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Premiering at Tiff 2017, Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is the first major film documentary to examine Davis’ vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America.

Today Sammy Davis is seen primarily as part of The Rat Pack. That quartet of bad boys who sing and joke around is very much a part of time when Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were the kings of the Las Vegas scene.

But Sammy Davis Jr. was much more than that and merely by lending his black face to that group makes The Rat Pack seem like a liberal if slightly dissolute, but a filled-with-fun group. In truth, his position with Sinatra, Martin, Peter Lawford was not all that comfortable and the path Davis had already trod before landing there was not a simple or easy one.

He...

Skirball Talks, a new series presented by Nyu Skirball, will feature two evenings of conversations with renowned theater artists, including Jason Robert Brown, Lisa Kron, Steven Lutvak, Alex Timbers and Laurence Maslon October 2 and Tony Kushner, Oskar Eustis and artists from the Palestinian Freedom Theatre October 16.

In May, June amp July the NPR Program Broadway to Main Street hosted by Laurence Maslon which airs Sundays at 3Pm on NYLong Island NPR-member station WPPB88.3Fm will feature interviews with Tony Award-nominee amp Sweeney Todd star Carolee Carmello May 28 a retrospective of The 1967 Tony Awards June 4 a 2017 Tony Awards Special on Tonys Sunday 611 with recordings of all the top nominees for Best Musical and the best musical performer nominees including Bette Midler, Josh Groban, Ben Platt and more a centennial tribute to Ella Fitzgerald 618 a Hello, Dolly themed show 625 with musical selections from Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman, as well as selections from the new Bette Midler recording and for a special July 4 holiday weekend show with original 1776 star William Daniels July 3.

Geek Culture doesn’t provide all the answers to all of life’s tough questions. Or, at least, I try to tell myself that … and then, without thinking, I’ll draw a parallel to a real world issue from an old Batman story or a Star Trek episode.

Like so many Americans, I’m horrified by the divisiveness of the upcoming elections. As a country we’re more than 200 years old, but still so many of our political conversations start with drawing lines and contentious finger pointing.

It’s the same on the local level. For over 25 years, I’ve lived in the great little town of Ridgewood. It’s a mix of Smallville, Camelot and Twin Peaks (on a good day). In Ridgewood, our Village Council eschews the standard Democratic/Republic affiliations. You’d think that would help sand off the rough edges of politics, but lately our village...

In addition to the new Special Edition Blu-ray and CD soundtrack, no less than four new books are being published in 2015 to coincide with the anniversary, focusing on the film. One of which, 'The Sound of Music Companion - 50th Anniversary Edition' Laurence Maslon, PavilionRizzoli, details every step in the evolution of this masterwork from real-life to page to stage to film to international phenomenon. BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you an exclusive preview of the new book below...

We told you last month about the PBS special presentation Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle that would be premiering in October, and tonight’s the night! Tuesday nights are pretty jam-packed for Our Kind of Viewing, but this one looks like it should get some priority.

We have a TV spot and the clip from the first hour to get you primed, and the press release is included again below so you’ll get the full details, including the info on the accompanying book and Blu-ray.

Here’s a quick scheduling note: After the initial broadcast the three hours are broken into three one-hour parts and have slightly different titles, though at least in my area they will still be aired one right after the other. So if you’re thinking of DVR-ing it, check the titles and time carefully so you don’t miss out on any of the three hours.

Hosted by actor/producer/director/screenwriter Liev Schreiber, Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, airing on PBS, is the first documentary to examine the dawn of the comic book genre and its powerful legacy, as well as the evolution of the characters who leapt from the pages over the last 75 years and their ongoing worldwide cultural impact. Among the talent in the film are Stan Lee, Adam West and Lynda Carter, along with various comic book writers and artists. The companion book, Superheroes!: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of Comic Book Culture by Laurence Maslon, tells the story of the superhero in American pop culture, featuring interviews, character biographies, and over 500 illustrations. During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, comic book writer Len Wein – who has served as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, Disney Comics and Top Cow Comics, as well as senior editor at DC Comics, and has written extensively for...

