BROADWAY BACKSTAGE: FALL PREVIEW to Air on WABC-TV, 11/10

This weekend, ABC-7 will air a half-hour special on the best of the new Broadway season, including AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, ANNIE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, CHAPLIN, DEAD ACCOUNTS, THE HEIRESS and THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. The special will air Saturday, November 10 from 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM.

ABC-7 presents a half-hour special celebrating the new fall season on the Great White Way. Airing in prime access, the show is hosted by Eyewitness News anchor, Michelle Charlesworth and Henry Winkler currently appearing on stage in a new romantic comedy, “The Performers.”

· AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

WABC catches up with stars Boyd Gaines and Richard Thomas of the Broadway production of Manhattan Theatre Club’s AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. This fall on Broadway, the political is about to get very personal. In this fast-paced, two-hour thriller, Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Gaines) discovers a toxic secret that threatens the health of his entire community. The doctor expects to be hailed as a hero, but his brother, Mayor Peter Stockmann (Thomas), believes the information will destroy the town, forcing the men into a passionate confrontation of political will and personal ethics. Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, The Royal Family, The Whipping Man,) returns to MTC to direct this bold new version by one of Britain’s most exciting writers, Rebecca Lenkiewicz.

· ANNIE
WABC catches up with stars Katie Finneran, Anthony Warlow and Lilla Crawford of the the new production of the Tony Award®-winning musical ANNIE. ANNIE features a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin. ANNIE is directed by Pulitzer Prize and three-time Tony Award®-winner James Lapine and choreographed by Tony Award®-winner Andy Blankenbuehler. ANNIE stars two-time Tony Award® winner Katie Finneran as Miss Hannigan, Australian star Anthony Warlow making his Broadway debut as Daddy Warbucks and 11-year-old Lilla Crawford as Annie. The original production of ANNIE opened April 21, 1977 at the Alvin Theatre and went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album and seven Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, Best Book (Thomas Meehan) and Best Score (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin). The show was one of the biggest Broadway musical hits of the 1970s, running for almost six years and playing 2,377 performances. The score for ANNIE includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You” and the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow.”

· CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Tony Award-winner Scarlett Johansson returns to Broadway to star as Maggie, with Ciarán Hinds as Big Daddy, Benjamin Walker as Brick and Tony and Emmy Award-winner Debra Monk as Big Mama in Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning classic CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Directed by Tony and Emmy Award-winner Rob Ashford, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF will begin preview performances Tuesday, December 18. Opening night is Thursday, January 17. In CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, "Big Daddy" Pollitt, the richest cotton planter in the Mississippi Delta, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. He is distressed by the rocky relationship between his beloved son Brick, an aging football hero who has turned to drink, and his beautiful and feisty wife Maggie. As the hot summer evening unfolds, the veneer of Southern gentility slips away as unpleasant truths emerge and greed, lies and suppressed sexuality reach a boiling point.

· CHAPLIN
WABC talks with breakout star Rob McClure, who is currently starring – to critical acclaim – in the title role in Broadway’s CHAPLIN, the new musical about Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin. With music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and book by three-time Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Curtis, CHAPLIN opened on Broadway on September 10, 2012, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle (Finian’s Rainbow; Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway). The brand new 24-person musical reveals the man behind the legend, the undeniable genius that forever changed the way America went to the movies.

· DEAD ACCOUNTS
WABC speaks with Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes, who star in the new Broadway comedy DEAD ACCOUNTS, directed by Jack O’Brien. In DEAD ACCOUNTS, Jack’s (Butz) unexpected return throws his family into a frenzy, and his sister Lorna (Holmes) needs answers. Is he coming home or running away? Where is his wife everyone hates? And how did he get all that money? Theresa Rebeck’s new comedy tackles the timely issues of corporate greed, small town values, and whether or not your family will always welcome you back…with no questions asked.

· THE HEIRESS

WABC talks to the stars of the new Broadway revival of the Academy and Tony Award winning play THE HEIRESS, which stars Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner David Strathairn, Dan Stevens and Tony Award winner Judith Ivey. The play, which recently opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, is directed by Tony Award nominated playwright and director Moisés Kaufman.

· THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD
Broadway legend Chita Rivera talks to WABC about returning to the stage as “Princess Puffer” in Roundabout Theatre Company’s new production of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, the delightful musical smash from Tony-winning writer/composer Rupert Holmes (Curtains). Take a trip back in time to a Victorian music hall where a rowdy ensemble of actors mounts a staging of Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel. Everyone on stage is a suspect in the murder of young Edwin Drood, and it’s up to you to choose the killer! Is it John Jasper, Edwin’s protective but slightly maniacal uncle? Rosa Bud, his reluctant betrothed? The debauched Princess Puffer? Each performance ends differently, depending on what the audience decides!

ABC-7’s Broadway Backstage Fall Preview continues to focus the spotlight on the remarkable, one of a kind, institution that is Broadway. If you can’t make it to every show or just want to be in the know, this is the one to see for a complete rundown of all that the Great White Way is offering this season. The program can also be seen following the broadcast at www.7online.com/broadway.