It’s a sure bet that Linda Lavin is best remembered for her acclaimed TV series Alice [1976-1985; Emmy nominee], however she’s no stranger to the boards. The Tony-winning actress-singer has been Tony-nominated six times and Drama Desk-nominated eight times [with two wins], and is an Obie winner. Now, she’s not only a recording artist with her first solo CD Possibilities [Ghostlight Records], which comes very late in her encompassing career, but also, as she has proven in several engagements here recently of  Linda Lavin…Now, a cabaret star.

On September 23, she’ll do an encore matinee of her much-raved-about show, which she performed Monday night. It’s not to be missed.

Before her big leap, in her third Broadway outing, stealing It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman [from Jack Cassidy, and that had to be some superwoman achievement], the Strouse/Adams/Newman/Benton musical, where director Hal Prince plucked Lavin out of the ensemble and gifted her with a major featured role and two showstoppers: “You’ve Got Possibilities” and “Ooh, Do You Love You,” Lavin toiled from the mid-60s in cabaret and Off Broadway [The Mad Show, Little Murders, Shakespeare] for 10 years.

Being considerate of her giant talent, it might be said that Lavin’s a far better actress. As a vocalist, the spirit is very willing – and often sassy, sensuous, and sexy – but some high notes are not so. However, the majority aren’t going to go see Lavin for her stellar singing, but for the entertaining spell she casts.

Lavin says she thrives on being in front of audiences. It must be true, because in the last two years, she’s certainly been in front of them and in diverse roles. She was seen onstage recently in the original Lincoln Center Theatre production of Other Desert Cities, the Kennedy Center revival of Follies, and Off Broadway at the Vineyard  and on Broadway in The Lyons.

Regarding her CD, Lavin says, “I wanted to record songs I grew up with and songs I’ve sung in my act. They are tunes that mean a lot to me in terms of telling the story of who I am.”

The 12 tracks feature a mix of Broadway and standards, including “Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)”, “Hey, Look Me Over, ” “In Love Again,” “It Might As Well Be Spring,” “Rhode Island Is Famous for You,” “The Song Remembers When,” “Two For the Road” and “You’ve Got Possibilities.”

But the 54 Below concert is much more than tracks from the CD. Songs include several of  the above and the madcap “The Boy From…,” a parody of the Brazilian samba hit “The Girl from Ipanema” by Mary Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim (featured in The Mad Show), “My Foolish Heart,”  “So Many Stars,”  ”There’s a Small Hotel,” “You Better Love Me (While You May),” and, surprising the audience with her proficiency on the piano, a medley of  ”It Amazes Me”/”Long Ago and Far Away.”

Billy Stritch, on piano and dueting with Lavin, is music director, accompanied by a quartet, which includes drummer Steve Bakunas, her husband.

In addition to copies of Possibilities, which Lavin will autograph for purchasers at 54 Below, the CD is available at www.sh-k-boom.com/lindalavin.shtml.

54 Below tickets are $30-$40 plus a $25 minimum. For reservations, call (866) 468-7619 or visit 54below.com. Entrees from the first-class kitchen range from $15-$32, with appetizers from $10-$18.

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In new honors created for this milestone 50^th New York Film Festival, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman and Festival sponsor Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC)’s longtime program director Richard Peña will be saluted at a galas during the Festival,  September 28 – October 14, in Alice Tully Hall. The honors were announced Wednesday by Film Society executive director Rose Kuo.

Kidman will take part in an onstage conversation at the screening of director Lee Daniels’s much-acclaimed film The Paperby, which has been added to the Festival’s Main Slate. The film co-stars Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Matthew McConaughey.

Daniels was a producer on Monster’s Ball and producer and director of the acclaimed Precious…, which was nominated for Best Picture, 2009. Of it’s six nominations, it won for Adapted Screenplay and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Mo’Nique..

Peña, who’s served the Festival for 25 years, is leaving his role as FSLC program director to head the Festival’s Selection Committee.

The tributes were created “to celebrate the work of those in film who’ve made significant artistic contributions to film culture in the past and will continue to do so in the future.”

