Lincoln Center Theater is celebrating the one-year anniversary of it’s acclaimed revival of My Fair Lady on Broadway.
NBC Nightly News revealed this 360-degree look at the show during a live performance.
As Act Two begins with the “Embassy Waltz,” you can click in the center of the video and move your center of focus to the right or left to see what the cast and musicians see during the show.
Love the choreography by Tony Award winner Chris Gattelli.
At the 1:14 mark, if you pan right, you can see the stage hands move the staircase into place, then saunter off stage right.
Super producer/director Ryan Murphy announced today he will produce the acclaimed Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band for Netflix as a ‘movie event.’
Last summer, THE BOYS IN THE BAND were on Broadway, breaking house records at The Booth. THIS summer, The Boys In the Band will be filming a Netflix movie event.
The incomparable Joe Mantello, who directed the Broadway revival, will direct the film adaptation.
The Broadway cast of BOYS was so important to me, and as equally groundbreaking as Mart Crowley’s seminal work. Everyone in the cast was out and proud…and feeling so blessed to mark the 50th anniversary of Mart’s landmark play.
The entire Broadway cast will reprise their roles in the film.
I can’t wait to be on set with Joe and Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington and Brian Hutchison.
I will be producing the film with David Stone and Ned Martel.
Look for THE BOYS on Netflix in 2020.
The cast of the Broadway revival of ‘The Boys in the Band’
Last week, I reported that Murphy will also produce a ‘movie event’ adaptation of Broadway’s The Prom for Netflix. That project, like Boys in the Band, is LGBTQ-themed.
It all makes me uber-happy. More Broadway, more gay… more, more, more!
• Now, y’all know the fab Shoshana Bean is back on the Broad Way starring in Sara Bareilles’ Waitress, right? Annnnd, her leading man is the oh-so-talented Jeremy Jordan? Get to the Brooks Atkinson Theater before they be gone. #JustSaying
• Dallas police arrested 29-year-old Edward Thomas on a charge of aggravated assault for the brutal beating of a transgender woman. Authorities are investigating whether the brutal attack caught on video should have hate crime charges attached, although gender identity is not a protected class in the state. The video, posted to Facebook, is quite disturbing as Thomas punches the victim over and over as a crowd stood by.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders has released 10 years of tax returns showing both income and tax rate jumped after presidential campaign, and revealing his millionaire status.
• I could really, really wish to be in Mykonos right now with this guy… 🙂
Ryan Murphy will bring Broadway musical The Prom to Netflix
Hollywood super-producer/director Ryan Murphy (Pose, American Horror Story, GLEE) has announced he’s bringing another queer story to the small screen.
Murphy announced on his Instagram Wednesday that he will turn the new Broadway musical,The Prom, into a Netflix “movie event.”
“THE PROM is one of the most uplifting, heartfelt and special musicals I have ever seen on Broadway,” wrote Murphy. “It’s truly an original that celebrates the underdog and says in a loving spectacular way that LGBTQ rights are human rights.”
Citing a “special connection” to the piece due to the location of the musical, Indiana, which happens to be where Murphy hails from, he told his followers, “I’m thrilled to announce I’m turning it into a MOVIE EVENT for Netflix.”
A post shared by Ryan Murphy (@mrrpmurphy) on Apr 9, 2019 at 5:32pm PDT
In adapting the material for TV, the 6-time Emmy Award winner shared that the Broadway creative team – including Tony Award winning director/choreographer Casey Nickolaw – will come along for the ride, as well as the stage producers.
The show, which follows the story of a high school student in a small Indiana town who is banned from bringing her girlfriend to the prom, opened at the Longacre Theater on Broadway last fall to rave reviews.
“So full of happiness you think your heart is about to burst!” – Variety
Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams in ‘Fosse/Verdon’
Bob Fosse – visionary filmmaker and one of theater’s most influential choreographers and directors.
Gwen Verdon – the greatest Broadway dancer of all time.
Fosse/Verdon will tell the story of these two brilliant, complicated individuals – the love they shared, the art they created, and the price they paid in the pursuit of greatness.
The good news for Broadway fans is dancers/choreographers who really understand Fosse-style are in the mix making sure the iconic Fosse/Verdon dance style is captured accurately.
Because Fosse’s dance style is so specific, it took a team of people from choreographers Andy Blakenbuehler and Susan Misner to The Verdon Fosse Legacy, run by Verdon and Fosse’s daughter, Nicole Fosse, to make sure that the movement was accurate. The Verdon Fosse Legacy’s mission “is to promote, preserve, and protect the artistic and intellectual property of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon.”
Broadway dancer and teacher Mary Ann Lamb was brought in by Andy Blakenbhuehler, who did the first few episodes of Fosse/Verdon and left to choreograph the movie,Cats, during production. Her job was to coach actor Sam Rockwell, who plays Bob Fosse in the series.
“I was brought in to get Sam Rockwell familiar with the steps. He’s a natural dancer. It was a joy,” shared Lamb. “Then I stayed on the project to assist Susan Misner, who took over for Andy Blakenbuehler. I worked with Sam and Michelle Williams, both are brilliantly talented dancers and singers — they’re triple threats.”
