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Broadway's Best on Bravo

Along with John Schreiber and Mark Krantz of the John Schreiber Group, Frank is executive producing a new endeavor on the Bravo Network. The project, titled "Broadway's Best" is a unique new concert series which will feature stars from today's pop charts, stage and screen, performing some of the greatest theater songs ever written.

"There was a time in this country when Broadway songs were American popular music," says Frank. "The most popular singers from the 1920s through the 1960s, including Billie Holliday, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and even The Beatles, covered some of the great songs of Broadway. Broadway's Best will not only show the durability and the timelessness of classic Broadway songs, but by using contemporary pop music stars, we will cross these songs over to a new generation who might otherwise not be aware of the rich tradition of Broadway musical theater."

The first installment of the series is a concert taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom, November 12, 2001. The concert, under Frank's artistic direction, showcases contemporary arrangements of theater material. It aired on Bravo March 4, 2002 at 8 and 11 PM Eastern, with encore broadcasts in March and June and again in November 2002. The latest showings are Friday, 7 November 2003 at 2 AM, Saturday, 8 November at 2 PM and Saturday, 9 November at 4 AM. Times listed are Eastern, Pacific times should subtract three hours. Confirm with your local listings.

No plans have been announced yet, regarding a CD or video/DVD release of this concert. To check for the latest news on this, please write in to BravoTV.com.

Songs performed at this concert include:

"There's No Business Like Show Business" from Annie Get Your GunCyndi Lauper
"Pinball Wizard" from TommyAdam Pascal
"Someone to Watch Over Me" by George GershwinTrisha Yearwood
"Luck Be A Lady" from Guys & DollsDarius Rucker
"What You Own" from RentAdam Pascal, Daphne Rubin-Vega
"More I Cannot Wish You" and "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" from Guys & DollsLoudon Wainwright
"Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney ToddJoan Osborne
"Summertime" from Porgy & BessJill Scott, George Benson
"On Broadway" from Smokey Joe's CaféGeorge Benson
The Broadway cast of Contact performing to "Simply Irresistible"
"Easy to be Hard" from HairThe Bacon Brothers
"I Don't Know How To Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar
"Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl
Linda Eder
"Adelaide's Lament" from Guys & DollsMandy Moore
"Not a Day Goes By"/"Time Heals Everything" from Merrily We Roll Along/Mack & MabelDarius Rucker, Shawn Colvin, Joan Osborne
"Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of HorrorsMandy Moore, Adam Pascal
"I Feel Pretty" from West Side StoryJamie-Lynn Sigler
"Try To Remember" from The FantasticksShawn Colvin
"Do You Love Me" from Fiddler on the RoofShawn Colvin, Harvey Fierstein
"What I Did For Love" from Chorus LineTrisha Yearwood
"Give My Regards to Broadway" from George M!Broadway Kids' Chorus, Entire Cast

Kevin Bacon, John Leguizamo, Harvey Fierstein and Paul Rudd hosted the event. Between numbers, performers shared stories of their own experiences in theater performance. A news article on this event is posted at Playbill Online. Photos of many of the participants can be found at Broadway.com (look for the Photo OP titled "Broadway's Best from Bravo taping")


Proceeds from the live performance tickets for "Broadway's Best" benefited the Children's Theater Relief Fund, which was established by Bravo and Theatreworks/USA to arrange for free tickets to theatrical events across the country, particularly in New York and Washington, D.C., for families affected by terrorism on 9/11.

Bravo is also committed to furthering theater arts education with their "On With The Show" campaign. This is a national effort, aimed at bringing Broadway teachers and artists into communities and the classroom. Bravo has joined several partners to make this possible, and they hope to raise awareness of theater's positive impact on today's youth, and provide performance arts workshops in classrooms nationwide.

Bravo, The Film and Arts Network, offers a variety of documentaries, independent and foreign films, as well as theater, music and dance presentations. It reaches an estimated 60 million homes nationwide. Learn more at their website: BravoTV.com


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