According to Indiewire, Spike Lee wants to make a film adaptation of the George Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess and has confirmed that negotiations are 'still in the works.' The Tony Award-winning revival starring Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald and David Alan Grier is currently playing on Broadway.
LIZA MINNELLI, the irrepressible icon of stage and screen, queen of cabaret and winner of Tonys, Golden Globes, a Grammy, an Emmy and an Oscar, returns to the Hollywood Bowl for a special, one-night-only appearance on Saturday, August 11.
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.
In 1966 the Hallmark Hall of Fame presented a television adaptation of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's Off Broadway musical THE FANTASTICKS. Ricardo Montalban appeared as El Gallo and Bert Lahr and Stanley Holloway were the two fathers. The young lovers were played by Broadway's favorite ingenue, Susan Watson, and a clean-cut young man named John Davidson who had made a strong impression on Broadway audiences as Lahr's son in the musical FOXY.
The Howard Theatre, the historic arts landmark that launched the careers of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes, announces their grand re-opening after a $29 million renovation and a 32-year hiatus. The Howard Theatre will re-open the week of April 9 with an opening lineup that includes Wale, Wanda Sykes, The Roots, Robert Randolph, Taj Mahal, Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), Meshell Ndegeocello, Bad Brains, Chuck Brown, Chuck Berry, Esperanza Spalding and a weekly Sunday Brunch featuring the Harlem Gospel Choir. The full schedule is available at www.thehowardtheatre.com.
The RRazz Room offers Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
Imagem Music USA, which represents catalogues ranging from the American songbook (Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin) to classic & contemporary pop & rock (Elvis Presley, Ludacris, Phil Collins & Genesis) has signed a worldwide, multi-year publishing agreement with the Sammy Cahn estate.
Pepperdine University Center for the Arts presents Dionne Warwick, one of the world's most famous pop music vocalists and the winner of five Grammy Awards, in a concert at Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 15.
The RRazz Room offers Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
Pepperdine University Center for the Arts presents Dionne Warwick, one of the world's most famous pop music vocalists and the winner of five Grammy Awards, in a concert at Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 15.
Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
Beginning Thursday, December 1 through Friday, December 30, The RRazz Room will celebrate its first annual 'Season of Giving,' a benefit to raise funds for San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
The Rrazz Room has announced many of its upcoming events. Look below for the full schedule.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, offers the finest in world-class Classic Soul, R&B, Traditional Pop, Jazz, Comedy, Revue and Cabaret entertainment.
| 1974 | Broadway |
Unknown Broadway |
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