Jerry Herman News

Tonight, October 9, noted orchestrator and conductor Fred Barton will bring the music of Broadway and the American Songbook to the Schimmel Center at Pace University, in American Showstoppers: An Evening of Johnny Mercer. In his seventh concert at Pace, Fred Barton now brings the power of Mercer's music and lyrics front and center, with a 14-piece orchestra and a cast of 16 Broadway singers and dancers, with direction and choreography by Scott Thompson. The cast is headlined by Damon Kirsch, Tony nominee Lee Roy Reams, two time Tony nominee Vivian Reed, Nick Spangler, Tony Nominee Lauren Worsham, and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba. The cast also features Jesse Luttrell, Sean McGibbon and Molly Pope.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that an Equity staged reading of PRESENTING ETHEL MERMAN, a new play with music tracing the ups and downs of the famed Broadway star affectionately known as 'the Merm', is currently rehearsing for private presentations to industry producers and insiders.

Olivier Award-winning West End stars Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell are to star in the eagerly awaited European premiere of Grey Gardens.

Transgender actress/singer Alexandra Billings has done quite remarkable work on LA stages over the last decade, as well as being one of the stars of the current amazon TV hit Transparent. She holds nothing back; her acting style is brutally honest. Now through next Sunday only October 11, you can see her new autobiographical cabaret play entitled S/he & Me: A Theatrical Cabaret.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Interim Executive Director) will honor Broadway and Hollywood legend Angela Lansbury with the 2015 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre on Monday, November 16, 2015 at Guastavino's (409 East 59th Street). 

Acclaimed New York City cabaret singer and actress Klea Blackhurst will bring her signature show 'An Evening with Klea Blackhurst' to the Milford Center for the Arts as part of it's Nite Spot Nights series produced in conjunction with Pantochino Productions Inc. on Saturday, November 7th at 8 p.m.

Interestingly, Playhouse on the Square has opted to produce Thornton Wilder's THE MATCHMAKER rather than HELLO, DOLLY, the legendary musical that it spawned - and therein lies both the blessing and the curse: There are so many lines here that served as song cues that the specter of Jerry Herman's 'ear-candied' score keeps hovering over the play. To add to the dilemma, the ever-arranging 'matchmaker' herself is none other than that talented musical performer Ann Sharp (surprisingly making her theatre debut at Playhouse): Because she doesn't have the opportunity to use that particular talent, and because those darned Herman songs keep popping up in the mind, THE MATCHMAKER might prove frustrating for those familiar with its melodic offspring. That's too bad, as Herman's score is rather like some pushy first grader who breaks in line; without it, the audience is left with . . . a fine romantic comedy, filled with mistaken identities and matches and mismatches - and more than just a touch of Wilder's warm , incisive writing.

A spectacular concert Kings Of Broadway which celebrates the music of legendary Broadway composers Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne will be performed for one night only  at The Palace Theatre, London on Sunday November 29.

BroadwayWorld is excited to report that SPOTLIGHT 2015, in benefit of Fife House, will take place on Friday, November 27th at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio. Featuring Broadway's original 'Annie', Andrea McArdle, in concert with three time Emmy-nominated musician, Seth Rudetsky! The evening will feature Andrea in conversation about her illustrious career with Seth and singing some of the most memorable Broadway show-stoppers!

On Sunday September 27 at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal, dancer Mark C. Reis debuted his brand new cabaret show I'd Enjoy Being a Girl...on Broadway. Reis had tremendous success in 2012 with his first show at Sterling's called Diapers, Dishes and Dreams...Stories of a Dancer about his gay married life, which has included raising a small child. It is always a big risk, a bold endeavor to return with a new show, particularly if you veer 360 degrees in another direction. Reis has a great fan following. Since his audience for the most part truly love him, even if he falls on his face, as does a child learning how to walk, they will pick him up and encourage him to try again, to move on. The new show has much promise, but does need further work-shopping and retooling.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES celebrates the gay relationship and does well to show that no matter who you are love, family, and happiness is something everyone deserves.

Encompass New Opera Theatre (Nancy Rhodes, Artistic Director) and Gala Honorary Chairs Sheldon Harnick, Charles Strouse, and Maury Yeston will honor legendary Broadway performer BARBARA COOK - on the exact day of her 88th Birthday - and lyricist LEE ADAMS (Bye Bye Birdie, Golden Boy, Applause)  with a star-studded musical salute on Sunday, October 25.

San Diego Musical Theatre announces the third production of their 2015 season, La Cage Aux Folles, September 25 - October 11, 2015 (press opening on Saturday, September 26), at the Spreckels Theatre on Broadway in downtown San Diego.  Check out a first look at the production below!

Portland's Good Theater opened its 2015-2016 season with No Biz Like Show Biz, a stylish tribute to two legends of the Broadway stage, Ethel Merman and Mary Martin, created and directed by the company's artistic director, Brian P. Allen. The one-hundred-minute arrangement of songs associated with these legends from the decades of the 1930s-1960s focuses on the work of iconic composers and lyricists such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, and Stephen Sondheim and is performed by three delightfully talented and distinctive singing-actresses.

Cabaret 313 will open its third season this September, bringing extraordinary award-winning talents to Detroit -including two-time Tony Award nominee Christine Andreas for two performances- for an intimate evening of songs.

A spectacular concert Kings Of Broadway which celebrates the music of legendary Broadway composers Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne will be performed for one night only  at The Palace Theatre, London on Sunday November 29.

David Engle talks about his journey with LA CAGE AUX FOLLES from dancer to star, from coast to coast. He plays Albin for San Diego Musical Theatre at the Spreckels theatre through Ocotber 11th.

The one-night-only concert KINGS OF BROADWAY will celebrate the music of Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne on November 29, 2015 at the Palace Theatre.

Throughout her illustrious career, Bernadette Peters has dazzled audiences and critics with her performances on stage and television, in concert, and on recordings. One of Broadway's most critically acclaimed performers, Bernadette has won numerous accolades including three Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, two Grammy Awards, three Emmy nominations and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She recently appeared in City Center's Encores! production, A BED A CHAIR: A New York Love Affair featuring the music of Stephen Sondheim and orchestrations by Wynton Marsalis. Other recent Broadway credits include Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music and Follies, which also played the Kennedy Center.

Theatre Charlotte's revival of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES allows us to catch up with its true meaning as director Dennis Delamar sets his star, Steve Bryan, free to add uproarious blandishments of shtick and impersonation.