Mary Rodgers News

Honeck-Moss Productions is proud to present "In The Works." This exciting series is in it's second season was conceived as an opportunity for composers to try out new work in front of an audience and see how it plays in a supportive environment. It is also an opportunity to create community among the composers and their performers.

In celebration of Immigrant Heritage Week, the Immigrant Arts Coalition and Dramatists Guild of America, in collaboration with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) will present Staging Our Stories, an interactive panel discussion with playwrights, composers, and lyricists on heritage and diversity in theatre. An official partner with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, this free event will take place on Friday, April 20th, 1pm in the Dramatists Guild of America's Mary Rodgers Room.

Horizon has shared the incredible plays that you can see. between now and October. Check out the full lineup below!

Deborah Grace Winer brings three new jewel box revues celebrating the Classic American Songbook to Feinstein's/54 Below this spring. The series kicks off on March 27th with 'You Took Advantage of Me: Rodgers and Hart on Love' starring Grammy-winner Debby Boone, OBIE-winner Darius De Haas and Tony-nominee Christiane Noll, backed up by a swinging all-star band headed by Musical Director John Oddo.

In September 2017 Disney Theatricals announced that a new musical version of the classic film - Freaky Friday - was in production. Music Theatre Kansas City is honored and excited to be a part of the Disney Theatrical Productions Pilot Program.

Ghostlight Records will release the Original London Cast Recording of Stephen Schwartz's WORKING on Friday, March 2. Watch below for a preview of the new show!

Actresses Heidi Blickenstaff ('The Little Mermaid' and 'Something Rotten!' on Broadway and the stage production of 'Freaky Friday') and Cozi Zuehlsdorff ('Dolphin Tale,' 'Liv and Maddie') will STAR in an update of the American classic 'Freaky Friday,' a Disney Channel musical comedy set to begin production this fall for a 2018 debut as part of the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise. See the brand-new trailer below!

What good is sitting alone in your room this week? If you don't already have plans to see a Broadway show, come out to see your favorite Broadway stars in a cabaret act instead. Highlights this week include:

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is thrilled to welcome Fred Ebb Award-winning songwriters Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond for Kooman & Dimond: The Crowd Goes Mild Monday, February 12th at 7:00 on Birdland's historic stage.

Ghostlight Records has announced the release of the Original London Cast Recording of Stephen Schwartz's WORKING on Friday, March 2. The album is being released following a hugely successful run at Southwark Playhouse, directed by Luke Sheppard in Summer 2017. This will be the first recording of WORKING since the Original Broadway Cast Recording in 1978 and will feature never before released tracks by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Customers that pre-order the album on iTunes and Amazon will immediately receive the track "It's An Art." To pre-order the album, please click HERE.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Nashville's iconic professional theater, opens its 2018 season - its 52nd! - with an entertaining, if somewhat overly long, production of Disney's Freaky Friday, the new musical with a starry musical theater pedigree.

PITTSBURGH CLO is pleased to welcome a collection of writing teams from across the country to Pittsburgh for the inaugural SPARK festival in March. These teams were chosen from a highly-selective submissions process and will have the opportunity to rehearse and revise their work in residencies ranging from two days to three weeks. SPARK will provide dramaturgy and production resources to 10 new musicals at all stages of development, in addition to the world premiere of UP AND AWAY. As a part of the development period, eight of the musicals will receive public presentations through which the writing teams can gather audience insights and focus their intentions for the next phase of development. A major initiative of Pittsburgh CLO's recently completed Next Generation Capital Campaign, SPARK is designed to cultivate new and innovative work from emerging and established musical theater artists. 

Frank J. Avella's black comedy, IRIS will be presented on Friday, February 16th at 8PM at the Dramatists Guild as part of the Friday Night Footlights Reading Series. The event is free.

BroadwayWorld is sad to share the news today that legendary filmmaker Rick McKay has passed away earlier this week. A longtime friend of the web site, and constant presence in the theatre world, McKay has long been at work on two sequels to his 2004 hit film, Broadway: The Golden Age.

As Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma embarks upon its 56th season, audiences will have a chance revisit some of their favorite gospel hymns, follow the antics of Broadway's most recognizable matchmaker and dance in the aisles to a bevy of hits from music sensation ABBA.

Broadway musicals based on hit films, cult classics and the return of one of the most beloved comic strip characters of all time are highlights of the 2018-19 Season show lineup announced by the Carbonell Award-winning Slow Burn Theatre Company and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, launches an all-new series this year: Deborah Grace Winer presents The Classic American Songbook Series. Direct from her tenure as Artistic Director of92Y's renowned Lyrics & Lyricists series, Winer curates three jewel-box revues created especially for the venue's unique supper club setting. Each show celebrates American popular song as well as artists who created, interpreted and made themselves an integral part of the music. There is a $35-50 cover charge for each show, and a $25 food and beverage minimum. Premium seating is available for $75-$80. For reservations and information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins.

On Wednesday, January 17th Deborah Grace Winer will celebrate Marilyn Bergman, Dorothy Fields, Mary Rodgers, Jeanine Tesori, Carolyn Leigh and Betty Comden - musical pioneers-in-heels who crashed the boys' club, and wrote hit songs and shows like 'On the Sunny Side of the Street,' SWEET CHARITY, ON THE TOWN, 'Witchcraft,' ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, and so much more.

Last night, December 14, The ASCAP Foundation honored jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater with The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award, and acclaimed Broadway composers/lyricists/librettists David Hein and Irene Sankoff with the Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award. The accolades were presented at The 2017 ASCAP Foundation Honors at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. BroadwayWorld has photos from the event below!

The Women Who Compose for Broadway - A Musical Entertainment featuring the music of Nell Benjamin, Nancy Ford, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Brenda Russell, Lucy Simon, Kay Swift, Jeanine Tesori, and more, will perform for one special performance December 9, 2017, 4pm at the Triad Theatre.