The Next President - 1958 - Broadway Articles Page 9

Early Saturday morning, legendary lyricist Hal David passed away at the age of 91, so today we will be celebrating his life by partaking in some of the most memorable and entertaining moments from his starry, sixty-year career as captured on the internet.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the John Waters' original film, Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly brings together an all-star cast of Broadway, film and TV stars for the full symphonic production of the Broadway musical, Hairspray. Hairspray: In Concert! will premiere with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Jan. 11-13, 2013, and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Jan. 24-27, 2013.

Welcome to the fifth installment of Music City Confidential, my column to collect the flotsam and jetsam, informationally speaking, of theatre in Tennessee. Sorry for the long delay since the last installment, but I've been theatering my butt off all over the Volunteer State in search of intriguing gossip and riveting news stories just for you, my gentle readers.

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.

According to an Equity Audition notice, the Steppenwolf's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf will begin previews on Broadway on September 27, 2012 in anticipation of its previously announced October 13, 2012 opening at a Shubert Theatre to be announced. Pam Mackinnon will continue to helm the project. Jerry Frankel, Jeffrey Richards Susan Q. Gallin and Mary Lu Roffe will produce.

CBS News legend Mike Wallace, the 60 MINUTES' pit-bull reporter whose probing, brazen style made his name synonymous with the tough interview - a style he practically invented for television more than half a century ago - died last night. He was 93 and passed peacefully surrounded by family members at Waveny Care Center in New Canaan, Conn., where he spent the past few years.

CBS News legend Mike Wallace, the 60 MINUTES' pit-bull reporter whose probing, brazen style made his name synonymous with the tough interview - a style he practically invented for television more than half a century ago - died last night. He was 93 and passed peacefully surrounded by family members at Waveny Care Center in New Canaan, Conn., where he spent the past few years.

NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group and Fitness Ridge Worldwide, the parent entity of The Biggest Loser Resort, today announced that it will open its third destination resort location this spring in western New York.

Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.

Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.

The ABC Television Network and the Country Music Association have extended their broadcast agreement through 2021, it's been announced by ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee and CMA Chief Executive Officer Steve Moore.

Signature Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director James Houghton; Executive Director Erika Mallin), announced today seven productions for its inaugural 2012 season at Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street near 10th Avenue), the company's new Frank Gehry-designed permanent home opening in February 2012. Signature Center will allow the Company to expand its programming, introduce new initiatives, and build audiences. Featuring three intimate theatres, a studio theatre, rehearsal studio and a shared lobby with café and bookstore, Signature Center will be both a theatre community hub and a neighborhood destination.

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. has announced updated programming for the two free performances it is presenting on September 10 and 11 at 5pm in Nelson A. Rockefeller Park (North end of Battery Park City, west of River Terrace) to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001.

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance today announced its full Harris Theater Presents 2011-2012 season, offering Chicago audiences a ground-breaking collection of innovative, culturally diverse programming by the world's finest musicians and dance companies, as well as Harris' signature collaborations with Chicago's leading dance and music institutions.

In celebration of its 50 year anniversary, the critically-acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will open on Broadway Saturday, October 13, 2012-exactly 50 years to the date after the play's original Broadway opening on Saturday, October 13, 1962. Directed by Pam MacKinnon, the Broadway production will feature the original Steppenwolf cast: ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton with Carrie Coon and Madison Dirks and will open at a Shubert Theatre TBA.

Today we are talking to the composer of the new Broadway musical WONDERLAND, who is the only American composer to have had three of his shows running concurrently on Broadway - JEKYLL & HYDE, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL and THE CIVIL WAR - and has since solidified himself as one of the most successful international musical theatre composers of the 21st century, with his globe-spanning productions of everything from THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO in Switzerland to CYRANO in Tokyo to TEARS OF HEAVEN in Korea to the forthcoming Broadway production of BONNIE & CLYDE - the warm and gracious Frank Wildhorn. Over the span of our considerable discussion last week we touched on everything from his pop music roots writing hits for Whitney Houston and Kenny Rogers, to his tenure at Atlantic Records and his series of recordings, shows and concerts with muse Linda Eder, as well as a thorough discussion of his compositional process, what inspires him in a story, his own favorite musicals, what the future holds - EXCALIBUR with Jim Steinman, perhaps? The world premiere of the long-awaited HAVANA? JEKYLL & HYDE: THE MOVIE MUSICAL? - and much, much more!

In collaboration with Cinema St. Louis, the Sheldon Art Galleries presents the exhibition Vincentennial: The Legacy of Vincent Price from April 22 - August 6, 2011. A free opening reception at the Sheldon Art Galleries will be held on Friday, April 22, from 6 - 8 p.m. Cinema St. Louis will hold a Vincentennial film festival from May 19 - May 28, 2011. More information on the film festival is available at www.vincentennial.com.

Richard Bruening, president of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, announced today that Evan Luskin, the Company's general director since 1998, will be retiring on June 30, 2012. Mr. Luskin's retirement will come at the conclusion of the Lyric's first year of residence in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which will open this fall.

Cabrillo Music Theatre is thrilled to present the Off-Broadway and Los Angeles smash-hit musical, THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES. THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES closes Sunday, February 13, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

Cabrillo Music Theatre is thrilled to present the Off-Broadway and Los Angeles smash-hit musical, THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES.

Cabrillo Music Theatre is thrilled to present the Off-Broadway and Los Angeles smash-hit musical, THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES.

Cabrillo Music Theatre is thrilled to present the Off-Broadway and Los Angeles smash-hit musical, THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues its inaugural season this spring with an unparalleled tribute to one of the nation's greatest living playwrights, Edward Albee. The company has mounted a two-month festival featuring 30 events, making nearly every one of his plays available in performance spaces throughout the Mead Center.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues its inaugural season this spring with an unparalleled tribute to one of the nation's greatest living playwrights, Edward Albee.

The 50th anniversary of the Philles Records label (1961-2011) has arrived. The long-range campaign promise announced in 2009 by Legacy Recordings and EMI Music Publishing, to dig deep into the rich catalog of Phil Spector's 'Wall Of Sound' on Philles, moves ahead with four newly-compiled albums. The quartet of titles will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting February 22nd through Phil Spector Records/ Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.