Peter James Zielinski News

Actress/singer/songwriter Alicia Witt will be singing and performing a set of her original songs at The Living Room on 154 Ludlow St. in New York City on Thursday July 2nd at 10:00 PM.

The complete cast, all-star band and crew of HAIR (a total company of 50)will travel to Los Angeles to give a performance from the Tony Award-winning musical on NBC's 'The Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien' on their day off, Monday, July 13th .

Nicholas Rodriguez, who recently joined the cast of the ABC-TV daytime soap opera 'One Life To Live,' set in the fictional town of Llanview, PA will do double duty from July 1-19 when he spends his time in the 'truly toxic' town of Tromaville, NJ in the award-winning Best New Musical The Toxic Avenger.

As previously announced, beginning on Monday, July 6th AVENUE Q will welcome back original cast member Ann Harada in the role of 'Christmas Eve.' Also joining the Broadway cast on July 6th, direct from the AVENUE Q U.S. national tour are Robert McClure in the roles of 'Princeton/Rod,' Anika Larsen in the roles of 'Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut,' and Danielle K. Thomas in the role of 'Gary Coleman.' Harada, McClure, Larsen and Thomas will join Christian Anderson, Nicholas Kohn and Jennifer Barnhart to comprise the final Broadway cast of AVENUE Q.

'BORN TO SWING: AN EVENING OF HITS FROM THE BIG BAND ERA AND BEYOND' A fundraising event for A Contemporary American's Guide to a Successful Marriage (c) 1959 which will have its world premiere at the 2009 New York Fringe Festival (Written by Robert Bastron, Directed by Adam Fitzgerald, Produced by Sean Bradford and Adam Kantor), will take place tonight, Monday, June 29th, 2009 8-10PM at Swing 46 / 349 West 46th Street, NYC, NY.

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! officially became the 15th longest-running show in Broadway history on Saturday, June 27th when it played its 3,183 performance, surpassing the record previously held by the play Tobacco Road.

Irena's Vow, the new play by Dan Gordon, starring four-time Tony Award-nominee Tovah Feldshuh, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, June 28th, the producers announced today. The production will have played 21 previews and 105 regular performances.

Joe DiPietro (book & lyrics) and the cast of the Off-Broadway musical, The Toxic Avenger: Celina Carvajal, Nick Cordero, Demond Green, Nancy Opel, and Matthew Saldivar all joined together for a musical performance and CD signing to celebrate the new cast recording of the award-winning Off-Broadway musical. The 'Toxie' filled event took place on Thursday, June 25th at the Barnes and Noble Lincoln Triangle (1972 Broadway @ 66th Street).

Jump-starting New York's Gay Pride weekend, some of the city's most talented dance, drag and theater performers recreated the scene that started it all - the Stonewall riots. In 1969, gays and lesbians fought back against the persecution of homosexuals, thereby igniting the yearly tradition of the Gay Pride march.

Designed to provide theatergoers with an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of CHICAGO, the most recent 'Talkback Tuesdays' took place on Tuesday, June 23rd, and featured a post-show conversation with three-time Emmy Award nominee and 'Grey's Anatomy' star Chandra Wilson. She will perform in the production through Sunday, July 5, 2009 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.). BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were there as she met the 'Talkback' crowd!

To celebrate the release of the new Broadway Cast Recording of the hit musical HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, the show hosted a 'sign in' onstage at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC) immediately following the 7:00 PM performance on Tuesday, June 23th.

On June 23rd, Kelli O'Hara, Michael Cerveris, Mary Testa, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Sherie Rene Scott, Holly Brook and cast members of 'Spring Awakening' joined together to celebrate the release of 'Listen' at an in-store event. The in-store performance and CD signing will took place at 4pm, at the new Barnes and Noble East Side event space, at 86th and Lexington Avenue. BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were there to celebrate along with the Our Time family!

On July 20, 2009, Seattle will host a dynamic creative workshop lead by Broadway's Hunter Bell (2009 Tony nominee) and Susan Blackwell. The workshop, appropriate for individuals 16 and older, is inspired by the popular song ?Die, Vampire, Die' in the hit Broadway musical [title of show]. The song, also co-written by Susan Blackwell, defines a Vampire as 'any person, thought or feeling that stands between you and your creative self-expression'.

'Grey's Anatomy' star Chandra Wilson has stepped into the celebrated role of Matron 'Mama' Morton, the reigning cellblock diva of the smash hit musical CHICAGO. Chandra Wilson has joined the production for a four-week limited engagement which began, Monday, June 8th. She will perform in the production through Sunday, July 5, 2009 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.). BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were there as she welcomed 'Grey's Anatomy' creator Shonda Rhimes backstage after the Monday June 22nd performance!

The Actors' Fund celebrated the launch of its 'Responding To Essential And Evolving Needs' campaign at the Regency Hotel on June 22, 2009 in New York City.

Rich Affannato in association with Meri Krassner will present a special invitational reading of the new musical, CALIGULA, with book, music & lyrics by Eric Svejcar, for two performances on Monday, July 13 and Tuesday, July 14 at 3 p.m. at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

Michael Mayer, the Tony Award-winning director of Spring Awakening, will begin work on a new musical production adapted from 'American Idiot,' the best-selling album by the punk band Green Day. The project is scheduled to make its debut in September 2009 at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in California. The musical will be a collaboration between Green Day - the Bay Area rock trio consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool - and Mayer. Mayer and Armstrong spoke to Rolling Stone about the upcoming rock musical. Here is a sneak peek, to read the full article click here.

Irena's Vow, the new play by Dan Gordon, starring four-time Tony Award-nominee Tovah Feldshuh, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, June 28th, the producers announced today. The production will have played 21 previews and 105 regular performances.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) has extended its run of Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott's EVERYDAY RAPTURE two weeks, through June 14. Directed by Michael Mayer, EVERYDAY RAPTURE stars Ms. Scott and also features Eamon Foley, Lindsey Mendez, and Betsy Wolfe.

New York City is filled with lovely parks. There's a particularly charming one tucked into a triangle on 106th Street and Broadway. It's planted with daylilies, impatiens, lacecap hydrangeas and dogwoods. One end of this peaceful oasis is dominated by a recumbent bronze sculpture which sits atop a flowing fountain. The park is dedicated to the memory of Isidore and Ida Strauss, the loving couple who perished together on the Titanic in 1912. Therefore it's appropriate to meet Victoria Clark for an interview at a café only a short distance from Strauss Park. After all, Ms Clark originated the role of Alice Beane in Maury Yeston's Tony Award winning musical TITANIC and sang Adam Guettel's 'Statues and Stories' in LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, which won her the 2005 Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical. This fine lady is never really far from statues, stories and the Titanic.