The popular concert series Broadway Sings doubled the roster of their virtual platform Broadway Sings PARTY! since launching last month. PARTY! allows fans and theater lovers to throw a Broadway-themed event for any special occasion and choose Broadway guests to...

Television broadcasting legend, veteran talk show host Larry King died in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. this morning from Covid related illness. He had been hospitalized in early January. He was 87 years old. Larry King had medical issues including lung cancer, diabetes and heart...

York Theatre’s Jim Morgan will be schmoozing with Broadway’s Lee Roy Reams (42nd Street, The Producers, La Cage aux Folles, Applause) in a Special York presentation on Mon. January 25 at 7 pm. Lee Roy  played the starring role of Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street and is an unending stream of...

by Carole Di Tosti . . . Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel . . . With a cast boasting superb actors Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck and Jason Segel, Our Friend, shines with poignance and humor. Based on a true account by journalist Matt Teague, the indie film is about how the Teague...

JANUARY 24 at 7 pm: SAVE BIRDLAND By Sandi Durell Mention jazz in New York City and someone immediately says . . . “oh, you mean Birdland.”  And I guess that pretty much sums up the definitive of the greatest jazz club started on December 15, 1949, by a small group of partners and named...

To the Western World – Films and Panel Discussions . . . By Marcina Zaccaria . . . Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival is offering films, talk-backs, and chats about theatrical work in a unique 2021 approach to their annual showings. Traveling back in time to the 1980s, filmmaker...

Nicolas King Releases New Collection – – CLUB44 RECORDS is proud to launch their relationship with acclaimed vocalist Nicolas King with the release of his new collection Act One: Celebrating 25 Years of Recordings, which will be available in streaming and...

Dan Lauria Teams Up with Four Partners By Sandi Durell A smart way to attract audiences is to bring together theaters from around the country and feature Tony Award Winner Andre De Shields (Hadestown – other Broadway credits: The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’,The Full Monty), Tony...

Video in Yiddish Got Bentsh Amerike The cast of the award-winning, Off-Broadway show, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish originally produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, along with director and Academy and Tony Award-winning actor, Joel Grey, will release a video...

The Devil Wears Prada , directed by Anna D. Shapiro, music Sir Elton John, lyrics Shaina Taub and book Paul Rudnick, has rescheduled its world premiere to preview July 2022 at Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre. It is supposed to star Beth Leavel as Miranda Priestly and Taylor Iman Jones...

So Many Shows . . . And Plenty of Time to Watch . . . First-ever digital Theatre @ Home Winter Festival, featuring all nine of the previously-streamed Performances on Screen running in repertory from January 26 to February 21! Acclaimed Performances on Screen...

BY MEMORY INSPIRED: MICK MOLONEY’S SONGBOOK CONCLUDES By Marilyn Lester . . . (Top)Moloney, Castles (Bottom) Johnson, Doyle. . . For fifteen weeks, the Irish Arts Center has presented segments of Mick Moloney’s Songbook, curated by Irish musician, musicologist and teacher Moloney, comprised...

Lots of News Here – Read On! New York Theatre Workshop will present virtual programming in January, including the 2d Annual Reflections of Native Voices Festival, running Jan. 25 – Feb. 7, along with Doug Wright’s The Wright Stuff, exploring how comedians use humor to speak about...

By Marilyn Lester – – – Michael Mellamphy and Sarah Street- – – The Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival has entered its 13th successful year as the world’s only festival devoted to producing and presenting the plays of contemporary Irish playwrights from around the...

The John Gore Organization announced today the launch of America’s first weekly nationally syndicated Broadway entertainment program, “Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal.”  The new weekly version of Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal will reach theater fans across the...

A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran     By Carole Di Tosti  Except for economically socialized countries like Sweden, Norway and others, the chasm between the rich and poor is increasing globally. This is particularly felt in Iran where the sanctions by the West and the...

