Ira Gershwin News

Today we talk to the world's foremost authority on twentieth-century music, the incomparable cabaret artist and Broadway performer known for his countless albums and appearances on film, television and stages worldwide, the affable and well-spoken - and encyclopedic - Michael Feinstein! In this SOUND OFF Special Interview he does BroadwayWorld the special honor of diagramming a lesser known gem - in this case, one of Cole Porter's final compositions - in his inimitable and illuminating style, as well as opening up about his new PBS reality series. We simultaneously speak to acclaimed directed Amber Edwards (WORDS & MUSIC: JERRY HERMAN) who also provides her insights on how to approach documentation of a life as rich, varied and hectic as Feinstein's. Lest we forget, he also owns and operates the premier cabaret club in Manhattan, Feinstein's At The Regency! Talking everything from Ira and George to iPods and Glee, Feinstein and Edwards share their insights and experiences in championing the twenty-first century Great American Songbook on television and on the internet in 2010 and bringing Feinstein's formidable talents to a whole new generation. All of that, and more show tunes than you can shake a stick at! Be sure to tune into your local PBS station next Wednesday at 8 PM for the premiere episode of MICHAEL FEINSTEIN'S AMERICAN SONGBOOK!

'S Wonderful: The New Gershwin Musical will be coming to the Colonial on September 30 at 7:30PM. Tickets are $55 and $35 and can be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street Monday-Friday 10AM-5PM, performance Saturdays 10AM-2PM, by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.thecolonialtheatre.org.

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, the five-time Grammy Award nominated, platinum-selling singer and pianist, will release his new CD Fly Me To The Moon - featuring guitar legend JOE NEGRI - on September 28, 2010.

The Cleveland Play House and the Theatre Guild, Inc. present Ed Asner in a solo performance of FDR as part of Heritage Week at The Cleveland Play House.

Rock 'n' roll and a whole lot more are at the soul of Broadway Rocks!, the special Broadway Showstoppers program opening Peter Nero and the Philly Pops' exciting 2010-11 season (October 6, 8, 9, and 10, 2010).

Cabaret St. Louis proudly presents Three Men & A Baby...Grand! 'A Salute to the Rat Pack' October 13-16, 2010 at 8 pm the Kranzberg Arts Center - 501 North Grand. Lee Lessack, Brian Lane Green, and John Boswell bring their flawless vocals, consummate showmanship and high energy while skillfully interpreting music made famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop. A Salute to the Rat Pack will be an evening of warm nostalgia presented by three first-rate performers who have extensive Broadway, recording and cabaret credits.

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, the five-time Grammy Award nominated, platinum-selling singer and pianist, will release his new CD Fly Me To The Moon - featuring guitar legend JOE NEGRI - on September 28, 2010.

There is no mistaking what Ethel Merman brought to Broadway. A gifted comedienne, an accomplished actress, and a hurricane of a personality, Merman commanded attention from every stage she stood on with pure gumption and that incredibly booming voice. You may say the same thing about Rita McKenzie, the woman who bravely steps into Merman's persona for a one-woman tribute show titled (appropriately enough) 'ETHEL MERMAN'S BROADWAY,' her hit off-Broadway musical tribute now playing at the Laguna Playhouse through September 19.

Court Theatre announces the final selection for the company's fifty-sixth season, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, pending final approval from Mr. Albee. The production will be directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell.

