Tuesday, June 25, 2013

We are giving away a pair of FREE tickets as FOREVER TANGO hits Broadway!

We are partnering with Arts Meets Commerce again to bring you Forever Tango, created and directed by Luis Bravo! I would tell you about it, but I'd rather show you.





The production will play the Walter Kerr Theatre from July 9-September 15 for a ten-week limited run.

Created and directed by Luis Bravo, FOREVER TANGO has played to millions worldwide since its inception in San Francisco in 1994, where it thrilled audiences for nearly two years. Called “a must-see” by the New York Times, FOREVER TANGO originally opened on Broadway in 1997 where it played the Walter Kerr and Marquis Theatres for fourteen months and earned multiple Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. Celebrated by both critics and audiences, the show returned to Broadway’s Shubert Theater for a limited four-month engagement in 2004.

Five-time Grammy Award-winner Gilberto Santa Rosa will star as the first special guest star for the first three weeks of the engagement with future vocalists soon to be announced.




To enter our contest, answer the following question in the "comments" section below. Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you! Please comment by Tuesday July 2nd.




In which country did that Tango originate? Good luck!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

2013 TONY Awards Live Blog!

2013 TONY Awards-Here We Go!!

11:07 That's it for me...Peace Out Broadway. It's been real!
11:02 Kinky Boots wins!!! Yes!
11:01 My idol of all idols Bernadette Peters!
10:59 Kinky Boots Kinky Boots Kinky Boots Kinky Boots...please win best play!
10:54 Pippin wins!! Announced by Patti
10:53 Best Revival of a Musical...I go with Pippin!
10:41 Donna and the Dynamos introducing Kinky Boots
10:38 Best Actress in a Musical goes to Patina Miller!! Yes!
10:38 Best Actress in a Musical...I predict Patina Miller
10:33 The Tony goes to Ms. Tyson who is wearing a lot of ruffles
10:33 Jake Gyllenhaal is announcing Best Actress in a Play...I'm predicting Ms. Tyson
10:31 Velma Kelly is here to announce best lighting design of a musical for Matilda
10:23 Matthew Morrison to introduce Cyndi Lauper's In Memoriam performance of "True Colors"
10:21 Tony goes to Tracy Letts...that's a surprise but how exciting! Letts is so well spoken, what an eloquent speech.
10:21 Actor in a Musical...It's gonna be Tom Hanks
10:19 Billy Porter is fabulous and a Pittsburgher!!!!!
10:18 The Tony goes to Billy Porter! Yes!
10:17 Sally Field & Matthew Broderick presenting best actor in a musical...come on Billy Porter!
10:16 This Phantom of the Opera looks like it could have some potential
10:13 Who doesn't love Phantom...great to see it on the TONYs to commemorate it's 25-year milestone
10:11 We bow to you Hal Prince! If there is a true legend in the theatre...it is you Hal Prince.
10:10 Annie & Daddy Warbucks are announcing Dennis Kelly's win for Best Book
10:04 Tony goes to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
10:03 I'm picking Virginia Woolf
10:02 Screw you Bloomberg, nobody likes you but we love Sigourney Weaver...announcing the Best Revival of a Play
9:59 Great number to choose..we love Patina's small hat. Char is divine and so is new Tony winner Andrea.
9:58 Pippin performing in front of the curtain while the circus sets up....Patina is about to werk!!
9:57 Simba and Mufasa introduce Pippin!
9:56 NPH is texting or tweeting or something...and David Hyde Pierce just busted it up (that's a throwback to his rant in Vanya)
9:50 I really hope A Christmas Story comes back...so fun! This little kid who taps is out of this world!
9:47 NPH and Sandy introduce A Christmas Story
9:43 Best Play goes to Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike! So deserving...fantastic play!
9:40 Jesse Eisenberg announcing the plays in a complete and utter monotone...The Assembled Parties, Lucky Guy, The Testament of Mary, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
9:39 Live-Blogging is hard work! I must stay hydrated!
9:37 What was that mess with The rascals?
9:30 Tony goes to Andrea Martin! Duh!
9:29 Cuba Gooding Jr and Anna Kendrick presenting Best Featured Actress in a Musical...I picked Andrea Martin
9:28 Dear Lord I hope they do something for Marvin Hamlisch
