Chita Rivera News

Today we are continuing our 30-day Tony Awards countdown - ending, of course, on the 2012 Tony Awards, June 10 - with a salute to a Tony-winning Best Musical directed and choreographed by the one and only Tommy Tune and composed by Maury Yeston - NINE. Based on Federico Fellini’s 8 ½, NINE is a surrealistic concept musical that concerns itself with the mid-life crisis of a glamorous Italian film director and the many, many women in his life - his wife, his mother, his mistress, his muse, his agent and many, many more. (more...)

Yesterday, May 24, New Dramatists honored two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters with their 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 63rd Annual Spring Luncheon tribute at the New York Marriott Marquis. Among those who offered tributes were Emmy Award-winner Mary Tyler Moore, Peters’ Tony Award-winning A Little Night Music co-star Elaine Stritch, and New Dramatists Artistic Director Todd London. Tony and Academy Award-winner Joel Grey and Peters’ Tony-nominated Gypsy co-star John Dossett offered musical tributes. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the event and brings you photo coverage below! (more...)

Brent Barrett, SILENCE! The Musical’s original Hannibal Lecter, returned to check out the show this past Saturday, May 19th and reunited with his old friends afterward. See below for a photo of Barrett and the cast! (more...)

The story of legendary performer Carol Channing's life is as colorful as the lipstick on her big, bright smile. In CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE,released on DVD today May 22, director Dori Berinstein, a three-time Tony Award®-winning Broadway Producer (ShowBusiness, Gotta Dance), along with co-writer Adam Zucker, capture the magic and vivacity of the 90-year-old icon – both onstage and off... past and present. Called “terrific”, “charming and seductive”, “totally captivating and surprising” and “an endless storehouse of salty showbiz anecdotes”, this triumphant and acclaimed 2012 theatrically released film, an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs – will make its DVD debut this May… only from Entertainment One. (more...)

Shuler Hensley, SILENCE! The Musical’s newest Hannibal Lecter, took his first look at the show this past Saturday evening, May 19th and he visited his new friends afterward. Hensley is set to star in Off-Broadway’s smash hit for four weeks only June 1st through the 24th. See the photos below! (more...)

Bye Bye Birdie—conjuring up memories of Elvis Presley and the fan fervor that greeted a lot of musical acts in the 1950s and ‘60s—takes center stage at Dickson’s Renaissance Center in June as the Renaissance Players present the musical theater classic June 1-17. (more...)

Following the sold-out concert performance of Soho Cinders at the Queen’s Theatre in October 2011, Stiles & Drewe’s new musical will receive its world premiere at Soho Theatre running from 2nd August to 9th September 2012. The full-scale production with a live band will feature an all-star cast including Jenna Russell and Michael Xavier, and featuring the voice of Stephen Fry. (more...)

The Champagne Set at Flute, a cabaret series created as a platform to highlight the vast array of vocal talents of the Broadway community, will take place on Monday, May 21st at Flute Bar in Gramercy at 40 E. 20th Street, New York, NY. Performance begins at 8:00pm. This initial installation of The Champagne Set will feature smooth jazz standards. There is no cover charge. (more...)

On June 10, 2012, The Actor's Fund will present its 16th Annual Tony Awards party at the Skirball Center, this year honoring Jason Alexander with the Julie Harris Award for Lifetime Achievement.. Scott Bakula will host the gala and this year's Honorary Celebrity Committee includes: Julie Bowen, Nancy Dussault, Dann Florek, Elliott Gould, Steve Guttenberg, Garry Marshall, Chita Rivera, Susan Sarandon, Holland Taylor and Zachary Quinto. The event includes cocktails and a silent auction followed by ainner and a live telecast of a live feed of the Tony Awards as they happen in New York. (more...)

