The 28th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition returned to the Minskoff Theatre on April 21 and 22, with the companies of Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring productions offering skits, songs and dances, as well as elaborately designed bonnets created especially for the event.
Broadway veterans shared the stage with celebrated newcomers, as more than 200 of Broadway and Off-Broadway’s most talented performers came together for this year’s Easter Bonnet Competition.
The Broadway mega-hit becomes a major movie this summer.
Starring Tony Award-winner John Lloyd Young. Opens June 20th.
From the clip description:
A musical biography of the Four Seasons-the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation.
The legendary Carole King made her first visit to see “Beautiful” – the new Broadway show that tells the story of her amazing rise to stardom.
Back in December, it was reported in Playbill that King walked out of a rehearsal half-way through the reading. She told her daughter, ‘Tell them it’s great. I can tell it’s great. But I can’t watch my life played out before me.’
But last night, during the show’s appeal for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, King walked out on stage, surprising the cast. “They had no idea,” she told the audience.
Jessie Mueller, who received rave reviews for her portrayal of Ms. King when the show opened in January, was clearly emotional, as were several other members of the cast. King and the cast of the show then auctioned off a performance of “You’ve Got A Friend” to the tune of $30,000 for BC/EFA.
In advance of his new EP on Tuesday, Broadway’s newest “Jean Valjean” in Les Miserables, Ramin Karimloo, has released the first video “Losing.”
Karimloo’s EP ‘The Road To Find Out: East’ features “broadgrass music,” a cross between Broadway and Bluegrass to be released on 7 April via Big Hand Recordings.
In the world of theatrical performers, Ramin is known as one of the most formidable talents in the industry and for his leading roles in international theatre productions such as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and Raoul and Phantom in the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera.
The tracks on ‘East’ include “Oh What A Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma, a brand new song called “Losing” which Ramin wrote with Hadley Fraser (an English stage actor, who played Javert in Les Misérables) and features Katie Birtill on vocals, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from Les Miserables, and “Broken”, another original track co-written with Hadley.
It’s been almost a decade since the Pittsburgh-born Billy Porter released a solo album, and since then much has changed for the award-winning artist, who grew up singing in the Pentecostal church. Perhaps best known for his Tony® Award-winning role as ‘Lola’ in the hit Broadway musical Kinky Boots, Porter’s musical background is based in gospel, soul and R&B.
On April 15, 2014, Porter releases his debut on Concord Records, Billy’s Back on Broadway.
Featuring ten classics made famous on the Great White Way that focus on inspiration, empowerment and hope, the album’s title is a nod to Sammy Davis, Jr.’s recording Sammy’s Back on Broadway.
Cyndi Lauper, the Grammy®, Emmy® & Tony® Award-winning rock icon who penned the score for Kinky Boots, makes a special guest appearance on Billy’s Back on Broadway, dueting with Porter on “Happy Days/Get Happy,” a tune made famous by Streisand and Judy Garland.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Cyndi is one of the godmothers of individuality,” Porter explains. “She forged a path for so many of us that didn’t fit into the status quo. I learned so much and have felt so inspired by her journey as an artist and human being before I even knew her. She’s a blessing and a gift, and I’m so thrilled she said ‘yes’ when I asked her to sing on this album.”
Check out the behind-the-scenes footage and interviews below.
The Hollywood Reporter shares that Rosie O’Donnell has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Award.
The honor is awarded each year at the Tony Awards to “an individual from the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations, regardless of whether such organizations relate to the theatre.”
O’Donnell was chosen for the 2014 award in recognition of her commitment to arts education for New York City public school children and her establishment of the nonprofit arts education foundation Rosie’s Theater Kids (originally known as Rosie’s Broadway Kids), which provides students with training in dance, music and drama, mentoring programs and exposure to professional theater.
“Rosie exemplifies the spirit and the generosity of the Broadway community through her “pay it forward” mentality within the arts community and beyond,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League and Heather Hitchens, executive director of the American Theatre Wing.
Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look of Neil Patrick Harris in full Hedwig drag in Broadway’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Previews began this past Saturday with official opening on April 22 at the Belasco Theatre with the How I Met Your Mother star playing “Hedwig,” a fictional East German rock singer living as a female after a botched gender-reassignment operation.
In a recent announcement, a portion of all ticket sales will benefit Hetrick-Martin Institute, “the nation’s oldest and largest organization helping gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth to reach their full potential.”
Ok, so I’ve ‘known’ about Ramin Karimloo for a couple of years now. He was discovered in London and starred in “Love Never Dies,” the sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera.”
He has also starred in “Les Miserables” playing all three leading male roles, including the 25th Anniversary Concert of “Les Miz” as “Enjolras” that was broadcast worldwide from the O2 Arena, and “the Phantom” in the 25th Anniversary performance of “Phantom of the Opera.”
He just opened in the new revival of “Les Miserables” on Broadway as “Jean Valjean” to wild acclaim. From the New York Times:
Making a sterling Broadway debut, he sets a high standard in the prologue, performing Valjean’s angry soliloquy with fiery intensity and full-throttled vocalism that gradually shades into more nuanced coloring as Valjean puts behind him the grim shadows of his imprisonment and forges a new life.
The highlight of his performance, and perhaps the production as a whole, is Mr. Karimloo’s beautifully restrained but richly felt rendition of “Bring Him Home,” one of the score’s less thundering songs, in which Valjean sends up a prayer for Marius, who has fallen at the barricades after falling for Cosette (Samantha Hill), whom Valjean has raised after her mother’s death. Mr. Karimloo’s croon is as sweet as his belt is big.
So, there.
What I didn’t know is how handsome he is. And his manner in his own concerts is so warm and congenial that you just want to sit for hours and take in the whole package – the voice, the face, the warmth. All of it.
The clip below is from a concert tour he did (this was in Tyler, TX) and he sings an unlikely “I Dreamed A Dream” (the female lead’s song from Les Miz) with power, ease and sensitivity. Just the right balance of masculinity and vulnerability.
And did I mention he’s really hot?
Ramin Karimloo is my new favorite thing.
Right before I was about to hit “Publish” on this post I found this version of Ramin singing “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miz,” but from one of his own concerts. I had to add this.
I seriously encourage you to get to NYC and see Ramin and the entire fab company if “Les Miserables” on Broadway.
