Mariah Carey News

Antonio 'L.A.' Reid, former Chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group and one of the most influential names in music today, will join Simon Cowell on the judging panel of THE X FACTOR, the highly anticipated singing competition series debuting this fall on FOX.

The MAC award-winning, super-fancy mock award show, Broadway's Next H!T Musical is thrilled to welcome celebrity guests Julie Halston, Michael McGlone, Valerie Smaldone and Sussie Mosher to the BNHM stage during the month of March at The Triad (158 W. 72nd Street), tickets are $20 and can be purchased by visiting www.SmartTix.com

Grammy nominated and Broadway phenom Marty Thomas (Xanadu, Secret Garden, Wicked) prepares to redefine the nightclub scene with his new act Marty Thomas Presents: Divas at the hottest spot in Hell's Kitchen.

According to Billboard.com, Mariah Carey, George Michael, Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul are all possibilities for the judging spots on Simon Cowell's THE X FACTOR. Previously rumored Katy Perry and Elton John are no longer in the running.

Grammy nominated and Broadway phenom Marty Thomas (Xanadu, Secret Garden, Wicked) prepares to redefine the nightclub scene with his new act Marty Thomas Presents: Divas at the hottest spot in Hell's Kitchen.

Last night American Idol's top twelve guys of season ten showed their stuff for the first time in front of a live studio audience. Though this week's performances have been prerecorded, the boys still had to work a crowd of over 700, which is positioned 360 degrees around the stage this year! As always there were a few poor song choices in the mix (Cough. Jordan Dorsey. Cough), but overall the boys put up a good fight. Only tomorrow night's results can tell who will get to take yet another step forward.

Doug Morris, one of the most respected and influential executives in the global music industry, will join Sony Music Entertainment as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2011.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, whose alumni include Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, playwright Michele Lowe (whose Map Of Heaven just premiered at the Denver Theater Center, and who won the 2010 Francesca Primus Prize from the American Theater Critics Association), Jordan Leeds, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Seth Rudetsky and Jane Monheit, will hold its next Open House on Wednesday February 23 from 11 AM to 2 PM at Usdan Center's magnificent 200-acre woodland campus in the Huntington area of Long Island.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, whose alumni include Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, playwright Michele Lowe (whose Map Of Heaven just premiered at the Denver Theater Center, and who won the 2010 Francesca Primus Prize from the American Theater Critics Association), Jordan Leeds, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Seth Rudetsky and Jane Monheit, will hold its next Open House on Wednesday February 23 from 11 AM to 2 PM at Usdan Center's magnificent 200-acre woodland campus in the Huntington area of Long Island.

GRAMMY® Charity Online Auctions - in celebration of the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards, this auction offers close to 100 exclusive items including once-in-a-lifetime VIP experiences,memorabilia from world-renowned celebrities, and official GRAMMY merchandise signed by participating stars backstage during rehearsals and show day of the telecast. The lots are available for bidin two cycles now through Feb. 24 at www.ebay.com/grammy,presented in partnership with Kompolt. All proceeds will benefit MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation.

TRACES, the high energy acrobatic spectacle which blends circus, physical theater, music and dance will make its national late night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday February 7th on ABC.

TRACES, the high energy acrobatic spectacle which blends circus, physical theater, music and dance will make its national late night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday February 7th on ABC.

Michael Balderrama has danced beside some of the biggest names in the music industry--Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and Gloria Estefan, to name a few. He came to New York in 1999 to star in Saturday Night Fever, and has since taken on roles in many other Broadway musicals, including Movin' Out, Urban Cowboy, Hot Feet, and most recently, In The Heights, for which he won the 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Next up, Balderrama will join the cast of the new LCT3 show When I Come To Die, where he will play prison guard Cooper. Previews begin January 31st, with opening night set for February 10th.

Imagination and teamwork will be center stage when a diverse cast of over 2,000 students and teachers representing 50+ schools and educational theatre groups from 15 states and Canada join Broadway creatives in a monumental celebration of the arts at the 2011 Junior Theater Festival happening January 14 - 16, 2011, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president, Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Four-time Tony nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical) will receive the Junior Theater Festival Award for Advancement of Musical Theatre for Young People, while Broadway producer and Disney Theatrical Group president Thomas Schumacher will be the festival's keynote speaker and Grammy award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox will participate in a Q&A session with all attendees. For the first time, in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the festival will also feature 'Dream Boxes' where students will record 30 second messages with their dreams for the future to be uploaded on the Internet.

Imagination and teamwork will be center stage when a diverse cast of over 2,000 students and teachers representing 50+ schools and educational theatre groups from 15 states and Canada join Broadway creatives in a monumental celebration of the arts at the 2011 Junior Theater Festival happening January 14 - 16, 2011, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president, Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Four-time Tony nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical) will receive the Junior Theater Festival Award for Advancement of Musical Theatre for Young People, while Broadway producer and Disney Theatrical Group president Thomas Schumacher will be the festival's keynote speaker and Grammy award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox will participate in a Q&A session with all attendees. For the first time, in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the festival will also feature 'Dream Boxes' where students will record 30 second messages with their dreams for the future to be uploaded on the Internet.

California girls BEACH GIRL5 are preparing to make waves worldwide with the November 30th US release and January 10th UK release of the club banging single, SCRATCH. The girls are ready to take the world by storm beginning with a five-week road trip across the UK and a 15-city American tour starting in November. With a long line of credits including opening for Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez at this year's PopCon as well as having their debut album produced by Armato/James, who have worked with the great pop talents including Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey, BG5 is ready to prolong a summer of fun with the contagious and fresh single, Scratch.

Broadway leading man and AMERICAN IDOL season 2 contestant Josh Strickland spoke to me yesterday about his career so far - on a trip from the Broadway stage in TARZAN, to the burlesque stage in Jerry Mitchell's PEEP SHOW in Las Vegas, right to the concert stage in NYC on Friday night in SIR TIM RICE & FRIENDS - all in just a handful of years. All of that is without even mentioning season two of the smash hit reality series HOLLY'S WORLD that he co-stars on, which will be following KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS: KARDASHIANS TAKE NEW YORK on Sunday nights starting January 23 on E!. Also, Josh shared with me the first news about his new dance album coming out later this year, as well, which is the centerpiece of his storyline on the show this season! More information about the one night only NY TIMES Arts & Leisure-hosted SIR TIM RICE & FRIENDS event on Friday at 6 PM is available here.

Multi-talented star Brandy will hit the streets of Las Vegas to serve as a special correspondent while pop/rock group Plain White T's and dance crew Jabbawockeez will join previously announced performers Travie McCoy and David Archuleta to ring in 2011 on NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE airing Friday, Dec. 31 (11:00 PM-12:30 AM ET live; CT/MT/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.

BroadwayWorld.com has heard from those in the audience on Tuesday night that the show was stopped once and that stuffed into the Playbill was word of a new cast member, and multiple understudies.

BroadwayWorld.com was the first to report back on December 2 when Natalie Mendoza, who plays the lead role of Arachne in SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark had received a concussion and the role was to be played in her absence by understudy America Olivo. The star then returned to the show on December 15, but then was out of the show again with Olivo, and then Carpio playing the role.