Leslie Fazin - Page 2

Two Boots Pizza and MJS LIVE, Inc. are pleased to announce this month's A SLICE OF BROADWAY, a celebration of Broadway's finest at NY's Pizza Pioneers Two Boots Pizza devoted especially to Broadway's hit musical AMERICAN IDIOT. The 'tastiest pizza in Manhattan' (yelp.com) will honor the amazing cast of AMERICAN IDIOT with a specialty pizza offered this month at its Hell's Kitchen location. Cast members from AMERICAN IDIOT, now playing at The ST. JAMES THEATRE, will appear at Two Boots in their Theater District Neighborhood location to sample the new pizza. The new slice is called The St. Jimmy and features capicola, crawfish, roasted garlic, and a swirl of jalapeno pesto.

CBS is currently developing an hour-long television series set to star stage and screen actor Jason Alexander, according to Variety. Alexander is best-known for his Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG and Jerome Robbins' BROADWAY, to which he earned a 1989 Tony Award. He also starred opposite Martin Short in 'The Producers,' and was featured on the popular Emmy-Award winning television sitcom, 'Seinfeld.' He is set to star and executive produce the in-development CBS series, which will be written by Simon Barry. He will play a former TV-star-turned-investigator who has an interest in the act of disguise.

Director Baz Luhrmann, best-known for Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge, confirmed today that he would 'probably not' direct a future episode of the Fox hit show GLEE, Entertainment Weekly reports. GLEE's creator offered Luhrmann a guest directorial debut for the show, but according to Luhrmann, his busy schedule would not allow for the time. He is currently working on a live stage production of Strictly Ballroom and is casting for Jordan, his film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Stage and screen star Alan Cumming will join James Franco (127 Hours), Claire Danes and Catherine Keener in the film-in-the-making, Maladies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Maladies, directed by Carter, will portray a successful actor plagued by a mental illness and therefore forced to retire at a young age.

The cast of RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles received a special visit from Donald Trump this week. RAIN is currently performing to packed houses at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52 Street now through January 9th. Together longer than The Beatles themselves, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance that's as infectious as it is transporting. From the early hits to later classics that The Beatles never got the chance to play live, this adoring tribute will take you back to a time when all you needed was love, and a little help from your friends! For tickets go to www.ticketmaster.com or call 877-250-2929.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic in the New York Premiere of Thomas Adès's multimedia In Seven Days (Concerto for Piano with Moving Image), Thursday, January 6, 2011, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, January 7, at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, January 8, at 8:00 p.m. The score, which the composer will perform at the piano in his Philharmonic debut, is synchronized with Israeli artist and filmmaker Tal Rosner's kaleidoscopic imagery, projected onto six large screens. Mr. Adès calls it a 'video-ballet in seven movements' that follows the story of creation. The program will also include Mozart's Symphony No. 40, and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, with baritone Thomas Hampson.

The Off Broadway production of The Fantasticks and the advocacy organization Women In Need have partnered to create a very special Christmas for New York City's homeless and disadvantaged women and children. From now through Christmas day, audience members who bring a donation of one of Women In Need's most requested items (see list below) to The Snapple Theater Center will have the opportunity to purchase a ticket to The Fantasticks for just $20, a savings of $55. For each item donated, The Fantasticks will donate 2 tickets to a special Christmastime performance of The Fantasticks for New York's homeless and disadvantaged women and children featuring a Christmas party with the cast of The Fantasticks - up to 200 tickets.

Broadway Star Tituss Burgess will join Daniel Reichard for Reichard's annual Christmas show. Burgess was the star of such shows as The Little Mermaid, Guys and Dolls, Jersey Boys and Good Vibrations. The two actors have a long-term professional association and frequently appear in concert together. Daniel Reichard, original star of Broadway's 'Jersey Boys' and the recent New York City Opera revival of 'Candide,' will return to the New York stage on December 10th at 9 P.M. at the Triad Theater for his annual Christmas concert.

The world premiere of Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales, based on the best loved author's renowned short stories for adults, opens at the Lyric Hammersmith for previews on 14 January 2011, with a press night on 24 January. Adapted by The League of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson and directed by the exciting young talent Polly Findlay, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales will continue to Northern Stage and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse following its London run.

Join Mark Twain and his animal friends on a fun journey of self-discovery and magic. With puppets, dance, music, and interactive video projections, kids ages 3 & up will be delighted by this visual feast. Based on Mark Twain's short story, A Fable, our talented cast discovers a mysterious 'flat thing,' a mirror, and each sees something different. Is it magic? Only Mark Twain has the answer! A WONDERFULLY FLAT THING is an innovative children's theater production your kids will love. A WONDERFULLY FLAT THING is one of the first productions to be mounted in The 14th Street Y's newly renovated LABA Theatre. It is the result of a collaboration between artist fellows from the 14th Street Y's LABA: The National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture.