The stars were shining, including Chita Rivera, Marge Champion, Stephen Schwartz and more, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park Wednesday evening when Queens Theatre hosted its 2012 Gala Fundraiser, a star-studded celebration of the world premiere of HEAT WAVE: THE Jack Cole PROJECT, a new musical homage to legendary stage and screen choreographer Jack Cole. The event raised more than $150,000 for the theatre and its programs, including its educational and outreach programs that bring theatre and the arts to public school students. See photos from the gala below! (more...)

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, today announced that two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters will be honored with their 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 63rd Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Thursday, May 24th at the New York Marriott Marquis. Among those on the program offering tributes will be Emmy Award-winner Mary Tyler Moore, Peters’ Tony Award-winning A Little Night Music co-star Elaine Stritch, and New Dramatists Artistic Director Todd London. Tony and Academy Award-winner Joel Grey and Peters’ Tony-nominated Gypsy co-star John Dossett will offer musical tributes. (more...)

Viva Broadway, a new audience development partnership with the Hispanic community, to help bridge the world of Broadway with Latino audiences around the country. The Viva Broadway advisory board includes Lucie Arnaz, Raúl Esparza, Gabriela García, John Leguizamo, Bianca Marroquín, Karen Olivo, Chita Rivera, Luis Salgado and Sergio Trujillo, among others. (more...)

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) in association with the York Theatre (James Morgan, Artistic Director) is pleased to present an invitation-only showcase presentation entitled Trunk and Disorderly: Songs from the Deep Dark Trunk of Jeff Blumenkrantz, who received the 2011 Fred Ebb Award. The presentation will feature Drew Gehling, Dee Hoty, Dee Roscioli, and Sarah Stiles. (more...)

The Broadway at Birdland concert series today announced that William Blake will return to performhis new show, “Echoes of Etta,” on Monday, June 4 at 7pm. (more...)

Actor Valarie Pettiford, star of the hit sitcom Half & Half and last year’s box office success Jumping the Broom, will star in the new film Battlefield America, which opens theatrically on June 1, 2012, She will also take on a recurring guest starring role on HBO’s Treme this fall. With the release of her second full-length album, a collection of original lullabies called “Velvet Sky” in September, Pettiford is turning the page and entering new chapter of her career. (more...)

Beginning Friday, June 1st, Shuler Hensley will star as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Off-Broadway’s SILENCE! The Musical through June 24th, filling in for the vacationing David Garrison. (more...)

For the very first time, two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera brings her concert, Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY, to The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in the intimate setting of The Chase Room and will perform songs from her legendary Broadway career. She will perform two shows only at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM. All tickets are $50 (general admission) and can be ordered by calling 1-888-GO-NJPAC or at www.njpac.org. NJPAC is located at 1 Center Street in Newark, N.J. (more...)

Boston Youth Moves twelfth annual Swellegance Gala Benefit presented one-night only performance by walking, singing, dancing icon of the Golden Age of Broadway musicals at Citi Shubert Theatre. (more...)

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced a new Broadway production of Clifford Odets’ The Big Knife, starring Emmy® Award winner and Tony Award® nominee Bobby Cannavale, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes. (more...)

Erin Cummings, star of TV's "Spartacus" and "Pan Am," attended SILENCE! The Musical at P.S. 122 this past Friday, April 27th, joining a long list of luminaries who have turned up in the audience at the hit show over the past few months including Jodie Foster, Neil Simon, James Earl Jones, Kelly Ripa, Josh Groban, Lisa Lampanelli, Jonathan Demme, Matt Bomer (twice!), Joan Rivers, Chita Rivera, Jeremy Jordan, Stephen Schwartz, John Kander, James Lapine, Jonathan Groff, Justin Kirk, Corbin Bleu, Mario Cantone, David LaChapelle, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, TR Knight, Willie Garson, Seth Rudetsky, Steven Pasquale, John Rando, Telly Leung, Christian Campbell, John McDaniel, Eden Espinosa, Charlotte d'Amboise, Carol Woods, Anika Larsen, and Anthony Heald. (more...)