Leslie Uggams News

In this episode, Ben and Daniel discuss the 1982 concert 'Showstoppers: The Best of Broadway.' The evening is hosted by Tom Bosley and features Broadway favorites such as Ethel Merman, Barry Bostwick, Susan Browning, Len Cariou, Nell Carter, Diahann Carroll, Carole Demas, David Haskell, Glynis Johns, Donna McKechnie, Robert Morse, Pamela Myers, Stephen Nathan, Jerry Orbach, Anthony Perkins, Debbie Reynolds, Alexis Smith, and Ray Walston.

It started on Joan Rivers' afternoon talk show. This amazing female impersonator named Lypsinka came out and did a number that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I hadn't seen a lot of drag queens in my twenty-five (ish) years on the earth but the ones I had seen didn't have an act like this - it was all telephones ringing and quotes from movies all pieced together with a big rousing musical finish, and I was as mesmerized as Joan Rivers appeared to be, sitting in her chair, captivated by the very original and fascinating performance. I never forgot it. A few years later I became friends with a man named Mark Sendroff and Mark had a hobby that brought him great pleasure and every one of his friends was the beneficiaries of this hobby. Mark Sendroff made these VHS videotapes called Potpourri that were 2 hours of weird and wonderful show business clips, a melange of oddities and treasures that he had collected over the years and turned into party tapes - because at our home we played these tapes at every party. There was a clip of a man named Michael West doing a 2-minute movie called 'Door To Door Dolly,' there was a clip of Mimi Hines singing 'Yesterday I Heard the Rain' at The Triad, there was a clip of Leslie Uggams messing up the words to 'June Is Busting Out All Over,' and there was Lypsinka on The Joan Rivers Show doing her act with all the telephones and lipsyncing to some astonishing recording of 'Get Me To The Church On Time.' If there was one thing I knew about Mark Sendroff, it was that he would know who sang that song and I could, finally, at it to my collection. I called him on the phone and asked him that which had been on my mind all these years and which nobody had had the answer to.

12-time Emmy Award® winner and Tony Award® recipient Rosie O'Donnell and actor/Producer Erich Bergen have announced that the star-studded one-night-only return of the 25-time Emmy Award-winning 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show,' raised over $600,000 in support of The Actors Fund in order to help in this time of crisis.

BroadwayWorld previously reported that the 12-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award recipient Rosie O'Donnell and actor/producer Erich Bergen have announced the one-night-only return of the legendary, 25-time Emmy Award winning 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show' to air on YouTube. Tune in at 7pm EST to watch the live show!

Patti LuPone has joined the star-studded roster for the one-night-only return of the 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show' which will be livestreamed on YouTube.

The marquee is up on the legendary Apollo Theater for the upcoming Broadway Uptown production of “Blue” starring Leslie Uggams and Lynn Whitfield and directed by Phylicia Rashad.

Fresh off his wins for BroadwayWorld's Best Debut Show and Best Independent Recording of 2019, Mark returns to The Green Room 42 on Friday March 6th at 7pm to continue his love affair with the Great American Songbook. Mark hypnotizes with a set of enduring classics filtered through his youthful perspective and talent set. The show is distinctly new-age romantic, while still evocative of golden-age cinematic glamour. Backed by a stellar six-piece band led by musical director Clint Edwards, the show is directed by Preston and Richard Ridge.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer), New York City's award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968, will celebrate its 51st Anniversary at its annual Gala Benefit Concert on Monday, April 6, 2020 at the The Baruch Performing Arts Center (East 25th Street - between Lexington & Third Avenues, NYC). Honorary Chair for the event is Grammy Award-winning Latin recording artist and activist Rubén Blades. Tony Award-winner Priscilla Lopez will be Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening.

To mark its golden anniversary year, the Audelco Award-winning Black Spectrum Theatre Company (BSTC) today announced details for its 50th anniversary season comprised of a series of special programs highlighting African-American achievements in film, theater, literature and music. As the major highlight of this milestone season, the historic theatre will also host its 50th Anniversary Gala celebrating its rich legacy and honoring legendary performers Louis Gossett Jr., Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, and BSTC Founder and Executive Producer Carl Clay on Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 6PM. Tickets for Gala Only - $150. Ticket Package is inclusive of Gala, afterparty and overnight stay at the LaGuardia Plaza Hotel - $400.

Today, producers Brian Moreland, Ron Simons, Eric Falkenstein, Mike Jackson and singer John Legend announced complete casting for Blue, a play by Charles Randolph-Wright and directed by Phylicia Rashad which will play a 16-week limited engagement at New York's legendary Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street) in Harlem starting Monday, April 27 with opening night set for May 10.. Blue will run through August 16.

