Tag: Broadway

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Broadway: Toderick Hall Dons His “Kinky Boots” November 1st

After a sold-out national tour of his show Straight Outta Oz and over 400 million views on YouTube, Todrick Hall will be putting on his thigh-high, candy red “Kinky Boots” as he takes on the role of “Lola” in the Broadway smash hit musical.

Hall has previously appeared on the Great White Way in Memphis and The Color Purple.

Kinky Boots producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig said in a statement, “We’re so thrilled to have Todrick join the company and get to show off his incredible talent to Broadway audiences.”

The musical, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell with a score by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein, won six Tony Awards in 2013 including one for leading man Billy Porter in the role of “Lola.”

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Broadway At DNC2016 “What The World Needs Now”

One of the highlights of yesterday’s Democratic National Convention coverage was seeing lots and lots of folks from Broadway stand center stage to sing “What the World Needs Now” to close a segment highlighting gun violence in America.

The song was recorded last month and shared via video in the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting which left 49 dead and dozens more seriously injured.

I’m so proud to call so many of these talented folks my friends 🙂

Check out the live performance from Philly featuring Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald, Darren Criss, Alice Ripley, Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, Roz Ryan, Ben Vereen, Kristin Bell, Darren Criss, Stephanie J. Block, Adrienne Warren, Len Cariou, Richard Kind, Tom Wopat, Wilson Cruz, Michael Longoria, Rosie Perez, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Nicholas Callaway Foster, Olga Merediz, Michelle Collins, Jon Viktor Corpuz, Mary Ann Hu, Anika Larsen, Margaret Stallings, Eve Plumb, Montego Glover, Michael Urie, Carmen Cusak, Darius de Haas, Melissa Errico, and Janet Metz.

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Broadway Revival Of CATS Begins Previews Tonight

The Broadway revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber mega-hit CATS begins previews tonight at the Neil Simon Theater.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the show as it was my first big – and I mean BIG – break in theater after moving to NYC in the 80s.

I often joke “I did CATS when it was a good credit!” – meaning that when I did the show it was as part of a brand new company and only a handful of people on the planet had performed in the show at that point. Now that it’s back on Broadway I’m going to have to give that line up I think.

I was the “Magical Mr. Mistoffelees” from 1986-1988 in the national touring company. Quite heady doings for someone from Fort Worth, Texas, who was not yet 22 when I was cast.

I danced my ASS off. I danced so much that I lost 14 pounds in the first month or so, and never gained it back over the entire run.

I learned so much about how to handle a role over a long run (over 800 performances) over two years – stamina, staying in shape, finding new acting moments each night, working with the same actors, and then new actors in the same roles.

I also came to terms with myself as a young, gay man. I fell in love for the first time. I had my heart broken for the first time. Not a single day of which I would ever change. All inside a pretty safe environment of a traveling theatrical family. 

It was a wonderful gift. One I’ve never lost appreciation for.

In any case, I’m wishing all those new kitties a fab run. Especially Ricky Ubeda – winner of So You Think You Can Dance – who gets to wear the black and white costume now as “Mistoffelees.” He’s a brilliant dancer and I can’t wait to see him spin!

“So this is this, and that is that,
And there’s how you address – a cat.”

Me back in 1986 as “the magical Mr. Mistoffelles”
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Tune In Tonight: Broadway’s She Loves Me Via Livestream

BroadwayHD and Roundabout Theatre Company will make history tonight when the two organizations team up to present a live stream of the Tony-winning revival of She Loves Me June 30 at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.

Visit broadwayhd.com/shelovesme to reserve a live-stream pass for $9.99. Viewers who tune in to the broadcast after 8 PM will see the show as it’s being performed live until curtain. For anyone who misses the live broadcast, the on-demand encore will be available for seven days with the $9.99 purchase.

BroadwayHD annual subscribers will also be able to view the She Loves Me recording once it is made available as part of the on-demand library. The broadcast will first need to be edited, which could take a number of weeks. Once included in the library, individual titles are available as two-day rentals for $7.99 for non-annual subscribers.

The classic musical comedy began previews February 19 at Studio 54, and will run through July 10. The revival received eight Tony nominations.

She Loves Me tells the story of two parfumerie clerks who, unbeknownst to each other, are corresponding romantically as anonymous pen pals.

