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Jac Venza, who was a key to helping American public television in the 1960s and ’70s transform into a bastion of top-notch cultural programming, including Great Performances and Live From Lincoln Center, died May 28 at his home in Lyme, Connecticut. He was 97.

His death was confirmed by his spouse, Daniel D. Routhier.

Venza was working as a television producer when he was asked to collaborate with other innovators assembled by the Ford Foundation in the early 1960s. Their goal was to transform a limited service into National Educational Television, which later became the Public Broadcasting Service.

Venza pushed a simple concept for bringing high art to the masses: “Why don’t we entertain them, too?”

He introduced Net Playhouse, Theater in America, Live From Lincoln Center, Great Performances” and, at the suggestion of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance in America. He also imported popular BBC productions like Brideshead Revisited.

Jac Venza, the PBS producer who pioneered programs such as Great Performances and Live From Lincoln Center, has died. He was 97.

Venza died Tuesday at his home in Lyme, Connecticut, his spouse, Daniel D. Routhier, told The New York Times.

Venza began work designing sets at CBS in 1950 before going on to lead cultural programming at National Education Television in 1964. That would become the Wnet Group, home of New York’s flagship PBS station, Channel 13.

“I realized,” Venza told the Times in 1982, “that the finest artists had not been asked to join television in a major way. To succeed, public television needed performances.”

Venza launched the Emmy-winning Great Performances in 1972, which also included Live From Lincoln Center, Theater in America and Dance in America. Over the years, he worked with the likes of George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Leonard Bernstein, Tennessee Williams and more. Dustin Hoffman appeared in his first...

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and Best Actor in a Musical Tony winner Myles Frost have joined the cast of Ava DuVernay’s latest film inspired by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of our Discontents.

The two join previously announced cast Aunjanue Ellis, who is in the lead role, alongside Niecy Nash, Vera Farmiga, Nick Offerman, Connie Nielsen, Jon Bernthal and Jasmine Cephas-Jones.

Written and directed by DuVernay, she is also producing alongside veteran collaborator Paul Garnes of Array Filmworks.

A bestseller and shortlisted for several awards, Wilkerson’s Caste examines racism in America through the prism of social, economic and cultural delineation and “pillars” of exclusion. Caste has been filming for several weeks in Savannah, Ga. The formerly Netflix-attached Caste will move on to shoot in Germany and India later this year.

The feature is financed by J4Am with sales handled by CAA.

Who knew when the year began that a sequel to a 36-year-old movie starring its 60-year-old actor who headlined the original would be the box office champ so far this year? But “Top Gun: Maverick” starring Tom Cruise, which was released Aug. 23 on digital formats while still flying high in theaters is not only the No. 1 film of the year with a staggering haul of 683.4 million domestically and 720 million overseas. And the acclaimed film didn’t even play in China or Russia. “Top Gun: Maverick” is also the biggest film of Cruise’s career which began in 1981 with Franco Zeffirelli’s “Endless Love.”

And with the digital release, let’s relive 1986, the year we first felt the need for speed and flew into the danger zone. The year the original “Top Gun” took our breath away.

Top 10 Box Office Hits

Top Gun (natch)

Crocodile Dundee

Platoon

The Karate Kid Part...

Few television series boast an ensemble as rich as HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” at least in terms of Tony Awards. Julian Fellowes’ new period drama, which takes place in 1882 New York during a period of American industrialization and affluence, was shot predominantly in New York City. It draws on the wealth of theatre performers available due to the pandemic. The result is a cast of Broadway luminaries whose accolades total in the dozens, or 64 nominations and 23 wins, to be exact.

At the center of the action are a pair of two-time Tony winners — Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon — who play sisters Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. These doyennes of old, moneyed New York try to bar the door to the new wealth elbowing their way into high society. Baranski won her first Tony for her performance in Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing,” which featured Nixon as Baranski’s daughter.

Glenn Weiss has said “yes.” The Emmy-winning live events helmer is back to direct the 94th Oscars for ABC. Ceremony producer Will Packer announced Weiss’ return on Tuesday morning.

“You need someone with the deep technical knowledge and creative insights of Glenn to create an Oscars show that truly celebrates a global love of film. I’m fortunate to be working with him,” Packer said.

