Follies is reborn!... Unearthed Cy Coleman songs prove that perhaps, the best really is yet to come… $30 for 30 at The Normal Heart...and Marilyn Maye continues her reign as night club Queen of NYC
Be seeing you May 22!
Blake
Saturday, May 21 
OPENING? Follies — Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s seminal musical about the reunion of the beautiful girls of show long after the show is over — gets a splashy, star-studded revival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Bernadette Peters and Jan Maxwell star as former showgirls Sally Durant Plummer and Phyllis Rogers Stone, with British stage star Elaine Page as Carlotta Campion and Linda Lavin as former “Broadway Baby” Hattie Walker. (Through June 19, Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, 2700 F Street, NW Washington, D.C., $45.00-$150.00, info/tickets)
Sunday, May 22 
LAST CHANCE? Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years”) stars as the NFL’s most revered and feared coach, Vince Lombardi, in Eric Simonson’s Lombardi. The show takes an in-depth look at Lombardi’s late-in-life rise to fame, his tempestuous relationship with his strong-willed wife, Marie (played by 2011 Tony nominee Judith Light) and his dichotomous relationship with the players of his beloved Green Bay Packers. (Circle in the Square Theatre, 1633 Broadway, at 50th St., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
GO? Laura Benanti takes to the stage at Feinstein’s in Let Me Entertain You, a nod to her 2008 Tony-winning performance in Gypsy. Expect (of course) the title tune along with other Broadway hits from shows like Nine, Into The Woods, Swing! and Guys and Dolls. (8:30 PM, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Ave., at 61st St., info/tickets)
Monday, May 23 
CLICK? Winners of the 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced (with details from the star-studded gala posted immediately following the ceremony on Playbill.com). Harvey Fierstein, most recently seen in La Cage aux Folles, serves as the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. Nominees for this year’s Awards include Charles Busch, Bobby Cannavale, Daniel Radcliffe, Tony Sheldon, Christopher Sieber, Sutton Foster, Sherie Rene Scott and Judith Light. For the first time, the general public will get to see the show on the Ovation channel which will air between June 2 and 15.
Tuesday, May 24 
GO? Nightclub mainstay Marilyn Maye returns to Feinstein’s for It’s Maye in May which finds the inimitable octogenarian taking on contemporary songwriters like James Taylor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman as well as classic Broadway tunes. (Through June 4, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Ave., at 61st St., info/tickets)
Wednesday, May 25 
GO? The music of legendary composer Cy Coleman will be in the spotlight in The Best Is Yet To Come, a new revue conceived by renowned lyricist and librettist David Zippel (who partnered with Coleman on the Tony-winning City of Angels). The show promises songs from classic Coleman-penned shows like Sweet Charity, Little Me and The Life, as well as tunes from two unpublished Coleman musicals. Tony winner Lillias White and former Phantom of the Opera star Howard McGillian lead the cast. (Through July 13, 59E59 Theatre, 59 E. 59th St., btwn. Park & Madison Aves., $45-$65, info/tickets)
Thursday, May 26
GO? The recent revival of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart is one of the most touching and frightening pieces of theatre I have seen in a long time. It depicts (on an incredibly visceral level) the pain and suffering felt by thousands of people that were ignored and left to die in the wake of the AIDS epidemic in NYC in the 1980s. I believe it is vital for young people to see this show — so we never repeat these horrible wrongs. I'll be co-hosting (along with NY1's theatre producer Frank DiLella) a special evening called "$30 under 30" where anyone born in 1980 or after can purchase $30 tickets to see The Normal Heart and stay for an after-show talkback with members of the cast. The Playbill Club will also be hosting a pre-show open bar at Sardi's before the show. Click here for more info!
GO? Maria Dizzia (Tony nominee for In the Next Room…) and Greg Keller (original cast member of 33 Variations) star in Daniel Goldfarb’s Cradle and All, a story of two couples in a Brooklyn neighborhood (both played by Dizzia and Keller) dealing with the trials and tribulations of raising a family. (New York City Center, Stage I,?131 W. 55th St., btwn. 6th & 7th Ave., info/tickets)
Friday, May 27 
Last Chance? The legendary NYC haunt Elaine’s will shutter Friday morning at 4 AM after 43 years of feeding and entertaining New York’s most prominent celebrities, politicians, sports stars, writers, news people and Broadway actors on their way home from a show. Famous patrons included Billy Joel (who wrote about Elaine’s in the hit song “Big Shot,” Mick Jagger, Norman Mailer, Woody Allen, Jackie Kennedy and (former Elaine's bartender!) Elaine Stritch. (1703 2nd Ave., btwn. 88th St & 89th Sts.)
