Rialto Chatter - Page 23

Telecharge.com is revealing that talk show legend Jerry Springer will indeed be joining Broadway's mega-hit CHICAGO in the role of Billy Flynn beginning Aug. 18th.

WhatsOnStage.com is reporting that the hit Broadway revival of HAIR is eyeing a West End transfer. The site indicates the show is hoping for a run at either the Piccadilly or Cambridge Theatre.

Variety reports that the upcoming Broadway musical 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' got caught in the web of it's massive budget as 'the extensive work being done to prepare for the technically demanding show, both in the shop constructing the physical production and in the theater where 'SPIDER-MAN' is due to open, is said to have stopped this week.'

Theatre favorite Liev Schreiber talks about fatherhood and his children in a new PEOPLE article.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, the first masterpiece from the legendary writing team of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, is to have a new big screen transfer. According to the Risky Biz blog, Universal Pictures is keen to follow-up the phenomenal success of last year's 'Mamma Mia!' film, and is turning to 'Superstar' to make that happen.

The Broadway real estate game is in full swing with the news that the Marriott Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway), current home to 9 to 5: The Musical, will soon be available. The big question now is what might be going into that theatre.

RACE, the new play written and directed by DAVID MAMET, is proud to welcome DAVID ALAN GRIER to the cast alongside previously announced cast members JAMES SPADER, RICHARD THOMAS and KERRY WASHINGTON.

Variety's Gordon Cox has a very interesting and informative article today about the West End transfer potential of several Broadway hits including audience favorites HAIR and ROCK OF AGES.

The New York Post's Michael Riedel is revealing in his On Broadway column in the The New York Post that Liev Schreiber is planning star in a revival of Arthur Miller's 'A View From the Bridge' directed by Gregory Mosher and due on Broadway in the spring. Schreiber will play Eddie Carbone, the Italian-American dock worker who is secretly in love with his niece.

The New York Times is reporting that talk show host Jerry Springer, who just finished up a successful six-week run as Billy Flynn in the musical CHICAGO in London's West End, is now in talks to play the role on Broadway.

Various online sources are revealing that American Idol finalist and Broadway belter Diana DeGarmo will be joining THE TOXIC AVENGER later this summer. While there has been no official word, sources close to the production have announced the news of her upcoming arrival. DeGarmo will replace Celina Carvajal who currently stars in the production, Carvajal was a temporary replacement in the hit musical. Celina Carvajal assumed the role of Sarah, the sexy, blind librarian on Monday, June 15th. Original cast member Sara Chase left the production to create three roles in the musical The First Wives Club which is premiering at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

The New York Post's PAGE SIX is revealing that Shawn King, wife of newsman Larry, is one of two finalists being considered for the role of Arachne in SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark on Broadway.

UGO MovieBlog reports that Big screen heartthrob Antonio Banderas is eyeing a return to the Broadway stage in the stage adaptation of the classic film Zorba the Greek.

Sharp eyed visitors to our BroadwayWorld.com message boards reported that several cast members of the Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night, including stars Anne Hathaway and Raul Esparza had a very special surprise in store for the brave souls who waited in line in Central Park to get free tickets to the show's last performance tonight, Sunday July 12th.

Enormously popular 1980s Latin boy band Menudo might be headed to the Broadway stage. According to reports, Menudo founder Edgardo Diaz is preparing a musical utilizing songs made famous by the group. The context in which the music will be used is not yet known. The production is said to be produced on a grand scale, and casting will take place all over Latin America. The show is scheduled to premiere in Caracas, Venezuela this November.

The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye reports that SHREK THE MUSICAL is eyeing a West End transfer for sometime around late 2010 or early 2011.

The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye reports that pop music superstar and film actress Beyonce Knowles wants to star in a movie version of the current West End stage hit, Sister Act: The Musical.

Pop superstar Justin Timberlake may be headed to the silver screen in Guy Richie's upcoming remake of GUYS AND DOLLS. The performer is said to have agreed to star in one of Richie's new films, and the pair 'shook hands over a whisky at the Punch Bowl pub in Mayfair' to confirm the arrangement, reports Britain's The Sun.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has now confirmed that Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight will star in a Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor. The production will be directed by Stanley Tucci and is looking at a February, 2010 Broadway opening.

With Michael Jackson's untimely death yesterday, the fate of a previously announced Broadway musical adaptation of THRILLER seems uncertain.