Today, in this BWW Exclusive interview, we are investigating the iconic and incomparable career - in every arena of entertainment, as depicted in her PBS concert retrospective DIAHANN CARROLL: THE LADY, THE MUSIC, THE LEGEND - of Ms. Diahann Carroll. From the first African American Golden Globe winner, winning for the first network series to feature a fresh, non-Caucasian actress as the lead character, JULIA; to the co-starring in the films of George & Ira Gershwin's PORGY & BESS and Oscar Hammerstein's CARMEN JONES opposite the likes of Harry Belafonte and Sammy Davis Jr.; to her remarkable roles on Broadway in Harold Arlen and Truman Capote's HOUSE OF FLOWERS and Richard Rodgers's NO STRINGS all the way up to Andrew Lloyd Webber's SUNSET BLVD in the 1990s in Toronto - and that's not even mentioning her concert appearances everywhere in the world for the last fifty years as well as her lauded performance on USA's hit nighttime drama WHITE COLLAR, which she returns to this week. Also, don't forget her humanitarian work for breast cancer awareness! She has done it all, and blazed a new path for herself and everyone coming in her wake in order to do so. She is the lady. She is the music. She is the legend. She is Diahann Carroll - and what divinity that is.

As overachievers go, Isabel Rose makes Oprah look like a slacker. She is a published author, equally comfortable in the realms of fiction and non-fiction, an award-winning actress who has conquered stage and screens (big and small), a screenwriter whose 2003 hit film Anything But Love was deemed a 'charmer' by the Los Angeles Times, and a playwright and composer who adapted her first novel, The J.A.P. Chronicles, into an off-Broadway musical that enjoyed an extended run in early 2006. If that weren't enough, she also graduated summa cum laude from Yale.

Mentored by Michael Feinstein and Andrea Marcovicci (The Queen of Cabaret), and sister to Fiona Apple, Maude Maggart is one of the cabaret circuit's finest interpreters of the Great American Songbook. Maude's bright, warm and ethereal vocals breathe new life into classic composers like Duke Ellington, Richard Rogers, Ira Gershwin and Hoagy Carmichael.

Two legendary ladies of stage and screen are headed to Laguna Beach this September for exclusive limited engagements at The Laguna Playhouse. First to arrive is ETHEL MERMAN'S BROADWAY September 8 - 19. Then it's time for Cloris Leachman in CLORIS: A ONE WOMAN SHOW September 23 - 27.

Pittsburgh CLO is pleased to announce the 2010-2011 Cabaret Subscription Series and the Pittsburgh premiere of Triple Espresso.

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall's 2010-2011 season features some of the most exciting and talented performers in the entertainment world from such greats as Mandy Patinkin, Michael Bolton, Dionne Warwick and Shirley MacLaine to hot favorites like Diana Krall, Clay Aiken and so many more!

Musicals Tonight!, now in its 13th year and honored with an Obie Award, is a not-for-profit theatre company in New York City primarily dedicated to the revival of 'neglected' musicals in a manner affordable to most audience members. Since its inception in 1998, we have revived well over 50 musicals in staged concert form (charging only $25 per ticket and operating under an Actor's Equity Association Showcase Code). The list of creators of the shows presented is a veritable Who's Who of American Musical Theatre - legendaries such as Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin, and Rodgers & Hart.

Pittsburgh CLO is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the world premiere of ‘S Wonderful: The New Gershwin Musical, which runs June 17 through September 5 at the CLO Cabaret. Tickets are available at CLOCabaret.com or by calling 412-456-6666.

Pittsburgh CLO is set to host the world premiere of 'S Wonderful, the new musical revue celebrating the work of George and Ira Gershwin, running June 17th through September 5th at the CLO Cabaret.

In what is a first for this company generally associated with uncommon musicals of the past, 42nd Street Moon takes pride in presenting the West Coast premiere of a new musical: Murder for Two by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair. Described as two parts Agatha Christie, and one part old-fashioned musical comedy with a dash of 21st century flair, the work has an inspector arriving at a dark house to solve a murder, and encounters a host of eccentric and clever suspects. Previews begin at the Eureka Theatre on November 3, with the opening on Saturday, November 6 at 6 pm.

According to Variety, Broadway favorites Sutton Foster and Matthew Broderick are set to participate in an October reading of the Gershwin musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It. The reading will be headed by Kathleen Marshall, who was one of the producers who backed the show during its run in Boston in 2008.