Birdland, in association with BroadwayWorld.com, is proud to present Radio Free Birdland, a pay-per-view concert series featuring a slew of exciting Broadway, jazz and cabaret performers. Each show will be filmed with three cameras, state-of-the-art sound, socially distanced musicians,...

  “‘Godspell’ in 2020: Masks, Partitions and a Contactless Crucifixion” by The New York Times’ Michael Paulson – “The two productions here in Pittsfield — “Godspell” at Berkshire Theater Group, and the one-person play “Harry Clarke” at Barrington Stage...

  by Carol Rocamora   It looks so familiar, doesn’t it?  Two homeless men, standing along a highway… waiting … waiting … If Beckett’s masterpiece comes to mind, that’s just what playwright Antoinette Nwandu intends.  But instead of Godot, they’re waiting for “po-po” – that’s jargon...

Multi Emmy Award (23 of them) composer and songwriter Billy Goldenberg has died at the age of 84 at his Manhattan apartment. He collaborated with everyone from Elvis Presley to Barbra Streisand to Diana Ross. He composed music for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom and Spielberg’s Duel.  He...

  A reprise of the show Love, Noel! will be part of the Irish Reps’ virtual season and was recently filmed at the renowned Players Club in Manhattan theplayersnyc.org There will be six performances available for streaming next week from Aug.11th through the 15th. Steve Ross will be...

  You won’t get wet at the Theater for the New City’s virtual Street Theater. The 2020 live streaming production “Liberty or Just Us: a City Park Story” runs thru Sept. 13 – More information: www.theaterforthenewcity.net     Mostly Mozart Festival will bring the treasured...

    T. Oliver Reid or “T” as he’s known to many, is a Broadway veteran with numerous shows under this belt, including Hadestown, Once On This Island, Sunset Boulevard, After Midnight, Sister Act and many others. He’s also a singular sensation when performing...

  Mixing It Up Productions announces the grand winners of its inaugural Spring Emerging Playwrights Contest  today. Lia Romeo (Full-Length), David John Preece (One-Acts) and R.A. Pauli (Short Plays) received top nods for their scripts from nearly 800 entries from the United States and...

  by Marcina Zaccaria   Director Samantha Shay is testing the bounds of Zoom, adding quotes, live screen texting, Social Media posts, and dance out on a beach.  She is obsessed with “intimate relationships through the void” throughout  In These Uncertain Times.   Enduring COVID-19...

  Beginning August 4, you can hear Four-time Tony Award® winner Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy, Kinky Boots, Hairspray, Mrs. Doubtfire) on Audible as he brings New York’s very own political firebrand, Bella Abzug – a founding feminist, US Congresswoman, and activist with a...

  By Samuel L. Leiter   The New York theater season of 1922-1923 was memorable. According to my count (which differs a bit from other available surveys), 202 shows of every variety opened (down by a dozen or so from 1921-1922), Of those 202, 122 were new plays, the remainder being...

  Charles Busch will receive the Provincetown American Playwright Award (PAPA) this year in a virtual presentation on August 15th at 5:30 pm.  He is the third person to receive this award which will be presented to him by Paul Vogel, last year’s award winner. The first award was...

  Members of the theater community launched #MaskUpCurtainUp, a social media campaign encouraging theater fans everywhere to wear their masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Using the hashtag #MaskUpCurtainUp, members of the Broadway community will post photos and Boomerangs of...

  By Beatrice Williams-Rude   In  5th Century BC Greece where, arguably, theater as we know it emerged, performances were given in huge outdoor venues with audiences numbering many thousands. In the pre-pandemic  21st Century AD New York City, while there are theaters that have...

  Wilford Brimley died over the weekend. He was 85 years old.  You might remember him best from films that included “Cocoon,” “The Natural,” and “The Firm.” He’s also memorable as that guy in the Quaker Oats commercial and seen more recently in commercials about diabetes. Brimley was a...

  All good intentions when Founder/Artistic Director Julianne Boyd told me in an interview the beginning of May (https://www.theaterpizzazz.com/how-barrington-stage-is-handling-live-theatre-reopening/) that the The Barrington Stage Company (BSC) production of Harry Clarke (by David...

  The Homebound Project is pleased to announce the lineup for its fifth and final edition of new online theater benefiting hungry children affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Co-creators Catya McMullen and Jenna Worsham, along with their all-volunteer team, are also pleased to announce...

  By Myra Chanin   I have always admired Lillian Hellman. She may not ever have served drinks, tits propped up as a Playboy bunny, but she was a total feminist, born way before her time, remarkable: As the blacklisted icon who in reply to a HUAC subpoena offered to speak truthfully...

