This was a rare departure for Carol Burnett during her hit 1970s TV show.
I’m always aware of what terrific acting she brought to sketches, but I did forget what a lovely voice she had.
Sting Set To Join The Cast Of His Struggling Broadway Show “The Last Ship”
Having written the lyrics and music for the struggling Broadway show The Last Ship, Sting is now set to join the cast of his flailing $15 million Broadway musical.
But can his star power save the show? His last Broadway appearance was in the 1989 The Three Penny Opera.
The veteran rock star is set to star in the show from Dec. 9 until Jan. 10, replacing actor Jimmy Nail, who says he is stepping aside “happily” for the good of the production.
Since its premiere the show has been losing $75,000 a week.
John Cameron Mitchell To Return To “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Beginning January 21, 2015, John Cameron Mitchell will return to “Hedwig and the Angy Inch” on Broadway for eight weeks.
Mitchell created the role back in the 1990s off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre. The current production on Broadway won Tony Awards for Neil Patrick Harris for “Best Actor in a Musical” and Best Revival.
From the New York Times:
“I’m having fun going through the old show in my mind and thinking about throwing in more ad-libs and rock ’n’ roll like we did downtown,” Mr. Mitchell said in a telephone interview, recalling the original runs of “Hedwig” at the Westbeth Theater and Jane Street Theater, where he sometimes performed laying on stage when he was tired or while he was in the bathroom offstage.
“I think it will be more frayed,” Mr. Mitchell said of the way his performance might differ from Neil Patrick Harris’s, who originated the role on Broadway last spring and earned a Tony Award for best actor. “We’ve all changed in the last 25 years. I’ve lost friends who were originally involved with the show. I originally wrote the role to release anger and grief – I’m generally a pretty quiet person – and I haven’t experienced a lot of emotion in that same way in a while. I think I’ll even surprise myself as people come to mind while I’m performing.”
Since Harris’ departure Andrew Rannells and Michael C. Hall have performed the lead role in the revival.
Broadway’s “Side Show” Shares Opening Night Act One Finale With Time Square
How cool is this?
On the evening of November 17th, theater fans were treated to a live viewing of the Act One finale of the Opening Night of Side Show in Times Square.
Well, almost.
It seems that since the opening night performance went up a bit late, Time Square fans got to see a back-up video of “Who Will Love Me As I Am” even before the opening night attendees enjoyed the song. From Playbill:
According to a representative for the production, a specific slot time was permitted for Clear Channel to broadcast the finale with sound in Times Square. As is typical with many Broadway opening nights, Side Show got off to a late start. The performance, which was to begin at 7 PM, didn’t raise its curtain until about 7:25 PM, meaning that the act one finale “Who Will Love Me As I Am?” would not occur until after 8 PM. Technically, the song would not make its 7:45 PM live call.
Days before opening, a back-up tape of the rousing power ballad had been prepared by the show’s producers in the event of such circumstances or other technical snares. That previously-taped performance is what ultimately aired at 7:45 PM in Times Square.
“There was no mechanism in place with which to deliver fans the message that the performance was pre-recorded, nor did the production deem it necessary as it still delivered an exciting moment with footage of a live performance,” a spokesman for the production said in a statement.
The revival of Side Show enjoyed excellent reviews. Read the notices here.
And you can watch a video of the “live” broadcast in Times Square below.
Music Video: Idina Menzel sings “Always Starting Over” from IF/THEN
It’s been a great year for Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel: starring on Broadway again in this year’s IF/THEN; garnering a Tony Award nomination for that performance; releasing a fab holiday album; and then there’s the small matter of the Disney blockbuster Frozen for which she supplied vocals for the most famous movie song of the year “Let It Go.”
One more thing to add to the list – a new video of her performance of the eleven o’clock number from IF/THEN, “Always Starting Over.”
Filmed both onstage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and in the recording studio, we get the best of both worlds here.
The show is still running on Broadway, and the cast recording is available here.
Watch the luminous Ms. Menzel deliver her fab performance below:
From the Broadway Musical SIDE SHOW – “Who Will Love Me As I Am”
With the Broadway revival of Side Show opening on Monday night, I had to revisit the gorgeous and moving material via the original stars Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner, who were “co-nominated” for a Tony Award for their fantastic performances as “Daisy and Violet Hilton.”
I saw this production in the late 90s and was blown away. Enjoy 🙂
News Round-up: November 12, 2014
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| Zachary Quinto |
Stories you might have missed:
• OUT100 cover guy Zachary Quinto calls the LGBT community “complacent” in the new millennia of AIDS
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| Andy Cohen |
Michael Sam Goes Backstage On Broadway At “Kinky Boots”
Tony Award winner Billy Porter shared this pic with out NFL-er Michael Sam after Sam took in the award winning musical Kinky Boots this past Sunday.
And another shot of the talented two-some via Bruce Glikas:
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| Tony Award winner Billy Porter with out NFL-er Michael Sam |
Trailer: Peter Pan Live! On NBC
Starring Alison Williams and Christopher Walken, Peter Pan Live! premieres live on NBC December 4th at 8PM.
Las Vegas Academy of the Arts Students Get Master Class By Original Broadway Cast of [title of show]
Wow! Talk about an great experience for young actors!
The Las Vegas Academy of the Arts is currently presenting the Broadway hit [title of show]. You can see the production this weekend, October 16-18 at 7pm in the Academy Theatre Black Box at 10th Street and Lewis Ave. in Downtown Las Vegas.
[title of show] follows two writers, Hunter and Jeff, who are racing against the clock to write a musical in time to submit it for a festival. The writers, along with their friends, are on a quest a create an original musical that does not conform to the current fads or expectations of what is currently popular on Broadway. [title of show] speaks to the artistic underdog in us all, as the characters struggle to write a musical about writing a musical.
But even better – three original cast members from the Broadway production – Susan Blackwell, Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen – are flying out to work with the students and chat with audience members.
The Broadway actors will teach a master class, take part in a VIP reception before the show Friday the 17th, and stay after the performance for a Q&A “talk back” with the audience.
When is the last time you got to see a show with original cast members (Bowen and Bell also wrote the show), and then ask questions afterwards? Really great experience for the students and the audience.
Tickets are $35 dollars for the whole package (reception, LVA performance and talk back) and the proceeds will be used to create a scholarship for an LVA theatre major.
To purchase tickets for the VIP experience, click here.