Whitney Houston News

The 2014 Whitney Houston Biennial: I'm Every Woman comes as a response to the awakening representation of women artists in major museums and galleries. To highlight female artists in New York this season, curator and artist Christine Finley will host seventy-five female artists from a varied range of geographic and cultural backgrounds, disciplines, methodologies, and generations. The artists studio will be transformed into an inviting, living space, a salon filled with work from artists including Guerilla Girls, Swoon, Sienna Shields, NARCISSISTER and Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens. The aim of bringing together so many creative voices is to sing a collective song that celebrates the contributions of pioneer female artists and marks a moment in our communal trajectory.

On Tuesday 25 February 2014 internationally renowned director, BAZ LUHRMANN, who is hard at work in the rehearsal room at Carriageworks, announced the extraordinary composers he and co-writer CRAIG PEARCE have collaborated with in order to bring STRICTLY BALLROOM THE MUSICAL to life on stage.

BWAY-LIVE.COM, an online theater channel, announced today that it has launched the online streaming of Tony Award winner Lea Salonga's critically acclaimed New York show, 'Back to Before.' Re-titled for the webcast LEA SALONGA: LIVE AT THE ALLEN ROOM, JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER, the cabaret-style show was filmed in high definition (HD) before a live audience.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond:

Kevin Costner stopped by this week's ELLEN and discussed the passing of the legendary singer Whitney Houston whom he co-starred with in the classic film 'The Bodyguard.'

Following five years of sell-out performances, New York's favorite gay choristers, the New York City Gay Men's Chorus (NYCGMC), are bringing their hugely successful Big Gay Sing back to audiences, promising an even bigger, gayer and more fabulous extravaganza than the first five combined.

The Palace Theatre welcomes Divas through the Decades, part of the Citizens Bank Performing Arts Series, an original musical production created by Artistic Director Carl Rajotte, opens Valentine's Day today, February 14th at 7:30 PM and runs through Saturday March 1st at 2:00 PM.

Yoshi's San Francisco has announced its upcoming lineup, now through March 9, 2014. Details below!

For the first DG Conservatory of the new year, the Dramatists Guild is thrilled to team up with the writers who created Behind the Music-al, Kyle Ewalt and Michael Ian Walker, today, February 11, 2014, at 6:00 p.m.

The Palace Theatre welcomes Divas through the Decades, part of the Citizens Bank Performing Arts Series, an original musical production created by Artistic Director Carl Rajotte, opens Valentine's Day February 14th at 7:30 PM and runs through Saturday March 1st at 2:00 PM. Divas is a musical tribute to some of the most influential female vocalists in American pop music, from Gloria Estefan, Tina Turner, Madonna, and many more. This musical performance features professional singers and dancers from New York City. Audiences will enjoy the stunning costumes, lights, show stopping vocals, and amazing visual effects.

Today we are talking to a terrifically talented triple-threat diva known for her legendary Broadway performance as the title character in the iconic original production of ANNIE as well as notable appearances on Broadway since in STARLIGHT EXPRESS, LES MISERABLES, STATE FAIR and more - the engaging and passionate Andrea McArdle. Opening up about her life after 'Tomorrow' as well as sharing memories of her time in ANNIE, McArdle sheds some light on her idiosyncratic showbiz career and shares sensational stories from her past and present while also looking ahead to the future. Additionally, McArdle looks back on many of her most famous roles to date, including her roller skating days in STARLIGHT EXPRESS and her recent stint as MAME herself, as well as her various Judy Garland-related properties, too - the TV biopic RAINBOW and the stage adaptation of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS among them, not to mention her sensational star turn as the opener of the recent sold-out series of 10th anniversary concerts at Joe's Pub, BROADWAYWORLD.COM VISITS OZ, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander and MaryBeth Abel, where she exquisitely performed 'I'm Always Chasing Rainbows'. Plus, McArdle comments on her recent Broadway Records live album 70'S & SUNNY and the material and decade that inspired it. Most importantly, McArdle looks ahead to her new series of solo shows kicking off at 54 Below this week titled DREAM ROLES and previews some of the stupendous song selections she has chosen for the show - with material by Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse and more included! All of that and much, much more awaits in this career-spanning chat with one of Broadway's best and best-loved leading ladies.

For the first DG Conservatory of the new year, the Dramatists Guild is thrilled to team up with the writers who created Behind the Music-al, Kyle Ewalt and Michael Ian Walker, on Tuesday, February 11, 2014, at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place at the Dramatists Guild's New York office, in the Frederick Loewe Room, 1501 Broadway (between 43rd and 44th Streets), Suite 710. This free seminar is opening a limited number of seats to the public and reservations are required.

Before the finale of Tuesday night's Café Carlyle show celebrating the varied compositions of Frank Wildhorn, the Grammy and Tony Award-winning composer quoted his frequent collaborator, lyricist Jack Murphy, as once offering that “Great singers are a songwriter's best friends.” Even though Murphy's thought is hardly original, no words could be more true after listening to the scintillating songstress Jane Monheit and the performing powerhouse Clint Holmes deliver 16 solid songs that but wouldn't exactly be called classic examples of what passes for the late 20th century Great American Songbook.

Philadelphia-based The Jost Project is performing another concert with music from their CD Can't Find My Way Home (Dot Time Records, based in New York and Europe). Tonight, January 31 from 8 to 11:30 p.m. they will be at Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street in Philadelphia.

On Sunday January 26 divine singer Nita Whitaker brought her brand new show Love 'n Stuff to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Looking positively stunning in a black and white pageant dress accentuated with sequins - she was Miss Louisiana in the Miss America Pageant some years ago - and displaying much more of her oh so glorious range than she has in the past, Whitaker gave an 80 minute knock out performance expertly accompanied on the piano by musical director Nelson Kole and on percussion by Walter Rodriguez. There were also a couple of exciting surprises in store for the packed house. In the audience were celebrity friends actress Jennifer Lewis and the one and only triple threat Ben Vereen, who came onstage and did a couple of unrehearsed but delicious duets with Whitaker.

El espectáculo, escrito y dirigido por Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi, ha conseguido un gran éxito de crítica y público durante su estancia Teatro Lara de Madrid, y fue el gran triunfador de la última edición de los Premios del Público BroadwayWorld Spain.

FRANK WILDHORN with JANE MONHEIT & CLINT HOLMES are set for 'At the Piano in Song and Story', featuring Wildhorn's pop, jazz, and theatre songbook at Cafe Carlyle, January 28 - February 1st, 2014.

On Monday evening, April 28, 2014, Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) will host the President's Gala, a very special evening honoring Grammy and Tony Award nominated composer, lyricist, and producer Frank Wildhorn. Wildhorn, a multi-Grammy and Tony Award nominated composer/producer has produced work that spans the worlds of popular, theatrical, and classical music.

Philadelphia-based The Jost Project is performing two concerts with music from their CD Can't Find My Way Home (Dot Time Records, based in New York and Europe). Tonight, January 24 at 9 pm they will be at Steel City Coffee House, 203 Bridge Street in Phoenixville with Phyllis Chapell opening for them at the Steel City concert at 8 pm.