Jessica Lewis - Page 180

Fidelity FutureStage®, the producers of Billy Elliot the Musical and Fidelity FutureStage Honorary Chairman Elton John today announced the second annual Fidelity FutureStage Playwriting Contest - a unique opportunity for area high school students to become Broadway's youngest playwrights.

Edie Falco, Charles Busch, James Barbour, Dee Hoty and Alexander Gemignani have been added to the star-studded roster of performers set to take part in The Drama League's 26th annual all-star gala, 'A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY.' This year's black-tie event, to be held Monday, February 8, 2010 at the Pierre New York (2 East 61st Street at 5th Avenue), will honor five-time Tony Award winner and entertainment icon Angela Lansbury.

As previously reported, in the wake of the media storm that has ensued as a result of comments that recently in the U.K. Daily Mail in which Elaine Paige - famous for her performances in EVITA and CATS in the West End - stated that Susan Boyle was a 'virus,' Paige released a statement clarifying her comments, which she asserts, were grossly misinterpreted and skewed. The pair had recently sung a duet together for an ITV special. BroadwayWorld brings you her exclusive Susan Boyle statement delivered by Paige here.

Broadway stars Victor Garber, Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, and Signature favorite Sherri L. Edelen will salute Angela Lansbury at the Signature Theatre's Sondheim Award Gala on April 12 at the Embassy of Italy. The beloved stage, screen, and television actress will be presented with the company's first Stephen Sondheim Award, established last year in honor of America's most influential contemporary musical theater writer and composer.

The excitement has been building, and the moment American Idol fans have been waiting for is almost here! Ellen Degeneres joins judges Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest to help winnow down the American Idol contestants during the Hollywood Round beginning Tuesday, Feb. 9 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. BroadwayWorld brings you the first footage teaser of Ellen's Idol debut from Fox.

In a new sketch parody out on FunnyorDie.com, stage and small screen star Megan Mullally discusses the genesis of the phrase 'that's what she said,' in addition to her sex life, with Tom Lennon.

As previously reported, a remake of the classic 'A Star is Born,' is moving along in the development process at Warner Bros. Pictures after years of treading water. The most recent rendition, released in 1976 stared Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson and Gary Busey. Previous incarnations have starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March (1937), and Judy Garland and James Mason (1954).

IMDB News is reporting that Broadway vet and screen star Natalie Portman is hopeful to return to Broadway, but fears that the high ticket prices has changed the nature of the Broadway roles available to young actresses like herself.

John Lloyd Young, best known as Jersey Boys' original Frankie Valli, will debut his single, Love Believes, on iTunes on Valentine's Day, February 14.

The New York Times has just announced that David Mamet's A Life in the Theater, will be the famed writer/director's next show to hit the stage on the Rialto. Producer Jeffrey Richards, who is also the producer behind Mamet's Race, currently playing the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and the recent revival of Mamet's Speed the Plow, confirmed that A Life in the Theater would hit Broadway in the fall of 2010.

Twitter Watch shines a BWW spotlight on Gavin Creel, of HAIR fame. Creel recently appealed to his followers to help his father with a project, and pondered the necessity of fake sugar.

Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie have begun work on the latest all-star recording of We Are the World to benefit Haitian earthquake victims. The pair assembled 100 actors and musicians for the re-recording, which ET's Mary Hart, who was grated access to the recording, calls 'phenomenal again.' She reported that some filming of the even was done in 3-D. BroadwayWorld brings you ET's newly released inside-the-recording footage!

This week, Maury Yeston, the Tony Award winning composer of classics scores for Broadway's NINE, TITANIC, GRAND HOTEL, in addition to The Royal Family, sat down with The New York Post's Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins on Theater Talk. Theater Talk, the series devoted to the world of the stage, is co-hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post and series producer Susan Haskins. Watch Yeston perform a song from NINE in the clip below!

LOVE ROCKS! an intimate cabaret featuring some of Broadway's Best to benefit Rosie's Broadway Kids will perform at Maravel Arts Center on February 11, 2010.

BILLY ELLIOT, currently playing at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway starring Michael Dameski, Alex Ko, Trent Kowalik, Liam Redhead and Dayton Tavares as Bill, will dedicate the February 24th performance to The Actors Fund, granting proceeds to the fund in support of their programs and services. The curtain rises on Wednesday the 24th at 8:00pm. For information on The Actor's fund, visit www.actorsfund.org.

Broadway's cuddliest friends kick off a new year with the 13th annual BROADWAY BEARS auction on Sunday, February 14, 2010 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Sure to out-do last year's collection, 43 one-of-a-kind BROADWAY BEARS - each dressed in original, handmade costumes representing some of the theater's most legendary performers and/or performances - will be put up for auction.

One More Productions will present its 4th annual benefit show, 'Back on Stage 4: Hearts for the Arts' when 35 past performers bring to life the music of Broadway in a special musical review. Performances will be February 12th, 13th and 14th at The GEM Theater in Garden Grove.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced plans to expand its operations to the roof of the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Construction will begin this spring on a 23,000 square foot, two-story addition which is designed by noted architect Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. Budgeted at $41 million, it will house a 131-seat theater and dressing rooms, as well as much needed rehearsal and office space for the LCT staff and an outdoor terrace surrounded by a green roof. The theater will be named the Claire Tow Theater, in honor of the wife of longtime LCT Board Member Leonard Tow, recognizing the Tow Foundation's outstanding leadership support. It will become the home of LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater's programming initiative dedicated to producing the work of new artists and the development of new audiences. Completion of the project is anticipated in late 2011 - early 2012.

Twitter Watch shines a BWW spotlight on Cheyenne Jackson, new to Twitter, of XANADU and FINIAN'S RAINBOW fame, and a recent addition to NBC's '30 Rock.'

On Thursday, January 14, Disney Theatrical Productions welcomed Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg (moderator of ABC's THE VIEW) to the cast of Broadway's landmark musical event, THE LION KING for one night only at the Minskoff Theatre. Goldberg appeared in a series of surprise cameos throughout the 8pm performance. The appearance marked a return for Goldberg to the legit stage and her Lion King roots, having originated the voice of Shenzi the Hyena more than 15 years ago in the 1994 Disney animated feature. Here, BroadwayWorld brings you a look inside Whoopi's rehearsals, captured by The View's own cameras in a segment that aired today.