Tag: Broadway

Posted on

Casting For Broadway CATS Revival To Include SYTYCD Winner Ricky Ubeda

Ricky Ubeda to play “Mr. Mistoffelees” in Broadway revival of Cats

Ricky Ubeda, season 11 winner of So You Think You Can Dance, will be featured in the upcoming Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats as “the magical Mr. Mistoffelees.”

Previews will begin July 14 prior to an official opening July 31 at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 W. 52nd Street).

From Playbill:

The company will include Giuseppe Bausilio as Carbucketty, Quentin Earl Darrington as Old Deuteronomy, Jeremy Davis as Skimbleshanks, Kim Faure as Demeter, Sara Jean Ford as Jellylorum, Lili Froehlich as Electra, Daniel Gaymon as Macavity, Shonica Gooden as Rumpleteazer, Christopher Gurr as Gus/Bustopher Jones, Tyler Hanes as Rum Tum Tugger, Andy Jones as Munkustrap, Kolton Krouse as Tumblebrutus, Eloise Kropp as Jennyanydots / Gumbie, Jess LeProtto as Mungojerrie, Georgina Pazcoguin as Victoria, Emily Pynenburg as Cassandra, Arianna Rosario as Sillabub, Ahmad Simmons as Alonzo, Christine Cornish Smith Bombalurina, Corey Snide as Coricopat, Emily Tate as Tantomile, Ricky Ubeda as Mistoffelees, and Sharrod Williams as Pouncival,as well as Richard Todd Adams, Aaron Albano, Callan Bergmann, Claire Camp, Francesca Granell, Jessica Hendy, Harris Milgrim, Madison Mitchell, Nathan Patrick Morgan and Megan Ort.

Casting for the role of “Grizabella” will be announced at some point in the near future. Elaine Paige won the Olivier Award for her powerful turn as the “Glamour Cat” in the original London company, and Betty Buckley won the Tony Award for her powerful portrayal on Broadway.

I have a personal interest in the production, and in Ubeda’s casting, as I spent two years of my early career playing “Mistoffelees” on the national tour of Cats back in the 1980s when the show first hit the U.S.

Congrats to Ricky and all the new kitties!

Me as “Mr. Mistoffelees” in Cats
Posted on

Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth Sing “For Good” Together For First Time In 12 Years

Tony Award-winners Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel sing “For Good” together for the first time in 12 years.

The ladies got together to duet once again for a Second Stage Theatre’s gala honoring Wicked producer David Stone on Monday.

The two created their iconic roles of “Glinda” and “Elphaba” (respectively) in the original cast of Wicked, which recently crossed over $1 billion in box office for the Broadway company alone, and over $4 billion worldwide.

Years later, the connection between the two is just as magical.

Posted on

Broadway: Five Burning Questions With Terrance Mann

I’ve been a fan of Terry’s work going all the way back to his rocking turn as the original “Rum Tum Tugger” in CATS on Broadway. I got to know him a bit when I was doing Chicago the Musical with his wife, the luminous Charlotte d’Amboise.

I agree with every answer he gives here – especially his best piece of advice to young actors.

Posted on

Broadway Honors Prince With Curtain Call Love

Last night, the cast of Broadway blockbuster (and recent Pulitzer Prize winner) Hamilton rocked out at their curtain call in honor of Prince to his mega-hit “Lets Go Crazy.”

And over at The Color Purple, Jennifer Hudson and company brought down the house with their rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

I love my tribe.

Posted on

Broadway Blockbuster HAMILTON Wins Pultizer Prize For Drama

The Broadway blockbuster Hamilton joins a distinguished group of only eight other musicals to win the coveted Pulitzer Prize in Drama.

The producers of the show shared the news on Twitter this morning.

The award is given with an emphasis on “a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.” In addition to the honor itself, there is a $10,000 cash prize.

The most recent musical to win the Pulitzer was Next To Normal in 2010. The other seven musicals to be awarded the honor, since the Pulitzer began bestowing the honor to dramatic pieces, are:

• Rent (1996)
• Sunday in the Park With George (1985)
• A Chorus Line (1976)
• How To Succeed in Business without Really Trying (1962)
• Fiorello (1960),
• South Pacific (1950)
• Of Thee I Sing (1932)

Posted on

Broadway: Rosie O’Donnell Skewers Trump With Parody GREASE Song

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

Last night, Rosie O'Donnell joined us for a VERY special #DisasterRelief performance with her own Donald J. Trump version of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" from Grease! #PrepareForDisasterPosted by Disaster – On Broadway on Friday, April 8, 2016

For those who aren’t aware, after each performance of the new parody musical DISASTER, the cast is having guest stars come up on stage and perform to help raise money for Broadway Cares (my favorite charity which helps countless men and women with HIV/AIDS) as a “bonus” to the DISASTER experience.

Rosie O’s lyrics (penned by herself and Seth Rudetsky) are pretty clever.

Posted on

Broadway’s WICKED Reaches $1 Billion Mark At The Box Office

Variety reports that Broadway juggernaut Wicked has become the third production on the Great White Way to notch over $1 billion at the box office.

The show has achieved the milestone faster than any other Broadway production that has topped $1 billion in New York sales alone — an elite pantheon of which there are only two other members, “The Lion King” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” Disney juggernaut “The Lion King” was the first to do it in 2013, 16 years after its 1997 bow, and evergreen “Phantom” followed in 2015, some 27 years after its 1988 premiere. (Back when “Phantom” opened, a sold-out smash translated to about $550,000 in late-80s dollars, a far cry from the $3.2 million “Wicked” scored over a record-breaking holiday week in 2013.)

“Wicked” has spent the majority of its run at or near the top of Broadway’s weekly sales chart. The $1 billion cumulative take accounts for about one quarter of the title’s $4 billion worldwide sales; more than $2.8 billion of that comes from the show’s other North American companies, including tours and sit-down productions in Chicago, L.A. and San Francisco.

Internationally, the musical has played to 50 million people in 14 countries, including Japan, Mexico and Australia, and been translated into six languages. A West End outpost has been running in London since 2006.

Interesting footnote: Wicked did not win Best Musical or Best Score at the 2004 Tony Awards (Avenue Q snagged those prizes). As a matter of fact, the show only won 3 Tony Awards.

I’d say living well is truly the best revenge 🙂

(tipped by Randy Report reader John)