Prince Hal News

West End star Hannah Waddingham will host a prestigious awards ceremony, now in its fourth year, on Sunday 6th June at The Queens Theatre, London. The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer Of The Year Competition & The Stiles and Drewe Best New Song of 2010 Awards are presented by The Stephen Sondheim Society and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD).

For Women's History Month, an interview with the singer and activist, who has a new recording of 'Over the Rainbow' out and upcoming shows at Cafe Carlyle.

Lantern Theater Company concludes its 2009/10 mainstage season with the rarely performed Henry IV, Part I. In the tradition of the Lantern's darkly comic, Barrymore Award-winning production of Richard III, this gripping, ripping plot from William Shakespeare's history canon features a cast of local actors and battles royale that will transport you to another time and place. Previews begin April 1, opening night is Wednesday, April 7 at 7pm, and the closing performance is May 2, 2010.

The 5th Avenue Theatre will help kick off the Seattle Celebrates Bernstein Festival with a special 24-hour Sale on the next two shows in our season, Leonard Bernstein's riotous musical On The Town, and his mid-career masterpiece Candide, taking place on March 22nd.

Evanston's Next Theatre Company will end its production of Return to Haifa by Evanston-based playwright M.E.H. Lewis which is directed by Next's Artistic Director, Jason Southerland, on March 21.

The 5th Avenue Theatre announced today that to help kick off the Seattle Celebrates Bernstein Festival, we will be having a special 24-hour Sale on the next two shows in our season, Leonard Bernstein's riotous musical On The Town, and his mid-career masterpiece Candide.

CELEBRATING SONDHEIM AT 80: Highlights from The Paley Center for Media Collection screened March 19 to April 4, 2010. Screenings are Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 1:00 p.m.; Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.

CELEBRATING SONDHEIM AT 80: Highlights from The Paley Center for Media Collection screened March 19 to April 4, 2010. Screenings are Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 1:00 p.m.; Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.

The New York Philharmonic will present SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert on March 15 and Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. This celebration of the 80th birthday of the great Broadway and film composer/lyricist will include his most enduring orchestral music and songs - performed, in some cases, by the stars of the original Broadway cast productions - in addition to rarely-heard material. Joining the celebration will be (in alphabetical order) Michael Cerveris, Victoria Clark, Jason Danieley, Nathan Gunn, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, Donna Murphy, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, and others to be announced, including surprise guests. Paul Gemignani, Mr. Sondheim's longtime collaborator, will conduct the New York Philharmonic; Lonny Price is the director; and Mr. Price and Matt Cowart are the producers.

Shakespeare's Globe confirms further details of the 2010 Kings and Rogues theatre season, following a record-breaking 2009 which achieved the highest attendance figures ever in its 13 year history, as well as seeing the Globe reach new audiences all over the UK, Europe and the US through touring, and having its productions filmed for the first time.

Star Tribune arts critics Rohan Preston and Graydon Royce questioned Mr. Sondheim about his career, his life, and musical theatre as a whole. In response, Sondheim charmed and entertained the audience with his unapologetically honest and engaging opinions, experiences, and anecdotes.

Sail away on a magical, musical journey as Broadway's finest performers arrive at the Bickford Theatre in Morristown, NJ, on Saturday, March 27, at 8 p.m. for an enchanted evening celebrating the classic songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein!

This week we are talking a trip to the Paris Opera and visiting some old friends on the eve of their re-appearance in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical sequel LOVE NEVER DIES, but before that review next week (clue: it's truly phantastic, with an 'f' and a 'ph'!) let us take a look at the best and most notable recordings of the score of the original show, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, including the Original London Cast Recording, the Canadian Highlights recording starring Colm Wilkinson, the 2004 Film Soundtrack, as well as two solo albums by the show's original stars, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman...

Broadway vet Leslie Becker will perform a host of Broadway classics and modern tunes in her cabaret, 'All I Do is Sing' at Don't Tell Mama. The performance will take place February 28th at 9:30pm. Becker will perform songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Andrew Lippa, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, Maury Yeston, Irving Berlin, and more.

A CABLE FROM GIBRALTAR, the unusual new comedy by Daniel Meltzer about the intersecting lives of two couples over a lifetime, their good fortune and bad choices, literally from cradle to creeping decrepitude, will play its final show on February 28 at the Medicine Show Theatre.

Elaine Paige will celebrate the release of her concert DVD with an appearance at Dress Circle in London. Paige will sign copies of her DVD for fans beginning at 1:30pm on February 27th. The DVD is from a concert stop on Paige's 40th Anniversary Tour. The concert, entitled 'Live in Australia,' was filmed during the New Zealand/Australian tour that took place earlier this year. This specific concert took place on October 31st, 2009.

Evanston's Next Theatre Company, has announced a 2-week extension of their World Premiere production of Return to Haifa by Evanston-based playwright M.E.H. Lewis which is directed by Next's Artistic Director, Jason Southerland.

Noel Coward's Private Lives comes to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre for a ten week season from February 24 2010, following a two week run at the Theatre Royal Bath (February 10 - 20). Starring Kim Cattrall and Matthew Macfadyen, and directed by Richard Eyre, Private Lives remains one of Coward's most sophisticated comedy of manners.

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS. This 2 time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner railroads its way into the DuPont Theatre for an exclusive area run Tuesday, April 6 - Sunday, April 11, 2010.

It is not often that a production of a vintage piece of musical theatre overshadows the original production but that is precisely what happened during a magical new staging of the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical A Little Night Music at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris last week. The musical was originally directed on Broadway in 1973 by the legendary Hal Prince and has been frequently staged at venues all over the world since then (most recently at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the Garrick Theatre on now on Broadway, directed by Trevor Nunn). But this incarnation, directed by Lee Blakely, is the most beautiful and stunning version of the show I have ever seen.