Marti Rolph News

Follies at 50: A Conversation with the Cast and Crew of the Original Broadway Production is a one-time event, featuring a panel of people involved in the creation of one of the most groundbreaking musicals of all time, Follies.

The American Foundation For Arts Education presented its annual National Arts Star Awards on November 20 in a Star-Studded Gala at The Helene Galen Performing Arts Center in Rancho Mirage. Among the honorees, James Nederlander was presented with The Legacy Award for creating The National High School Musical Theatre Awards and his ongoing commitment to arts education. The awards were presented by actor/writer Laurence Luckinbill. The National Arts Star Awards are presented to individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact on Arts Education in America's public schools. The AFAE, originally founded by Carol Channing and her late husband Harry Kullijian, works to restore the arts to our nation's public schools and insure an arts education for every child in America through advocacy and partnering with schools and communities to create specialized arts instructional opportunities for children.

'Sondheim: A Musical Tribute' was the title given to a benefit staged in March 1973. American Musical and Dramatic Academy and the National Hemophilia Foundation first wanted to honor Harold Prince, but he declined, so they chose Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim thought it would be 'merely a dinner,' but it was actually a full-scale production with 33 performers and a 30-piece orchestra, staged on the set of the then-running 'A Little Night Music' at the Shubert Theatre. Below, check out footage from a short documentary that was made about the show.

After Tony in West Side Story, Dear World, and Follies, Kurt Peterson left the world of performing. Now he's back producing Stephen Schwartz's Captain Louie....