PITTSBURGH — Chelsea Handler will perform April 4 at the Benedum Center.

Tickets start at $39 available at TrustArts.org and the Box Office at Theater Square for the 7:30 p.m. benefit for the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, the region’s leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization. Tickets also can be purchased by calling 412-456-6666.

“An Evening with Chelsea Handler” will be hosted by six-time Emmy winner Bruce Vilanch, who for quite a few years could be found on “Hollywood Squares” to the left of Whoopi Goldberg (“if that’s possible” according to his bio).

After a successful 10-year career in TV, Handler ended her most recent talk show, “Chelsea,” and last October announced she would pursue political activism.

She has authored five books that have made the New York Times Best Seller List, four of which reached number one. She also writes columns for Cosmopolitan and NOW, a UK celebrity magazine. She was the host of the 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards and received the “Ally for Equality Award” from the Human Rights Campaign, and was named a Grand Marshal of LA Pride.

The post Bruce Vilanch To Host Chelsea Handler At Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center April 4th first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch appears at Club Cafe this Saturday, August 16th.

If you are looking for a good night of laughs, I would assume this is as close to a sure thing as one can get.

Vilanch is wickedly funny, and I assume when in a room of mostly gay men his stories will make for an evening you won’t soon forget.

If you haven’t made plans already you may want to consider checking out this show.  Get your tickets ahead of time since the show is likely to sell out.  Get your tickets online from Club Cafe’s website here.

The post Bruce Vilanch appears at Club Cafe this Saturday, August 16th. first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

EMMY Award-Winner Bruce Vilanch will star in RUBBLE, a new comedy by EMMY Award-Winning “The Simpsons” writer, Mike Reiss. Broadway veteran and “The Sopranos” star Jerry Adler also joins the cast. RUBBLE will be directed by James Valletti, and run for five performances at The Players Theater on August 10th, 14th, 22nd, 24th, and 25th.

RUBBLE tells the story of Alvin, an aging comedy writer who, while on a last-chance meeting with a network executive, gets trapped under a pile of rubble due to an LA earthquake. It’s a hilarious look at TV, theater, heaven, and hell-from one who’s been there…

The cast of RUBBLE includes Bruce Vilanch, Jerry Adler, Jason Jacoby, Bryan McElroy, Amy Wilson and Jeffrey Arnold Wolf.

Bruce Vilanch is one of the most sought-after comedy writers in Hollywood, winner of multiple Emmys and noted as the “Hollywood Square” just to the left of Whoopi. Bruce spent two years as Edna Turnblad, on tour and on Broadway in the smash musical adaptation of the John Waters film HAIRSPRAY. Bruce was seen on VH1’s popular fitness and nutrition reality-series, “Celebrity Fit Club” and he has appeared in “Ice Pirates,” “Mahogany” and “The Morning After.” A frequent guest on talk shows, Bruce won his Emmys for co-writing back-to-back Oscar shows with Billy Crystal. He was also nominated for an Emmy as a lyricist on Eartha Kitt’s gold-selling album “Where Is My Man”. Bruce has spent over 21 years writing for the Oscars, as well as a number of Tonys, Grammys and Emmys. His career was documented in the film “Get Bruce!,” released by Miramax and available on Buena Vista Home Video. Bruce’s one-man show, ALMOST FAMOUS, tickled Off-Broadway audiences for three months and has made a number of appearances around the country.

Jerry Adler is a veteran of over 50 Broadway productions as Producer, Director and Production Stage Manager, including the original MY FAIR LADY (The revival of which he directed), COCO, THE HOMECOMING, ANNIE and many more, as well as the Tony Award- winning GOOD EVENING which he directed with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook – before he began his new career as an actor. He then appeared in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery” and “The Public Eye” with Joe Pesci. He has since been seen on many teleVision Productions, including “The West Wing”, “Law and Order”, “Northern Exposure”, “CSI:Miami” and was a regular on “Mad About You”. He is an original cast member of “The Sopranos” and was “HESH”, Tony’s mentor/advisor throughout that award-winning HBO Production’s run. His recent films include “In Her Shoes”, “Prime”, “Find Me Guilty”, “Synecdoche” and the soon-to-be- released “Last Angry Man In Brooklyn” with Robin Williams. On TV he was the Fire Chief in “Rescue Me” with Denis Leary, and recently is Howard Lyman on “The Good Wife”. He is the 2013 recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts awarded by the University of Connecticut.

Jason Jacoby is currently starring Off-Broadway in AVENUE Q as Nicky/Trekkie. Other credits include: CABARET, THE PRODUCERS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Park Playhouse); LE HOT BLUE (New York Theatre Workshop); THE PIPER (Capital Repertory Theatre); G.B.S. (Clockwork Theatre, U.S. Premiere); RECKLESS (The Gallery Players).

