Joel Grey News

New Dramatists, Tony® Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, just honored Tony®and Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington at its 69th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. Washington, currently starring on Broadway in The Iceman Cometh, directed by George C. Wolfe, received New Dramatists' 2018 Distinguished Achievement Award. Tributes to Mr. Washington and performances were presented by three-time Grammy Award-winner Branford Marsalis with bassist Noah Jackson, Tony®Award-winners George C. Wolfe and Stephen McKinley Henderson, Constanza Romero (August Wilson Estate), and Pulitzer Prize finalist and New Dramatists resident playwright Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity).

Andy Karl and Orfeh will host the 2018 Chita Rivera Awards, taking place at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, May 20 at 7:30pm.

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF), recently nominated for a 2018 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Revivial (Amerike-The Golden Land), has completed its casting for the American premiere of the Yiddish language Fiddler on the Roof. Helmed by Academy Award and Tony Award winner Joel Grey, and accompanied by English and Russian translation supertitles, this highly-anticipated 8-week limited engagement, July 4th through August 26th, is set to play Off Broadway at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Steven Hoggett, who is represented on Broadway this season with Angels in America and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will receive the inaugural Douglas and Ethel Watt Critics' Choice Award at the 2018 Chita Rivera Awards

Ten Chimneys Foundation is proud to announce Stephen McKinley Henderson as the 2018 Master Teacher for the nationally acclaimed Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program at the Historic National Landmark, Ten Chimneys.

Salty Brine announces a new cabaret-theater hybrid production of I'm A Lot Like You as the latest installment in his series, The Living Record Collection. I'm A Lot Like You is inspired by Weezer's alternative rock album, Pinkerton, and Puccini's iconic opera, Madame Butterfly. The show will perform at Pangea (178 2nd Avenue) on May 23, 30 and June 6, 13, 20, 27. Doors will open at 6:00pm with performances beginning at 7:00pm.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (RTE), Chicago's only Equity theatre dedicated to producing new work with women at the core will add four performances to the run The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter, directed by Lauren Shouse, and featuring RTE Founders Tara Mallen and Keith Kupferer, RTE Member Krystel McNeil, with Tuckie White.  Eight performances have been added to the run, which must close June 2, 2018 at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago. 

Award-winning actor, singer, and dancer, Joel Grey, has been named to a star-studded advisory board to nominate the recipient of the Gold Coast International Film Festival's second annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award. Regina Gil, founder and executive director of the Gold Coast Arts Center] and its Gold Coast International Film Festival, announced Grey's appointment to the board which includes such luminaries as Larry King, Richard Thomas, Edwina Sandys, Katherine Quinn, Tippi Hedren, Greg Mullavey, and Carole Shelley.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: the Tony nominees will meet the press, Laura Benanti, Joel Grey, and more will honor Sheldon Harnick at NYGASP Gala, and more!

On Monday, May 14, 2018, Third Street Music School Settlement (Third Street), the nation's longest running community school, will honor Grammy Award-winning Singer and Songwriter Rosanne Cash, Tony and Oscar Award-winner Joel Grey, and long-time Board Member and Award-winning Architect Byron Bell at its Annual Spring Gala. Graham Parker, President of Universal Studios Classical Music Labels, will serve as master of ceremonies and Lydia Fenet, Senior Vice President of Christie's Auction House will host the live auction. Members of the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical also will perform. Held at Capitale (130 Bowery) in New York City, the gala will bring together hundreds of luminaries from the arts, culture, education, media, business, finance and philanthropy worlds to pay tribute to the honorees for their contributions to and leadership in arts and music education. Funds raised through attendance, live and silent auction participation will help support Third Street scholarships and financial aid services. With its roots in the settlement movement, Third Street today serves more than 5,000 New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds by providing high quality, accessible music and dance instruction in more than 25 instruments and voice. More than 75% of Third Street students receive financial aid or scholarships through the school's Partners program, which sends teaching artists into community centers and public schools throughout New York City. Alumni include well-known artists Bobby Lopez, Jessie Montgomery, Irving Caesar, among others. This year's honorees join a roster of previous honorees that includes The Roots, Sting, Yoko Ono, Harold Prince, Philip Glass, and Audra McDonald. Rosanne Cash will be presented with Third Street's Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts and Joel Grey will receive Third Street's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. 'Third Street is founded on the principles of artistry, diversity, and community. We believe music connects us and that it is crucial to support programs that enable accessibility to the arts for people of all backgrounds,' said Third Street Music School's Anna-Maria Kellen Executive Director, Valerie G. Lewis. 'We are proud to celebrate our 123rd Anniversary with music visionaries, Joel Grey and Rosanne Cash, along with a long-time supporter of Third Street, Byron Bell. They have been incredible advocates for the arts, fostering artistic creativity in their communities and beyond,' she said. Gala Co-chairs are Jeannie Park and Larry Hackett, Kara Saxon and Amit Malhotra, and Kate and James Vanek. Anniversary Co-chairs include Beau Everett and Stephanie Goodman, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Tatiana Serafin and Mick Kalishman, Felipe Toews and Yuu Fujita. Honorary Co-chairs include Barbara E. Field, Philip Glass and Harold Prince. Event sponsors include Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Baldor Specialty Foods, Ernst & Young LLP, Putney, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP, Industry City, JD Carlisle Development Corporation, Steinway & Sons, and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. For more information visit thirdstreetmusicschool.org/gala or contact Katharine Nemeth at 212-777-3240 ext. 26 or gala@thirdstreetmusicschool.org. Tickets start at $500 per person and $5,000 per table. About Third Street Founded in 1894, Third Street Music School Settlement is the nation's longest-running community music school. Celebrating 123 years of service, Third Street works to enrich lives and communities by providing access to high quality music and dance instruction to students of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of artistic ability or socio-economic circumstances. As a pioneer of community arts education in the United States, Third Street today serves more than 5,000 students in our primary location on East 11th Street, and through partnerships with nearly 25 public schools and community centers throughout New York City. Third Street alumni include violist Masumi Per Rostad of the acclaimed Pacifica String Quartet; Ray Chew, musician and music director of Dancing with the Stars and American Idol; Irving Caesar, composer of the 1920's hit 'Tea for Two'; Bobby Lopez, co-creator of the hit Broadway musical Avenue Q and Academy Award-winning writer of 'Let It Go' from Disney's Frozen and 'Remember Me' from Disney's Coco; Ingrid Michaelson, pop singer/songwriter with hits on the Top 40 charts; and Jessie Montgomery, recipient of the Sphinx Award. Visit http://www.thirdstreetmusicschool.org/ for more information, and follow Third Street on Instagram @3rdstreetnyc and twitter @Third_Street.

