Nicole Rosky - Page 309

Happy Birthday Carol Channing! She is the recipient of three Tony Awards (including one for lifetime achievement), a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Channing is best remembered for originating, on Broadway, the musical-comedy roles of bombshell Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and matchmaking widow Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! She also appeared in two New York revivals of Hello, Dolly!, and toured with it extensively throughout the United States. Channing also appeared in a number of movies, The First Traveling Sales Lady (1956) with Ginger Rogers, the cult film Skidoo and Thoroughly Modern Millie, opposite Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore.

Happy Birthday Norbert Leo Butz! Butz made his Broadway debut as Adam Pascal's replacement as Roger Davis in Rent in 1996. Additional Broadway credits include Thou Shalt Not (Camille Raquin, 2001-2002), for which he received a Tony Award nomination; Wicked (the original Fiyero, 2003) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy) for which he received the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, a Drama League Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. His Off-Broadway credits include The Last Five Years (Jamie), Songs for a New World (Lead Male 2), Saved (Fred), and Juno and the Paycock (Jerry Devine). MOst recently, Butz originated the role of Carl Hanratty in the new musical Catch Me If You Can. For this role he won his second Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical[14] and his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's Little Me, the opening production of New York City Center's 2014 Encores! season, runs for seven performances, February 5 - 9. The show is directed by John Rando with music direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Joshua Bergasse.Little Me, Neil Simon's first musical, is the story of the glamorous Belle Poitrine (Rachel York as young Belle, Judy Kaye as older Belle), a self-invented celebrity who has spent her life in pursuit of wealth, culture and social position. Tony Award-winner Christian Borle will play all six of Belle's oddball lovers, who range from an innocent college boy to an octogenarian lecher to the dying king of a tiny European country that doesn't seem to exist. The company met the press yesterday and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with them about the production. Check out what they had to say and watch a performance preview below!

Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, a new book by Eddie Shapiro featuring interviews with 20 female musical theatre stars, launched earlier this week at the headquarters of Oxford University Press at 198 Madison Avenue. Attendees got to meet some of the dames of Dames including Laura Benanti, Judy Kaye, Debra Monk, Donna McKechnie, Donna Murphy, Lillias White and Karen Ziemba. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with the ladies about their stories and you can check out what they had to say below!

Today in 1966, Sweet Charity opened at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 608 performances. Featuring music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon, the musical was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon. It is based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and also ran in the West End as well as having revivals and international productions.

Today in 1982, Macbeth opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran for 21 performances. Written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. The earliest account of a performance of what was probably Shakespeare's play is April 1611, when Simon Forman recorded seeing such a play at the Globe Theatre.

Opening night is tonight, January 27 for the LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater presentation of STOP HITTING YOURSELF, created by Rude Mechs, the Austin, TX based theater collective. This world premiere features Thomas Graves, Heather Hanna, Joey Hood, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, E. Jason Liebrecht, and Paul Soileau. Commissioned by LCT3, STOP HITTING YOURSELF is written by Kirk Lynn and directed by Shawn Sides and will run through Sunday, February 23 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65th Street). All tickets are $20. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights below!

Original KINKY BOOTS cast member and two-time Tony nominee Stark Sands gave his final performance in the Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein, and Jerry Mitchell's Broadway hit, just yesterday, January 26. Sands will be succeeded by Andy Kelso as 'Charlie Price' on Jan. 28. In the video below, Fierstein and Billy Porter bid adieu to their friend in a special speech during the curtain call.

Award-winning composer Jeff Thomson made his debut at 54 Below with 'Go Where The Love Is' last week, January 20. The evening will highlight material from the upcoming musicals Pump Up the Volume, Trails, and Jawbreaker, as well as several yet-to-be-revealed projects. Check out highlights from the concert below!

Today in 1982, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opened at the Royale Theatre (now the Bernard B, Jacobs Theatre), where it ran for 747 performances. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, the story is based on the 'coat of many colors' story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. In 1999, a movie version with Donny Osmond in the title role was released, directed by David Mallet.

The show opened earlier this week and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was on hand to chat with the company. Check out what they had to say below!

Earlier this month, 54 Below featured Patty & Emily, who brought their special brand of fangirl enthusiasm off YouTube and to the stage! Along with music director Kevin David Thomas, the duo welcomed Julia Murney and Amber Iman, who duetted on one of their dream songs- 'Agony' from Into the Woods. Check out the full performance below!

The world premiere production of the brand new musical comedy Bullets Over Broadway, written by Woody Allen and based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath for the 1994 film, will begin preview performances on Tuesday, March 11 and officially open Thursday, April 10, 2014 at The St. James Theatre(246 West 44th Street). BroadwayWorld brings you the just-released television spot for the new musical below!

The Broadway League announces special events scheduled to take place during KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY, Monday, February 24, 2014 to Sunday, March 2, 2014. KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY is an audience development program created by The Broadway League to make theatre accessible, encourage theatre as a form of family entertainment, and build larger audiences for the future. Earlier this week, National Ambassador of KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY Idina Menzel was at Sardi's to announce this season's events. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was on hand to chat with her and other guests abou the line-up and you can check out what they had to say below!

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of Outside Mullingar, the new play by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, opened on January 23 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) in a strictly limited 11-week engagement. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was on hand on the special night to chat with the cast about the new play. Check out what they had to say below!

The Broadway League will soon launch KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY, Monday, February 24, 2014 to Sunday, March 2, 2014. KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY is an audience development program created by The Broadway League to make theatre accessible, encourage theatre as a form of family entertainment, and build larger audiences for the future. In the weeks leading up to the festivities, cast members from some of this years' will share their favorite Broadway memories and why they love Broadway! Below, meet Beautiful's Jake Epstein!

Earlier this month, BroadwayWorld uncovered a vintage video featuring Broadway legend Patti LuPone in 'Love Cycle: A Soap Operetta', a 'mini-musical' made for PBS in 1984 which was never broadcast. The mini-musical also featured a full cast of up-and-coming stars of the 1980's, including: Walter Bobbie, Lonny Price, Martin Vidnovic, Priscilla Lopez and Ellen Foley. If you missed it the first time, catch the full operetta below!

The world premiere production of the brand new musical comedy BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, will begin preview performances on Tuesday, March 11 and officially open Thursday, April 10, 2014 at The St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). The musical will feature Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba in the role of "Eden Brent". Ziemba was in attendance at last night's opening for Craving for Travel, and Richard Ridge chatted with the Broadway-bound star about her return the the stage, reuniting with Susan Stroman and more! Check out the exclusive interview below!

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of Outside Mullingar, the new play by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, opens tonight, January 23 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) in a strictly limited 11-week engagement.

On January 29 & 30, the creators of the international musical sensations LES MISERABLES and MISS SAIGON will present a special concert celebrating their work at the Newport Performing Arts Theatre in Manila to raise funds to offer humanitarian relief and assist the rebuilding efforts after parts of the Philippines were left devastated in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The concerts, which will star Lea Salonga, David Harris, and Marie Zamora, will celebrate the works of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, including musical numbers from Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, La Revolution Francaise, Martin Guerre and The Pirate Queen. Supported by the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and a 100-member choir, conducted by musical director Gerard Salonga, the concert is headlined by some of the world's leading musical theatre performers.