In The Paperboy (Millenium Entertainment), Kidman plays the sultry fiancée of a death row inmate (Cusack). Working with a local journalist (McConaughey), she gets to know the writer’s younger brother (Efron), and the rest, as they say, is history.  The film became one of the most talked about entries at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“Nicole Kidman is one of our finest contemporary actresses,” says Peña, “Since her breakthrough performance in To Die For and her bold and provocative appearances in Lars Von Trier’s Dogville, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, as well as her awarding-winning portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry’s The Hours [for which she received the Oscar], Nicole has insisted on finding roles that are complex, bold and demanding.”

Peña, who possesses a vast knowledge of film history as they who watch THIRTEEN’S Saturday night triple film series and who’s always accessible to media and film buffs, joined FSLC. Before long, his name became synonymous worldwide with that of the NYFF. Over the years, he’s gained immense respect across the board throughout the film industry.

Ms. Kuo noted that Peña “has guided the festival’s artistic vision. He also helped the Festival to discover such visionary directors as Pedro Almodovar, Abbas Kiarostami, Olivier Assayas, Lars Von Trier and Hou Hsiao-hsien. His contribution has been indelible.”

At the golden age of 50, the NYFF is keeping things fresh with a new Midnight Movies series with screenings of films “best experienced at the witching hour, and which will have you cringing, cheering, and shrieking.”

 General tickets for the 50th New York Film Festival go on sale September 9. For more information, visit the NYFF Tickets section of www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012.

Bargain Film Society Memberships

Join one of New York’s best movie-going programs. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the New York Film Festival, FSLC is offering $50 memberships for a limited time. Benefits include a subscription to Film Comment magazine, bi-weekly e-newsletter, discounts from Film Society partners, merchandise discounts, concession freebies, annual cocktail party, advance ticket purchase, invites to special events, and complimentary tickets to screenings. To join, visit members@filmlinc.com or call (212) 875-5620.

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To celebrate the launch of the cineplex romance/disaster phenomenon Titanic in Blu-ray Hi-Def 3D and Blu-ray [Paramount Picture; Paramount Home Media], Oscar winner James Cameron, joined by producer Jon Landau, will appear Monday [September 10] at Best Buy [Union Square, 14^th Street and Park Avenue South] at 7 P.M. for a two-hour Q&A followed by a signing. The event is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating will be extremely limited.

Cameron will give fans personal insights from the making of the international blockbuster, which won 11 Academy Awards, the most ever for any film [14 nominations]. The film starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar nominee Kate Winslet, and Billy Zane with strong support from Kathy Bates, Oscar nominee the late Gloria Stuart, Frances Fisher, Bill Paxton, and Victor Garber. Cameron took home Oscars for Picture and Direction. Other Oscars were for Cinematography, Editing, Special effects, Score [James Horner],  and Song.

Titanic’s run time is a whopping 194 minutes, but the Blu-ray release will include more than 2 ½ hours of new feature content, which makes the disc a must-have for fans. The film was originally released in wide-screen, but for rerelease in April it was adapted into 3D.

Most recently, Cameron, who started his career in 1984 directing The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed the 3D blockbuster  Avatar. which currently holds domestic and worldwide box office records with grosses in excess of $2.7-billion — beating the previous record holder, Titanic, which held the record for 12 years.

Landau holds the distinction of having produced the two highest grossing movies of all-time, Avatar and Titanic.

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One of theatergoers most eagerly looked forward to events is the free theater block party Broadway on Broadway concert in the heart of Times Square. Today Show’s three-time Emmy-winning co co-host, best-selling author, actress, singer, and now playwright Kathie Lee Gifford will host Sunday’s 20^th  concert presented by United Airlines and The New York Times and produced by the Broadway League, Times Square Alliance, and IMG Media.

Showtime is 11:30 A.M., but arrive early for best vantages between 46^th and 47^th streets and Broadway and Seventh Avenue.   A 30-piece orchestra will accompany the stars of long-running favorites and the 2012-2013 season’s new musicals. Times Square will be a big block party with thousands of attendees.