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Broadway’s HAMILTON Will Fund Raise For Hillary Clinton Via Additional Performance

Click image to enlarge

Broadway blockbuster Hamilton is really showing up for the Hillary Clinton campaign by giving an additional performance to the hit Broadway musical with proceeds going to the Democratic presidential candidate.

The Hollywood Reporter has the details:

On July 12, the cast will put on an extra 11:30 a.m. matinee showing in Clinton’s honor. The event is titled “Hamilton: An American Musical with special guest Hillary Rodham Clinton.” Tickets start at $2,700 for a general seat and reach as high as $100,000 for an “event chair” entry, which includes “two Premium Seats and Wrap Party with Hillary and other special guests, and Invitation to the Democratic National Convention,” according to Clinton’s official website.

For $10,000, buyers will score a premium seat that includes a photo reception with Clinton; and for the $33,400 host ticket, donors will sit in a premium seat as well as enjoy the aftershow wrap party with Clinton and guests.

The Tuesday matinee will add an additional performance to the week’s regular slate of eight shows. Despite the fundraiser being held in Clinton’s honor, Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda and co-stars Leslie Odom, Jr. and Phillipa Soo are not expected to perform as they will be leaving the show following their final performance on July 9.

Ticket prices for the musical have soared as the Broadway hit has gained massive popularity, with premium seats at a current high of $849. Seats on the secondary market are going for as much as $4,000 apiece.

Hamilton’s special matinee showing is presented by the Hillary Victory Fund, as part of its efforts to raise money for the Democratic candidate’s “Hillary for America” campaign.

This could be a huge opportunity for some Hamilton and Clinton fans. Current top ticket price is $849 for best seats, but the show is sold waaaay out. You can buy tickets on the “secondary market” but they are selling for up to $4,000. So, $2,700 could be a deal if you are one of those who expect to donate the max amount to Hillary anyway.

My pockets aren’t that deep, but I applaud the creativity in fundraising.

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Shuffle Along To Close On Broadway July 24

Producer Scott Rudin has announced his Broadway show Shuffle Along will close on July 24th despite receiving rave reviews.

Strangely, Rudin seems to put the onus of closing on leading lady, six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald. McDonald recently announced that she is pregnant and would be leaving the production soon.

However, she was already scheduled to depart the show to appear in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill in London. So, I’m not sure what the difference is between her leaving for a pregnancy or for a previously scheduled commitment in London.

In addition, Shuffle Along has two other Tony Award winners, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter. Plus, Tony Award winner Savion Glover was set to join the cast. So there’s no lack of star power on the stage.

See the announcement below via BroadwayWorld:

Producer Scott Rudin has just announced that SHUFFLE ALONG will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, July 24, 2016. As was previously announced Audra McDonald, the six-time Tony winning star was already set to depart the production on July 24 for what was planned as a multi-month maternity leave. The news comes after reports of both Rhiannon Giddens having been cast and starting rehearsals as her replacement, and after news of choreographer Savion Glover being slated to join the show as well.

“Audra McDonald is the biggest star on Broadway, and audiences have been clamoring to see her in this role since the first preview of Shuffle Along in March of this year,” said Scott Rudin in a statement to the press. “She is absolutely extraordinary in the show, and I am filled with gratitude for both her exemplary partnership on Shuffle Along and also for her remarkable resilience and fortitude in doing everything possible to play as many shows as she can, despite the circumstance of her pregnancy.

We are thrilled that she and her husband, Will Swenson, are experiencing the opportunity to expand their family – and we wish them all good things as they approach the birth of their child this fall. It has, however, become clear that the need for Audra to take a prolonged and unexpected hiatus from the show has determined the unfortunate inevitability of our running at a loss for significantly longer than the show can responsibly absorb, and we have decided to close the show when she leaves on July 24. On behalf of myself and George C. Wolfe, I want to say how deeply grateful we are to her for everything she gave and continues to give the show. There is simply nobody like her.”

SHUFFLE ALONG began performances on March 15, 2016 and officially opened, to rave reviews, on April 28. It went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical, along with the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Choreography (Savion Glover), Outstanding Costume Design (Ann Roth), and Outstanding Wig and Hair Design (Mia M. Neal). It was nominated for ten 2016 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It will have played 38 previews and 100 regular performances by the time it ends its run.

