Jason Alexander News

Cleveland Play House opens its 98th consecutive season with its new production of the smash Broadway hit Lombardi. Bob Ari, seen last season as Mark Rothko in Red, returns to CPH to play the legendary coach who defined inspiration.

According to the Los Angeles Times, singer and pianist Michael Feinstein will succeed Marvin Hamlisch as Pasadena Pops' lead conductor for the 2013 season. Hamlisch passed away on August 6, 2012, following a brief illness.

ANNIE, the new production of the Tony Award-winning musical, went into rehearsal today in New York City with its full company. The production begins previews October 3, 2012 and opens November 8, 2012 at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street). Meet the full cast below!

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and Paramount Pictures announce today that Jason Alexander will host The Big Picture: Paramount's 100th Anniversary celebrating the studio's rich cinematic and musical history at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 7:30 PM. Featuring the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by David Newman, Alexander is joined by three special guests, the legendary composers Michael Giacchino (Super 8, Star Trek), Lalo Schifrin (Mission: Impossible series), and Alan Silvestri (Forrest Gump).,

Third Street Theatre announces its second production in L.A.'s newest 99-seat Equity Waiver house, the Tony award-winning musical THE FULL MONTY, with book by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, choreography by John Todd, musical direction by Johanna Kent and direction by Richard Israel. THE FULL MONTY will open on Friday, September 7 and run through Sunday, October 14 at the THIRD STREET THEATRE, 8115 W. Third Street in West Hollywood.

April 30th Entertainment has announced that seven-time Emmy nominee and "America's Dad" (Growing Pain's) Alan Thicke will be starring as iconic TV personality Jack Bailey in the world premiere of Queen for a Day: the Musical. The 12-performance run begins September 26, 2012 at the brand new state-of-the-art Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. Thicke is scheduled to perform in 10 shows only.

Today we are talking to one of Broadway's most recent stars to make a big impression in Hollywood with his many recent TV and film appearances - from GLEE, 30 ROCK and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM to the forthcoming HBO Liberace biopic BEHIND THE CANDELABRA as well as the new NBC series MOCKINGBIRD LANE - following his stints on the Great White Way in the lead roles of musicals such as ALL SHOOK UP, XANADU and FINIAN'S RAINBOW - the convivial, exceedingly talented Cheyenne Jackson. Giving us an all-access pass to his new role as songwriter, crafting two pop gems - "Drive" and "Before You" - and creating accompanying music videos for them as a preview of his forthcoming EP, which will also include collaborations with Sia and more. In addition to his recording career and songwriting responsibilities, Jackson also has a number of high profile film and TV projects coming up and he gives us the 411 on his role opposite Michael Douglas in the new Steven Soderbergh HBO film BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, as well as shares his experiences filming the new Bryan Fuller-created NBC reboot of THE MUNSTERS titled MOCKINGBIRD LANE. Also, will he be returning to 30 ROCK for its final season? What about a GLEE reprise? Plus, Jackson fills us in on the newest member of his family, as well as recollections of working on Dustin Lance Black's remarkable landmark PROP 8 live multi-media presentation, his involvement with Neil LaBute's THE HEART OF THE MATTER, his new film MUTUAL FRIENDS, participating in BARACK ON BROADWAY duetting with SMASH star Megan Hilty and what we can expect from his appearance in the new Christopher Ashley-directed movie musical adaptation of Ahrens & Flaherty's LUCKY STIFF. All of that and much, much more!

The New York Music Theater Festival can easily be considered a harbor for the freshest talents in musical theater. Over a period of several weeks, an astonishing number of musical productions are presented on vest pocket stages throughout New York City. As is often the case with harbors, there is a confluence of talent feeding into it. Not only is this talent from all over the nation, but it ranges from the youngest to the most experienced and they all converge on the city for this event.

