The Second Little Show - 1930 - Broadway Articles Page 8

There may have been 40 cabaret performers strutting their stuff this past week at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, but the true star of the three-night extravaganza (October 17-19) was the late Donald Smith, the cabaret impresario and guru to the genre's luminaries, who died this past March at 79. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, which Smith founded in 1985, this year's Convention featured numerous homages to Smith from the performers, many of whom had their career's supported and advanced with the help of the colorful and beloved cabaret producer and promoter. Early in Wednesday's Gala Opening Night show, the 'first lady of the American keyboard' Barbara Carroll called her friend Donald Smith 'the quintessential New Yorker,' and when Mark Nadler closed night one with George and Ira Gershwin's 'Our Love Is Here to Stay,' he said, 'Everybody who cares about the myths of these songs are in this room tonight.' Well, it was clear that anyone who cared about Donald Smith was at the Rose Theater for at least one of the three shows.

Beginning this month, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) will celebrate the iconic work and enduring legacy of composer Kurt Weill with an unprecedented series of events. Opening on Friday, Oct. 19, and running through Tuesday, March 12, CCM's Kurt Weill Festival will incorporate the renowned theatre composer into a broad range of both public performances and classroom exercises.

Stage and screen star Sanaa Lathan (A Raisin in the Sun, Contagion) returns to the title role in Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark for its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. Lathan, who originated the character of Vera Stark in the critically acclaimed New York run, will once again take the stage as the 1930's era maid turned movie star, reunited with original cast member Kimberly Hebert Gregory (Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer) reprising her role as fellow aspiring African American actress Lottie. Get a first look at the stars onstage below!

There is a rare kind of production where each element is so in synch, so finely tuned that this particular production eclipses other casts, other interpretations, and goes on to be considered a defining moment in the history of that show, and indeed of musical theatre itself. The current Australian production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic SOUTH PACIFIC is that rare and beautiful kind.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents a San Diego premiere of The Underpants, adapted by Steve Martin and written by Carl Sternheim. The show begins previews tonight, September 5th through 7th and continues September 8 through 30, 2012.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents a San Diego premiere of The Underpants, adapted by Steve Martin and written by Carl Sternheim. The show begins previews September 5-7 and continues September 8 through October 7, 2012.

Roundabout Theatre Company announced the full cast this July for the new Broadway production of Rupert Holmes' Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The show is set to open on November 13, 2012 and will star Stephanie J. Block as Edwin Drood. Meet the whole cast in the video and bios below!

The last time the 1933 West End musical Nymph Errant was revived in New York, the Medicine Show Theatre Company advertised their production with the selling point that they haven't removed any of the show's racism.  Now, while going to see a racist musical is not exactly my idea of a fun night out, there is a certain historic value to watching older musicals performed with the texts the authors wrote, opposed to the frequent occurrence of slapping their books with labels like “creaky” or “dated” and having contemporary authors make wholesale revisions to transform them into suitable entertainments for modern audiences.

McGovern creatively opens and closes the musical with an image that evokes all the glitter and glamor of old Hollywood: the presentation of the Academy Awards in 1941, the year that Ginger Rogers beat out such adversaries as Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine and Martha Scott for the best actress Oscar for her performance of "knocked-up shopgirl" Kitty Foyle.

Stage and screen star Sanaa Lathan (A Raisin in the Sun, Contagion) returns to the title role in Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark for its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. Lathan, who originated the character of Vera Stark in the critically acclaimed New York run, will once again take the stage as the 1930's era maid turned movie star, reunited with original cast member Kimberly Hebert Gregory (Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer) reprising her role as fellow aspiring African American actress Lottie. Broadway vet and Geffen alum Merle Dandridge (Spamalot, Rent, Aida) will take on the spicy role of Anna Mae, who fakes a Brazilian accent for a slice of fame, and former leading lady of ABC's Man Up, Amanda Detmer, will portray Gloria Mitchell, the white starlet dubbed "America's little sweetie pie" and Vera's first employer. Helmed by award-winning director Jo Bonney, the West Coast premiere cast also features Kevin Carroll (Paid in Full, Being John Malkovich), Spencer Garrett (Iron Man 3, Air Force One) and Geffen alum Mather Zickel (Extraordinary Chambers, Rachel Getting Married).

BLACK COFFEE by Agatha Christie and JASPER STATION by Norm Foster make up Ottawa Little Theatre's 2012 Summer Series beginning tonight, July 17, 2012.

Part Two of our Hollywood Fringe Festival series features two musicals that fit right in with the Festival's celebration of the arts, HAIR and The Last Five Years.

BLACK COFFEE by Agatha Christie and JASPER STATION by Norm Foster make up Ottawa Little Theatre's 2012 Summer Series beginning July 17, 2012.

Celia Keenan-Bolger, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for PETER AND THE STARCATCHER 'I'm really excited! I woke up with my husband and weeks ago I said we'd have a staycation so we're in a hotel that of course didn't have NY1- which I think is hysterical. So, we had to watch it on my phone. This is so great, I care about the show so so much and I've worked on it for so long. These past 3 years have been so special and we weren't sure it would even come to Broadway. It's all been a real gift. I'm sure I'll be on the phone all day. I'm so excited to do the show tonight!'

The Ovation nominations are in, and once again RTC is once again among the most celebrated theatres in the region - even as the new season progresses, with neither the time nor inclination to rest upon laurels.

The Ovation nominations are in, and once again RTC is once again among the most celebrated theatres in the region - even as the new season progresses, with neither the time nor inclination to rest upon laurels.

Tonight, November 17, marks the opening night for Private Lives. What did the critics think of the show? Find out below!

Michael Feinstein releases his new CD through Concord Records on October 25, 2011.

Michael Feinstein releases his new CD through Concord Records on October 25, 2011.

Pianists and Artistic Directors Blair McMillen and Pam Goldberg present 'String Force,' the third and last round of concerts in the Rite of Summer Music Festival, taking place on Governors Island Labor Day weekend, on Sunday, September 4th.

Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present classic productions and reproductions from the golden days of radio at the theatre, 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). Performances in September will be Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on September 6 and September 20. Tickets purchased online at www.beowulfalley.org at least the day before a performance are $8.00. On the day of performance, tickets by phone or at the door are $10. Children 12 years and under are free. The box office phone number is (520) 882-0555.

About Bill, a one-woman one-act musical about one man, starring West End ‘Mama?Mia' leading actress Kim Ismay, is to get its world premiere at the Landor?Theatre from Tuesday 15th November - Sunday 20th November.

Pianists and Artistic Directors Blair McMillen and Pam Goldberg present 'String Force,' the third and last round of concerts in the Rite of Summer Music Festival, taking place on Governors Island Labor Day weekend, on Sunday, September 4th.

Arthur Miller's autobiographical play, now being staged at the Ruskin Group Theatre, will close on August 14. This rarely produced gem elegantly, and hilariously at times, depicts the way a common experience can bond people together.

Arthur Miller's autobiographical play will be staged at the Ruskin Group Theatre for a limited time. The play elegantly, and hilariously at times, depicts the way a common experience can bond people together.