  By Marilyn Lester   The newly released Kim David Smith: Live at Joe’s Pub, available on digital and streaming platforms, is a fitting tribute to the singer’s devotion to Weimar-era Berlin. It features excellently self-curated selections of numbers performed over 10 years of...

      Tonight, the cast of “Scandal” will reunite for a very special episode of “Stars In The House,” hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, which will livestream on PEOPLE’s social platforms at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.  For one night only, the White House, Olivia Pope &...

  Jay Armstrong Johnson, Ahmad Simmons, and Mary Michael Patterson launch BRIDGE ARTS PROJECT with Virtual Workshop August 10th-14th. Founded by three Texas natives, Bridge Arts Project is a training and mentorship program that cultivates the potential of emerging artists nationwide. ...

    Stephanie Pope is an actor, dancer, singer – a veteran of the Broadway stage for 35 years. Her lengthy credits include Chicago, Sweet Charity, Pippin, Big Deal . . . along with the Fosse legacy she carries forth. This video was created to help support the Playhouse on Park...

  PROMO VIDEO  Special 3K, a concert created and produced by Robert R Blume of Step Forward Entertainment, highlights three young performers, ranging in age from 10 to 22 years old.  Kea Chan, Kayla Merrow and Denise Kara, who will make their professional debut together on August 7th at...

Just in Time: A Cli-Fi Fable – Other Than We Presented by the Earth Institute   By Marcina Zaccaria   Other Than We, by Karen Malpede, journeys from the hospital to a dome, where even inter-species life can take its first breath.  It’s a world where emotion and empathy,...

  by Carol Rocamora If the true test of theatre today is directing a play on-line, then Ciarán O’Reilly is a wizard. Somehow, he has managed to stage The Weir, Conor McPherson’s haunting tale of the terminally lonely – by directing 5 actors in 5 different locations and making it appear...

    by Adam Cohen   In the vast theatrical pause of 2020, online get togethers have thrived.  One gets a perspective of theatrical performers, creators, and producer’s creative process.  The audience is allowed to get even more intimate with their favorite.  This is inherently...

    by Melissa Griegel   Alisa Hurwitz, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist with her own practice in Massachusetts. In addition, she is a psychologist for the Broadway theater community. As “Dr. Drama,” Alisa applies her professional knowledge to consult on shows, conduct...

  Alan Menken Achieves EGOT Status With Daytime Emmy Win  – Composer Alan Menken became the 16th person ever to achieve EGOT status. He joins the small group of entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. Menken won the award for best original song in a...

Join Quarantine Cabaret for Cocktails and legendary triple threat Chita Rivera on Thurs. July 30 at 7 pm. It’s hosted by Lee Lessack (LML Music founder) and Robert Bannon who will also welcome Tony Award Nominee Lisa Mordente (Chita’s daughter) and Michael Orland ((American Idol).  ...

  Two-time Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland,  and for decades the last surviving star of “Gone With the Wind,” has died at age of 104, her publicist Lisa Goldberg reported. The actress died July 26 of natural causes at her residence in Paris where she lived for more than six...

  Longtime television host Regis Philbin died on July 24 at the age of 88. “We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,” his family shared with People Magazine. “His family...

    By Marilyn Lester   In 1966, a young journalist and newly turned playwright named Tom Stoppard, debuted his absurdist, existential play, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play went on to great success. In New York, the Royal...

  by Carol Rocamora   So much has been written about Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda’s marvel of a musical that has taken our country – and the world – by storm.  We’ve read the gamut of reviews and commentary – featuring ecstatic raves ever since it opened in 2015, praising Miranda’s...

  Rumor has it that famed Ellen’s Stardust Diner and its counterpart, The Iridium Jazz Club (located in the basement), may be closed for good based upon rent monies owed in the sum of over $600,000 that go unpaid. If the rents are not received by August 7, the landlord will assume...

  Broadway Records announced today the release of Live Your Life: Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below, the recording of Nick Cordero’s cabaret performance, directed and music directed by Emmy Award-winning Producer and Music Director, Michael J Moritz Jr. Prior to being diagnosed with...

  Stage and screen star, Linda Purl, presents a benefit performance for The Actors Fund. Based on Joan Didion’s National Book Award-winning memoir, THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING is the remarkable story of loss, journey, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. Please consider making...

      By Samuel L. Leiter   The production of revivals in the 1921-1922 season brought little glory to the plays resuscitated or to the season through which they were scattered. Most were of plays from the previous half century, others were of more recent vintage,...