9:24 Andrew Rannells w/ NPH talking about TV Shows (set to America) and Megan Hilty (Gotta Get a Gimmick) and Laura Benanti (Ladies Who Lunch) and "What I Did For Love"
9:23 We have our Newsies here to announce best Choreography...it goes to Jerry Mitchell!
9:14 Spiderman (all 12 of them) to announce Annie..of course It's A Hard Knock Life. If I ever hear this song again it will be too soon
9:12 Cyndi! I see your true colors girl! Thank you for mentioning how hard this city works.
9:11 Best Score..Cyndi Lauper!
9:10 Best Score...I picked Cyndi Lauper (Kinky Boots)
9:10 Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Krakowski announcing Stephen Oremus' win for Orchestrations
9:03 This little Michael Jackson...WOW! This is the year of kids on Broadway!
9:02 I want to go dance in the streets at Motown!
9:00 Great job pulling in Audra
8:59 The guys from Jersey Boys here to announce Motown...that's a great connection.
8:56 Best Direction of a Play...I picked Pam McKinnon (Virginia Woolf) and she wins!
8:54 The Tony Award goes to Diane Paulus (Pippin). Go Diane!
8:53 Jon Cryer and Martha Plimpton to announce the award for Best Direction of a Musical...I picked Diane Paulus, obviously
8:51 Oliver Platt and Liam Nieson here to blow sunshine up the ass of the American Theater Wing
8:50 Guy and Girl from Once are here to reiterate the Sound Design winners
8:46 I'm hooked...that performance made me NEED to see Cinderella!
8:45 I have to see this magical Cinderella!
8:43 Oh no, Laura Osnes almost tripped getting into the carriage!
8:41 Laura Osnes is the ingenue of our time, singing In My Own Little Corner
8:40 Lonny & Dennis (Rock of Ages) announcing the performance from Cinderella
8:39 The Tony goes to Gabriel Ebert (Matilda)
8:39 Now we have "The Snubs" (Alan Cumming & ScarJo) presenting Best Featured Actor in a Musical...I predict Terrence Mann (Pippin)
8:38 NPH joke about Mike Tyson giving the Matildas face tattoos
8:36 Now we have Mufasa announcing the earlier presentations of Best Costume design to William Ivey Long (Cinderella) and Ann Roth (The Nance)
8:33 I don't care that it already closed...that performance made me never want to see Bring It On
8:26 Velma Kelley is here to introduce the cast of Bring It On: The Musical
8:24 The Tony goes to...Judith Light (The Assembled Parties)
8:24 Tom Hanks is presenting "Best Featured Actress in a Play...I predict Judith Ivey (The Heiress)
8:23 Get it Tom Hanks! You are really embracing the whole Broadway community.
8:21 Cute little segment called "playsicles" that sounds like it came from twitter!
8:15 This "Miss Honey" woman is not sucking me in; I do love those scooters though. I'm a sucker for anything with wheels
8:12 These little Matilda kids are precious, this choreography is very Spring Awakening-esque
8:11 We've got Newsies here to introduce a performance from Matilda
8:09 The Tony goes to.....Courtney B. Vance (Lucky Guy)
8:08 Audra McDonald and Zachary Quinto walk up to "Summertime" to present Best Featured Actor in a Play. I predict Danny Burstein (Golden Boy).
8:07 That opening number was overwhelming!
8:06 Great shoutout to the kids at home and a nice little kick line with a bajillion performers from about every Broadway show!
8:05 Pippin reference and NHP disappears! How did he get to the back of the orchestra so fast and with all those Newsies in tow? Great reference to the "Tom Hooper Les Miz closeups!"
8:03 We've got our itty bitty kids from Matilda, Christmas Story, and Annie!
8:03 Barry Gordy banging Diana ross joke, Pippin acrobats with those super hot tumbling guys, Bring It On bit with NPH going up in a prep, Mike Tyson
8:03 Ok, the main them eis coming back to Radio City and making the show "bigger". We have girls in red dresses, guys in tuxes. We have kinky boots girls and a joke about "Billy Porter's ass".
8:02 "I'm Neil, I wouldn't be here if somebody hadn't passed on hosting" -Shia LeBouf joke!
8:01  Neil as "Guy" from Once opens the show
8:00 Here we go....opening number is on deck!
7:52 I am 2/2 in my Tony predictions with William Ivey Long (Costumes, Cinderella) and Stephen Oremus (Orchestrations, Kinky Boots)
7:38 Wait, why are we watching all these bitchy Queen writers and not the Creative Arts Awards?
7:29 It certainly has been a wild season of drag queens, dogs, and children
