Lucille Ball News

Last year, Playwrights Theatre began the New Jersey Emerging Women Playwrights Project (NJEWP) as part of its larger ongoing effort to provide meaningful support to playwrights through an authentic development process that focuses on the specific and individual needs of the writer.

The Philharmonic Center for the Arts will present the national tour of Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes, the Broadway revival of Cole Porter's timeless classic, Tuesday through Friday, March 5 - 8 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, presents the Pittsburgh premiere of Bubble Time from March 22 - 23, 2013, at the Byham Theater. Performance times include Friday, March 22 at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Saturday, March 23 at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Citizens Bank is the season sponsor of Pittsburgh International Children's Theater.

Today we are shifting our focus from the stages of Broadway and beyond to the stages of the previous 84 Academy Awards telecasts that have transpired to date, in anticipation of Sunday night's big, big, big show. After all, this year's Academy Awards is of particular interest and excitement to theatre fans around the globe, especially because super-producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are behind it - the men responsible for the hit stage-to-screen adaptations of CHICAGO and HAIRSPRAY, as well as the small-screen successes GYPSY, LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME & MY SHADOWS, ANNIE, and, most recently, NBC's musical series SMASH, to name a few of their many marvelous musical-friendly credits. They told me themselves earlier this week that this year's telecast would be the most music-packed Academy Awards show to date, and, just judging from the announced tributes, performers and presenters thus far it is clear to see that they were not kidding - reunions of the casts of the film versions of CHICAGO and LES MISERABLES live onstage, singing their film's most famous songs to Jennifer Hudson leading a DREAMGIRLS tribute all the way to a James Bond 50th anniversary celebration featuring Adele and Shirley Bassey on some famous Bond themes, as well as Barbra Streisand herself singing 'The Way We Were' in memory of friend and collaborator, three-time Oscar-winner Marvin Hamlisch.

ABC has your VIP ticket to experience a first in the history of the Academy Awards: Katie Couric takes movie fans of all ages inside the vast Oscar archives to witness the greatest moments in the show's history and to see rare behind-the-scenes footage and home movies of some of Hollywood's most iconic stars. 

Courtney Freed and Rebecca Johnson will star in The Coco & Ruby Variety Hour, a dazzling trip down memory lane and a peek into the hilarious and wacky lives of the these two ginger dames. Coco and Ruby mysteriously fell out of their humdrum lives in 1940's Newark, New Jersey and into modern day Hollywood to live the dream! These two characters from the hit web series, 'Coco & Ruby,' written by Rachel Roderman and directed by Steve Brian, will shuffle-ball-change right out of your computer screen tonight, February 15th to bring you a LIVE show full of old-school comedy and musicianship reminiscent of Lucille Ball and Betty Hutton. The Coco & Ruby Variety Hour will include many of your favorite WWII era standards, as well as vintage takes on contemporary pop songs.

Bucks County Playhouse announced earlier this year that they would be presenting THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES with a star-studded cast. The cast includes Andrea McArdle, Adriane Lenox, Olivia Oguma and Zuzanna Szadkowski. In addition, Karen Lynn Carpenter directs the show. These multi-talented artists bring a variety of talent to the show.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC) continues its 2012-2013 Season with An Evening with Lucie Arnaz on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 8pm. Tickets are $36 and can be purchased by phone at 718-951-4500 (Tues-Sat, 1pm-6pm), or online at www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org.

Beginning in April, 2013, 1812 Productions will present the world premiere comedy It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project, created and directed by 1812 Productions' Artistic Director, Jennifer Childs, and featuring a diverse ensemble of Philadelphia actresses. A production which will use physical comedy, storytelling, and music in a one-of-a-kind theatrical event, the creative process for It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project began in 2010 with two questions: how do women use comedy and how does that usage change as they age. With these pointed inquiries as her guides, Ms. Childs embarked on three inclusive and ongoing initiatives which, together, would form the core of the Project.

ABC has your VIP ticket to experience a first in the history of the Academy Awards: Katie Couric takes movie fans of all ages inside the vast Oscar archives to witness the greatest moments in the show's history and to see rare behind-the-scenes footage and home movies of some of Hollywood's most iconic stars. 

How much can one creator, writer, star and executive producer take on? Lena Dunham, recent Golden Globe Award winner for HBO's GIRLS, wants to find out! Deadline reports that the actress will join forces with her 'Girls' co-star Jenni Konner to develop a new series, 'All Dressed Up And Everywhere To Go' for the HBO cable network.

Courtney Freed and Rebecca Johnson will star in The Coco & Ruby Variety Hour, a dazzling trip down memory lane and a peek into the hilarious and wacky lives of the these two ginger dames. Coco and Ruby mysteriously fell out of their humdrum lives in 1940's Newark, New Jersey and into modern day Hollywood to live the dream! These two characters from the hit web series, 'Coco & Ruby,' written by Rachel Roderman and directed by Steve Brian, will shuffle-ball-change right out of your computer screen on February 15th to bring you a LIVE show full of old-school comedy and musicianship reminiscent of Lucille Ball and Betty Hutton. The Coco & Ruby Variety Hour will include many of your favorite WWII era standards, as well as vintage takes on contemporary pop songs.

Bill Mendieta, who's currently bringing Ricky Ricardo to life in I LOVE LUCY: LIVE ON STAGE, has had no issues making 'Babalu' his own. The actor, who originated the role in Los Angeles, and won a BroadwayWorld Award for his performance, has followed the show for its Midwestern premiere at Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.

Lattice Boykin McKoy was inspired to write her new book, "Marked Moments" (published by Trafford Publishing) after listening to President Barack Obama's speeches during his first presidential candidacy. "As I watched him, he called out in me such joy, hope and promise for the world," she explains. "I thought, this is the President that my father, a minister, had told me God would be sending. This is the leader that Dr. Martin Luther King had talked about. His energetic and wonderful oratory made me want to respond to him and to be a part of his team." It was this very reason that McKoy shares now her new collection of poetry of marked moments of history through poetry.

Today, we're featuring Bea Arthur and Hal Linden circa 1981. Arthur's stage roles included Lucy Brown in the 1954 Off-Broadway premiere of Marc Blitzstein's English-language adaptation of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, Yente the Matchmaker in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, and a 1966 Tony Award-winning portrayal of Vera Charles to Angela Lansbury's Mame. She reprised the role in the 1974 film version opposite Lucille Ball. In 1981, she appeared in Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb.

The irrepressible Emmy Award-winning television star Vicki Lawrence, best known for her scene-stealing comedy on the legendary Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family, brings her crowd-pleasing "Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show" to Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston on Sunday, February 17 at 2 p.m. In an exclusive Boston area engagement, Lawrence sings, shares stories, and unleashes the hilarious wit and wisdom of the character that made her famous, the cantankerous Thelma Harper, also known as Mama.

Ned Wertimer, a versatile and prolific character actor who was perhaps best known as Ralph the Doorman for 11 seasons on TV's The Jeffersons, has died, it was announced today by his long time manager Brad Lemack. Wertimer passed away on January 2nd at the Sherman Village Health Care Center, outside of Los Angeles, from complications following a fall in his Burbank home in late November. He was 89.

Ever been introduced to someone for the first time yet had an overwhelming sense of of having met previously? Ever visited a new city or country yet felt completely at home? How does a child who has never taken a lesson suddenly begin playing the piano with the skill of a virtuoso?

Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books imprint will publish a memoir by beloved and award-winning actress Valerie Harper entitled I RHODA BOOK. The memoir will be released on January, 15, 2013.

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Chicago in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!