In the new sneak peak trailer for the mini-series, stars Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams, director Thomas Kail (Hamilton) and more offer behind the scenes scoop on the highly anticipated new series!
Grammy and Tony Award winner Ben Platt releases his fourth music video, “Temporary Love,” from his upcoming solo debut album, Sing To Me Instead.
The first two singles, “Bad Habit” and “Ease My Mind,” featured out actor Charlie Carver as his love interest in days gone by. With the release of the second track, Platt publicly came out as gay via People Magazine.
The third video, “Grow As We Go,” featured dancers Rudy Abreu and Effie Tutko to spectacular effect as, again, Platt seemed to be looking back at lost loves.
“Temporary Love” finds the 25-year-old reassuring a partner that their relationship is NOT temporary, but here to last.
This is not a temporary love Now your heart is in my hands, I won’t give it up This is not a temporary love
The music video, directed by frequent collaborator Nick Lieberman, follows the soulful singer wandering through an old, abandoned house while flashes of couples of all types – gay, lesbian, straight, older, younger – flash across the screen.
As in “Ease My Mind,” Platt pairs his powerful voice with a gospel-tinged chorus, providing a comfortable sweet spot for his vulnerable, evocative vocals.
Platt is scheduled to perform the new single March 14 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
FX dropped a new trailer for the upcoming Fosse/Verdon – a mini-series chronicling the oh-so-complicated relationship between director/choreographer Bob Fosse and four-time Tony Award winner Gwen Verdon.
Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams star in the series.
Bob Fosse is a visionary filmmaker and one of theater’s most influential choreographers and directors.
Gwen Verdon is the greatest Broadway dancer of all time.
Fosse/Verdon will tell the story of these two brilliant, complicated individuals – the love they shared, the art they created, and the price they paid in the pursuit of greatness.
There’s a price to pursuing perfection.
Premieres April 9 on FX.
Here’s the previously released teaser which is so ‘Fosse’ I had to sit down for a minute.
Joe Jonas (screen capture via Instagram video) Some news items you might have missed: • The Jonas Brothers have a new song (check it out below) which reminds me of that time Joe Jonas (above) starred in an ad campaign for GUESS. Continue reading “News Round-Up: March 1, 2019”
Glenn Close in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ (photo: Joan Marcus)
The film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard, will star Glenn Close re-creating her Tony-winning performance.
Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford (Thoroughly Modern Millie) will make his feature film directorial debut with the movie musical, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
Close starred in the original 1994 Broadway production of Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, earning a Tony for her work as faded silent-screen star Norma Desmond, as well as the acclaimed 2017 revival. The prospective project was first reported in January 2016, prior to Close taking on the Hollywood star once more at the London Coliseum before a Broadway bow at the Palace Theatre. At the time, co-lyricist and book writer Christopher Hampton hoped shooting would begin while Close was still in London.
It had been over 20 years since Close opened the original Broadway production, but the seven-time Oscar nominee used the years away from Norma Desmond to find a new window into the character.
“I’m not saying I’m getting better, but I am saying that I do have more experience,” Close told Playbill as she discussed returning to the role first seen in the 1950 Wilder film. “With more knowledge of myself and experiences I’ve had and heartbreaks I’ve had and enduring as I have—theoretically, an actor should only get better because our bodies and our minds and hearts are the material with which we build characters.”
Filming is expected to begin in Fall 2019. No other casting has been reported.
Ben Platt and Charlie Carver in “Ease My Mind” (screen capture)
For several years now, Broadway’s sensitive ‘golden boy,’ Ben Platt has captured the hearts and minds of theater audiences with his show-stopping performances in The Book of Mormon and his Tony Award-winning turn as the anxious, social misfit “Evan Hansen” in the hit musical, Dear Evan Hansen.
Now, he’s set his sights on conquering the music industry with his first solo album, Sing To Me Instead, set to drop on March 29.
He recently released the first two music videos from the album, both directed by longtime friend Nick Lieberman.
At the end of “Bad Habit,” after spending the bulk of the song missing a former lover, a last second shot revealed that lover to be out actor Charlie Carver (Teen Wolf, Boys in the Band).
At the time, this writer wondered, “Did Ben Platt just come out?”
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Platt does just that as he shares that wanted his audience to hear from the authentic “Ben.”
“If I was going to write about people I loved, I wasn’t going to pretend they weren’t men just because I hadn’t talked about that before,” Platt tells PEOPLE.
As he worked with a team of songwriters to create what he wanted to be a deeply personal statement about who he is, Platt felt the album would be his “first opportunity to represent my relationships and the men that I’ve loved.”
“I only wanted to take this leap if I was going to present every part of myself,” he adds.
Always a storyteller, Platt knew he wanted the collection of songs to have an arc that covered not only his personal relationships but “a grander perspective about bigger questions about family and mortality and things like that.”
Platt released the full music video for the gospel-tinged, “Ease My Mind,” today again incorporating a relationship with Charlie Carver in the story arc.
“As a kid, I wanted to do an original musical and get a Tony, and so the fact that that happened is such a freeing thing,” says Platt. “Now I can sort of go down another path and see where that leads.”
