Kurt Weill News

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was thrilled to sit down and speak with nearly all of this year's Tony Award nominees at the official Tony Brunch on May 2, 2012, and we will be bringing you special coverage on all of them throughout the awards season. Today we bring you Michael Cerveris, nominee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Evita.

Alex and Nilusha, Stephen House, Angela Lumicisi, and Rebecca Morton headline cabaret performances during the month of May at the Butterfly Club. The Butterfly Club is located in an oversized dollhouse at 204 Bank Street, South Melbourne, Vic 3205 - Open Tuesday to Sunday, 5pm till late. For more information, visit: www.thebutterflyclub.com.

Following the success of last year's recording of Gershwin's Piano Concerto and Rhapsody in Blue, conductor Riccardo Chailly and pianist Stefano Bollani return with an album of jazz-inspired classical works, including two world-premiere recordings. The album, which was recorded live at the Gewandhaus, Leipzig, will be released on May 22, 2012.

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) present a special concert program at Carnegie Hall tonight, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the second-annual Spring for Music Festival. The performance marks Lacombe's Carnegie Hall debut. Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin performs Busoni's Piano Concerto. The NJSO gives the Carnegie Hall premiere of Weill's Symphony No. 1, "Berliner," and soprano Hila Plitmann joins the Orchestra for Varese's Nocturnal. Both the Busoni and Varese works feature the men of the Westminster Symphonic Choir.

On July 19, one of the highlights of James Conlon's 2012 season at Ravinia will be the American premiere of Kurt Weill's first completed stage work, Magical Night. The pantomime will be staged by T. Daniel Productions (TDP) and is based on a scenario by Russian writer Wladimir Boritsch.

"It's always gorgeous when you sing," and so the same goes for NBC's musical drama series SMASH. This week's penultimate episode of the first season order of fifteen gave us a long-awaited real look at the actual production of the musical-within-the-show live onstage in the form of the first Boston preview in the out-of-town tryout of BOMBSHELL. Up until this point, we have only been provided with sporadic glimpses into the mind's eye of the director of the show as he stages and rehearses the various song sequences. With last night's "Previews" episode we got our third major iteration of "Let Me Be Your Star" - following the full-out song at the conclusion of the pilot episode and the subsequent ballad opening number version shown in Episode 2 - with Rebecca Duvall (guest star Uma Thurman) belting it out to mixed results. Mixed results is the kindest way to say that the volatile and kooky movie star character simply does not work in any way as Marilyn Monroe in the bio-musical about her life being created - not physically, tonally and certainly not musically. Croaking out the sumptuous and richly melodic Marc Shaiman/Scott Wittman gems that have been specifically created for SMASH's BOMBSHELL - songs dutifully doled out in sparingly small doses of one or two each week - is near-sacrilege when one ponders the talent even on the very same stage; Ivy (Megan Hilty) or Karen (Katharine McPhee) could both kill the role, as wee have seen. So, who will ultimately make it to the stage that now, in the eleventh hour, the star of the show has walked? Of course, the sure-to-be action, drama and music-filled finale to Season One arrives next Monday at the same SMASH place and same SMASH channel - will the Marilyn musical be a bomb or a smash? Will the show even go on at all given the unforeseen obstacles? A lot remains to be answered, but the fever pitch fans and viewers have been yearning for has definitely entered, stage right. Next week we will see who truly sparkles, who really shines - and who ends up exploding.

Lorinda Lisitza may be one of the best-kept secrets in the New York musical theater community, but with her standout cabaret show, Triumphant Baby (running for six shows this month at the Metropolitan Room), this terrific actor, singer, comedian--and inveterate poker--player may finally be dealt a winning hand.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices on May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

Princeton's own Bebe Neuwirth headlines McCarter Theatre Center's Annual Gala Benefit tonight, May 5, 2012.

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents SHOWTUNES THEATRE COMPANY's THE BROADWAY REVUES at The Moore Theatre tonight, May 5th at 8pm and Sunday, May 6th at 2pm.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices on May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

The ReGroup Theatre's production of Thunder Rock by Robert Ardrey runs until May 13th at TBG Theatre, 312 W 36th St. For tickets and showtimes, visit www.smarttix.com or call (212) 868-4444. www.regrouptheatre.org.We have the Opening Night Photos Here!

Pioneer Theatre Company presents Man of La Mancha, the musical staging of the epic tale of Don Quixote, tonight, May 4 through May 19, 2012.

Today in 2007, LoveMusik opened at the Biltmore Theatre (now the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre), where it ran for 60 performances. LoveMusik is a musical written by Alfred Uhry, using a selection of music by Kurt Weill. The story explores the romance and lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, based on Speak Low (When You Speak Love): The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. The show was directed by Harold Prince, with musical staging by Patricia Birch and starred Michael Cerveris as Kurt Weill, Donna Murphy as Lotte Lenya, David Pittu as Bertolt Brecht and John Scherer as George Davis.

'This is tremendously exciting for me. Of course, I'd have like to have more of my company joining me, as in this show what I do is only possible because of Elena and Ricky and the rest of the company effort. We are a very tight ensemble and I am proud to represent the work we've all done. I get to celebrate today by spending time it in studio recording the Evita cast album, so that's a real treat!'

Alex and Nilusha, Stephen House, Angela Lumicisi, and Rebecca Morton headline cabaret performances during the month of May at the Butterfly Club. The Butterfly Club is located in an oversized dollhouse at 204 Bank Street, South Melbourne, Vic 3205 - Open Tuesday to Sunday, 5pm till late. For more information, visit: www.thebutterflyclub.com.

Matthew Grills, tenor, of Rochester, N.Y, won the $15,000 First Prize in the finals of the 2012 Lotte Lenya Competition, held on April 21, 2012, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. In a close contest, Justin Hopkins, bass-baritone of Philadelphia, and Jacob Keith Watson, tenor of Wynne, Ark., tied for Second Prizes of $10,000, and Megan Marino, mezzo-soprano of Malvern, Penn., was awarded the Third Prize of $7,500.

Opera Exposures will present its first 2012 spiritual music recital on Sunday, April 22, at 3 PM at Saint Mark's Church, Second Avenue and 10th Street in Manhattan. Sopranos Natalie Bergeron, Krysty Swann and Cheryl Warfield will join tenor George Cornelius and Baritone Anthony Turner. Jonathan Kelly will be at the piano. The recital will be followed by a Reception and Dance with the cast. Tickets are $50 and $40 and include Reception and Dance Party with a live DJ immediately following the recital. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling 917/402-8144 or visiting the Opera Exposures official website at www.operaexposures.org. They may also be purchased at the door.

Pioneer Theatre Company will present Man of La Mancha, the musical staging of the epic tale of Don Quixote, May 4 - May 19, 2012.

Princeton's own Bebe Neuwirth will headline McCarter Theatre Center's Annual Gala Benefit on Saturday, May 5, 2012. A limited number of $50 concert only tickets are still available.