Weiss returns from last year’s Academy Awards, which he also directed. Actually, it’s the seventh consecutive time for Weiss, who has directed six previous Oscars shows — for which he won two Primetime Emmys. Weiss also has directed 20 Tony Awards shows, which earned him three directing Primetime Emmys. He also has won eight DGA Awards for his work on the Oscars and the Tonys. Outside of the industry, he may be best known for the year he proposed to his girlfriend, Jan Svendsen, while...

“The whole team worked so hard on the project so it’s really nice to get the recognition on such a music and sound-heavy project,” says Dan Brennan, one of the Emmy-nominated sound mixers for National Geographic’s “Genius: Aretha” starring Cynthia Erivo. Brennan shares his nomination with Emmy winners Ken Hahn and Jay Meagher. Watch Brennan and Hahn’s exclusive video interview with Gold Derby above.

“Genius: Aretha” chronicles the life of Aretha Franklin from a young gospel singer in Detroit to a rising superstar who was eventually crowned the “Queen of Soul.” The sound mixing team acknowledges the added pressure to bring authenticity to the screen for this icon’s story. “Part of it is peoples’ memories of the songs,” explains Hahn. “The memories of when they heard them and what they were doing and who they were with. That changes the feeling. Where they are now being performed,...

Hugh Downs, anchorman for the ABC news program “20/20” and, before that, NBC’s “The Today Show,” died Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 99.

Downs’ career in broadcasting spanned more than half a century. And despite his assertion “I am not a talent, I am a personality,” Downs proved a first-rate interviewer and journalist time and again. His personality was ingratiating and low-key; well into his 70s, his pleasant demeanor made him a welcome guest in the nation’s living rooms. With Barbara Walters, his co-host on both “Today” and “20/20,” he formed one of the most complementary partnerships in television news programming.

Prior to “Today,” Downs made a name for himself as emcee of the quizshow “Concentration” and as sage in residence on the Jack Paar “Tonight Show.”

After early work in radio and TV, Downs moved to New York in 1954 to join Arlene Francis on NBC’s “Home” show,...

Hugh Downs, the legendary TV broadcaster whose career has spanned more than six decades, died on Wednesday. He was 99.

A great-niece, Molly Shaheen, confirmed his death to local news in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Downs had been living. Sheehan and Downs reps did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for confirmation.

Downs was best known for co-anchoring “20/20” with Barbara Walters from the show’s second episode in 1978 until his retirement in 1999. His lengthy broadcast career also includes work on “Today Show,” “Concentration” and “Tonight Starring Jack Paar”.

Also Read: Danny Hicks, 'Evil Dead II' and 'Darkman' Actor, Dies at 68

He first served as the announcer for “Hawkins Falls” — the first successful television soap opera — in 1950. In 1957, he replaced Franklin Pangborn as the announcer of “The Tonight Show” with host Jack Parr. (Parr was the predecessor to Johnny Carson.)

In 1958, Downs began hosting the game show “Concentration,...

The Egot — an acronym for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony — is the greatest honor in entertainment. These stars are (or were) close to achieving it.

A select group of entertainers can round out their trophy cases with a competitive win from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Harry Belafonte (1927 – )

Emmy: Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series, “The Revlon Revue” (1960).

Grammys (2): Folk Performance, “Swing Dat Hammer” (1960); Folk Recording, “An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba” (1965).

Tony: Supporting Actor in a Musical, “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” (1954).

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Emmy: 7 individual wins, including for “Omnibus” (1957 and 1958); “Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic” (1961); “New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts” (1965); “Beethoven’s Birthday” (1972); and “Carnegie Hall: The Grand Reopening” (1987).

Grammy: 16 wins, most for best classical album.

Tony: Best Musical, “Wonderful Town” (1953).

Jerry Bock

Martin Charnin

Cy Coleman

Fred Ebb

Cynthia Erivo (1987 – )

Daytime Emmy: On-Camera Musical Performance in a Daytime Program,...

In today’s film news roundup, Paramount sets up another Will Smith sci-fi project, “Distant Harmony: Pavarotti in China” gets re-released and pro-immigrant “The Infiltrators” finds a home.

Project Launch

Paramount Pictures has signed Will Smith to produce and star in a movie adaptation of Marcus Sakey’s dystopian trilogy “Brilliance.”

