C
    Curtis M. Wong

    Curtis M. Wong

    Senior Culture Reporter, HuffPost

  • Singer Tom Goss Sheds Light On Domestic Violence Among LGBTQ Couples In New Video

    The LA-based artist appears opposite "Mean Girls" actor Daniel Franzese in "La Bufadora," a song that recalls a difficult trip he took with his husband.

  • Laverne Cox's Rainbow Emmys Clutch Had A Powerful, Pro-LGBTQ Message

    The "Orange is the New Black" star's Edie Parker purse drew attention to a discrimination lawsuit to be heard by the Supreme Court this fall.

  • Legacy Of The 20th Century's Most Prolific Caricaturist Celebrated In NYC

    To his legions of admirers, Al Hirschfeld was a prolific artist and a visual journalist who chronicled a century's worth of Hollywood legends, Broadway icons and rock stars in a linear calligraphic style that became his signature. As ubiquitous as Hirschfeld's sketches of Groucho Marx, Judy Garland, Ringo Starr and Aerosmith, among others, have been to generations, the artist's behind-the-scenes life and personal evolution through the years has remained uninvestigated -- until now. “The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld,” which opens May 22 at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan, will offer an inside look at Hirschfeld and his artistic legacy.

  • Sinatra's Centennial Year To Be Honored With Special NYC Concert

    Ryan Silverman?likes to joke that he's "pretty marinated" in the work of Frank Sinatra. The actor-singer, whose Broadway credits include "Side Show," "Cry-Baby" and "Chicago," can trace his love of the Rat Pack era back to his adolescence, when he and his family would gather around the piano after holiday dinners to croon standards from the Great American Songbook. "I didn't know who made these songs famous or who wrote them, but I just thought of them as songs I sang with my family," Silverman told The Huffington Post in an interview.

  • A 'Beautiful' Match Made In Musical Heaven

    Anika Larsen?and Jessie Mueller, who co-starred in Broadway's "Beautiful," teamed up for a tender version of James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes" in this heartwarming video. The duet can be found on Larsen's debut solo album, "Sing You To Sleep," which was released in December 2014. Mueller, who?nabbed a Tony Award?for her performance as Carole King in the hit musical, will also be on hand to perform at Larsen's?March 23 concert at New York's Birdland?in celebration of the album's release.

  • Laura Benanti Tries Her Hand At Being A Rockette In This Hilarious Clip

    Laura Benanti is a?Tony Award-winning actress, singer and?social media maven, but things don't go entirely according to plan when she tries out the slick moves of the Radio City Rockettes in this hilarious new video. The exclusive clip is a sneak peek at Benanti's new role in the "New York Spring Spectacular," which opens at Radio City Music Hall on March 26. Also starring "Dancing with the Stars" veteran?Derek Hough?and the famed Rockettes, the new show is what Benanti calls "a spectacular love letter to New York City," inspired by the magic of spring.

  • Maureen McGovern Celebrates Female Singer-Songwriters At New York's 54 Below

    Audiences hoping for?Maureen McGovern?to perform her signature hit, "The Morning After," when she takes the stage of New York's 54 Below might be surprised to find the Oscar-winning tune, made famous in 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure," missing from her set. McGovern, 65, acknowledges how extraordinarily rare it is for an artist to omit one of their staples from a concert performance, but these days, she's delving down a different, and in some respects more personal, path.

  • Ahead Of Her Carnegie Solo Debut, Sutton Foster Sounds Off On Her 'New, Reflective' Life Chapter

    Kicking off what she calls a “new, reflective” life chapter,?Sutton Foster?will make her headlining debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall just five days shy of her 40th birthday. “I’ve been working towards doing something like this for a very long time.” the two-time Tony Award-winning singer-actress says of “One Night Only: Sutton Foster,” which hits Carnegie Hall on March 13. Foster will “honor and celebrate different eras of music” in the Carnegie Hall concert, will be conducted by?Steven Reineke.?Joshua Henry, who was seen opposite Foster in 2014's “Violet” on Broadway, and?Megan McGinnis, a friend since she and Foster co-starred in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Little Women,” will make guest appearances.

  • LISTEN: Broadway's Scene-Stealing Ace Teams Up With Composer For Jazzy Debut

    The star of “On The Town” lends her vocals to?“I’ve Been Played: Alysha Umpress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz,” which features original songs by Blumenkrantz as well as his arrangements of classic Broadway tunes from “Annie,” “Cinderella” and other smash musicals. The Huffington Post recently caught up with Umphress, who was set to perform a set of tunes with Blumenkrantz at?a Jan. 5 album release party?at New York’s Birdland.

  • Cabaret Icon On Fearlessly Kicking Off 2015 With 'No Regrets'

    Barb Jungr?likens her show, “Mad About The Boy And No Regrets,” to the act of renewal and, more specifically, “shedding one’s skin,” so it’s only appropriate that her New York engagement kick off at the start of 2015. When she hits the stage of venerable Manhattan nightspot 54 Below on Jan. 2, the British singer-songwriter, 60, will tackle songs by Bruce Springsteen, Noel Coward, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, among others. “I don’t ever want to feel that I’ve become a message bearer, other than…I would like there to be joy in the world through the medium of what I do as a musician and an artist,” Jungr told The Huffington Post in an interview.

