The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces its upcoming film series and events:
Legendary singer/actress Vikki Carr, born Florencia Bisenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona in El Paso, Texas, skyrocketed to superstardom as an American pop singer in 1962 with 'He's a Rebel' followed by 'It Must Be Him' in 1967 and 'With Pen in Hand' in 1969. In the 80s and 90s her Spanish recordings brought her three Grammy Awards, and she set the precedent for cross over artists becoming successful in both English and Spanish. Now in 2012 she returns to the Sony label with a new album Viva la Vida, released on September 25. In our chat she talks about the album, the charity that is closest to her heart and how she feels about being a Mexican-American in show business.
On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.
Today we are talking to an iconic Tony Award-winning star who made her name as a teenager singing on TV variety shows - THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW and SING ALONG WITH MITCH included - and then went on to a multimedia career in film and theatre, conquering Broadway with her Tony-winning turn in the Jule Styne/Arthur Laurents musical HALLELUJAH, BABY! in 1967 and returning to the stage in the subsequent decades in a host of Broadway productions, such as BLUES IN THE NIGHT, JERRY'S GIRLS, ANYTHING GOES, August Wilson's KING HEDLEY II and her celebrated Muzzy in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - a role she reprises in the new Muny production of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical beginning this week - the one and only Leslie Uggams. Taking a thorough look back at her career thus far, Uggams opens up about her many successes and how she has endured for fifty years in show business and shares recollections of many of her most noted co-stars and collaborators, all the way up to the recent 2012 Encores! PIPE DREAM. Additionally, Uggams comments on her film and TV appearances over the years, speaking about her work in INHERIT THE WIND, TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, ROOTS and beyond. Plus, she shares her candid opinions on GLEE, SMASH, Broadway then versus now, future plans for her Lena Horne solo show and thoughts on other roles she would enjoy pursuing - and much, much more!
He's a new dad but an old hand at Broadway ensemble work as well as principal roles on other stages.
The moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter is aligning with Mars on Oct. 25 - Nov 20 at the Golden Gate Theater where the Tony-award winning HAIR is getting ready to open. It's definitely the place to Be-in! Leading the HAIR tribe is actor Steel (yes, that's his real name) Burkhardt, whose long tresses and loincloth are set to bring back the 60's revolution in the city where it all began....BroadwayWorld.com's Linda Hodges had the chance to interview the Broadway star about the show, his thoughts on the darker side of the 60's movement, the craziest audience member they've had and more. That interview follows.
On January 3, 2011, Cabaret's original Sally Bowles, Jill Haworth passed away at age 65 of what was reported to be natural causes. In celebration of her life, Michael Gregg Michaud composed the following tribute to the late star. Michaud was a good friend of the actress and author of the biography of Sal Mineo, who was Haworth's lover for many years.
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill is located at 237 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) New York, NY 10036
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill is located at 237 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) New York, NY 10036
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill is located at 237 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) New York, NY 10036
Few stars - or even legends, like this one - boast a resume that includes a Tony Award, the leading role on one of the most cherished sitcoms of the early eighties, a star-making film debut in one of the greatest horror films ever made (with one of the most exciting casts ever assembled), as well as an unparalleled career on the concert and cabaret stages around the world - in addition to a dozen or so leading roles in musicals on Broadway and in the West End, and just as many notable film roles, ranging from intimate indies to big-budget behemoths. Yes, Betty Buckley has conquered every arena of entertainment and it is a rare thrill to reveal such exciting news as Ms. Buckley revealed to me in our comprehensive conversation last week. In this BroadwayWorld Exclusive InDepth InterView we discuss her upcoming albums, BOOTLEG: BOARD MIXES FROM THE ROAD and GHOSTLIGHT - the latter produced by Oscar and Grammy-winning producer extraordinaire T Bone Burnett - both in connection to her Town Hall concert on October 16th. Here you will also find the first news of working with Jason Moore, Jake Shears and the rest of the cast and crew of the hotly anticipated new musical based on Armistead Maupin's TALES OF THE CITY premiering next Spring in San Francisco where Ms. Buckley is creating the lead role of Anna Madrigal. We also talk the recent big Emmy-winner out of all of TV this year, HBO's miniseries THE PACIFIC. In this illuminating conversation, Ms. Buckley bares all and reveals that it is the supreme dedication to excellence and unwavering commitment to craft that has helped her to become one of the biggest Broadway names of our age with an astoundingly accomplished career almost beyond any comparison. And if all of this breaking news weren't enough, this is the complete unedited conversation where we also look back and talk about everything from CARRIE to TENDER MERCIES, CATS to SUNSET BLVD, William Finn to WYATT EARP, Roman Polanski to Robert Duvall, cabaret to country concert stage and much, much more. Now is the very best time of all to let the memory live again, so it's all eyes (feline and otherwise) on the extraordinary future in the life and career of the legendary Betty Buckley!