Gov. Cuomo has outlined a plan to accelerate return of theater and the arts by staging outdoor concerts and create jobs for artists this winter in an effort to accelerate the return of arts and Broadway to the state. … Cuomo announced the creation of New York Arts Revival, a public-private...

Songs of Hope: Jewish Singers, Songwriters and Composers airs January 16 at 7 pm on YouTubeLive as Temple Beth El of Somerset, NJ welcomes Broadway performer Bart Shatto performing pieces written by Stephen Schartz, Art Garfunkel, Neil Diamond including Michael Colby’s “Oy Yoy Yoy” (written...

Thirteen revues populated the New York season of 1924-1925, some of them the latest annual edition to an ongoing franchise, most with the current year appended to their titles;

by Sandi Durell – – You I Like . . Pasadena Playhouse Live – – The Cast- – There can never be too much of Jerry Herman – composer/lyricist of the Golden Age of Broadway Musicals, the good old fashioned showtunes! Sadly he left us just last year in December at the...

By Carole Di Tosti – – – (Photo Maria Baranova)- – – The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival 2021 launched on Wednesday, 6 January 2021 with a full line-up of unique, innovative online productions that promise to be just marvelous. One show which is...

by Carol Rocamora. . . Inua Ellams – – – Experience the primal power of storytelling in Borders & Crossings, Inua Ellams’s arresting “spoken word” theatre work.  It’s one of the offerings in this year’s annual Under the Radar Festival on-line at the Public Theater,...

Rosemary Novellino-Mearns, former member of the Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company and Dance Captain, is author of “Saving Radio City Music Hall: A Dancer’s True Story,” and Bill Mearns, former Radio City Music Hall singer and Captain of the Singers, are presenting their...

The Play with Rocky Bleier, an intimate portrait of famed Pittsburgh Steeler, four-time Super Bowl Champion and wounded warrior, Rocky Bleier, will be presented by Broadway On Demand. The Play, written by Gene Collier and directed by Scott Wise, will...

Master Voices ‘Myths and Hymns’ . . . Flight is the first chapter in a four-part virtual series by award-winning composer Adam Guettel in his theatrical song cycle, Myths and Hymns. Conceived and supervised by Ted Sperling, it is offered as a free digital production beginning Wed....

The New Art Museum By Sandi Durell Three years and $1.6 billion later, New York City now has a showplace expanding Penn Station concourse by 50% – Moynihan Train Hall. The passenger hall (across 8th Avenue) soars with a 92 foot glass skylight and ceilings in grand style, filled with...

New productions coming to BroadwayHD include: Jersey Boys (2014 Movie)-January 1- Directed by Clint Eastwood, Jersey Boys follows the story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group “The Four Seasons.” ...

Waiting for performance venues to reopen? It’s nothing short of frustration for everyone craving music and cabaret performance.  Here’s a tip during these challenging times. Bernie Furshpan (former Managing Partner at the Metropolitan Room and creator of MetropolitanZoom) has found a...

Originally scheduled to open for live performance at London’s Southwark Playhouse, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice will now stream, pay-per-view January 26 thru February 14. The gender-twister, directed by Charlotte Westenra features Nicola Blackman, Dawn Hope, Mary Moore, Mark Pickering, Yazdan...

By Sandi Durell – – – In the Heights- – – There are an untold number of Broadway musicals and more soon to be seen on the big screen. And movie fans, come 2021 and beyond, will be wading through some of the best. Imagine, like the good old days, going to the...

by Sandi Durell. . . The York Theatre Company has been a mainstay of remarkable off – Broadway productions for years. Located in St. Peter’s Church at the lower level, on Lexington Avenue & East 54 Street, it was severely damaged when a water main break this week caused...

On January 28, two time Academy Award winning Frances McDormand and Kate Valk (Wooster Group’s chameleon performer) will host the first installment of Fran & Kate’s Drama Club, a live Zoom series about The Wooster Group’s storied past, emboldened present, and speculative futures....

Getty Images – – The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards scheduled for January 31, will be delayed because of rapid Covid-19 spreading concerns in Los Angeles. The show is now looking at March 14 for the event...

Amy Coleman & David Mandelbaum – – The bilingual streaming production of “The Dybbuk” by S. An-ski (Shloyme Zaynvl Rapoport), which was performed at Theater for the New City by New Yiddish Rep on the play’s 100th anniversary (December 9 to 13), has been...

Pasadena Playhouse, The State Theater of California, announces the January 10, 2021 PlayhouseLive Online Opening Night of You I Like: A Musical Celebration of Jerry Herman, a virtual musical revue honoring the genius responsible for the Broadway classics Hello, Dolly!; Mame; La Cage aux...

New York Theatre Barn will continue to host bi-monthly free live streams featuring new works on select Wed. evenings at 7pm ET with Joe Iconis, Rob Rokicki, Sarah Beth Pfeifer in January 2021. Available on New York Theatre Barn’s YouTube channel and Broadway on Demand, each installment of the...

Mint Theater Company (Jonathan Bank, Producing Artistic Director)will kick off its Silver Lining Streaming Series today January 4th with the on-demand streaming of the HD recording of Days To Come by Lillian Hellman (The Little Foxes, Watch on the Rhine, Toys in the Attic, The...

by Carol Rocamora “To Lagos!”  Inua Ellams’ The Three Sisters – National Theatre At Home Ever since they were written over 100 years ago, the remarkable plays of Anton Chekhov have inspired countless versions, variations, interpretations and adaptations – set in a wide...

NEW YOU TUBE LINK BELOW! The 50th Anniversary Virtual Concert Benefit for The Actors Fund can be viewed on YouTube HERE! Also available at facebook.com/TheaterPizzazz. Donations are very much encouraged. www.actorsfund.org/donate Video available thru Jan. 4th Starring Walter Willison, Karen...

Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical announced a suite of partnerships that will provide a robust virtual Broadway experience, that includes Playbill, presenting a special edition Playbill with all proceeds benefitting The Actors Fund along with a red carpet experience for viewers...

“Broadway Remembers,” a just released in memoriam video tribute, honors the memories of some of those the Broadway community lost between June 2019 and December 2020. Directed by Raúl Esparza, music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, and produced and conceived by Mike...

Theater Pizzazz has been getting noticed and this isn’t the first time! Congratulations to writer Carole Di Tosti for her insightful review on the current hit Hip Hop Cinderella Musical currently shaking things up at Amas Theater Musicals thru January...

by Sandi Durell If you stayed up till midnight and watched the ball drop in Times Square, you had some sad feelings of nostalgia for what used to be New Year’s Eve in New York City. Over a million people would crowd into those few blocks starting the evening prior. Imagine being on the...

by Sandi Durell Don’t expect any celebrations as we’ve come to know them. The ball will drop in Times Square here in New York City as usual but without the crowds that usually line the streets. There will be some celebration. Yes, this will be a memorable year in our history...

With many technical difficulties and a storm knocking down internet and wifi, the powers that be had no choice but to wait to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Two by Two in a Virtual Benefit Concert for the Actors Fund. It will stream New Year’s Day, January 1 at 3 pm est on...

By Maryann Lopinto Natalie Douglas, the Late Laurie Beechman, Jeff Harnar, Karen Mason, Tom & Michael D’Angora, Debbie Gravitte With the ongoing pandemic, millions and millions and millions are unemployed.  Businesses are closing and restaurants are going out of business...

CD Review by Marilyn Lester Singer-actress, Tony nominee and Emmy winner, Liz Callaway, says she didn’t necessarily start out to make a Christmas CD this year, but we’re awfully glad she did––and there’s still lots of time to enjoy it. The twelve days of Christmas don’t end until January...

Ratatouille Announces Cast – The Tony Award-winning theatrical production company Seaview (Slave Play, Sea Wall/A Life) today announced the complete cast for the highly anticipated one-performance-only, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, to benefit The Actors...

FESTIVAL GOES ONLINE International Audiences from both sides of the Atlantic will meet January 11 thru 31 with 20 events. Expect recorded theatre productions, films, documentaries, panels, talks and special events. This is the 13th year for Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival, the world’s only...

Will Friedwald’s Clip Joint 5:00PM: RUDOLF’S SHINY NEW YEAR (1974) Starting at 6:00PM: DEAN MARTIN with FRANK SINATRA (1970)THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE with BING CROSBY, Sonny & Cher, MARILYN MAYE, Ben Blue, 3rd anniversary special! (1966)THE TONIGHT...

by Adam Cohen Pork is on the menu along with race, identity, and personal history, insecurity, money, sex, love, jealousy, wine, and pot are explored in this taut tight-rope audio play by Stacy Osei-Kuffour.   This dinner party from Hell, co-produced by Williamstown Theatre Festival and...

by Carol Rocamora No question about it:  August Wilson’s 20th Century Cycle is one of the towering contributions to the history of the American theatre.  These ten plays – one for each decade –  are a lasting record of the Black experience in our country, chronicling the...

by Matt Smith If there’s anyone we can count on for a little lighthearted levity at this tumultuous time, it’s Christine Pedi!! And fortunately for us, she made her grand return to the cabaret stage (ish) with an outdoor concert earlier in the month — complete with a pianist, waitstaff...

It is with great sadness that I write that three time Tony Nominee Rebecca Luker died of ALS today. She was an enchanting singer, actress who won three Tony nominations in revivals of Show Boat, The Music Man and Mary Poppins. Her soprano voice was joyous to hear. She is survived by her...

...

Gayle’s Broadway Rose Grand Reopening On Saturday April 10 Featuring Broadway Celebrities Haley Swindal from Chicago And Kimberly Marable From Hadestown Singing Broadway Show Tune Hits With Our Talented Singing Servers These Broadway celebs will be singing and entertaining alongside the...

by Marilyn Lester New and Noteworthy Recordings • All the Girls with star Broadway vocalists Rebecca Luker and Sally Wilfert is available from PS Classics on Friday, December 25 in digital and streaming formats and a. a CD on Friday, January 15, 2021. Adapted from the stage show of the same...

by Melissa Griegel Christmastime would not be complete without listening to the glorious baritone sounds of Norm Lewis’ voice singing us into the holiday season. Norm’s holiday show has been a Feinstein’s/54 Below tradition for the past five years. This year’s “Norm Lewis: Christmastime is...

Join Jim Masters Show LIVE today at 4 pm Est. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWrlt3BGww0&feature=youtu.be Meet some of the cast members of the upcoming 50th Anniversary Virtual Benefit Concert of Two by Two for the Actors Fund! Walter Willison (original cast Tony Nominee/directing...

by Myra Chanin  L – R Top: Michael Wex Amitai Kedar Shane BakerCenter: Suzanne Toren Rafoyel Goldwasser Mike BurstynL – R Bottom:Yelena Shmulenson, Mendy Cahan Just when everyone thought Yiddish theater had taken its dying breath, the fabulous invalid shook off her shmattas...

Scene from “Chocolate Dandies,” song “Manda,” sung by Valada Snow. Ca. 1924. By Samuel L. Leiter Of the 248 shows I calculate were produced in the 1924-1925 season (a number that may not match that of other sources), the vast majority of them on Broadway, 29 were book musicals (including...

Broadway On Demand, the theater-focused streaming platform, is proud to present even more shows perfect for the holidays, including the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s one-man production of This Wonderful Life (December 16 – January 3), the Laguna Playhouse production...

By Carole Di Tosti The perfect satirical comedy of hijinks and intrigue is Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Set in the 1930s, Private Lives is a fresh and vibrant comedy of manners with dollops of romance that translate facilely to our time. In this superb revival with period costumes, hairstyles...

by Marilyn Lester When Stephen Sondheim (music/lyrics) and Arthur Laurents (book) devised the three-act musical Anyone Can Whistle, the two were a few years beyond their Broadway success of West Side Story. Having been in Leonard Bernstein’s shadow on that project, Anyone Can Whistle was...

