Onyx Collective Releases New Single 'My Funny Valentine'
by Kaitlin Milligan - Feb 14, 2020
On Friday, elusive New York City jazz group Onyx Collective returns with the release of their new single. 'My Funny Valentine' features Nick Hakim and is a reimagining of the song originally written for Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's 1937 musical Babes in Arms. On Onyx Collective's stripped-down rendition of the song, out via TMWRK Records, Nick Hakim delivers a delicate vocal performance over a haunting and at times tense piano riff. With the release Onyx Collective becomes one of the many significant artists to cover the song, including Hal McIntyre and Ruth Gaylor, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Lee Wiley, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, The Supremes, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, Chris Botti and Sting, and Chaka Khan.
GREAT WHITE WAY: RACE AND THE BROADWAY MUSICAL (2nd Ed.) Now Released
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Feb 13, 2020
Broadway musicals are one of America's most beloved art forms and play to millions of people each year. But what do these shows, which are often thought to be just frothy entertainment, really have to say about our country and who we are as a nation?
BWW Review: Musical Theater Heritage Brings OKLAHOMA! into the Modern Age
by Steve Wilson - Jun 9, 2019
Musical Theatre Heritage not only brings OKLAHOMA! to the Kansas City stage, but also to 2019. The musical classic OKLAHOMA! opened on Saturday, June 8 at Crown Center and runs through June 30. The 1943 box-office smash was the first written by the team of Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on the 1931 play by Lynn Riggs, GREEN GROWS THE LILACS, it is set out to tell the story of Laurey and her two suitors Curly and Jud in Oklahoma before it reached statehood.
Rodgers and Hammerstein Top the Charts For 6th Time Thanks to Ariana Grande's '7 Rings'
by Stephi Wild - Mar 20, 2019
In January, Ariana Grande dropped her latest single, and its accompanying music video, '7 Rings.' The song features her sampling the famous Sound of Music number, 'My Favorite Things.' According to The New York Times, the song just topped Billboard's singles chart for the sixth time. The song is credited to 10 writers, but Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the original 'My Favorite Things,' control 90% of the songwriting royalties. That makes this chart-topping hit not only a huge victory for Grande, but a huge victory for the musical theatre legends as well!
Casting Announced For JEANNIE at the Finborough Theatre
by Stephi Wild - Nov 2, 2018
A 1930s comedy for Christmas, Jeannie by rediscovered female playwright Aimee Stuart will open at the Finborough Theatre for a four-week limited season on Tuesday, 27 November 2018 (Press Nights: Thursday, 29 November and Friday, 30 November 2018 at 7.30pm).
CSO Cellist Richard Hirschl Joins New Philharmonic For MAC Concerts
by A.A. Cristi - Oct 22, 2018
Joined by Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Richard Hirschl, New Philharmonic, will perform two concerts featuring works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. The concerts, conducted by Maestro Kirk Muspratt, will be held at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd.; Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. A free MAC Chat will precede each concert. The concert program is as follows:
CSO Cellist Richard Hirschl Joins New Philharmonic For MAC Concerts
by A.A. Cristi - Oct 4, 2018
Joined by Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Richard Hirschl, New Philharmonic, will perform two concerts featuring works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. The concerts, conducted by Maestro Kirk Muspratt, will be held at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd.; Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. A free MAC Chat will precede each concert. The concert program is as follows:
BWW Interview: A Talent in Her Own Right, Kiki Ebsen's Much More Than Just Her Father's Daughter
by Gil Kaan - Sep 12, 2018
In TO DAD WITH LOVE, A TRIBUTE TO BUDDY EBSEN; Kiki Ebsen pays tribute to her father in the best way she knows how - singing and story-telling. Kiki graciously walked me through some of her vivid memories of growing up the child of a famous father, a most popular figure of 1960s television, known to weekly TV viewers as Jed Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies.
BWW Review: Anika Noni Rose is Captivating , But John Doyle Heavily Edits Oscar Hammerstein's CARMEN JONES
by Michael Dale - Jul 7, 2018
This is not shaping up to be a good year for Oscar Hammerstein II, American musical theatre's most important writer, who spent the first half of the 20th Century not only making significant strides to convert the genre from loosely assembled entertainments into respected and influential pieces of dramatic art, but was also a leading voice in promoting progressive values through his books and lyrics for such musicals as SHOW BOAT, SOUTH PACIFIC and THE KING AND I.
