Since today is only a week away from Christmas Day, we are taking a special look at the absolute must-own Christmas- themed releases for the Broadway baby on your list. From Barbra Streisand to Sondheim, Raul Esparza to Liza Minnelli, Barbara Cook to Straight No Chaser - there's certainly a little bit of holiday cheer to cast some winter starlight upon even the saddest of Charlie Brown Christmas trees. Here are seven ways to make your holiday a little more sparkling and bright - and some cool Yule selections for how to change-up your Christmas tune listening for the last seven days until Santa Claus & Co. arrive late next Friday night!
Today, we are presenting a special interview edition of FLASH FRIDAY with a two-time Tony-winning legend famous for her star-making turn in the original cast of WEST SIDE STORY under the direction of Jerome Robbins through to her heralded performances in the original casts of a trio of thrilling Kander & Ebb musicals - CHICAGO, THE RINK and KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. Most recently, she stormed Broadway with her bio-musical THE DANCER'S LIFE. She is Chita Rivera and over the course of our career-spanning conversation her unmistakable vivacity and earthy elegance belied her more than fifty years experience in show business. Her optimism is positively infectious and her charm alarmingly disarming. You can catch her live onstage beginning a week from today for four special performances at Birdland. Tickets are available at the link below. Don't miss Chita on BroadwayWorld and at Birdland... and all her jazz!
Today, perhaps the greatest gift a Broadway baby could receive was benevolently bestowed upon me in the form of an indepth and revealing discussion with the foremost composer and lyricist of his generation, one of the greatest writers in American history in any medium - the unmatched musical and lyrical genius himself, Stephen Sondheim. In this portion of our complete discussion we discuss his new book, FINISHING THE HAT, as well as take a look back at his legendary career both in Hollywood and on Broadway. Merman to Madonna, Brecht to Barbra Streisand, COMPANY to GROUNDHOG DAY (or not) - we cover it all. See here just a glimpse of the reason why the name Stephen Sondheim means more to musical theatre than any other name in the last fifty years. Plus, his promise to - in his own immortal words from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE - 'give us more to see' in the very near future. That moment cannot come soon enough, as any fan of theatre - or art in America, for that matter - can assuredly attest.
John Mellencamp and his band are set to embark on the first leg of the No Better Than This Tour in late October following the August 17 release of his Rounder Records debut album, No Better Than This. The tour, designed as a uniquely formatted 'evening with,' brings Mellencamp's music to theater-sized venues, a rare opportunity to experience one of America's most iconic songwriters and performers in an intimate setting, highlighting all phases of his artistry.
This week we are taking a listen to the soundtrack for the forthcoming ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW homage ala GLEE with a rundown of the second season of the hit Golden Globe-winning musical dramedy series and how it stacks up to last season. Additionally, we take a peek at one of the most famous musicals numbers from the cult classic score - 'Time Warp' featuring all of the central Glee club cast-members of the show, among them Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron and Chris Colfer. The soundtrack also contains a special appearance by John Stamos - late of Broadway's recent BYE BYE BIRDIE, and the other Roundabout revivals of NINE and CABARET - who sings the song made famous by a then unknown Meat Loaf in 1975 who will be making an appearance himself on the episode when it airs October 26th on Fox. So, come up to the lab and see what's on the slab a whole week early as we take a peak at the soundtrack and some special video clips from THE ROCKY HORROR GLEE SHOW.
This week we are taking a listen to a stunning new release of a brand new Broadway score coming from one of the most celebrated and cherished American songwriting teams in Broadway and Hollywood history - if only for 'Cabaret' and 'New York, New York' if not everything else as well - the incandescent Kander & Ebb. Today we take an indepth look at one of their final scores together as captured on a cast recording in anticipation of the Broadway bow of this show in its off-Broadway to Broadway transfer later this month. Shout 'Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey' - it's the Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording of THE SCOTSBORRO BOYS and that alone gives us reason to sing hymns to the many hims - as well as the single her, the director/choreographer at the helm, multi-Tony-winning Susan Stroman - overflowing with appreciation and praise to these fine craftsmen and the cast conveying the controversial and candid topic at the center of the show. Broadway rarely has this much sardonic bite - and biting bang - for your buck than this show and subsequent cast recording do. Kander & Ebb once again show us how it's done, and done best - and rewrite all of the rules while doing it.
