Lee Grant News

Whenever you see a production presented by the John W. Engeman theatre, you're in for a wonderful event, especially around the holidays. Their current offering this holiday season, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, based on the classic Paramount Pictures film, is no exception. The Matt Kunkel directed musical, running through January 2nd at the exquisite Northport venue, boasts a beautifully talented, stellar cast.

Based on the beloved film, this heartwarming adaptation follows vaudeville stars and veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis as they head to Vermont to pursue romance with a duo of beautiful singing sisters. This family classic features beloved songs by Irving Berlin including Blue Skies, I Love A Piano, How Deep Is The Ocean and the perennial favorite, White Christmas.

The John W. Engeman Theater has announced the cast and creative team for WHITE CHRISTMAS. Performances begin on Thursday, November 11, 2021, and run through Sunday, January 2, 2022.

The NYC premiere of the new music film Killian & the Comeback Kids from writer/director Taylor A. Purdee.

'Killian & the Comeback Kids' opens September 17th only in theatres. The cast will be making a special appearance Friday, September 17th at the AMC Empire 25 in Times Sq for a conversation with a surprise guest moderator.

With live audience events finally able to return to New York art houses, 'Used and Borrowed Time,' written and directed by Sophia Romma, will have its red carpet world premiere May 7 at 7:00 PM at Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village.

The cabaret community darling named Sally has created something special in quarantine that needs a continued life beyond the days of lockdown.

A crowd of stars from across the generations and the arts turned up for a short sneak peak of the new music film “Killian & the Comeback Kids,” at Viacom HQ in NYC before the city’s shutdown. 

Playwright Eduardo Machado will join HB Studio this fall to teach a virtual playwriting class, 'Playwriting: Development & Dialogue', that is open to interested playwrights of all levels. The class will be held over Zoom on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT, Sep. 19-Nov. 21, 2020.

Hope Runs High has acquired theatrical rights to writer/director Taylor A. Purdee’s debut narrative film, folk-rock musical Killian & the Comeback Kids. The film is currently slated for a theatrical launch in late August adding new states and territories on an extended rolling basis as regions re-open. 

July 31st sees the release of folk-rock group The Cumberland Kids' new track Rose. Originally written by the duo for the upcoming musical film Killian & the Comeback Kids, the group says that they hope this paired back arrangement reflects 'our roots in folk music and all that time Taylor spent busking on the street in NY, but still staying true to what the spirit and scope of the film is all about.' Killian & the Comeback Kids, is rumored to hit theatres late this summer, though it has been subject to a number of date changes over the course of the pandemic, and the duo is as eager as anyone to find out when the film can have it's bow.

With the roster still building, Theater for the New City has currently scheduled over 150 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and film makers for its 25th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which will be mounted virtually for the first time May 22 to 24, 2020.

During this time when productions all over the world have been put on pause, we are coming together to celebrate plays that have left their mark on theater history. This week we will be focusing on the plays of Neil Simon. Today's play, Plaza Suite! 

Cady McClain has just signed a nonexclusive distribution deal with Collective Eye for her award-winning documentary Seeing is Believing: Women Direct. The film chronicles the challenges and triumphs of women directors, emphasizing the opportunity for women to use their voice through media to change the social and political landscape and achieve full equality in a male dominated business.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that James Lipton, executive producer, writer, and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, has died at age 93.

'The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages,' presented by Harlem Repertory Theater (HRT) and Yip Harburg Lyrics Foundation, has been extended through June 20, 2020 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended seven times.

'The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages,' presented by Harlem Repertory Theater and Yip Harburg Lyrics Foundation, has been extended through June 20, 2020 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended seven times.

Film distributor Hope Runs High and production house Karmic Release Ltd. threw the opening night bash for Film Forum's LEE GRANT: ACTOR. FILMMAKER series. Running until February 12, 2020, it marks the first retrospective to celebrate Grant's work as both actor and director

Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions, and Hal Luftig announced today that Tony Award® winner Marc Shaiman will write original music for the recently announced production of Neil Simon's comedic play about marriage, Plaza Suite, starring two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and two-time Emmy Award® winner Sarah Jessica Parker, directed by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey.