Look, We've Come Through 1961 - Articles Page 4

LA Opera Presents EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH, Placido Domingo CD Signing, & More.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts celebrates its 25th anniversary with its 2013-14 season.

Kritzerland Records has just announced their plans to re-release special editions of some of Hollywood's classic movies. The full list of upcoming releases, are below:

What a delightful way to enjoy the autumn leaves changing color, entertained by the talented lineup of performers coming to the Biltmore this fall!

On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.

To those who've seen the Oscar-winning screen adaptation of WEST SIDE STORY, the recollections of George Chakiris' performance as Bernardo remain vivid. His acting is top notch, his singing is superb and his dancing comes darn close to burning up the celluloid it is preserved on. He was awarded an Oscar as 'Best Supporting Actor' for his work on that film and now, fifty years later, he is about to imprint his handprints and signature outside of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Sometimes the film industry can be a little slow on the uptake, won't you agree?

The onetime Broadway musical It Girl is about to open in her 4th play off-Broadway this year.

When we first meet Rita Lyons, she's sitting in a hospital room casually thumbing through a furniture catalogue, asking her husband, Ben, who lies in bed, dying of cancer, to help her come up with ideas for redecorating the living room after he's gone.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced a full slate of musical productions, a developmental reading series and special events for their eighth annual festival. This year's Festival will begin September 26th and continue through October 16th.

West Coast Ensemble and director Richard Israel get ready to for a much-anticipated GYPSY that will run May 13 - July 3 at the Theatre of Arts Arena Stage in Hollywood.

West Coast Ensemble and director Richard Israel get ready to for a much-anticipated GYPSY that will run May 13 - July 3 at the Theatre of Arts Arena Stage in Hollywood.

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance.

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance.

On March 11th, 2011 the New York Pops pays tribute to the late Judy Garland in a special concert at Carnegie Hall. The show will play homage to her famous 1961 concert at the same location, and features Broadway stars Ashley Brown, Heather Headley and Karen Olivo. All week we are speaking with the people involved in this special night, and today we are talking to Judy Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft, about her involvement in the concert and what she remembers of that famous night in 1961.

On Broadway as a teen and now a seven-show veteran before she turns 30, Cameron has also become a Rob Ashford regular.

Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres reopen on time and on budget following a three and a half year £112.8m transformation.

DecadesOut, Inc., a nonprofit organization that develops and promotes programs that examine the intersection of the arts and science, has named a pair of high-visibility members to its board of directors.

Today, we are taking a listen to five of the greatest and most deservedly classic-status cast albums of all time, with all five selections also being Tony-winning Best Musicals recently remastered, repackaged and re-released by Masterworks Broadway in time for Tony Award season which this week is finally coming to a close. In salute of Broadway now - and as it was fifty years ago when the first of these scores premiered - we take stock of what we have got, for better or worse. Surely, the strength of these shows' scores speak and sing out loud for themselves: 42nd Street, 1776, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, MAME and CITY OF ANGELS. From Herman to Coleman to Loesser and beyond we go, with a glance to the future and the all-to-recent past...

Napa Valley Opera House Summer 2010 Season Line Up - Tickets on sale NOW. A note from Artistic Director Evy Warshawski -This time of year is definitely one of my favorites. From May through Labor Day, I have the pleasure of sharing with you the eclectic arts puzzle that is the NVOH summer season.

The Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre (SCRT) announces its 2010 summer performance season, the not-for-profit theatre company's eighth in Trinidad and one with changes on the horizon.

The Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre, nationally known for its interpretation of Stephen Sondheim musicals, celebrated its 20th anniversary season by presenting Sondheim's most popular musical SWEENEY TODD, directed by Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. The production will end its run in the 276-seat MAX Theater, April 4, 2010.

For Women's History Month, an interview with the singer and activist, who has a new recording of 'Over the Rainbow' out and upcoming shows at Cafe Carlyle.

The Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre, nationally known for its interpretation of Stephen Sondheim musicals, celebrates its 20th anniversary season by presenting Sondheim's most popular musical SWEENEY TODD, directed by Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. The new production runs in the 276-seat MAX Theater, February 9 through April 4, 2010.

The Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre, nationally known for its interpretation of Stephen Sondheim musicals, celebrates its 20th anniversary season by presenting Sondheim's most popular musical SWEENEY TODD, directed by Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. The new production runs in the 276-seat MAX Theater, February 9 through April 4, 2010.

Today, John McGrath, Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales announced the company's first year of work at a press briefing in Cardiff that was simultaneously broadcast to the world via the internet.