Bonnie Franklin News

Four-time Emmy award-winning actress Michael Learned and veteran actor Granville Van Dusen find unexpected love in Kathleen Clark's perceptively witty and poignant play, Southern Comforts, directed by Jules Aaron. The four-week run ends April 10 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

Four-time Emmy award-winning actress Michael Learned and veteran actor Granville Van Dusen find unexpected love in Kathleen Clark's perceptively witty and poignant play, Southern Comforts, directed by Jules Aaron. The four-week run opens March 18 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Low-priced previews take place on March 15, 16 and 17.

Four-time Emmy award-winning actress Michael Learned and veteran actor Granville Van Dusen find unexpected love in Kathleen Clark's perceptively witty and poignant play, Southern Comforts, directed by Jules Aaron. The four-week run opens March 18 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Low-priced previews take place on March 15, 16 and 17.

According to Deadline.com, Bonnie Franklin, Melanie Grifitih, Mary Tyler Moore, and John Schneider are set for guest appearances on Hot in Cleveland. TV Land's second season of the show will premiere on January 19.

Some timeless Irving Berlin classics will soon be heard echoing through the Fabulous Fox Theatre when White Christmas, the latest production from Theater of the Stars, opens November 2 - 7. Leading the cast of this heartwarming family classic, in the role of Bob Wallace, is veteran actor John Scherer. We caught up with John during rehearsals for the show (the production opens its holiday tour in Atlanta) to talk about his career, playing an iconic role, and the magic of this holiday classic.

Seth Rudetsky will bring his show 'Deconstructing Broadway' to Chicago for the first time this October 8 and 9 at the Music Theatre Company Space (1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park, IL 60035). Tickets are $40 for both shows, which will start at 8PM.

Seth Rudetsky will bring his show 'Deconstructing Broadway' to Chicago for the first time this October 8 and 9 at the Music Theatre Company Space (1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park, IL 60035). Tickets are $40 for both shows, which will start at 8PM.

Four Individuals Learn (Perhaps) Too Late The Secrets Of Life in Hello, I Must Be Going, Part of the New York International Fringe Festival - A Production of The Present Company

Four Individuals Learn (Perhaps) Too Late The Secrets Of Life in Hello, I Must Be Going, Part of the New York International Fringe Festival - A Production of The Present Company

After weeks of playing to packed houses, Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore is extending its Los Angeles run in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse through at least August 1.

Four Individuals Learn (Perhaps) Too Late The Secrets Of Life in Hello, I Must Be Going, Part of the New York International Fringe Festival - A Production of The Present Company

Seth Rudetsky will bring his show 'Deconstructing Broadway' to Chicago for the first time this October 8 and 9 at the Music Theatre Company Space (1850 Green Bay Road, Highland Park, IL 60035). Tickets are $40 for both shows, which will start at 8PM.

After weeks of playing to packed houses, Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore is extending its Los Angeles run in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse through at least August 1.

Today, we are taking a look at a clip from the 1971 Tony Awards in the title song from that year's Best Musical. The song is performed by the chorus members of the ALL ABOUT EVE musical, the Lauren Bacall-led APPLAUSE. This clip features a twenty-six-year-old Bonnie Franklin leading one of two featured numbers (and she was nominated for Best Featured Actress - losing out to Melba Moore for PURLIE) who would later find fame on the hit 80s sitcom ONE DAY AT A TIME… APPLAUSE had all the makings of a truly great musical: a score by then-white-hot songwriting team Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, a book by legends Betty Comden and Adolf Green, and a leading lady the likes of whom simply don't exist anymore in Lauren Ball. Stars like her don't shine, they radiate. They just ARE, and Bacall was (and still is). Don't let the fact that she can't really sing fool you: she could put over a number as well as Merman, Callas or Lotte Lenya, for that matter. So here, with a nod to the currently-running shows of that time - among them CABARET, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, HELLO,DOLLY, MAME - and many others in a fun parody sequence that is not a part of the original cast album for what we would assume would be questionable copyright issues given the uncanny homage. Also, viewer beware that there is some slight nudity in the form of some bare backsides at one point in the clip, but surely something broadcast on national television nearly forty years ago could not be held accountable for too much prurience. It's a bit of a desperate ploy in a bit of a desperate song from an even more desperate show. It just screams "Like me!" but one may find it hard to fully embrace the at-times pure camp and over-the-top elements on display in an entirely serious way. Take it for what it is: frivolous fun. Whatever the case with APPLAUSE, it truly seems they threw everything and the kitchen sink into this number - with interesting, if not entirely successful, results. Be sure to stay tuned past the seven minute mark for a quite unexpected surprise. Speaking of which: Bonnie Franklin sure could tap, but her other talents are seemingly a bit less pleasurable from an audience member's point of view judging by this clip. See if you don't agree. The over-the-top camp and hokey allure of this clip justify this as the sole, perhaps, for-diehards-only entry in our Top Ten Tony Moments countdown. After all, a little frothy fun never hurt anybody. 'Til tomorrow…

Seth Rudetsky will return with his show Seth Deconstructs: The Good, The Bad and The Headachy on April 26th at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street) at 7pm. Tickets are only $75!

Seth Rudetsky will return with his show Seth Deconstructs: The Good, The Bad and The Headachy on April 26th at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street) at 7pm. Tickets are only $75!

The theatrical definition of a triple threat is someone who can act, sing and dance, but Lee Roy Reams takes this definition to even greater heights by not only being a great performer, but director and choreographer as well.

Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 2009-2010 Season with the Central Coast Premiere of a timely drama about a fascinating and enigmatic figure in American history. TRYING, which opens March 13 and runs through April 4th (with low-priced previews March 11 and 12), is a poignant, poetic and powerful story about a relationship between Francis Biddle, Attorney General under Roosevelt and Chief Judge at the Nuremburg trials; and Sarah, a tenacious 25-year-old woman from the Canadian plains, one of a string of secretaries Biddle's wife has hired to help him put his affairs in order at the end of his long an illustrious career. Biddle, 81, is in poor health, proud and cantankerous as he begins to confront his own mortality. Sarah, however, is also headstrong, and from her early life on the prairie has developed a strength and wisdom beyond her years. Despite the difference in ideologies and age, the two forge a friendship. The play is autobiographical in nature and is written by Joanna McClelland Glass, who worked for Biddle in the late 60s.

Asolo Rep announces additional casting for award-winning Managing Maxine, Janece Shaffer's new play that takes a straight forward look at sex, love and life after 70. The cast features Howard Elfman as Louis, the role he originated last season in the world premiere of Managing Maxine at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 2009-2010 Season with the Central Coast Premiere of a timely drama about a fascinating and enigmatic figure in American history. TRYING, which opens March 13 and runs through April 4th (with low-priced previews March 11 and 12), is a poignant, poetic and powerful story about a relationship between Francis Biddle, Attorney General under Roosevelt and Chief Judge at the Nuremburg trials; and Sarah, a tenacious 25-year-old woman from the Canadian plains, one of a string of secretaries Biddle's wife has hired to help him put his affairs in order at the end of his long an illustrious career. Biddle, 81, is in poor health, proud and cantankerous as he begins to confront his own mortality. Sarah, however, is also headstrong, and from her early life on the prairie has developed a strength and wisdom beyond her years. Despite the difference in ideologies and age, the two forge a friendship. The play is autobiographical in nature and is written by Joanna McClelland Glass, who worked for Biddle in the late 60s.