Mary Testa News

In this episode, Ben and Daniel talk about the 1999 Lifetime TV movie 'Jackie's Back,' starring legendary actress Jenifer Lewis. They also discuss Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Tim Curry, Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Penny Marshall, Joan Rivers, Kathy Najimy, Marc Shaiman, Julie Hagerty, 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Hello Dolly' David Hyde Pearce, Loretta Divine, and Kathy Griffin.

VIRTUAL HALSTON, the comedy and current affairs cocktail hour hosted by comic actress Julie Halston streamed live weekly on Fridays at 5 p.m. on YouTube, will continue in July with a new roster of stars from film, TV, theater and broadcast.

Create Theater's Monday night series presents a reading of BAD DAUGHTER, an award-winning new comedy by Julie Weinberg, directed by Shelley Butler. The reading will be hosted over the Zoom platform on Monday June 29th at 7PM.

In this very special QuaranStreams, Ben and Daniel talk to Grammy-winning composer, musical director, and performer Billy Stritch about Liza Minnelli's 1992 concert at Radio City Music Hall, for which he arranged the music. Billy tells stories from his years of working with Liza, from their first meeting in 1991 to their decades of collaboration on projects such as 'Minnelli on Minnelli: Live at the Palace,' and 'Liza's at the Palace.' Billy has worked with many other showbiz legends such as Christine Ebersole, Marilyn Maye, and Linda Lavin. Tune in to 'Billy's Place' every Thursday at 8 PM on Facebook Live to hear Billy sing songs and tell stories from his apartment in New York City.

Red Bull Theater today announced the next event of its special FREE programming to provide an opportunity for its community of artists and theater lovers to gather in the virtual space during this unprecedented time of COVID-19: Jeffrey Hatcher's The Government Inspector.

Red Bull Theater is presenting a livestreamed reading of The Government Inspector, starring Michael Urie, as part of its RBT Live series.

Today's top stories: stars are speaking out against racism on Broadway, future Hairspray productions will need to be cast as written, and more.

In this very special QuaranStreams, Ben and Daniel talk to Grammy-winning composer, musical director, and performer Billy Stritch about Liza Minnelli's 1992 concert at Radio City Music Hall, for which he arranged the music. Billy tells stories from his years of working with Liza, from their first meeting in 1991 to their decades of collaboration on projects such as 'Minnelli on Minnelli: Live at the Palace,' and 'Liza's at the Palace.' Billy has worked with many other showbiz legends such as Christine Ebersole, Marilyn Maye, and Linda Lavin. Tune in to 'Billy's Place' every Thursday at 8 PM on Facebook Live to hear Billy sing songs and tell stories from his apartment in New York City.

In this episode, Ben and Daniel discuss the 1982 broadcast of the Tony-winning musical 'Ain't Misbehavin',' starring Nell Carter, André DeShields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, and Charlayne Woodard. 'Ain't Misbehavin'' is a tribute to the black musicians of the 1920s and 30s, and uses the music of Fats Waller to celebrate the creativity of the Harlem Renaissance and the Golden Age of hotspots like the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. The musical was directed by Richard Maltby Jr., with choreography and musical staging by Arthur Faria.

Feinstein's/54 Below has announced that 10 new shows have been added to #54BelowatHome, a series of streamed performances to provide theater fans everywhere with artistic content from their favorite artists.

In this episode, Ben and Daniel discuss the 1982 broadcast of the Tony-winning musical 'Ain't Misbehavin',' starring Nell Carter, André DeShields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, and Charlayne Woodard. 'Ain't Misbehavin'' is a tribute to the black musicians of the 1920s and 30s, and uses the music of Fats Waller to celebrate the creativity of the Harlem Renaissance and the Golden Age of hotspots like the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. The musical was directed by Richard Maltby Jr., with choreography and musical staging by Arthur Faria.

In this very special QuaranStreams, Ben and Daniel talk to Broadway producer and director Richard Jay-Alexander about 'Hey, Mr. Producer!' the 1998 concert honoring Cameron Mackintosh. The concert featured performances by Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Elaine Paige, Colm Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Jonathan Pryce, Ruthie Henshall, Ellen Greene, Michael Ball, Tom Lehrer and many more, including Julie Andrews as host. Richard Jay-Alexander served as Executive Director for the NYC office of producer Cameron Mackintosh and ran the North American operation for over a decade. Richard's recent directorial credits include 'Les Misérables' and 'Guys and Dolls,' both at the Hollywood Bowl. He has also staged concerts for superstars such as Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Kristin Chenoweth.

On May 11, Off-Broadway theater company The Civilians will host A Shining Light, a live streamed benefit concert supporting the company and its artist community. In order to make A Shining Light as accessible as possible, there is no minimum ticket price.

In this episode, Ben and Daniel discuss the 1992 concert, Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall. This legendary night featured performances by Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Glenn Close, Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Dorothy Loudon, Billy Stritch, Jerry Hadley, Eugene Perry, Herbert Perry, Harolyn Blackwell, Daisy Eagan, Patrick Cassidy, Victor Garber, Bill Irwin, and Karen Ziemba. It was directed by Scott Ellis, with music direction by Paul Gemigniani.

In this episode, Ben and Daniel talk about 'Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration.' The online broadcast featured Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Sutton Foster, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O'Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Iain Armitage, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Stephen Schwartz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh, Thom Sesma, and Raul Esparza. Drama Desk Award winner Mary-Mitchell Campbell was the evening's music director, with Paul Wontorek serving as director.

On May 11, Off-Broadway theater company The Civilians will host A Shining Light, an online benefit concert supporting the company and its artist community. The Civilians most recent production, Whisper House, was forced by the pandemic to shut down on the day of its first preview.

When you're stuck with a day that's gray and lonely, just stick up your chin, grin, and sing 'Tomorrow'! Watch below as stars of stage, screen and more unite to sing the beloved anthem in celebration of our incredible health care providers.

The Nominating Committee of the Off Broadway Alliance has announced important dates for the 10th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards.

In this very special QuaranStreams, Ben and Daniel talk to Tony-winning star Betty Buckley about 'Bravo Profiles: Betty Buckley, In Performance and in Person.' Betty also tells stories from her career and talks about her time spent with fellow theater legends. Betty is known for her work on Broadway in shows such as '1776,' 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Triumph of Love,' 'Carrie,' 'Song and Dance,' 'Pippin,' 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood,' and 'Cats,' for which she won a Tony award for her portrayal of Grizabella. Betty is also a television and movie star, and has appeared in films such as Brian dePalma's 'Carrie' and M. Night Shyamalan's recent thriller, 'Split.' She's also appeared on TV in 'Supergirl,' 'Oz,' 'Preacher,' and as Abby Bradford in four seasons of 'Eight is Enough.'

In this episode, Ben and Daniel discuss the 1982 concert 'Showstoppers: The Best of Broadway.' The evening is hosted by Tom Bosley and features Broadway favorites such as Ethel Merman, Barry Bostwick, Susan Browning, Len Cariou, Nell Carter, Diahann Carroll, Carole Demas, David Haskell, Glynis Johns, Donna McKechnie, Robert Morse, Pamela Myers, Stephen Nathan, Jerry Orbach, Anthony Perkins, Debbie Reynolds, Alexis Smith, and Ray Walston.