Joie de Vivre

Joe’s Pub has announced incredible performances coming up in July and August plus join us this Sunday at Astor Place for Juneteenth. Don’t miss performances from First Ladies of Disco (Martha Wash, Linda Clifford, and Norma Jean Wright (formerly  of Chic), Matteo Lane, Cocomama, and more.

Television producer Roger Englander passed away earlier this month at the age of 94. Now his friend and colleague Freddie Gershon has written a beautiful tribute in his memory.

Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba and Tony Award nominee Patrick Page head the dynamic cast of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's benefit online reading of Shakespeare in Vegas, a rollicking comedy by Suzanne Bradbeer. Presented by TheatreWorks' New Works from Home program in partnership with Vegas Theatre Company, this fizzy comedy features the unlikely pairing of a Vegas impresario with a dream and a despondent New York actor who join forces to bring the Bard of Avon to Sin City. Directed by Las Vegas native and TheatreWorks' Artistic Associate and Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli, Shakespeare in Vegas will be offered via video streaming from Thursday, July 23rd at 6PM (PT) until Monday, July 27th at 6PM (PT). A link to stream the show will be available at TheatreWorks.org for no charge, although donations are encouraged to support the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony-winning TheatreWorks Silicon ValleyBroadwayWorld recently caught up with Karen Ziemba from her home in New York. Her remarkable career includes 11 Broadways shows, countless Off-Broadway and regional theater appearances, and a few national tours for good measure.

The musical is a send-up of the cult classic movie and other sci-fi films and TV shows of the 1950s, melded with plot elements from "The Tempest" along with dialogue bits from multiple Shakespeare plays. That was part of the fun for me, catching so many Shakespearean quotes perfectly placed in the dialogue of Bob Carlton's musical set on a spaceship sometime in the future, featuring a galaxy of 1950's and 1960's rock and roll classics including "Wipeout," "Good Vibrations," "Great Balls of Fire," "All Shook Up," "Monster Mash" and "We Gotta Get Out of this Place." And what an outrageously fabulous band under the musical direction of Trevor Wheetman and Omar D. Brancato, both of whom rocked the house on guitars while believably playing Ensign crew members onstage.

Imagine yourself transported to an intimate French bar.

Since first achieving fame as a teen pop sensation in the 1950s, Neil Sedaka has kept America singing for six decades. He brings the timeless hits of his storied career to Heinz Hall to perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra during the PNC Pops weekend May 12-14.

Jay is an enormous fan of Broadway and all its denizens and has done many Broadway Cast Albums, but he has also worked with every great star of our time in every category of music.

The history of rock 'n' roll would be incomplete without the innumerable contributions of Neil Sedaka.

The history of rock 'n' roll would be incomplete without the innumerable contributions of Neil Sedaka.

Tom Mazzolini, founder and producer of the San Francisco Blues Festival, has announced the line-up for this September's annual blues extravaganza at the magnificent Great Meadow at Fort Mason.