The Friars Club hosted a one night only event last night that will be remembered for many years by Ben Vereen. Chita Rivera brought him to the club for what Ben thought was a small dinner in his honor. When Ben walked out of the elevator the huge mahogany doors of the Milton Berle Room and Barbra Streisand Room swung open to a capacity crowd of Friars shouting "SURPRISE" and singing Happy Birthday. It was an emotional happy celebration as Ben's many friends toasted the legendary performer and humanitarian. Friar Board Member and Chairman of the Friars Admission Committee Bill Boggs officially made Ben Vereen an Honorary Friar. As Bill pointed out to Ben in his presentation, " I have the power to bestow this title on you….. being an Honorary Member entitles you to walk into the club at any time, enjoy a great meal in the Frank Sinatra dinning room…..and pay for it! "
In the midst of the world's largest yearlong celebration of Shakespeare, which brings 850 events to more than 500,000 Chicagoans and visitors throughout 2016, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District and Boeing partner to present the annual citywide summer tradition, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks. In its fifth anniversary year, the FREE FOR ALL tour is the largest citywide event of the Shakespeare 400 Chicago festival. Made possible by production sponsor BMO Harris, 25 performances of Shakespeare's delightful romantic comedy Twelfth Night tour to 19 neighborhood parks across the City, July 14-August 14, 2016. Adapted and directed by Kirsten Kelly, this jubilant, music-infused production features some of Shakespeare's most beautiful poetry and riotously comedic characters-in a 75-minute theatrical event for audiences of all ages.
A re-imagined version of the 1921 musical SHUFFLE ALONG, one of the earliest stage hits starring, written and directed by African-Americans, opened just lastnight, April 28, on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre. This marks the final opening of the 2015-16 theatre season!
BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the curtain call below!
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: GIGI opens on Broadway, BUZZER starts at the Public, and reality TV hits the stage in Las Vegas!
Yesterday the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking revival of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse's hit musical Chicago celebrates 18 years playing on Broadway. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you pictures of the star-studded celebration!
On Sunday evening, November 23 (7 p.m.), in a celebratory landmark performance, the company of Broadway's record-breaking hit musical CHICAGO is pleased to welcome back its four original stars -- Tony Award winnersAnn Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton and Joel Grey.
This November, the Tony Award-winning, worldwide musical smash CHICAGO will celebrate a monumental milestone when it becomes the second-longest running show in Broadway history.
On Thursday night, the cast of Chicago, including Bianca Marroquin, Amra-Faye Wright, Ryan Silverman, Christopher Fitzgerald, and Roz Ryan celebrated the show's 17th year on Broadway with a special cake-cutting. BroadwayWorld was there for the backstage festivities and you can check out complete photo coverage below!
It's the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It's now in its 17th record-breaking year on the Great White Way. It's been seen in over 30 countries and in 12 different languages worldwide since 1996. It's currently playing to packed houses in cities across the country in its newly-launched 15th national touring production. And on Tuesday, September 24, the Tony Award-winning stage musical sensation Chicago reached another extraordinary milestone with its 7,000th performance on Broadway! Check out a look back at the celebration below!
Actors' Equity Association ('AEA' or Equity) yesterday announced that PIPPIN received the seventh annual 'ACCA' Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. Presented by Equity's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA), the ACCA Award is the only industry accolade of its kind to honor the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical.
Actors' Equity Association ('AEA' or Equity) today announced that PIPPIN has received the seventh annual 'ACCA' Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. Presented by Equity's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA), the ACCA Award is the only industry accolade of its kind to honor the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical.
It's the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It's now in its 17th record-breaking year on the Great White Way. It's been seen in over 30 countries and in 12 different languages worldwide since 1996. It's currently playing to packed houses in cities across the country in its newly-launched 15th national touring production.
And tonight, September 24, the Tony Award-winning stage musical sensation CHICAGO will celebrate another extraordinary milestone with its 7,000th performance on Broadway!
It's the No. 1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It's now in its 17th record-breaking year on the Great White Way. It's been seen in over 30 countries and in 12 different languages worldwide since 1996. It's currently playing to packed houses in cities across the country in its newly-launched 15th national touring production. And tonight, September 24, the Tony Award-winning stage musical sensation CHICAGO will celebrate another extraordinary milestone with its 7,000th performance on Broadway.
The producers of the Broadway hit PIPPIN congratulate two-time Tony Award winner Andrea Martin, who will depart the production following today's performance to lead the cast of the new Global TV series 'Working the Engels,' which will film in Toronto. The show is currently playing at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).
It's the No. 1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It's now in its 17th record-breaking year on the Great White Way. It's been seen in over 30 countries and in 12 different languages worldwide since 1996. It's currently playing to packed houses in cities across the country in its newly-launched 15th national touring production. And on Tuesday, September 24, the Tony Award-winning stage musical sensation CHICAGO will celebrate another extraordinary milestone with its 7,000th performance on Broadway.
This remarkable milestone-performance achievement has only occurred twice before in Broadway theatre history -- by Cats (which closed in its 18th year after 7,485 performances) and The Phantom of the Opera (now in its 26th year).
The producers of the Tony Award winning new Broadway production of PIPPIN have just announced that two-time Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber (La Cage aux Folles, Shrek The Musical) will play the role of 'Charles' on Sunday, September 1 through Wednesday, September 4 and Sunday, September 15 through Wednesday, September 25 while three-time Tony Award nominee Terrence Mann is on vacation. Mr. Mann returns to the role full-time on Thursday, September 26. PIPPIN is now playing at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).
As BroadwayWorld announced earlier this week, two-time Tony Award winner Andrea Martin will depart PIPPIN following the Sunday, September 22nd performance to lead the cast of the new Global TV series 'Working the Engels,' which will film in Toronto. A replacement for the role of 'Berthe' in PIPPIN will be announced soon. The show is currently playing at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).
Before she departs for good, the star was honored with her own caricature at Sardi's. BroadwayWorld was there for the unveiling and you can check out full photo coverage below!
The producers of the Broadway hit PIPPIN are pleased to congratulate two-time Tony Award winner Andrea Martin who will depart the production following the Sunday, September 22nd performance to lead the cast of the new Global TV series 'Working the Engels,' which will film in Toronto. A replacement for the role of 'Berthe' in PIPPIN will be announced soon. The show is currently playing at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).