Larry Gelbart News

San Francisco Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) concludes its thirteenth Mainstage season with the ingenious, award-winning crime noir musical City of Angels, directed by Bill English.

The Broadway composer Cy Coleman is completely underrated. His range of musicals stretch from traditional musical (Little Me) to 60's pop (Sweet Charity) to comic operetta (On The Twentieth Century). His greatest triumph is the hard jazz / film noire musical City of Angels. On Saturday night, the DC area professional premier opened at NextStop Theatre in Herndon, Virginia.

City of Angels, with book by Larry Gelbart, music by Cy Coleman, and lyrics by David Zippel, plays through June 5, 2016 at NextStop Theatre Company, in Herndon, Virginia. Check out photos from the production below!

Everyone is familiar with the works of Stephen Sondheim, quite the musical genius himself: his contributions to everything from 'West Side Story' to 'Sweeney Todd' have really set him apart from others in the musical theater realm; his style is so eclectic, his music so beautiful, that any show which bears his name is most likely going to be something great. Not necessarily a fan of comedy but having great admiration for and desire to see any type of musical I have the opportunity of seeing, Sondheim's 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' is a musical I have not had the pleasure of seeing before the Eventide Theatre Company showed me just how wonderful a show it truly it. The number of laughs and clever moments planned (and disasters diverted or avoided) are as plentiful as the amount of words in the title of this musical. The show is a farce, so anything and everything can happen, so long as one character's involvement in the continuous hoax is constantly given complete attention to and, ironically, prone to the greatest bout of almost far-fetched confusion that can be had. Yes, 'Forum' not only provides perpetual laughs had by both the sheer unknowingness of all the characters of what, exactly, is going on (not to mention each individual is quite the character on his/her own), but the music is wonderful and upbeat, the plot is lighthearted and there just really is not a reason to be mentioned why this musical is anything but pure, adulterated fun (which doesn't mean what you think!) Eventide should be extremely proud of this production now brought to their stage, and as this was my first time seeing it, I can now confidently share with others the enthusiasm felt that night as I watched magic unfold.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 8, 2016 - Sunday, May 8, 2016.

Today in 1962, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre), where it ran for 964 performances. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus, specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria, the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The musical's original 1963 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book. A Funny Thing has enjoyed several Broadway and West End revivals and was made into a successful film starring the original lead of the musical, Zero Mostel.

Welcome to the CITY OF ANGELS, a musical that mixes the glamorously seductive world of 1940s Hollywood with a fish out of water romantic comedy. Add great songs and Jazz music and it all adds up to a rare theater experience. Join Maurer Productions OnStage as they present CITY OF ANGELS at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre Todays, May 6 and 13 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 7 and 14 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, May 8 and 15 at 2 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

Welcome to the CITY OF ANGELS, a musical that mixes the glamorously seductive world of 1940s Hollywood with a fish out of water romantic comedy. Add great songs and Jazz music and it all adds up to a rare theater experience. Join Maurer Productions OnStage as they present CITY OF ANGELS at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre Fridays, May 6 and 13 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 7 and 14 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, May 8 and 15 at 2 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

Two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated Michael Feinstein returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with a special celebration of Academy Award-winning lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman for five performances only - May 18-22, 2016. Considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards, Feinstein will perform some of the Bergman's greatest songs, including 'The Way We Were,' 'Nice N' Easy,' 'A Piece of Sky,' 'How Do You Keep the Music Playing,' among others. Alan Bergman will join Feinstein onstage nightly through the engagement. The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m.; Thursday, May 19 at 8 p.m.; Friday, May 20 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 21 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, May 22 at 3 p.m. Tickets range in price from $80-$95 and are available now by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

Geva Theatre Center's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli are proud to announce the 12 major productions and events of the much anticipated 2016-2017 Season, the non-profit theatre's 44th year of making professional theatre of a national standard in Rochester.

Full casting was announced today for In The Secret Sea, a new American play by Cate Ryan (The Picture Box) and directed by Tony Award© winner Martin Charnin (Annie). The cast will feature Shelly Burch (original company of Nine, 'One Life to Live'), Paul Carlin (Temporal Powers at the Mint), Malachy Cleary (The Field at Irish Repertory Theatre), Glynnis O'Connor (TV's Our Town, 'The Boy in the Plastic Bubble'), and Adam Petherbridge (Da at Irish Repertory Theatre).

Picture this: a quartet hanging around a lamppost in 1940's Hollywood dressed in warm yellow and red tones, singing in close harmony while shadowy gray figures dance in the background. A shot rings out and CITY OF ANGELS opens with a bang at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

CITY OF ANGELS, running tonight, March 4, through April 3, 2016, in the Hawks Mainstage Theatre at the Omaha Community Playhouse, is a film noir-style musical that pays homage to glamorous 1940s Hollywood. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, this clever show has two plots running simultaneously (the real world and the 'reel' world) as a man writes a screenplay that mirrors his own life. Intrigue, mystery and incredible music make CITY OF ANGELS a must-see production. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

CITY OF ANGELS, running March 4 - April 3, 2016, in the Hawks Mainstage Theatre at the Omaha Community Playhouse, is a film noir-style musical that pays homage to glamorous 1940s Hollywood. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, this clever show has two plots running simultaneously (the real world and the 'reel' world) as a man writes a screenplay that mirrors his own life. Intrigue, mystery and incredible music make CITY OF ANGELS a must-see production. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

Theater Works presents the Tony Award-winning musical CITY OF ANGELS, beginning tonight, February 19.

It's a comedy tonight, complete with togas, as the Stephen Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum takes the stage of the White Theatre at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City (The J). The hilarious musical opens Saturday evening, Feb. 13 and continues for an additional seven performances. The production is directed and choreographed by Chris McCoy with musical direction by Kevin Bogan. Performance dates are Feb. 13, 18, 20, 25, 27 at 7:30 p.m.?February 14, 21, 28 at 2 p.m.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart/ music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/Cabrillo Music Theatre, Thousand Oaks/directed by Lewis Wilkenfeld/choreographed by John Charron/through February 14 A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum is silliness personified from its zany characters and inane plot contrivances to its corny yet witty dialogue. It is clever farce set to music. Mistaken identities, zippity fast exits and entrances...it has no rhyme or reason but is terribly, terribly funny with belly laughs about every two seconds. Cabrillo's current revival is astonishingly good with a delicious cast and superlative direction from Lewis Wilkenfeld. It's a practically flawless production.

Laurel and Hardy must be smiling in the comedy Valhalla. Cabrillo Music Theatre's near-perfect production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which opened last night at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza's Scherr Forum, brings back the classic, broad humor from vaudeville, performed by an inspired cast of crazies who not only aren't afraid of anything going wrong, but are probably HOPING for mishaps that would destroy any other show. This is, of course, because Forum is one of those shows where spontaneity and the unexpected is almost as obligatory as Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart's uproarious script and Stephen Sondheim's witty lyrics.

Neil Simon's autobiographical play, LAUGHTER ON THE 23rd FLOOR, as presented by Desert Theatreworks (DTW), provides a side-splitting few hours of theatre. The play is based on the mayhem in the writers' room of Sid Caesar's YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS. Director Lance Phillips-Martinez does a fine job of directing an excellent cast.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM makes its Civic Arts Plaza debut. The winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED… has enjoyed two successful Broadway revivals, and has showcased generations of comic actors from Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers to Nathan Lane and Whoopi Goldberg. Check out photos from the show below!