Laurie Beechman News

Coinciding with May the Fourth Star Wars Day, tickets go on sale today forStructure! The Musical, or Everything You Need To Know About Musicals You Can Learn From Star Wars**, the writing seminar taught by award-winning librettist and screenwriter Sammy Buck.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

The York Theatre Company and its Artistic Director James Morgan and producers Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, will be presenting the 8th edition of the quirky and popular musical theater game show Tune in Time, on Tuesday May 5 at 7:30 pm with a new cast of contestants and celebrity judges. Joining the songwriting fray for this round are Alan Gordon (Kleban Award for The Usual), Kathryn Hathaway (Afterland), Bill Nelson (Harmony, Kansas), Rachel Peters (curator of Cornelia Street Cafe's Otherwise Unsung series), Brad Simmons (musical director of Broadway's Lysistrata Jones), and Benjamin Velez (Pain in the Aztec). Among the celebrity judges for the next show will be Broadway Producer Ken Davenport (Altar Boyz), casting director Michael Cassara (NYMF, A Time for Singing at the York) and performer Rachel Rhodes-Devey (Merrily We Roll Along at APAC).

After selling out an often-extended Off-Broadway run in 2013 (which attracted the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Joan Rivers, and RuPaul), a national tour, a 3-month Australian tour (with a nomination for the Aussie equivalent of a Tony Award), and a summer run in Provincetown, RuPaul's Drag Race favorite Jinkx Monsoon will return to New York with the World Premiere of THE VAUDEVILLIANS: BRINGING UP BABY, a new musical comedy co-starring composer and musician Major Scales. Previews of this 6-week limited Off-Broadway engagement begins May 21 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre with opening set for Sunday, May 31 at 1pm.

On Monday, May 11, musical theatre songwriting team Janine McGuire and Arri Lawton Simon will present an evening of their original music in 'McGuire & Simon: Looking Forward.' Joining them will be Kennedy Caughell (Elphaba understudy in Wicked national tour, American Idiot national tour), Christiana Cole (Laurie Partridge in off-Broadway The Bardy Bunch), Chris Critelli (Xanadu - Chicago), Kaleigh Cronin (Sally Bowles understudy and Lulu in Cabaret on Broadway, Lorraine in Jersey Boys national tour), Kellie Cullinan, Will Hammons (Figaro in The Barber of Seville at Lyric Opera of New York), Spencer Kiely (Spring Awakening regional premiere), Laura Kleinbaum, Joel Perez (Fun Home on Broadway, In The Heights national tour), Aaron Phillips (primary vocalist for Disney In Concert national tour), and Stephanie Torns (Elphaba understudy in Wicked on Broadway, Elphaba standby in Wicked national tour).

Multiple award-winning performer Jennifer Sheehan and her stellar quartet celebrated the beauty, wonder and romance of the night sky in a song-studded 54 Below evening featuring songs as dazzling and diverse as the stars above - It included music from Pink Martini, Duke Ellington, Sergio Mendes, Melody Gardot, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell and Kurt Weill, just to name a few! It's a celebration of the many ways we come to love the night sky - as wide-eyed children who look up in wonderment, as young lovers who fall under its enchantment, and as star-gazers of all ages who contemplate love and life on this small blue dot in the universe. And, of course, the stars spark our imagination about what lies beyond… so the show also features some fascinating stories about new discoveries about our star-studded cosmos! One might say it's a show that goes where no show has gone before!

This May and June, 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street.

MOLLY POPE - brassy belter/whiskey guzzler/benevolent lunatic - will extend her acclaimed concert series through September, fresh off her acclaimed Off Broadway performances in Found at the Atlantic Theater Company and Horseplay, or the Fickle Mistress at La MaMa ETC / Theatre Askew. With the new show Molly Pope Likes Your Status, she sheds all pretense of humility and shamelessly entreats you to adore her for an hour while she prances about making loud noises. Unable to deny that she defines her self-worth entirely via social media notifications, the 'viscerally thrilling alto' (Time Out New York) exploits her fragile ego and vocal chops for your entertainment. Expect the unexpected juxtapositions of song and substance alongside a healthy helping of her roots in The Great American Songbook. Over-sharing? Of course. Sing-a-long? Yes. Three encores? Why not. After debuting earlier this season, the show will now be performed on Friday nights, May 8, June 12, July 10, August 14 and September 11, all 9:30 PM at The Duplex in New York.

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) will present its 13th annual season in New York City from May 13th - 30th, 2015.

PlaidBird Productions in Association with The Mark Janas Salon: Blossom's Birthday: Jaye Maynard in 'Bird Amongst the Blossom-A Tribute to the First Blossom Dearie Songbook'

'Lady and the Vamp' celebrates female musical theatre songwriters. This concert showcases today's female composers and lyricists, with the goal of visibility and gender equality in musical theatre. These ladies are 'breaking the glissando ceiling' in an evening of wine, women, and song.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

BROADWAY SESSIONS is described as an evening of musical performances, games and open mic featuring a new Broadway guest each week. The show is created and hosted by Ben Cameron (Bway Wicked, Aida and Footloose) and features musical director Joshua Stephen Kartes on piano.  

Ordinary Days will be performed to benefit the Autism Theatre Initiative tonight, Monday April 20th at 9:30pm at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.This musical tells the story of four New Yorkers whose lives intersect in their search for happiness, success, and love.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

Award winning actor and writer Tim Realbuto (Ghostlight; 'The Sopranos') will present his newest play 'Yes' as part of the 12th Annual Emerging Artists Theatre New Work series. 'Yes' will perform on Tuesday, June 2nd at 7:00 PM at the TADA! Theatre, 15 West 28th Street. All tickets are $ 10.

4@15: Four New Fifteen-Minute Musicals, performed in conjunction with University of California, Irvine, will commence performances today, April 17 and Saturday, April 18, for three performances only at the Playroom Theater featuring new works by By Sujin Kim and Daphny Maman, David Christensen and Michael Shapiro, Ryan Korell and Jonathan Keebler, and Minjoung Hwang and Brandon Michael Lowden. Tammy Holder serves as Music Director; Brian Blythe directs.

Tonight, April 16th, Broadway Sessions welcomes Emma Hunton, Brian Gallagher, Tim Young, composer Tim Realbuto and more.

4@15: Four New Fifteen-Minute Musicals, performed in conjunction with University of California, Irvine, will commence performances Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18, for three performances only at the Playroom Theater featuring new works by By Sujin Kim and Daphny Maman, David Christensen and Michael Shapiro, Ryan Korell and Jonathan Keebler, and Minjoung Hwang and Brandon Michael Lowden. Tammy Holder serves as Music Director; Brian Blythe directs.

54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents the 2015 Johnny Mercer Writers Colony Concert, featuring the works of Colony participants Peter Cincotti and Pia Cincotti (The Last Laugh), Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Jean Rohe (The Odysseus Agreement), and Patrick Lundquist & Peter Seibert (Puccini). The Johnny Mercer Foundation (JMF) and Goodspeed Musicals are proud to co-produce the first New York City showcase of musicals developed at this one of a kind program.