Akiva Goldsman will write the script and produce with James Lassiter and Shane Salerno. “Brilliance” will be a co-production between Goldsman’s Weed Road, Smith’s Westbrook and Overbrook and Salerno’s the Story Factory.

The story is set in a world where 1% of the children are born with powerful intellectual gifts and demonized by society. A director is not yet on board.

Smith starred in “Aladdin” and will next be seen in Ang Lee’s sci-fi thriller “Gemini Man,” which Paramount opens on Oct. 11. The news was first reported by Deadline.

Re-release

Giant Pictures, the digital film distribution division of Giant Interactive,...

This New Year's Eve, Live From Lincoln Center rings in 2019 by celebrating the beautiful intersection of classical music, popular musical theater, and dance. Marking the beginning of Lincoln Center's 60th anniversary celebration, Grammy winner and beloved soprano Renee Fleming performs as soloist alongside the New York Philharmonic, led by new Music Director Jaap van Zweden in his Live From Lincoln Center debut. Tony winner and Grammy and Emmy nominee Kelli O'Hara guest hosts the broadcast, airing live on PBS Monday, December 31 at 900 pm.

For the upcoming 91st Oscar telecast, after all the noise about the worst ratings in history, the Academy had to replace producers Michael DeLuca and Jennifer Todd. The duo did well enough their first time around (the Best Picture snafu was not their fault) to warrant returning their second, and put on a decent show within the usual constraints of a ceremony that must showcase 24 award winners.

For Oscars 2019, new producer Donna Gigliotti, who won an Oscar for Miramax’s surprise winner “Shakespeare in Love” in 1999, will pioneer new Academy rules allowing several of the tech Oscars to be handed out during the commercial break and then edited into the live show. (No one will miss their time in the spotlight; there will be a lot less walking.)

New Yorker Gigliotti will work closely with co-producer Glenn Weiss, who will also direct. If he looks familiar, he’s the unflappable...

For the upcoming 91st Oscar telecast, after all the noise about the worst ratings in history, the Academy had to replace producers Michael DeLuca and Jennifer Todd. The duo did well enough their first time around (the Best Picture snafu was not their fault) to warrant returning their second, and put on a decent show within the usual constraints of a ceremony that must showcase 24 award winners.

For Oscars 2019, new producer Donna Gigliotti, who won an Oscar for Miramax’s surprise winner “Shakespeare in Love” in 1999, will pioneer new Academy rules allowing several of the tech Oscars to be handed out during the commercial break and then edited into the live show. (No one will miss their time in the spotlight; there will be a lot less walking.)

New Yorker Gigliotti will work closely with co-producer Glenn Weiss, who will also direct. If he looks familiar, he’s the unflappable...

Oscar-winning producer Donna Gigliotti (“Shakespeare in Love”) will produce the 91st Academy Awards with Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss set to co-produce and direct the annual awards show, to be broadcast in February 2019 on ABC, Academy President John Bailey announced Monday.

This marks Weiss’ fourth consecutive year helming the Oscars. And yes, he is the one who proposed to his girlfriend while accepting an award (for his work on the 2018 Oscars) at the Emmys last month.

“Donna and Glenn will infuse new energy and vision into this 91st awards presentation, and we are excited about a broad-based creative relationship with these two artists,” Bailey said in a statement.

Also Read: Jennifer Fox to Produce Oscars Academy's 2018 Governors Awards

“I’m grateful to the Academy and ABC for entrusting me with this very special opportunity,” said Gigliotti. “I’m sure it will prove to be a humbling, exhilarating and completely unique experience.

Live television events, such as award shows or concerts featuring Jennifer Lopez or John Legend ripping up the stage, can make a TV audience feel like they’re sitting in the front row. But are they the same thing as a taped show of a comic standing at the mic? The Emmys don’t think so, which is why they’ve reorganized the previously murky variety special class categories into variety special (live) and variety special (pre-recorded).

“[Now] it’s a more apples-to-apples competition, with live-to-air variety specials in one category and live-to-tape variety specials in another,” says John Leverence, senior vice president of awards at the Television Academy.

With “special class” a loose term, prior years saw a mélange of diverse special events crowded together and competing against each other. But producers who have worked on both types of special programs maintain that nothing rivals the high-stakes of live shows.

