Despite being a lesser-known composer to the average joe than, say, Bacharach or Mancini, Cy Coleman irrefutably built a solid, prolific career in popular music, which later led to an even more successful string of hits on the Broadway stage. In what is essentially a biographical history lesson set to his music, BROADWAY UP CLOSE & PERSONAL: A TRIBUTE TO CY COLEMAN--now performing through December 12 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Samueli Theater--combines an entertaining cabaret showcase with a truly engrossing symposium teaching Coleman 101. The show is hosted by Michael Kerker and Tony Winner David Zippel and features Broadway stars Jenifer Lewis, Jason Graae, and Tami Tappan Damiano.
Deadline.com reports today that Mandy Patinkin will team up with Claire Danes for a new Showtime drama series, Homeland. According to the report: 'Homeland centers on American POW Scott Brody, who returns home 10 years after going missing in Iraq, and Carrie Anderson (Danes), a driven CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America. Patinkin will play the smart and politically savvy CIA Division Chief emeritus Saul Berenson who is Carrie's main champion in the intelligence upper echelon and her sounding board.'
The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson), Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Yale Repertory Theatre announced complete casting today for the world premiere production of Rinne Groff's COMPULSION, directed by Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis.
Two stars of the stage - Kelli O'Hara and Nathan Gunn -will join the New York Philharmonic for an evening of songs and duets from the Golden Age of Broadway, conducted by Tony Award winner Ted Sperling, Monday, March 21, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. Ms. O'Hara, fresh off her highly successful run as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific at Lincoln Center Theater, returns to the New York Philharmonic following two previous appearances, including her acclaimed starring role as Eliza Doolittle in the Orchestra's 2007 production of My Fair Lady. Baritone Nathan Gunn returns after winning hearts as the swashbuckling Sir Lancelot in the Philharmonic's 2008 Camelot production and his featured role in last season's SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert! The two stage luminaries will perform selections from classic Broadway musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, and Stephen Sondheim, ranging from Carousel to Follies.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild's season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary reaches a high point on December 7 when stars and fans of opera, as well as an array of New York's society, business and civic leaders, assemble in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria for the Guild's annual luncheon.
The December issue of Opera News celebrates two current Metropolitan Opera productions: the centennial revival of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, starring "cover girl" Deborah Voigt, and Nicholas Hytner's staging of Don Carlo, Verdi's most ambitious opera.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild's season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary reaches a high point on December 7 when stars and fans of opera, as well as an array of New York's society, business and civic leaders, assemble in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria for the Guild's annual luncheon.
The Abbey Theatre's 2011 programme for the Abbey and Peacock stages announces rousing new work alongside Irish masterpieces. Productions by some of the giants of Irish theatre including Brian Friel and George Bernard Shaw will be showcased together with new voices in Irish theatre like Nancy Harris and Stacey Gregg. The Abbey Theatre continues its ambition to engage and collaborate with the finest theatre artists in Ireland as well as internationally.
In a year chock full of star-studded 80th birthday tributes to legendary Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, the March 15-16 gala evenings with the New York Philharmonic at New York's Lincoln Center stood tall.
Today we are taking a look at one of the most exciting DVD/Blu-Ray releases of the year - perhaps ever, at least as far as Broadway connoisseurs are concerned. Taped back in mid-March of this year, a week before the actual central celebratory event itself occurred, comes SONDHEIM! The Birthday Concert, which will also be shown next Wednesday on PBS as part of this season's sensational series of GREAT PERFORMANCES at 9 PM on WNET in New York and across the country. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event that has been ever-so-lovingly rendered on disc in high definition preserving a heavenly host of the very best Broadway talent one could ever possibly ask to be assembled. SONDHEIM! has it all.
The December issue of Opera News celebrates two current Metropolitan Opera productions: the centennial revival of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, starring "cover girl" Deborah Voigt, and Nicholas Hytner's staging of Don Carlo, Verdi's most ambitious opera.
Image Entertainment is proud to share a celebration of the life and wondrous work of one of Broadway's greatest legends - the incomparable Stephen Sondheim. For the master composer and lyricist's 80th birthday, scores of the musical theater's brightest stars gathered to perform more than two dozen sensational numbers from
Sondheim's unsurpassed canon. Many of these enduring songs are rarely heard and several are performed by the original Broadway cast members. David Hyde Pierce hosts this magical event with Sondheim's longtime
collaborator Paul Gemignani conducting the New York Philharmonic. Directed for the stage and television by Lonny Price and filmed live March 15-16, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, this is a must-have addition for every musical theatre aficionado. SONDHEIM! The Birthday Concert is available today, November 16, at an SRP of $24.98 for the DVD and $29.98 for the Blu-ray; the concert is also be available via digital download. Click below for some preview clips!
As BroadwayWorld has reported, The New York Philharmonic's SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert, which took place on March 15-16, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall, will be broadcast on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances on PBS on Wednesday, November 24 (check local listings). WNET, Channel 13 in New York City, will air the concert at 9:30 p.m. that evening. Today, it has been revealed that the Image Entertainment will release the program DVD and Blu-Ray on November 16, 2010.
The concert includes songs and orchestral pieces from Sondheim musical theater favorites such as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George. Today, it has been announced that in addition to the PBS telecast, the concert will be released on DVD in November by Image Entertainment.
William Shimell will sing the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte for all performances this season, replacing Wolfgang Holzmair who is suffering from a sinus infection. Mr. Shimell previously sang the role during the 1996-1997 season.
There was quite an electric, palpable excitement crackling in the huge 3,000-plus-seat Segerstrom Hall on this particular Sunday afternoon. The largest venue within the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, this stage is used to Broadway-caliber talent wowing its audience, since it usually plays host to a revolving door of touring companies performing popular stage musicals. It only seems fitting, then, that one of contemporary musical theater's biggest stars, IDINA MENZEL, would be welcomed wholeheartedly here. And, boy, was she ever.
William Shimell will sing the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte for all performances this season, replacing Wolfgang Holzmair who is suffering from a sinus infection.
Renowned baroque specialist William Christie will make his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting a revival of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, which will begin performances November 9.
Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel - the Tony Award-winning Elphaba from international blockbuster Wicked - performs together with a full symphony orchestra for one night only November 7 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center November in Segerstrom Hall. With a diverse repertoire of classic pop, musical theater favorites (including hits from Wicked and Rent) as well as songs from her album I Stand, Menzel demonstrates why she is one of the great vocal performers of our time.
William Shimell will sing the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte for all performances this season, replacing Wolfgang Holzmair who is suffering from a sinus infection.