Nora Ephron News

While this reviewer is always up for a tub of popcorn and a screening of 'Crossing Delancey' or 'Muriel's Wedding,' Suzy Conn's spirited CHICK FLICK, THE MUSICAL is more accurately aimed at connoisseurs of the genre; those whose everyday conversation is packed with quotes from Nora Ephron screenplays and who are experts at determining which chardonnays go with Barbra and which with Meryl.

On Tuesday, April 9, cartoonist Cathy Guisewite will visit The Music Hall as part of its Innovation + Leadership series to share FIFTY THINGS THAT AREN'T MY FAULT: Essays from the Grown-up Years, her humorous and poignant observations of caring for both growing children and aging parents. The book features nearly one hundred of her spot illustrations.

The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, today unveiled its feature film lineup. Continuing its tradition of elevating exceptional storytelling rooted in today's global film communities, the 18th annual Festival will showcase debut works from emerging talent and new works from notable filmmakers. The program includes discoveries, comedies, music-centered, political and social films. The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 24 - May 5.  

One of the many perks of opening the new Brighton Coffeehouse and Theater (BCAT) is having the variety, versatility and creativity to showcase local talent, serve gourmet, fresh entrees and baked goods, tantalizing coffee and tea drinks and perform professional theater. BCAT opens its first professional production this weekend March 1-3 with Nora and Delia Ephron's Love, Loss & What I Wore in Brighton, Michigan. BroadwayWorld Detroit interviewed Brighton Coffeehouse and Theater Owner, Amy Goller, and Lynn Wilde Concannon, Founder and Artistic Director of A Wilde Theatre whose home stage is at Brighton Coffeehouse about everything brewing at Brighton Coffeehouse. Here's what they had to say:

The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts presents the Los Angeles premiere of Renee Taylor's MY LIFE ON A DIET, the award-winning, autobiographical comedy written by Taylor and Joseph Bologna, which opens its 12 performance, limited engagement on Friday, April 5 and continues through Sunday, April 14, 2019, in The Wallis's Bram Goldsmith Theater.

Stephen Wallem (Nurse Jackie) and Maddie Corman (Next Fall, upcoming Accidentally Brave) will be starring in a staged reading of Re-Wire on January 24, 2019, at 3 pm and 7 pm at The Davenport Theatre located at 354 West 45th Street in the theater district. The production is directed by Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss & What I Wore.) Limited tickets are available at bit.ly/re-wire_jan24.

Love Loss and What I Wore by Nora Ephron and Deliah Ephron is returning to Good Theater for 12 performances starting January 19 and continuing through February 9.  This production was a huge hit last winter for Good Theater, the professional company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland.  Love Loss and What I Wore runs in and around Good Theater's main stage production of An Act of God by David Javerbaum.

New shows on sale at bergenPAC: Hip Hop Legends of NYC on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 8 p.m.; The Illusionists Live From Broadway on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 8 p.m.; The Righteous Brothers Live! With Bill Medley and Bucky Heard on Thursday, July 11, 2019 at 8 p.m.; Steven Wright on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 5, 2018 at 11 AM at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling bergenPAC's Box Office at (201) 227-1030.

The Saint Sebastian Players (SSP) continue their 38th season with the world premiere of Little Stones by company member Leigh Johnson. Performances are February 15-March 10, 2019 at SSP's home in the lower level of St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, Chicago. Starting this season, SSP Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinees remain at 2 p.m.

The New York Pops announces the appointment of Broadway star Capathia Jenkins to its Board of Directors. Capathia has previously appeared as a soloist with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall on multiple occasions, including during the orchestra's R&B celebration in February 2018.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will kick off the 10th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday, April 11th with a 30th anniversary screening of the seminal romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... with beloved stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan and acclaimed director/producer Rob Reiner in attendance. The 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival, held in the heart of Hollywood April 11th-14th, marks the 10th annual celebration of classic films on the big screen from TCM. The TCM network will also celebrate its 25th anniversary on closing night of the festival.

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: George Salazar & Joe Iconis, Santino Fontana, Pronoun Showdown, Liz Callaway, and Jason Kravits.