Today we have Part I of the BWW Exclusive two-part InDepth InterView with legendary stage and screen actress - and, bar none, the greatest Tennessee Williams actress alive - Tony-winning star, and a legend in her own time: Elizabeth Ashley! In this first part, we talk her early stage career from TAKE HER, SHE'S MINE directed by George Abbott and produced by Hal Prince in the 60s up to AGNES OF GOD opposite Amanda Plummer and Geraldine Page in the early 80s continuing to Tracy Letts' Pulitzer-prize winning opus AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY in 2007 - to say nothing of the central focus of our extended conversation: her most recent role playing the mother of twin sons named Otto (and/or 'otto') in Edward Albee's newest absurdist masterpiece, ME, MYSELF & I, which can currently be seen at Playrights' Horizons! From the grande dame of Williams, to life with Orson Welles, to living on the road (by choice), and a life in the theatre (no choice), Ms. Ashley is a fabulous, veritable walking, talking history of the American theatre in the last forty years and no one - I repeat, no one - can tell a story better than she can! From Mohammad Ali to Edward Albee, this interview has it all! She is one of the greats, onstage and off. There will never be another Liz Ashley and this first part is just half the reason why!
From Saturday, September 4, 2010 to Monday, September 6, 2010, the Kennedy Center will host its ninth annual Page to Stage new play festival, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work.
From Saturday, September 4, 2010 to Monday, September 6, 2010, the Kennedy Center will host its ninth annual Page to Stage new play festival, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work.
Today we are taking a listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording of SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM starring Barbra Cook, Tom Wopat, Vanessa Williams, Leslie Kritzer, Euan Morton and Norm Lewis and also taking a critical look back at his incredible, incomparable career. While the show onstage at Studio 54 as directed by James Lapine failed to catch fire or leave a big impression on critics or audiences, PS Classics went to the trouble to record a cast album preserving most of the show as it was seen so they deserve praise if only for that. There are some obscurities here - some college ditties, cut COMPANY finales, an abandoned GYPSY number - plus brand new, candid interviews with Sondheim himself as well as a shiny new Sondheim patter song written expressly for this revue titled 'God'. Never a more applicable song title could have come from Sondheim's pen when discussing - and poking fun at - his own career as the Brains Behind Broadway. Let's see how Sondheim in general, as well as this show, stack up on (the) record!
John Mellencamp and his band are set to embark on the first leg of the No Better Than This Tour in late October following the August 17 release of his Rounder Records debut album, No Better Than This. The tour, designed as a uniquely formatted 'evening with,' brings Mellencamp's music to theater-sized venues, a rare opportunity to experience one of America's most iconic songwriters and performers in an intimate setting, highlighting all phases of his artistry.
From Saturday, September 4, 2010 to Monday, September 6, 2010, the Kennedy Center will host its ninth annual Page to Stage new play festival, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work.
Today, in honor of centennial of Frank Loesser, we are taking an exclusive First Listen to the Masterworks Broadway release of HEART & SOUL: Celebrating The Unforgettable Songs Of Frank Loesser and taking a look at some memorable clips and cast albums and soundtracks from his illustrious career in Hollywood and on Broadway. Though in the sweaty summer haze it's hard to warm too much to "Baby, It's Cold Outside", nothing could be hotter than "Havana" from GUYS & DOLLS and the more we look at Loesser, it becomes quite crystal clear that sometimes less is truly much, much more…
Today, we are taking a listen to five of the greatest and most deservedly classic-status cast albums of all time, with all five selections also being Tony-winning Best Musicals recently remastered, repackaged and re-released by Masterworks Broadway in time for Tony Award season which this week is finally coming to a close. In salute of Broadway now - and as it was fifty years ago when the first of these scores premiered - we take stock of what we have got, for better or worse. Surely, the strength of these shows' scores speak and sing out loud for themselves: 42nd Street, 1776, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, MAME and CITY OF ANGELS. From Herman to Coleman to Loesser and beyond we go, with a glance to the future and the all-to-recent past...
