Lucille Ball News

The Ogunquit Playhouse announces that Broadway veteran Rachel York returns to the Playhouse to star alongside Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers in 42nd Street.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Monica Lu and Nicholas Simpson

A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will enable the Great American Songbook Foundation to digitize historic radio recordings featuring The Music Man creator Meredith Willson and make them available online for scholars worldwide.

Legendary comedian Buddy Hackett is brought to life in My Buddy, a live musical, theatrical production, told by the person closest to him…his son, Sandy Hackett. It runs June 28 - 30, 2019 at Bristol Riverside Theatre.

What makes a Broadway theatre? Technically any venue with 500 seats or more, located along Broadway in New York City's Theatre District is a Broadway theatre, and the art that is produced in these special places is widely considered the highest form of theatrical entertainment in the world. Today, forty-one theatres are technically Broadway houses, each with their own rich history. Below, we're giving you the scoop on the life of every one of them!

Multi-faceted, creative hyphenate Charles Busch will be appearing in his latest reincarnation of his 1999 classic cult-fav DIE, MOMMIE, DIE! for four performances May 17 through May 19, 2019 for L.A. Theatre Works. Dazzlingly filling out the crazy cast of characters of DIE, MOMMIE, DIE! - Mark Capri, Willie Garson, Ellis Greer, Jeffrey Self and Ruth Williamson. I had the wonderful chance to revisit Charles' gracious wit after almost two decades previous.

On Thursday, May 2nd, Richard Pryor Jr. offered fans, friends and some of his farther's co-stars a glimpse into the life of his iconic parent, Richard Pryor Senior, discussing his own self-proclaimed 'Freakish Life' that paralleled his namesake and famous father's life in many ways, found in his new memoir. In A Pryor Life, already in its second printing only days after its release. The event began with the unveiling of a costume worn by Richard Pryor Jr in the film "College Debt" co-starring Lucille Ball's granddaughter, Katherine Luckinbill, Janet Carroll and Academy Award winner, Celeste Holmes, in what would be her last film. The costume will be included in the museum's upcoming Real to Reel: Perceptions and Portrayals of LGBTQ History in Film and Television.

Jinkx Monsoon & Major Scales: The Ginger Snapped returns to Joe's Pub with three shows! However Jinkx worries that her best years are behind her. In order to avoid a breakdown of diva proportions Major must act as both pianist and therapist to the Manic Miss Monsoon. Music and mental health collide in this witty, biting look at the dark side of Drag fame.

The onslaught of jukebox musicals doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon, which, in turn, means that there are an awful lot of cast albums that also double as very well-sung cover albums. That's definitely the case with the original cast recording of The Cher Show, which functions okay as a cast album but mostly rides on its cast's considerable talent and the sheer joy of Cher's catalog.

Harvey Sabinson, one of Broadway's legendary press agents, and former long-time executive director of The Broadway League, died on April 18, 2019 of natural causes at his residence in Sarasota, Florida. He was 94 years old.

Don't Tell Mama's Friday night comedy series will feature a headline act on April 26th.

The National Comedy Center, the country's official cultural institution dedicated to comedy, announced today that it has added a second show for John Mulaney after his initial show - as well as Sebastian Maniscalco's first show - broke all festival records by selling out in the first day on sale to the public for the 2019 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

Helpmann Award-winning musical theatre star Elise McCann will bring the splendiferous world of Roald Dahl to Queensland Performing Art Centre (QPAC) in Dahlesque, daddling to the Playhouse on 30 May.

Education takes center stage in BroadwayWorld's new Education Spotlight education series. Next up is Broadway favorite Emily Skinner bringing multiple characters to life as part of the iconic diva Cher's path to greatness in The Cher Show. Find out how her education played its part in bringing her to Broadway!

The National Comedy Center and legendary producer, director, and writer Carl Reiner announced today, on Carl Reiner's 97th birthday, an initiative to digitally preserve Reiner's extensive personal collection of production-used scripts from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" - one of the most iconic, innovative, and beloved comedy series in television history.

The National Comedy Center was formally designated as the nation's official cultural institution dedicated to the art form of comedy on Tuesday, March 12. In a tremendous bi-partisan show of support, both the Senate and House of Representatives passed this bill in February, and the president signed it into law on Tuesday, recognizing the Center as the "Official National Comedy Center of the United States."

Audiences are in for a rare treat when theatrical legend Charles Busch and playwright/performer Lee Tannen team up for a special two-performance concert staging of Tannen's I LOVED LUCY on Friday March 22 and Saturday March 23 as a benefit for Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre. This delightful stage adaptation of Tannen's own 2001 memoir, directed by Carl Andress, stars the fabulous Charles Busch as Lucille Ball, Lee Tannen as … Lee Tannen, and also features the multitudinous talents of actor/pianist Tom Judson.

Dorset Theatre Festival announces its 42nd Season, featuring the classic revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives directed by Evan Yionoulis (June 20 - July 6), the World Premiere of Dig, written and directed by Theresa Rebeck (July 11 - 27), the World Premiere of Mrs. Christie by Heidi Armbruster, directed by Giovanna Sardelli  (August 1 - 17), Slow Food by Wendy MacLeod, directed by Jackson Gay (August 22 - 31), and Pipeline Series: Three New Works in Process (July 2, July 23, and August 13). All performances will take place at the Dorset Playhouse (104 Cheney Rd, Dorset, VT 05251)

A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Guggenheim fellow, and Radcliffe alum, Kate Soper's music has been described as 'exquisitely quirky' (The New York Times) and 'epic' (WQXR). As a performer, she has been praised as a 'dazzling vocalist' (The New Yorker) and likened to 'Lucille Ball reinterpreted by Linda Blair' (Pitchfork). 

Had Lucy's family stayed in Trenton, history might have been very different, but the Garden State stayed peripherally involved the Queen of Comedy's life and work.