Lynn Ahrens News

ASCAP is now seeking new musicals for the annual ASCAP/DreamWorks Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles. Serving once more as artistic director for the workshop is Academy and Grammy Award-winning composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, whose credits include hit Broadway shows Wicked, Godspell and Pippin, the Walt Disney films Enchanted, Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt.

Kokandy Productions is pleased to announce the 20-member cast for its 2015 season opener, the hilarious and heartfelt musical comedy THE FULL MONTY with music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Terrence McNally, direction by Co-Artistic Director John D. Glover, choreography by Danny Spagnuolo and musical direction by Resident Music Director Kory Danielson. THE FULL MONTY will play March 10 - April 12, 2015 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Bristol Riverside Theatre rings in the new year with Always...Patsy Cline by Ted Swindley running January 27-February 22. Directed by Susan D. Atkinson, the cast features Jo Twiss and Jessica Wagner. Based on a true story, this intimate musical combines down-home country humor and heartache to recount the unlikely friendship between country music legend Patsy Cline and her most devoted fan, Louise Seger.

Simply stunning!Megan Hilty, star of stage and screen, offered a good dose of holiday cheer and some fine vocals to an appreciative Kennedy Center audience this weekend. Combining musical theatre and pop selections she usually does in cabaret format with a few holiday tunes, the varied set offered a little something for everyone and allowed her to showcase her enviable versatility. While it's nearly impossible to pick highlights - because everything was just that good - a few favorite moments emerged.

Lyrics & Lyricists gets going on the opening show of its 45th season with "A Good Thing Going: The Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince Collaboration" on January 10, 11 and 12. Artistic director David Loud, himself a frequent Sondheim collaborator, explores the 1970-1981 partnership behind the groundbreaking musicals Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along - with cast members Kate Baldwin, Heidi Blickenstaff, Liz Callaway, James Clow, Jason Danieley, and Alan H. Green.

Bristol Riverside Theatre welcomes the holiday season with Winter Musicale 2014, running tonight, December 11-21, 2014. Director Keith Baker and the BRT Concert Band present classic carols and heartwarming holiday songs sung by BRT favorites Bethe B. Austin , Philip Chaffin, David Edwards , Elyse Langley, and Matt Leisy, joined by Donata Cucinotta, Ciji Prosser, and Dwayne Washington, making their BRT debuts.

Happy Birthday, Graciela Daniele! As a performer, Daniele made her Broadway debut in What Makes Sammy Run? in 1964. She studied with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham while working with such luminaries as Bob Fosse, Agnes de Mille, and Michael Bennett, who hired her to assist him with Follies in 1971. Her first credit as a full-fledged choreographer was the 1979 revival of The Most Happy Fella. She has directed and/or choreographed several musicals of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, including, most recently, The Glorious Ones (2007) and Dessa Rose (2005) at the Off-Broadway Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. She has directed and/or choreographed several musicals of Michael John LaChiusa Off-Broadway, most recently Bernarda Alba (2006) and Little Fish (2003).

The Downtown Performing Arts Center of Lambertville, NJ is thrilled to ring in the holiday season with two special productions: A Christmas Carol and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Both shows, set to run during the weekend of Friday, December 19, Saturday, December 20 and Sunday, December 21, will be performed at the South Hunterdon Regional High School Theatre located at 301 Mount Airy-Harbourton Road in Lambertville, New Jersey.

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, concludes the Fall 2014 Musicals in Mufti Series with the first New York revival and world premiere of a new re-imagined version of the 1992 musical, My Favorite Year, with book byJoseph Dougherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, based on the motion picture by Dennis Palumbo and Norman Steinberg. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you production photos from the show!

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, concludes the Fall 2014 Musicals in Mufti Series with the first New York revival and world premiere of a new re-imagined version of the 1992 musical, My Favorite Year, with book byJoseph Dougherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, based on the motion picture by Dennis Palumbo and Norman Steinberg. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the opening!

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, concludes the Fall 2014 Musicals in Mufti Series with the first New York revival and world premiere of a new re-imagined version of the 1992 musical, My Favorite Year, with book by Joseph Dougherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, based on the motion picture by Dennis Palumbo and Norman Steinberg. The limited engagement of My Favorite Year will play 5 performances only this weekend, December 5-7, 2014 at The York Theatre Company's home at Saint Peter's (Entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

The Bay Areas' longest running stage production of A Christmas Carol returns to the Notre Dame de Namur University Theatre for nine performances. Opening night is tonight, December 5.

Maestro Lockhart talks about the Holiday Pops concerts and the new work Flaherty and Ahrens have written for the Pops

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is number one while Broadway's The Cripple of Inishmaan and Rocky also nab spots on the list.

Meet the Cast and Creative Team of The York Theatre Company's Musicals in Mufti presentation of the first New York revival and world premiere of a new re-imagined version of the 1992 musical, My Favorite Year! The show features book by Joseph Dougherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, based on the motion picture My Favorite Year, courtesy of Turner Entertainment Co., with story by Dennis Palumbo and screenplay by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the world premiere musical production Little Dancer in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater through today, November 30, 2014.

The York Theatre Company will honor Tony Award-winning collaborators Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty with the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 23rd Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala to be held tonight, November 24, 2014 at Park Avenue's Racquet & Tennis Club (370 Park Avenue).

The Bay Areas' longest running stage production of A Christmas Carol returns to the Notre Dame de Namur University Theatre for nine performances. Opening night is Friday, December 5.

A Christmas Carol, with music by 9 time academy award winner Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Mike Ockrent, opens at Yorktown Stage tonight, November 22. This is the spectacular musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's most well known story. Proving its staying power with a decade long run at Madison Square Garden, A Christmas Carol is an ideal choice to create a holiday tradition.

Inspired by Edgar Degas' famous sculpture of a 14 year-old dancer, 'Little Dancer' is one of those kinds of musicals that you don't see much anymore. It's also the kind of musical that we desperately need on Broadway today.