Tag: Broadway

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Oprah considers Broadway debut opposite 5-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald

Oprah Winfrey (L) and Audra McDonald (R)

Ok. If you REALLY want to sell out the run of a play, you need to get a big star.

Even better – TWO big stars.

Two BIG stars.

And that just may happen.

The New York Times has the story:

Oprah Winfrey is in talks to make her Broadway debut in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “’night, Mother,” starring opposite Tony-Award winner Audra McDonald as a mother struggling to stop her daughter from killing herself, according to two theater executives familiar with the plans.

The Tony winner George C. Wolfe (“Lucky Guy”) would direct the production, which is being aimed for the 2015-16 Broadway season.

Read more at the New York Times.

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If Broadway did the Super Bowl half-time show

From last night’s Saturday Night Live cold open.

Not all THAT funny, but the entrance of CATS’ “Mr. Mistoffelees” at the end got a chuckle out of me.

Don’t forget, however, that Broadway’s real live Tony Award-winning KINKY BOOTS is performing in the pre-game show. You won’t want to miss that.

Commercials, pre-game show, half-time show, the game itself… And don’t forget the costumes!

Lots to watch at the Super Bowl today!

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“CHICAGO at the Hollywood Bowl” wins Broadway World “Best Special Theatre Event” Award

Last summer, I was flattered and thrilled to be asked to step back into CHICAGO the Musical (which I was fortunate to perform in on Broadway, National and International companies) at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

It was a fun, fast and fantastic experience to be onstage again in a show I always loved being a part of.

Today it was announced that the production of CHICAGO the Musical at the Hollywood Bowl won a Broadway World Award for “Best Special Theatre Event.”

Congrats to the whole cast, crew and especially Gregory Butler who handled the choreographic duties and Brooke Shields who directed the production with insight and professionalism.

You can check out some “behind the scenes” blog posts from the rehearsal period here, here, here, here and here.

The experience was one of the very best of my career onstage.  Everyone was great to work with – some old friends, some new.

Glad to see this chapter close on such a high note.

Hollywood Bowl cast of CHICAGO the Musical with the fab Brooke Shields

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Broadway Bares begins new year with “Winter Burlesque – Calendar Girl”

For the month of April/May: Sidney Erik Wright, Matt Anctil, Patrick Boyd
All photos by Daniel Roberts

The 24th season of Broadway Bares began Sunday raising $32,781 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Take two-time Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber, two-time OutMusic Award winner Matt Zarley and 25 talented, sexy New York dancers and you get “Calendar Girl” – this year’s edition of Winter Burlesque by Broadway Bares.

Watch video highlights below.

Tickets for Broadway Bares 24 are on sale now at BroadwayBares.com and BroadwayCares.org.

Mr. September Matthew Rossoff

Matt Zarley in the finale of Winter Burlesque “Calendar Girl”
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NBC announces PETER PAN will be next live broadcast musical

BroadwayWorld has the details:

“We’re very pleased to be underway on ‘Peter Pan’ as our next live holiday musical for the whole family,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. “We were all delighted to see how ‘The Sound of Music Live!’ struck such a chord in December and brought nearly 19 million people to the live telecast plus another several million viewers over the weekend. In the hopes that lightning strikes twice, we think we’ve landed on another great Broadway musical – which ironically also starred Mary Martin – that is a timeless classic for all audiences, young and old, who just never want to grow up.”

“We’re thrilled to be reteaming with NBC and Bob Greenblatt in bringing ‘Peter Pan’ back to its roots as a live television event,” said Zadan and Meron. “We hope to create the joy that has made this musical so beloved. We would like a whole new generation to experience ‘Peter Pan’ and for families across the country to share the magic.”

Featuring the iconic songs “I’m Flying,” “I’ve Gotta Crow,” “I Won’t Grow Up,” and “Never Never Land,” and a book full of magic, warmth, and adventure, PETER PAN is the perfect show for the child in all of us who dreamed of soaring high and never growing up.

The broadcast is scheduled for December 4, 2014.

Casting is currently underway although no names have been attached yet.

Post your opinions here – who would you cast in the leading roles?  Good choice for the next “live” TV musical?

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OUT Magazine’s fab photo-shoot with Broadway legend Carol Channing

My beautiful, dear Carol Channing did a fun photo-shoot for OUT Magazine in advance of her upcoming evening at Town Hall in NYC on January 20th. From OUT:

At 92, she has grown a little frail — she has some trouble walking, and her eyesight is weak — but she is still a bewitching, arrestingly vivid personality.

 The very air around her seemed to sizzle as she and performance artist Justin Vivian Bond were photographed recently beside the pool of her friend Sylvia’s lovely ranch-style house.

She cracked wise, hammed it up, and gracefully accepted compliments on her snappy blue trouser suit, which featured a bejeweled, embroidered snake winding up one leg.

The shoot took place in honor of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: An Intimate Evening With Carol Channing and Justin Vivian Bond, a special event taking place on January 20 at the Town Hall in New York City.

Check out more of the fun photo-shoot with Carol at OUT.

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Broadway’s “Gypsy of the Year 2013” raises $4.3 million

The 25th anniversary celebration of Gypsy of the Year, the culmination of six weeks of extraordinary fundraising by 56 participating Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies, raised an amazing $4,343,234 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The grand total was announced Tuesday, December 10, at this year’s Gypsy of the Year, which included an array of original dances, songs and skits performed by more than 250 “gypsies,” the most talented singers and dancers in the ensembles of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.

Since 1989, the 25 editions of Gypsy of the Year have raised a total of $57,277,815 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

In the spirit of the holiday season, please consider BC/EFA for your charitable donations. 

You can check out highlights below.

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Broadway’s PIPPIN recoups $8.5 million investment

http://www.pippinthemusical.com/

According to the New York Times, the Tony Award winning musical-comedy Pippin, which is currently playing at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street), has recouped its Broadway investment of $8.5 million. The production opened on April 25, 2013.

I saw the production during the month leading up to the Tony Awards this year and it was clearly one of the best productions I’ve seen on Broadway in many years.  Chet Walker’s award-winning choreography blew me away.  If you are in the area – and you can get tickets – GO!

Pippin is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus and features choreography by Tony Award nominee Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse and circus creation byGypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers).

(via BroadwayWorld)

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In Performance: Zachary Quinto in “The Glass Menagerie”

Zachary Quinto in “The Glass Menagerie” (all photos by Michael J. Lutch)

The New York Times “In Performance” series provides this glimpse into the new Broadway revival of “The Glass Menagerie” starring Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto.

The production recently opened to RAVE reviews with the New York Times saying:

How can something be this delicate and this strong, so elusive and yet so tenacious? That question radiates from John Tiffany’s stunning production of Tennessee Williams’s “Glass Menagerie,” which opened on Thursday night at the Booth Theater and promises to be the most revealing revival of a cornerstone classic for many a year to come. 
More than any interpretation I’ve seen of the 1944 drama that made Williams’s name, this “Menagerie” — which stars Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto in career-defining performances — finds the brute force in a play often described, a bit condescendingly, as lyrical, wispy, elegiac. Yes, the tapered fingers of poetry shape “The Glass Menagerie.” But when these fingers curl into a fist — and they do so again and again in this production, before you quite realize it — be prepared to have the breath knocked out of you.

If you can’t get to NYC to see the play, here’s a taste of what is currently on view at the Booth Theater.

Cherry Jones, Brian J. Smith and Zachary Quinto

Celia Keenan-Bolger and Brian J. Smith

Cherry Jones in “The Glass Menagerie”