Theater News

Photo File

On the scene for the opening of High Fidelity, Kelli O’Hara’s concert for the New York Festival of Song, and the World AIDS Day benefit concert performance of Rags.

New York City

Last Thursday, Broadway got its latest novel-to-screen-to musical transfer: the high-spirited High Fidelity, starring the dynamic Will Chase as record store owner Rob and Jenn Colella as his on-again, off-again, on-again love interest, Laura.

The show’s lyricist, Broadway baby Amanda Green (center) was joined by two very special guests, mom Phyllis Newman (left) and family friend Lauren Bacall.

At the after-party at Roseland, Green posed with (l-r) the show’s book writer, David Lindsay-Abaire; Nick Hornby, who wrote the novel on which the musical is based; and High Fidelity composer Tom Kitt.

Jon Patrick Walker, who does double duty in the show as The Most Pathetic Man in the World and Bruce Springsteen, is seen here with his beautiful wife, stage and screen star Hope Davis.

The opening was attended by oodles and oodles of notables, such as Karen Ziemba, who is due back on the Great White Way in February in Curtains…

…Colella’s Slut co-star Andy Karl and his ultra-talented wife, Orfeh, who will appear together in the upcoming Broadway musical Legally Blonde…

…Dana Delany, best known for her work on TV’s China Beach and Kidnapped…

…Diana DeGarmo, Hairspray‘s delightful Penny Pingleton…

…the hilarious Ann Harada, last seen on Broadway in Avenue Q…

…and British sensation Ruthie Henshall with husband Tim Howar, who succeeded Chase as Roger in Rent earlier this year.

On Saturday evening, Broadway star Kelli O’Hara gave a concert at Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse to benefit the New York Festival of Song. She was accompanied by Steven Blier, the organization’s co-founder and co-artistic director.

Before the concert, O’Hara posed with her future father-in-law, James Naughton; she and Naughton’s son Greg are engaged to be married next year.

We leave you with three photos from last night’s concert performance of the Charles Strouse-Stephen Schwartz-Joseph Stein musical Rags, held at the Nokia Theatre as a benefit for the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation. Among the stars of this fourth-annual World AIDS Day concert were Carolee Carmello and Struan Erlenborn, who played mother and son Rebecca and David…

…and Eden Espinosa and Michael Rupert, who played daughter and father Bella and Avram.

Pictured here during the curtain call are Carmello, Rupert, Lainie Kazan (who played Rachel), Espinosa, and Gregg Edelman (Carmello’s real life spouse, who played Nathan).