CONCERTS – THEATER – CABARET – BENEFITS – AUCTIONS If you’d like to experience a more traditional Christmas holiday season, enjoy Clint Edwards Music – uninterrupted. Clint is a one of today’s major forces as a composer and sought after musical director/arranger. And...

By Carol Rocamora They should have called it “Iago”!  As Othello’s deceitful ensign, Rory Kinnear’s performance is so mesmerizing that it hijacks Nicholas Hytner’s entire 2013 production.  It makes you wonder why Shakespeare didn’t name his great tragedy after Iago in the first...

Appearing Sun. Dec. 20 2-3 pm on “Bagels and Broadway with Valerie Smaldone  radio show and podcast this SUNDAY, DEC 20 FROM 2-3 PM ET. Walter will be speaking with Valerie about the upcoming 50th Anniversary Virtual Concert of Broadway’s Two by Two that will premiere LIVE on...

       Theater – Music – Holiday Fun Continues   Here are some added treats for you to see during the coming holidays – – stream away!  The Acting Company Holiday Special tonight December 17 at 8 pm. Original songs, classics,...

The Actors Fund, a national human services organization for everyone in performing arts and entertainment, announced today the premiere of The American Pops Orchestra’s(APO) Drag Out the Holly: A Holiday Drag Extravaganza onSaturday, December 19, 2020 from 9:00PM – 10:00PM...

By Cathy Hammer One of the few good things to come out of the need for many theaters to close their physical spaces has been the reemergence of audio plays.  With the right vehicle and sound quality, these verbally painted pictures can take us on a journey far better than shaky green screen. ...

A coast-to-coast lineup of rising stars and top students in the performing arts will gather online this month for a virtual holiday presentation hosted by Great American Songbook Foundation Founder Michael Feinstein. Featuring alumni from the decade-plus history of the annual Songbook...

Theatre@Home By Marcina Zaccaria  Melissa Errico Irish Repertory Theatre was courageous to present Meet Me in St. Louis, a Holiday Special In Song and On Screen.  Artistic Director Charlotte Moore, who appeared in the original Broadway cast, adapts and directs this musical...

Set to premiere at LaMaMa in April 2020, The Wild Project invites you to watch TREES on demand December 18 thru 24. Greta Thunberg meets Sondheim in this dystopian futuristic musical addressing climate change. www.thewildproject.org A Thousand Ways (Part One): A Phone Call by 600 Highwaymen,...

        Beloved Dancer-Choreographer-Actress Dead at 71 By Sandi Durell Broadway legend Ann Reinking is best known for roles in shows like Cabaret, Pippin, A Chorus Line where she made her mark taking over Gwen Verdon’s role as Roxie Hart in Chicago in 1977. In the spirit of Bob Fosse, she...

By HARRY HAUN Primary Stages – A Christmas Carol Pandemic or not, the year-end visitor New York can always count on is A Christmas Carol, and, sure enough, two largely unmusical editions of Charles Dickens’ holiday ghost-story will waft forth this year.   One is a virtual reading,...

             by Carole Di Tosti Extended thru January 31 ! The story of Cinderella is a historical tale (one version from Greece is 2000 years old). In case you have missed it, it’s about a lovely teenager who, after oppression by her step-family, advances in her social status through love...

The Songs of John Bucchino 20th Anniversary Concert by Alix Cohen “Twenty years ago, I got a phone call from a fellow named Billy Rosenfield at RCA Records. He told me he had a small budget to do an album and liked my songs…At that point I’d been in New York 7 years and had met an...

Special December 15th – Mi Estrella Polar – Free – Register Kris Kringle The Musical, the perennial holiday musical which will stream in a virtual production on Christmas Day, offers an early holiday gift. Daily, through Christmas, KrisKringleTheMusical.com releases a series...

Theatre Aspen (Producing Director, Jed Bernstein) announced today that the always popular Theatre Aspen Cabaret Series will return this winter with the second annual Holiday Cabaret, presented virtually for the first time ever. Recorded from New York City, the cabaret will...