Michael Urie, series' standout from ABC's 'Ugly Betty,' has landed a new gig post-season closing on TBS's new TV pilot 'Brain Trust.' Brain Trust features D.B. Sweeney in the lead role of police detective Billy Doyle who struggles and triumphs by teaming up with an ultra-geeky trio: Professor Nelson Kirby (Jed Rees), Professor Franklin Gordon (Urie) and Professor Monica Ashton (Lindy Booth). Urie has starred off-Broadway in THE TEMPERMENTALS and ANGELS IN AMERICA. Urie isn't the only one gaining promising new gigs; Wynn Everett, William Ragsdale and Suzy Nakamura have all landed supporting roles on TNT's new TV pilot, 'Bird Dog.' Bird Dog features actress Eliza Dushku as police officer Gail McGrath, who partners up with her father, a NYC cop. Everett will play a journalist, Ragdale a local deputy, and Nakamura a local Medical Examiner and Chief of Staff of the local hospital.

Reports are circulating that some Glee members will face the axe by 2012. GLEE creator Ryan Murphy has vowed to keep the show as true to traditional high school as possible, by planning to phase out characters who will graduate McKinley High, move on, and be replaced by new freshmen faces. He has nominated the end of the 2012 season as the likely start for cast exits.'Every year we're going to populate a new group,' Murphy says. 'There's nothing more depressing than a high schooler with a bald spot.

The award-winning York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) hosted its 19th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre on Monday, November 22, 2010, honoring Tony Award-winning librettist Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray, Elf). The evening was directed by Tony-winning director/lyricist/librettist Richard Maltby and the award was presented by Alice Hammerstein Mathias, daughter of Oscar Hammerstein II.

This Holiday Season, TheatreWorks New Milford will debut ALMOST, MAINE by John Cariani, a warm romantic comedy set under the frigid northern lights. The play opens December 3 at 8:00 p.m. for a five-week run. ALMOST, MAINE is the name of the mythical town in which this delightful romantic comedy takes place, creatively delving into the vast mysteries of the human heart with laughter, heartbreak, and hope. On a cold, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above Almost. Residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. Love is lost, found, and confounded. But The Bruises heal and the hearts mend - almost - in this enchanting midwinter night's dream.

This year's holiday musical of A Christmas Carol, Wayside Theatre's Shenandoah Valley holiday tradition, continues with the familiar tale adapted by Warner Crocker and Steve Przybylski and lyrics and music by Steve Przybylski. The production of 'A Christmas Carol' is sponsored by McDonalds and Country Inn and Suites and Alamo Cinema Drafthouse. The holiday extravaganza will run through December 24. This year's cast will be highlighted by Wayside audience favorite Eddie Staver III, as everyone's favorite Christmas curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge. Mr. Staver will share the role with another audience favorite actor and Winchester local, James Laster, most recently seen in The Gin Game and Miracle on 34th Street.

The cast of RAIN performed a re-enactment of The Beatles' famous 1969 rooftop performance at the 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Click the video below to watch a video uploaded by a fan of the performance! RAIN is currently performing to packed houses at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52 Street now through January 9th. Together longer than The Beatles themselves, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance that's as infectious as it is transporting. From the early hits to later classics that The Beatles never got the chance to play live, this adoring tribute will take you back to a time when all you needed was love, and a little help from your friends! For tickets go to www.ticketmaster.com or call 877-250-2929.

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS: The Morrisville-based Actors' NET of Bucks County continues its fifteenth season with a special holiday season presentation of the family favorite musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress. Starring Cheryl Mazzarini of Philadelphia as 'Princess Winnifred the Woebegone,' the role that made Carol Burnett a star! Also starring Scott Lutz of Philadelphia as 'Prince Dauntless,' Pam Jorgensen of Franklin Park, NJ as 'Queen Aggravain,' Ed Patton of Fairless Hills as 'King Sextimus,' Katie Skelly of Bordentown, NJ as 'Lady Larken,' and John Bergeron of Morrisville as 'Sir Harry.' Costarring Marco Newton of Yardley as 'The Wizard,' Dennis McGuire of Levittown as 'The Jester,' Tim Johnson of Yardley as 'The Minstrel' and John Helmke of Yardville as 'Sir Studley.'

The Collegiate Chorale has announced casting for their upcoming production of Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's 'Knickerbocker Holiday,' a romantic musical concert set to debut at Alice Tully Hall on January 25 and 26 at 8 PM. The company will feature Broadway veterans Victor Garber (Stuyvesant), Ben Davis (Brom), Kelli O'Hara (Tina) and Christopher Fitzgerald (Tenpin), along with Bryce Pinkham (Washington Irving), David Garrison (Tienhoven), The Collegiate Chorale and the American Symphony Orchestra.

Larson-award winning composer Mark Allen ('Band Geeks!,' 'Tinyard Hill') has penned an original 10-minute musical for the comedy web series 30/2010. The musical, entitled 'Call Us,' will be the 19th episode in the 30-episode web series, and will officially be unveiled on Tuesday, November 30. The series was created by and stars Joe Beuerlein, Thomas DeMarcus, and Kelly Strandemo. The new musical episode can be found on the show's website: www.thirtytwentyten.com.

In next week's episode of FOX's hit show GLEE, New Directions goes to sectionals! Click below to watch a preview of November 30th's 'Special Education' episode, where Darren Criss leads The Dalton Academy Warblers in their version of Train's hit single 'Hey, Soul Sister.'