  Lauded as one of the great jazz artists of our time, British-American actress Annie Ross, passed away at age 89 in her home in New York City from emphysema and heart disease. She was an icon to many in the industry and you will probably remember her in The Wicker Man and Superman III....

  And the beat goes on to see what the future of theater and more will look like when it finally returns to some normalcy. Here are some things to ponder.   Broadway On Demand, the new theater-focused streaming platform, is calling on performers, writers, composers, designers,...

By Beatrice Williams-Rude   Mask, as a noun, a face covering; as a verb, to conceal. Masks, an artifact  of the theater since the Ancient Greeks, are now front and center for reasons having little to do with theatrical devices. In 5th century BC  Athens, masks could allow an actor to...

  Happy to welcome the one and only Steve Ross to #PerformersSingForFans.  Steve left his inimitable mark in the musical world of cabaret many years ago, long before he was the opening act at the famed Algonquin Hotel. Mr. Ross personifies everything grand and elegant in the world of...

    The professionals in theatre are all working at reinventing opportunities to perform and stay creative. Equity theatre, Music Theatre of Connecticut, has been working overtime to keep creating content, staying relevant, and staying open! For the past several seasons, cabaret...

Lots of News Across the Pond, Broadway . . .   “Andrew Scott To Star In Live-Streamed Lockdown Play ‘Three Kings’ At London’s Old Vic” by Deadline’s Tom Grater – “Andrew Scott will star in new lockdown play Three Kings, live-streamed from London’s Old Vic...

  The Quarantine Theatre Company presents Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes” replete with renowned actors who will meet from across the nation on YouTube! The classic theatre piece of Hellman’s play of greed and family corruption will be read on Sunday, July 26 at 7 pm.  The...

  As if you didn’t know about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sky-rocketing success Hamilton now on Disney+ . . . yes, for $6.99 a month you can be part of the hoopla (especially if you hadn’t already paid hundreds of dollars to see it on Broadway), now’s your opportunity to...

  by Carol Rocamora,   Is talent divinely given?  If so, what bargain do you have to make with God to get it? That’s the tantalizing question that drives Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus (1979), now streaming on NT Live in a sensational production directed by Michael Longhurst (2016)....

  by Matt Smith   “I’m Robbie Rozelle, this is the Two Drink Minimum, and tonight we’re recording my album! Key change!” It’s an established fact in theatrical circles that standout host, performer and Broadway Records graphic designer Robbie Rozelle possesses a vivacity that few...

  On Sunday, July 19, Jamie deRoy & friends presents a special interview with Two Time Tony Award Winner William Finn, filmed in 2007 at The Metropolitan Room.  He is best known for his musicals, which include Falsettos, for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Score and Best...

  Actor-Singer-Writer-Teacher Jenn Gambatese made her way to the great white way starring in Footloose, moving on to appear in Hairspray (as Penny Pingleton) and then originating the leading role as Natalie/Ed in All Shook Up. She’s toured across America as Glinda in Wicked and...

            SLIDE SHOW BELOW OF THE MANY BROADWAY STARS     by Sandi Durell The fur was flying at Broadway Barks virtually shown on the Broadway.com YouTube channel on July 16, 2020, raising much needed funds, especially now during Covid-19, for the many shelters who take care of...

    By Samuel L. Leiter   Looking back on the season of 1921-1922, for which we’ve already surveyed selected plays and musicals, brings us next to a slew of revues. These continued to emulate, albeit in a more formal and, often, visually elaborate, context, the potpourri of...

  By Ron Fassler   “She came along at a time when you weren’t supposed to have versatility. They didn’t know how to pigeon-hole Kaye Ballard.” – Rex Reed   Kaye Ballard, a musical comedy performer par excellence, died in January of 2019 at the age of ninety-three. This...

  New York Stage and Film, called a “formidable breeding ground for new work” by the New York Times, has announced the 15 early-career film and TV writers who have been selected to participate in the 2020/2021 Filmmakers’ Workshop. The writers will be paired with professional mentors for...

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  By Marilyn Lester   Tony nominee, actress and singer, Melissa Errico has released two songs, “In honor of the strange, sad but still love-hungry spring of 2020 — which perches on the brink of an open but uncertain summer.” This sentiment is well said of two standards of the...

  FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME, the critically acclaimed improv troupe founded by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale, is offering virtual summer classes for both adults and youth. The FLS Academy is the first ever freestyle school created and run directly by FLS members,...

  by Sandi Durell Hosted by comic, writer, actor Cole Escola (appearing as a plethora of characters), the 65th Annual Obie Awards were presented virtually in a pre-recorded YouTube video that lasted about two hours on June 14. The celebration of Off- and Off-Off Broadway theater by the...