TCM To Pay Tribute To Musicals In June Programming Special 'Mad About Musicals!'
by Tori Hartshorn - May 23, 2018
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will pay homage to the glittering world of Hollywood musicals with Mad About Musicals!, a special month of programming celebrating timeless movie musicals such as The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain and Cabaret. TCM is once again partnering with Ball State University and Canvas to offer a free online multimedia course tied to this programming special about the history of the musical genre and its evolution with cultural and technological shifts. Enrollment is open until June 17 and fans can sign up for the course at musicals.tcm.com.
Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival To Showcase 35 Movies
by A.A. Cristi - Dec 19, 2017
The upcoming 28th annual The Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival will present movies from around the world, opening with BODY AND SOUL: An American Bridge, focusing on the early performance history and cross-cultural impact of the jazz standard by Jewish composer Johnny Green.
David Shannon, Gina Beck, Tom Edden, and Marianne Benedict Join MATILDA THE MUSICAL
by BWW News Desk - Aug 7, 2017
The Royal Shakespeare Company's Matilda The Musical has announced its new adult cast with David Shannon playing Miss Trunchbull alongside Gina Beck as Miss Honey and Tom Edden and Marianne Benedict as Mr and Mrs Wormwood. The multi award-winning production is currently playing its sixth year in the West End and is booking until 27 May 2018.
BWW Review: THE KING AND I at the Kennedy Center - It is 'Something Wonderful'
by Charles Shubow - Jul 24, 2017
Oh how delightful it was to hear a spectacular overture before a Broadway musical. When is the last time you heard one? We heard snippets of great music to come such as 'Something Wonderful', Whistle a Happy Tune', 'Shall We Dance' and 'Hello Young Lovers' all played by the talented orchestra (the massive 15 pieces) under the baton of Gerard Steichen.
Review Roundup: OKLAHOMA! at the Engeman
by Alan Henry - May 31, 2017
The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team for OKLAHOMA! Performances begin on Thursday, May 11 at 8:00pm and run through Sunday, June 25, 2017.
BWW Review: SHOW BOAT Sails Winning Course At Toby's Dinner Theatre
by Cybele Pomeroy - Jan 30, 2017
Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, MD presents SHOW BOAT, an old-fashioned treasure of musical theatre history, complete with troubling ethical issues, a cast packed with talent, vintage choreography, a fashion parade of costuming and vocals that will alternately haunt you and have you humming. Including a tasty buffet meal pre-show, comfortable venue and impeccably congenial staff, an outing to Toby's is the complete package for a date or family fun day.
BWW Review: The Golden Age of Broadway at The Boston Pops
by Nancy Grossman - Jun 17, 2016
The Boston Pops has been winning the affection of audiences in Boston and beyond for 131 seasons with programs like The Golden Age of Broadway and featured performers Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, Laura Osnes, and Justin Hopkins. Keith Lockhart was on the podium and Lidiya Yankovskaya was Guest Chorus Conductor with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
BWW Exclusive: Read the First Chapter of Tony-Winning Producer Jack Viertel's Book THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL
by Matt Tamanini - Apr 19, 2016
In THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL, Jack Viertel takes about musicals, puts them back together, sings their praises, marvels at their unflagging inventiveness, and occasionally despairs over their more embarrassing shortcomings. In the process, he invites us to fall in love with the art form all over again by showing us how musicals happen, what makes them work, how they captivate audiences, and how one landmark show leads to the next-by design or by accident, by emulation or by rebellion from OKLAHOMA! to HAMILTON and onward.
Wow, Wow, Wow Fellas! Meet the Creative Team of Broadway-Bound HELLO, DOLLY!
by Nicole Rosky - Jan 19, 2016
As BroadwayWorld reported this morning, Bette Midler will indeed return to Broadway in one of the most cherished shows in musical theater history when she takes on the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi in Michael Stewart's (book) and Jerry Herman's (music and lyrics) masterpiece, Hello, Dolly!. Directed by four-time Tony Award® winner Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly! will begin performances on Broadway on March 13, 2017, with an official opening night of April 20, 2017. Rehearsals begin one year from today.
This new production of Hello, Dolly!, the first new production of this classic musical to appear on Broadway since it opened more than fifty years ago, will have at its helm Jerry Zaks as its director, and will feature choreography by Tony Award-winner Warren Carlyle. The new Dolly! will pay tribute to the original work of legendary director/choreographer Gower Champion, which has been hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history.
Below, reacquaint yourself with the creative team, old and new!