Richard Rodgers News

Come celebrate this New Year's Eve in luxury at New York City's opulent Russian supper club, Kazino (45th Street between Times Square and 8thAvenue) with food, drink, music, dancing and Tolstoy's hottest young lovers. Enjoy a 4-course Russian feast and a performance of one of Time Magazine's Top 10 Musicals of 2013, NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812, followed by a New Year's Eve party with a DJ and open bar until 2am.

Today, check out part one of this year's curtain call highlights 2013, and catch up on anything that you might have missed within the last 12 months!

Prospect Theater Company will present the New York premiere of JASPER IN DEADLAND, a new musical with music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver and a book by Hunter Foster and Ryan Scott Oliver. Performances begin March 16 at the West End Theatre in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew.

Following an original live presentation of THE SOUND OF MUSIC on NBC, the ABC network aired the original film, 'The Sound of Music,' starring Academy Award winner Julie Andrews on Sunday, December 22nd.

Today in 1940, Pal oey opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara (from his novel of the same title) and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. It includes two songs that have become standards: 'I Could Write a Book' and 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'.

2014 is upon us, which means that it's time to look back on all of the highs and lows that this past theatre season has brought. BroadwayWorld is wrapping up the year by tributing our favorite moments of 2013, and in this series, we're highlighting 13 of our favorite musical moments on stage in just 30 seconds. Below, check out a 30 second clip from one of our favorite musicals of the year- Cinderella.

WickedGreen Productions introduces a one night only benefit concert, Party Worth Crashing. Featuring (with exclusive permission) the music of Broadway's hottest composing duo, Kerrigan & Lowdermilk, this extraordinary musical event will raise funds for the West Bloomfield High School MIFA Program and allow current and former students to perform along side seasoned industry professionals.

Jim Caruso's Cast Party, Birdland's 'extreme' open mic, is proud to announce the upcoming MENTOR MONDAYS segment, which takes place on the last Monday of every month. MENTOR MONDAYS pairs up-and-coming singers and composers with established artists to create a featured performance for the historic Birdland stage. MENTOR MONDAYS gives emerging young performers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with some of New York's most talented musical theater songsmiths, including Adam Guettel, Lisa Lambert, Frank Wildhorn, Amanda Green, John Bucchino and Georgia Stitt, as well as singers Jane Monheit and Billy Porter.

The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel has announced the lineup of artists comprising the legendary Cafe Carlyle's winter 2014 season. A number of celebrated artists will play the Cafe for the first time, and several longtime audience and critical favorites will return in new shows.

THE HINTERLANDS, a free online musical web series about a bullied gay teen, was nominated for four International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) Awards, including "Best Dramatic Series." Connor Russell (Disney's Aladdin world premiere), star of THE HINTERLANDS, was nominated for "Best Male Performance in a Drama." Danny Larsen and Michelle Elliott, the co-creators of the show, were nominated for "Best Writing (Drama)." Mr. Larsen was also nominated for "Best Cinematography." The IAWTV Awards recognize the best in original online programming and honor the content creators driving today's rapidly evolving digital entertainment industry. The 2014 IAWTV Awards will take place on January 7, 2014 in Las Vegas.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced last week that the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University (A.R.T.) is one of 895 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. The A.R.T. is recommended for $85,000 to support the world premiere production of Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews' world premiere musical Witness Uganda, directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Brian Charles Rooney in "By Request' on Sunday, January 5th, 2014 at 9:30pm. In his 54 Below debut, Brian will deliver an evening of theatrical gems from the rich history of popular music, stage, and screen such as 'Maria,' 'Finishing the Hat,' 'La Vie En Rose,' and 'Music of the Night.' Each song in the program is the result of requests collected over the last few years from fans! You will be delighted by a few gender-bending surprises, as well as some joyfully comedic medleys, that will leave you wondering whether or not what you're hearing is real! Accompanying Mr. Rooney will be musical director Spencer Crosswell.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Brian Charles Rooney in "By Request' on Sunday, January 5th, 2014 at 9:30pm. In his 54 Below debut, Brian will deliver an evening of theatrical gems from the rich history of popular music, stage, and screen such as 'Maria,' 'Finishing the Hat,' 'La Vie En Rose,' and 'Music of the Night.' Each song in the program is the result of requests collected over the last few years from fans! You will be delighted by a few gender-bending surprises, as well as some joyfully comedic medleys, that will leave you wondering whether or not what you're hearing is real! Accompanying Mr. Rooney will be musical director Spencer Crosswell.

Today in 2008, the third Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at Studio 54, where it ran for 85 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara (from his novel of the same title) and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak.

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre will be kicking off its 20th Anniversary Platinum Season on January 17th when the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, The Sound of Music, returns to the theatre. It will be the first show in a blockbuster line-up in a year that will celebrate Way Off Broadway's two decades of bringing live theatre to the stage.

NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 - which concluded a hit summer engagement downtown - is now playing at the opulent custom venue Kazino in the Broadway Theater District, on West 45th Street between Times Square and 8th Avenue, for a 14-week limited run. NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 began performances on Friday, September 27 and was previously scheduled to run through Sunday, January 5. BroadwayWorld has just learned that the show has extended through Sunday, January 19th, 2014 at Kazino.

An inspiring and emotional all-new version of one of the most cherished musicals of all time, The Sound of Music Live! comes to DVD today, December 17, 2013 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. A special live performance originally broadcast on NBC of the timeless Broadway sensation introduces a new generation to the von Trapp family.

Aurora Theatre Company presents Bay Area cabaret star Craig Jessup in concert with A SWELL NOËL. This special holiday engagement plays for six performances only, today, December 17-22, at Aurora Theatre Company's intimate Second Stage cabaret performance space, Harry's UpStage, located in the Nell and Jules Dashow Wing at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley.

Aurora Theatre Company presents Bay Area cabaret star Craig Jessup in concert with A SWELL NOËL. Celebrating the season with masterful music-making, Jessup (last seen at the Aurora in Mae West's SEX) performs favorites from his wide-ranging career in cabaret and musical theater, along with classic holiday tunes, and original songs.