In September, DC area theatres are filled with almost a dozen musical productions opening -- classics, family shows, and many wonderful plays being performed on our over 200 theatre venues. The humidity is finally melting away, and it's a perfect time to welcome the cooler weather and the colors of the Fall by making a trip to the Nation's Capital and catching a show or two or three. There are family shows with canines and rabbits, a Labor Day weekend theatre festival that's FREE, a new jazz musical with some of the area's most talented singers, and bugs and ants that swing on trapezes. Mr. Ripley is finally coming to town, while I'm hoping that all will be well at Shakespeare Theatre. Someone is trying to deal with a very troubling inch, a Bar-Mitzvah boy has to deal with his crazy family, spelling champions battle it out, and a beagle pilot takes flight. There's so much to choose from, so read on and see what's playing in September in this monumental town. Happy New Year to all my fellow Jewish lovers of the theatre!
BroawayWorld recently caught up with stage legend and screen star Betty Buckley, who is preparing to open the world premiere of Ben Andron's debut play, WHITE'S LIES, at New World Stages on Thursday, May 6, 2010.
Actress/ singer Michele Lee will appear in S.T.A.G.E. benefit's Original Cast on May 1 at the Luckman Theatre. Star of stage, screen and TV, Lee starred on Broadway with Robert Morse in How to Succeed in Businees Without Really Trying (1961-65) and then repeated the role of Rosemary on film in 1967, Bravo Giovanni in 1962, Seesaw in 1973, winning a Drama Desk Award as Best Actress and a Tony nomination as Best Actress in a Musical and in Charles Busch's comedy The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000-2002), receiving a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Play.
As the Helen Hayes Awards ceremony on April 5th honors performances and productions from the past year, DC theatergoers will be hearing two gorgeous scores by Jason Robert Brown and Jeanine Tesori, and seeing a new opera about a boxer, a splashing pool on stage, Tyne Daley as diva Maria Callas, Maurice Hines tapping his way on the Lincoln Theatre stage, Mrs. Robinson seducing Benjamin, a red balloon thrilling young audiences, Harvey Fierstein wishing he was a rich man, tales and songs from a Scottish Jewish composer, a new children's show with lots of princesses, a little musical with the title in [ ], a triumphant mounting of a short-lived Broadway musical, and a wordless Kafka classic performed in Georgian style. The crocuses, cherry blossoms, and azaleas will be in full bloom, as the nation's capital will be awash in beautiful colors. It's the perfect time to visit and see some great shows in our DC area theatres.
For Women's History Month, an interview with the singer and activist, who has a new recording of 'Over the Rainbow' out and upcoming shows at Cafe Carlyle.
Talk about a makeover. Just over one year ago, Diane Paulus was merely a freelance director with a hit on her hands. Now, that hit - Hair - is a Tony Award winning musical, and she a Tony-nominated director, newly appointed Artistic Director of one of the most prestigious regional theaters in the country (A.R.T. in Boston), and soon to be triple tasking on productions on Broadway, in London, and at her theater in Boston. Did I mention she's also a mother of two?
It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when Florence Henderson became a household name. It was certainly through the media of television, but was it her numerous appearances on the then-popular variety shows? Perhaps it was because of the proliferation of commercials she did for Polident and Wesson Oil; the latter in which she helped coin the phrase 'Wessonality'. Obviously her long stint as Mrs. Carol Brady in 'The Brady Bunch' played a major role in her becoming not only a name people easily recognized, but a talent that has genuinely been appreciated by different generations down through the years.
NEW THIS WEEK! Several local theatres to present holiday fare for families and adults! PLUS: Free Theatre for BWW Readers!
NEW THIS WEEK! An EXCLUSIVE, FREE PREVIEW FOR BWW READERS! Best Bet at Spotlighters! Readers Write: Are Audiences Shrinking? New shows open at MET and Onstage! Discounts and much more!
Piper Goodeve and Jessica Grove from Theatreworks' Anne of Green Gables, along with composer Nancy Ford discuss the show and do two exclusive, in-studio performances from the show.
The Tony winner talks about creating the greatest role of his distinguished career, Judge Francis Biddle in 'Trying,' now at the Promenade Theatre.
Videos