Hot off the heels of his triumphant performance as Judas in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live, Tony Award nominee BRANDON VICTOR DIXON will be the headliner at TDF's 50th Anniversary Gala on Monday, June 18 at Manhattan's historic Gotham Hall (1356 Broadway @ 36th Street, NYC).

The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players will honor Tony Award- Winning lyricist and NYGASP Honorary Board member, Sheldon Harnick as part of their Spring Gala Wednesday, May 2nd (6PM) at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South.)

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Cristina Fontanelli www.cristinafontanelli.com in "Love Italian Style".  Award-winning Singer/PBS-TV host Cristina Fontanelli carries the Italian torch in her debut at Feinsteins/54 Below.  This Feinsteins at the Regency regular (appearances included  singing Happy Birthday to Mickey Rooney for his 90th Birthday Party documented in the "Life and Times of Mickey Rooney", Simon & Schuster (2015) Excerpt from the 'Life and Times of Mickey Rooney')  Boston Pops soloist, and PBS-TV host for Andrea Bocelli and Il Volo, explores the theme of love with a passionate, Italian flavor in her new show Love Italian Style. 

Utah Valley University's Theatre Department stages a scintillating, highly entertaining CABARET, under direction/choreography/music direction by Rob Moffat.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Children of a Lesser God opens tonight on Broadway, and more!

Larry Blank is a prolific composer, conductor and orchestrator. He's worked on shows on Broadway and across the States, including Sugar Babies, Phantom of the Opera, A Chorus Line and A Little Night Music, as well as contributing to orchestrations on films like The Producers and Chicago.

Today thousands of hopefuls will begin to line up at the Actors Equity Audition Center for a chance to be seen for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) American Premiere of the Yiddish languageFiddler on the Roof. As casting begins, this highly-anticipated production, helmed by Academy Award and Tony Award winner Joel Grey, announces its full all-star creative team.

TDF, the not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing the power of the performing arts to everyone, which is celebrating 50 years of service to audiences and the performing arts community in 2018, has announced it will be honoring Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright TONY KUSHNER at its 50th Anniversary Gala on Monday, June 18 at Manhattan's historic Gotham Hall (1356 Broadway @ 36th Street, NYC). Mr. Kushner's masterwork, Angels in America, is currently receiving its first Broadway revival with the National Theatre production at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Boasting an impressive production and stellar cast, Riverside Center for the Performing Arts is presenting the professional DC-Northern Virginia regional premiere of the dark and romantic musical THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It is well worth the trip along Interstate 95 to hear the rich score and lyrics by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, respectively, and be taken in by the sumptuous production, one of the biggest I have had the pleasure of seeing at this venue.

Like DROWSY CHAPERONE, now playing at Candlelight, DIRTY DANCING's origins were counter to novels than generally are the genesis for Broadway productions. It is based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood, a daughter of a Jewish doctor from New York.