Wonderful Town Revival 1961 - Articles Page 5

Orange County, Calif.—Jan. 9, 2015—Composer, conductor and teacher Leonard Bernstein, one of the undeniable giants of 20th-century music, and the first American-born conductor to become a major star, becomes the focal point of Pacific Symphony's second “Music Unwound” concert this season, “For the Love of Bernstein.” In 1985, a young Carl St.Clair met Bernstein as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. A few years later in 1990, St.Clair stepped in for the ailing Maestro and conducted his “Arias and Barcarolles” during what turned out to be Bernstein's last concert. St.Clair would soon be named music director of Pacific Symphony, but the impact of Bernstein's mentoring to St.Clair has remained to this day.

Broadway fans had plenty of reasons to celebrate this year, with dozens of shows having opened since January, hundreds of actors having made their debuts, and many more having returned to the stage for critically acclaimed performances. Not all news was good though, as we also suffered a loss of an incredible amount of talent. Below, BroadwayWorld sends a fond farewell to those who passed away in 2014.

The expression “Man About Town”--commonly defined as a socially active, sophisticated man devoted to the pursuit of pleasure by frequenting fashionable nightclubs, theaters, and restaurants--might perfectly describe the persona of Sir Noel Coward. Known for his acerbic wit, flamboyance, and savoir-faire, Sir Noel is an icon in theatrical history as a celebrated playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer. Could there be a better subject to explore during an evening of cabaret? In his recent run of five shows at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Man About Town: The Wit and Wisdom of Noel Coward, veteran singer/actor/director Eric Michael Gillett proved he was more than up to the task of paying tribute to the legendary Coward.

Tony Award nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) has joined the cast of the Encores! Special Event The Band Wagon in the role of Jeffrey Cordova, an egotistical British director. (Roger Rees, previously announced in the role, is no longer available.) The Band Wagon cast stars Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, seven-time Emmy Award winner Tracey Ullman, Academy Award nominee Michael McKean, Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse and Don Stephenson. The Band Wagon will open on Sunday, November 8.

This just in! Previously announced Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will be joined by Tony Award winner Roger Rees, seven-time Emmy Award winner Tracey Ullman, Academy Award nominee Michael McKean, Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse, and Don Stephenson in The Band Wagon, an Encores! Special Event from November 6 - 16, 2014 at City Center. The Band Wagon will open on Sunday, November 8.

From September 4-14, 2014, Houston Ballet launches its 45th season with the company premiere of John Neumeier's three-act ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. The ballet is based on Shakespeare's lighthearted play of the same name and follows the hijinks and hilarity that ensues when a well-intentioned plan with a love potion goes awry. Created in 1977, A Midsummer Night's Dream has served as Mr. Neumeier's calling card, being seen as one of his most joyous and popular creations. Houston Ballet is the first American ballet company to perform the famous work and it is the first piece by Mr. Neumeier to enter the Houston Ballet repertoire.

Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will star in The Band Wagon, an Encores! Special Event based on the classic MGM movie of the same title, from November 6 - 16, 2014 at City Center. The show has a book by Douglas Carter Beane adapted from the screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. The Band Wagon will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall with music direction by Todd Ellison. The Band Wagon will run for 12 performances, by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.

Tickets are now on sale for the New York City return of Jean Anouilh's BECKET, the 1961 Tony Award winner for Best Play. Tickets can be purchased online at becketnyc.brownpapertickets.com.

Scott Siegel is two-for-two. The diminutive and indefatigable nightlife/cabaret impresario of such productions as Broadway By the Year and the Nightlife Awards at Town Hall, as well as regular variety shows like Broadway Unplugged and Broadway Ballyhoo, last fall decided to give the already skyrocketing cabaret career of Georgia-born southern belle Carole J. Bufford a booster shot when he became the producer, director, and co-creator of Bufford's latest effort, Body and Soul (which this Thursday night at 9:30 begins a weekly run at the Metropolitan Room). Siegel didn't waste much time finding another promising female singer to champion, producing and directing six new shows (on Wednesdays and Sundays between April 27 and May 14 at 7pm) featuring a lovely soprano who is also from the south—the south of Ireland, that is. Thirteen years ago, recently minted American citizen Maxine Linehan was just another starry-eyed singer/actress who traveled to New York City with dreams of a musical theater career. Today, if her May 4 performance at the Terminus Recording Studios is any indication, Siegel has another budding star on his performer roster.

Today, stars of stage and screen reacted to the passing of the stage and screen legend

According to TMZ, Mickey Rooney, who spent nearly his entire life in the show business, died today at 93, after being in ill health for quite some time. He appeared on Broadway in Sugar Babies (opposite fellow MGM legend Ann Miller) and The Will Rogers Follies.

For the first time in over fifty years, Harbinger Records will release 'Ballads for the Age of Science,' the most successful educational recordings of all time, as a six-CD box set. Featuring more than four dozen original songs written by Hy Zaret, co-author of the iconic popular song 'Unchained Melody,' and Lou Singer between 1959 and 1961, the albums introduced scientific concepts and terms using catchy, easy-to-learn lyrics and music to grade school students across America in the early 1960s.

