Bobby Steggert News

Tin Pan Alley on 28th street in Manhattan was where many songs were composed in the early 20th century.  Young composers like George Gershwin wrote many of the tunes we are still singing today.  Now, a lot of the creative music and lyrics are coming out of William Finn's Master Class at The NYU Tisch Graduate Program in Musical Theatre Writing.  Instead of these young songwriters displaying there work on the cheap upright pianos that gave Tin Pan Alley it's name, Mr. Finn who is also the Artistic Head of the Musical Theatre Lab at Barrington Stage Company  puts on a show on Barrington's Main Stage in PIttsfield Massachusetts.

The Theatre World Awards Board of Directors (Dale Badway, President), and The Dorothy Loudon Foundation (Lionel Larner, Executive Director), have announced the 2017 Theatre World Award Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance, the 9th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award Honoree for Excellence in the Theater and the 5th Annual John Willis Award Honoree for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre who will be celebrated at the 73rd Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony on Monday evening, June 5, 2017 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at The Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street), current home of The Great Comet, recipient of 12 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical.

Just last night, Lincoln Center Theater held its annual benefit celebrating Andre Bishop (Producing Artistic Director) and his 25 Years at LCT.

Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), four-time Grammy Award nominee Josh Groban (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Tony Award winner Cady Huffman (The Producers), and Tony nominees Carolee Carmello (Sweeney Todd) and Santino Fontana (Cinderella, TV's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) are joining the spectacular cast of Broadway Backwards, a show celebrating equality, community and love through gender-reversed interpretations of the great songs of musical theatre.

Chris Rice, a current swing in the Broadway company of 'The Book of Mormon' had no idea that when he uploaded his tap rendition of Anna Kendrick's 'Cup Song' on YouTube it would go viral, three years later is has accrued over three million views. I was lucky enough to chat with him during an evening he was not swinging in about his current choreography project featured in 'Broadway Backwards' a fundraiser to benefit Broadway Cares: Equity Fights Aids and the LGBT center in Manhattan, also teasing his newest dance video.

The Public Theater announced the fourth season of PUBLIC STUDIO, which will present two new plays this spring.

Save the Date! The Theatre World Awards Board of Directors have announced the date for the 73rd Annual TheatreWorld Awards Ceremony set for Monday evening, June 5, 2017.

Three Tony Award-winning performers and stars from Broadway's biggest hits will be among the star-studded storytellers sharing their hearts through song at this year's Broadway Backwards, a show celebrating equality and community through gender-reversed interpretations of beloved show tunes.

Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw, under the leadership of Artistic Director David Staller, continues its 11th Season with its 118th concert presentation with J.M. Barrie's Alice Sit-By-The-Fire, last night at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway at 95th Street).

Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw, under the leadership of Artistic Director David Staller, continues its 11th Season when it presents its 118th concert presentation with J.M. Barrie's Alice Sit-By-The-Fire on Monday, November 21 at 7pm, at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway at 95th Street).

A new hashtag was been has been showing up on social media pages recently, popular among members of Actors' Equity. #FairWageOnStage is the slogan promoting a minimum salary increase for the Off-Broadway contract that expires on November 6th.

59E59 Theaters welcomes Libra Theater Company with TOUCH, written by Toni Press-Coffman and directed by Nathaniel Shaw. TOUCH began performances on August 18 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 4. Press opening is tonight, August 24 at 7:30 PM.

59E59 Theaters welcomes Libra Theater Company with TOUCH, written by Toni Press-Coffman and directed by Nathaniel Shaw. TOUCH begins performances on Thursday, August 18 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 4.  Press opening is Wednesday, August 24 at 7:30 PM. 

The YALE INSTITUTE FOR MUSIC THEATRE announces the creative teams and casting for the two original book musicals, Blessing, music and lyrics by Andrew R. Butler and book by Andrew Farmer, and The White City, music by Avi Amon and book and lyrics by Julia Gytri, which will be developed in an intensive two-week summer lab at Yale School of Drama, June 13-25.

CT Critics Circle Awards will be presented Monday, June 1 at Hartford Stage.

Earlier this week, The Theatre World Awards celebrated this year's Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance honorees. Hosted annually by well-known theater journalist, Peter Filichia, the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards ceremony was produced by Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors. 

There's a bone disease called 'pycnodysostosis', but it's more commonly known as Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome. It means that the density of one's bones is irregular, and usually results in an abnormal growth of digits or appendages. In the case of the actual Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, it meant that his legs were shorter than normal, and his general stature was fragile.

Alfred Uhry, Charles Aznavour, Kathleen Marshall and brilliant cast CAN CAN and then some.

Long Wharf Theatre travels back in time to the romance and fun of Montmartre in the late 1800s in its production of the musical My Paris, an imaginative retelling of the life of the artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, directed by Tony Award-winning director Kathleen Marshall, with music from the legendary French performer Charles Aznavour, and a book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Alfred Uhry, and with English lyrics and musical adaptations by Tony-winner Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years). Check out a first look below!

The Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors (Dale Badway, President) has announced the 2016 Theatre World Award Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance who will be celebrated at the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony on Monday evening, May 23, 2016 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Circle in the Square Theatre (West 50th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue), home of the current 2015 Tony® Award-winning Best Musical, Fun Home.