News

Exclusive: Corbin Bleu and Stephanie Styles will headline a private industry reading in January of the Broadway-aimed musical comedy Get Happy, a new stage adaptation of the MGM film classic Summer Stock.

The invitation-only reading will be held on January 17 in New York City, according to producers Steve Peters and Michael Londra of VenuWorks Theatricals, Greg & Marissa Frankenfield of Excelsior Entertainment, and executive producers Carolyn Rossi Copeland and Nancy Nagel Gibbs.

Get Happy is produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.

The musical premiered last year under the title Summer Stock in a well-reviewed and sold-out run at Connecticut’s Goodspeed Musicals. Featuring a book and additional lyrics by four-time Emmy Award winner Cheri Steinkellner, Get Happy includes many of the film’s famous songs such as “You, Wonderful You,” “Dig for Your Dinner,” “Happy Harvest,” and the title song, which...

I don’t know if Garland fans still go around chanting ‘Judy Judy Judy’ at her every appearance, but they do have a timeless song ‘n’ dance number to celebrate here. Her last MGM movie is only a so-so vehicle but Gene Kelly and the studio’s top music & dance talent work hard to put it over the top. Garland’s lack of stability is still an issue. For much of the movie she looks visibly overweight, yet in the showstopper ‘Get Happy’ she suddenly slims down to the best — maybe not the healthiest — look of her career.

Summer Stock

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1950 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 109 min. / Street Date April 30, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, Phil Silvers, Ray Collins, Nita Bieber, Carleton Carpenter, Hans Conried, Jeanne Coyne, Carol Haney, Almira Sessions.

Cinematography: Robert H. Planck

Film Editor: Albert Akst...

To celebrate the August 14 birthday of Steve Martin, we’ve got a special photo gallery featuring his 15 greatest films. The actor, comedian, writer, producer, playwright, author and musician is an American icon who has been celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors and American Film Institute. He also received an honorary Oscar for his movie career in 2013.

Nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, six Grammy Awards (with five wins), as well as two Tony Awards, Martin is one of the great talents of the past few decades. There wasn’t a stand-up comedian alive in the mid-1970s who was on a hotter streak, and his first hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live” led to many more appearances. He also now has 2018 Emmy Awards nominations for producing and writing his Netflix comedy special with Martin Short.

He then jumped into movies and never looked back, with such popular flicks as “The Jerk,...