Joanna Merlin News

Every week director Robert W Schneider and actor Kevin David Thomas pull back the curtain on neglected, forgotten, and underappreciated musicals, as well as bizarre performances, endearing television appearances, and all things show business. This week, they discuss the joys of intimate musicals, including 'They're Playing Our Song' and 'Spitfire Grill.'

Sweeney Todd. Frederik Egerman. Bill Samson. All of these roles, plus many others, were first brought to life by Tony Award winner Len Cariou. Sweeney Todd. Frederik Egerman. Bill Samson. All of these roles, plus many others, were first brought to life by Tony Award winner Len Cariou. Len dropped by Shetler Studios to share memories of his incredible career, including tackling Shakespeare, Sondheim, and everything in between.

Every week director Robert W Schneider and actor Kevin David Thomas pull back the curtain on neglected, forgotten, and underappreciated musicals, as well as bizarre performances, endearing television appearances, and all things show business. This Week: A book that needs to be revised and a musical that needs to be revived!

She was Arthur Miller's sister, a victim of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and one of New York's most respected actresses. Joan Copeland is a living legend whose career includes standing by for Vivien Leigh and Katherine Hepburn, sharing the stage with Danny Kaye, and bringing the words of her brother to vivid theatrical life.

Every week director Robert W Schneider and actor Kevin David Thomas pull back the curtain on neglected, forgotten, and underappreciated musicals, as well as bizarre performances, endearing television appearances, and all things show business.

It's Tony Time so its time to place your bets! Who will win? Who will lose? Who wasn't nominated? Who should be nominated? Rob, Kevin, and Tony historian Bryan Hobgood, debate the 2015-2016 Theatre season in two episodes and predict who will walk away with the coveted Tony Award!

Every week director Robert W Schneider and actor Kevin David Thomas pull back the curtain on neglected, forgotten, and underappreciated musicals, as well as bizarre performances, endearing television appearances, and all things show business. This episode: Robert and Kevin discuss the brilliant lyrics of both Dorothy Fields & Corky St. Clair via SEESAW and WAITING FOR GUFFMAN.

Howard McGillin holds the record for the most performances as The Phantom in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. But, before he sang The Music Of The Night over 2,000 times, Howard starred in THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, ANYTHING GOES, and many others!

Who hasn't seen the play or the movie or listened to the music from Fiddler on the Roof? Since it first opened on Broadway in 1964, Fiddler has become beloved around the world for its humor and cultural relevance. 

Just in time for the opening of the new Broadway production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (directed by Bartlett Sher, opening Dec. 17th, 2015) St. Martin's Press has published TRADITION! The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, The World's Most Beloved Musical. The book hits shelves today, August 25, 2015.

Kumu Kahua Theatre will hold a two-day intensive workshop on the Michael Chekhov acting technique in September.

The National Theater Institute includes a vibrant community of over 3,500 alumni. The many talents of these actors, writers, directors, and designers can be seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in films, television, London's West End, and at every major regional theater in the U.S. Today, in an excerpt from EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE: THE BIRTH OF THE MUSICAL FOLLIES, we hear from Ted Chapin (NTI Fall '70) who called his semester-away at NTI an 'extraordinary' 'experimental off-campus theater program.'

Gloucester Stage kicks off the 36th season of producing professional theatre on Cape Ann with Richard Nelson's Sweet and Sad opening on May 28 and running through June 20 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA.

Tony Award-winners Chita Rivera and Karen Ziemba, Norman Norman Jewison, Academy Award-winning director of the 1971 film version of Fiddler on the Roof (Irving Thalberg Award Recipient), and Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Counsul General of Israel, have joined the lineup of Raising the Roof, an all-star benefit concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene, the 50th Anniversary of iconic American musical, Fiddler on the Roof, and the 90th birthday of its Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, on Monday, June 9, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. at New York's The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street).

Tonight, April 28, Symphony Space will host its spring gala, Fiddler at 50, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof.

On April 28, Symphony Space will host its spring gala, Fiddler at 50, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof. The evening will honor Sheldon Harnick, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist behind the iconic musical. Symphony Space's Gala is co-chaired by Lenore Davis and Amy Wilson. Honorary co-chairs for the evening are Mary Rodgers Guettel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Harold Prince, and Stephen Sondheim.

On April 28, Symphony Space will host its spring gala, Fiddler at 50, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof. The evening will honor Sheldon Harnick, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist behind the iconic musical. Symphony Space's Gala is co-chaired by Lenore Davis and Amy Wilson. Honorary co-chairs for the evening are Mary Rodgers Guettel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Harold Prince, and Stephen Sondheim.

Joshua Bell, Frank London, Austin Pendleton and Jackie Hoffman have joined the lineup for Raising the Roof - an all-star benefit concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, its Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, and the 100thanniversary of The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene - on Monday, June 9th, at New York's The Town Hall.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick will be honored and will perform with the largest-ever reunion of original, revival and film cast members as part of an all-star benefit concert for The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene on Monday, June 9th, at New York's Town Hall.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre season concludes with Peter M. Floyd's ABSENCE, a witty and poignant exploration of a 76-year old woman's decline and the impact on her family relationships. Understudy Kippy Goldfarb stepped in and stepped up on the opening weekend for ailing Joanna Merlin and knocked it out of the park.