Liza Minnelli News

The new musical A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story by Lesléa Newman will enjoy an invite-only staged reading in New York on Monday, September 26 & Tuesday, September 27, 2011.

Tonight's the night! Just in time for the season finale of DROP DEAD DIVA on Lifetime at 9 PM, we have an exclusive, extensive conversation with the show's stupendous star, Brooke Elliott, in which we talk all about the first three seasons of the hit Lifetime dramedy as well as what we can expect from tonight's highly-anticipated finale and the just-announced fourth season of the show coming in 2012, in addition to casting a look back at her favorite moments so far, backstage stories and guest star dish. Plus, Brooke shares reminiscences of her time starring in the Broadway production of TABOO and working with Rosie O'Donnell and Raul Esparza on it and some of her aspirations for the future as well as much, much more!

Suervision Media and Broadway Worldwide have plans to bring a handful of Broadway favorites to the big screen in the near future- Memphis, Jekyll & Hyde, Putting It Together, and Smokey Joe's Cafe will all make there way to theatres around the world. Memphis will reach the UK and Ireland in November, and South Africa and Hong Kong later this year. The other three shows will reach Europe January- March 2012, and then the rest of the world in April.

KIM SMITH, the acclaimed international performer called 'all decadence and sly appeal' by Back Stage, will bring his critically-acclaimed concer 'Misfit' back to New York after a successful run this past spring. Misfit premiered in March 2011 at New York's Laurie Beechman Theatre, and performed at Café Sabarsky over April and June.

The new musical A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story by Lesléa Newman will enjoy an invite-only staged reading in New York on Monday, September 26 & Tuesday, September 27, 2011.

Long Wharf Theatre, under the director of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Interim Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents the Tony Award-winning musical Ain't Misbehavin' on the Mainstage from Oct. 26 through Nov. 20.

Rolex is set to present A HALLOWEEN THRILLER A Dance Celebration of Ghosts, Ghouls, Vampires & Wilis, - Career Transition For Dancers' 26th Anniversary Jubilee on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 7:00 pm at New York City Center, 131 West 55 Street (btwn. 6th and 7th Ave) NYC.

Today we have the penultimate entry in our twelve-part series dedicated to Lifetime's hit dramedy DROP DEAD DIVA with an all-encompassing chat with the show's heavenly agent himself, Fred, portrayed by stage and screen star Ben Feldman! In this illuminating conversation we talk all about his three years on DROP DEAD DIVA and what the future holds for Fred, Jane, Stacey and company, as well as his favorite guest stars and memories so far. Additionally, Ben and I discuss his training for the stage and his work on Broadway, opposite Kathleen Turner in THE GRADUATE, as well as his performances in the recent remake of FRIDAY THE 13th and shooting the avant garde thriller CLOVERFIELD, in addition to his thoughts on various pilots with the likes of Christine Ebersole, Fran Drescher, Marc Blucas, Amy Smart and more!

The producers of the new musical BONNIE & CLYDE announced the complete cast of the show. Previously announced stars Laura Osnes (2011 Drama Desk nominee, Anything Goes) and Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, West Side Story) will be joined on stage by Melissa van der Schyff (Big River) as Blanche Barrow, Claybourne Elder (Road Show) as Buck Barrow, Joe Hart (The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public) as Sheriff Schmid and Louis Hobson (Next to Normal) as Ted Hinton.

Perhaps Kander and Ebb's best musical, apart from Chicago, Cabaret has it all: a finely detailed book, deliciously diverse characters, dynamite music and a subtext that will not quit. The subtext being: either compromise or get out if you value your life, the latter, to be sure, the wiser. This is Berlin, circa 1930, before Hitler, but just as Nazi pressure hits the fan. Reprise Theatre Company's stellar new revival production has the brilliant stamp of Broadway director/choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge.

Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), NYC's most progressive dance education center, creative laboratory and performance space, announces its upcoming 2011-2012 performance season.

'PLAY IT COOL' a new musical will be presented Off Broadway at Theatre Row - Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street. Previews for the limited engagement begin on Thursday, September 2nd and the Opening is 7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 14th.

'PLAY IT COOL' a new musical will be presented Off Broadway at Theatre Row - Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street. Previews for the limited engagement begin on Thursday, September 2nd and the Opening is 7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 14th.

Two-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Bobby Cannavale will star as Nick Arnstein opposite Lauren Ambrose, who will star as Fanny Brice, in the first Broadway revival of FUNNY GIRL since the 1964 original production. FUNNY GIRL, which features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart, will be directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher.

Reprise Theatre Company's production of the classic American musical 'Cabaret,' which opens the 2011-2012 Reprise season and plays September 13 to 25 (press opening September 14, 2011) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, includes a cast of new talents as well as Broadway and West End veterans - Zach Bandler as Ernst Ludwig, Lisa O'Hare as Sally Bowles, Jeff McLean as Cliff Bradshaw, Katrina Lenk as Fräulein Kost, Mary Gordon Murray as Fräulein Schneider, Robert Picardo as Herr Schultz and Bryce Ryness as the Master of Ceremonies.

The Town Hall, New York City's landmark theatre and concert venue (123 West 43rd Street), is pleased to honor two influential women: Judith Jamison, Artistic Director Emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Dr. Joyce F. Brown, President of the Fashion Institute of Technology.

