Jeff Berg News

Below, check out a wonderful, impromptu birthday greeting to the great Sheldon Harnick, the Tony-winning Broadway writer, lyricist and composer whose work includes Fiddler on the Roof, She Loves Me, Fiorello!, The Apple Tree, Tenderloin, and many more!

Winners of the 2014 Joey Awards were announced last weekend at a formal evening ceremony at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Organized and overseen by the Joe Allen Academy of Arts & Bitching (JAAAB), 'The Joeys' are a set of awards given annually for excellence in food service and patronage at New York's City's famous Times Square celebrity hot-spots: Joe Allen, Orso and Bar Centrale.

HarperCollins announced today the acquisition of a currently untitled memoir by Barbara Cook, the noted actress, singer, and concert performer. Cook's collaborator will be New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood. The world rights deal was negotiated by Jonathan Burnham, Senior Vice President and Publisher, Harper, and Rakesh Satyal, Senior Editor, Harper; Cook's manager, Jeff Berger at Jeff Berger Management; and Isherwood's agent, David Kuhn at Kuhn Projects. The book will be published in the fall of 2012, the year of Cook's eighty-fifth birthday.

Theatre legends Hal Prince and Susan Stroman, in an interview with The Times Online, discuss their opinions and frustrations on the state of the musical and theatre, their pasts and their directorial collaboration on Paradise Found, set to begin previews this week at London's Menier Chocolate Factory.

Hal Prince is currently taking on a new challenge very different from many of the shows he has worked on in the past. In the process of bringing PARADISE found to an eventual home on Broadway, Prince understands he may have to compete against several of his own shows.

Rehearsals begin yesterday, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26. BroadwayWorld was on hand to capture the introductory event!

Rehearsals begin today, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26.

FINIAN'S RAINBOW star Kate Baldwin celebrated the release of her debut album 'Let's See What Happens' on October 19th at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain on 152 West 52nd Street.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF) announces the inclusion of nine international productions as part of the MITF's 2009 Season, running through August 2, 2009. Tickets are available at www.midtownfestival.org or by phone at 866-811-4111.

Accused of treason against the United States in 1945, the controversial poet Ezra Pound was kept confined to a mental hospital in Washington, DC for 12 years. Now, more than 35 years after his death, he will finally face a jury of his peers - the audience - in William Roetzheim's one-man show Pound, starring Jeff Berg. Directed by Roetzheim, Pound will be performed at Tada Theater, the Studio Theatre on Theater Row and the Midtown International Theatre Festival, between May 4th and July 26th. The show is being produced by American International Theater, Inc.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF) announces the inclusion of nine international productions as part of the MITF's 2009 Season, running through August 2, 2009. Tickets are available at www.midtownfestival.org or by phone at 866-811-4111.

EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE, Paul Adams, Artistic Director, and Derek Jamison, Associate Artistic Director, present the Illuminating Artists- New Works Series, for three weeks at TADA Theatre. Performances begin Monday, April 27, 2009, and continue through Sunday, May 17, 2009.

Accused of treason against the United States in 1945, the controversial poet Ezra Pound was kept confined to a mental hospital in Washington, DC for 12 years. Now, more than 35 years after his death, he will finally face a jury of his peers - the audience - in William Roetzheim's one-man show Pound, starring Jeff Berg. Directed by Roetzheim, Pound will be performed at Tada Theater, the Studio Theatre on Theater Row and the Midtown International Theatre Festival, between May 4th and July 26th. The show is being produced by American International Theater, Inc.

EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE, Paul Adams, Artistic Director, and Derek Jamison, Associate Artistic Director, present the Illuminating Artists- New Works Series, for three weeks at TADA Theatre. Performances begin Monday, April 27, 2009, and continue through Sunday, May 17, 2009.

SP THEATRE PRODUCTIONS is pleased to announce the full cast for its upcoming producton of STILL LIVES, a new play written by PAUL HANCOCK and directed by JOCELYN SAWYER.

Working Man's Clothes Productions opened the World Premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's I Used To Write On Walls at The Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond Street). Directed by Diana Basmajian and Isaac Byrne; performances run through October 24.

Bekah Brunstetter's new play 'I Used to Write On Walls' is full of excellent performances and great dialogue.