Lee Grant News

July 31st sees the release of folk-rock group The Cumberland Kids' new track Rose. Originally written by the duo for the upcoming musical film Killian & the Comeback Kids, the group says that they hope this paired back arrangement reflects 'our roots in folk music and all that time Taylor spent busking on the street in NY, but still staying true to what the spirit and scope of the film is all about.' Killian & the Comeback Kids, is rumored to hit theatres late this summer, though it has been subject to a number of date changes over the course of the pandemic, and the duo is as eager as anyone to find out when the film can have it's bow.

With the roster still building, Theater for the New City has currently scheduled over 150 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and film makers for its 25th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which will be mounted virtually for the first time May 22 to 24, 2020.

During this time when productions all over the world have been put on pause, we are coming together to celebrate plays that have left their mark on theater history. This week we will be focusing on the plays of Neil Simon. Today's play, Plaza Suite! 

Cady McClain has just signed a nonexclusive distribution deal with Collective Eye for her award-winning documentary Seeing is Believing: Women Direct. The film chronicles the challenges and triumphs of women directors, emphasizing the opportunity for women to use their voice through media to change the social and political landscape and achieve full equality in a male dominated business.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that James Lipton, executive producer, writer, and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, has died at age 93.

'The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages,' presented by Harlem Repertory Theater (HRT) and Yip Harburg Lyrics Foundation, has been extended through June 20, 2020 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended seven times.

'The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages,' presented by Harlem Repertory Theater and Yip Harburg Lyrics Foundation, has been extended through June 20, 2020 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended seven times.

Film distributor Hope Runs High and production house Karmic Release Ltd. threw the opening night bash for Film Forum's LEE GRANT: ACTOR. FILMMAKER series. Running until February 12, 2020, it marks the first retrospective to celebrate Grant's work as both actor and director

Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions, and Hal Luftig announced today that Tony Award® winner Marc Shaiman will write original music for the recently announced production of Neil Simon's comedic play about marriage, Plaza Suite, starring two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and two-time Emmy Award® winner Sarah Jessica Parker, directed by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey. 

Academy Award winning producer Joseph Feury may be best known for his work on groundbreaking films like “Down & Out in America”, “What Sex Am I?” “Nobody's Child,” and “Baghdad ER”, but in recent years he's turned his attention to the canvas. Michael Douglas, Elaine May, and Lee Grant are proud to present the first complete retrospective of his work, on display at The National Arts Club through October.

Tickets go on sale to the general public today at 10:00 AM for both the Boston and Broadway engagements of Neil Simon's classic comedy about marriage, Plaza Suite, starring two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and two-time Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker, directed by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey.

BroadwayWorld has learned that real-life married couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker will come to Broadway in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite following an out of town run at Boston's Colonial Theatre - where the 1968 production also originated, before a 17 week run on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre with previews set to being in March. The production will be directed by John Benjamin Hickey.

'The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages,' presented by Harlem Repertory Theater (HRT) and Yip Harburg Foundation, has been extended through January 11, 2020 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended seven times.

Writer/performer Moti Buchboot will bring his world premiere solo show Five Pieces of Paper: Stories My Hungarian Grandmother Refused to Tell Me and Other Family Tales to the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival in June. There will be four performances only at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Davidson/Valentini Theatre Monday 6/10 at 8:30pm; Tuesday 6/18 at 6:30pm; Tuesday 6/25 at 8:30pm; and Thursday 6/27 at 6:30pm. Running time will be 70 minutes.

The Harlem Repertory Theatre's chamber version of the musical Sweet Charity unabashedly ventures into Bob Fosse's adult-themed musical drama about women who make their living in the sex trade. HRT's company of seven talented actor/singers/dancers tell the tale of the abusive (emotionally and physically) cycle in which our star, Charity Hope Valentine, finds herself inextricably trapped. She falls in love with the same wrong man over and over again. The current #MeToo movement inspired HRT's AUDELCO award-winning director and choreographer, Keith Lee Grant, to take on the challenge of mounting this production of Sweet Charity. The #MeToo era has thankfully forced the way we perceive the treatment of women as depicted in this musical from the late 1960s. Charity's desperate yet ever hopeful search for love is in stark contrast to the vicious cycles of abuse that are the 'accepted' realities of her workplace.

The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages, presented by Harlem Repertory Theater (HRT) and the Yip Harburg Foundation, has been extended through June 8, 2019 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended six times.Upcoming performances are Saturdays at 3:00 PM: December 15, 2018; January 26, February 9 & 23, March 9 & 23 and June 8, 2019.

Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken have reunited this Christmas season for a holiday themed Broadway show. Inspired by the sketch shows starring the likes of Dean Martin, Andy Williams, and Carol Burnett, this duo plans to amuse and delight with vocal performances and light-hearted comedy skits. To get the inside scoop on this show, we sat down with writer and performer Ken Arpino to chat about this first annual holiday spectacular.

'The Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages,' presented by Harlem Repertory Theater (HRT) and Yip Harburg Foundation, has been extended through June 8, 2019 due to continuing and steady audience interest. The production has played since October 8, 2016 at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd Street (near 2nd Ave.), Manhattan, and has previously been extended six times.

BroadwayWorld is sad to report that legendary playwright Neil Simon has died at 91. 

Although Hal Ashby directed a remarkable string of acclaimed, widely admired classics throughout the 1970s—HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO, COMING HOME, BEING THERE—he is often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. Amy Scott's exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight, using rare archival materials, interviews, personal letters, and audio recordings to reveal a passionate, obsessive artist.