Live From Lincoln Center Presents - Stars in Concert is a debut series from Live From Lincoln Center, showcasing some of the leading voices of the stage and screen - including Broadway favorites Sutton Foster, Stephanie J. Block and Andrew Rannells. Now streaming on BroadwayHD and featuring exclusive, never before seen content, these incredible performers will illuminate their musical journeys to stardom - revisiting favorite songs, and delighting viewers with their versatility and captivating performances.

Award-winning vocalist Leslie Odom, Jr. releases a new ballad What Are We Waiting For S-Curve RecordsBMG featuring his wife, and actress, Nicolette Robinson. Of the collaboration Odom, Jr. says Nic and I have sung this song in concert together for years--most recently for the filming of my Live From Lincoln Center show for PBS. We love the tune and we love singing it together. The song means a lot to us.

Some of Broadway's brightest starsLeslie Odom Jr.,Andrew Rannells,Sutton Foster with special guest Jonathan Groff, andStephanie J. Blockwill headline four special performances as part of a new series,Live From Lincoln Center Presents Stars in Concert. Combining the intimacy of cabaret with Broadway panache, each evening will showcase one of these leading voices of musical theater illuminating their musical journeys to stardom, revisiting favorite songs, and delighting viewers with their versatility and captivating performances.

Some of Broadway's brightest starsLeslie Odom Jr.,Andrew Rannells,Sutton Foster with special guest Jonathan Groff, andStephanie J. Blockwill headline four special performances as part of a new series,Live From Lincoln Center Presents Stars in Concert. Combining the intimacy of cabaret with Broadway panache, each evening will showcase one of these leading voices of musical theater illuminating their musical journeys to stardom, revisiting favorite songs, and delighting viewers with their versatility and captivating performances.

The Television Academy announced rule changes for the 2018 Emmy Awards on Tuesday, including a restructuring of the Oustanding Variety Special and Special Class categories. They will instead be replaced by two variety special categories, one for live events and another for pre-recorded specials. The reason for the change, according to the TV academy, is confusion around the term “special class.” Past winners in the category have included awards shows, PBS performance specials such as “Live From Lincoln Center” and “Great Performances,” as well as the Fox musical “Grease: Live!” Other nominees have included opening ceremonies for the Olympic games, concert.

Tonight, PBS will present Live From Lincoln Center Falsettos for the first time, as part of their series 'Broadway's Best.' Here at Bww, we are so excited to watch our favorite performers perform this fantastic revival in the comfort of our living rooms, where we can bawl our eyes out and sing along to the phenomenal score without a care in the world...

In theory, watching Falsettos in 2017 shouldn't feel as relevant and necessary as it does. Yet this story of building the family you choose and undeniable love in the face of adversity, fear, and death resonates with heartbreaking potency. The power Falsettos has to stir emotions in 2017, only reinforces the value of putting the show back on Broadway in 2016 and Live From Lincoln Center's sage decision to capture it for broadcast on PBS.

This December, some of Broadway's brightest stars Leslie Odom Jr., Andrew Rannells, Sutton Foster with special guest Jonathan Groff, and Stephanie J. Block will headline four special performances combining the intimacy of cabaret with the razzle dazzle of the Great White Way at The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Presented by Live From Lincoln Center, each evening showcases one of these leading voices of musical theater while illuminating their musical journeys to stardom, revisiting favorite songs, and offering glimpses of future projects.

This fall, PBS brings viewers broadcast premieres of Broadway's best every Friday night, beginning October 20 with a Great Performances special, She Loves Me, starring Laura Benanti, Zachery Levi, Jane Krakowski and Gavin Creel. On October 27, Live From Lincoln Center's Falsettos, set amidst the emerging AIDS crisis, takes an alternately comic and poignant look at a modern family.

PBS previously announced that sometime this fall, it would present the recent Broadway revival of Falsettos. Today, the network revealed that the broadcast will air this October as part of its Live From Lincoln Center series.

One of the most exciting things about PBS’s time at the Television Critics Association press tour is that, over the course of two days, critics get exposed to programming that covers an incredibly diverse range of subjects, from deep space exploration to nature to great poets to world-changing wars. But this summer, many of the panels took at least a moment to acknowledge the currently precarious state of public television programming in the United States, due to a proposed federal budget that would eliminate funding for PBS.

