Richard Frankel News

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES' Marilyn Sokol will be interviewed on WAMC Radio on Monday May 7 at 9:45 AM. The interview airs on all Northeast Public Radio frequencies and streams live at www.wamc.org.

The Off-Broadway League today announced the confirmed performers for the 2012 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. Additionally, the remaining tickets to the show have been released for sale to the public at a discounted rate of $35 each. The 27th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards will be handed out this Sunday, May 6, 2012 at NYU Skirball Center, beginning at 7:00pm EST, in a ceremony that will once again benefit the Actors Fund.

Years before Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance turned ballroom dancing into must-see TV, one show was setting stages ablaze around the globe. BURN THE FLOOR, the Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular that has thrilled audiences in more than 30 countries, brings the fire and passion of their live performance to the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) for 5 performances only, tonight, May 4 through May 6, 2012. BURN THE FLOOR is the final installment in the Taco/The White Family Foundation Contemporary Classics Series. Tickets are on sale now at the PPAC Box Office, online at www.ppacri.org and by phone at (401) 421-ARTS (2787).

Theatre legend Patti Lupone will open the new nightclub and restaurant 54 BELOW (254 West 54th Street) with a two-week engagement from June 5 - 16. The June entertainment line-up also includes Jackie Hoffman, Mx Justin Vivian Bond and Brian d'Arcy James, as well as late-night lounge entertainment Tuesday - Thursday, a Monday night new composers series, and an informal cocktail hour on Sunday evenings.

Nominations in 26 competitive categories for THE 66th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS® were announced today by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jim Parsons and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement.

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES begins performances today, May 1, and opens on May 20 at the Westside Theatre (407 West 43rd Street). The Off Broadway show stars Bill Army, Marilyn Sokol, Todd Susman, Audrey Lynn Weston and Lenny Wolpe, pictured at the cast photo call below!

James William Productions and Stephenie Skyllas will present Kurt Peterson and Victoria Mallory in 'When Everything Was Possible, A Concert (with comments),' for one night only, Sunday April 29th (7:30pm) at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues), as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. They will be joined by a thirteen-piece band (Michael Rafter, Music Director), playing new orchestrations by Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick. Larry Moss directs, with musical staging by Joshua Bergasse ("Smash"). Carolyn Wong will provide lighting design, with sound design by Leon Rothenberg and projection design by Telegraphicmedia.

James William Productions and Stephenie Skyllas present Kurt Peterson and Victoria Mallory in When Everything Was Possible, A Concert (with comments), for one night only tonight, April 29th (7:30pm) at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues), as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. They are joined by a thirteen-piece band (Michael Rafter, Music Director), playing new orchestrations by Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick. Larry Moss directs, with musical staging by Joshua Bergasse ("Smash"). Carolyn Wong provides lighting design, with sound design by Leon Rothenberg and projection design by Telegraphicmedia.

Watch the CBS Early Show tomorrow, Saturday April 28, in the 8 AM half-hour for a feature on LEAP OF FAITH hosted by correspondent Elaine Quihano. LEAP OF FAITH opened last night at The St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street, with four-time Tony nominee Raúl Esparza leading the company.

The Off-Broadway League today announced this year's host and several of the presenters confirmed to participate in the 2012 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The 27th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 6, 2012 at NYU Skirball Center, beginning at 7:00pm EST. This year's ceremony will once again benefit the Actors Fund.

Hennepin Theatre Trust presents the new theatrical event Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, running May 31-June 16, 2012 at the New Century Theatre. Showcasing funny, heartfelt "mini works" that celebrate the courage to be in a relationship-any relationship, Standing On Ceremony's smart and witty vignettes were penned by playwrights whose credits include two Pulitzer Prizes, four Obies, one Emmy and three Tony nominations. Wendy Knox of Frank Theatre will direct a stellar cast of six Twin Cities actors including Laura Adams, Shawn Hamilton Brown, Aimee K. Bryant, Jim Lichtscheidl and Mark Rhein, with one more actor to be announced soon. With this production, the Trust is working in cooperation with Minnesotans United for All Families, the official statewide campaign working to defeat the constitutional amendment that would exclude gays and lesbians from marriage in Minnesota.

James William Productions and Stephenie Skyllas will present Kurt Peterson and Victoria Mallory in 'When Everything Was Possible, A Concert (with comments),' for one night only, Sunday April 29th (7:30pm) at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues), as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. They will be joined by a thirteen-piece band (Michael Rafter, Music Director), playing new orchestrations by Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick. Larry Moss directs, with musical staging by Joshua Bergasse ("Smash"). Carolyn Wong will provide lighting design, with sound design by Leon Rothenberg and projection design by Telegraphicmedia.

The 2011/2 theatre awards season is quickly approaching, and keeping track of all of the important dates for the many ceremonies and corresponding nominations is no easy feat. Stay up to date on all the need-to-know facts with BroadwayWorld's Awards Season Calendar below!

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES will begin performances on Tuesday May 1 and open on May 20 at the Westside Theatre (407 West 43rd Street). The Off Broadway show will star Bill Army, Marilyn Sokol, Todd Susman, Audrey Lynn Weston and Lenny Wolpe, pictured at the cast photo call below!

54 BELOW, the nightclub and restaurant announced earlier this year, today announced that Andre J. Marrero will be the Executive Chef of the nightclub and restaurant. A June opening is planned. Chef Andre trained at The French Culinary Institute in New York and went on to work in some of New York's leading kitchens with some of the best chefs in the world.

BURN THE FLOOR, the 'electrifying Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular that has thrilled audiences in more than 30 countries,' brings the fire and passion of their live performance to the Times-Union Center's Moran Theater in Jacksonville for one night only, Tuesday, April 17th at 7:30PM.

Performances for LEAP OF FAITH began on Tuesday, April 3, at The St. James Theatre. Four-time Tony nominee Raúl Esparza leads the company along with Jessica Phillips, Kendra Kassebaum, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Leslie Odom, Jr., Krystal Joy Brown and Talon Ackerman. Opening night is Thursday, April 26. Production photos have just been released and BroadwayWorld brings you a look at the onstage action below!

Years before Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance turned ballroom dancing into must-see TV, one show was setting stages ablaze around the globe. BURN THE FLOOR, the Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular that has thrilled audiences in more than 30 countries, brings the fire and passion of their live performance to the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) for 5 performances only, May 4 - 6, 2012. BURN THE FLOOR is the final installment in the Taco/The White Family Foundation Contemporary Classics Series. Tickets are on sale now at the PPAC Box Office, online at www.ppacri.org and by phone at (401) 421-ARTS (2787).

Performances for LEAP OF FAITH began on Tuesday, April 3, at The St. James Theatre. Four-time Tony nominee Raúl Esparza leads the company along with Jessica Phillips, Kendra Kassebaum, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Leslie Odom, Jr., Krystal Joy Brown and Talon Ackerman. Opening night is Thursday, April 26. Check out this exclusive video below, in which the first audience members react to the show's first preview performance!

Broadway's LEAP OF FAITH begins performances tonight and announces their student ticket policy. They will be $27.00 each, available in person at the St. James Box Office beginning at 10:00 AM daily. The offer is limited to two tickets per valid student I.D., subject to availability and payable by cash only.