The Saint Sebastian Players (SSP) and Subtext Theater Company (STC) are collaborating on a performance of "questionable taste": a staged reading of Leigh Johnson's Legalize Lutefisk Live!, performed as a live radio broadcast, takes place Saturday, December 1 and Sunday, December 2 at SSP's theater space at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey (enter on Marshfield), Chicago.

The 1936 Hungarian play PARFUMERIE by Miklos Laszlo has the humble distinction of living in the shadow of the more famous movies (and Broadway musical) that it inspired. In fact, Hollywood has cashed in on the play not once but three times - the first adaptation was the 1940 Ernst Lubitsch romantic comedy 'The Shop Around the Corner,' starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, which was followed by the 1949 screen musical version 'In the Good Old Summertime,' starring Judy Garland, and much later by the 1998 Nora Ephron movie 'You've Got Mail,' with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. And of course, the Broadway musical 'She Loves Me' - adapted from the play by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joe Masteroff - opened in New York in 1963 and is now one of the most beloved (and revived) musicals during the Christmas season each year. All I can say is for those who enjoy this story of mistaken identity between pen-pal lovers should see one of those versions

Twenty-five years ago, moviegoers fell in love with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as two strangers searching for a soulmate in 'Sleepless in Seattle.' As the romantic-comedy by director Nora Ephron marks its silver anniversary, Fathom Events and Sony Pictures Entertainment are bringing the enchanting film back to cinemas nationwide for two days only.

LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron explores the complex relationships women have with their shoes, purses, bras, weight, Madonna, their sisters, and their mothers. Based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, the play opened off-Broadway at the Westside Theater in 2009 after a limited run of staged readings to benefit Dress for Success. It closed The Judson Theatre Company's seventh season last week. The parade of well-known actresses who've performed in LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE reads like a who's who and includes Jane Lynch, Carol Kane, Brooke Shields, Rosie O'Donnell, Tyne Daly, Samantha Bee, Parker Posey, and Kristin Wiig. The Judson Theatre's cast too featured some well-known names, including two-time Emmy Award-winner Sally Struthers, who previously starred in the show at The Geffen Playhouse, Kim Coles, who is best known for her role on 'Living Single,' and stage veteran Joyce Reehling. Rounding out the cast were newcomers Ashley Brooke and Olivia Rose Barresi.

Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers and Broadway & TV favorite Joyce Reehling headline Love, Loss, and What I Wore at Judson Theatre Company (Morgan Sills, Executive Producer and Daniel Haley, Artistic Director). Struthers is best known for her roles on All in the Family and  Gilmore Girls. Reehling is a beloved veteran of stage and television (Fifth of July, Law & Order). Love, Loss, and What I Wore opens Today, October 18 at 7:00 pm and runs through Sunday, October 21 at the Hannah Center Theatre (on the campus of The O'Neal School, 3300 Airport Road, Southern Pines, NC 28387).  Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Tribeca and CHANEL continue to provide extraordinary opportunities to propel women filmmakers forward with the fourth annual THROUGH HER LENS: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program. The mentorship program was created to provide a balance of industry support, artistic development, and funding for new and emerging U.S.-based female writers and directors of short-form narrative films.

Ember Women's Theatre's production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron ( based on the book by Ilene Beckerman ) will take place Fridays and Saturdays, November 2nd - 17th 2018, at MadLab Theatre, 227 N. 3rd St, in Columbus. Admission is $20 for all patrons. Tickets are available online at www.madlab.net.

SHE LOVES ME, the 1963 Broadway musical with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, was based on Miklos Laszlo's 1937 play, Parfumerie, a warm, gentle comedy that follows the tangled dating life of perfume shop employee Georg Horvath whose dating life goes awry when he discovers that the stranger he has fallen in love with through a secret correspondence is none other than Amalia Balash, a co-worker with whom he constantly bickers. This universal tale about mistaken identity and romantic love went on to become the inspiration for the classic films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime, and Nora Ephron's 1998 box office hit You've Got Mail in which Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan took their secret romance online through emails.