As reported on Sunday, PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger explained to critics that should the proposed budget go through, PBS had “no Plan B” for what would happen next. Many of the other speakers who appeared over the following two days had plenty to say about what effect this would have on the kind of programming they create, should this budget pass.

Jonathan Groff Hamilton, Spring Awakening will appear in an upcoming Live From Lincoln Center special alongside two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster, as part of a group of four shows featuring some of Broadway's biggest stars.

The Primetime Emmy Awards are getting a new production team. CBS and the Television Academy have tapped Tony Awards and “Kennedy Center Honors” producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner to oversee this year’s telecast.

Stephen Colbert is on tap to host this year’s show, which takes place on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. Et at the Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Giving the show a serious infusion of fresh blood, it’s the first time as Emmy emcee for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” star, just as it’s the first time as Emmy telecast executive producers for Weiss and Kirshner.

Weiss has directed the Primetime Emmy Awards five times before, however, and will helm the show this year as well.

“We’re looking forward to seeing their unique and innovative approach to the telecast,” said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Hayma Washington. “Glenn’s exceptional direction of past Emmy Awards,...

It was a night of firsts and sweeps.

Find out who won their first Emmys and what shows swept the awards, because we have every single winner from all three Emmy ceremonies below!

Jimmy Kimmel did an awesome job hosting, and even managed to point out all of the annoying gluten free stars in the audience after passing out Pb&J sandwiches his mom made. And he hoped nobody was allergic to nuts!

Congrats to all the winners. How many surprised you by the way things turned out? FX proved that there may be too much television to choose from, but what they're putting out there is of the great variety.

HBO offered up repeats with Game of Thrones and Veep, Keeping The Americans from a Best Drama win, but Rami Malek got the best actor win, even if we were also cheering heartily for Matthew Rhys. And our girl...

A similar version of this article first appeared on EW.com.The 2016 Emmy Awards take place in one week, but the Television Academy got the ball rolling on this year's festivities with the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday night. HBO grabbed 11 Emmys, including nine from Game of Thrones. The hit series won Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie, and Outstanding Special Visual Effects, among others. Thrones had a total of 23 Emmy nominations, the most of any series this year. Elsewhere, FX scored 10 wins, with The People v. O.J. Simpson...

A similar version of this article first appeared on EW.com.

The 2016 Emmy Awards take place in one week, but the Television Academy got the ball rolling on this year's festivities with the Creative Arts Emmys this past weekend.

On Saturday HBO grabbed 11 Emmys, including nine from Game of Thrones. The hit series won outstanding casting for a drama series, outstanding stunt coordination for a drama series, limited series or movie, and outstanding special visual effects, among others. Thrones had a total of 23 Emmy nominations, the most of any series this year.

Elsewhere, FX scored 10 wins, with The People v.

PBS is bringing “Hamilton” to the masses, and Lin-Manuel Miranda will be right there, leading the charge.

As part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival, “Hamilton’s America” — a look into the making of the Broadway phenomenon through the three-year creative process that led up to the musical’s debut — will air October 21 and the musical’s star, Miranda, will host the 2016 festival.

“The PBS Arts Fall Festival spotlights some of the best of the arts across our great country. For this sixth annual Festival, I am thrilled to announce that Lin-Manuel Miranda will be our host,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement. “I truly admire how Lin-Manuel Miranda has redefined the musical genre, inviting audiences to explore our nation’s history in groundbreaking new ways. As our host, I know that he will bring tremendous creative energy and help us attract new audiences to this year’s festival.

Lincoln Center's Spring Gala took place on Monday, April 11, at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Steven A. Kandarian and MetLife were honored. There were 470 guests and nearly 3 million was raised. Since 1997, MetLife's sponsorship of Live From Lincoln Center has been instrumental to the series' success, and has enabled Lincoln Center to bring this program to hundreds of millions of people across the nation, building new audiences for the arts.

If you’re a huge fan of filmmaker Tim Burton and his collaborations with brilliant composer Danny Elfman, then sometime over the past couple of years you might have been able to catch the special concert running through a wonderful collection of music from their work together. But if you weren’t able to attend this incredible […]

The post Watch Danny Elfman Sing ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ Tunes in ‘Live from Lincoln Center’ appeared first on /Film.