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Broadway Luminaries Sing “What The World Needs Now” For Orlando

Dozens of Broadway luminaries, along with a 22 member orchestra, have recorded a benefit single for the LGBT Center of Central Florida as a tribute to the victims of last week’s shooting in Orlando, which took the lives of 49 people and hospitalized 53 more.

The single, a cover of Burt Bacharach’s classic “What the World Needs Now is Love” was produced in conjunction with Playbill.

Among those taking part:

Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Wayne Brady, Matthew Broderick, Andréa Burns, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Len Cariou, Paul Castree, Michael Cerveris, Joshua Colley, Lilla Crawford, Carmen Cusack, Darius de Haas, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Christopher Fitzgerald, Kimiko Glenn, Whoopi Goldberg, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Nina Hennessy, Megan Hilty, James Monroe Iglehart, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Judy Kuhn, Nathan Lane, Anika Larsen, Jennifer Lewis, Zachary Levi, Jose Llana, Rebecca Luker, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Janet Metz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Donna Murphy, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelli O’Hara, Rory O’Malley, Orfeh, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Perez, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Alice Ripley, Chita Rivera, Keala Settle, Kate Shindle, Jennifer Simard, Will Swenson, Rachel Tucker, Tommy Tune, Jonah Verdon, Lillias White, Marissa Jaret Winokur, B.D. Wong and Tony Yazbeck.

Just a rough guess, but it looks like around 55 Tony Awards among them all. Wow.

The single is currently available at BroadwayRecords.com and soon on iTunes. All proceeds will go to benefit the LGBT Center for Central Florida.

Broadway Records President Van Dean, musical director/SiriusXM Radio personality Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley headed up the Broadway for Orlando project, according to Playbill.

Said Rudetsky:

“The Broadway community was so terribly shaken and devastated by the horrific tragedy in Orlando. Everyone wanted to do something as quickly as possible that would truly make a difference. On Monday, my husband James woke me up at 7:30 AM and suggested we rally our friends and colleagues to do a ‘We Are the World’ type recording and raise money for the victims and their families. We started making calls and suddenly we had tons of theatre actors along with an orchestra and the services of a fully-staffed recording studio, all willing to donating their time and talent. Our community of artists has banded together as we always do to show we can end this cycle of violence and intolerance. Love WILL prevail!”

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Broadway Hit “She Loves Me” To Be Live-Streamed June 30th

Oh, man, this is great.

We get to see a hit Broadway show while it’s still on Broadway!

Via BroadwayWorld.com:

Online theater streaming service BroadwayHD will live stream “She Loves Me,” marking the first time a Broadway show has been broadcast live. Roundabout Theatre Company’s hit revival of “She Loves Me,” starring Laura Benanti, Zachary Levi and Jane Krakowski, will be available to watch live on BroadwayHD.com on Thursday, June 30 at 8 p.m. EDT.

BroadwayHD’s looks to offer viewers an unprecedented Broadway experience anytime, anywhere. Most recently BroadwayHD live streamed the Behind the Scenes Show for the 70th Annual Tony Awards. Past live streams also included Off-Broadway’s productions of the New Group’s “Buried Child,” and Signature Theatre’s “Old Hats.”

Visit broadwayhd.com/shelovesme to reserve a live stream pass to “She Loves Me” on June 30 at 8 p.m. EDT for $9.99. “She Loves Me” is free with all annual subscriptions to BroadwayHD’s on-demand library. BroadwayHD annual subscribers in the United States can watch the “She Loves Me” live stream on BroadwayHD’s Roku and Apple TV apps.

“She Loves Me” runs through July 10 at Studio 54 as part of Roundabout Theatre Company’s 50th Anniversary Season, and stars Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi, alongside Tony Award-nominee Gavin Creel, Byron Jennings, Tom McGowan and Tony Award-winner Jane Krakowski.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda Tony Award Speech: “Love Is Love Is Love Is Love Is Love”

In his Tony Award acceptance speech tonight for “Best Score of a Musical,” Lin-Manuel Miranda read a sonnet he wrote acknowledging life, love, and today’s tragedy.

“Senseless acts of tragedy remind us that nothing here is promised, not one day,” he said. “This show is proof that history remembers. We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger. We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer.”