Today we are talking to a celebrated comedienne and actress known for her decades-spanning career on screens and stages large and small - from making her Broadway debut in the original Jerome Robbins production of GYPSY on Broadway in 1960 to her many musical roles throughout the 60s to her countless game show and variety show appearances following that all the way to creating an unforgettable character in MOONSTRUCK in the 1980s, as well as her subsequent oft-Neil Simon stage work; now, playing Tina Fey's sweet and daffy mom on NBC's 30 ROCK and, most recently, appearing in Nora & Celia Ephron's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE and the Playwright's Horizons premiere production of THE BIG MEAL in the new millennium - the one of a kind Anita Gillette. Analyzing her nearly sixty-year career and sharing candid stories of her brushes with some of Broadway and Hollywood's brightest talents - Jule Styne to Ethel Merman to Irving Berlin to Burt Lancaster and beyond - Gillette paints a vivid portrait of the tail end of the Golden Age of Broadway and the heady game show days of TV in the 1960s and 70s to her lauded stage work with Neil Simon and many of the great comedy and musical writers in the years since. Additionally, Gillette and I discuss her current essaying of the role of Mae Peterson in the new Regal Music Theatre production of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's BYE BYE BIRDIE in Massachusetts as she looks towards opening night tomorrow and relates her joy in participating in a production that has some behind-the-scenes help by her loving granddaughter (while another attends their summer camp). Plus, Gillette's observations on sharing a soundstage with Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Elaine Stritch and Buck Henry for a recent 30 ROCK shoot, reflections on her fondest and most celebrated comedy roles, hilarious memories of appearing in some short-running flops (JIMMY, SKYSKRAPER) as well as in some big hits (GYPSY), her upcoming series of master classes titled "Life In The Business", her return to Birdland with her concert show, AFTER ALL, her role in an upcoming Ed Burns film and maybe even a role in a new Alexander Payne film - all of that, all about attending the Diamond Jubilee celebration in the United Kingdom and much, much more!

This year the "Julie Harris Award for Lifetime Achievement" was presented to Jason Alexander, "A man worthy of the tribute for both his illustrious career and for his support of The Fund over the years," said The Fund's President and CEO, Joe Benincasa. See below for photos from the event!

The one-man historical play 'Robert E. Lee - Shades of Gray' will be performed by Drama Critics Circle Award Winning Actor and Playwright Tom Dugan on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from tonight, June 11 through June 27, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at Theatre 40, 241 South Moreno Drive in Beverly Hills, CA, during the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Mc Coy Rigby Entertainment & Fox Operator Bill Malone of FX Arts, in association with Nederlander Presentations, Albert Nocciolino, Larry Payton, Michael Filerman and Heni Koenigsberg, bring audiences in Riverside the final production of the 2011-2012 season with the ultimate musical theatre experience for the entire family, Cathy Rigby and Brent Barrett starring in PETER PAN, a musical production of the play by Sir James Barrie, with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, music by Moose Charlap, additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and additional music by Jule Styne, beginning June 29.

The one-man historical play 'Robert E. Lee - Shades of Gray' will be performed by Drama Critics Circle Award Winning Actor and Playwright Tom Dugan on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from June 11 through June 27, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at Theatre 40, 241 South Moreno Drive in Beverly Hills, CA, during the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

The Actors Fund just offered TONY Award VIP's a kick-off reception in advance of their highly anticipated annual Tony Awards Gala Viewing Party to be held on Sunday, June 10 at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles (http://www.actorsfund.org/performances-and-events/tonyparty2012). Check out photos from the celebration below!

Stage and screen stars Brooke Shields and Richard Chamberlain will take on the iconic roles of Chris MacNeil and Father Merrin in playwright John Pielmeier's world premiere of The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse. Helmed by acclaimed director John Doyle, who won a Tony Award for his striking reimagining of Sweeney Todd, this stage adaptation of William Peter Blatty's famous 1971 novel transforms the unsettling battles of good versus evil, faith versus fact and ego versus ethos into a uniquely theatrical experience as sophisticated as it is suspenseful.

Earlier this month, the 2012 Tony Awards Nominations were announced by Tony winning actress Kristin Chenoweth and Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Jim Parsons. The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 10, 2012. BroadwayWorld was there for this year's official Tony Brunch, and got a chance to chat with this year's nominees! Today we bring you Lifetime Achievement honoree Emanuel 'Manny' Azenberg.

Several Tony Award-winners are teaming up to bring an adaptation of the 1988 musical "Lucky Stiff" to the screen. The show, based on Michael Butterworth's 1965 novel "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo," was written by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty and first performed at New York's Playwright's Horizons where it won the Richard Rogers Production Award before going on to London and hundreds of international productions. Ahrens & Flaherty went on to win the Tony for their musical "Ragtime" as well as two Academy Award nominations. Other notable credits include "Once On This Island" and "Seussical." Ahrens has adapted the play for the screen, while Flaherty and Ahrens have written additional songs.