  • A Reunion On Stage, And In Song

    Given that Christmas is a time for faithful friends, the New York Pops' forthcoming "Kelli and Matthew: Home for the Holidays" concert, which reunites Broadway co-stars and longtime pals Kelli O'Hara and Matthew Morrison, couldn't be more appropriate for the season. O'Hara and Morrison, who were seen together in "The Light in the Piazza" and the 2008 revival of "South Pacific," will croon holiday classics and a few standards with the Pops in the concert, which hits New York's Carnegie Hall on Dec. 19 and 20 and will be conducted by?Steven Reineke. In 2015, she'll return to Broadway in the revival of "The King and I" after making her Met Opera debut in "The Merry Widow." For his part, Morrison tied the knot with?Renee Puente?in Hawaii, and is set to begin rehearsals for "Finding Neverland" just days after he finishes filming "Glee," which wraps in 2015 after six seasons.

  • A Peek At The 'Off-The-Cuff, Goofball' Side Of One Of Broadway's Sexiest Men

    James Snyder has been wowing the masses as the hunky love interest of Idina Menzel in “If/Then” on Broadway since March, but the actor hopes audiences come away from his latest act with a sense of his “off-the-cuff, goofball” side. The California native says “I Shouldn’t Be Here” explores his multifaceted stage and screen career as a series of firsts, specifically his first holiday season in New York and his first time dealing with winter weather. “It’s a grab bag from my whole life,” Snyder, who recently named?one of Broadway’s 10 sexiest men, says.

  • The Life Of The 'Jewish James Bond' Comes To The NYC Stage

    Written and performed by Tom Dugan, "Wiesenthal" is based on the life of?Simon Wiesenthal, the Austrian-born Holocaust survivor who became world renowned for his fearless pursuit of Nazi war criminals in the years following World War II, when many of the fugitives had since immigrated to Latin America. Currently in previews, the Off Broadway play -- which was directed by Jenny Sullivan and opens officially on Nov. 5 at New York's?Acorn Theatre?at Theatre Row -- takes place on the day before Wiesenthal's retirement as he welcomes a final group of Americans to his office in the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna.

  • The Vulnerable Side Of A 'Stalwart New York Song-And-Dance Man'

    Thanks to stints in Broadway musicals like "A Chorus Line" and "Gypsy," Tony Yazbeck has established himself as a "stalwart New York song-and-dance man" who occasionally seems transported straight from the era of Fred Astaire. Fancy footwork and vocal stylings are unquestionably the centerpieces of Yazbeck's new cabaret show, "The Floor Above Me," which debuted at New York's 54 Below on Aug. 11. "As a kid, I always thought I was going to fall in love like Gene Kelly in 'An American in Paris,'" he told The Huffington Post in an interview.

  • An Artistic Milestone For One Of NYC's Most Prolific Female Playwrights

    Theresa Rebeck will reach a personal milestone when her new play, “Poor Behavior,” opens in New York on Aug. 17. “It’s a challenging time in the theater to get new work done, and it’s a big privilege to have a body of work,” Rebeck, 56, told The Huffington Post in an interview. A dark comedy, “Poor Behavior” centers on two couples -- Ella and Peter, Ian and Maureen -- that spend a “not-so-idyllic” weekend in the country where accusations of infidelity arise.

  • A Peek At The Vulnerable Side Of A Stage And Screen 'Funny Lady'

    Katie Finneran may be best known for her comedic chops, but the two-time Tony Award winner really hopes her new cabaret show, “It Might Be You: A Funny Lady’s Search For Home,” reveals her more vulnerable side. “I think it’s really fun to share what gives you the biggest challenge in your life,” Finneran told The Huffington Post in an interview.

  • A Forward-Thinking Act From A Stage Icon

    Lillias White stops short of calling her new cabaret act an open audition for her next big Broadway role. To her credit, White, 62, remains both optimistic and forward thinking about her work in theater, and one gets the sense that "The Lillias White Effect" will be no exception. "We must think outside the box to get the next generation of theatergoers into those seats and loving the theater as much as we do, and maybe the word will get out that people should re-consider how they're casting those roles," the star, who nabbed a Tony Award in 1997 for Cy Coleman and Ira Gasman's "The Life" and starred to great acclaim in 2010's "Fela!," says.

  • Broadway Diva On The Rebound

    After a challenging 2013, Melissa Errico is a star on the rebound. The stage and screen veteran has a lot to bounce back from, as her run in last year's?acclaimed Off-Broadway revival?of Stephen Sondheim’s “Passion” was cut short due to complications from bronchitis. Meanwhile, the doctor-mandated vocal rest that followed prevented her from joining co-stars Judy Kuhn and Ryan Silverman on?that production’s cast album.

  • The Self-Professed 'Broad From Brooklyn' Who Became A Broadway Diva

    Randy Graff?brought standing-room-only audiences to tears as Broadway’s original Fantine in “Les Misérables” and nabbed a Tony Award for her role in the film noir musical “City of Angels,” but ultimately, the celebrated actress-singer considers herself “just a broad from Brooklyn” who got lucky. Of course, Graff, 58, is quick to acknowledge that the Brooklyn of her youth is a far cry from the chic, gentrifying borough that has been named?the second-most expensive place to live in the country -- the first being Manhattan. “True, the old coffeehouse is now a Starbucks or a Chase Bank or a Duane Reade,” Graff says matter-of-factly.

  • A Behind-The-Scenes Look At Green Day's Broadway Moment

    A new documentary is taking a behind-the-scenes look at Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's 2010 Broadway debut. "Broadway Idiot," which hits select theaters on Oct. 11, traces Armstrong's path from multi-platinum punk rock star to leading man in Green Day's Tony-winning musical, "American Idiot." Directed by Doug Hamilton, the movie offers what most Broadway fans never get to see: a no-holds-barred, warts-and-all backstage glimpse at the production of a musical. Hamilton says working alongside Armstrong and the rest of the "American Idiot" cast and crew was very much a labor of love, albeit one that he freely admits was an eye-opening experience.