Today, I am sharing with you Part II of my exclusive InDepth InterView with legendary Broadway star Donna McKechnie who is perhaps best known as the genius director-choreographer Michael Bennett's muse and primary interpreter as well as the originator and inspiration for the character of Cassie in A CHORUS LINE - for which she won Best Actress In A Musical at the 1976 Tony Awards - in addition to her many roles on Broadway and the West End, as well as all over the country on tours of every kind over the years. In Part II of this comprehensive chat we discuss her new show with Kaye Ballard and Liliane Montevecci that kicks off next year titled BROADWAY LADIES, working with choreographers Jerome Robbins and Ron Field, Bennett's thoughts on Leonard Bernstein, Robbins and ON THE TOWN, what Robbins work meant to Bennett growing up, what Gwen Verdon's work meant to her, her thoughts on punk rock and amplification in the theatre as well as working with Rock Hudson, Dick Van Dyke and, of course, Bennett himself.
When Isaiah Sheffer first walked into the dilapidated movie house on Broadway and 95th Street in the late '70s he saw some kind of makeshift boxing ring on the creaky stage. But what he envisioned was a great center for the arts on the Upper West Side that filled the wide cultural gap between Lincoln Center and Columbia University.
Today, in honor of the Tony Awards on Sunday, we close out the season with the last two recordings related to the 2009-2010 Broadway season with an exclusive First Listen to the PROMISES, PROMISES Broadway Revival Recording starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth courtesy of the kind folks at Sony, as well as the Original Broadway Cast Recording of THE ADDAMS FAMILY starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. These recordings certainly offer strong proof of the best - and worst - that Broadway has to offer in the modern age. Everything old may be new again in the case of PROMISES, but everything new is tired old-hat as far as ADDAMS goes as we will soon see.
We talk to the stars of Love Never Dies about the Phantom, Christine...and a Phantom Three...
Since its rebrand just two years ago, Animal Planet has transformed into a more powerful, competitive entertainment destination with hit shows featuring people's complex relationships with the animal world. This upfront season, the Planet announces 300 hours of original programming including more than 100 hours of new shows along with a slew of returning series that earned both critical and viewer acclaim, all underscoring the evolution of the Animal Planet brand and its new tagline, 'Surprisingly Human.'
This week, both in memory of the real-life Baby June, June Havoc, who passed away this week, as well as a precursory introduction to a multi-part series critiquing the entire canon of all major Sondheim cast albums available in anticipation of the late April opening of the new review SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM (currently in previews at Studio 54), we are taking a listen to the various cast recordings of the major productions on Broadway/West End of GYPSY over the last fifty years. GYPSY was, of course, one of the first scores on Broadway boasting lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and whether a leading lady the likes of Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters or Patti LuPone, it is a score unlike any other before or since and a true pinnacle of not only musical theatre, but all theatre, on Broadway and beyond. Some may even say the greatest musical of all...
This week we are taking a listen to one of Broadway's brightest stars Laura Bell Bundy, late of HAIRSPRAY and LEGALLY BLONDE, who is hoping for some pop/country-crossover success with her latest, for all intents and purposes, double-album...
This week we are taking a look at the just-released cast album of the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical sequel, LOVE NEVER DIES, which has proven to be among many phans and theatre fans, in a word, divisive. Be sure to check out last week's Phantom Round-Up for a rundown of the original PHANTOM OF THE OPERA as it stands on disc if only because it is beneficial to have at least a tertiary knowledge of that show‘s score in order to fully appreciate the music here... And what rich, rapturous music it is!
This week we are talking a trip to the Paris Opera and visiting some old friends on the eve of their re-appearance in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical sequel LOVE NEVER DIES, but before that review next week (clue: it's truly phantastic, with an 'f' and a 'ph'!) let us take a look at the best and most notable recordings of the score of the original show, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, including the Original London Cast Recording, the Canadian Highlights recording starring Colm Wilkinson, the 2004 Film Soundtrack, as well as two solo albums by the show's original stars, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman...
Probably my favorite recording of my all-time favorite Christmas song, Frank Loesser's 'Baby, It's Cold Outside!', is the barn-burning opener to one of the best Christmas albums out there, Broadway Cares' HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. While Christmas may be passed, and Valentine's Day just around the corner, it certainly warms the heart a bit to think that the audible affection affected by Alan Cumming and Liza Minnelli on that track spills over into real life, as they happen to be the best of friends. This week we will take a look at Alan Cumming's first solo album, I BOUGHT A BLUE CAR TODAY and Liza's just-released concert film which was recorded at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas late last year, around Christmastime, LIZA'S AT THE PALACE...
FEBRUARY AT THE METROPOLITAN ROOM. Come join us every Friday and Saturday from 11PM-2AM for our piano lounge.
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