Peter James Zielinski News

Actor Samuel L. Jackson, declared the highest grossing movie actor of all time according to the Guinness Book of World Records, will be this year's BET AWARDS 12 host. In addition, the members of Maze featuring Frankie Beverly are the prestigious recipients of the 'Cadillac Lifetime Achievement Award;' and Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj were revealed as the first confirmed performers.

The New York Times is reporting that Alec Baldwin will return to Broadway in the Spring of 2013 in a new production of OPRHANS, to be directed by Tony-winner Daniel Sullivan. There is no word yet on a theatre or additional cast members for the production.

Tonight, June 25th, The Trevor Project will honor Academy Award winner, Susan Sarandon with the Trevor Hero Award, presented by Stanley Tucci. President of MTV, Stephen Friedman will also be on hand to accept the Trevor 2020 Award for MTV at "Trevor Live" in New York, (Pier 60, Chelsea Piers). This high-profile annual event benefits the life-saving, life-affirming work of The Trevor Project, providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) teens and young adults. The show will be directed by Tony Award® winner, Michael Mayer. Trevor Live is presented by Audi of America, Pfizer and Wells Fargo and features fun., Stanley Tucci, Debra Messing and Eric McCormack, Anthony Rapp, Thomas Roberts, and many more.

Nordoff Robbins has just announced that the Manic Street Preachers and Fatboy Slim will be accepting Awards at our annual Nordoff Robbins O2 Silver Clef Awards on 29th June 2012.

VENUS IN FUR, the critically acclaimed play by Tony Award nominee David Ives, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie, ended its triumphant run on Sunday at the Lyceum Theatre. VENUS IN FUR has been licensed and is in negotiation to be produced in over 40 regional theatres across the US and Canada with plans underway for productions in 26 different countries. It has been translated into many languages including French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, and German. In addition, plans for a London production are underway.

On Monday, June 25th, The Trevor Project will honor Academy Award® winner, Susan Sarandon with the Trevor Hero Award, presented by Stanley Tucci. President of MTV, Stephen Friedman will also be on hand to accept the Trevor 2020 Award for MTV at "Trevor Live" in New York, (Pier 60, Chelsea Piers). This high-profile annual event benefits the life-saving, life-affirming work of The Trevor Project, providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) teens and young adults. The show will be directed by Tony Award® winner, Michael Mayer. Trevor Live is presented by Audi of America, Pfizer and Wells Fargo and features fun., Stanley Tucci, Debra Messing and Eric McCormack, Anthony Rapp, Thomas Roberts, and many more.

According to the Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye, Michael Grandage is bringing together UK's cream of the crop for his fledgling West End theatre company's new season at Noel Coward Theatre, beginning Dec. 1.

A news conference has been called for this Monday, June 18 in which Mike Tyson and Spike Lee will make a 'special announcement.' The duo will be joined by Broadway producer and theater owner James L. Nederlander. The announcement is expected to involve the Lee-directed MIKE TYSON: UNDISPUTED TRUTH, which is rumored to be heading to Broadway.

Off-Broadway's acclaimed Irish Repertory Theatre presents its 2012 Annual Benefit Gala, a concert performance on Broadway of Lionel Bart's OLIVER! - a glorious, Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of 1850's London in the time of the Industrial Revolution - on Monday, June 11 at The Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street) in Manhattan. Charlotte Moore, who directed last year's concert staging of CAMELOT on Broadway and the Irish Repertory's recent revival of Brian Friel's DANCING AT LUGHNASA, will direct.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today that Emmanuelle Chriqui ("Entourage," "The Borgias") and Cheyenne Jackson ("30 Rock," Xanadu) have joined the cast of Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute's The Heart of the Matter, which the company will present for four nights only next week. The company will also feature actor Krysten Ritter ("Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23," "Breaking Bad"), with additional cast members to be announced. The special benefit performances will take place June 13, 14, 15 and 16, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC). Directed by Carolyn Cantor (Regrets at Manhattan Theatre Club, MCC's production of LaBute's In a Dark Dark House), proceeds will support MCC Theater's Playwrights' Coalition program, free PlayLab reading series and literary development activities.

Legendary director Spike Lee looks set to direct Mike Tyson's one man show MIKE TYSON: UNDISPUTED TRUTH in a Broadway production this Summer, according to TMZ.com.

On Monday, June 25, 2012 at 9:30pm, a cast of Broadway performers will gather at Joe's Pub to sing songs from Pump Up The Volume, the new rock musical based on the 1990 film starring Christian Slater about a pirate radio shock jock who shakes up a small town.

Today, June 1, Dunkin' Donuts celebrates 'National Donut Day' by unveiling its first digital billboard in Times Square in collaboration with iconic Broadway producer and director Harold Prince. The billboard will advertise PRINCE OF BROADWAY: THE MUSICAL OF A LIFETIME, scheduled to open this fall. The show is a look at Prince's unrivaled career, which has seen him win more Tony Awards than any other person in the history of Broadway.

Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber's song for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee-'Sing' will be officially released on May 28 and performed live at the Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace June 4, and Lloyd Webber is hoping for audience participation at the festivities.

On Friday June 1, Dunkin' Donuts will celebrate 'National Donut Day' by unveiling its first digital billboard in Times Square in collaboration with iconic Broadway producer and director Harold Prince. The billboard will advertise PRINCE OF BROADWAY: THE MUSICAL OF A LIFETIME, scheduled to open this fall. The show is a look at Prince's unrivaled career, which has seen him win more Tony Awards than any other person in the history of Broadway.

Earlier today at a press conference held in BET's New York studios, it was announced that actor Samuel L. Jackson, declared the highest grossing movie actor of all time according to the Guinness Book of World Records, will be this year's BET AWARDS 12 host. In addition, the members of Maze featuring Frankie Beverly were announced to be the prestigious recipients of the 'Cadillac Lifetime Achievement Award;' and Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj were revealed as the first confirmed performers.

Richard Kind revealed he will be leading the Hollywood Bowl's THE PRODUCERS this July on the Kevin Pollak's Chat Show on Saturday. No casting has been announced officially by the production, but when asked if the engagement was set in stone, Kind said 'I think so'.

According to a report by BBC News, Andrew Lloyd Webber will follow his ITV talent show SUPERSTAR with a new musical about Stephen Ward, who was linked to the Profumo scandal in the '60s that caused War Minister John Profumo to resign after an affair with Christine Keeler.

Theater producer Daryl Roth, who produced last season's Tony Award-winning revival of The Normal Heart and has presented an unprecedented seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays on the stage, will receive her second award of the month today. At its Stella by Starlight Gala tonight, May 20, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting will present Roth with The Harold Clurman Spirit Award "for courageous contribution to the culture of the city of New York and beyond." Her fellow honorees at the Stella by Starlight Gala include Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Ed Schultz, and Masa Tanaka.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo just announced that the theatre will honor New York Theatre Workshop Board Chair Barbara Warner Howard and Disney Theatrical Group and its president Thomas Schumacher at its 2012 Spring Gala on Tuesday, May 22 at the Plaza Hotel.