Elaine Stritch      Seventh Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival
                        October 16, 21, 28   
         Original Stars of Broadway Musicals.
                Legendary Elaine Stritch
       A Tribute to Judy Garland & Gene Kelly
                      By Ellis Nassour
Town Hall's Seventh Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival is October 16, 21 and 28 - three consecutive weekend nights as opposed to previous festivals, which took place three consecutive days. The lineup is the always eagerly anticipated Broadway Originals! on Oct.16 at 3 P.M.; the centerpiece, always a solo celebrity-driven show, this year showcasing Tony and Drama Desk winning legend Elaine Stritch on Oct. 22 at 8 P.M.; and A Tribute to Judy Garland and Gene Kelly on Oct.28. 


Donna Murphy: The People in Her Pictures
               By Ellis Nassour

Tony and Drama Desk winner Donna Murphy, not unexpectedly, is giving one of the most acclaimed performances of the season in Roundabout's Iris Rainer Dart/Mike Stoller/Artie Butler's musical The People in the Picture.
 

Sultry Blonde Nina Arianda Wasn't Born Yesterday
                      By Ellis Nassour
Few theatrical performances the last couple of years generated the kind of buzz that accompanied Nina Arianda's performance March, 2010, as Vanda, the very extroverted but seemingly flighty actress arriving past late to audition as a dominatrix, in Classic Stage Company's acclaimed production of David Ives' Venus in Fur. Now, in a season where there have been so many standout performances, Arianda is delivering one herself in her much-anticipated Bway debut as the very extroverted but seemingly scatter-brained mistress Billie Dawn in Tony-winner Doug Hughes (Doubt) revival of Garson Kanin's  Born Yesterday. Seemingly, being the optium word.

       By Ellis Nassour
The ultimate casting coup of the season is the cast of the acclaimed, very limited run revival [through July 10] of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart. Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe have assembled pure magic onstage.
There are blistering moments from Ellen Barkin, building slowly into a performance possibly only her mother thought she could achieve; the always reliable John Benjamin Hickey topping anything he's done before; Joe Mantello, whom you must beg the question, "Why in the world did you ever leave acting to direct?"; and handsome drink-of-water Lee Pace pulling something out of his psyche that maybe even he didn't know was there.

Connecting Theater Degrees of Separation and Association
             in the Current Season                                 By Ellis Nassour
Tony and Drama Desk nom Christian Borle [Legally Blonde, Spamalot], prior to opening as Black Stache in the NYTW's Lortel-nominated Outstanding Play Peter and the Starcatcher [Outstanding Actor nom] portrayed Prior Walter in the acclaimed Signature Theatre revival of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. 

But that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to current six degrees of separation and associations this season.

Veteran Actresses Loni Ackerman and Lorraine Serabian Return
"with a Vengeance" - and in Repertory                By: Ellis Nassour
 For their inaugural season, Lenny Leibowitz and Amy Estes' Marvell Rep took a giant leap by becoming NY's only professional theater company producing new and classic plays in rotating repertory. Joining a double bill already "in progress" at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex [312 West 36th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues] are Lorca's rarely performed Blood Wedding, beginning performances tomorrow [through April 2]; and the NY prem of Joseph Landis' translation of Ansky's The Dybbuk, beginning performances Sunday [through April 3].

The Red Carpet Rolls Out for Oscar
         By: Ellis Nassour
The 83nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will honor 10 nominated "best" from 2010 on Sunday 8 P.M. [with red carpet arrivals], telecast on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. As last year, special and honorary award winners will be saluted, but their trophies were handed out two weeks ago [no doubt to make room for highlights from the 10 nominated films].

Star-Studded Cast Party at Town Hall
          By Ellis Nassour
Impresario Scott Siegel strikes again, this time with the masterful M. C. Jim Caruso. Together they'll will be putting on the ritz - well, certainly one of the ritziest shows with one of the most stellar star lineups in years. The Best of Jim Carouso's Cast Party, a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS on February 17 at 8 P.M. at Town Hall, will long be remembered for it's amazing roster of headliners. And the bargain-priced tkts!
Stars at press time are Lucie Arnaz, Hinton Battle, Klea Blackhurst, William Blake, Natalie Douglas, Jenna Esposito, Larry Gatlin, Hilary Kole, Marilyn Maye, Sally Mayes, Liza Minnelli, Lisa Mordente, Chita Rivera, Christopher Sieber, Aaron Weinstein and Karen Ziemba.

 Broadway by the Year Season Opener is a Spectacular Valentine to 1921
                     By Ellis Nassour
Celebrate Valentine's Day in memorable fashion as Town Hall and Scott Siegel begin Broadway by the Year's 11th season February 14 at 8 P.M. with Broadway Musicals of 1921. "And it's going to be a really big show," states Siegel, uncategorically. "It's a perfect Valentine Day date night!"

The acclaimed concert series will highlight that bygone, golden era of revues, such as the Ziegfeld Follies, George White Scandals and Music Box Revues, which were crammed with song, comedy, dance and beautiful girls.  
"It was quite an exciting time," notes Siegel, "because that's when Broadway, as we know it, was taking shape."

Remembering Ellen Stewart, Founder of La MaMa Etc.
                         By Ellis Nassour

Off Off and Off Bway pioneer and champion Ellen Stewart, 91 and the founder/director of La MaMa E.T.C., the theatre that began in 1961 and became a major multicultural force of performance art and avant-garde theater, died Thursday at Beth Israel Hospital of natural causes after an extended heart-related illness.