Rupert Holmes News

On this day in 1985, The Mystery of Edwin Drood debuted at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park!

Broadway veteran Lance Roberts' guest this week is Two Time Tony Award winner, Donna Murphy. The conversation features Lance and his guest talking about THE MOMENT his guest got THE CALL to make their Broadway debut. This week is special since Lance And Donna have been friends since high school and started the dream together.

For Summerfest 2020 and the 38th season of live performances, Opera North is producing two family-friendly, outdoor concerts at their Blow-Me-Down Farm location (in partnership with the National Park Service) in Cornish, NH. Opera North is safeguarding the health of its open-air audience by seating them on the lawn in physically-distanced 'patron pods' or in their cars.

Fountain Hills Theater publicly announced their 2020-21 Season on March 1st at their annual gala, Broadway in the Hills. Since that time, there have been many challenges to the theatrical entertainment world. (!)

Perhaps one of Kander & Ebb's lesser-known works, musical comedy Curtains opened to mixed reviews on Broadway back in 2007, where it starred David Hyde Pierce as Lieutenant Cioffi. The first UK tour has been touring the country since last year before running in the West End and we have been lucky enough to have this stage version streamed for our viewing pleasure during 'lockdown'.

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT original cast recording will be released on digital and streaming formats on Friday, April 3. A physical CD will be available later this year. Featuring the a?oemiraculous musica?? (Time Out London) of Stephen Schwartz, the album is produced by Dominick Amendum and Stephen Schwartz, with Kurt Deutsch serving as Executive Producer.

The Actors Fund has teamed with SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley, to produce a daily mini-online show, entitled Stars in The House, featuring stars of stage and screen singing and performing live (from home!) on social media to promote support for The Fund's services for those most vulnerable to the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Tony-winner Jason Alexander took to Twitter this afternoon to share a favorite show tune to help his fans pass the time.

Veteran and award-winning Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson has returned to the Greater Los Angeles area stage for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years to assume the role of The Announcer in the March 2020 Ark Theatre Company of North Hollywood, Ca.

Sometimes it IS enough just to be entertained, ya know? I don't care how socio-politically engaged you are, I think everyone needs at least an occasional break from all the angst and mishegas out there, and that's exactly what Foothill Music Theatre provides with its antic musical comedy 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.' With book, music and lyrics by Rupert Holmes (yes, he of 'The Pina Colada Song' infamy. Apologies for implanting that deathless ear worm in your head for the rest of the day!), 'Drood' is truly sui generis. Based on an unfinished Charles Dickens novel of the same name, the show reimagines it as performed by a veteran troupe of British Music Hall performers circa 1895. When they reach the point in the story where Dickens left off, the audience is asked to vote on how it ends - who the murderer and secret detective are and - since this is a musical comedy a?' the pair they'd most like to see end up as lovers. The cast then plays out the concluding scenes and songs accordingly. Apparently, there are close to a mind-bogglingly thousand possible combinations, which just adds to the fun and unpredictability of the whole endeavor.

Heather Orth stars as mysterious opium den proprietress Princess Puffer in Foothill Music Theatre's new production of Rupert Holmes' rollicking musical comedy a?oeThe Mystery of Edwin Drood.a?? A Tony Award winner for Best Musical, the show is based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. As the novel was left incomplete, so is the show - up to a point. When the cast reaches the part in the story where Dickens left off, they put a vote to the audience at each performance as to how the show will end. Ms. Orth has been gracing Bay Area stages with astonishing frequency as of late. She possesses a big, flexible voice and the ability to charm the pants off you or break your heart with her emotional transparency. BroadwayWorld caught up with her recently while she was still in the thick of rehearsals for a?oeDrood.a?? She has often played characters older than she is, and as she matures one gets the sense she may just be coming into her own as a musical theater performer, and even bigger opportunities may be on the horizon.

TheatreZone, a professional Equity theatre in Naples, Florida specializing in Broadway musicals, announces its 2020-2021 season shows. They are: Home for the Holidays (Dec. 11-13, 2020); Curtains (Jan. 7-17, 2021); Bright Star (Feb. 4-14, 2021); Camelot (March 4-14, 2021); and The Bridges of Madison County (April 15-25, 2021).

Celebrate Valentine's Day weekend with New York musical theatre and cabaret star Klea Blackhurst as she returns to Drury Lane for her Cabaret Room debut in For the Love of Broadway: An Evening with Klea Blackhurst. For the Love of Broadway runs for two performances: Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15 at 7:30pm in Drury Lane's elegant and intimate Cabaret Room located at 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace.

From B'way producer William Franzblau to multi-Tony Award-winner Rupert Holmes-----the screams of laughter certainly woke up the otherwise quiet Tuesday (1/14/20) afternoon crowd at Broadway's venerable Sardi's restaurant. Fun backstage stories about out how the Broadway production of “Say Goodnight, Gracie” came together and the antics of the show's star--- the late Frank Gorshin were the talk of the afternoon. “Seems impossible that 18 years have slipped by so fast”—said Franzblau.

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Liz Callaway is back with another car singing video! This time she's taking on 'The People That You Never Get to Love' by Rupert Holmes.

On Monday, December 30, 2019 at 11:00 AM PST/2:00 PM EST,  Actor Brandin Stennis ( first guest ) and Actor Darryl Maximilian Robinson ( second guest ) sat down to talk about their careers and choices with noted host and veteran entertainment journalist Ron Brewington  on 'The Actor's Choice' in a broadcast streamed live on You Tube.

For the holiday season veteran and award-winning stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson ( The Founder, Artistic Director and Producer of the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre, The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago and a classically-trained Los Angeles-based performer ) returned to his classical theatre experience ( he began his early professional stage career playing leading and featured roles with The 1982 National Shakespeare Company Tour of New York, The 1985 Indianapolis Shakespeare Festival and The 1989 Bristol Renaissance Faire of Kenosha, Wisconsin ) and reunited with talented editor, video-camerman and fellow actor Danny Belrose to record a less-than-perfect 'Street Theatre' rehearsal of the famed 'St. Crispin's Day Speech' as The King from William Shakespeare's 'Henry V' which Mr. Robinson presented upon the steps of The Entrance of LA's Historic Lincoln Heights Jail ( which he referred to as 'The Old Cypress Prison' ) on the afternoon of December 19, 2019 as part of a series of theatrical activities Mr. Robinson is sharing as part of The Excaliber Shakespeare Company Los Angeles Archival Project.

For those on stage, an opening night can be the stuff of nightmares. In Curtains a?" the acclaimed duo John Kander and Fred Ebb's 2006 musical a?" the nightmare turns real when a lead actor gets murdered right after curtain call. So begins a comedic, entertaining whodunit that is chock-full of showbiz intrigue and backstage drama.

After spending a year on an extended visit to his original hometown of Chicago, Illinois, veteran and award-winning stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson, The Founder, Artistic Director and Producer of the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre, The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago and Los Angeles-based theatre artist, has returned to The City of Angels, and will discuss both his most recent on-and-off stage endeavors in Chicago and Los Angeles on the Monday December 30, 2019 edition of the internet performing arts program 'The Actor's Choice' hosted by long-time entertainment journalist Ron Brewington in a program that can be viewed live on Youtube at 11:00 am PST.