7:28 Why did it take so long to nominated Stephanie J Block for a Tony? That's been a long time coming, that's for sure!
7:27 Santino, Laura, SJB, Andrew Rannels, and a social media correspondent...what a combination there
7:26 Annaleigh looks like an Academy Award!
7:25 Cicely....what on earth are you wearing?
7:24 So far on the red carpet I've been most impressed by Laura Osnes and Victoria Clark....no surprise here
7:22 Come on New York 1...I want to see Annaleigh and Stephanie J Block!
7:19 Cyndi you are looking all kinds of crazy, but I loved your show and your music
7:17 Alright we are less than 45 minutes out...this is very exciting!
7:14 I love this little spotlight on #SIP. We did that in a show that I just did!
7:11 I died for that nude gown Laura Osnes tried on...she would've looked phenomenal in that one
7:10 I'm so glad that metallics and bling are in for this season's awards
7:08 Now we are getting a little piece on the nominees looking for Tony gowns
7:07 I watched the Tonys in Times Square once...it was so fun to be with all of the theatre queens
7:07 Bernadette Peters is here? I need to see her stat!
7:03 I just voted in the first "snap poll" for Kinky Boots to win best musical!
7:01 Roma, you are a serious fan girl dear
7:00 Got it...Matthew Morrison is presenting "In Memoriam" today, I'm excited to listen to his new album
6:58 Matthew Morrison, why are you here dear?
6:56 I didn't realize how tall Laura Osnes is...she's practically the same height as Santino
6:54 Mike Tyson actually sounds like a normal person...amazing
6:53 Oh Sweet Mother...here is Mike Tyson, face tat and all
6:48 Kristine Nielson is the person I'm pulling for the most of any acting nominee
6:47 Kristine Nielson=Durang's muse; I can totally see that
6:46 Victoria Clark is a true Broadway lady...her red carpet gown was designed by Cinderella's costume designer
6:45 We die for Victoria Clark...she is flawless in everything she does!
6:44 I see Jane Krakowski mingling with Rita Wilson
6:42 My best friend suspected that "Say Yeah" in Kinky Boots was inspired by "OK Go" and she was right!
6:40 I die for Jerry Mitchell's red jacket!
6:38 We have our Motown people here...I bet they are instrumental in the opening number!
6:33 I need to go see Lucky Guy pronto
6:29 Tom Hanks is about as big as star as you can find...last night they shut down 44th street when he was coming out of the stage door
6:28 Is anybody more beautiful than Laura Osnes?
6:22 Oh yay, who doesn't love a Newsie?
6:21 Nice little segment from Times Square with Black Stache and Smee
6:16 Judith Light in Zac Posen...divine
6:11 Shalita Grant (Vanya, Sonya, Masha, and Spike) whom we loved and Will Chase (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) who is such a cutie
6:10 Diane Paulus is singing the praises of Andrea Martin & Patina Miller, which we all agree with!
6:08 It's no secret that we all bow to Diane Paulus, she completely re-imagined a piece that my generation has never seen on Broadway
6:06 Carolee Carmello...I heard she was dynamite, it's so Scandalous closed 2 days before we got to see it
6:04 Rob McClure was outstanding as Chaplin, however it's tough to win when your show closed so long ago
6:02 First star spotting: Danny Burstein and Rebecca Luker...we love them both, we can't wait to see her in "The Little Dancer" by Ahrens & Flaherty at The Kennedy Center

Friday, June 7, 2013

Ways to Watch the 2013 TONY Awards!

As always, I will be live blogging and tweeting the TONY awards at http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com and https://twitter.com/barbiebackstage!

We’re very excited to announce that this year, The Tony Awards will be very family-oriented. We’ve created some special content to highlight all of the amazing kids on Broadway in a special section of TonyAwards.com called Totally Tonys!. There are stories, photos, puzzles, videos, educational resources and much more for you to sit down with your family and explore before watching the live broadcast on Sunday June 9th at 8/7c on CBS.

Follow the #TonyAwards on social media!

www.facebook.com/TheTonyAwards
www.twitter.com/TheTonyAwards
www.instagram.com/TheTonyAwards
www.youtube.com/OfficialTonyAwards
www.pinterest.com/TheTonyAwards
www.getglue.com/TheTonyAwards
www.itunes.com/TonyAwards