William Finn News

Jamie deRoy will host a special edition of her Multi -MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie deRoy & friends, on the occasion of Jamie's birthday on Saturday, November 12th (7PM) at the intimate cabaret hot-spot Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street ~ btw. 5th & 6th Avenues).

Just announced is news that Lin-Manuel Miranda will star as 'Charlie' in the upcoming Encores! production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Merrily has been extended for a two-week run, and will play for 15 performances, February 8-19, 2012 at New York City Center, 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns to the elegant Allen Room in January for its fourteenth season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 16 nights the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic songwriting. The music of Broadway, Latin culture and hip-hop, bluegrass, rock, and pop will be presented, along with three evenings devoted to great American composers and lyricists. The 2012 season - January 11 through February 11 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including Tony Award winners Laura Benanti, Michael Cerveris, and LaChanze, as well as the 'Queen of British Musicals,' the great Elaine Paige.

Craving a fun musical comedy to sweep you up in action and keep you laughing all the way home? This Tony-Award winning story of six quirky characters and three oddball adults in search of spelling bee glory is the show for you.

Broadway star and award-winning singer and actress Lillias White will perform in concert for the first time at Aaron Davis Hall 7 p.m. Friday, November 4. This concert starts the cavalcade of stars appearing at CCNY for the year-long season of activities billed 'All That's City.'

MusicalTalk - the UK's top independent musical theatre podcast is to have new and classic episodes broadcast on Global City Radio (http://www.globalradio1.com.)

Cleveland Play House is thrilled to present the second production of their 2011-2012 inaugural season at PlayhouseSquare - a brand new musical event, Daddy Long Legs, with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced the line-up of performers participating in the return of its popular benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES: Dirty Laundry on Monday evening, October 17.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) has announced the details for the 2011-12 CCM Studio Series of opera, musical theatre and drama.

Third Street Theatre has announced that its first production in L.A.'s newest 99-seat Equity Waiver house; their critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITICS' CHOICE, LA Weekly GO!, Backstage CRITIC'S PICK, Ovation Recommended!) smash-hit production of the Tony award-winning musical FALSETTOS, with book by James Lapine and William Finn, music and lyrics by William Finn, choreography by John Todd, musical direction by Greg Nabours and directed by Richard Israel is EXTENDING AGAIN - through Sunday, November 13 at the THIRD STREET THEATRE, 8115 W. Third Street in West Hollywood!

Burlesque to Broadway begins the fall with standing ovations at The Historic Riviera Theatre. Frank Cannata, Executive Director of the theatre says, 'Burlesque to Broadway is a real crowd pleaser complete with a gorgeous talented cast, fabulous costumes, great songs and classic choreography. It is one of the most entertaining, sexy, 'herstory' accounts you will ever have the opportunity to see on stage.'

On Monday, October 10, five projects that offer innovative models for local arts journalism received funding and were named finalists of the Knight Foundation/National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Community Arts Journalism Challenge, founded this summer to find new ways to use technology to inform and engage people in the arts.

Celia Keenan-Bolger, Colin Donnell, Betsy Wolfe and Elizabeth Stanley have been cast in Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, the first New York City Center Encores! production of season. Merrily We Roll Along, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, will be directed by James Lapine with music direction by Rob Berman and musical staging by Dan Knechtges. Merrily has been extended for a two-week run, and will play for 15 performances, February 8-19, 2012 at New York City Center, 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

Message to Congress and Presidential hopefuls - go see Mark St. German's 'The Best of Enemies' before you start the political campaign rhetoric.

Like entering a Rolls Royce, taking your seat in Feinstein's at Loews Regency to see a headliner, is your start of an unparalleled ride. Betty Buckley is that kind of experience. Words cannot make you hear the voice, the musicality, or the presence this Tony Award winning singer actress displays in her new show 'AH MEN! THE BOYS OF BROADWAY!' now at Feinstein's. Her show consists of songs originally sung by men, and her superb voice presents them in a powerful and emotional new light. Being a William Finn fan, I was extremely moved by her rendition of VENICE (from Elegies). Just when she brings a tear to your eye with her ballads, she brings you back to a happy place with her great jazz ability in the up tempos. We all have our 'memories' of Betty Buckley from her triumphs' on Broadway and this show reinforces the justification for using the word Extraordinary when describing Betty Buckley.

Anglophiles and Broadway babies alike rejoice at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's 2011-12 Season.

For her October shows the title should have been Jamie deRoy & her very talented Songwriter friends. Jamie, as she always does, interacts with her guest artists in a way that stimulates them to give performances that are unique and hugely entertaining. As William Finn (who appeared in a prior Jamie deRoy & Friends) remarked, 'Jamie's interview of me was the best I've ever had'. The show was directed by Jamie's extremely creative friend Barry Kleinbort who also displayed his wonderful performance abilities. Music Director was Shelly Markham.

Theater Latte Da announced today a dynamic season of four productions that feature the wickedly funny musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Ordway Center's McKnight Theatre (October 6-30, 2011), the new holiday classic All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at the Pantages Theatre (December 15-18, 2011), the regional premiere of Beautiful Thing at The Lab Theater (February 24 - March 18, 2012), and the passionate rock musical Spring Awakening produced in partnership with the University of Minnesota at the Rarig Center's Stoll Thrust Theatre (April 12 - May 6, 2012).

Third Street Theatre today announced that its first production in L.A.'s newest 99-seat Equity Waiver house; their critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITICS' CHOICE, LA Weekly GO!, Backstage CRITIC'S PICK, Ovation Recommended!) smash-hit production of the Tony award-winning musical FALSETTOS, with book by James Lapine and William Finn, music and lyrics by William Finn, choreography by John Todd, musical direction by Greg Nabours and directed by Richard Israel is EXTENDING through Sunday, October 30 at the THIRD STREET THEATRE, 8115 W. Third Street in West Hollywood.

Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, announces updates to the 2011 season in its Mainstage and Stage 2 venues.