James Brennan News

Buffalo native Michele Ragusa, who has been seen on Broadway in Young Frankenstein, Titanic and Ragtime, will play Lilli/Kate in a staged concert version of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate April 27 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.The 8 PM performance will be conducted by Matthew Kraemer and directed by James Brennan.

Gulfshore Playhouse ends their seventh season with the musical play Master Class, in partnership with the Philharmonic Center for the Arts, playing April 5 through 21, with a preview performance April 4.

Mike McGowan, (PRISCILLA, GREASE, RAGTIME) currently on tour in BOOK OF MORMON will reunite with his KISS ME KATE cohort, Broadway veteran Michele Ragusa (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, URINETOWN, RAGTIME) to star in a staged concert version of the classic musical with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kraemer and directed by James Brennan.

Broadway veteran Michele Ragusa (YOUNG FRANKENSTIEN, URINETOWN, RAGTIME, TITANIC, CYRANO) will be starring in a staged concert version of KISS ME, KATE, with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kraemer and directed by James Brennan.

According to an Equity castng notice, the New York Philharmonic's staged production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (February 27-March 2, 2013) will feature choreography by Warren Carlyle. The evening will feature Kelli O'Hara as Julie Jordan, Nathan Gunn as Billy Bigelow, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie Fowler, and Alexander Gemignani as Enoch Snow. The production will be directed by John Rando, replacing the previously announced James Brennan due to scheduling conflicts, and conducted by Rob Fisher.

Riverside Theatre's Simply Amazing Season continues with the Broadway smash musical hit, Funny Girl. Nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best Musical Best Lead Actor and Actress and Best Original Score, the show was an immediate hit with audiences with an inspiring and beloved score including classic favorites 'Don't Rain on My Parade,' 'I'm the Greatest Star,' 'The Music That Makes Me Dance' and the iconic hit, 'People. Funny Girl performs on the Stark Stage from January 10 through 27, 2013 and is presented through the courtesy Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Riverside Theatre's Simply Amazing Season continues with the Broadway smash musical hit, Funny Girl. Nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best Musical Best Lead Actor and Actress and Best Original Score, the show was an immediate hit with audiences with an inspiring and beloved score including classic favorites 'Don't Rain on My Parade,' 'I'm the Greatest Star,' 'The Music That Makes Me Dance' and the iconic hit, 'People. Funny Girl performs on the Stark Stage from January 10 through 27, 2013 and is presented through the courtesy Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below.

Riverside Theatre's Simply Amazing Season continues with the Broadway smash musical hit, Funny Girl. Nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best Musical Best Lead Actor and Actress and Best Original Score, the show was an immediate hit with audiences with an inspiring and beloved score including classic favorites 'Don't Rain on My Parade,' 'I'm the Greatest Star,' 'The Music That Makes Me Dance' and the iconic hit, 'People. Funny Girl performs on the Stark Stage from January 10 through 27, 2013 and is presented through the courtesy Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers. Check out a backstage video below.

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January.

Riverside Theatre's Simply Amazing Season continues with the Broadway smash musical hit, Funny Girl. Nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best Musical Best Lead Actor and Actress and Best Original Score, the show was an immediate hit with audiences with an inspiring and beloved score including classic favorites 'Don't Rain on My Parade,' 'I'm the Greatest Star,' 'The Music That Makes Me Dance' and the iconic hit, 'People. Funny Girl performs on the Stark Stage from January 10 through 27, 2013 and is presented through the courtesy Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers.

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below.

Courtney Balan is set to star as Fanny Brice in Riverside Theatre's FUNNY GIRL, which will play the Stark Stage in Vero Beach, FL, Jan. 10-27, 2013. James Brennan directs and choregraphs the show.

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below.

Yes, I'll say it.  The 1959 Broadway stage version of The Sound of Music is far superior to 1965 film adaptation.  Yeah, yeah, I know…  The Oscar-winning best picture has all that lovely Austrian and Bavarian scenery and those cute kids and, oh yeah, Julie Andrews as the young postulant, Maria, sent to serve as governess to the seven children of Naval Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp.  But it also has a watered-down screenplay by Ernest Lehman that cuts two of the best songs in Rodgers and Hammerstein's score and eliminates one of the most interesting aspects of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse's original book; the depiction of nice, likeable Austrians who, unaware of the full extent of Hitler's atrocities, argue against resistance of the German overthrow of their country.  The stage musical even includes an important scene, altered in the film, where a Nazi in uniform commits a selfless act of compassion that helps rescue the von Trapps.

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

Paper Mill Playhouse presents The Sound of Music, directed and choreographed by James Brennan, now playing through December 30. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

Yesterday, November 14th, the cast of Paper Mill Playhouse's The Sound of Music, directed and choreographed by James Brennan, met the press. Cast for the show includes Edward Hibbert (Max Detweiler), Anthony Fedorov (Rolf Gruber), Ben Davis (Captain) and Elena Shaddow (Maria), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Liesl), and more. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities and you can check out photos below!

Yesterday, November 14th, the cast of Paper Mill Playhouse's The Sound of Music, directed and choreographed by James Brennan, met the press. Cast for the show includes Edward Hibbert (Max Detweiler), Anthony Fedorov (Rolf Gruber), Ben Davis (Captain) and Elena Shaddow (Maria), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Liesl), and more. BroadwayWorlds's Richie Ridge was there to meet the cast and creative team and you can check out what they said abuot the upcoming production below!