Jessica Lewis - Page 224

International stage and screen superstar Natalie Portman guest judge on tonight's episode of Bravo's Top Chef. While the details of tonights challenge have not been revealed, it may be a safe bet that tonights contestants will have a vegan-inspired challenge on their hands, as Portman has been an outspoken vegan for some time.

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW -- now in the fourth year of its four-year series --continues its mission of tackling every play George Bernard Shaw ever wrote with its 44th presentation: Shaw's ON THE ROCKS. The production will be performed on Monday, November 16 at 7:00pm at the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South) in Manhattan. David Staller, who has produced and directed all of the concert readings, will similarly helm ON THE ROCKS.

Michael Frazier, the producer behind Broadway's Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, died at the age of 72 last week of complications with Parkinson's disease in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Michael Philippi, longtime lighting designer at the famed Goodman Theatre Company, collapsed and died suddenly yesterday while on his way to a technical rehearsal for the theater's production of Alan Gross's High Holidays.

Veteran director Anne Bogart and her innovative SITI Company are pleased to announce their 2009-2010 first full-New York season. Considered by many to be one of America's national treasures, the ensemble theater company SITI has garnered praise for its thought-provoking and visually compelling work, emphasizing the cross-cultural exchange of dance, music and art, and international collaborations.

The line-up of performers for Toronto's Songs & Celebration: An Evening of Songs from Jewish Composers has been announced. The event, hosted by Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrathwill take place at Toronto's St. Lawrence Center on November 16 at 7:30pm.

Grammy and Tony award-winning songwriter and composer of Spring Awakening Fame Duncan Sheik returns with his new album WHISPER HOUSE, from Sony Music. WHISPER HOUSE marks Sheik's first solo album since 2006's critically-acclaimed White Limousine and comes on the heels of the success of Spring Awakening. WHISPER HOUSE, which will have its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in January 2010, is a collaboration with up-and-coming young playwright Kyle Jarrow, already an Obie winner for A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant.

Tom Kitt, Tony Award-winning composer of Next to Normal will be a featured performer at the annual gala for Arts Horizons, Broadway Salutes. He will be joined by additional special guest Celeste Holm, Oscar winner for Gentleman's Agreement and Oscar nominee for All About Eve. The event will take place at The Edison Ballroom on Monday, November 16 from 6:00pm - 10:00pm.

Stage star Kellie Overbey will reprise her role as Dr. Tara Rothbart on CBS's The Good Wife on Tuesday, November 3. The episode airs at 10:00-11:00 PM, EST.

Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, will present a musical adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon by The Enchantment Theatre Company (USA) from Sunday, November 8 through Saturday, November 14, 2009 at six locations in the greater Pittsburgh area. Citizens Bank is the proud season sponsor of Pittsburgh International Children's Theater.

The Leahy family, a Canadian powerhouse of eight musical brothers and sisters, brings the sounds of the season to Mesa Arts Center Saturday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m. for a Celtic style Christmas celebration. Performing with a distinct repertoire, the Leahys will mix their favorite medleys with traditional Christmas carols, mystifying audiences with their Irish and Scottish infused music.

It has been two days since The Roundabout Theatre Company premiered Ordinary Days at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, and the positive notices have been pouring in.

Joseph Lotito, one of the pioneers of Syracuse's community theater scene and Founder/Executive Director of Salt City Center for the Performing Arts, died of heart failure at the age of 82 on Sunday.

In a special event celebration, Chicago Mayors Richard M. Daley (City of Chicago) and Jeffery T. Sherwin (City of Northlake and Chair, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus) will host mayors from the metropolitan area honoring the company of JERSEY BOYS, commemorating over two years of performances in Chicago at the Bank of America Theatre. The event will takes tonight, October 27 beginning at 6:45 p.m, with 9:45 p.m. special onstage curtain call at the Bank of America Theatre.

As previously announced, Josh Young and Laura Pietropinto will present the second installment of Cutting Edge Composers: A New Generation of Musical Theater Songwriters on November 9 at the Canal Room. The concert will begin at 8pm, with doors opening at 7:30pm.

Lower Manhattan Arts Leaders, the recently formed consortium of 11 downtown arts organizations that baned together in an effort to sustain themselves in the harsh economic climate, is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from American Express in support of the group's Fall Downtown programming, according to a report in Variety.

On Friday, October 30, Lynn Nottage will attend a celebration at the Drama Bookshop in honor of TCG's publication of her Pulitzer Prizing winning play, Ruined. The event will take place at 5:30pm.

The Broadway League announced today the recipients of its fourteenth annual National Education Grants. These grants support innovative programs that enable students from coast to coast to experience touring Broadway as a form of artistic expression and as an educational tool.

Credit what you will: its cache, star appeal, the production itself, or the fact that audiences have waited almost 50 years to see a revival, but Bye Bye Birdie - not unlike Wicked once upon a time - is proving that unfavorable notices do not always translate into box office doom, according to a report in Variety.

The Public Theater's highly anticipated world premiere of IDIOT SAVANT, written and directed by Richard Foreman, kicks off tonight with the first preview. Presented in association with Ontological-Hysteric Theater, previews for IDIOT SAVANT continue through November 3. The show opens officially on Wednesday, November 4 and runs through Sunday, December 13.