Shirley Booth News

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald sat down with Shanice Williams (THE WIZ LIVE ON NBC!) in an Artist to Artist talk at the David Rubenstein Atrium, offering 11 pieces of advice for performers. McDonald's advice ranges from the inspirational ('Be uniquely you') to the practical ('Read the script!). 

BroadwayWorld has just learned that the LC Dialogues series will kick off on Tuesday, January 26 (7:30pm) with Audra McDonald and Shanice Williams. In the Artist to Artist interview, the intricacies of the creative process will be revealed when Williams, a young, emerging artist, sits down to interview the Tony Award-winning Broadway star, and host of Live From Lincoln Center.

The two Broadway stars are honored by a society named for a fictional award in the film ALL ABOUT EVE.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Irving Berlin' arrives in town, and screenings of 'Little Shop' and 'Oklahoma!' light 'em up. Jess Godwin sang with Kristin Chenoweth, and a Thanksgiving musical prepares, as do 'Seussical,' 'The Merry Widow' and 'My Way.' And Broadway In Chicago and the Drury Lane Theatre announce lineups for 2016!

The Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace will present HAZEL, based on the character from the Saturday Evening Post comic strip, and the 1960's TV comedy series starring Shirley Booth.

And that, gentle readers, is just the first problem with ACT 1's season-opening production of Ira Levin's Deathtrap, a sturdy, if perhaps shopworn, theatrical thriller now onstage through October 17 at Darkhorse Theater. Directed and produced by Susan Cole, Deathtrap features a notable cast of experienced local actors who seem to be trapped in a plodding, uninteresting production of a play that's well past its projected shelf life. There's a lack of polish (whether among the actors' performances or on the surface of set pieces) and a pervasive sense of not knowing the time, place and environs in which Deathtrap takes place that is disconcerting and off-putting.

Interestingly, Playhouse on the Square has opted to produce Thornton Wilder's THE MATCHMAKER rather than HELLO, DOLLY, the legendary musical that it spawned - and therein lies both the blessing and the curse: There are so many lines here that served as song cues that the specter of Jerry Herman's 'ear-candied' score keeps hovering over the play. To add to the dilemma, the ever-arranging 'matchmaker' herself is none other than that talented musical performer Ann Sharp (surprisingly making her theatre debut at Playhouse): Because she doesn't have the opportunity to use that particular talent, and because those darned Herman songs keep popping up in the mind, THE MATCHMAKER might prove frustrating for those familiar with its melodic offspring. That's too bad, as Herman's score is rather like some pushy first grader who breaks in line; without it, the audience is left with . . . a fine romantic comedy, filled with mistaken identities and matches and mismatches - and more than just a touch of Wilder's warm , incisive writing.

For two performances only today, September 26th the Bucks County Playhouse is proud to exclusively host exclusively the Brothers of the Battlefield's, RODNEY MARSALIS PHILADELPHIA BIG BRASS BAND at 2pm and 8pm.

For two performances only on Saturday, September 26th the Bucks County Playhouse is proud to exclusively host exclusively the Brothers of the Battlefield's, RODNEY MARSALIS PHILADELPHIA BIG BRASS BAND at 2pm and 8pm.

Some of Broadway's biggest names will come to Philadelphia's Kimmel Center this season in a series produced by Mark Cortale and hosted by the man The New York Times called the 'Mayor of Broadway,' Sirius XM star Seth Rudetsky.  First up will be Audra McDonald - the historic 6-time Tony-winner and star of Broadway's "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," "Porgy and Bess," "Ragtime," "Master Class" and TV's "Private Practice" -  for one show only on Wednesday, October 7 at 8:00 PM.

Audra McDonald has a big year ahead of her! After embarking on a concert tour this fall, the six-time Tony winner, who recenty wrapped filming for Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast, will be back on Broadway, starring alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon in SHUFFLE ALONG. Before all of that, McDonald will head to Provincetown, MA to take part in the acclaimed Broadway @ Town Hall concert series, hosted by SiriusXM radio star Seth Rudetsky. For one show only on Monday, August 24 (6:30 PM), she will be joined onstage by her husband and fellow Broadway star Will Swenson, with whom she is currently starring in Williamstown Theatre Festival's A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN. McDonald recently checked in with BroadwayWorld about Monday's concert, and updated us on all of her upcoming projects! Check out the full interview below:

The acclaimed Broadway @ Town Hall concert series in Provincetown, MA, produced by Mark Cortale, will welcome Audra McDonald -- the historic 6-time Tony-winner and star of Broadway's LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL, PORGY AND BESS, RAGTIME, MASTER CLASS and TV's PRIVATE PRACTICE -- for one show only on Monday, August 24 at 6:30 PM. She will be joined onstage by a very special guest, her husband and fellow Broadway star Will Swenson.

The brilliant Klea Blackhurst repeated her starring role as the saucy, wisecracking housemaid Hazel in a new musical based on Ted Key's cartoon character Hazel - best known for the 1961-66 TV sitcom of the same name. Titled 'Hazel: A Musical Maid in America', the four Lab Workshop performances were May 28 and 29 at the Lyric Theatre Performance Space in Times Square. Scroll down for a peek at the cast onstage!

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) producers proudly open Stephen Sonheim's COMPANY 7pm Saturday, MAY 30th, starring American Idol's breakout star, Justin Guarini.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) announces Bucks County's own John Augustine to return (The Hummingbird's Tour, 2014, Director) to the Bucks County Playhouse stage as 'Larry' in Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY, running May 29-June 21. Augustine will play alongside Broadway's Candy Buckley (Scandalous, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cabaret) as 'Joanne'.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) announces 'Galavant In The Garden,' a spring garden party benefiting the theater tonight, May 9, featuring a special preview performance of Tony Award-winning actor Alan Cumming's new one-man show at Dark Hollow Farm, a private Bucks County gentleman's estate.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) announces 'Galavant In The Garden,' a spring garden party benefiting the theater on May 9, featuring a special preview performance of Tony Award-winning actor Alan Cumming's new one-man show at Dark Hollow Farm, a private Bucks County gentleman's estate.

Casting has been announced for the upcoming Equity Lab presentation of the new smash hit musical comedy Hazel: A Musical Maid in America, based on the Saturday Evening Post cartoon character and the multi-Emmy award-winning television series. Klea Blackhurst, who played the title role in the much buzzed about reading of the musical that took place last October, returns as the irrepressible maid. She will be joined by Tony Award nominee Kerry Butler as Dorothy Baxter, Ed Watts as George Baxter, and Tony Award nominee Craig Bierko as Bonkers Johnson. As was previously announced, Lucie Arnaz (who directed the October reading) will direct the presentation. Hazel features a score by Ron Abel (music) and Chuck Steffan (lyrics), a book by Kleban Award winner Lissa Levin, and choreography by Chet Walker.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) As the bats crack for the start of the baseball season next month, BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE begins its season with NATIONAL PASTIME, a new musical comedy about baseball and romance, playing April 2 to 19 at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA.

Following its much-buzzed-about reading last October, the new musical comedy Hazel: A Musical Maid in America, based on the Saturday Evening Post cartoon character and the multi-Emmy award-winning television series, will embark on the next step in its journey.