Irving Berlin News

92Y announces Ted Chapin, President & Chief Creative Officer of Rodgers & Hammerstein, will serve in the newly created role of Producer of Lyrics & Lyricists, beginning next season. For nearly five decades, L&L has been at the forefront of exploring and sharing the best of the American Songbook, and this opens a new chapter.

Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT) and the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) are pleased to announce the casting of its premiere cabaret LOVE IS LOVE: A Cabaret of Broadway Songs About Love at the Aronoff Center's intimate Fifth Third Bank Theater on February 9-10 and 16-17 (see detailed schedule below). CMT has attracted some of the area's top local talent and theatre veterans many of whom have performed in past CMT productions for this premiere production through a new partnership with CAA.

The Ordway Center for Performing Arts announced today that producer and director Rod Kaats will assume the position of Producing Artistic Director beginning February 1, 2018. Mr. Kaats succeeds James A. Rocco, who stepped down from the Ordway last year.

The family of Irving Berlin, in conjunction with his publishers Concord Music (North America) and Universal Music Publishing Group (rest of World), has announced the launch of a new website to honor Irving Berlin in celebration of his 130th birthday. Created to pay tribute to Berlin's life and legendary works, this is the first time a dedicated digital resource has existed online for the man epitomized by Jerome Kern's famous maxim: 'Irving Berlin has no place in American music - he is American music.'

Ellen Wedner, Director of The Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, today announced the opening and closing films of the upcoming 28th annual festival that will present 35 movies from around the world. Both movies are music-based, making their Florida Premiere at the Festival, and will be shown at the AMC CityPlace 20 in West Palm Beach.

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre is proud to present the classic murder mystery Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, January 16 through February 11. Check in to the Monkswell Manor and stay the night as murder is the name of the cruel game played with inside these walls.

Bill Milner (Dunkirk, X-Men: First Class, Son of Rambow) is to star with the previously announced, Olivier Award-winning West End star Sheila Hancock, in the London premiere of the black comedy romantic drama Harold and Maude.

In SNOWFALL at Birdland, Christine Ebersole and Billy Stritch offered up a holiday show that was equal parts holly-jolly and melancholy. Through it all, though, there was an undercurrent of warm insularity, each bolstered by the other's presence, even when one would sit a number out and simply watch their friend perform.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica and Eva Price present Small Mouth Sounds by Drama Desk Award winner Bess Wohl (Pretty Filthy), and directed by Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) for three weeks only, January 11 through 28 with a press opening on January 12.

Walnut Street Theatre, America's oldest theatre and a National Historic Landmark, is pleased to announce its landmark 210th season of live entertainment, and its 36th season as a not-for-profit producing theatre company. The line-up includes three stunning musicals, a hilarious comedic romp by Walnut favorite Ken Ludwig, and an exciting Tony Award-winning Best Play. As a self-producing regional theatre, the Walnut has become not only the most popular theatre company in Philadelphia, but also the most subscribed theatre company in the world.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2017/2018 season with the Bay Area premiere of the stunning musical tribute, Our Great Tchaikovsky, written and performed by Hershey Felder, who shattered box office records at TheatreWorks with his acclaimed portrayals of Irving Berlin and Beethoven. Exploring both current Russian politics and historical context, piano virtuoso Felder brings to life the music and story of composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in a time-bending tale. From the iconic ballets Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, to the outrageous 1812 Overture and brilliant symphonic works, this powerful music journey travels from Czarist times to today, bringing vivid life to a haunted genius. Our Great Tchaikovsky will be presented January 10 February 11, 2018 (press opening: January 13) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($45-$105) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

On the eve of its first performance, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has announced that its presentation of Hershey Felder's Our Great Tchaikovsky is already establishing a new all-time box office record for the 48 year-old Bay Area theatre company and it is not even open yet. This newest work by acclaimed performer and playwright Hershey Felder is on track to shatter the theatre's previous record, set last year with TheatreWorks' presentation of Hershey Felder, Beethoven which set a high bar as the company's highest grossing show, amassing $637,767 in sales the day before opening. It has been bested by Our Great Tchaikovsky, which has now sold more than $710,000 to date, and may well top Beethoven's final sales total. Tickets are disappearing fast as theatre-goers flock to see Felder's latest piece, which runs Tuesdays through Sundays, January 10 February 11, 2018, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($45-$105) and information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Back by popular demand, Lucie Arnaz actress, singer, dancer and Emmy Award-winning daughter of Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with her acclaimed show, Latin Roots, for two performances only Friday, February 23 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, February 24 (8 p.m.).

Scottsdale Musical Theater Company announces the headliners for their July 2018 production of the classic musical 42nd Street (July 6 - 15, 2018). Charles Shaughnessy (TV's The Nanny , Days of Our Lives , Broadway's Urinetown) portray director Julian Marsh. He will be joined by 3-time Grammy Award-winning recording icon Debby Boone (#1 hit You Light Up My Life , Broadway's 7 Brides for 7 Brothers) as diva Dorothy Brock and rising Broadway star Eloise Kropp (Dames at Sea, On the Town, Cats) as Anytime Annie. Ms. Kropp will also create the show's tap choreography.

HOLIDAY INN's Corbin Bleu will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's THE MIDDLE. The episode airs Today, January 9 (8:00-8:30 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand. Check out a first look below:

In an awards ceremony at the 13th Street Repertory Theater, veteran stage/screen/television actor Michael Townsend Wright has presented the second annual 'Matthew Nardozzi Award'--the only award celebrating reliability and dependability in theater--to Kate Solomon-Tilley.

After highly successful performances in both New York and Chicago of her cabaret show, 'New SCHERL in Town', New York born vocalist Wendy Scherl is offering one additional performance on January 20th at Don't Tell Mama. Cabaret reviewers responded enthusiastically to 'New SCHERL in Town' and Wendy's bracing blend of solid gold standards and choice lesser known items.

MasterVoices presents Our America a unique program taking audiences on a journey through the contributions immigrants have made to the tapestry of American music on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Hall at The Cooper Union. Conceived by MasterVoices Artistic Director Ted Sperling, the program spans multiple genres and centuries, ranging from arrangements of the spirituals Gospel Train, Wayfaring Stranger, I've Been in the Storm So Long, and Ain't That Good News ; Irving Berlin's Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, and Let Me Sing and I'm Happy, ; selections by Victor Herbert, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, and Gershwin; and new works by Jerusalem native and BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop member Daniel Rein and award-winning Chinese American composer Randall Eng.

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, launches an all-new series this year: Deborah Grace Winer presents The Classic American Songbook Series. Direct from her tenure as Artistic Director of92Y's renowned Lyrics & Lyricists series, Winer curates three jewel-box revues created especially for the venue's unique supper club setting. Each show celebrates American popular song as well as artists who created, interpreted and made themselves an integral part of the music. There is a $35-50 cover charge for each show, and a $25 food and beverage minimum. Premium seating is available for $75-$80. For reservations and information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins.

Rehearsals begin today for The 5th Avenue Theatre's new production of Mamma Mia!, the celebrated musical that features the music of global pop sensation ABBA. The 5th Avenue Theatre is the first producing theater company in the Pacific Northwest to be granted the rights to create its own refreshed version of the show, which toured the world for nearly 20 years.