The post Bruce Vilanch To Star In “Rubble” At The Player’s Theater first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch would be the first to admit he’s had a strange career. With that in mind, we decided to look over his Wikipedia page with Vilanch himself to see if we could make any sense of it. “A lot of the stuff on here is wrong,” Vilanch said from his home in L.A., where he’s caring for a sick pug (“It’s a pug kind of town—there’s no air to breath anyway”). “I’m not 64, in fact I’m 65, and I’m collecting Obamacare like crazy.” The Hairspray star, Hollywood Square, and Academy Awards head writer also bills himself as Lindsay Lohan‘s sobriety coach and the latest success on Christian Mingle (“just got set up with a guy who used to be Pope!”). Vilanch regaled us with the following thoughts and anecdotes “from behind, before, and squatting over the footlights.”

This Wikipedia entry says you have Hitchcock’s hair—what?
No no, not hair: My wobbles, I have Hitchcock’s wobbles, his chins. He was pretty much hairless in the ’50s when he was on television every week. It’s more that I have his profile. I’ve got more chins than a San Francisco phonebook.

What can we expect at the Nikko on Thursday night?
I’ll be doing stories about my dark career in show business, writing 23 Academy Award shows, Hollywood Squares, et cetera. There won’t be any Sondheim, that I promise.

What was it like, in your first acting role, to work with Diana Ross? 
Bizarre, because I thought I was rehearsing with her stand in, this skinny kid, and then she would come out of the trailer with the eyelashes and the wig, and glamour, glamour, glamour. I was like oh my, that’s Diana Ross. I told her this, and she told me yes, it’s all done with mirrors.

When you appeared on RuPaul‘s Drag Race 3 dressed as Santa, what were some of the items contestants asked for when they sat on your lap?
Big ticket items. And hey, I also worked with RuPaul back in his “Sashay! Shantay!” days, before Drag Race, when he had his talk show on VH1. And, there may be more RuPaul in my future.

How did you identify with your character Missy, the gay porn director from Going Down in LA-LA Land?
I didn’t want to play it like Boogie Nights: the role I played was an homage to Chi Chi LaRue, my neighbor across the street, a great friend of mine and a hysterical character. If I were directing porno everything would be IMAX. Not 3D, though, it makes everything look closer to you, but it’s all smaller! It should be bigger.

Fine, tell us about the Oscars already!
Well, I’ve been writing since 1989, and it’s the greatest show on earth, isn’t it? It’s like the Superbowl— and some years you fumble. But it’s the kind of show that tries to reinvent itself every year, because it has to say something every year. They take it dead seriously, the Academy. At the core of it is the idea of serious people in a serious profession, and in it, everybody is equal to everybody else, the guy who does sound as well as the best actor: everyone has to be treated with equal reverence. So of course, I write jokes. One of my favorite moments was when Whoopi [Goldberg] was hosting the show, and two people had been nominated for playing Queen Elizabeth, and Whoopi came out in white face and said “I’m the African Queen!” Only a Hollywood crowd really gets that one.

You’re responsible for the Star Wars Holiday Special, right?
Right, and George Lucas won’t even speak of it, he’s disowned it. I don’t think there’ll be another one of those.

You’ve done lots of charity work—what makes you most proud?
All the AIDS work I’ve done, especially at the very beginning, because it was something we had to do. When AIDS hit, lots of people banded together to take care of each other and do what the government wasn’t doing. When you grow up Jewish, as I have, you learn that everybody hates you, no one’s going to help you, and you have to take care of yourself. That’s a great maxim to the gay community and we took it to heart, we took care of our own. I would trade off other disease fundraisers, raising for other causes that would raise for ours, and that’s how I learned all the major diseases and got into “big charity.” As I’m fond of saying, though, if the Holocaust led to the creation of Israel, then maybe AIDS has led us to where we are now.

Vilanch performs tomorrow (Thursday, 7/18) at 8pm at Feinstein’s at the Nikko.

The post Interview: A candid conversation with Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety coach, appearing at Feinstein’s at the Nikko this week first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein have announced two upcoming performers at the all-new Feinstein’s at the Nikko — actor and comedian Bruce Vilanch and Tony Award nominated composers Pasek and Paul. Located within Hotel Nikko (222 Mason Street, San Francisco), Feinstein’s at the Nikko will present a wide range of entertainers all within an intimate 140-seat cabaret setting. Bruce Vilanch will perform for one-night-only on Thursday, July 18th at 8 p.m. Pasek and Paul will perform two performances only – Friday, July 19 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m.

Tickets for Bruce Vilanch ($30-$40) and Pasek and Paul ($30-$50) are on-sale now and available by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

Currently celebrating his fifteenth year as Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety coach, Bruce Vilanch is checking in at Feinstein’s at The Nikko for one night only, to dispatch more updates on his bizarre career behind, before, and squatting over the footlights. A Hairspray star, a Hollywood Square, and the latest success story on Christian Mingle, (who just hooked him up with a guy who used to be Pope), Bruce has more than a few stories to tell.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are the Tony-nominated songwriters of the Broadway musical A Christmas Story, which opened in November 2012 and enjoyed a critically-acclaimed, record-breaking run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. In addition to the Best Score nomination, A Christmas Story also received Tony nominations for Best Musical and Best Book. The holiday musical was named one of the Top 10 Shows of 2012 by Time Magazine, shared recognition as the #1 Musical of 2012 in USA Today and received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Outstanding New Broadway Musical. Benj and Justin’s score for the show also received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Music.