In October, Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, with book and lyrics by Gifford, comes to Broadway, so you can expect a preview of that show at Broadway on Broadway. Gifford made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together in 2000, played Miss Hannigan in a record-breaking run of Annie at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In 2005, she wrote book and lyrics for Under the Bridge, her first musical. She’s also a three-time New York Times best-selling author.

“Kathie Lee’s a Broadway Baby at heart,” says Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, “and not only a true Broadway fan but a constant supporter of New York theater. She sings, she acts, she writes, she hosts, so she’s the perfect headlinert.”

Tim Tompkins, president, Times Square Alliance, agrees and adds, “This year’s Broadway on Broadway is a celebration of 20 years of success of bringing the best of Broadway talent and musicals to millions of New Yorkers and visitors in the  world’s most famous hub of live entertainment.”

For more information and a list of shows performing, visit www.BroadwayonBroadway.com. The Music Performance Fund, WCBD-FM 101.1 and Fresh 102.7 FM, and Clear Channel Spectacolor are Broadway on Broadway media partners. Additional Support is provided by the Theatre Development Fund [TKTS].

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The 50^th New York Film Festival is about to unreel. New York cinema’s biggest annual cinema event, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 17-day New York Film Festival, begins September 28 and runs through October 14 with an ultra impressive lineup of 32 films on the Main Slate.. This year’s Festival will be quite special, since it’s a milestone  celebrating the Festival’s 50^th Anniversary. Tickets go on sale to the general public on September 9.

Main slate works will include films by such notable directors as Noah Baumbach, David Chase, Brian De Palma, Ang Lee, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, and Robert Zemeckis.

Opening Night will debut Life of Pi [Fox 2000] from director Ang Lee [Brokeback Mountain], based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, a magical adventure of an Indian zookeeper’s son who finds himself in the company of motley animals, including a 450-pound Bengal tiger, after a shipwreck – legendary French actor Gérard Depardieu co-stars.

There’ll be gala tributes to Nicole Kidman, whose film The Paperboy, directed by Lee Daniels [Precious] and co-starring  Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Matthew McConaughey; and Richard Peña, who’s served the Festival for 25 years as FSLC program director to head the Festival’s Selection Committee.

Choice packages are available. For automated information, call (212) 875-5600. Purchase beginning September 9 at the NYFF box office at the Walter Reade Theatre, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and online at filmlinc.com [service charges apply]: Major credit cards accepted.      

Cinephile Package: Select 10 Alice Tully Hall screenings from a curated assortment – $180
Early Bird Pass: Enjoy access to NYFF weekday matinee screenings (some exclusions apply) on a first come-first basis Monday – Friday at the Walter Reade Theater (subject to availability) – $100
VIP Lounge Pass: Relax, meet and greet other Festivalgoers in the Hauser Lounge at Alice Tully Hall before or after screenings – $500
Convergence Pass: Explore immersive media unlimited access to NYFF’s first-ever transmedia conference – $125
Discount Passes and Ticket Packages: Various packages are available
Single Tickets: if available. 

In honor of the Festival’s 50th Anniversary, the Film Society asks you to consider adding a tax-deductible contribution to your purchase which will not only invest in the future of the Festival but also new education programs and emerging filmmaker initiatives.

The Festival is known for highlighting the best in world cinema with top films from celebrated and emerging filmmakers. But there’s so much more to keep cinephiles entertained.

Complimenting the Main Slate, there will be special events, star-studded press conferences,  sidebars, panels, and first–time programs, including NYFF’s Masterworks programs and Views from the Avant-Garde.

The Centerpiece gala is the semi-autobiographical Not Fade Away [Paramount Vantage] from director/writer David Chase (The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, The Rockford Files), headlining James Gandolfini and Brad Garrett, about 60s New Jersey friends forming a rock band to make it big.

Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Don Cheadel star in the Closing Night gala,  the thriller Flight (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), loosely-based on 2001’s incident of a pilot guiding a fuel-less superliner from certain crash and becoming a hero until the subsequent  investigation reveals troubling details.

Award winners having New York premieres include the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Amour (Austria/France/Germany-Sony Classics), Michael Haneke’s portrait, co-starring France’s acclaimed Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert, of a couple dealing with the ravages of old age; and the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear Award for Best Director, Christian Petzold’s Cold War thriller Barbara [Germany] about a doctor, played by Nina Hoss, working in 1980s East Germany who’s banished to a country hospital.

The Film Society and NYFF receive support from American Airlines, Royal Bank of Canada, The New York Times, Stella Artois, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York State Council on the Arts.

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The stars are standing up to fight cancer. For Friday’s commercial free telecast of the fundraiser Stand Up to Cancer on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in prime time [8 P.M. Eastern], joining co-founder Katie Couric  and co-host Gwyneth Paltrow will be a Who’s Who celebrity roster that includes Simon Baker, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Coldplay, Dana Delany, Matt Damon, Rocco DiSpirito, Michael Douglas, Chelsea Handler, Tom Hanks, Marg Helgenberger, Felicity Huffman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Alicia Keys.

Joining them will be Tim McGraw, Jeremy Renner, Julia Roberts, Seth Rogen, Ray Romano, Emma Stone, Taylor Swift, Maura Tierney, Justin Timberlake, Sofia Vergara, and Olympic Gold Medalists Gabrielle Douglas and Missy Franklin.

These stars and many other personalities will join Couric and co-producer Paltrow  in performance or relating inspiring patient stories. “Donations from the telecast,” says Couric, “will fund groundbreaking translational life-saving research that delivers new therapies to cancer patients more quickly.”  There’ll be celebrity phone/multi-media banks allowing viewers to interact with participating talent and make donations, “of which,” explains Couric, “100% will go directly to cancer research.”

Viewers will also be able to donate via text-to-give and standup2cancer.org. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC are donating the hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime. The program will broadcast live from Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. geles. In addition, HBO, HBO Latino, ION, Lifetime, Logo, MLB, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, STARZ, STYLE, TBS, and VH1 will carry Stand Up To Cancer, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, which is nationally-recognized 501(c)3 charitable organization.

The first two SU2C telecasts took place in September , 2008. To date, more than $180-million has been pledged for SU2C research. Since then, grants have been awarded to researchers and scientists who are undertaking high-risk, potentially high-reward projects. In all, 85 institutions are involved.

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Broadway Week, September 4 – 16, with 99% of plays and musicals offered in a 2-4-1 bonanza, is always eagerly anticipated. The Fall discounts include nearly 20 shows, including some hard-to-get-tickets-to blockbusters.  In addition, 25 Theatre District restaurants are offering a free dessert when a ticket stub from participating shows is presented.

“The only thing better than seeing a Broadway show is the opportunity to get two tickets for the price of one,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director, the Broadway League. “Thanks to NYC & Company, we’re thrilled to offer this exciting opportunity again to  theatergoers.”
Productions participating in Fall’s Broadway Week are Bring It On, Chaplin, Chicago, An Enemy of the People, Evita, 2012 Tony-winning Best Revival [in its last weeks on Broadway] Porgy and Bess, Tony-winning  Jersey Boys, Tony-winning The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Newsies, Nice Work If You Can Get It, 2012 Tony winning Best Musical Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, Tony-winning long-run champion The Phantom of the Opera, Rock of Ages, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Tony-winning War Horse, and Tony-winning Wicked.  All are subject to availability and blackout dates may apply. Use the code BWAYWEEK at theatre box offices to save a bundle in service charges.

Participating restaurants are B. Smith’s, Ca Va Brasserie, FireBird, the Russian Tea Room, Shun Lee West, and Sky Room Times Square. To book tickets for a Broadway Week show and for the complete list of participating restaurants, visit nycgo.com/broadwayweek.
Amtrak Guest Rewards members earn 100 points or more for tickets purchased to participating shows by registering their account with Audience Rewards before purchase.
Broadway Week is produced by NYC & Company, the Broadway League, AARP, Amtrak, NBC-4, and The New York Times. For more information, to make online purchases, and a full list of restaurants, visit nycgo.com/broadwayweek.

