Patti LaBelle News

During the first live show on Saturday 10th January, it was announced that world-renowned lyricist Diane Warren would be joining the Eurovision: Your Country Needs You team, providing the lyrics to the song that will be written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Come hear those sleigh bells ring! Peter Nero and the Philly Pops present 10 performances of Holiday POPS - a beloved family tradition. The von Trapp Children will captivate audiences, along with organist Peter Conte, the POPS Festival Chorus, and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir.

BASIC TRAINING, a new comedy created by and starring Kahlil Ashanti and produced by Josephson Entertainment, Erich Jungwirth/VoiceChair Productions and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd will play its final Off Broadway performance Dec. 1st.

Come hear those sleigh bells ring! Peter Nero and the Philly Pops present 10 performances of Holiday POPS - a beloved family tradition. The von Trapp Children will captivate audiences, along with organist Peter Conte, the POPS Festival Chorus, and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir.

Last chance to catch BASIC TRAINING: A new comedy created and starring Kahlil Ashanti at the Barrow Street Theater - 27 Barrow Street at 7th Ave Final Performance December 1 You can't choose your family... but you can change it!

Josephson Entertainment, Erich Jungwirth/VoiceChair Productions and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd announced today the Off-Broadway premiere of BASIC TRAINING (www.BasicTrainingNYC.com), a new comedy created by and starring Kahlil Ashanti. BASIC TRAINING is a hilarious story based on one soldier's outrageous experience in the U.S. Air Force and will play the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow St. at 7th Avenue, 1 block south of Christopher Street) beginning Friday, Sept. 26th with an official opening on Monday, Oct. 13th.

Syracuse Stage announces today that Anwar Robinson-Top Ten Finalist in the fourth season of American Idol, Recording Artist, Broadway and Film Actor-is confirmed to play the role of Jesus in the upcoming holiday production of Godspell, directed by Stage's Associate Artistic Director Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. Featuring popular hit songs and multi-media projections, Godspell is a collaboration between Syracuse Stage and the Department of Drama in The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University.

Josephson Entertainment, Erich Jungwirth/VoiceChair Productions and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd announced today the Off-Broadway premiere of BASIC TRAINING (www.BasicTrainingNYC.com), a new comedy created by and starring Kahlil Ashanti. BASIC TRAINING is a hilarious story based on one soldier's outrageous experience in the U.S. Air Force and will play the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow St. at 7th Avenue, 1 block south of Christopher Street) beginning Friday, Sept. 26th with an official opening on Monday, Oct. 13th.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops open its 30th anniversary season with the sensational annual hit series known as Broadway Showstoppers! Once again, Peter Nero combines Broadway's most exceptional talent with the magic of The POPS by inviting three of New York's top talents to share the stage for these performances. Broadway star Anne Runolfsson (James Joyce's The Dead, Victor/Victoria), Julia Murney (Wicked, The Wild Party) and POPS veteran Gary Mauer (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables), perform Broadway's biggest hits together with 'the best orchestra of its kind in the entire cosmos' in one absolutely unforgettable performance!

Disco diva and Grammy Award winner, Thelma Houston, will once again grace the Teatro ZinZanni fabled spiegeltent as the legendary hostess from September 25 through January 11, 2009.

KLEA BLACKHURST and BILLY STRITCH will celebrate the release of their new CD Dreaming Of A Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael with two weeks worth of performances at the Metropolitan Room.

Josephson Entertainment, Erich Jungwirth/VoiceChair Productions and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd announced today the Off-Broadway premiere of BASIC TRAINING (www.BasicTrainingNYC.com), a new comedy created by and starring Kahlil Ashanti. BASIC TRAINING is a hilarious story based on one soldier's outrageous experience in the U.S. Air Force and will play the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow St. at 7th Avenue, 1 block south of Christopher Street) beginning Friday, Sept. 26th with an official opening on Monday, Oct. 13th.

Philadelphia Orchestra Association President and CEO James Undercofler announced today that Maestro Peter Nero, Artistic Director of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®, has agreed to a five-year contract extension that will insure his presence on the podium through the 2013-14 season.

Josephson Entertainment, Erich Jungwirth/VoiceChair Productions and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd announced today the Off-Broadway premiere of BASIC TRAINING (www.BasicTrainingNYC.com), a new comedy created by and starring Kahlil Ashanti. BASIC TRAINING is a hilarious story based on one soldier's outrageous experience in the U.S. Air Force and will play the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow St. at 7th Avenue, 1 block south of Christopher Street) beginning Friday, Sept. 26th with an official opening on Monday, Oct. 13th.

Jim Caruso's Cast Party presents MICHELE LEE in 'LIGHTS, BROADWAY, ACTION!,' a concert benefiting The Actors Fund, Monday, September 22, 2008 at 7:00p.m., as part of the long-running, Nightlife Award-winning concert series Broadway at Birdland.

Disco diva and Grammy Award winner, Thelma Houston, will once again grace the Teatro ZinZanni fabled spiegeltent as the legendary hostess from September 25 through January 11, 2009.

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS, a division of Sh-K-Boom Records, is proud to announce the release of the new CD from KLEA BLACKHURST and BILLY STRITCH - Dreaming Of A Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael. Blackhurst took New York by storm with her acclaimed tribute to Ethel Merman, Everything the Traffic Will Allow; Stritch is an award-winning composer, arranger, vocalist and jazz pianist. Their first artistic collaboration mines the catalogue of one of America's most treasured songwriters, who wrote such standards as 'Skylark,' 'Georgia On My Mind' and 'Star Dust.' The recording is produced by Grammy Award winner Joel Moss and will be available in stores and online June 17, 2008. Klea and Billy will celebrate the CD with a special concert at Birdland Jazz Club (315 West 44th Street) at 7:00 PM on Monday, June 16. Please call (212) 581-3080 for reservations.

A Disney tradition now in its 38th year (2008), the Candlelight Processional is a moving presentation of the Christmas story in readings by a celebrity narrator and music by a Mass choir and 50-piece orchestra.

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS, a division of Sh-K-Boom Records, is proud to announce the release of the new CD from KLEA BLACKHURST and BILLY STRITCH - Dreaming Of A Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael. Blackhurst took New York by storm with her acclaimed tribute to Ethel Merman, Everything the Traffic Will Allow; Stritch is an award-winning composer, arranger, vocalist and jazz pianist. Their first artistic collaboration mines the catalogue of one of America's most treasured songwriters, who wrote such standards as 'Skylark,' 'Georgia On My Mind' and 'Star Dust.' The recording is produced by Grammy Award winner Joel Moss and will be available in stores and online June 17, 2008. Klea and Billy will celebrate the CD with a special concert at Birdland Jazz Club (315 West 44th Street) at 7:00 PM on Monday, June 16. Please call (212) 581-3080 for reservations.

Playwright, performer and activist Daniel Beaty has been creating a community-wide buzz with his acclaimed one-man show Emergency that has enabled the Geffen Playhouse to produce a special week-long extension aimed primarily at Title I public schools (three additional performances will also be added for the general public). The production will now close at 2pm on Sunday, June 1.