Words of Wit & Wisdom

Tom McMorrow’s "Words of Wit and Wisdom"

THEATERLIFE.COM has discovered a delightful new book for which we hope to help find a publisher. Written by Tom McMorrow, a former theater critic of the Daily News, past president of The Drama Desk and editor of the Drama Desk News for all lovers of elegant language, Words of Wit and Wisdom has been hailed by educators (see below), who have called it “monumental” and compared it to Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary.

Barbara Cook Celebration

Philharmonic Celebrates Barbara Cook Milestone

by Ellis Nassour
Barbara Cook caricatures by SAM NORKIN

The New York Philharmonic will host a belated celebration of and with Barbara Cook to mark her 80th birthday, which was October 25. Miss Cook will reminisce about her storied career and sing from her lengthy repertory of songs by Bernstein and Comden and Green, Lerner and Loewe, Arlen and Mercer, Gershwin and Caesar, Hammerstein and Romberg and, among others, a friend named Stephen. The concerts are Monday and Tuesday, November 19 and 20, Mo at 7:30 at Avery Fisher Hall. An additional concert is also set for Tuesday, January 8. 2008

Fashion Benefit At Kleinfeld

KLEINFELD generously sponsored an Afternoon of Elegance, a glamorous Fashion Show with a dash of bold modern style, at their magnificent 35,000 square foot showroom to benefit the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. One hundred seventy five guests attended a private Champagne Reception and Fashion Show at Kleinfeld’s extraordinary fashion emporium, which runs the length of an entire city block on West 20th Street in the heart of Chelsea.

The Lady In Question

Drag legend extraordinaire Charles Busch is making a return engagement to the Bay Street Theater MainStage in a revival of his much acclaimed satire The Lady in Question, which begins previews on August 14 and will run through September 2. Mr. Busch was last seen here during the summer of 2004 in a revival of Auntie Mame on the MainStage, when he played another legend Mame Dennis, made famous by yet another legend, the film and theater star Rosalind Russell. Christopher Ashley, who helmed the current Broadway hit Xanadu, will direct Lady. He also directed the outstanding Broadway productions of All Shook Up and the revival of The Rocky Horror Picture Show earning a Tony nomination in the process.

World Premiere at Bay Street

Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring
By Gordin & Christiano

Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner, the creators of a new rock opera, Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring, which will be making its World Premiere at Bay Street from July 10 – August 5, are a dynamic duo that just happen to be married to each other. I met with them a couple of weeks ago at a rehearsal studio on the 5th floor of Playwright’s Horizons on West 42nd Street in New York City, where Diane was hard at work putting the cast through their paces in preparation for this week’s opening. Their hip new musical is based on a classic fairytale "Turnadot," not the Puccini opera, although, their account bears many similarities. Their Turandot, however, is set in the violent World of Professional Wrestling, but the press release declares the show is "jam-packed with some of the greatest arias from other operas…only this time they are set to a rock beat." After watching a portion of a rehearsal and chatting with the stimulating couple, I am convinced this clever theatrical event may be one of the most unique happenings on the East End this summer.

Legally Blonde

Orfeh and Andy Karl Score As Paulette and Kyle in Legally Blonde
by Ellis Nassour

“Tweenboppers” rejoice: Legally Blonde has arrived on Broadway! Shop, shop, shop to your heart’s content in the show boutique.

There’s good news onstage, too. Laura Bell Bundy, Christian Borle, Orfeh, Andy Karl and all the Legally Blonde gang will be around a while in the show that got almost across-the-boards positive reviews. It’s been exciting audiences for weeks now, and has just been Drama Desk-nominated for Outstanding Musical. One might expect a few nods come Tony Award nomination time.

“Curtains,” the Last Kander & Ebb Musical, is Deadly Fun

By Ellis Nassour

With the death of Frank Ebb in 2004, Curtains marks probably the last original collaboration by Kander & Ebb, Broadway’s longest-running songwriting team. The duo gave us Cabaret, Zorba, Chicago, The Rink, Steel Pier and Kiss of the Spider Woman, not to mention The Act, Flora, the Red Menace, The Happy Time, 70 Girls 70, and Woman of the Year. And, the song “New York, New York.”Curtains has been developed by Mystery of Edwin Drood Tony winner Rupert Holmes from an original concept by the late Peter Stone, who won Tonys for his librettos for Titanic, Woman of the Year and 1776. Composer Kander has done additional lyrics with Holmes.

(Curtains is in previews at the Hirshfeld Theatre, Opening Night is March 22)