Jeff Dennhardt - Page 27

Broadway vet Leslie Becker will perform a host of Broadway classics and modern tunes in her cabaret, 'All I Do is Sing' at Don't Tell Mama. The performance will take place February 28th at 9:30pm. Becker will perform songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Andrew Lippa, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, Maury Yeston, Irving Berlin, and more.

The award-winning, London-based theatre group Shunt has announced they will extend their residency below the London Bridge station. The company will remain at their current location for at least one more year. The company had expected to leave the venue due to renovation work that was to be done on the station.

The Center is honored to present legendary director and actor Joe Mantello in An Evening with Mr. Joe Mantello this Monday, February 8, 2010. The evening will begin with a reception at 6:00 p.m. with the program starting at 7:00 p.m., moderated by New York Magazine Editor at-Large Jesse Green. Mr. Mantello will be joined by The Pride actor Ben Whishaw. For tickets and more information, visit www.gaycenter.org. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center is located at 208 West 13th Street in New York City.

Elaine Paige will celebrate the release of her concert DVD with an appearance at Dress Circle in London. Paige will sign copies of her DVD for fans beginning at 1:30pm on February 27th. The DVD is from a concert stop on Paige's 40th Anniversary Tour. The concert, entitled 'Live in Australia,' was filmed during the New Zealand/Australian tour that took place earlier this year. This specific concert took place on October 31st, 2009.

Todd Graff, Tony Award nominated actor for his performance in Baby, as well as director of the films Bandslam and Camp, is set to direct the upcoming film of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees. As previously announced, Jim Carrey is attached to play Applegate, while Jake Gyllenhaal is expected to play Joe Hardy. The film will be produced by New Line Cinema and producing team Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who produced the Academy Award winning film, Chicago.

A touring production of the smash hit Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY is set to tour North America beginning this fall. The tour will open at The Fisher Theatre in Detroit, MI in October 2010. Other cities will be announced soon.

TO MAKE JUST ONE PERSON HAPPY, a collection of short plays by Ernio Hernandex, will receive its first NYC reading beginning February 5ht and running through February 7th at Theatre at TAXI. The production, performed as a staged reading, contains two monologues and two short plays. Hernandez will also include a scene from an additional play he is currently working on.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), a non-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre, has announced Victoria Bailey as the guest speaker at the LPTW's annual Leadership Luncheon. Ms. Bailey will share her insights into cultivating new audiences for the theatre during the keynote address. The luncheon will take place February 25th at 2:00pm at Sardi's Restaurant.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the father of all courtroom dramas, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose (stage version by Sherman S. Sergel). The show runs from February 12th through February 27th. The show will feature Broadway vets Alan Campbell and Lou Liberatore.

'Idol' closed out its fourth week of auditions with a 'Best of the Rest' episode, containing singers from each of the seven audition cities. In typical 'Idol' fashion, some of the singers were quite talented, while others were simply pitiful. Very few standouts were seen in this last episode; however, one of the more interesting stories to take place thus far on 'Idol' was featured.

The third show in the Pumpkin Theatre's 'Season of Imagination' follows familiar children's character Winnie the Pooh in A WINNIE-THE-POOH BIRTHDAY TAIL. Performances for the show begin February 13th at 1:00pm and 3:00pm. Performances continue February 14th, 20th and 21st also at 1:00 and 3:00pm.

Casting for The 2010 24 Hour Musicals has been announced. The cast will include Broadway stars Malcolm Gets, Cady Huffman, Kathleen Turner, and Jeanine Tesori, as well as a host of other Broadway veterans. The process will begin February 8th, with performances of the written musicals taking place that night.

Stage and screen star Imogen Stubbs is set to star in the upcoming UK tour of THE GLASS MENAGERIE by Tennessee Williams. The tour will begin in Salisbury with performances from March 4th through March 20th. The production will be directed by Polly Teate.

Julia Roberts may be the next A-lister to make a guest cameo on GLEE, according to GLEE star Jane Lynch. Lynch reveals to Access Hollywood that during the Golden Globe Award ceremony on January 17th, Roberts approached the cast of GLEE, and creator Ryan Murphy with an idea about a role she would be interested in playing on the show.

Author Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has taken a different approach to depicting race in his upcoming play, NEIGHBORS, reports the New York Times, set to open at the Public Theatre on February 16th. Jacobs-Jenkins has his black actors play the roles in black face, as was often done in minstrel performances during the Vaudeville era.

London's National Theatre will host the premiere of Tasmin Oglesby's REALLY OLD, LIKE FORTY FIVE beginning tonight, February 3rd. Tamsin Oglesby's furious comedy confronts head-on our embarrassment and fear about old age. It exposes a society in which compassion vies with pragmatism and, by asking unequivocal questions, it comes up with some extraordinary answers.

The Los Angeles Times has gotten the first look at the renovated Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre at the Old Globe. Originally a 224-seat, the seats were demolished and rebuilt as a 250-seat theatre and, although much of the theatre will look similar to an audience member, the Old Globe has done much to enhance the theatre-going experience.

The Sundance Institute has chosen 8 playwrights to take part in their annual Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat, Variety is reporting. The retreat began Monday, February 1st, and the residency will last through February 19th. The residency will take place in Ucross, Wyoming.

The playwright's group 13P has received a sizable donation from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Variety is reporting. The group did not discuss the size of the donation, only that it will aid them in putting on the rest of their season. 13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc.) was formed in 2003 by 13 midcareer playwrights concerned about what the trend of endless readings and new play development programs is doing to the texture and ambition of new American plays. They decided they were ready to take matters into their own hands.

The 'American Idol' auditions made their last stop tonight, visiting Denver, the home to one of the biggest rock stars to come from 'Idol,' Daughtry. Since season five when Daughtry appeared on the show, the number of auditions to be the next 'American Idol' more than doubled, bringing the total number of contestants in Denver to over 9,000. Guest judge Victoria Beckham was back on the judging panel, bookending the auditions after joining the show on its first stop in Boston.