News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

Hello, diva lovers! As you all know, the 2003 Tony Award nominees were announced May 12.

Hello, diva lovers! As you all know, the 2003 Tony Award nominees were announced May 12.

Suddenly it's Jones & Schmidt everywhere you look.

Tony Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon, acclaimed in recent weeks for his work in the musical The Scottsboro Boys, will play entertainer Ray Charles in the new Broadway musical Unchain My Heart, which will begin previews Oct. 8 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

BILLION DOLLAR BABY (Original Cast Records OC-4304)
The well-made American musical comedy, as we know it, was developed over thirty years by a relatively small number of craftsmen. Standing out amongst them was George Abbott, whose thirty-odd musicals — as director and sometimes co-librettist — began in 1936 with On Your Toes; his final hit was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in 1962. Many of the shows are justly celebrated, including The Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey, On the Town, High Button Shoes, Where's Charley?, Call Me Madam, Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Once Upon a Mattress, and Fiorello!. Lost along the way, though, was something called Billion Dollar Baby. This was a 1945 follow-up to the previous year's On the Town. Composer Leonard Bernstein wasn't available, so director Abbott, choreographer Robbins, and lyricists/librettist Betty Comden and Adolph Green turned instead to another "highbrow" composer: Morton Gould, who had written the music for Robbins' second ballet, Interplay (which premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre six months after On the Town opened and six months before Billion Dollar Baby).

BILLION DOLLAR BABY (Original Cast Records OC-4304)
The well-made American musical comedy, as we know it, was developed over thirty years by a relatively small number of craftsmen. Standing out amongst them was George Abbott, whose thirty-odd musicals — as director and sometimes co-librettist — began in 1936 with On Your Toes; his final hit was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in 1962. Many of the shows are justly celebrated, including The Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey, On the Town, High Button Shoes, Where's Charley?, Call Me Madam, Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Once Upon a Mattress, and Fiorello!. Lost along the way, though, was something called Billion Dollar Baby. This was a 1945 follow-up to the previous year's On the Town. Composer Leonard Bernstein wasn't available, so director Abbott, choreographer Robbins, and lyricists/librettist Betty Comden and Adolph Green turned instead to another "highbrow" composer: Morton Gould, who had written the music for Robbins' second ballet, Interplay (which premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre six months after On the Town opened and six months before Billion Dollar Baby).

DIVA NEWS A host of Broadway favorites will join Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore at the third annual Broadway Barks! on Saturday, July 14 in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets between Broadway and Eighth Avenue). Those scheduled to participate in this annual event, which helps raise awareness of the plight of dogs and cats in the metropolitan area's shelters, include Cady Huffman, Mary-Louise Parker, Leslie Uggams, Christine Ebersole, Polly Bergen, Catherine Hickland, Joel Grey and Gary Beach. About this worthy cause Peters says, "Every year, 40,000 adoptable animals are euthanized in New York City alone -- many of which are pure breeds. Isn't this enough of a reason to find your next animal through a shelter?" More information about Broadway Barks! 3 is available by calling (212) 840-0770, ext. 477, or by logging onto www.bernadettepeters.net . . . Highlights of the upcoming Carnegie Hall season include Tony and Olivier Award winner Patti LuPone, who returns to the hall with her acclaimed show, "Coulda Woulda Shoulda," on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2002. Call; The Life's Tony winner, Lillias White, who will perform with Skitch Henderson and The New York Pops on Friday, Nov. 16, 2001, in an evening titled "Southern Hospitality with Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer=; and "Broadway Artists Sing the Songs of Billie Holiday" on Monday, April 22, 2002 . . . Speaking of La LuPone: While in San Francisco to perform Sweeney Todd in Concert, the multi talented singing actress will take part in a conversation with George Hearn and director Lonny Price at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum on Saturday, July 21 at 2 PM. For tickets, call (415) 255-4800 or visit www.sfpalm.org. Also, while performing Sweeney at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago on Friday, Aug. 24, the former Evita star will also perform her "Matters of the Heart" concert act at the Festival's Martin Theatre on Monday, Aug. 27
. . . Two of Broadway's finest will headline Arci's Place next month. Karen Mason, who returns to the New York cabaret for her third engagement, will play a two-week run beginning Tuesday, July 10 and running through July 21. This will be Mason's last cabaret engagement for quite a while, as she has landed a role in what promises to be one of the season's big hits, Mamma Mia!. After Mason departs Arci's, Tony winner Donna McKechnie will perform "An Evening with Donna McKechnie" for two weeks beginning Tuesday, July 24 at 9 PM. McKechnie's show features songs and anecdotes from her Broadway career and also pays tribute to the Broadway royalty she was worked with over the years: Gwen Verdon, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, Frank Loesser and many others. Both women will perform Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 9PM and Friday and Saturday nights at 8:30 and 11 PM. Arci's Place is located at 450 Park Avenue South, and reservations may be made by calling (212) 532-4370; there is a $30 music charge and a $15 food/drink minimum . . . Upcoming fall engagements at Arci's Place include Wesla Whitfield (Sept. 25 - Oct. 13), Margaret Whiting (Oct. 16 - Nov. 3), Sally Mayes (Nov. 6 - Nov. 24), Marilyn Sokol (Nov. 27 - Dec. 8) and Baby Jane Dexter (Dec. 11 - Dec. 29) . . . Chicago's Alexandra Billings, with special guest Suzanne Petri, will open the Summer Cabaret Concert Series at the Bailiwick Theatre in Chicago (1229 W. Belmont Ave.) on Monday, July 16. Other scheduled performers include Tom Michael and Beckie Menzie on Aug. 13 and the "Showbiz Kids from Hell," Emmy Award winner Richard Knight and radio personality Becca Kaufman on Sept. 10. Tickets are priced at $10 per show or $25 for the series; for reservations, call (773) 883-1090.

DIVA NEWS A host of Broadway favorites will join Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore at the third annual Broadway Barks! on Saturday, July 14 in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets between Broadway and Eighth Avenue). Those scheduled to participate in this annual event, which helps raise awareness of the plight of dogs and cats in the metropolitan area's shelters, include Cady Huffman, Mary-Louise Parker, Leslie Uggams, Christine Ebersole, Polly Bergen, Catherine Hickland, Joel Grey and Gary Beach. About this worthy cause Peters says, "Every year, 40,000 adoptable animals are euthanized in New York City alone -- many of which are pure breeds. Isn't this enough of a reason to find your next animal through a shelter?" More information about Broadway Barks! 3 is available by calling (212) 840-0770, ext. 477, or by logging onto www.bernadettepeters.net . . . Highlights of the upcoming Carnegie Hall season include Tony and Olivier Award winner Patti LuPone, who returns to the hall with her acclaimed show, "Coulda Woulda Shoulda," on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2002; The Life's Tony winner, Lillias White, who will perform with Skitch Henderson and The New York Pops on Friday, Nov. 16, 2001, in an evening titled "Southern Hospitality with Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer=; and "Broadway Artists Sing the Songs of Billie Holiday" on Monday, April 22, 2002 . . . Speaking of La LuPone: While in San Francisco to perform Sweeney Todd in Concert, the multi talented singing actress will take part in a conversation with George Hearn and director Lonny Price at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum on Saturday, July 21 at 2 PM. For tickets, call (415) 255-4800 or visit www.sfpal.morg. Also, while performing Sweeney at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago on Friday, Aug. 24, the former Evita star will also perform her "Matters of the Heart" concert act at the Festival's Martin Theatre on Monday, Aug. 27
. . . Two of Broadway's finest will headline Arci's Place next month. Karen Mason, who returns to the New York cabaret for her third engagement, will play a two-week run beginning Tuesday, July 10 and running through July 21. This will be Mason's last cabaret engagement for quite a while, as she has landed a role in what promises to be one of the season's big hits, Mamma Mia!. After Mason departs Arci's, Tony winner Donna McKechnie will perform "An Evening with Donna McKechnie" for two weeks beginning Tuesday, July 24 at 9 PM. McKechnie's show features songs and anecdotes from her Broadway career and also pays tribute to the Broadway royalty she was worked with over the years: Gwen Verdon, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, Frank Loesser and many others. Both women will perform Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 9PM and Friday and Saturday nights at 8:30 and 11 PM. Arci's Place is located at 450 Park Avenue South, and reservations may be made by calling (212) 532-4370; there is a $30 music charge and a $15 food/drink minimum . . . Upcoming fall engagements at Arci's Place include Wesla Whitfield (Sept. 25 - Oct. 13), Margaret Whiting (Oct. 16 - Nov. 3), Sally Mayes (Nov. 6 - Nov. 24), Marilyn Sokol (Nov. 27 - Dec. 8) and Baby Jane Dexter (Dec. 11 - Dec. 29) . . . Chicago's Alexandra Billings, with special guest Suzanne Petri, will open the Summer Cabaret Concert Series at the Bailiwick Theatre in Chicago (1229 W. Belmont Ave.) on Monday, July 16. Other scheduled performers include Tom Michael and Beckie Menzie on Aug. 13 and the "Showbiz Kids from Hell," Emmy Award winner Richard Knight and radio personality Becca Kaufman on Sept. 10. Tickets are priced at $10 per show or $25 for the series; for reservations, call (773) 883-1090.

Hello, diva lovers. . . I'm off to Washington this weekend to catch Bernadette Peters in Annie Get Your Gun and then interview her for an upcoming article for Playbill. I didn't want to leave you without any diva news, so here are a few items. Enjoy! More about BP next week. . .

Hello, diva lovers. . . I'm off to Washington this weekend to catch Bernadette Peters in Annie Get Your Gun and then interview her for an upcoming article for Playbill. I didn't want to leave you without any diva news, so here are a few items. Enjoy! More about BP next week. . .

Many of entertainment's brightest stars began their careers Off-Broadway. Find out which of your favorite celebs started out in New York’s intimate theatre spaces.

In Playbill.com's latest feature series, we ask theatre artists to offer a selection of the stage creations that were influential to their own work. Our second edition of the series features selections from Tony Award-winning costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, who shares her list of influential fashion from stage and screen.

2009 was a memorable year…especially in the theatre. Actors, producers, industry leaders, Playbill staff and our readers respond to the question "What was your most memorable theatre moment of the year?"

Newcomer Brett Travis will star in the title role of the Gallery Players' production of the Tony-nominated rock musical The Who's Tommy, which begins performances May 2.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.