There's a great pleasure in talking to veteran performers. They've been through it all and have many great stories to tell. Such was the case recently in a conversation with dancer/ singer/ actress/comedienne Mitzi Gaynor. This great lady starred in such Hollywood successes as THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS with Ethel Merman, THE JOKER IS WILD with Frank Sinatra, the re-make of ANYTHING GOES with Bing Cosby and Donald O'Connor, LES GIRLS with Gene Kelly and SOUTH PACIFIC with Rossano Brazzi. She also wowed television audiences in the 60's and 70's with a series of specials that captivated America and had schoolboys rushing home from sporting events to watch them. Without a doubt, Mitzi Gaynor was a show business phenomenon and she remains one today as she prepares for the public television airing of her new documentary called 'Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years.'
For the first time, the Metropolitan Opera will present a work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams: Doctor Atomic, his opera about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb. The piece is set in New Mexico in the summer of 1945, as scientists, led by Oppenheimer, and the military prepare to test the first nuclear bomb, events that will radically change the course and fabric of history. The new production, starring Gerald Finley in the title role, will open at the Met on Monday, October 13, at 8:00 p.m. When the opera premiered in San Francisco in October of 2005, The Guardian said, 'Adams's ecstatically lyrical writing and the music's visionary eloquence make this a modern masterpiece.' The New York Times later wrote that Doctor Atomic was 'the most complex and inventive of Mr. Adams's works, an engrossing operatic drama.'
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will present a four week 'American Originals' festival, celebrating music written by American and European composers while living in America. The festival opens with a program of works by Bernstein, Barber and Rachmaninov on Thursday, October 30, 2008, and concludes with the Atlanta debut of a concert-staged production of John Adams' Dr. Atomic on Sunday, November 23, 2008.
'Lilli Marlene' a new musical featuring the hits of the WWII era starring Linn Maxwell, opened on Monday, September 22nd at the Abington Theater (312 West 36th Street). Directed by Erv Raible, with a book by Kathryn Ryan, the show features such songs as 'As Time Goes By', 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square', 'It Had To Be You', 'The White Cliffs of Dover', 'Mad About the Boy' and 'Lilli Marlene', which was made famous by legendary Marlene Dietrich. Paul Trueblood is the musical director.
LILLI MARLENE, a new musical featuring the hits of the WWII era starring Linn Maxwell, begins previews tonight, Thursday, September 18th at the Abingdon Theatre (312 West 36 Street - between 8th and 9th Avenue), Produced by by John Osher and Bob Roskam, the show opens on Monday, September 22nd. Directed by Erv Raible, with book by Kathryn Ryan, the show features such songs as 'As Time Goes By,' 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square,' 'It Had to Be You,' 'The White Cliffs of Dover,' ' Mad About the Boy' and 'Lilli Marlene,' which was made famous by the legendary Marlene Dietrich. Paul Trueblood is the musical director.
Sleepwalkers Theatre continues its second season of presenting progressive new works with MARCH TO NOVEMBER, written and directed by Sleepwalkers co-founder Tore Ingersoll-Thorp. Tim Biglow, Drew Lanning, Maggie McCally, and Ian Riley star in MARCH TO NOVEMBER, playing October 23 through November 8 (Press Opening: Friday, October 24) at the Phoenix Theatre (414 Mason at Geary) in San Francisco.
Louise English will be starring as the sultry Gypsy, Rosa, in the new Jon Conway musical All the Fun of the Fair, with David Essex as Levi Lee, which will tour the UK from September 2008 through May 2009 and premieres at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, from 12-20 September.
LILLI MARLENE, a new musical featuring the hits of the WWII era starring Linn Maxwell will open Monday, September 22nd at the Abingdon Theatre (312 West 36 Street - between 8th and 9th Avenue), it was announced by producers John Osher and Bob Roskam.
Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director), Off-Broadway's preeminent theater company, will honor Tony Award-winning actress Patti LuPone and The Baruch-Routh-Frankel-Viertel Group at this year's Primary Stages 24th Anniversary Gala Benefit to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (109 East 42nd Street) on Monday, October 27, 2008.
Producer Robert Greenblatt announced today that 9 To 5: The Musical, based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, will begin previews on Broadway Tuesday, March 24, 2009, and will open Thursday, April 23, 2009, at the Marriott Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). 9 To 5: The Musical marks the Broadway debut of seven-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and musician Dolly Parton as composer and lyricist. The musical's book by Patricia Resnick is based on her original story and screenplay for the smash 1980 film comedy.
A new musical about the South African struggle for freedom from apartheid and the leaders of that movement will be based in part on a forthcoming memoir by Zindzi Mandela, assisted by South African theater veteran Welcome Msomi.
In collaboration with Loyola University Chicago's Department of Fine and Performing Arts, on September 4-7, 2008, BWPG will convene Whisper. Laugh. Shout. Tell the Story: 1st National Meeting for Women of Color Writing Drama.
With apologies for a little self-promotion, I will be a guest on 'Mid-Day with Dan Rodricks' radio program between 1-2 p.m. (WYPR-FM, 88.1) on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 for a discussion on theater coming this spring to the Baltimore/Washington area and Broadway. You can access the program live on www.wypr.org or for about a month after the program on the WYPR web site. I hope to hear from many of my readers. You may call during the program at 410-662-8780 or long-distance at 866-661-9309.
Los Angeles theatre veteran and three-time Tony nominated Broadway producer Susan Dietz joins Reprise! Broadway's Best as its producing director. She will work alongside artistic director Jason Alexander and succeeds Jim Gardia, who moves to the Northern California, having served Reprise! for the past six years. Danny Feldman continues as Managing Director.
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