Jack Lemmon News

Leapin' lizards! With more than 400 performances under her belt, the new U.S. National Tour of ANNIE will play the National Theatre for one week only, March 15 - 20, 2016. Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin for the 19th time, this production of ANNIE is a brand new physical incarnation of the iconic 1977 Tony Award-winning original.

Acclaimed US actor and composer, Chris Lemmon, is to premiere his autobiographical play, Twist of Lemmon, celebrating the loves, times, trials and tribulations of his father, the Hollywood legend and multiple nominee and Oscar winner, Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot, Missing, The Odd Couple, Save The Tiger, Mister Roberts, Glengarry Glen Ross) in London.

The McCallum Theatre welcomes the return of Shirley MacLaine on Monday, March 7, at 8:00pm. Academy Award-winning actress, dancer and author Shirley MacLaine will share with the audience a montage of memorable film moments and private revelations about her extraordinary life, career and spiritual journey. Shirley MacLaine's illustrious career comprises more than 50 feature films highlighted by an Academy Award® win and six nominations, six Emmy® Award nominations, seven Golden Globe® Awards - including the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award - and the title of international best-selling author.

Laurel and Hardy must be smiling in the comedy Valhalla. Cabrillo Music Theatre's near-perfect production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which opened last night at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza's Scherr Forum, brings back the classic, broad humor from vaudeville, performed by an inspired cast of crazies who not only aren't afraid of anything going wrong, but are probably HOPING for mishaps that would destroy any other show. This is, of course, because Forum is one of those shows where spontaneity and the unexpected is almost as obligatory as Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart's uproarious script and Stephen Sondheim's witty lyrics.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces a special one-night-only presentation of Hershey Felder's Great American Songbook Sing-Along. Known for his musical character creations Hershey Felder will lead audiences through 100 years of American music from George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, through Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and many more. Hershey Felder's Great American Songbook Sing-along will be performed at 7pm, Monday, February 15 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View For tickets ($50) and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Coronado Playhouse is the longest running community theatre in San Diego County and Coronado's oldest arts organization. The 2016 season marks 70 years of entertainment, service and outreach to Coronado and area audiences.

The Broadway star just released a DVD of her 54 Below show, performed in a holiday musical and at Joe's Pub, and is prepping for BroadwayCon.

Leapin' lizards! With more than 400 performances under her belt, the new U.S. National Tour of ANNIE will play the National Theatre for one week only, March 15 - 20, 2016. Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin for the 19th time, this production of ANNIE is a brand new physical incarnation of the iconic 1977 Tony Award-winning original.

Judson Theatre Company (Morgan Sills, Executive Producer and Daniel Haley, Artistic Director) has announced the stars of their Fifth Anniversary Season: John Davidson in On Golden Pond and John Wesley Shipp in Twelve Angry Men. On Golden Pond opens Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 7:00 pm and runs through Sunday, March 27. Twelve Angry Men opens Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm and runs through Sunday, September 25. Judson Theatre Company performs exclusively at Owens Auditorium, located at 3395 Airport Road in Pinehurst.

The Matrix Theatre Company honors Black History Month with the Los Angeles premiere of The Mountaintop, directed by Obie Award-winner Roger Guenveur Smith and starring Larry Bates and Danielle Mone Truitt. Recipient of London's 2010 Olivier Award, Katori Hall's gripping and often humorous re-imagining of events the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. takes on new meaning with the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Mountaintop opens at the Matrix Theatre on February 6, with previews beginning January 28. (Scroll all the way down to view links to high resolution photos.)

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2015 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, or technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

A reviewer pointed out extreme similarities between the TheatreWorks production and one directed by Darko Tresnjak.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley kicks off the New Year with the regional premiere of Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, a brand new work by acclaimed performer/playwright/director Hershey Felder. The inspiring story of "America's Composer" Irving Berlin takes center stage in this tour-de-force performance by virtuoso Hershey Felder, internationally acclaimed for bringing to life such composers as Gershwin, Beethoven, Chopin, and Bernstein. Fleeing the anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia, capturing the rhythms of the Lower East Side, and eventually enchanting the entire world, Berlin epitomized the American dream. Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin will be directed by Trevor Hay with performances January 13 - February 14, 2016 (press opening: January 16) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($35 -$100) and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Tonight, December 4 at 8:00 p.m., TheatreWorks New Milford will open the classic romantic comedy Bell, Book & Candle by John Van Druten. The show runs for five weeks.

Westchester Broadway Theatre presents TIM AND SCROOGE, A CAROL FOR A LATER CHRISTMAS, with music by Neil Berg and book & lyrics by Nick Meglin. Directed by Nick Corley with musical direction by Patrick Hoagland, the production will run tonight, December 3 - December 27, 2015.

'MasterClass' (www.masterclass.com) announces Kevin Spacey as their newest instructor. The Academy Award winner and 'House of Cards' actor will teach an online acting MasterClass which will be available on www.masterclass.com/ks. In his class Spacey will share the most important lessons he's learned over the course of his career. The class is being directed by 'House of Cards' director Tucker Gates. Pre-enrollment for the class opens today and the class will be available early 2016.

On Friday, December 4 at 8:00 p.m., TheatreWorks New Milford will open the classic romantic comedy Bell, Book & Candle by John Van Druten. The show runs for five weeks.

This month, one of New York's most iconic hotels celebrates one of New York's most iconic artists in a unique art installation. The Algonquin Hotel Celebrates The Hirschfeld Century, will be presented in the legendary lobby of the Algonquin Hotel today, November 19, 2015 through March 31, 2016.

El proximo 18 de diciembre, tendra lugar en el TEATRO GAUDÍ (c / Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 120, Barcelona, 120, Barcelona) el estreno del espectaculo SUGAR, Nadie es perfecto, la version catalana del musical de Broadway basado en la mitica pelicula de 1959 'CON FALDAS Y A LO LOCO' (Some like it hot).

After Friday evening's presentation of Great Performances: Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' to Do on PBS, Reel 13's November schedule kicks off the following night with Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' Academy Award-winning film adaptation of West Side Story.