See Robert Creighton, Anita Gillette and many more.
54 BELOW will present a special edition of Backstage Babble Live celebrating the iconic wall of Broadway flop posters at Joe Allen Restaurant. Hosted by 16-year-old theater maven Charles Kirsch, this one-time-only event will feature original cast members and creatives from these shows telling stories about and recreating songs from those ill-fated shows. Anyone who celebrates Broadway’s flops as much as, if not more than, its hits won’t want to miss this evening.
The participating artists include Tony nominee Brenda Braxton representing Legs Diamond, Drama Desk nominee Philip Casnoff representing Rockabye Hamlet, Robert Creighton representing Laughing Room Only, Tony nominee Anita Gillette representing Kelly, Tony nominee Josie de Guzman representing Nick and Nora, Tony nominee Willy Falk representing Marilyn, Tony nominee Beth Fowler, her husband Jack Witham, and singer Elena Shaddow representing 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Tony nominee Amanda Green representing High Fidelity, Ruth Gottschall representing The Prince of Central Park, Tony nominee Michael Korie and Tam Mutu representing Doctor Zhivago, Michael Kubala representing A Broadway Musical, Heather MacRae representing Here’s Where I Belong, Jim Walton representing Merrily We Roll Along, and Martin Vidnovic representing Home, Sweet Homer. The evening will be accompanied by Michael Lavine.
Backstage Babble Celebrates Joe Allen Restaurant plays 54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on Monday, April 29 at 7 PM. Cover charges are $51 (includes $6 in fees) - $62 (includes $7 in fees), with premiums available for $100.50 (includes $10.50 in fees). The performance will also be live streamed. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.org. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00pm are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.
Charles Kirsch is the 16-year-old host of the Broadway podcast Backstage Babble, which has presented over 180 in-depth interviews with theater legends such as Carol Burnett, Harvey Fierstein, Joel Grey, and Chita Rivera. Kirsch has also hosted game night benefits for the non-profit organization Dancers Over 40, and his YouTube reunions of Follies, Applause, and On the Twentieth Century have garnered thousands of viewers. He has hosted events at 54 Below, The Drama Book Shop, Theater Row, BroadwayCon, and more, and contributed to Cast Album Reviews, Encore Magazine, and 50 Key Stage Musicals (Routledge Press). He is also the youngest voting member of the Drama Desk.
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