Earlier this year, New York City's Lincoln Center held a concert titled Danny Elfman's Music From the Films of Tim Burton, which highlighted suites of the fantastical scores that the composer has created for the imaginative director. One of their best-known collaborations remains the brassy, triumphant main theme in Batman, which the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York performs in the above video, a clip from PBS' Live From Lincoln Center, which will air Friday. Close-ups of Burton's sketches for the movie's characters flash in the background.

Prior...

'Kern amp Hammerstein's Show Boat in Concert with the New York Philharmonic' airedjust last week as part of PBS' Live From Lincoln Center.This New York Philharmonic production features an all-star cast led by Vanessa Williams and Downton Abbey's Julian Ovenden, as well as Norm Lewis, Jane Alexander, Fred Willard, and Lauren Worsham.Mis the broadcast No worries You can check out the full show below...

At last, the Emmys have arrived!

No, we’re not talking about the 2015 Primetime Emmys broadcast — you’ll have to wait until next Sunday, Sept. 20 for that — but rather, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which were handed out Saturday evening at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

RelatedEmmy Nominations 2015: The Snubs That Broke Our Hearts

Among the night’s winners:

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Reg E. Cathey, House of Cards

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Margo Martindale, The Americans

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series | Bradley Whitford, Transparent

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series | Joan Cusack,...

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Broadway World have partnered for filmed Conversations QampA series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. The most recent conversation followed a special screening of Live From Lincoln Center The Nance, featuring Nathan Lane and moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge. Check out the full interview below...

Live From Lincoln Center - the pioneering, award-winning performing arts series - continues its 40th anniversary season with another concert from Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, featuring Norm Lewis Who Am I April 10 on PBS. Song selections include 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly' Music by Frederick Loewe, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner 'I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin 'What's Going On' Renaldo Benson, al Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye and 'No One Is Alone' Stephen Sondheim.

Today we are continuing our expansive ongoing discussion with Tony Award-winning scenic design visionary Beowulf Boritt. Continuing the exhaustive discussion of this week's spectacular one night only concert event Parade, Boritt outlines the visual high-points of the evening as well as offers an explanation of the impetus for many of the ideas behind the inventive design for the unique event. Additionally, Boritt opens up about his other work at Lincoln Center over the years, including Manhattan Concert Productions presentation of Ragtime and his Tony Award-winning work on the Moss Hart drama Act One, which will be shown on PBS as part of Live From Lincoln Center later this year. Furthermore, Boritt shines a light on his multiple other current musicals running or opening soon - the revival of On The Town on Broadway, plus Hand To God opening soon and Off-Broadway's Clinton The Musical. Plus, Boritt details his work on...

Virginia's Signature Theatre presents the world premiere of Diner, the musical adaptation of the landmark film with a book by the movie's Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Barry Levinson Rain Man, Bugsy, The Natural and an original score by nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow. Directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award WinnerKathleen Marshall Broadway's Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It, the ensemble piece will feature Whitney Bashor Barbara Broadway's Bridges of Madison County and Signature's The Hollow, Bryan Fenkart Modell Broadway's Memphis, Aaron Finley Billy Broadway's Rock of Ages,Josh Grisetti Shrevie Off-Broadway's Enter Laughing, Erika Henningsen Beth Show Boat Live from Lincoln Center with the NY Philharmonic, Derek Klena Boogie Broadway's Wicked, The Bridges of Madison County and Second Stage'sDogfight, Adam Kantor Eddie Broadway's Rent, Next to Normal and Second Stage's The Last Five Years, Tess SoltauElyse Broadway's The Addams Family, Matthew James Thomas Fenwick...

Live From Lincoln Center-now in its 40th anniversary season-continues an annual tradition with the New York Philharmonic's New Year's Eve Celebration, ringing in 2015 with an all-Gershwin program as jazz greatDianne Reeves, Broadway leading man Norm Lewis, and conductor Bramwell Tovey join the New York Philharmonic. The broadcast, coming from the Philharmonic's New Year's Eve concert at Avery Fisher Hall, will include Gershwin's Cuban Overture, his own suite of music from Porgy and Bess, and selections from the Gershwin songbook, such as Strike Up the Band. This special Live From Lincoln Center 40th anniversary season broadcast of New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve Gershwin Celebration will air as part of PBS's New Year's Eve line-up on Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at 800 p.m. check local listings, with special guest host Willie Geist of Today on NBC and Morning Joe on MSNBC.

