LGBTQ news and entertainment
Neil Patrick Harris has been officially announced as the host of this year’s Tony Awards on June 9.
Said Harris:
“I’m very excited to be back hosting the Tony Awards at the legendary Radio City Music Hall. It’ll be more impressive than ever – if my math is correct, it will be 267 times bigger than last year,” said Neil Patrick Harris. “Oh, wait. No, that can’t… hold on… carry the one… I’m awful at math. But rest assured, the show will rock!”
The producers of the Tony Award-nominated play ORPHANS have announced that the Broadway production will play its final performance on SUNDAY, MAY 19 after 27 previews and 37 regular performances at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
The production began performances on March 26 and opened on April 18. The Broadway production of Lyle Kessler’s ORPHANS stars Alec Baldwin, Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge and is directed by Daniel Sullivan.
ORPHANS has received several accolades including Tony Nominations for Best Leading Actor Tom Sturridge and Best Revival of a Play. Additionally Sturridge has been nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama League Award. Alec Baldwin has been nominated for a Drama League Award and the production was also nominated for Outstanding Revival of a Play by the Outer Critics Circle.
To be honest, I’m very surprised with the nominations and Alec Baldwin’s star power the play can’t seem to continue. I’m a fan of all three of the play’s stars.
For info about the play or to purchase tickets before it’s gone – click here.
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| Michael and I with Vanessa Williams after her glowing performance in A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL on Broadway |
Michael and I saw the beautiful new production of A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL last night starring Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr. and the FAB Vanessa Williams.
The nominations for awards are pouring in for the production, and the box office is doing hefty business as the theater community welcomes Cicely Tyson back to Broadway for the first time in 30 years. The production also marks Cuba Gooding Jr’s Broadway debut and Vanessa’s return to the Broadway stage since her gorgeous performance in SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM three years ago.
THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL is Horton Foote’s masterpiece about memory, mortality and the undeniable, universal yearning for home.
The Wall Street Journal calls TRIP, “is unforgettably excellent. I’ve never been more deeply moved by a theatrical production of any kind.”
The Associated Press says “The casting here is splendid. Not only is Tyson feisty and funny and glowing with inner light; Vanessa Williams is politely savage as her preening daughter-in-law, icy without becoming a dragon. Cuba Gooding Jr. nails the kind man unfortunately caught in the middle of these two women. The care and love all the creators have for this play pours out from the stage.”
EW wrote about the show “Tyson gives an awe-inspiring performance. She sings, she dances, she does everything but cartwheels. She’s well matched by Vanessa Williams – wickedly funny as her bossy daughter-in-law.”
As regular readers of TRR know, I’ve known Vanessa for years; and I am very proud of Vanessa for her work in the play. Her role as “Jessie Mae Watts” is deceptively difficult as she sets the tone and environment that incites Cicely Tyson’s character to head home to Bountiful. Vanessa drives the entire beginning of the play with constant business and energy. And she brings the pitch perfect touch of humor to the role, as only Vanessa can.
Make sure you see A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on Broadway. I loved it, as did the sold-out audience I saw it with.
For more info, visit the show’s official website.
From Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS: The 27th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition raised a staggering $4,250,542 — eclipsing the previous high of $3,734,129 set in 2007. The grand total was announced April 23, 2013, after six weeks of intensive fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS by 47 Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies.
With a standing-room-only audience filling Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, two Easter Bonnet shows featured original presentations, songs, dances and 19 intricate, custom-made bonnets.
This year’s edition included special appearances by Tom Hanks, Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein, Reeve Carney, Victoria Clark, Deborah Cox, Robert Cuccioli, Katie Finneran, Shalita Grant, Ann Harada, Harriet Harris, Cady Huffman, Andy Karl, Ron Kunene, Nathan Lane, Tshidi Manye, Constantine Maroulis, Andrea Martin, Marin Mazzie, Christopher McDonald, Judy McLane, Mark Nelson, Christine Pedi, Billy Porter, Seth Rudetsky, Peter Scolari, Holland Taylor and Michael Urie.
Opens this week.
If you don’t think this is exciting, you’re dead.
Can. Not. Wait.
Via press release:
Four-time Tony Award nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning actress Tovah Feldshuh will return to host the seventh annual The Broadway Beauty Pageant.
Celebrity judges have also been announced. Andrea Martin (Pippin), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), and Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar) have been tapped to judge the event.
Lisa Lambert, the Tony Award-winning lyricist of The Drowsy Chaperone, will write the opening number.
The popular event is the annual benefit of New York’s Ali Forney Center.
The Broadway Beauty Pageant will feature male cast members representing their respective Broadway shows, competing for the title crown through talent, interview and swimsuit competitions. The contestants will go head to head in front of a panel of celebrity judges, but ultimately, the final vote is in the hands of the audience members.
Monday, May 20th – 8pm
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
Ending a 30 year absence, celebrated actress Cecily Tyson, three-time Emmy® Award winner for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All” and Academy Award® nominee for Sounder, makes her triumphant return to Broadway in this eagerly anticipated new production, directed by Michael Wilson (Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Dividing the Estate).
THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL follows Carrie Watts (Tyson), an active, highly motivated widow living in a cramped apartment in Houston in the Spring of 1953 with her son (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and daughter-in-law (Vanessa Williams) . Carrie escapes her relatives’ watchful eyes to realize her dearest dream: to return to her beloved hometown, Bountiful. What starts as an ordinary trip soon becomes an inspiring and life-changing journey of discovery.
With powerful themes regarding memory, mortality and the undeniable, universal yearning for home, you won’t want to miss this powerful show The Cleveland Plain Dealer calls, “A gorgeous, great play. American theater at its most engaging.”
From the YouTube description: Broadway Bares, the unrivaled evening of sexy striptease that benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, will return for its 23rd edition on Sunday, June 23, 2013.
This year’s theme will be announced on Thursday, March 28 at broadwaybares.com and broadwaycares.org.
This always sold-out annual event combines the naughtiness of burlesque and the razzle-dazzle of Broadway. More than 200 of the hottest male and female dancers in New York City take to the stage for two sensational shows at 9:30 pm and midnight.
More indication that SMASH is pretty much done.
As if the move to Saturday nights wasn’t enough, EW is reporting Ms. Messing already has a new gig with CBS.