'PLAY IT COOL' a new musical will be presented Off Broadway at Theatre Row - Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street. Previews for the limited engagement begin on Thursday, September 2nd and the Opening is 7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 14th.

Rolex will present A HALLOWEEN THRILLER A Dance Celebration of Ghosts, Ghouls, Vampires & Wilis, - Career Transition For Dancers' 26th Anniversary Jubilee on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 7:00 pm at New York City Center, 131 West 55 Street (btwn. 6th and 7th Ave) NYC.

Today we are continuing the male-centric portion of our ongoing series of interviews with the stars of Lifetime's DROP DEAD DIVA with the boss of the legal practice on the show and the main love interest for Kate Levering's character, Kim: the affable and charming stage and screen star Josh Stamberg. In addition to dishing all about Season 3 of DROP DEAD DIVA and the future for Parker, Kim and company at the legal firm, Stamberg and I also discuss many of the various guest stars on the show this season and seasons past - Liza Minnelli, Sharon Lawrence and Faith Prince included - as well as how he sees Parker himself, his own insights into the complex character and what he feels the future holds for his relationships on the show - Kim, Jane and beyond. In addition to all things DIVA-related, Stamberg and I also discuss his many past stage and screen appearances, including: his unforgettable work as Sarge on SIX FEET UNDER and what it was like working with creator Alan Ball, as well as his role on the Aaron Sorkin-scripted series STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, plus: working at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Atlantic Theatre Company, doing the workshop of A STEADY RAIN (and eventually getting replaced by Hugh Jackman), doing FRACTURED with Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins, acting alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Watts in Clint Eastwood's forthcoming film J. EDGAR, his favorite work experiences so far, roles he is yearning to essay in the future both near and far and much, much more! Over the course of the last several weeks, we have been taking an extensive look at the sights and sounds both onscreen and onset of the hit TV dramedy series DROP DEAD DIVA - new episodes airing Sunday nights at 9 PM on Lifetime - featuring exclusive interviews with the leading lady divas and stalwart supporting men on the LA-based supernatural legal series. Featuring a memorable collection of musical performances and Broadway guest stars over the years - Paula Abdul, Rosie O'Donnell, Delta Burke and many more included - DROP DEAD DIVA is the quintessential TV series for Broadway babies looking for some laughs and levity - the latter available in many more ways than one, given the show's heavenly aspirations. DROP DEAD DIVA centers on a legal eagle named Jane whose body acts as the means for the indomitable spirit of a model, Deb, who loses her life, to make a second chance and how the girl inside must learn to adjust to looking like the woman on the outside that she is now. In other words, a model finds out what it means to look like everybody else in a delightfully quirky twist of fate - and learns to be a lawyer along the way, as well. Season Three picked up with the cliffhanger car crash that closed last season in a dark and shocking way. Questions and posed and answered so far: What will Grayson remember of the conversation he had with Jane pre-crash? What will Jane do to save him? What about his engagement (to somebody else)? What will happen back at the office with Teri, Kim and Parker? What about Stacy and Fred? Indeed, all of these questions and many more will most assuredly be answered come the next two Sunday nights! Plus, as always, there's always a musical number or two not too far off if you stay tuned - such as last month's BroadwayWorld exclusive world premiere of "Lean On Me"! Will there be a musical grand finale after all? We shall soon see! Also, don't forget to check out the past interviews in this BRIDGING TV & THEATRE series - Margaret Cho, Kate Levering, April Bowlby, Sharon Lawrence, Faith Prince and Jackson Hurst included! There are only a few episodes of Season Three left - airing Sundays at 9 PM on Lifetime, as always, throughout September until the finale on September 25 - so be sure to check back here in coming weeks for chats with Ben Feldman and the titular diva herself, plus maybe even a surprise or two, too!

Today we are talking to the new Roxie in CHICAGO on Broadway best known for her status as one of the most successful songwriters of the twenty-first century, having had hundreds of songs featured on albums by the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Pink and many, many more - with a significant number of them topping the charts in a variety of genres from pop to rock to country and beyond. In this all-encompassing conversation, DioGuardi and I dissect her career thus far - in front of millions and behind the scenes - and she generously sheds some light on how some of her most famous songs came to be - including the modern-day Gwen Stefani classic "If I Were A Rich Girl", famously sampling a song from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Additionally, we talk about her two-year stint on AMERICAN IDOL and what working with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul was like, as well as her opinions on Simon's new talent competition premiering later this year, THE X-FACTOR, and how she looks back on her experience doing the hit show and her own reality series, PLATINUM HIT. Additionally, we discuss DioGuardi's Broadway baby roots and her formative theatrical experiences, as well as what taking the stage at this point in her career means to her - and, all about wearing Ashlee Simpson's costume. Plus, DioGuardi's thoughts on entertainment legends ranging from CHICAGO composer John Kander to rock icon Jim Steinman to Broadway legends like Liza Minnelli, Gwen Verdon, Stephen Sondheim and many, many more. We also have news on her upcoming songs and collaborations to look out for, featuring a vast array of artists such as Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, Jason Derulo and more - many featured through her music publishing company, Arthouse Entertainment. As if all of that weren't enough, DioGuardi also shares her affection for GLEE, Broadway song craftsmanship and gypsies!