Virginia's Signature Theatre just announced the full cast for the world premiere of Diner, the musical adaptation of the landmark film with a book by the movie's Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Barry Levinson Rain Man, Bugsy, The Natural and an original score by nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow. Directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award Winner Kathleen Marshall Broadway's Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It, the ensemble piece will feature Whitney Bashor Barbara Broadway's Bridges of Madison County and Signature's The Hollow, Bryan Fenkart Modell Broadway's Memphis, Aaron Finley Billy Broadway's Rock of Ages,Josh Grisetti Shrevie Off-Broadway's Enter Laughing, Erika Henningsen Beth Show Boat Live from Lincoln Center with the NY Philharmonic, Derek Klena Boogie Broadway's Wicked, The Bridges of Madison County and Second Stage'sDogfight, Adam Kantor Eddie Broadway's Rent, Next to Normal and Second Stage's The Last Five Years, Tess SoltauElyse Broadway's The Addams Family,...

The New York Philharmonic will soon present a semi-staged production of Kern amp Hammerstein's Show Boat, November 5-8, 2014.As previously announced, the New York Philharmonic's production of Show Boat will star Christopher Fitzgerald as Frank, Norm Lewis as Joe, Alli Mauzey as Ellie, Julian Ovenden as Gaylord Ravenal,Edward Watts as Steve, Fred Willard as Cap'n Andy, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Queenie, Vanessa Williams as Julie, Jane Alexander as Parthy, Erika Henningsen as Kim, and Lauren Worsham as Magnolia. All cast members will be making their New York Philharmonic debuts in this production. As previously announced, the performances will be conducted and directed by Ted Sperling and choreographed by Randy Skinner.The production will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS stations. The air date will be announced at a later time. BroadwayWorld takes you inside the rehearsal room below...

Now in its 16th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook will continue to expand its scope in celebrating the best in American singing and songwriting, beginning with a free opening night concert in the David Rubenstein Atrium on Wednesday, January 21, 2015. Live From Lincoln Center, the Emmy Award-winning program broadcast nationally on PBS stations, will shoot two of the first week's concerts by Broadway stars Norm Lewis and Billy Porter in The Appel Room. These performances will be broadcast nationally in the Spring of 2015.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it This weekend's big news Sweeney Todd airs on PBS as part of Live From Lincoln Center, Annie kicks off its national tour today, Disgraced begins previews tomorrow, and You Can't Take It With You opens on Sunday...

Earlier this year, Emma Thompson made her first stage appearance in a quarter century during a five-night performance of Sweeney Todd at Lincoln Center, where she played the murderous meat-pie maker Mrs. Lovett. It was such a hit that she'll be reprising the role on the London stage next year. Until then, however, here's a sneak peek of what it will look like — Live From Lincoln Center will air Sweeney Todd on PBS this Friday, September 26.

Emma Thompson wants to murder you and cook you into a pie.

Libelous overgeneralizations aside, Thompson would likely be the first to gush about her brief stint as questionably amoral piemaker Mrs. Lovett in the New York Philharmonic’s critically beloved production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street last March.

EW raved about the production—particularly Thompson’s triple-threat performance opposite the likes of Audra McDonald (as the beggar woman) and Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel as the titular barber—and now viewers can experience the joy of seeing Thompson sling (pies) and sing (Sondheim) when the production...

New York – Playwright-director James Lapine's Tony-nominated theater-biz drama, Act One, will be filmed for broadcast on PBS as part of the Live From Lincoln Center series. Based on the classic theater memoir of the same name by legendary playwright and director Moss Hart, the play chronicles his early life and his first forays into the world of Broadway, culminating in his debut collaboration with George S. Kaufman on Once in a Lifetime. The show's large ensemble cast is headed by Tony Shalhoub, Santino Fontana (Frozen) and Andrea Martin. It opened on April 17 at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont

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