Judy Garland News

SPARKLE & CIRCULATE with JUSTIN SAYRE - the official monthly podcast of the International Order of Sodomites - has posted the seventh episode, which features an in-depth conversation with Carl Siciliano, founder of the Ali Forney Center, which provides shelter and services for homeless LGBT youth. The show is available on iTunes here.  Every June, Sayre's event Night of a Thousand Judys honors Judy Garland for Pride and raises money for the organization. Carl explains how the center was formed, who Ali Forney was and the challenges they face with fundraising. The first six episodes of the show - featuring interviews with Randy Harrison, Michael Musto, Frank DeCaro, Kim David Smith, Jeffery Self and R&B legend Sarah Dash - are also available. SPARKLE & CIRCULATE is produced by Dan Fortune and Tyrus Emory.

After wrapping up the highly-acclaimed JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT tour, which she co-starred in alongside husband Ace Young, Diana DeGarmo will lead the cast of Studio Tenn's upcoming production of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Below, check out a first look at the stage and AMERICAN IDOL veteran in costume, which she posted to Instagram just earlier today!

Today we are talking to a spectacularly talented triple threat who has made a prominent name for himself on Broadway in numerous notable roles over the last two decades, 2015 Tony Award nominee Max von Essen. Discussing all aspects of his integral role in the celebrated new stage adaptation of classic movie musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, von Essen opens up about what the part means to him and his influence on its development from its early roots at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris to its opening on Broadway earlier this year. Additionally, von Essen shares his extreme enthusiasm for receiving a 2015 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor In A Musical for his performance in the dynamic and dazzling musical spectacular, while also offering his affection for his fellow nominees in the cast and on the production team. Besides all of that, von Essen shares how his own life experiences have shaded his complex and moving characterization of his performance and the intrinsic part his own coming out has had in shaping his detailed and thoughtful acting work as well as breaks down the various elements that combine to create one of the most unforgettable showstoppers in a musical positively packed with them, the iconic 'Stairway To Paradise'. All of that and much, much more in this extensive conversation with one of Broadway's best!

Here is your chance to see shows old, new, and experimental. This year Fringe is bigger with a new venue (black) and more shows than previous years. The Orlando International Fringe Festival returns May 13 - May 25, 2015.

The Old Globe presents George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, helmed by celebrated director Jessica Stone, who recently made her Globe debut with Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

To celebrate Judy Garland's 93rd birthday Seth Sikes will return to 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, to perform his critically-acclaimed show Seth Sikes Sings Judy Garland, an evening of Garland's most popular songs. Sikes returns to 54 Below after three previous sold-out appearances.

Award-winning music producer, critic and translator Lawrence Schulman will give a talk on Judy Garland, entitled "Moments of Magic," at the Rockland Public Library on Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 6 P.M. Admission is free. The one-and-a-quarter hour talk will examine Judy Garland's life and career, and feature nine audio-video clips, to be followed by a question and answer. Schulman will endeavor to answer the question: "If I had just one hour to convince you of Judy Garland's place in classic American popular music, what film and television performances would I choose?"

Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa will be hosting Platinum Award-winning singer-songwriter and Tony Award®-nominated actress Ann Hampton Callaway for a series of cabaret concerts celebrating the music of living legend---and her personal musical heroine---Barbra Streisand. The intimate show will take place May 7-9, 2015 at the Center's Samueli Theater.

Amanda Cohen is not a newcomer to the bright lights of worldwide concert stages. Her new CD "A New Standard" is a cross-over project that she has dreamt about for years and its unveiling is an exciting musical adventure.

The all-out smashing performance of Jeannie Shubitz makes every moment of Phoenix Theatre's staging of END OF THE RAINBOW worth watching.

