Carol Bayer News

Actor, producer, activist and author Jane Fonda was honored with the 42nd annual AFI Life Achievement Award - the highest honor for a career in film

Frank Military the legendary music publisher whose imprint was on many of the hit songs over the last 45 years was memorialized by his son at the Friars Club yesterday. It was an emotional afternoon as many of the icons of the music world attended.

Award-winning vocalist Julie Budd stars in Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein, kicking off Surflight Theatre's 65th Season of 'Broadway at the Beach' from June 11-15.

Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's 'Harmony,' a new musical, opened last night, Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at 8 p.m. at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre and plays through April 13 (Previews began March 4). Directed by Tony Speciale, with music by Manilow and book and lyrics by Sussman, 'Harmony' tells the true story of The Comedian Harmonists, an ensemble of six young men in pre-WWII Germany who rose from unemployed street musicians to become world-famous entertainers, selling millions of records, starring in over a dozen films, and selling out the most prestigious concert halls around the world. Yet while The Comedian Harmonists' sophisticated music, paired with hilarious comedy, made them the brightest of stars, the group's mixture of Jews and non-Jews put them on a collision course with history. 'Harmony' is a co-production with the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta. Below, check out a look back at the opening night festivities, including the red carpet, curtain call, and after party!

STAGES ST. LOUIS continues to experience a steady growth in revenue while expanding its Musical Theatre programs. The 2013 Season broke all previous box office records, with nearly $2 million in ticket sales. The season saw a significant increase in box office revenue of 8% over 2012 sales, out-grossing any season in STAGES' 27-year history. Over the past five years STAGES has increased revenue by over 14%. The forecast for 2014 is looking even brighter as revenues are already up by $200,000 over 2013.

On Friday, November 15, 2013 STAGES ST. LOUIS hosted the twelfth annual APPLAUSE! Gala at the Ritz-Carlton, a benefit to support the organization's Education and Artistic Programs. APPLAUSE! 2013 raised proceeds of over $356,000. This year's numbers come on the heels of another record-breaking season, which generated nearly $2 million in ticket sales, out-grossing any season in STAGES' 27-year history. The event was hosted by STAGES stars Kari Ely and David Schmittou. Lynne Turley and Lisa Nichols served as event Co-Chairs.

Composer, conductor, genius, mensch: Marvin Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 Aug. 6, 2012) earned four Grammys, four Emmys, three Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize before his untimely death, making him one of only two PEGOT winners ever.

STAGES ST. LOUIS proudly announces its dream-filled 28th season! The American Dream is explored through fame, success, and family during the 2014 season. It begins with They're Playing Our Song, a song-filled love story based on one of the most prolific American song writing teams of the 20th Century, Academy Award-winning Marvin Hamlisch, and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Carol Bayer Sager. The seasoncontinues with the Pulitzer Prize-winning How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, a true pursuit of the American Corporate Dream. The grand finale is the Tony Award-winning Fiddler On The Roof, the definitive musical about reaching for the American Dream. The season hits its first note May 30 and runs through October 5, 2014. In addition, the 2014 season Theatre for Young Audiences production will feature Disney's Sleeping Beauty, beginning June 18.

An evening with Tony Award-Winner McKechnie performs SAME PLACE, ANOTHER TIME

Apart from the first pairing up of actors Nikki Gil and Lorenz Martinez, another interesting aspect of 9 Works Theatrical's (9WT) latest stage production, the classic Broadway musical 'They're Playing Our Song,' is the artistic contribution of Joseph Tolentino, musical director, and Gemini Quintos, choreographer.

9 Works Theatrical's ("You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown," "Sweet Charity") production of Marvin Hamlisch and Carol Bayer Sager's classic Broadway musical "They're Playing Our Song" (TPOS), directed by Robbie Guevara, opens this weekend at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati City; Blue Repertory's ("Bare," "Little Shop of Horrors") production of Duncan Sheik's dark rock musical "Spring Awakening" (SA), directed by Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, will follow suit when SA opens at Rizal Mini Theatre, Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City on Valentine's Day, February 14.

- 9 Works Theatrical, which produced last year's professional theater production of Clark Gesner's '60s musical comedy "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown," is currently working on a revival production of Marvin Hamlisch and Carol Bayer Sager's late '70s hit Broadway musical "They're Playing Our Song," which pairs up for the first time TV and recording artist Nikki Gil (who plays disorganized, quirky lyricist Sonia Walsk) and veteran stage actor Lorenz Martinez (who plays accomplished composer Vernon Gersch). Tony winner Lea Salonga and Singaporean actor/director Adrian Pang played Walsk and Gersch respectively in a previous local production of "They're Playing Our Song."

Currently playing at the Metropolitan Room on Friday nights through September (at 9:30 pm), Two for the Road starring singer Shaynee Rainbolt and musical director/pianist Donn Trenner is a transcendent cabaret show infused with romantic nostalgia. While the pairing of Rainbolt, a critically-acclaimed jazz singer (and multiple MAC and Bistro-Award winner), with Trenner, an Emmy-nominated musical director, conductor, and arranger (who has played piano for a Hollywood Walk of Fame full of stars including Ann-Margret, Shirley MacLaine and Bob Hope) seems as close to a cabaret show slam dunk as you get, there is an intense connection between these two performers that is palpable from the moment Rainbolt wraps her luscious voice around Trenner's jazzy piano riffing for the show's opening number.

STATE OF THE ARTS (SOTA), the critically acclaimed weekly performing arts radio series which previously, since its May 31, 2010 premiere, aired live on Mondays from 4:00 - 4:50 pm PST on the LATalkRadio.com Network, is moving its weekly broadcast to Thursdays beginning today, July 19, 2012, it was previously announced by State of the Arts co-producer/co-hosts and theatre professionals MICHAEL STERLING & Paul Stroili.

STATE OF THE ARTS (SOTA), the critically acclaimed weekly performing arts radio series which previously, since its May 31, 2010 premiere, aired live on Mondays from 4:00 - 4:50 pm PST on the LATalkRadio.com Network, is moving its weekly broadcast to Thursdays beginning Thursday, July 19, 2012, it was announced today by State of the Arts co-producer/co-hosts and theatre professionals MICHAEL STERLING & PAUL STROILI. Guests on July 19 will include TV, Broadway star and Tony Award nominee CHRISTOPHER SIEBER (Shrek The Musical, and co-star with George Hamilton in the U.S. National Tour of La Cage Aux Folles; and Film and Television star ESAI MORALES (La Bamba, NYPD Blue, Caprica - Syfy TV's prequel to the series Battlestar Galactica).

The 70th birthday of Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin, winner of 15 Grammy Awards® and the first female ever to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, will be celebrated on March 25, 2012. In honor of this momentous occasion, and also in advance of Black History Month in February, KNEW YOU WERE WAITING: THE BEST OF ARETHA FRANKLIN 1980-1998 will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting January 31, 2012, through Arista/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

The 70th birthday of Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin, winner of 15 Grammy Awards® and the first female ever to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, will be celebrated on March 25, 2012. In honor of this momentous occasion, and also in advance of Black History Month in February, KNEW YOU WERE WAITING: THE BEST OF ARETHA FRANKLIN 1980-1998 will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting January 31, 2012, through Arista/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

Reprise Theatre Company will present An Evening With Joan Rivers for one performance only on Monday, January 30 at 8:00 pm, at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.

Reprise Theatre Company will present An Evening With Joan Rivers for one performance only on Monday, January 30 at 8:00 pm, at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.