  Paul Osborn’s On Borrowed Time, directed by Academy and Tony Award winner Joel Grey, as part of the Two River Theater’s “Two River Rising” series. Benefitting The Actors Fund, this special reading features a cast that includes Blair Brown, Michael Cumpsty, Oakes Fegley, Bill...

by Carol Rocamora   Oscar is a paramedic.   Sharon works in a geriatric ward.  Jennifer is a first year intern. David works in an Intensive Care Unit.  Vikram is an Emergency Room physician.   Ed is also a paramedic.  Dwight is a nurse. Meet the courageous first responders to the...

  Sarah Parnicky is an actor-singer recently seen off Broadway in the award winning Desperate Measures. Her career spans TV, Film and she is trained as an opera singer.  Here, she sings The Prayer (David F. Foster/Tony Renis/Carole Bayer Sager/Alberto Testa for #PerformersSingForFans....

  by Carol Rocamora   Move over, Ibsen.  Step aside, Pinter.  There’s stiff competition lurking  in that treacherous terrain called love. The Deep Blue Sea, Terence Rattigan’s lacerating 1952 drama about a woman trapped in a self-destructive affair, is now streaming (and steaming)...

    By Ron Fassler   Virtual cinema is on the rise. With no theatres open to present them, more films are premiering online these days than ever before. This might not be the best news in the world for blockbuster movies that cost a fortune to produce, but for modest...

  In honor of the strange, sad but still love-hungry spring of 2020 — which perches on the brink of an open but uncertain summer – today, Broadway’s beloved Melissa Errico releases Two Spring Songs for Summer, featuring two classic songs, newly recorded in quarantine: Michel...

SONGS OF THE DECADE   If you’re connected to theater in any way, then you know Broadway Musicologist, Performer, and Music Director Michael Lavine . Michael is the definitive when it comes to sheet music. He’s got them all, thousands! He’s worked with every Broadway performer...

  The Cancer Support Community (CSC) has announced that Emmy-nominated actress and patient advocate Marcia Cross will be the recipient of the 2020 Marin Mazzie Award for Empowerment, named in honor of Theater Hall of Fame inductee, three-time Tony nominee, and CSC Champion Marin Mazzie,...

  There is no one funnier and more clever than Jason Graae. He’s a multi-talented force of nature as a musical theatre actor-singer spanning Broadway, Opera (Metropolitan Opera debut in Twyla Tharp’s Everlast – American Ballet Theatre), TV and film. With a little bit of...

    “Actors’ Equity releases coronavirus testing guidelines for theaters” by Broadway News’ Caitlin Hutson – “Actors’ Equity has released guidelines for COVID-19 testing as theaters plan reopening strategies. Under the guidelines, actors, stage managers and any...

  By Marilyn Lester   Jamie deRoy has long been a champion of songwriters, especially under the aegis of her Jamie deRoy and Friends live and televised programs. In her 2006 CD, If I Sing: The Songwriters Album, she’s chosen the cream of the crop, a baker’s dozen of songs by writers...

  A star-studded cast of Broadway performers present a virtual performance of the Opening Number “Here in Iceland” from the new musical “The Valley.” The musical has Book and Lyrics by Jamie Maletz , Music by Eric Fegan, and Direction by Will Nunziata. The Opening...

  We love our furry pets and want to see as many as possible in loving homes. So it’s time for the 22nd installment of Broadway Barks, the star-studded dog and cat adoption event, aptly titled “Broadway Barks Across America” for the 2020 season will be streamed for the first time...

  by Carole Di Tosti   Ode to Passion, is a movie musical of sophistication, heat and light. The film, though a musical, is actually a genre hybrid, a drama which begins and ends with the protagonist’s poetic lament. Indeed, the film is a cautionary tale about the excesses of...

    Time Life has announced that the last two albums recorded by Carol Channing “For Heaven’s Sake” and “True to the Red, White and Blue” will be available to stream on July 10 – a combination of 29 tracks on all major streaming platforms. These...

Jazz on BroadwayHD: Girls in the Band     by Marcina Zaccaria   BroadwayHD is providing new options to cure the “I can’t get to the theater blues.” First on my list for new online choices for July – The Girls in the Band by Director/ Producer Judy Chaikin. Jazz, trumpet,...

  “Hoping for a Theater Bailout? Better Head to London” by The New York Times’ Jesse Green – “For months I’ve been waiting for industry groups to galvanize themselves into meaningful action, as they did in Britain — and as Black theater artists have proved can be...