Happy 100^th!

World dance impresario, Hungarian-born Paul Szilard is 100 (August 24). Many of the world’s ballet companies owe their current renaissance or, in fact, wouldn’t exist today without his amazing largesse. In June, at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet, on the opening night of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater season, he was was decorated by the French Ministry of Culture for his years of bringing great dance to France and for his contributions to French culture.

Mr. Szilard has presented not only Alvin Ailey, but also New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Martha Graham Dance Company, Madrid’s Ballet Víctor Ullate, and, among others, Universal Ballet and such artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Judith Jamison here and throughout the world. The first English-language Broadway show presented in Japan, West Side Story, was presented by Mr. Szilard.

As a leading dancer, Mr. Szilard performed throughout the world. Under My Wings: My Life as an Impresario, his autobiography, was published in 2002.

Kipling’s Jungle Book Onstage

Theatre East presents a new adaptation of Kipling’s classic The Jungle Book by Megan O’Brien, Off Broadway beginning September 1 for a limited engagement at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre [416 West 42^nd Street, between Ninth and Ten Avenues].  Dina Epshteyn directs. This tale of a lost boy being adopted by the animals of the jungle is told through the eyes of young Alex, who through the pages of the story uses his imagination to bring the book to life. Through shadow puppetry, and new staging this is a show the entire family will enjoy. For more information, visit www.junglebooktheplay.org.

Tickets are $25; $20, for groups of 10 or more. They’re on sale at the box office and through Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com, where you can find the performance schedule.

Celebrating Brazil

Millions will throng Sixth Avenue, in the vicinity of Little Brazil, West 46^th Street, between Sixth and Fifth Avenues for the 28^th annual Brazil Day festivities. They lead off with a parade and music festival on Sixth Avenue on Saturday, September 1. Then, the next day, 25 streets of the surrounding area become New York’s largest street fair. The stage at 42^nd Street and Sixth will showcase some of Brazil’s hottest musicians and entertainers will be in a Samba-madness mode, along with visiting soccer stars. Since Brazil will host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, you can expect even more enthusiasm this year. For more information, visit www.brazilianday.com.

Sponsors include Brazil’s TV Globo and the newspaper The Brasilians and BACC Travel, owned by Honorary Little Brazil Mayor  João de Matos.
For authentic Brazilian delicacies and famed all-you-can-eat meats from dozens of skewers, visit the classic steakhouses Churrascaria Plataforma on West 49^th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, and the Churrascaria Plataforma in Tribecca; and Brazil Grill, Eighth Avenue and 48^th Street.

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New York cinema’s big event, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 17-day New York Film Festival, September 28 – October 14, is known for highlighting the best in world cinema with top films from celebrated and emerging filmmakers. This year’s Festival will be quite special, since it celebrates the 50^th Anniversary. When asked what to expect, a press spokesman said, “Lots of surprises!”

The main slate will include works by notable directors that include Noah Baumbach, David Chase, Brian De Palma, Ang Lee, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, and Robert Zemeckis.

Opening Night will debut Life of Pi [Fox 2000] from director Ang Lee [Brokeback Mountain], based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, a magical adventure of an Indian zookeeper’s son who finds himself in the company of motley animals, including a 450-pound Bengal tiger, after a shipwreck – legendary French actor Gérard Depardieu co-stars.
The Centerpiece gala is the semi-autobiographical Not Fade Away [Paramount Vantage] from director/writer David Chase (The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, The Rockford Files), headlining James Gandolfini and Brad Garrett, about 60s New Jersey friends forming a rock band to make it big.

Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Don Cheadel star in the Closing Night gala,  the thriller Flight (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), loosely-based on 2001’s incident of a pilot guiding a fuel-less superliner from certain crash and becoming a hero until the subsequent  investigation reveals troubling details.

