Michael Orland News

On Tuesday, September 18, 2012, Pettiford will release her second solo album, "Velvet Sky", a collection of original lullabies. She brings a tenderness and wealth of emotion to the thirteen tracks on this new album, all of which were written especially for her by two legendary writing teams - Ron Abel (music)/Chuck Steffan (lyrics) and Michael Orland (music)/Jamie Wooten (lyrics). The songs range from playful numbers that are meant to inspire play between parents and their children, as well as softer tracks to lull babies (of all ages) to sleep.

Scott Alan's newest CD, which was recorded live in April at Birdland, has been released today, June 26 on a two-disc recording, which is simply titled 'Live.' The album can be purchased via iTunes, CDbaby, Amazon, Dress Circle and everywhere digital music is available.

Actor Valarie Pettiford, star of the hit sitcom Half & Half and last year's box office success Jumping the Broom, will star in the new film Battlefield America, which opens theatrically today, June 1, 2012, She will also take on a recurring guest starring role on HBO's Treme this fall. With the release of her second full-length album, a collection of original lullabies called "Velvet Sky" in September, Pettiford is turning the page and entering new chapter of her career.

On Monday, May 28, YouTube sensation, chanteuse and high-end vocal coach Miranda Sings made her tenth sold-out concert appearance as part of the Broadway at Birdland series. Seth Rudetsky acted as musical director/pianist, jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein got some brush-up suggestions from 'violimnist' Miranda, and Adam Pascal, currently starring on Broadway in Memphis, subjected himself to the diva's sensitive and pitch-perfect critiques. As always, the show was filled with improvisation, a few hit songs, magic tricks, and dramatic readings of the lady's own hate mail. The wacked-out superstar (in reality, California native Colleen Ballinger) continues to perform her one-woman show in sold-out nightclubs and theaters in New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Dublin, and Sydney.

Cover art has been released for Scott Alan's newest CD, which was recorded live in April at Birdland. The two-disc recording, which is simply titled 'Live,' will be released physically and digitally June 26 via iTunes, CDbaby, Amazon, Dress Circle and everywhere digital music is available.

The Broadway Theatre Project (BTP) based in Tampa, FL has announced that American Idol's Musical Director Michael Orland, together with Idol's Vocal Coach Peisha McPhee, will bring their acclaimed workshop 'Find Your Unique Voice' to BTP this summer.

Broadway Theatre Project (BTP), which has spent the past two decades helping thousands of young, aspiring actors, singers and dancers to realize their potential in the performing arts, gets a taste of another vehicle with a similar purpose, FOX's American Idol, when the television series' Associate Musical Director, Michael Orland, and Vocal Coach, Peisha McPhee, visit the Tampa-based summer musical theatre intensive this summer.

Jim Caruso's Cast Party is the extreme open mic that has been running at Birdland in New York City every single Monday night for the past nine years. Recently, host Caruso and musical director Billy Stritch have taken the Party on the road, celebrating musical talent in Chicago, Las Vegas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Austin, Delray Beach, and even on the high seas! Last week, the dynamic duo made a return to Los Angeles, where some highly entertaining locals sang and cavorted for a jam-packed house of friends and fans at The Coterie in the Renaissance Hotel.

Michael Orland, composer, is set to be the 2012 guest artist at Ben Vereen's Broadway Theatre Project this summer.

NBC's "Smash" actors Christian Borle, Brian d'Arcy James and Jaime Cepero; "Smash" executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; A Chorus Line's Baayork Lee, Bonnie and Clyde's Jeff Calhoun and Annie creators Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin were some of the celebrities who traveled to Atlanta to applaud the 3,000+ students and teachers representing 65 schools in 19 states staging musical theater productions in their communities at the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, January 13 - 15, 2012 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary, middle and high school students.

NBC's "Smash" actors Christian Borle, Brian d'Arcy James and Jaime Cepero; "Smash" executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; A Chorus Line's Baayork Lee, Bonnie and Clyde's Jeff Calhoun and Annie creators Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin were some of the celebrities who traveled to Atlanta to applaud the 3,000+ students and teachers representing 65 schools in 19 states staging musical theater productions in their communities at the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, January 13 - 15, 2012 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary, middle and high school students.

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

Lythgoe Family Productions and Magic Pictures International announce the second run of "A Cinderella Christmas," the second show in the 2011 holiday season of traditional British family Panto.

In the tradition of the British Panto, brought so successfully to the Los Angeles stage in 2010 via Cinderella, the Lythgoe family return this year with A Snow White Christmas. British Panto, short for Pantomime, is an interactive show with music for the entire family and based on a fairytale. The music incorporated is the latest craze, and the jokes used are always relevant to current cultural trends. The main goal is to bring the family unit together for entertainment.

Erich Bergen, best known from the cast of Jersey Boys and television's Gossip Girl, pre-rang in the season with A Holiday Party, a swinging, upbeat kick-off to the end of the year festivities, at The Coterie at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, on Monday, December 5 at 8pm.

Lythgoe Family Productions and Magic Pictures International announce the second run of "A Cinderella Christmas," the second show in the 2011 holiday season of traditional British family Panto.

In the tradition of the British Panto, brought so successfully to the Los Angeles stage in 2010 via Cinderella, the Lythgoe family return this year with A Snow White Christmas. British Panto, short for Pantomime, is an interactive show with music for the entire family and based on a fairytale. The music incorporated is the latest craze, and the jokes used are always relevant to current cultural trends. The main goal is to bring the family unit together for entertainment.

In December, The Coterie, Hollywood's newest supper club, will showcase the best and brightest talent from Broadway this holiday season.