Lucille Ball News

Many may think that the heartwarming and brassy American musical comedy of yore with it's hummable tunes will never be seen again. That the days of star driven shows have dried up. The era when the names of Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, or Carol Channing all but guaranteed a hit musical. Now producers are wary of putting all of their eggs in one basket, relying on a star to stick with a show until it recoups it's investment. Happily...... no, joyously...... Broadway producer Scott Rudin was able to engage superstar Bette Midler for a year in the first revival of HELLO DOLLY! ever to happen on Broadway without Carol Channing

Musical Theatre West (MTW) brings Jerry Herman's musical masterpiece Mame to Southern California for a three-week run at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center March 27 a?" April 12.  Based on the novel, Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and the play Auntie Mame by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Mame lavishly delivers one of theater's all-time great heroines in a brassy, tuneful, hilarious and touching fashion.  Tickets are available at www.musical.org, by calling (562) 856-1999, or at the Musical Theatre West Ticket Office.  Tickets start at $20.

Nevada's largest film festival The 16th Annual Dam Short Film Festival returns to take movie lovers and film buffs around the globe. The festival will screen 146 short films submitted from 16 countries of origin in the historic Boulder City Theatre Feb. 13-16.

In celebration of what would be legendary film and television icon Ricardo Montalbán's 100th birthday in 2020, the historic Hollywood theatre, The Montalbán, whose moniker is “where entertainment begins,” is unveiling new plans to fulfill Ricardo Montalbán's dream of diversity and inclusion. This year, the owners of The Montalbán, Ricardo's son in law and President of The Montalbán Company, LLC, Gilbert Smith, and daughter Anita, have plans to expand the theatre's musical performances, beginning with The Company Men on February 21 and 22; and The Soul of Broadway Starring Terron Brooks on February 28 and 29.

The inimitable Emily Skinner will be headlining 42nd Street Moon's gala fundraiser a?oeCome to the Moona?? on Tuesday, February 4th at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. After bursting onto the scene with her Tony-nominated performance in a?oeSide Show,a?? Ms. Skinner has gone on to star in several more Broadway shows, most recently a?oeThe Cher Showa?? in 2018-19, and performed at top regional theater companies and done innumerable concerts throughout the country. Ms. Skinner's trademarks are a spectacular voice that can move seamlessly from a luscious lower register to a thrilling high belt, an irreverent sense of humor and a deep passion for the classic American musical. She is the type of performer who can dazzle you with her vocal prowess one moment, then make you laugh out loud with a perfectly-timed bon mot, then break your heart with a tender ballad. BroadwayWorld spoke recently by phone with Ms. Skinner from her home base in Manhattan. In conversation, Ms. Skinner is delightfully chatty, smart and warm, sort of a mashup of a gimlet-eyed leading lady from a bygone era, a brainiac specializing in Broadway arcania, and your best friend from high school.

Actress/singer Tiffany Bailey has many talents. She also happens to be a behavioral therapist for children with autism. I laud her for that. Last spring 2019 she released an album entitled Jazz with Pop and her cabaret show was very well received. In this interview she updates our readers as to the success of the CD and talks about her other projects for 2020.

The National Comedy Center, located in Jamestown, New York, celebrates legendary comedy innovator Ernie Kovacs' 101st birthday today through Saturday, January 25th with special screenings of rare video clips and highlights from his television career, along with a display of rare artifacts and never-before-seen material in the a?oeErnie Kovacs Centennial Exhibit,a?? which opened last August and continues its run at the Center.

Tommy Tune's anticipated performance scheduled for this year at Old School Square's Crest Theatre has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. André De Shields will proudly be presented in his place.

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre will present the divine comedy An Act of God, February 13 - March 8, with previews February 11 and 12. Due to a large advance, and the increasingly popularity of the Ellen Arnold Groff Studio Series, An Act of God is adding a week of performances, which was originally scheduled to close on March 1.

I would be remiss if I neglected to recognize the real stars of this show...the sets! Set design by William James Mohney was top notch.  Each train setting was elaborate and very detailed

Accompanied by Wayne Abravenel on keyboards, cabaret performer Francesca Amari takes us through Gilda Radner's early years, her loves, and her ultimate challenge, facing her own death, through storytelling and song. If you didn't love Radner already, you will by the time the show ends.

It was reported today that acclaimed playwright William Luce has passed away at age 88.

Before the The Play That Goes Wrong there was Noises Off. There are few directors, designers, and actors that can take on this incredibly difficult work. The comedic timing must be perfectly executed, the set has to change into two different sets between acts, and it is very physically demanding. Theatre Three's production has mastered it. The opening night audience of Noises Off were left completely sore from laughter. I am happy to say it was one of the most hilarious productions I have seen here in DFW. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the classic, Noises Off by Michael Frayn is about a group of actors who are rehearsing the play Nothing On. Broken into 3 acts the actors rehearse the play in Act 1, perform it in Act 2 (shown from backstage), and performing again Act 3. The characters in this show are completely dysfunctional from who is sleeping with whom, drinking problems, divorces, etc. It's a proper madhouse set for disaster.

I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Award-winning playwright Gina Schien is set to bring her critically-acclaimed lesbian comedy to South Australia for the first time when it premieres at the 2020 Adelaide Fringe Festival.

RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL originally opened Off-Broadway in 1992, created as an over-the-top dark comedy spoof of the films The Bad Seed and All About Eve, and well-known Broadway musicals Gypsy and Annie. Similar to the dark comedy in musicals such as Little Shop of Horrors and Sweeney Todd where characters are murdered and then eaten, RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL centers on 8-year old Tina Denmark, who knows she was born to play the lead in her school's third grade show and will do anything to win the part. And I do mean anything. Now onstage at Theatre Palisades, directed by Alta Abbott who first fell in love with the show during its 1993 West Coast premiere at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills, I can only say that the over-the-top production sometimes seemed so dark that the comedy became invisible.

Laguna Playhouse announces the final cast and creative team to join acclaimed film, TV and theatre veterans Frances Fisher (a?oeTitanic,a?? Native Gardens, Barbeque), as a?oeQueen Eleanora?? and Gregory Harrison (a?oeTrapper John, M.D.,a?? Broadway's Chicago, Steel Pier), as a?oeKing Henry IIa?? in THE LION IN WINTER

REELZ today announced that two more of its original series are headed to PodcastOne with the launch of Autopsy: The Last Hours of... on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 and Copycat Killers on Thursday, November 21, 2019. New podcasts for episodes of both Autopsy: The Last Hours of... and Copycat Killers will be available every week on Apple Podcasts and PodcastOne. Both Autopsy: The Last Hours of... and Copycat Killers podcasts were originally slated to debut in 2020 but advanced to this year in response to customer demand based on the success of the network's Murder Made Me Famous podcasts on PodcastOne.

Hell in a Handbag Productions' presents its annual benefit, THE RIP NELSON CELEBRITY ROAST on Saturday, November 9, 2019 from 6 - 11 pm at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave. in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood.