Norbert Leo Butz News

Tony Award-Winner Dick Latessa, Honorary Board Chair, brings together Broadway stars to help raise funds for Creative Alternatives of New York (CANY) which uses drama therapy to help New York's most vulnerable children and adults. This year's 2012 Annual Gala, which highlights the CANY mission with the theme of "Creativity+ Community+ Change = Rebuilding Lives," is to be held at the Edison Hotel Ballroom (240 West 47th Street) on April 30, 2012. The 2012 Honorees are Broadway veteran, film and TV star Anita Gillette and CANY Chair Emerita, Ellen Kealy.

Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz guest starred on the April 2 episode of NBC's SMASH. Watch his performance in the video below!

"What we did together exploded my whole life like a bombshell," a rain-soaked Julia related to former paramour with whom she recently rekindled a romance, Michael (Broadway notable Will Chase; the former Joe DiMaggio of the Marilyn Monroe musical at the core), qualified by saying, "but I'm not letting anyone say it was not my fault." And so goes the trajectory of SMASH so far - trepidatious and unsure as often as rhapsodically exhilarating and exuberantly entertaining, at almost equal turns; falling short more often than not in many of the melodramatic subplots, excelling with the effortless ease of a surefire hit in the musical sequences and rehearsal scenes of the gestating musical central to the series as a whole. Recently revealed in this very column late last month by SMASH stars Megan Hilty and Anjelica Huston, the confirmed title of the show-within-the-show on SMASH is BOMBSHELL, which is all too an apt a title for a musical arising amidst the war-torn landscape of Broadway in the soapy bathtub stew with everything but the kitchen sink itself that is the universe of SMASH, for better and worse - particularly insofar this group of drama queens and kings is concerned. Such is the nature of SMASH itself - in embracing its flaws it may find its ultimate salvation. Amp up the camp and dial down the drama; pump up the music and pull the shade on secondary subplots; and, please, evict Ellis. Sometimes it takes a few shots to hit the target and every at bat cannot be a home run, but Episode 9 gave us some pleasing development to plotlines that could have fallen by the wayside on a lesser series.

On the April 2 episode of SMASH, Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy (Megan Hilty) find themselves in competition again - this time for an orange juice commercial, but the two actresses let loose after a long, hard, work day in the middle of Times Square with their rendition of Rihanna's 'Cheers (Drink to That)'.

MCC THEATER presented the company's highly anticipated annual gala, Miscast, last night, March 26 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The starry line up of participants included Jonathan Groff ("Glee," Spring Awakening), Megan Hilty ("Smash," 9 to 5), Tony® Award-winner Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon), Josh Gad ("Modern Family," The Book of Mormon), Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Jan Maxwell (Follies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon), Constantine Maroulis ("American Idol," Rock of Ages), Nicole Parker ("Mad TV," a Miscast favorite returning for her 4th time).

MCC Theater presented the company's highly anticipated annual gala, Miscast last night, March 26, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The starry line up of participants included Jonathan Groff ("Glee," Spring Awakening), Megan Hilty ("Smash," 9 to 5), Tony® Award-winner Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon), Josh Gad ("Modern Family," The Book of Mormon), Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Jan Maxwell (Follies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon), Constantine Maroulis ("American Idol," Rock of Ages), Nicole Parker ("Mad TV," a Miscast favorite returning for her 4th time). Check out photo coverage of the arrivals below!

Sporadically shedding its former skin as a mainly musical endeavor, last night's "The Coup" episode of NBC's musical dramedy series SMASH stepped outside the box and presented a drama-focused show heavy on the plot and light on the musical numbers - with surprisingly strong results, believe it or not. As has become abundantly apparent, in the seven episodes up until this point, SMASH seems to have excelled in its musical sequences which floated high, flying, adored (like Eva Peron in EVITA) above everything else; enlivening the proceedings where the story fell short - usually, with Ivy (Megan Hilty) dominating the Marilyn Monroe show-within-the-show songs and Karen (Katharine McPhee) making the very most of an impressive melange of pop covers - but, as penned by Scott Burkhardt and directed by GLEE veteran Paris Barclay, "The Coup" showed that SMASH has legs and can sustain a character/plot-focused story from time to time, too. And, anyway, it's hard to complain too much about a lack of songs when we were presented with perhaps the most unique and stylized pop musical number to date in the form of the Top 40-ready Ryan Tedder-written potential Marilyn burlesque routine - that is, if Derek (Jack Davenport) takes the show-within-the-show in an entirely new direction and leaves Tom (Christian Borle) and Julia (Debra Messing) by the wayside. That potential prospect seems highly unlikely, though - to say the very, very least. Speaking of high, "The Coup" flew the coop as far as daring to do what many may have thought unlikely or impossible - namely, weaving in almost seamless, fully-integrated musical sequences such as Ivy & company's down and dirty bowling alley cover song set to the funky 60s sounds of Sly & The Family Stone's "Dance To The Music", or, (almost) effortlessly managing to make a contemporary song in a musical theatre milieu actually function (more or less) and come alive in the form of the sexy and titillating 'Touch Me'. Yes, "The Coup" stylistically diverged from what has come before on SMASH, but the more risks taken, the more rewards reaped. Definitely don't count all the eggs in the SMASH basket before they're hatched!

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey and William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) will tonight present the company's highly anticipated annual gala. Complimenting the glittering, previously announced Miscast will be Josh Gad ("Modern Family," The Book of Mormon), Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Jan Maxwell (Follies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon), Constantine Maroulis ("American Idol," Rock of Ages), and Nicole Parker ("Mad TV," a Miscast favorite returning for her 4th time). The event will be held Monday, March 26, 2012 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street).

Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's extensive coverage of NBC's hit musical drama series SMASH with a new entry in our ever-expanding collection of interviews with the cast, creative team and guest stars of the Broadway-based show - don't forget to check out the previous InDepth InterView with songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well (available here) - by talking to the leading lady of the show-within-the-show on SMASH itself all about her role on the series; the blonde bombshell of BOMBSHELL, Megan Hilty. In this candid conversation, Hilty and I discuss portraying a musical Marilyn Monroe and the volatile Broadway star playing her, Ivy Lynn, as well as her own personal experiences working on SMASH as we look ahead to the upcoming episodes which will feature the biggest musical sequence on the series so far and will also include guest appearances by Norbert Leo Butz, Marc Kudisch, Uma Thurman and more as BOMBSHELL heads towards its long-awaited big Boston tryout for the season finale. Additionally, Hilty and I take a look back at her prior musical theatre appearances, winning hearts the country over in her starring roles in WICKED and 9-TO-5 on Broadway, in LA and on tour - both under the direction of master director Joe Mantello - and, also, take a look ahead to the forthcoming Encores! GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, which she will be headlining later this Spring. Plus, Hilty shares her experiences working with this week's SMASH guest star and Tony-winning legend Bernadette Peters and reflects on her forthcoming Disney animated film in the TINKER BELL series that features another dynamic diva, her SMASH co-star and fellow participant in this column, Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston (our interview coming up next week) - as well as touching on DOROTHY OF OZ (co-starring Lea Michele), her new animated TV project for Nickelodeon - ROBOTS & MONSTERS - and first news of a solo album coming soon. All of that and much, much more!

When a big Broadway star like Bernadette Peters makes her way onto a national TV program, Broadway babies await it with abated breath. Yet, when a big Broadway star like Bernadette Peters appears on an actual musical TV series like SMASH, Broadway babies have reason to throw an all-out bacchanal - and, last night, they most certainly had a reason cause celebre. While GLEE has spoiled us with a plethora of guest stars from Broadway and Hollywood over the course of its three seasons - Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Carol Burnett and Patti LuPone among them - the presence of two-time Tony Award-winner Peters - to say nothing of the forthcoming appearances by Norbert Leo Butz and Marc Kudisch - is a gift from the theatrical gods that instantly makes SMASH must-see-TV for the theatrically attuned among us (which, let's be honest, is most of us). Playing Ivy Lynn's blithely selfish and calculating former star of a mother, Leigh, Peters wrought every last ounce of bravado out of her bravura performance recreation of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY - a show she famously starred in under the direction of Sam Mendes earlier this century - and made her thorny scenes with Megan Hilty blossom; her overall star turn giving the entire affair a cold, brusque but all-too-believable bloom - ice in veins all too tangibly real to feel. The tension was certainly thick for the first workshop performance of the show-within-the-show on SMASH, as well, but Hilty still managed to set fire to her scenes and songs - and McPhee shows considerable promise with her burgeoning pop music career (and next week's Ryan Tedder-composed "Touch Me" sequence seems certain to deliver on the sultry, sexy siren of song front as McPhee comes closer to getting the role of Marilyn). And, speaking of songs knocked out of the park for the umpteenth time by this all-star musical team responsible for SMASH, besides the slowed down grand slam ballad version of "Let Me Be Your Star" - given a bluesy Broadway belt only the very best, like Hilty, could possibly provide - we were also treated to a striking and wholly stylistically unique new Marilyn Monroe/Joe DiMaggio song in the form of the arresting "On Lexington & 52nd Street", another homerun to tick off on the perfect scorecard for songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman on SMASH so far; Will Chase's best (and, apparently, last) showcase. Film noir with a pulsating, almost atonal, steely and terse tinge, this is the sort of character number that seamlessly presents plot development and character exposition simultaneously in a purely, thrillingly theatrical manner and the type of dramatic and musical merging of storytelling SMASH excels at most of all, time after time after time after time. While "Everything's Coming Up Roses" was a strong cover of a classic Broadway barn-burner on account of Peters, "On Lexington & 52nd Street" expertly showcased the type of entertainment entity SMASH can ultimately be at its very best, firing on all axels - and how utterly enthralling in its layers of meta-narratives the real-life/showbiz soap saga that make it all come together it can fascinatingly be. Additionally, the workshop musical montage was the best example yet of how excitingly combustible and hot SMASH can really be when the boiler at its core is at full blast as it was sporadically last night in the appropriately titled "The Workshop" episode - almost always fueled by the simply spectacular songs for the show-within-the-show.

Since NBC's musical drama series SMASH is kicking into high gear as the Marilyn Monroe musical that forms the core of the show's story approaches its first workshop presentation on Monday night's episode - with the highly awaited appearance of Broadway legend Bernadette Peters coming next week, as well; playing the mother of the Marilyn musical star, Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) - now is the ideal opportunity to, well, "Fade in on a girl / With a hunger for fame / And a face and a name to remember," to quote Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's crown jewel in a diadem of a songstack for the show-within-the-show, BOMBSHELL. The show-within-the-show is better that most scores on Broadway these days and that is a credit to the Tony-winning tunesmiths and their ability to make musical theatre that is polished and professional, yet totally fun, bawdy and accessible, as well. Look no further than this week's "History Is Made At Night" or last week's "Let's Be Bad" - to say nothing of the pilot's twofer of titanic theatrical prowess in the form of "The National Pastime" and the afore-quoted "Let Me Be Your Star". Plus, we have to remember, SMASH has not one Marilyn, but two, so the future possibilities of who will be singing these songs and how they will be presented is totally unknown. As we shall see in the clips below, "Let Me Be Your Star" will now have its third iteration on the show, acting as the opening number in the workshop presentation as Ivy Lynn belts it to the rafters, ballad-style - not unlike the Karen/Ivy stage sequence presented in Episode 2 as a dream. Using just the example of "Star", we can see how rich and rewarding it is to further explore the depths of drama and heights of wit amply apparent in the sometimes caustic, sometimes campy and always enjoyably, embraceable unique work of Shaiman & Wittman on their songs for SMASH. The story setting them up, drama surrounding and contained within them - with the meta-narrative of the behind-the-scenes going on we are privy to acting as another layer - makes the production numbers the most brightly glittering stars of the SMASH universe. Katharine McPhee's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", "Call Me" and "Rumor Has It", as well as Hilty's "Crazy Dreams", were all viable and entertaining covers in their own right, yet the original songs are what make SMASH really sing - and zing, sting and ring-a-ding-ding.

Yesterday, I had the exceptional privilege of talking to Oscar-winning stage and screen star Anjelica Huston and Broadway sensation Megan Hilty all about the new NBC musical series SMASH and their roles in it, and, while both their complete Spotlight On SMASH InDepth InterViews will be coming in full next week, we have some breaking news to share with you now that is certain to excite the many SMASH fans here on BroadwayWorld and beyond!

MCC THEATER has announced fabulous additions to their all-star line-up for the company's highly anticipated annual gala. Complimenting the glittering, previously announced Miscast will be Josh Gad ("Modern Family," The Book of Mormon), Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Jan Maxwell (Follies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon) and Nicole Parker ("Mad TV," a Miscast favorite returning for her 4th time). The event will be held Monday, March 26, 2012 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street).

Atlantic Theater Company will present their annual Spring Gala Bring It On Home on Monday, March 5, 2012 at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers - a fantastic evening of soul music celebrating the upcoming re-opening of the company's beautifully renovated Linda Gross main stage theater.

As first reported on Deadline.com, two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz has joined the cast of Jason Katims' NBC drama pilot COUNTRY, starring Jason Ritter.

Atlantic Theater Company will present their annual Spring Gala Bring It On Home on Monday, March 5, 2012 at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers - a fantastic evening of soul music celebrating the upcoming re-opening of the company's beautifully renovated Linda Gross main stage theater.

Today in 2005, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels openend at the Imperial Theatre, where it ran for 627 performances.Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the 1988 film of the same name. The director was Jack O'Brien, choreographer was Jerry Mitchell, scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg carves, and lighting design was by Kenneth Posner. The cast included John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, and Sherie Rene Scott, with Joanna Gleason and Gregory Jbara.

Tony Award-winning actress Alice Ripley was the special surprise guest at the Broadway Artists Alliance 2011 Winter Workshop. Ripley had a Q&A with the students of Broadway Artists Alliance. She surprised the students with a performance of her new single 'Beautiful Eyes,' and a song from Next to Normal.

Due to a last-minute scheduling-conflict with lead actor Norbert Leo Butz, Second Stage Theatre's one-week extension of their critically-acclaimed production of How I Learned to Drive has been canceled. The limited engagement will now conclude on Sunday, March 11 as originally scheduled. Written by Paula Vogel and directed by Kate Whoriskey, the production features Mr. Butz and Elizabeth Reaser and is playing at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). For tickets or more information, please visit www.2ST.com.

Second Stage Theatre's production of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, How I Learned to Drive, directed by Kate Whoriskey, has extended one week though March 18th at Second Stage Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). For tickets or more information, please visit www.2ST.com.