Jerry Herman News

Having garnered acclaim for his performances on stage and screen, Alan Cumming makes his Cafe Carlyle debut in a two-week engagement, tonight, June 2, through June 13.

This week at 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

Today, the Nederlander Organization and Hollywood Pantages Theatre announced final nominees for THE 4TH ANNUAL JERRY HERMAN AWARDS, a celebration of the achievement and excellence in high school musical theatre in Los Angeles.

MACK AND MABEL is a love story between a director who can't be anything but what he is and an actress who can't figure out who she is. More deeply, it is a story about the turbulent relationship between Hollywood and cinema. And like Normand, it's smart and funny too.

Born in a very small town in Indiana, the youngest of 8 children, Ira Lee began singing on the radio with his sister when they were kids. After studying at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, he moved to New York where he appeared off-Broadway and in regional theatre, and even opened for the great Dawn Hampton in the '60s. After many years of performing, he took a 25-year hiatus from show business, re-appearing a few years ago with several successful cabaret appearances in NYC. Now 79, Ira Lee shares his life-time of experience with humor and joy.

Awards shows are catnip for entertainment enthusiasts around the world not only because they are a celebration of the best of the breed in whatever medium or genre the presentation recognizes but also because a live telecast with so many stars and so many categories allows for ample room for entertainment - and error. In Tony Awards history, there have been a few unmistakably unmissable moments that live on thanks to the magic of YouTube for a variety of reasons - thrilling battles to the finish in tight categories, chilling reactions from non-winners when the top prize is announced, and, of course, some very unusual albeit unforgettable ties and inconsistent category tweaks. Nevertheless, the Tony Awards is always the biggest night of the year for Broadway babies and this year should prove to be no exception with the hot competition and spectacular stars scheduled to appear on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall and presented to the world, once again, via CBS at 8 PM.

The Nederlander Organization and Hollywood Pantages Theatre previously announced preliminary nominees for THE 4TH ANNUAL JERRY HERMAN AWARDS, a celebration of the achievement and excellence in high school musical theatre in Los Angeles. Final nominations in all production and performance categories will be announced today, May 26th.

Happy Birthday Leslie Uggams! Uggams starred in Hallelujah, Baby!, which premiered on Broadway in 1967, and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical. She appeared on Broadway in the revue Blues in the Night in 1982 and in the musical revue of the works of Jerry Herman, Jerry's Girls in 1985. Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003 - 2004) and Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond at the Kennedy Center in 2004 and on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 2005. In 2001 she appeared in the August Wilson play King Hedley II, receiving a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

And There Was Music is the debut album from West End and UK theatre actor, pianist and musical director Ben Stock. From panto to Pinter, from Wolverhampton to the West End, the 11 track album reflects the music that has influenced his life and career so far; with music by Jerry Herman, Noel Coward, Tom Lehrer, Meredith Wilson, Cole Porter, Craig Carnelia and Amanda McBroom amongst others.

Alan Cumming headlines The Cabaret's 2015 Summer/Fall Season with his one-man show Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs. The Scottish actor-singer unveils a naughty and comical evening of song on September 12th and 13th.  

The annual awards show will be hosted by KABC-7 Reporter George Pennacchio at the Hollywood Pantages on Monday, June 1, 2015 at 7pm. All tickets for this awards celebration are $25 and are now on sale to the public online at www.JerryHermanAwards.com, www.HollywoodPantages.com/JHA2015, www.Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-982-2787 or at the Hollywood Pantages Box Office (6233 Hollywood Blvd). Group tickets are available at www.PantagesGroups.com or by calling 866-755-3075 Mon-Fri; 10am-5pm PT.

The full cast has been confirmed for the major new production of the classic Broadway musical Mack & Mabel, which will embark on a UK & Ireland Tour in Autumn 2015 following its premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre, and stars double Oliver award-winning Michael Ball and Rebecca LaChance.

Today, the Nederlander Organization and Hollywood Pantages Theatre announced preliminary nominees for THE 4TH ANNUAL JERRY HERMAN AWARDS, a celebration of the achievement and excellence in high school musical theatre in Los Angeles. Final nominations in all production and performance categories will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th.

Bloodshed is par for the course during Tony Awards season, especially as it reaches its peak in the last handful of weeks leading up the big annual ceremony feting theatre's best, so today we take a look back at some of the absolute most brutal and tight Tony Award races for Best Musical in history. Although comparing a group of musicals - alike as dissimilar as they may be - may be an unfair proposition in practice, there is only one way a winner is decided when the Tony Awards rolls around and it unfortunately always finds fan favorites, critical darlings and a few commercial hits vying for top honors. There can only be one Best Musical - well, except for 1960 when there were actually two mainstage entertainments given the prize; THE SOUND OF MUSIC and FIORELLO, with no less than GYPSY ending up an also-ran. Who will claim the trophy on June 7? Tune in then to see!

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra will begin its summer series at Riverbend Music Center's Corbett Pavilion on Saturday, June 6 at 8 p.m. with a special 'Broadway Sing-Along' featuring classic Broadway hits and inviting the audience to sing along.

In the famous 1960s hit 'Is That All There Is?' by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Peggy Lee croons the melancholy lyric, 'If that's all there is, my friend, then, let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is.' While this song ironically doesn't make it into the eclectic catalog of tunes that fuel THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH: AN APOCALYPTIC VAUDEVILLE, currently in its world premiere at the A.R.T. in Cambridge, it could easily have become the show's theme song. When a flood of epic proportions wipes out all but two scraggly survivors, played as a pair of Estragon and Vladimir-style hobos by Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac, there is very little left for them to do but sing and dance.

Goodspeed has just announced the cast of its upcoming production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. Check out the full cast below! Get ready for "a little guts and a lot of glitter" as Goodspeed Musicals delivers a sassy, joyous production of La Cage aux Folles beginning June 26th at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. Beyond its popularity as a heartwarming and beloved musical, it is a record-setter. La Cage aux Folles is the only musical that has won the Tony Award for Best Production (Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical) for each of its Broadway productions.

New Dramatists, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, just honored Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. The event featured musical performances from some of Mitchell's most memorable shows by Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams (King Hedley II, Hallelujah Baby), Nicolette Robinson (Brooklynite, TV's 'The Affair,' 'Hart of Dixie') and Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton, NBC's 'Smash'), and Tony nominated Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q, Carnival at City Center Encores!). BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the event below!

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein will welcome award-winning, Grammy-nominated cabaret legend Marilyn Maye to Feinstein's at the Nikko for two performances only - tonight, May 15 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, May 16 (7 p.m.). Maye will present an evening of American Songbook standards.

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute.