Today we are talking to a celebrated comedienne and actress known for her decades-spanning career on screens and stages large and small - from making her Broadway debut in the original Jerome Robbins production of GYPSY on Broadway in 1960 to her many musical roles throughout the 60s to her countless game show and variety show appearances following that all the way to creating an unforgettable character in MOONSTRUCK in the 1980s, as well as her subsequent oft-Neil Simon stage work; now, playing Tina Fey's sweet and daffy mom on NBC's 30 ROCK and, most recently, appearing in Nora & Celia Ephron's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE and the Playwright's Horizons premiere production of THE BIG MEAL in the new millennium - the one of a kind Anita Gillette. Analyzing her nearly sixty-year career and sharing candid stories of her brushes with some of Broadway and Hollywood's brightest talents - Jule Styne to Ethel Merman to Irving Berlin to Burt Lancaster and beyond - Gillette paints a vivid portrait of the tail end of the Golden Age of Broadway and the heady game show days of TV in the 1960s and 70s to her lauded stage work with Neil Simon and many of the great comedy and musical writers in the years since. Additionally, Gillette and I discuss her current essaying of the role of Mae Peterson in the new Regal Music Theatre production of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's BYE BYE BIRDIE in Massachusetts as she looks towards opening night tomorrow and relates her joy in participating in a production that has some behind-the-scenes help by her loving granddaughter (while another attends their summer camp). Plus, Gillette's observations on sharing a soundstage with Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Elaine Stritch and Buck Henry for a recent 30 ROCK shoot, reflections on her fondest and most celebrated comedy roles, hilarious memories of appearing in some short-running flops (JIMMY, SKYSKRAPER) as well as in some big hits (GYPSY), her upcoming series of master classes titled "Life In The Business", her return to Birdland with her concert show, AFTER ALL, her role in an upcoming Ed Burns film and maybe even a role in a new Alexander Payne film - all of that, all about attending the Diamond Jubilee celebration in the United Kingdom and much, much more!
Manny Azenberg News
This year, Actor's Equity Association was awarded one of this year's Special Tonys and on hand to accept the prize was AEA's president, Broadway vet Nick Wyman. Wyman sat down with BroadwayWorld to talk about the importance of the recognition from the Tony Administration, and what it means to the community of Equity actors.
On Twitter Watch, Jordan Roth wrote ' Standing ovation for Manny Azenberg accepting the Lifetime Achievement Awards!'
The Tony Awards® Administration Committee has announced this year's recipient for the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. This year's award will be presented to producer Emanuel "Manny" Azenberg. The Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre will be presented at the 2012 Tony Awards on Sunday, June 10th. The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
On the April 9th episode of NBC's musical drama series SMASH entitled 'Understudy', the show has landed a star, the mercurial Rebecca Duvall (guest star Uma Thurman), but Eileen (Anjelica Huston) is thrown into a panic when Rebecca gets stuck in Cuba.
Jana Robbins and Craig Haffner will present industry-only staged readings presentations of The Jazz Age, a new play by Allan Knee (FINDING NEVERLAND, LITTLE WOMEN).
Jana Robbins and Craig Haffner will present industry-only staged readings presentations of The Jazz Age, a new play by Allan Knee (FINDING NEVERLAND, LITTLE WOMEN).
Jana Robbins and Craig Haffner will present industry-only staged readings presentations of The Jazz Age, a new play by Allan Knee (FINDING NEVERLAND, LITTLE WOMEN).
ASKING FOR IT, a one-woman show by Joanna Rush, will play on Thursday, March 29 at 8:30 pm at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center as part of the Target® Free Thursdays program to mark Women's History Month. Admission is free.
Yankee Stadium will again host the 'Bombers Boomer Broadway Softball Classic' on Monday, June 27. Set to participate this year are CATCH ME IF YOU CAN's Aaron Tveit ( who will sing the national anthem) and Tom Wopat, along with THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES star Edie Falco.
Yankee Stadium will again host the 'Bombers Boomer Broadway Softball Classic' on Monday, June 27. Set to participate this year are CATCH ME IF YOU CAN's Aaron Tveit ( who will sing the national anthem) and Tom Wopat, along with THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES star Edie Falco.
The annual Primary Stages Gala, a fundraiser benefiting the extensive artistic development programs offered by the company, was held at the Edison Ballroom last night, November 1, 2010. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below.
The annual Primary Stages Gala, a fundraiser benefiting the extensive artistic development programs offered by the company, will be held at the Edison Ballroom (240 west 47th Street, between Broadway & 8th Avenue) on Monday, November 1, 2010.
The annual Primary Stages Gala, a fundraiser benefiting the extensive artistic development programs offered by the company, will be held at the Edison Ballroom (240 west 47th Street, between Broadway & 8th Avenue) on Monday, November 1, 2010.
Creative Alternatives of New York (225 West 99th Street), celebrating the use of theater to help New York's most vulnerable children and adults, honored Tony Award winner & Board Chairman, Dick Latessa, and Emily Nash, Artistic Director at this year's 25th Anniversary celebration, 'Broadway at the Boathouse,' which held at Loeb Central Park Boathouse (at East 72nd Street entrance) on May 4, 2009.
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