  By Samuel L. Leiter   Today we look back on four musicals of 1921-1922, a season, like those immediately before and after, not known for the glory of its musical theater. Naturally, as the shows surveyed here reveal, it was easy enough to find entertainment, but very little was...

  By Tania Fisher   Make your Thursday’s start with a laugh, by indulging in some out-of-left-field comedy by award winning writer Eugene Pack. Pack is mostly known for creating the long running Off-Broadway comedy show, “Celebrity Autobiography” in which he also performed.  His...

  By Carol Rocamora   The sound will be ringing in your ears, long after the curtain call.  It’s the low, deep, haunting sound of women’s voices, chanting in Xhosa, a language you won’t understand.  But never mind – you’ll feel its effect.  It surrounds you, engulfs you,...

  The very talented Conor Ryan is an actor, singer who appeared as Johnny Blood in the award winning off Broadway production of Desperate Measures. Other credits include: Benny & Joon, My Very Own British Invasion, Cinderalla (Broadway), Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert (Film)...

  It’s been a long battle for Broadway actor Nick Cordero who, after more than three months, has succumbed to coronavirus and many complications. He died at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles last night at the age of 41 leaving his loving wife Amanda Kloots and one year old son Elvis....

    By Marilyn Lester   The Liz Swados Project (Ghostlight Records) is a new tribute album to the late writer-composer/lyricist-performer whose influential output over decades traversed a wide range of genres. Swados was a creative powerhouse and one of the few people to have...

  Singer, composer, arranger, conductor Fred Barton was such a hit the first time in #PerformersSingForFans, that he’s returned with another tune to whet your appetite – “Spring, Spring, Spring” (written by Johnny Mercer and Gene De Paul for the movie Seven Brides...

  Keep an eye out for Macy’s July 4 Fireworks and be sure to wear your mask wherever you go. On July 4th on NBC (8 – 10 pm) you can watch video of the bursts of fireworks that took place from June 29-July 1 and, atop the Empire State Building, John Legend and the Young...

  Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley announced today that Ben Stiller will join them LIVE for a very special edition of “Stars In The House,” streaming Tuesday, July 7th at 8 PM ET on the Stars In The House YouTube channel and on starsinthehouse.com. Stiller will reminisce on growing up with...

  By Carol Rocamora   Richard brings home take-out from a local Indian restaurant. Jane walks the dog. Barbara emails her students. Marian hints at a gentleman caller. “And so we come forth” with the Apple Family, as they struggle through the current crisis, along with the rest of...

A special benefit reading and discussion with the artists of Peter Hedges’ Good As New starring Julianne Moore and Kaitlyn Dever, directed by the author, to be presented on MCC’s YouTube channel on Thursday, July 16 at 7:00 PM EST. Revisiting this acclaimed work – a brutal one-act comedy...

  By Samuel L. Leiter   When this series began, my intention was to offer installments in which I described, for each season from 1920-1921 on, a small selection (five, when possible) of plays, musicals, revues, and revivals. The biggest problem I’ve run into has been deciding what...

  KPOP – The Broadway Musical continues its international search for cast in a Global Virtual Open Casting Call. Producers Tim Forbes and Joey Parnes are following social distancing guidelines as they search for talented performers of Asian descent in their 20s to submit audition...

    Legendary comic, actor, writer, producer (the man who did it all) Carl Reiner has died at the age of 98 in his home in Beverly Hills on Monday night from natural causes. He’s best known for creating and starring in TV’s The Dick Van Dyke Show. He grew up in New York,...

    By Ron Fassler   “What we are taking about is a revolution, not reform.” So said Gloria Steinem, one of the most important people in the history of the Women’s Movement, still, even after all these years, sadly in need of advocation. The theatre is as strong an outlet as...

        by Edward Medina   Feathers of Fire the stage production debuted theatrically at BAM in 2016 and was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art the same year. Produced, conceived, and directed by artist Hamid Rahmanian it has since gone on to play some one...

  By Carol Rocamora   Have I used up my quota of rave reviews for the summer?  I hope not!  The Bridge Theatre’s 2019 Shakespeare’s joyous A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now streaming on NT Live, is the dream production of the decade in so many respects.  Featuring a dazzling new...

  The fun and funny Adam B. Shapiro is an actor-singer currently appearing (before Covid-19) in Yiddish Fiddler as the Rabbi. He performs in both English and Yiddish and has been seen in The Normal Heart, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and in numerous shows in every cabaret room in New York...

  by Matt Smith Once a year, the theatre community gathers together to commemorate the season and salute the best of the best. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s plans were instantly, and rightfully, forced to be altered. To fill the void, in celebration of the...