Flat Rock Playhouse announced today that they have been chosen by the new musical Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz to be the Developmental House for its world premiere.  Conceived and produced by New York City based producer Tina Marie Casamento Libby, Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz is a Broadway bound musical that chronicles the life of a young Judy Garland and explores the extraordinary journey to stardom that culminated in one of the most popular films of all time, The Wizard of Oz.  Developed at Goodspeed Musicals Johnny Mercer Colony in Connecticut, a NYC table read and a thirteen day developmental workshop at Belmont University in Nashville soon followed. A very successful AEA Staged Reading of this musical was also produced at New World Stages in New York City in September 2014.  After the Flat Rock Playhouse production, Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz will then transfer to another leading regional theatre for a pre-Broadway try out before its New York City bow. 

Pride Films & Plays is excited to announce a new production of Design for Living, a sexy and seductive revival of this Noel Coward classic which will be directed by PFP Artistic Associate Derek Bertelsen, and running at Rivendell Theater from October 22 to November 22. The press opening is Saturday, October 24 at 7:30.

Two famous brothers. One historic collaboration. Gershwin. Theirs was a name that would forever represent the early twentieth century music of the Jazz Age by capturing the heart and soul of the American people. Music drove George, the charismatic life-of-the-party musician who created sophisticated compositions like An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue, while Ira, the older and quieter of the two, was happier in the company of words. Together they created a prolific body of work that includes some of the most beloved standards today like 'Fascinating Rhythm,' 'Let's Call the Whole Thing Off,' and 'Love is Here to Stay.'

Any seasoned entertainment pro will tell you that the key to success on a stage is keeping your audience happy. It also helps to throw in a bevy of show-stopping songs, parodies, and raucous tongue-in-cheek laughter along the way. Those make up only a few of the ingredients offered in the ongoing Judy and Liza: Together Again show at Don't Tell Mama (now in its fourth year) starring Tommy Femia and Rick Skye.

Ever since the announcement of his gender change, Bruce Jenner has been receiving mixed reactions. But the latest icon to voice her opinion is wholeheartedly supportive of the decision.

Today, April 25 at 3:30 p.m., The Ziegfeld Society will present Susan and Lloyd Ecker, authors of the novel, I AM SOPHIE TUCKER: A Fictional Memoir (Prospecta Press; November 4, 2014; $27.50), for a special talk at Hunter College's Lang Hall. The Eckers will also show a clip from their documentary, The Outrageous Sophie Tucker.

This week we are celebrating the news of a FOX small screen remake of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.

Jon Peterson has a lot to celebrate right now. Peterson, who won numerous honors when he starred in Chip Deffaa's Off-Broadway musical play 'George M. Cohan Tonight!' at the Irish Repertory Theater, will celebrate today his tenth year of starring in the show, which--since its debut in New York--has taken him all across the country.

Jon Peterson has a lot to celebrate right now. Peterson, who won numerous honors when he starred in Chip Deffaa's Off-Broadway musical play 'George M. Cohan Tonight!' at the Irish Repertory Theater, will celebrate on Friday his tenth year of starring in the show, which--since its debut in New York--has taken him all across the country.

WALNUT CREEK, CA (April 21, 2015) – The California Symphony, entering its third season with Music Director Donato Cabrera, is expanding its regional profile in Northern California, performing concerts in three new venues beginning in June. The orchestra, based in Walnut Creek, will perform three concerts in summer 2015 and eight concerts during its 2015-16 season, including at its home at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek as well as at Oakland's Kaiser Center Rooftop Garden, the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center's Lincoln Theater in Yountville, and at the Concord Pavilion in Concord. The orchestra is focused on American repertoire, nurturing new American composers as part of its Young American Composer in Residence program, and bringing music to people in new and unconventional settings as well as performing the most revered core classical repertoire. In May 2016, the orchestra and guitarist Jason Vieaux perform the world premiere of the new concerto commission by Dan Visconti, current Young American Composer in Residence, in concert in Walnut Creek and Yountville. Other season highlights include an American Roots program with pianist Charlie Albright performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, a showcase of two California Symphony principal musicians in a little-heard R. Strauss double concerto, a rooftop outdoor performance with Postmodern Jukebox, performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Brahms' Symphony No. 2, the orchestra's first performance accompanying the live classic film The Wizard of Oz, and holiday music with Pacific Boychoir. Season subscription ticket packages go on sale today, Tuesday, April 21, at 10 am.