Click the Above Title to read the Full Story.... PBS Announces “Superheroes Night” On October 15th – Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle to be shown in one three-hour programming block, beginning at 8pm Et (check local listings) – Arlington, Va; September 5, 2013 – PBS announced today that Tuesday, October 15, 2013, is “Superheroes Night,” featuring a three-hour block dedicated to the groundbreaking program Superheroes: A Never-ending Battle. The newest film from Emmy Award-winning producer/director Michael Kantor (Broadway: The American Musical; Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America) will premiere at 8:00 p.m. Et and include insightful interviews from Stan Lee; actors Adam West (TV’s “Batman”) and Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”); Geoff Johns (chief creative officer, DC Comics), Jeph Loeb (head of television for Marvel Entertainment); Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) and cartoonist/author Jules Feiffer (the long-running strip “Feiffer”), as well as appearances by the late comic...

The circus tent of geekdom encompasses an infinite number of interests, but when the brainy geeks are also the superhero fan geeks, what do you get? This bit of wonderfulness: a PBS miniseries on superheroes entitled Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle. Three episodes, all in one night, narrated by the excellent Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Salt). And just wait until you see the list of people involved.

There will also be a book and a Blu-ray/DVD released in conjunction with the all-in-one-night miniseries; here are the details, followed by links to pre-order the book and the Blu-ray:

PBS Announces “Superheroes Night” On October 15th – Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle to be shown in one three-hour programming block, beginning at 8pm Et (check local listings) –

Arlington, Va; September 5, 2013 – PBS announced today that Tuesday, October 15, 2013, is “Superheroes Night,” featuring a three-hour block dedicated to the groundbreaking program Superheroes: A Never-ending Battle. The...

PBS announced today that Liev Schreiber ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine," Showtime's "Ray Donovan") will host and narrate its upcoming documentary series "Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle." In the "Superheroes" panel at this week's Comic-Con, the audience will get a sneak peek at the series and hear a discussion with panelists including Emmy-winning filmmaker Michael Kantor ("Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America," "Broadway: The American Musical"), series co-writer Laurence Maslon, acclaimed comic book writer Gerry Conway (co-creator of the "Punisher") and writer Mark Waid ("Kingdom Come," "The Flash")."Superheroes" examines the dawn of the comic book genre and the cultural impact of the comics and their characters. It chronicles the history of comic books from their creation 75 years ago by the patriotic children of immigrants to the multi-billion-dollar industry that it is today. Among the onscreen personalities in the series are Stan Lee, Adam West,...

New York, NY (October 3, 2011) A Never-Ending Battle, the first episode of a new film from the creative team responsible for the award-winning PBS documentaries Broadway: The American Musical and Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, will be screened in front of an audience for the first time at the New York Comic Con, the East Coast’s largest and most exciting pop culture convention.

Featuring rare footage along with new interviews with legends such as Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Michael Chabon and Jules Feiffer, segments of the first episode – “A Never-Ending Battle: 1938-1954” – will be previewed on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 4Pm in Room 1B01 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at 655 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. An on-stage interview and Q&A with filmmakers and cultural historians Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon will take place immediately following the screening.

“We’re really...

South Pacific movie star and Golden Globe-nominee Mitzi Gaynor; current Broadway cast member and Tony Award-nominee Loretta Ables Sayre; original Broadway cast membersBarbara Luna, Michael DeLeon and Noel DeLeon; Broadway historian and author of The South Pacific Companion, Laurence Maslon; and President of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Ted Chapin all came together to celebrate theSouth Pacific 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Disc release at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble in New York City.

. Mitzi Gaynor with Cinema Retro contributor Eddy Friedfeld in New York.

By Eddy Friedfeld

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 “I never worked with a stinker- how great is that?” Mitzi Gaynor said as she recalled working with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Cole Porter, Rogers and Hammerstein. Probably because the legendary actress, singer, and dancer never worked on any project that she did not make better.

In New York City celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the film South Pacific on Blu-Ray disc, Ms. Gaynor was radiant, charismatic, and vibrant, still possessing all the energy that could “wash that man right out of her hair,” recalling her iconic character, Nellie Forbush.

Filmed on location on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, the classic and enduring South Pacific is about a young American nurse from Little Rock (Gaynor) who meets the handsome and mysterious...

Coming up is PBS-tv's six-hour series "Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Busi ness of America." Produced by Michael Kantor, it's partly hosted by Billy Crystal, who just filmed his opening and closing episodes intercut with another fairly funny guy of a few guffaws ago - Groucho Marx.

The series companion, a hardcover book with the same name to be published in December, is co-written by Laurence Maslon, who parsed the history of comedy for me:

"Nobody listens to comic routines on records anymore. When I was growing up I bought them all.