Nick Manos

The last few years have brought difficult financial times to a number of venerable Atlanta theatres, including the 2012 closing of Marietta's Theatre in the Square, a successful half-million dollar fundraising campaign by Georgia Shakespeare in 2011, and last week, one of Atlana's oldest theatrical institutions announced a desperate plea for public support. After over six decades in Atlanta, Theater of the Stars (TOTS) now needs to raise $500,000 by the end of next week, and another half-million dollars by the end of August, to continue operations.

Theseus Productions, LLC and Theater of the Stars has announced that the musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story will hold an open casting call in select cities for the role of 'Buddy Holly' in the upcoming North American Tour. Auditions will be held in Nashville, Austin, Toronto and Atlanta between March 16 and March 23, 2013. Finalists will be invited to audition in New York later that month.

Oscar and Tony Award-winning composer Alan Menken, director Jeff Calhoun and producer Thomas Schumacher will join Kara Lindsay, Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Mike Faist, stars of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Newsies, for a special presentation to 4,000 students and teachers representing 82 groups from 23 states at the 2013 Junior Theater Festival, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars President Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding Chairman of iTheatrics. The Junior Theater Festival is being held January 18, 19 and 20 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

Due to the success of the 2011 Junior Theater Festival Spring Intensive and the feedback from its participants, it was announced by Nick Manos, President of Theater of the Stars and Tim McDonald, Founding Chairman of iTheatrics that the Junior Theater Festival Spring Intensives will become an annual event. The 2nd Junior Theater Festival Spring Student Intensive will take place this month at Whitefield Academy.

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

Imagination and teamwork will be center stage when a diverse cast of over 2,000 students and teachers representing 50+ schools and educational theatre groups from 15 states and Canada join Broadway creatives in a monumental celebration of the arts at the 2011 Junior Theater Festival happening January 14 - 16, 2011, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president, Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Four-time Tony nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical) will receive the Junior Theater Festival Award for Advancement of Musical Theatre for Young People, while Broadway producer and Disney Theatrical Group president Thomas Schumacher will be the festival's keynote speaker and Grammy award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox will participate in a Q&A session with all attendees. For the first time, in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the festival will also feature 'Dream Boxes' where students will record 30 second messages with their dreams for the future to be uploaded on the Internet.

Imagination and teamwork will be center stage when a diverse cast of over 2,000 students and teachers representing 50+ schools and educational theatre groups from 15 states and Canada join Broadway creatives in a monumental celebration of the arts at the 2011 Junior Theater Festival happening January 14 - 16, 2011, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president, Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Four-time Tony nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical) will receive the Junior Theater Festival Award for Advancement of Musical Theatre for Young People, while Broadway producer and Disney Theatrical Group president Thomas Schumacher will be the festival's keynote speaker and Grammy award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox will participate in a Q&A session with all attendees. For the first time, in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the festival will also feature 'Dream Boxes' where students will record 30 second messages with their dreams for the future to be uploaded on the Internet.

"Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition…" You would be hard pressed to find anyone out there who hasn't heard these iconic lyrics that start the classic Dolly Parton hit song, 9 to 5. The song (and the film) may be approaching their 30th anniversary, but the story has taken on brand new life in the form of a new musical (with music by Dolly Parton and book by Pat Resnick) and will be arriving at the Fabulous Fox Theatre September 28 - October 3, the second stop on the national tour. Directing and co-choreographing this reimagining of the recent Broadway production of 9 to 5: The Musical is Jeff Calhoun. Jeff took time out from his busy schedule to talk to us about 9 to 5, his vision for the show, and of course, working with the legendary Dolly Parton.

Imaginations will soar, hearts will dance and applause will thunder when more than 1,500 students, teachers, and Broadway professionals raise their voices in celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence in musical theater at the 2010 Junior Theater Festival, it was announced today by Timothy A. McDonald, Founding Chairman of iTheatrics and Nick Manos, President of Atlanta's Theater of the Stars. The Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary and middle school students and is presented by Music Theatre International and is hosted and produced by iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars. The 2010 Festival will be held at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA on January 15-17, 2010.

As the holidays approach and frigid temperatures begin to appear in Atlanta, one might not expect to be planning for summer entertainment, but Theater of the Stars has, and they hope Atlanta patrons will begin to do the same. Working hard to put together a varied lineup of shows for next year at the Fox Theatre has been top priority for the folks at Theater of the Stars, and BroadwayWorld was able to get the scoop on what they have in store for Atlanta audiences next year.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Nick Manos, President of Atlanta's Theater of the Stars about their upcoming production of 42nd Street which opens at the Fabulous Fox Theatre on Tuesday, July 28th and runs through Sunday, August 2nd and stars Loretta Swit. Mr. Manos shared with us a little about the production itself and what it takes to produce a show like this from the ground up.

'Excitement is mounting as we prepare for the Professional Stage Premiere of Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 from November 6-16 at the Fabulous Fox Theatre,' states Nick Manos, President of Atlanta's Theater of the Stars.

'We are proud to announce that we will be producing the Professional Stage Premiere of Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2' states Nick Manos, President of Atlanta's Theater of the Stars. 'We are excited to be able to follow up on the phenomenal success of our January 2007 premiere production of the original Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: On Stage with the smash hit sequel.'

Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2: On Stage will play the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta from November 6-16, 2008. Tickets are on sale NOW at all Ticketmaster outlets, at 404-817-8700 and online at www.ticketmaster.com Ticket prices range from $20-$68. Special group rates are available through the Fox Group Sales Dept. at 404-881-2000.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) is pleased to announce its new Board Members, selected from NAMT's membership of over 140 musical theatre producing organizations from around the world.