Richard Peña, FSLC Program Director and NYFF Selection Committee chair, said, “This year’s films have a quality of fearlessness uniting otherwise disparate works – films that take the risk of taking audiences places they might rather not go.”

Award winners having New York premieres include the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Amour (Austria/France/Germany – Sony Classics), Michael Haneke’s portrait, co-starring France’s acclaimed Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert, of a couple dealing with the ravages of old age; Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear Award for Best Director, Christian Petzold’s Cold War thriller Barbara [Germany] about a doctor, played by Nina Hoss, working in 1980s East Germany who’s banished to a country hospital; and După Dealuri (Beyond the Hills) (Romania), director Cristian Mungiu’s gripping modern exorcism tale of two former orphans, starring newcomers Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan, who shared Cannes Best Actress prize.

The Film Society and NYFF receive support from American Airlines, Royal Bank of Canada, The New York Times, Stella Artois, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York State Council on the Arts.

Tickets go on sale September 9 at the NYFF box office. For information on the full line-up, schedules, special events, and panels, visit www.filmlinc.com.
Follow #filmlinc on Twitter.

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It’s that time of year loyal lovers of theater dread. Shows that have been struggling to make it, will be closing. The light at the end of the tunnel, as is always the case with Broadway, is that new, and some are quite exciting, shows will be taking their place.

The musical Ghost, based on the 1990 smash film, gave up the ghost Saturday [August 17]. The End of the Rainbow, with [whether you believe the arc of the play to be factual or fiction] a commanding performance by Tracie Bennett, heads out to tour soon [and will be adapted for the screen] and, as of Sunday, there’s no Judy, Judy, Judy on Broadway. On August 29, the curtain rings down on glitzy Sister Act.

Closing it’s limited engagement on September 1 is the New York Shakespeare Festival’s revival of Sondheim’s Into the Woods, playing Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre [free admission], and starring Oscar winner Amy Adams and Tony winner Donna Murphy.

September 2 we must say cheerio to one of this season best entertainments, One Man, Two Guvnors, starring 2012 Best Actor, the incomparable James Corden. It’s a laugh riot and should be at the top of your Must See list. Also closing the same day is this year’s Best Play, Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park, also a Pulitzer Prize honoree and Olivier Award winner.
The acclaimed 2012 Tony-winning revival of George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,starring Audra McDonald

Porgy and Bess (Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis | Photo by Michael J. Lutch)

[except August 21-23], Norm Lewis, and David Alan Grier, has posted September 23 for its final performance. Rumor has it heading to the big screen, directed by Spike Lee.

Off Broadway, you can catch the last performances of the popular farce, Potted Potter, which presents all seven Harry Potter books in 70 minutes.

Still holding strong Off Broadway is Nina Raine’s must-see family drama Tribes, one of the best plays of this or any recent season.

In previews or soon to open are the play Grace, co-starring Paul Rudd and Ed Asner; the musical Chaplin, based on the life of filmdom’s silent era king, the Tramp; one of Broadway’s biggest blockbusters, the Tony-winning Annie; Roundabout Theater Company’s revival of Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac and Rupert Holmes’ Tony-winning The Mystery of Edwin Drood, based on Dickens’ incomplete last novel and co-starring legendary Broadway favorite Chita Rivera; and Chicago’s Steppenwolf’s revival of Edward Albee’s landmark play, the scorching Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? 

Also in the good news department, a brand new edition of Gerard Alessandrini’s wickedly funny send-up Forbidden Broadway, Alive and Kicking! has arrived.

PBS Specials

PBS regularly airs performances of the Metropolitan Opera and a variety of the best in classical and pop concerts. Coming up is a superb example of the former.

Verdi’s La Traviata gets a contemporary design that’s both off-putting and provocative on August 23 at 9 P.M. and August 26 at Noon in Willy Decker’s production that might not satisfy loyalists but breathes new breath into a classic. Celebrated French soprano Natalie Dessay delivers a staggering portrayal of Violetta. Matthew Polenzani is Alfredo, with acclaimed Russian bass Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s magnificent portrayal of Giorgio. The Met’s Fabio Luisi conducts.