The Guardian writes that a new collection of letters by famed composer Leonard Bernstein -- Nigel Simeone's Leonard Bernstein Letters, set to debut next month -- reveal the composer's 'hostility' for WEST SIDE STORY book writer Arthur Laurents. Bernstein even considered walking away from the project, according to one of the letters.

For the first time in over fifty years, Harbinger Records will release 'Ballads for the Age of Science,' the most successful educational recordings of all time, as a six-CD box set. Featuring more than four dozen original songs written by Hy Zaret, co-author of the iconic popular song 'Unchained Melody,' and Lou Singer between 1959 and 1961, the albums introduced scientific concepts and terms using catchy, easy-to-learn lyrics and music to grade school students across America in the early 1960s.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon, directed by Andrew Barnicle. The show runs now through May 12, 2013, after a one-week extension!

The William Inge Theatre Festival has a long rich history of honoring great living playwrights, acknowledging these too-often underappreciated creative heroes of the stage. But the 32nd annual Inge Festival in 2013 changes pace: honoring its namesake American icon William Inge, to celebrate the centennial of his birth. The William Inge Theatre Festival at Independence Community College takes place today, May 1-4 of 2013, in Inge's rural hometown of Independence, Kansas, where, annually, Broadway and Hollywood artists meet on the prairie to mingle with visitors from more than 24 states.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon, directed by Andrew Barnicle. The show will run in previews tonight, April 10 - 12, 2013 and continues April 13 - May 5, 2013.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon, directed by Andrew Barnicle. The show will run in previews April 10 - 12, 2013 and continues April 13 - May 5, 2013.

Burke-Cohen Entertainment/Jimmy Burke, Jeff Cohen presents American Idol finalist Crystal Bowersox and Oscar and Emmy Award nominee Annette O'Toole starring in the Broadway premiere of Ted Swindley's Always… Patsy Cline, directed by Tony Award winner John Rando. The scenery will be designed by Anna Louizos, who is currently represented on Broadway with 'Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.' Performances begin in July with an August opening.

Irish Repertory Theatre announces a four-week extension of DONNYBROOK!-a musical based on the movie 'The Quiet Man,' with music and lyrics by Johnny Burke and book by Robert E. McEnroe-with Off-Broadway performances now set to run through April 28 on the company's Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage Theatre (132 West 22nd Street). Charlotte Moore (2012 Callaway Award finalist for DANCING AT LUGHNASA) directs.

Irish Repertory Theatre continues its 25th Anniversary Season with DONNYBROOK! -a musical based on the movie 'The Quiet Man,' with music and lyrics by Johnny Burke and book by Robert E. McEnroe-with previews set to begin February 7, prior to its official Off-Broadway opening on Sunday, February 17 on the company's Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage Theatre (132 West 22nd Street). Charlotte Moore (2012 Callaway Award finalist for DANCING AT LUGHNASA) directs.

Omnivore Recordings has announced the release of The Edie Adams Christmas Album featuring Ernie Kovacs today, October 9. The first-ever Edie Adams (www.edieadams.com) Christmas album features classic holiday recordings from the early-to-mid-1950s drawn from the Kovacs Unlimited television show. The 15-track album includes extensive liner notes coupled with rare photos from her personal archive and duets with the legendary comedian Ernie Kovacs (www.erniekovacs.com).

Shoshana Bean joins the cast of 'A Magical Night On Broadway' at The Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage tonight, September 8 at 8:00 pm. 'A Magical Night On Broadway" is a fully-staged and costumed tribute to the American musical theatre starring stage, film and television personality JoAnne Worley and featuring music from some of Broadway's most celebrated musicals including "Chicago," "Wicked," "Hairspray," "A Chorus Line," "The Lion King" and more. Joining Worley are Bean and Broadway and television star Rex Smith, Tony-nominated actress Jonelle Allen, Terron Brooks and Carol Channing's American Glee Club - a young song and dance group representing America's public schools, along with a few surprise guests. The show is directed by David Green with musical direction by Stephen Smith.

What a delightful way to enjoy the autumn leaves changing color, entertained by the talented lineup of performers coming to the Biltmore this fall!

Shoshana Bean joins the cast of 'A Magical Night On Broadway' at The Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage on Saturday, September 8 at 8:00 pm. 'A Magical Night On Broadway" is a fully-staged and costumed tribute to the American musical theatre starring stage, film and television personality JoAnne Worley and featuring music from some of Broadway's most celebrated musicals including "Chicago," "Wicked," "Hairspray," "A Chorus Line," "The Lion King" and more. Joining Worley are Bean and Broadway and television star Rex Smith, Tony-nominated actress Jonelle Allen, Terron Brooks and Carol Channing's American Glee Club - a young song and dance group representing America's public schools, along with a few surprise guests. The show is directed by David Green with musical direction by Stephen Smith.