Lonny Price News

Above the Title Entertainment (Jed Bernstein) will present two special readings of the new musical, Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale, on Friday, September 10 at the Snapple Theatre Center (1627 Broadway). Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale features a book by Hunter Foster and music & lyrics by Rick Crom. Under the direction of Lonny Price, the cast will feature Sutton Foster as ‘Bonnie' and Will Swenson as ‘Clyde,' along with Marc Kudisch, Beth Leavel and more. These readings are by invitation only.

Stephanie J. Block, Broadway star of '9 to 5: The Musical,' 'Wicked,' 'The Pirate Queen,' and 'The Boy From Oz,' will star opposite Jason Alexander, Artistic Director of Reprise Theatre Company, in 'They're Playing Our Song,' the opening production of the company's 2010-2011 season, playing September 28 to October 10 (press opening September 29) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.

Today we are taking a listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording of SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM starring Barbra Cook, Tom Wopat, Vanessa Williams, Leslie Kritzer, Euan Morton and Norm Lewis and also taking a critical look back at his incredible, incomparable career. While the show onstage at Studio 54 as directed by James Lapine failed to catch fire or leave a big impression on critics or audiences, PS Classics went to the trouble to record a cast album preserving most of the show as it was seen so they deserve praise if only for that. There are some obscurities here - some college ditties, cut COMPANY finales, an abandoned GYPSY number - plus brand new, candid interviews with Sondheim himself as well as a shiny new Sondheim patter song written expressly for this revue titled 'God'. Never a more applicable song title could have come from Sondheim's pen when discussing - and poking fun at - his own career as the Brains Behind Broadway. Let's see how Sondheim in general, as well as this show, stack up on (the) record!

Oh, there were big goings-on in the Showtuneland of Chicago this past weekend! And a whole lot of talkin' goin' on. But before we get to that particular topic, I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you some Chicago-based highlights of my recent trip to New York: observations, thoughts and feelings that many of you may have had this spring or summer on a similar trip.

On August 13, Ravinia opened its three-day run of Irving Berlin's hit-filled Broadway classic ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. Taking on her third Merman role, Patti LuPone stars as the sharp-shooter opposite Patrick Cassidy as Frank Butler and George Hearn as Buffalo Bill Cody. The production is directed by Lonny Price with Paul Gemignani leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The shows, Aug. 13 through 15, begin at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, Aug. 13, the very date that wild-West legend Annie Oakley would have celebrated her 150th birthday, Ravinia opens its three-day run of Irving Berlin's hit-filled Broadway classic Annie Get Your Gun.

On Friday, Aug. 13, the very date that wild-West legend Annie Oakley would have celebrated her 150th birthday, Ravinia opens its three-day run of Irving Berlin's hit-filled Broadway classic Annie Get Your Gun.

On Friday, Aug. 13, the very date that wild-West legend Annie Oakley would have celebrated her 150th birthday, Ravinia opens its three-day run of Irving Berlin's hit-filled Broadway classic Annie Get Your Gun.

On Saturday, July 31, stage favorites Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris and George Hearn teamed up with the Ravina Festival and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in tribute to Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Lonny Price and conducted by Paul Gemignani, the concert featured Sondheim classics from shows such as A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Gypsy and more. BroadwayWorld brings you coverage of the concert below.

Ravinia Festival's 2010 Gala Benefit Evening will honor the 80th birthday of the great American composer Stephen Sondheim with a program featuring an incredible lineup of soloists who have been featured in Ravinia's Sondheim celebrations since they began in 2001. The evening reunites the on-stage and behind-the-scenes talent that created Ravinia's acclaimed productions of Sondheim's shows, several of which have gone onto other cities. The evening will star Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, George Hearn and Michael Cerveris.

As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, The New York Philharmonic's SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert, which took place on March 15-16, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall, will be broadcast on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances on PBS on Wednesday, November 24 (check local listings). WNET, Channel 13 in New York City, will air the concert at 9:30 p.m. that evening. The concert includes songs and orchestral pieces from Sondheim musical theater favorites such as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George. Today, it has been announced that in addition to the PBS telecast, the concert will be released on DVD in November by Image Entertainment.

NY Philharmonic's 'Sondheim: The Birthday Concert' will air as part of PBS' 'Great Performances' series at 9:30pm on November 24. The concert took place March 15-16 at Avery Fisher Hall.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Shrek,' 'Rock Of Ages,' Ravinia Festival, 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' 'She Loves Me,' more....

Jason Alexander, artistic director of Reprise Theatre Company, will star in 'They're Playing Our Song,' September 28 to October 10 (press opening September 29) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, to open the company's 2010-2011 season. Single tickets are available for 'They're Playing Our Song' at www.reprise.org or through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101.

Broadway and film star Patrick Cassidy will play the male lead, Frank Butler, in the Ravinia Festival production of Irving Berlin's hit-filled musical Annie Get Your Gun on August 13, 14 and 15. A scheduling conflict will prevent Brian Stokes Mitchell from appearing in the role as originally announced.

DISSONANCE, written by BBC writer Damian Lanigan, opened with a bang in its New York Premiere on the Bay Street stage on Saturday, June 5th. This multi-layered and engrossing play featuring a gorgeous, young rock star that ruffles the feathers of an already conflicted string quartet is Bay Street's first Main Stage production of the 2010 Summer Season and runs through June 27th.

DISSONANCE, written by BBC writer Damian Lanigan, opened with a bang in its New York Premiere on the Bay Street stage on Saturday, June 5th. This multi-layered and engrossing play featuring a gorgeous, young rock star that ruffles the feathers of an already conflicted string quartet is Bay Street's first Main Stage production of the 2010 Summer Season and runs through June 27th.

Offering up greater variety, including more than 50 debuts from Sting to Wagnerian tenor John Treleaven, Ravinia Festival Chairperson Pamela B. Strobel and President and CEO Welz Kauffman today announced details of the 2010 season, including a Chicago Symphony Orchestra residency that celebrates major anniversaries of Mahler, Chopin, Schumann, Barber, Bernstein and Copland, as well as milestone birthdays of Music Director James Conlon, Christoph Eschenbach and Stephen Sondheim. The season, featuring 117 separate events, runs from June 3 through September 7.

A gorgeous, young rock star ruffles the feathers of an already conflicted string quartet in Bay Street's first Main Stage production of the 2010 Summer Season, the witty and moving play DISSONANCE. Written by Damian Lanigan, DISSONANCE makes its New York Premiere on the Bay Street stage as egos, loyalty and love are put the test in this engrossing play about a string quartet in disarray.

Imagine being 22 years old; an aspiring actor who comes to New York with dreams of 'making it big' and having it actually happen two weeks later. Sound too good to be true? Not so, if A Little Night Music's Hunter Ryan Herdlicka is any example. Fresh out of Carnegie Mellon last year, Herdlicka quite literally stepped off of the proverbial boat and into one of the most high profile productions of the season, starring as 'Henrik Egerman' in Sondheim's Night Music alongside Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones, directed by Trevor Nunn.