Alan Menken News

Disney Theatrical Productions, Shea's Performing Arts Center, and Albert Nocciolino announced today that tickets for the highly anticipated Buffalo engagement of Disney's NEWSIES will go on sale to the public today, June 20th at 10:00 AM. Tickets start at $35.  The Tony Award-winning production will begin performances at Shea's Buffalo Theatre on September 29th for a limited engagement of one week through October 4th as a part of the M&T Bank 2015-16 Broadway Series.   

The Segal Centre will close its blockbuster 2014-2015 Theatre Season with The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz: The Musical, a world premiere musical adaptation of Mordecai Richler's novel and the feature film by the same name, from June 7-28, 2015. This new production boasts an original musical score by Alan Menken, the legendary Oscar and Tony winning composer of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, with book and lyrics by acclaimed lyricist-librettist David Spencerand direction by American theatre veteran Austin Pendleton. Presented with the generous support of RBC and Muse Entertainment.  Check out highlights below!

Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the production!

The award-winning musical, A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story "A Letter to Harvey Milk" by Leslea Newman,  will enjoy an invite-only industry reading in New York City on Monday, June 22, 2015 at Times Square's Playroom Theatre. A Letter to Harvey Milk, has a book by Jerry James, Cheryl Stern and Laura I. Kramer, lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz with additional lyrics by Cheryl Stern, and music by Laura I. Kramer, it has been musical directed, arranged and orchestrated by Ned Paul Ginsburg, and the reading will be directed by Evan Pappas (Performer: Parade, My Favorite Year).

The Segal Centre closes its blockbuster 2014-2015 Theatre Season with The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz: The Musical, a world premiere musical adaptation of Mordecai Richler's novel and the feature film by the same name, through July 12, 2015. This new production boasts an original musical score by Alan Menken, the legendary Oscar and Tony winning composer of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, with book and lyrics by acclaimed lyricist-librettist David Spencer and direction by American theatre veteran Austin Pendleton. Presented with the generous support of RBC and Muse Entertainment. The poignant Montreal coming of age story of ambitious scoundrel Duddy Kravitz, Canadian author Mordecai Richler's beloved anti-hero, will premiere as a brand new musical in the city where the story takes place. Let's see what the critcs had to say...

?The Australian cast of Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new production of Les Miserables will perform a charity concert raising money in support of beyondblue on Sunday August 23rd at 8.00 pm at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Tickets go on sale on Thursday 25th June via Ticketmaster.

Closing off the Segal Centre's 2014-2015 season, this classic story follows young Duddy Kravitz (Ken James Stewart), a kid who's grown up in the ethnic ghetto of the post-war St. Urbain Street in Montreal. Duddy is eager to escape his dead-end neighborhood and be somebody. After being told by his elderly, Jewish grandfather (Howard Jerome) that "a man without land is nobody," Duddy employs his boyish charms and underhanded nature as he sets his sights on acquiring the land around a lake in the Laurentians.

Thespian Festival 2015 presents the opening show The Music of Menken: Audrey, Ariel, Aladdin…and Alan! An Evening with Alan Menken, a tribute to one of the most celebrated composers of stage and screen. The Music of Menken will take place Monday, June 22, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The Hollywood Pantages, a Nederlander Theatre, announced today the addition of eight shows available as options to the already on sale 2015-2016 SEASON. This new lineup of shows includes the return of Six Hollywood Pantages favorites. The Added Optional Shows will include Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, RIVERDANCE - THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY WORLD TOUR, MAMMA MIA!, ONCE, RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES & last season's smash hit, KINKY BOOTS.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, announces the principal casting for the world premiere of Waitress. Based on the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly the new musical has a book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by Sara Bareiles, direction by Diane Paulus, and choreography by Chase Brock.

A little bit of science fiction, a little bit rock 'n roll, All in Productions revisits the 1980's Broadway Musical Little Shop of Horrors based on Roger Corman's 1960 film this summer in Milwaukee. Next Act Theatre offers their intimate stage to the fledging company that gives the production, now 50 years old, spirited soul. To get the audeince in the appropirate mood, when entering the theater, vagrant persons roam through the audience before the performance opens---The Mushnik Flowerl Shop stands amid New York's Skid Row. The raggedy characters beg for money, talk to the audience and pull at their shirts similar to someone experiencing a schizophrenic episode.

Town Hall presents Broadway Rising Stars: a national showcase that introduces New York audiences to the next generation of up-and-coming talent as chosen by a panel of discerning judges from among the most outstanding new graduates from schools such as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, CAP21, Circle in the Square Theatre School, Marymount Manhattan College, The New School, NYU's Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and other acclaimed institutions. The 2015 Rising Stars is spearheaded by Scott Siegel, creator/writer/host of Town Hall's beloved Broadway by the Year series. Nightlife-winner Scott Coulter directs and acclaimed singer/songwriter Howard Fishman provides musical direction.

Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley does not disappoint with its sumptuous production of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID--a Broadway musical as much deserving of success as the hit animated film on which it's based. With a shimmering score that features both old and new favorites, it has all the makings of a hit. Hale Centre Theatre's production does justice to the material in a massive production that shimmers in its own right.

Lincoln Center Theater has announced that Tammy Blanchard, Patrick Breen, John Benjamin Hickey, Alex Hurt, Kellie Overbey, John Pankow, and Stephen Plunkett will comprise the cast of its upcoming production of  DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, a new play by Peter Parnell, to be directed by Scott Ellis.  DADA WOOF PAPA HOT begins performances Thursday, October 15 and opens on Monday, November 9 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will present a concert featuring the music of Stephen Schwartz conducted by Steven Reineke - who's Broadway hit Wicked has been enchanting audiences in New York and around the world for over a decade. Schwartz's other big Broadway hit is the Tony Award winning Pippin, whose 2013 revival earned pseudo-Canadian Andrea Martin her second Tony Award.

Moonlight Stage Productions presents beloved productions for the company's 2016 36th season. The lineup features award-winning productions and two San Diego Regional Premieres, filled with gospel soul, high-flying entertainment, and ghoulish family fun.

The Segal Centre is proud to announce that its world premiere production of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz: The Musical, set to open today, June 11, will receive a one week extension to meet audience demand. Based on the classic Montreal coming of age novel by Mordecai Richler, with book and lyrics by David Spencer, music by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, and directed by Austin Pendleton, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz: The Musical was officially scheduled to close on Sunday, June 28. It will now run an additional week through Sunday, July 5th. Tickets for these added performances are now on sale.

Casting has been announced for the Toronto engagement of Disney's NEWSIES. The Tony Award-winning production will begin performances at the Ed Mirvish Theatre on July 8 for a limited engagement through August 30, 2015.  Media night is July 9, 7:30pm.

Taran Killam stopped by last night's LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS and talked about his short-lived career in musical theater, including starring roles in Music Man, Evita, and The Wizard of Oz.

In a new interview with Variety, Broadway vets Alan Menken and Glenn Slater discuss the challenges of composing music for ABC's musical comedy GALAVANT