Say When - 1928 - Broadway Articles Page 8

Today we are talking to an Emmy-winning stage star best known for his unforgettable turns as the Wizard of Oz himself in the original Broadway cast of THE WIZ, as well as his Emmy-winning performance in both the Broadway and filmed version of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'. In recent years, he has found much success with his choices of eccentric, oft-controversial roles, particularly those roles in the hot-button play PRYMATE and the David Yazbeck/Terrance McNally musical THE FULL MONTY. In this portion of our conversation, De Shields impresses with his effortless grace, studied theories on his craft and the art of theatre, all with taking a look forward to his newest stage venture - KNOCK ME A KISS by Charles Smith - which opens this weekend. We also discuss his role in the career of legendary songwriter Jim Steinman - from RHINEGOLD and BLOODSHOT WINE with Joe Papp in the 70s all the way to the workshop for the forthcoming BAT OUT OF HELL: THE MUSICAL.

Last week I conducted an illuminating InDepth InterView with legendary producer and director Harold Prince in which we discussed his singular career, having won more Tony Awards than any other person on the planet for his near one-hundred productions since his start as George Abbott's assistant producer over fifty years ago. He produced such landmark musicals as DAMN YANKEES, THE PAJAMA GAME and WEST SIDE STORY in the 1950s and then went on to become a director in his own right with Kander & Ebb's FLORA, THE RED MENANCE (Liza Minnelli's Broadway debut), CABARET into the Sondheim series of masterpieces in the 1970s - COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, PACIFIC OVERTURES, SWEENEY TODD - bridging into his two biggest commercial successes, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals EVITA and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Celebrating its 23rd year on Broadway in January, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is the most successful entertainment of all time, more than any other musical, television show or even feature film in history. It's a juggernaut like no other and the mystery, magic and majesty that had made the show such a rousing success is thanks to the masterful eye-of-all-eyes, the true master director of the American Theatre, Harold Prince. But, will he be doing the sequel?

'The Wild Party' bumps and grinds its way into Denver.

Come pursue the varieties of jazz experience at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem! From conversations and live performances to educational sessions and panel discussions, you're sure to have a ball and learn a lot too.

Come pursue the varieties of jazz experience at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem! From conversations and live performances to educational sessions and panel discussions, you're sure to have a ball and learn a lot too.

Come pursue the varieties of jazz experience at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem! From conversations and live performances to educational sessions and panel discussions, you're sure to have a ball and learn a lot too.

Sit back, relax, and relive the party and the time where the audience found fun in the antics of three cool, politically incorrect legends. Direct From Vegas The Rat Pack® comes to the historical California Theatre of the Performing Arts in San Bernardino, California for one night only: Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 8:00pm.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is proud to announce four additional productions for its 2010/2011 40th Anniversary Season. The three World Premieres and one New York premiere join the previously-announced New York premiere of Edward Albee's ME, MYSELF & I.

Glorious! is based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the legendary New York heiress and socialite who wanted to be a great operatic diva despite having one of the worst singing voices in history.

Come pursue the varieties of jazz experience at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem! From conversations and live performances to educational sessions and panel discussions, you're sure to have a ball and learn a lot too.

Sit back, relax, and relive the party and the time where the audience found fun in the antics of three cool, politically incorrect legends. Direct From Vegas The Rat Pack® comes to the historical California Theatre of the Performing Arts in San Bernardino, California for one night only: Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 8:00pm.

Glorious! is based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the legendary New York heiress and socialite who wanted to be a great operatic diva despite having one of the worst singing voices in history.

Glorious! is based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the legendary New York heiress and socialite who wanted to be a great operatic diva despite having one of the worst singing voices in history.

While many actors aspire to direct, few ever achieve fame in both disciplines. The Drowsy Chaperone's Jay Douglas, however, is one exception. He performed six roles in the production on Broadway during it's 2006 - 2007 run, including the lead Man in Chair, and at one point served as the show's dance captain.

Playwrights Horizons announced today that the New York premiere of ME, MYSELF & I, a new play by three-time Pulitzer Prize and three-time Tony Award winner Edward Albee (A Delicate Balance; Seascape; Three Tall Women; Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolf?; The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?) will open the theater company's 2010/2011 40th Anniversary Season. Mr. Albee will be making his Playwrights Horizons debut.

One of the many delights of director Michael Blakemore's revival of Noel Coward's giddily funny 1941 froth, Blithe Spirit, is that this 2009 production looks like it could have been seen in the play's premiere year. No doubt contemporary Broadway theatre can provide more spectacular ways for an actress playing a ghost to enter a room than to just have her walk through the French windows. And certainly if an invisible spirit chooses to destroy her husband's drawing room, modern technology can whip up a few tricks more gasp-inducing than simply having a picture frame fall and a bookshelf topple over. But when you have one of the English language's great comedies played by a company that excels in the verbal dexterity of the playwright's wit, there's no need for such distractions.

It was believed by many back in 1932, as it still is today, that the only reason Eugene O'Neill was not awarded that year's Pulitzer Prize for his Mourning Becomes Electra, an epic retelling of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy that declares Sigmund Freud as the true victor of the American Civil War, was that after granting him top honors for Beyond The Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922) and Strange Interlude (1928) the gang at Columbia figured enough was enough. So history was made that year when the Gershwin, Gershwin, Kaufman & Ryskin lark Of Thee I Sing became the first musical so honored, leaving O'Neill waiting until after his death to nab another, for Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Goodman Theatre launches its new 2009/2010 Season with tap dancing, acrobatics, tumbling, guitar- and ukulele-playing in an original take on the rarely-produced Marx Brothers classic musical Animal Crackers, written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby

Goodman Theatre launches its new 2009/2010 Season with tap dancing, acrobatics, tumbling, guitar- and ukulele-playing in an original take on the rarely-produced Marx Brothers classic musical Animal Crackers, written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby

Alan Gilbert will launch the New York Philharmonic's 168th season's subscription concerts in his new role as Music Director, conducting works that reflect his interest in creating programs that feature established repertoire and new and lesser-known music in innovative contexts.

Goodman Theatre launches its new 2009/2010 Season with tap dancing, acrobatics, tumbling, guitar- and ukulele-playing in an original take on the rarely-produced Marx Brothers classic musical Animal Crackers, written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby

Alan Gilbert will launch the New York Philharmonic's 168th season's subscription concerts in his new role as Music Director, conducting works that reflect his interest in creating programs that feature established repertoire and new and lesser-known music in innovative contexts.

This week marks the beginning of what has become an enduring tradition for Playhouse Square, as they launch their annual ?Cinema at the Square.? For the next two weeks, fifteen classic films will be revived on the second biggest screen in the Cleveland area (the local Imax is bigger but, by the same token, they aren?t going to be running ?Gone With the Wind? anytime soon) at Playhouse Square?s Palace Theatre. Fifteen dollars will get you six tickets to the films of your choice, or you can pay five dollars at the door to films that are guaranteed memories in the making.

Gateway Playhouse, the 'foremost summer professional regional theatre' (Newsweek), announces its 60th anniversary season celebrating some of Broadway's biggest Tony Award winning hits: Miss Saigon, A Chorus Line, The Drowsy Chaperone, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sophisticated Ladies and Meshuggah-Nuns.

MAXWELL C. KING CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS announces their MARCH, APRIL, MAY, LINE-UP 'Dame Edna Everage - My First Last Tour' Friday & Saturday, April 3& 4, 8:00 pm Tickets On Sale Now