Lisa Gay News

Five Long Island musicians have received the opportunity to both study and perform at the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, as part a program that was developed by the Usdan Center.

Tony Award-winner Nikki M. James, currently in the new Les Miserables, joined three other Broadway performers - Benjamin Howes of Scandalous and Mary Poppins, Brian Gonzales of Aladdin and Natalie Joy Johnson of Kinky Boots, accompanied by musical director Nate Buccieri - in a special musical revue, titled 'Putting It Together,' featuring Stephen Sondheim songs, at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. Scroll down for photos!

The Old Globe today announced that two-time Golden Globe Award nominee Blair Underwood-who most recently made his acclaimed Broadway debut in the iconic role of Stanley in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and garnered rave reviews opposite Cicely Tyson in Lifetime's The Trip to Bountiful-will make his Globe debut in the title role of Shakespeare's classic tragedy Othello, the first show of the Globe's 2014 Summer Shakespeare Festival. Underwood's films include Something New, Deep Impact, Gattaca, and Rules of Engagement, and his television credits include 'Ironside,' 'In Treatment,' 'The New Adventures of Old Christine,' and 'Sex and the City.' Joining him and also making their Globe debuts are the previously announced Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas ('The Americans,' 'The Waltons') as Iago and Kristen Connolly ('House of Cards,' The Cabin in the Woods) as Desdemona.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union announces the recipients of its first 'micro' grant program to assist music students from the North Babylon school district who will be attending Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com), the renowned summer arts day camp. The Bethpage 'micro' grants will pay for the students' many additional expenses normally associated with year-round music study that can become a stumbling block for underserved families. As part of the grant program, Bethpage will also provide full 2014 summer program scholarships for Usdan Center's 47th season, which begins June 30. More than 70 North Babylon High School students are beneficiaries of the grant.

The World Premiere of Stories From the Night Before, a new evening of dance theater created by Maurice Brandon Curry, Chair of the Dance Department of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, will be presented on Sunday and Monday March 16 and 17 at 7 PM at New York University's Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place (just off Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village), New York, NY 10012.

The World Premiere of Stories From the Night Before, a new evening of dance theater created by Maurice Brandon Curry, Chair of the Dance Department of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, will be presented on Sunday and Monday March 16 and 17 at 7 PM at New York University's Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place (just off Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village), New York, NY 10012. (Tickets: www.nyuskirball.org, or call 212.352.3101 (Theatermania) or 866.811.4111?(Ovation Tix).

For the third year, five talented Long Island music students will receive a unique opportunity to study and perform this summer at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. The program was developed by Usdan Center in 2011 and supported with a charitable grant from Bethpage Federal Credit Union. The Usdan Center/Bethpage Scholars in the Arts program gives accomplished students who otherwise couldn't attend Usdan, the opportunity to study at the country's largest not-for-profit summer arts day camp. The students were chosen for their fine musicianship and for their achievements as outstanding representatives of their communities.

Robert Nederlander, Jr., a third generation member of the Nederlander theater dynasty, and Richard Eisenberg, a prominent Long Island attorney and arts philanthropist, have joined the Board of Trustees of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned Long Island not-for-profit summer arts day camp. Usdan Center (www.usdan.com), now in its 46th season, has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 children ages 6 to 18, and counts among its alumni Natalie Portman, Jane Monheit, Mariah Carey, Olivia Thirlby, Seth Rudetsky, Jackie Hoffman, Lisa Gay Hamiltonand members of major music and dance ensembles.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the nationally renowned not-for-profit day camp, whose alumni include such artists as Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, Jane Monheit and members of major music and dance ensembles, announces its 2013 Festival Concerts. These are private educational performances staged in Usdan's on-site, 1,000-seat McKinley Ampitheater, giving students unique exposure to the arts.

The World Premiere of Robert Wilson's New Opera, ZINNIAS - THE LIFE OF CLEMENTINE HUNTER, will perform tonight, January 26 - February 3, 2013. It is only when the curtain goes up that the truth is told.

The World Premiere of Robert Wilson's New Opera, ZINNIAS - THE LIFE OF CLEMENTINE HUNTER, will perform January 26 - February 3, 2013. It is only when the curtain goes up that the truth is told.

On LAW & ORDER: SVU's first new episode of the winter season, entitled 'Presumed Guity,' the SVU's holiday celebrations are disrupted when Detective Tutuola's (Ice-T) ex-brother-in-law (guest star Harvey) is arrested for assaulting a priest (guest star O'Hare.) Convinced of his innocence despite his criminal record, Fin asks the detectives to find evidence that exonerates him, and in the process, a buried church scandal begins to unravel. Also starring Mariska Hargitay (Detective Olivia Benson), Danny Pino (Detective Nick Amaro) Kelli Giddish (Detective Amanda Rollins) and Tamara Tunie (M.E. Warner). Also guest starring Tony Plana and Lisa Gay Hamilton. Check out a first look at the episode below!

We talk with veteran actress Kim Staunton on her amazing and diverse career and working with August Wilson and Phylicia Rashad.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the acclaimed summer arts day camp now in its 45th season, will once again present on-site teacher education workshops for elementary music and classroom teachers, taught by distinguished education professionals and featuring the newest, most innovative teaching techniques.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the acclaimed summer arts day camp now in its 45th season, will once again present on-site teacher education workshops for elementary music and classroom teachers, taught by distinguished education professionals and featuring the newest, most innovative teaching techniques.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com) announces its Festival Concerts lineup for its 45th season.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, (www.usdan.com), will present the 9th annual Usdan University, the popular one-day summer arts camp experience for grownups, on Sunday July 15, 2012 from 9 AM to 2:30 PM.

Five talented Long Island music students will once again receive a unique opportunity to study and perform at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts this summer, thanks to a charitable scholarship program developed by Usdan Center and Bethpage Federal Credit Union.

Violinist Jacqueline Levine, an 18 year-old senior at Plainview Old Bethpage-John F. Kennedy High School and a two-time scholarship award-winner of the Nassau Music Educators Association, has been awarded the new Isaac Stern String Scholarship at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts for 2012. The scholarship, funded by a generous grant from the Linda and Isaac Stern Charitable Foundation, covers tuition for a full summer of study at Usdan Center.

TNT's head of programming Michael Wright announced today that the network will be renewing its hit drama series SOUTHLAND for a fifth season