acclaimed international concert and cabaret artist Anna Bergman returns to Feinstein's at Loews Regency (540 Park Avenue @ 61st Street) tonight, October 15 and October 21, 22, 28 & 29 (8:00pm) with her show "You & the Night & the Music: An Evening of Musical Imports & Exports". This showfeatures her musical director and arranger Alex Rybeck, Jered Egan on bass and is directed by Jeff Harnar.