Upcoming: Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert, Great Performances, August 31, 9 P.M.; Paul McCartney, Live Kisses, September 7, 9 P.M.

On the Record

Tony winner and two-time Grammy nominee Betty Buckley’s new solo album, Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway [Palmetto Records] features tunes from her acclaimed 2011 concert, “songs,” she says, “we gals never got to sing. It’s my take on some of the soaring melodies the men got to sing.” The 14 tracks include Irving Berlin’s “My Defenses Are Down,” Annie Get Your Gun; Bernstein/Sondheim’s “Maria,” West Side Story; Frank Loesser’s “Luck Be a Lady,” Guys and Dolls; and a suite from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.

Raissa Katon Bennett, cabaret award winner and a later Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart’s Phantom of the Opera, has released Another Kind of Light [LML Records]. The 15 tracks include Broadway, pop, and jazz. Among the highlights is “Ordinary Miracles” by Marvin Hamlisch and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Cole Porter’s “I Concentrate on You,” and the rarely-recorded “How Could I Not?” by Alan Menken and David Spencer from the musical adaptation of The
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Bennett  performs songs from the album August 21-25 at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. To book, click here.

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Actress, playwright, screenwriter, and iconic sex symbol Mae West [1893-1980] created sensation after sensation after she transitioned from vaudeville to Broadway, where she once co-headlined with Al Jolson. If she had lived as long as she wanted, Miss West would be entering her 120^th year  today: August 17. She’s entombed in a mausoleum in the Abbey of Cypress Hills Cemetery, in her native Queens.

She thrived on creating scandal. As innocent as it would be today, back in 1926 her play Sex caused riots. She was convicted of obscenity and sentenced to 10 days. In prison, she regaled reporters and entertained the warden and guards, even played cards with them.

When she segued at the ripe age of 40 into movies, she became a late-in-life sex symbol and spent the rest of her life honing that image. Miss West was Number One at the box office.

Her self-penned screenplays, some based on her controversial stage work, are said to have saved Paramount Studios from bankruptcy. Her films, none more hilarious than when she matched wits with W.C. Fields in My Little Chicadee [Universal Studios], were notorious for double-entendres that somehow made it by the Hollywood censors.
Behind the screen image, Miss West was a savvy business woman, especially when it came to buying up Hollywood real estate in the 30s. If she hadn’t been so obsessed with sex, she could have gone on to become one of filmdom’s greatest comic actresses. When she could no longer beat the censors, she took her act, surrounded by muscle men to Vegas, the U.K., and returned to Broadway. She performed on radio and made occasional guest TV appearances in addition to recording some pretty awful rock ‘n roll albums that today are prized collectibles.
To visit Mae West was a rare privilege and an unforgettable and quite theatrical experience, especially if you were aware of her films, the controversy, the legend, the myth. She certainly didn’t disappoint. Every interview was a command performance: the floor-length gown, the platinum wig with flowing curls, the platform shoes to make her appear taller.
She wasn’t shy. Once, when I asked what it takes to become a legend, Miss West oohed and aahed, then stated, “You got to be different – have a special look, or walk, or aura. I had it all, and knew how to use it. These aren’t gestures you learn in high school, dear. They come natural. I never changed my basic style. Half the women in the world – and quite a few men – have imitated me. They only imitate you if you’re unique. I am.”

Boastful, she was; innocent, she wasn’t. Both made her exciting and charming. Sadly, though she was outspoken on feminist issues long before the pack, she was all about Mae. As her fame waned, she was obsessed with keeping her image alive. In the process, she became a caricature of herself.

With her vast real estate holdings, she could have afforded an estate that would rival a Raj palace, but home was an apartment that took up the entire top floor in a residential neighborhood. Like Miss West, it remained unchanged until her death.

[Trivia: Jerry Orbach, when he was between roles, drove limos. He was once chauffeur to Mae West.]

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