Benj & Justin are also the composers behind the Off-Broadway musical Dogfight, a Best New Musical nominee for the Drama League, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle awards. Benj and Justin also received an Outer Critics Circle Best Score nomination for their work on the show. Dogfight premiered in July 2012 at Second Stage Theatre, and a cast album, produced by Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records, was released in May 2013. The album debuted in the top 50 albums on iTunes.

As television songwriters, their original songs were featured on Season 2 of NBC’s “Smash,” and have risen to the Top 25 on the iTunes Pop Charts.

The duo made their debut as songwriters with their widely-acclaimed song cycle Edges, which is licensed by Music Theatre International and has had hundreds of productions worldwide, including South Korea, Australia, China, South Africa, Singapore, France, the Philippines, Denmark and more. Other theatrical works include James & the Giant Peach, Duck for President and If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Their other musical work for TV can be seen on “Sesame Street” and “Johnny & the Sprites” (Disney TV series). Performances of their songs have been featured on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “The View,” “Good Morning America,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” “VH1 Morning Buzz,” “The Rosie Show,” “Fox & Friends,” and more.

Benj & Justin are the recipients of the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2011 Sundance Institute Fellowship, the 2011 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the 2011 ASCAP Songwriters Fellowship Award, and a 2007-2008 Dramatists Guild Fellowship. They are the youngest recipients of the Jonathan Larson Award (2007) in the foundation’s history. They have participated in ASCAP’s Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and were named one of Dramatist Magazine’s “50 to Watch” in Contemporary Theatre.

As performers, Benj & Justin have traveled throughout North America, Europe & Australia performing concerts of their work. They also teach master classes in songwriting and theatre performance at universities around the world. They are proud graduates of the University of Michigan BFA Musical Theatre program and members of the Dramatists Guild of America. They are currently at work on a new original musical with playwright Steven Levenson and director Michael Greif.

There is a $20 food and beverage minimum per person inside the showroom which guests can use towards cocktails as well as a variety of small plates crafted exclusively for Feinstein’s at the Nikko by Executive Chef Philippe Striffeler, through Restaurant Anzu. Cheese and dessert platters will also be available in the showroom. All seating at Feinstein’s at the Nikko is cabaret style and available on a first-come, first-served basis within the section purchased. Guests who purchase the prix-fixe dinner at Restaurant Anzu will receive a complimentary section upgrade (subject to availability) and get to choose their exact seat locations within the upgraded section.

Guests of Feinstein’s at the Nikko can enjoy a variety of food and beverage options before performances. Kanpai Lounge, located in Hotel Nikko’s lobby, offers light cuisine, a full bar and specialty cocktails. Restaurant Anzu, Hotel Nikko’s intimate restaurant located on the second floor, serves sustainable California cuisine enhanced with Asian flavors. Restaurant Anzu will also offer Feinstein’s at the Nikko guests a special three-course prix-fixe dinner ($45 per person) prior to all performances. Reservations can be made by calling (415) 394-1100.

Other upcoming performers at Feinstein’s at the Nikko include:

NICOLE HENRY · “NICOLE HENRY LIVE”

Friday, July 12 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, July 13 at 7 p.m.

EMILY BERGL · “UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG”

Thursday, July 25 at 8 p.m., Friday, July 26 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, July 27 at 7 p.m.

CHRISTINE ANDREAS · “BEMUSED”

Thursday, August 1 at 8 p.m., Friday, August 2 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, August 3 at 7 p.m.

ARIANA SAVALAS · “AN EVENING WITH ARIANA SAVALAS”

Thursday, August 8 at 8 p.m.

MISSI PYLE · “SEXY AS HELL”

Friday, August 9 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, August 10 at 7 p.m.

DONNA MCKECHNIE · “SAME PLACE, ANOTHER TIME”

Friday, August 16 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, August 17 at 7 p.m.

ANDREA MCARDLE · “70’S AND SUNNY”

Friday, August 23 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, August 24 at 7 p.m.

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE · “LIVE IN CONCERT”

Thursday, September 5 at 8 p.m., Friday, September 6 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, September 7 at 7 p.m.

JACK JONES · “IN CONCERT WITH JACK JONES”

Thursday, September 19 at 8 p.m., Friday, September 20 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, September 21 at 7 p.m.

TOMMY TUNE · “TAPS, TUNES AND TALL TALES”

Thursday, September 26 at 8 p.m., Friday, September 27 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, September 28 at 7 p.m.

The post Bruce Vilanch and Pasek & Paul Set for Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 7/18-20 first appeared on We Got Bruce!.