Broadway On Demand and Close Up at Merkin Hall Nikki Renee Daniels Explore the lives, careers and music of three of musical theatre’s most fascinating figures! Hosted by Sean Hartley and filmed at Merkin Hall, you’ll get an in depth view of: Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1950), Dorothy Fields...

Barbecue by Robert O’Hara – Spotlight on Play Series stars Carrie Coon, Colman Domingo, Annie McNamara, S. Epatha Merkerson, Laurie Metcalf, David Morse, Kristine Nielsen and more tonight December 10 at 5pm ET/8 pm PT – available till Dec. 14 to benefit The Actors Fund. visit Broadways...

Broadway’s Two by Two will commemorate 50 years with a Virtual Anniversary Concert premiering on Christmas Day, December 25 at 2 pm on facebook.com/MetropolitanZoom and stream thru December 28 starring Tony Award nominee Walter Willison and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba. The concert will...

The Tony Award-winning theatrical production company Seaview (Slave Play; Sea Wall/A Life) will present, for one performance only, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical on Friday, January 1, 2021 at 7:00pm ET to benefit The Actors Fund. Presented in association with TikTok and TodayTix Presents,...

As the Curtain Rises – Broadway’s first Audio Soap Opera, written by Dori Berinstein and Mark Peikert,  returns to Broadway Podcast Network (listen at BPN.FM/ATCR. Dishy, binge worthy shenanigans stars Ramin Karimloo (Olivier/Tony Award Nominee – Les Miserables, Phantom of the...

by Sandi Durell Do you realize you could be busy nearly 24/7 what with all the virtual events and shows scheduled! Lots to choose from and here are some more in our daily effort to keep you apprised of what’s happening, along with essential theater information. Sing Your Hallelujah, a holiday...

Review by Carol Rocamora For every new era, there’s a Shakespeare play that enlightens our understanding of the times.  Such is the case with Coriolanus, the Bard’s brutal revenge tragedy that resonates so powerfully – and painfully – in our own politically fraught period.   Thanks...

By Marcina Zaccaria This holiday season started looking a little brighter, after viewing Mame on BroadwayHD. While I was certain I knew the words and the music, I had forgotten the socio-politically charged story, first on Broadway in 1966, and then at the movies in...

Robert Creighton (Frozen, Anything Goes, York’s Cagney) – Broadway’s Great American Songbook at The York, with music director Doug Oberhamer, and special guest Richard Kind – December 9 at 7 pm est, encore performances Dec. 10 at 2:30 pm, Dec. 11 at 7 pm & 10 pm, Dec. 12 at 2:30 pm &...

By Sandi Durell Rona Siddiqui’s career speaks for itself as a composer/lyricist, musical director and the 2020 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient along with numerous awards under her belt, like the 2019 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award.  Her credits are amazing so rather than go on about...

By HARRY HAUN Michael Riedel pictured on July 24, 2015 (Photo by Anne Wermiel) “Frank Rich came through with a review that buys country houses.” That one sentence, signaling blue skies ahead for the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls, is the most undisguised echt-Riedel observation...

The holiday season is filled with virtual performances in theater, dance and music. Celebrate safely at home with some joyful evenings. Some ideas below and more coming! But first we hear that Hamilton and its creative force Lin-Manuel Miranda might become the first show to open Broadway...

The Lucille Lortel Theatre proudly announces the new venue for musician, actor and director Everett Bradley’s famed Holiday themed funk music review, HOLIDELIC. Originally slated for a 5-week holiday run, The Lucille Lortel Theatre will present a virtual HOLIDELIC experience. Newly...

By Marilyn Lester The Irish Arts Center continues its series of 15 episodes of Mick Moloney’s Songbook, curated by Irish musician, musicologist and teacher Moloney, comprised of stories, songs and tunes from Ireland and Irish America. Moloney, who has a doctorate in Folklore and Folklife from...