Zero Mostel News

In Shakespeare for American Actors and Directors (Limelight Editions, April 2013, $14.99), Aaron Frankel defines and asserts the acting tools by which American actors may freshly and truly illuminate Shakespeare.

Coming up at the Paley Center: a MAD MEN panel livestream, Peabody event with Amy Poehler, David Simon, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, and A Salute to Broadway in honor of the annual broadcast of the Tony Awards. Details below!

The Tony Awards have announced the line-up for the 3rd Annual Tony Awards Film Series, which will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at The Paley Center for Media. The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, which are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 9, 2013.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC) presents Fiddler on the Roof today, April 14, 2013 at 3pm. All tickets are $45/$36 (orchestra/mezzanine) and can be purchased by phone at 718-951-4500 (Tues-Sat, 1pm-6pm), or online at www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org.

Six children whose parents were on the blacklist of the 1950s will gather for a panel discussion after today's April 14, 5:00pm performance of Finks, playwright Joe Gilford's fictionalized account of his parents, Jack Gilford and MAdeline Lee Gilford, and their real life experience of the blacklist, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

I'm sad to report that I may have missed several moments of The Producers, currently playing at San Antonio's Woodlawn Theatre. The downside of having to wipe tears of laughter out of your eyes is that you miss a few seconds of action. Of course, that's hardly a complaint about this solid, polished, and professional production. Woodlawn Theatre's current production of The Producers illustrates exactly why the show was such a hit when it opened in 2001 and why it continues to please audiences. Despite the occasional offensiveness and cheekiness, the show is an enjoyable laugh riot that you can't help but love.

Six children whose parents were on the blacklist of the 1950s will gather for a panel discussion after the Sunday, April 14, 5:00pm performance of Finks, playwright Joe Gilford's fictionalized account of his parents, Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, and their real life experience of the blacklist, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

According to a casting notcice, Edward Hibbert and Wesley Taylor have signed on to star in an upcoming off-Broadway revival of Sidney Howard's 1926 play THE SILVER CORD at The Peccadillo Theater Company. A staged reading for the show was held in January featuring Tayor alongside Charles Busch Dan Wackerman, Jessie Austrian, Molly Camp, and Robert Eli. The production will run May 15 through June 23.

When Dana Lorge's run as a Variety Show hosted ended at the Iguana Restaurant last July-and after winning two 2012 MAC Awards for 'Best Variety Show' and 'Best Variety Show Host'-who knew she'd be reduced to being a cabaret audience member searching for a new showcase? But a Metropolitan Room Mentch has come to the rescue in the form of Bernie Furshpan (the Met Room's General Partner and Manager), who has provided Dana with a monthly forum for her unique brand of cabaret shtick beginning Friday, April 5 at 7-8:15 pm. While the new show won't be the two-hour plus extravaganza of yore featuring more than a dozen performers, Dana's new 'Variety Show' promises to feature a solid group of experienced and well-known cabaret and musical theater pros. For the April 5 opener, the Lorge Lineup features Richard Skipper, her former Award-winning Co-host from the Iguana days; film and stage actor Jim Brochu (of Zero Mostel One-Man Show fame), singers LaTanya Hall (from the CBS show 'Blue Bloods) and Peggy Herman Klat, Rick Crom (Creator of Newsical the Musical), and Mr. Furshpan, who will show off his stand-up comedy chops. But the real star of the show will always be the hilarious, unpredictable, darling Dana, who will both crack you up with her infectious humor and surprise you with her engaging singing performances.

Finks is playwright Joe Gilford's fictionalized account of his parents, Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, and their real life experience of the blacklist. It is a tale of a scoundrel time, a time of paranoia, loyalty and betrayal, show business and show trials, told from the life of two young entertainers who, at the birth of their careers, had to confront the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This play is about names, the naming of names, career-determining choices and finks.

Megan Mullally is a two-time Emmy-winning star of TV's Will & Grace, and recent star of Broadway's Young Frankenstein. On April 6, she makes her New Orleans debut in the acclaimed Broadway @ NOCCA series for two shows only, at 7:30PM and 9:30PM, joined by Seth Rudetsky at piano. For tickets please visit http://www.broadwaynola.com/. Megan will also attend a special Meet and Greet reception directly following her 9:30 show that will benefit The NOCCA Institute. Tickets to the reception, which will take place at Reilly Hall at NOCCA, are also available at the above link. The Broadway @ NOCCA series is also announcing that it will initiate a new, $2,500 per-year scholarship.

Finks is playwright Joe Gilford's fictionalized account of his parents, Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, and their real life experience of the blacklist. It is a tale of a scoundrel time, a time of paranoia, loyalty and betrayal, show business and show trials, told from the life of two young entertainers who, at the birth of their careers, had to confront the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This play is about names, the naming of names, career-determining choices and finks.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC) presents Fiddler on the Roof on Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3pm. All tickets are $45/$36 (orchestra/mezzanine) and can be purchased by phone at 718-951-4500 (Tues-Sat, 1pm-6pm), or online at www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org.

Miles Phillips has performed a dazzling number of Broadway musical roles: Robert in Company, Georges in La Cage Aux Folles, Officer Lockstock in Urinetown, Lumiere in Beauty And The Beast, The Wizard in Wicked, and Javert in Les Miserables, to name a few.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College (BCBC) presents Fiddler on the Roof on Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3pm. All tickets are $45/$36 (orchestra/mezzanine) and can be purchased by phone at 718-951-4500 (Tues-Sat, 1pm-6pm), or online at www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org.

The Picture Show at Bay Street Theatre, sponsored by Peconic Landing, continues with classic films this spring. Please note changes as some film dates were shifted due to adding the St. Patrick's Day Party on March 16 at 8 pm.

In Shakespeare for American Actors and Directors (Limelight Editions, April 2013, $14.99), Aaron Frankel defines and asserts the acting tools by which American actors may freshly and truly illuminate Shakespeare.

Fiddler traffics in the safest kind of nostalgia, reminiscences of a world no one would want to return to. It's a lovely flirtation with a way of life that is safely dead. The only real question is whether it is done well. And I'm pleased to say that it's done very well by Toby's.

The Picture Show at Bay Street Theatre, sponsored by Peconic Landing, continues with classic films this spring. Please note changes as some film dates were shifted due to adding the St. Patrick's Day Party on March 16 at 8 pm.

It's a brand new year at Bay Street Theatre and a brand new 22nd season has just been announced! Three hilarious shows have been chosen for this year's Mainstage Season. The shows are LEND ME A TENOR, by Ken Ludwig; directed by Don Stephenson (May 28 - June 23), THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP by Charles Ludlum; directed by Kenneth Elliott (July 2 - 28) and A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge; book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.