Jerry Herman News

The York Theatre Company lst night honored legendary Broadway Music Director and Conductor Paul Gemignani with the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 21st Annual Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities, and we bring you complete photo coverage below!

On Friday November 16, renowned film, stage and TV actress/singer Janis Paige brought her acclaimed autobiographical one-woman show to Upstairs at Vitello's. Having turned 90 in September, Miss Paige is unbelievably beautiful and puts some women half her age to shame. She came onstage with assistance due to an injured leg. She said the day before in order to avoid colliding with her little Jack Russell terrier, she darted over him and accidentally crashed into a piece of furniture. She humorously referred to the incident as a pas de deux. In spite of a painful bump on her leg, which caused her to remain seated throughout the 80-minute set, she claimed she was happy to be there. So, with stunning musical director Bill Schneider at the piano, she was off and running like her hero, the 30s/40s thoroughbred racehorse Seabiscuit. Paige is such a vibrant presence that even sitting she proceeded to dazzle her audience with a mesmerizing series of brilliant anecdotes and songs.

Neile Adams show Wasn't It Good! Wasn't It Fine! at Tom Rolla's Gardenia in West Hollywood was nothing short of 'AMAZING'. The choice of her material was absolutely delicious, as you will soon find out.

On Friday, December 7, TheatreWorks New Milford will debut the hilarious musical tribute written in the spirit of "Forbidden Broadway," THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) with music by Eric Rockwell, lyrics by Joanne Bogart, and book by Rockwell and Bogart. Curtain goes up at 8:00 p.m. on this five-week run.

The York Theatre Company honors legendary Broadway Music Director and Conductor Paul Gemignani with the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 21st Annual Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala tonight, November 19, 2012 at The Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

As a super-special companion column to this week's extensive InDepth InterView with nine-time Tony Award-winning performer/choreographer/director Tommy Tune, please enjoy this selection of the most pertinent and eye-popping moments from Tune's tremendous career, covering many of his best-loved and most fondly remembered musicals to date - among them: THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, NINE, GRAND HOTEL, MY ONE & ONLY, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES and more!

The Charing Cross Theatre will present the British premiere of Jerry Herman's musical DEAR WORLD, starring Betty Buckley and Paul Nicholas and directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne, from 4 February - 30 March 2013, with a press night on Wednesday 13 February.

According to an Equity casting notice, Broadway veteran Andrea McArdle will take on the title role in MAME twice this spring. The show will play at Pennsylvania's Media Theatre (4/17- 5/19) and Bucks County Playhouse (5/22-6/9).

Today we are thrilled to be talking to a nine-time Tony Award-winning performer/director/choreographer all about his illustrious career onstage and behind the scenes working on classic musicals such as THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, NINE, GRAND HOTEL, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES and many more as well as all about his new solo piece premiering at Feinstein's At Loews Regency this weekend - the one and only Tommy Tune. Taking a look back at his near-peerless legacy as the top director of the 1980s and 1990s on Broadway, Tune imparts his candid insights about show business and reflects upon many aspects of the aforementioned hit shows - from their inception and creation to their critical and public reception and their ultimate legacy - as well as shares stories about his time as a performer, both then and now, with the star-studded tales cumulatively involving such legendary luminaries as Gene Kelly, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bennett, Hal Prince, Maury Yeston, Ken Russell, Jane Krakowski, Sutton Foster and many more. Plus, Tune gives us an enticing glimpse of his new Feintein's At The Regency showcase, TAPS, TUNES AND TALL TALES, playing November 18-26, and casts his sights on the future, near and far, and discusses the types of projects he would like to tackle next - including, first up, finding the perfect NYC location for his environmental new theatre piece, 54. All of that, tons of taps, top hats and tails and much, much more!

Tony® Award-winner George Hearn (La Cage Aux Folles, Scandoulous) joins the The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director), to honor legendary Broadway Music Director and Conductor Paul Gemignani with the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 21st Annual Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala to be held next Monday, November 19, 2012 at The Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

Spotlighters presents MAME!, running Nov 23 - Dec 23, 2012 and featuring book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, music & lyrics by Jerry Herman. It is directed by Allan Herlinger with musical direction by Michael Tan and choreography by Jillian Bauersfeld.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) honors Broadway star and multiple time Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee Kelli O'Hara for her work in the theater at the NYMF 2012 Annual Gala taking place tonight, November 11th at The Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th Street) beginning at 6:00pm.

MAME, winner of five Tony Awards, opened November 8, 2012, and plays through January 13, 2013, at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Based on Patrick Dennis' 1955 novel, "Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade," MAME features an award-winning score by Jerry Herman with such favorites as "Bosom Buddies," "We Need a Little Christmas" and, of course, "Mame."

The Gardenia will present Broadway, television and film actress and singer, Neile Adams in "Wasn't It Good! Wasn't It Fine!," a musical celebration of her memories and the stages of her life. The 60-minute show will be presented at The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Boulevard (East of La Brea Avenue), West Hollywood, Calif., on Fridays and Saturdays, tonight, November 9 and November 10, 16 and 17, 2012 at 9:00 p.m.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, November 29 - December 9 in the Nafe Katter Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Broadway legend Andrea McArdle has two new albums set for release on Broadway Records. The first, '70s and Sunny: Live At 54 BELOW', was recorded during her triumphant debut at the new Broadway hotspot 54 BELOW and will be released on December 11, 2012 and is available for pre-order HERE. The second recording, 'Calendar Dream', is an exciting new project that teams Andrea up with a stellar array of Broadway's most awarded writers to journey though a year of a woman's life.

Happy Birthday Andrea McArdle! As 'Annie,' McArdle became the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony Award as Best Lead Actress in a Musical. Also on Broadway, she starred in the Jerry Herman musical Jerry's Girls alongside Carol Channing and Leslie Uggams; she portrayed the sassy Smoking Car, Ashley, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express; and starred as Margy Frake in State Fair; as Fantine in Les Miserables and, most recently as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Our biggest musical of the season opens TONIGHT! Presenting LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, the 1984 Tony winner for Best Musical, with book by Harvey Fierstein and music by Jerry Herman, based on the farce by Jean Poiret (which also inspired the Robin Williams / Nathan Lane movie The Birdcage). Transvestite nightclub owner Georges and performer Albin, two men partnered for better or worse, get a bit of both when Georges' son is engaged to the daughter of a right-wing politician. Georges agrees to masquerade as "normal" when meeting the family of the bride-to-be, but Albin has other plans.

Surfside Players' biggest musical of the season opens in two weeks. Presenting LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, the 1984 Tony winner for Best Musical, with book by Harvey Fierstein and music by Jerry Herman, based on the farce by Jean Poiret (which also inspired the Robin Williams / Nathan Lane movie The Birdcage).

Matthew Broderick (Nice Work If You Can Get It), Tony Danza ("Who's The Boss"), Kathleen Marshall (Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Pajama Game), Greg Naughton (Founder: Blue Light Theater Company), James Naughton (Chicago), Anthony Rapp (Rent), Tom Kitt (Next To Normal), Peter Cincotti (How Deep Is The Ocean) Eric Leviton (How Deep Is The Ocean), Lorinda Lisitza (Triumphant Baby!), and Michael Ogborn (Baby Case) and others to be announced will appear at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) 2012 Annual Gala honoring Broadway star and multiple time Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee Kelli O'Hara on Sunday, November 11th at The Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th Street) beginning at 6:00pm. Kelli is currently starring on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It, and was seen on Broadway in South Pacific, The Pajama Game, The Light In The Piazza and many others.