The York Theatre Company will present the Off-Broadway premiere of Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood, a song and dance celebration featuring the music and lyrics of the legendary Irving Berlin, with book by Barry Kleinbort (13 Things About Ed Carpolotti) and music direction by David Hancock Turner (York's Desperate Measures), directed and choreographed by four-time Tony Award nominee Randy Skinner (42nd Street, Dames at Sea, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and Ain't Broadway Grand). Performances begin Friday, April 17, 2020 for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, May 17, 2020 at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). Opening Night is set for Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 6:45 p.m. Cast and creative team will be announced shortly.

A producer cannot just license any property s/he wants. Yes, MAME is available for licensing on the Concord Theatricals website, but if I wanted to mount it on Broadway it would be a little more complicated than shelling out cash. Hurdles for non-professional productions are not substantial, but many professional productions require levels of permission. Jerry Herman, who passed away on December 26, 2019, was a man unlikely to give permission for professional productions of his shows unless he thought they would be good.

Today's top stories: Plaza Suite, starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, begins its pre-Broadway run in Boston, and more!

Michael Feinstein produced a memorial event at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, featuring performances by: Feinstein ('I Won't Send Roses'), Kristin Chenoweth ('If He Walked Into My Life'), Sutton Foster ('I Don't Want to Know'), Kelli O'Hara ('Before the Parade Passes By'), Leslie Uggams ('I Am What I Am'), Bernadette Peters ('Time Heals Everything'), Betty Buckley ('Hello, Dolly!'), Klea Blackhurst and Tyne Daly ('Bosom Buddies'), John Bolton ('It Takes a Woman'), Lorna Luft ('Gooch's Song'), Ron Raines ('Mame'), Jason Graae ('You I Like'), Marilyn Maye ('It's Today'), Jeremy Jordan ('It Only Takes a Moment'), Lee Roy Reams ('The Best of Times'), and Debbie Gravitte ('Wherever He Ain't'), with Alice Borden, Jane Dorian, and Harvey Fierstein, and special video tributes from Angela Lansbury and Paul McCartney. Marc Bruni directed the event with Larry Blank serving as music director, and Don Pippin (guest conductor).

As BroadwayWorld reported last month, Tony Award winning composer and lyricist Jerry Herman passed away at 88 years old. Just yesterday, Broadway united to remember the legend. Michael Feinstein produced a memorial event at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, featuring performances by: Kristin Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Klea Blackhurst, Alice Borden, Jane Dorian, Lewis Stadlen, Lorna Luft, Ron Raines, Jason Graae, Marilyn Maye, Jeremy Jordan, Don Pippin, Lee Roy Reams, and Debbie Gravitte, with special video tributes from Angela Lansbury and Paul McCartney. Marc Bruni directed the event with Larry Blank serving as music director.

Producers Brian Moreland, Ron Simons, Mike Jackson, John Legend and Eric Falkenstein announced today that tickets for Blue are officially on-sale. The beloved play by Charles Randolph-Wright with music by Nona Hendryx and lyrics by Charles Randolph-Wright, will play a 16-week engagement at New York's legendary Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street), under the direction of Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad who starred in both the play's 2000 world premiere at Arena Stage and 2001 New York premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company. Previews are set to begin on April 27th with opening night on May 10th. Blue will run through August 16th.

Producers Brian Moreland, Ron Simons, Mike Jackson, John Legend and Eric Falkenstein announced today that Blue, the play by Charles Randolph-Wright with music by Nona Hendryx and lyrics by Charles Randolph-Wright, will play a 16-week engagement at New York's Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street), under the direction of Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad who starred in both the play's 2000 world premiere at Arena Stage and 2001 New York premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company.

Coming off a record-breaking 25th anniversary celebration, the Sedona International Film Festival launches its next quarter century with nine days of compelling films, workshops, events and special guests from Feb. 22 through March 1.

a?oeDolly will never go away again!a?? But that's just it. Dolly has never gone anywhere. So long as there are humans on earth, Hello, Dolly! will continue to live. Somewhere, somehow, the show will always be produced, the songs always sung, the characters always riffed off of. It has left an impact that would be immeasurable. The late Jerry Herman's infectious melodies are so intertwined within the fabric of America that its title song helped Lyndon Johnson become President in 1964. This show is not to be missed!

Earlier this week, BroadwayWorld was deeply saddened to report that legendary Tony Award winning composer and lyricist Jerry Herman has passed away. Today, we're remembering Herman with a look back at some photos from our archives. Check them out below!