Ira Gershwin News

Kaufman Music Center's Broadway Close Up series will kick off tonight, October 6th, giving Broadway fans the behind the scenes experience of musicals old and new with eye-opening interviews and inspiring performances by some of Broadway's greatest talents at the renowned Merkin Concert Hall.

Kaufman Music Center's Broadway Close Up series will kick off on October 6th, giving Broadway fans the behind the scenes experience of musicals old and new with eye-opening interviews and inspiring performances by some of Broadway's greatest talents at the renowned Merkin Concert Hall.

Plans were announced today for American Ballet Theatre's 75th Anniversary season by Kevin McKenzie, Artistic Director, and Rachel S. Moore, CEO. The 15-month long celebration will be highlighted by performances of ABT's historic repertoire presented during the Company's 2014 and 2015 seasons, a special PBS American Masters documentary by Ric Burns, a touring exhibit by the Library of Congress, a 75th Anniversary Gala and a new commemorative souvenir program.

George and Ira Gershwin's masterpiece opera Porgy and Bess, based on the play by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, premieres on PBS this fall with the critically acclaimed production from San Francisco Opera. THE GERSHWINS'® PORGY AND BESS airs Friday, October 17, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) as part of thePBS Arts Fall Festival, which highlights artists and performances from around the country and invites every American to have a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the country's best arts performances.

Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting audiences with top performers who expand the definition of cabaret, launches its 11th season this fall at the Fairmont San Francisco's historic Venetian Room with an Opening Night Gala celebrating the work of songwriter/composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, Pocahontas, Enchanted, Prince of Egypt). The evening will feature two on-stage interviews with Mr. Schwartz by ASCAP's Director of Musical Theatre Michael Kerker, and performances by Today Night Live's Ana Gasteyer, who performed the role of 'Elphaba' in Wicked on Broadway, and by two masterful interpreters of Schwartz' work, Liz Callaway and Michael McCorry Rose. Bay Area Cabaret's Opening Night Gala Tribute to Stephen Swartz will take place 8 pm, Today, September 27, 2014 at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason Street, atop Nob Hill, San Francisco.

The Bijou Theatre presents 'Vegas Lounge' for the second year in a row after a sold out show last year. 'Vegas Lounge' includes the vocal talent of Steve D'Agostino singing the songs from the Great American Songbook, along with the comedic tales of local comedian, Kevin Dolan. 'Vegas Lounge' is one performance only on Saturday, October 11th, at 8:00pm. Tickets are $30 for theatre seating, and $35 for table/high top seating.

The national tour of NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, currently playing at the Capitol Theatre, 's wonderful, 's marvelous. If you are a fan of the Gershwins, you will not want to miss this night of old-fashioned (but decidedly not stodgy) entertainment.

It's the Roaring Twenties and a cast of outrageous characters gather in New York to celebrate the wedding of wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter. But things don't go as planned when the playboy meets Billie Bendix, a bubbly and feisty bootlegger who melts his heart. The champagne flows and the gin fizzes in the hilarious, Tony-winning musical comedy NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT.

Rehearsals begin today, Monday, September 22, for the upcoming world premiere of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS prior to its engagement at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris where previews will begin Saturday, November 22, 2014 for a Wednesday, December 10, 2014 opening night. The Broadway run of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS will begin previews Friday, March 13, 2015 for a Sunday, April 12, 2015 opening night at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street).

Today we are listening to the hotly anticipated new jazz album by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett titled CHEEK TO CHEEK.

Acclaimed Bay Area crooner Craig Jessup returns to the concert stage with another collection of classics from the Great American Songbook tonight September 19 at 8pm at 142 Throckmorton Theatre (142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley).

Theo Ubique artistic director Fred Anzevino and musical director Jeremy Ramey, who teamed up for the company's Jeff-award Best Musical winner The Light in the Piazza as well as Aspects of Love and Master Class, are collaborating on this collection of songs by the German born classical composer-turned-Broadway-songsmith Kurt Weill. Ramey is providing exciting new arrangements as well as musical direction. Christie Kerr is also on the team as choreographer for the cabaret to be performed at the No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago, from tonight, September 19 to October 19, 2014.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. '50 Shades' joins the fall-winter lineup at the Broadway Playhouse, 'Stomp' and 'Rain' join BIC, Halloween musicals begin, two sketch musicals at pH, the Muellers and Mason headline FWD's gala, Weill and Porter shows prepare to open, and Barbra goes for six straight decades!

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT makes its mark at Bass Hall from now until the 21st.

South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) has announced its 2014-15 performance schedule through February 2015.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today that it will welcome the first national tour of Nice Work If You Can Get It to the St. Paul stage Oct. 14-19, 2014. Tickets start at $36 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office.

Today in 1943, Porgy and Bess opened at the 44th Street Theatre, where it ran for 24 performances. First performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, it was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African-American life in the fictitious Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. Originally conceived by George Gershwin as an 'American folk opera', Porgy and Bess premiered in New York in the fall of 1935 and featured an entire cast of classically trained African-American singers-a daring artistic choice at the time.