Alan Menken News

The Devil has undergone many facelifts in pop culture. He's been a slick salesman (Mr. Applegate in DAMN YANKEES), a sleazy lawyer (John Milton in THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE) and even a sexy female (BEDAZZLED).

Producers Whoopi Goldberg, Stage Entertainment and Troika Entertainment announce that SISTER ACT, the musical comedy smash direct from Broadway, will play the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for a 3 week engagement. Performances begin Tomorrow July 9 through July 28, 2013.

Disney's The Little Mermaid will bring the beloved fairy tale to life onstage in its Pittsburgh premiere at the Benedum Center, tonight, July 9-21. Audiences of all ages are sure to fall in love with this underwater spectacular. Jessica Grove and Nick Adams star as Ariel and Prince Eric and are accompanied by a dazzling cast to make this enchanted 'Under the Sea' love story a hit.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and James Harvey present The Crack in the Ceiling. Performances will take place on July 15th at 3:00PM & 7:00PM and July 20th at 1:00PM at The Studio at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street). Starring Broadway's Annie Edgerton* (Mamma Mia!), Zachary Mackiewicz* (Mary Poppins Broadway National Tour), and Anthony Apicella (Huckleberry Haywood, The Copa Boys). Created and written by James Harvey with direction by Stephen Tyler Davis. Jordan Jones-Reese serves as music director and Sarah Ellen Hughes is stage manager.

Kentwood Players welcomes Joshua Eli Kranz as Musical Director for its production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS opening this September.

Columbus Children's Theatre will present Disney's The Little Mermaid, Jr. August 7-18, 2013 at the Park Street Theatre located at 512 N Park Street. The 2013 Youth Performance Company is comprised of students 10 - 15 years of age. This production is directed by Ryan Scarlata. Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, Book by Doug Wright, based on the Hans Christian Anderson Story and the Disney Film, Music adapted and Arranged by David Weinstein. This production is generously sponsored by kidslinked.com.

At a press event held on July 2, 2013, in Paris, Manon Taris and Yoni Amar performed the title song from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, which will make its French-language premiere in France this October. Click below to watch their performance, accompanied by composer Alan Menken on the piano!

Magic, mystery, laughter, and three New York premieres are the highlights of the 2013-2014 season at The Centenary Stage Company in their fourth year at the David and Carol Lackland Center. This year will feature eight diverse theatre events in the Lackland Center in addition to the New York premieres.

For the 2012-2013 season, every cast member and technical designer for each show of the season (The Miracle Worker - Doubt, a Parable - Scream Queens, The Musical - Fortinbras - The 39 Steps - Ragtime) was nominated for a Marcom Masque Award in appropriate categories. This year's Marcom Masque Awards Ceremony was held on Saturday, June 29 at the Westchester Playhouse, home of the Kentwood Players.

Disney's The Little Mermaid will bring the beloved fairy tale to life onstage in its Pittsburgh premiere at the Benedum Center, July 9-21. Audiences of all ages are sure to fall in love with this underwater spectacular. Jessica Grove and Nick Adams star as Ariel and Prince Eric and are accompanied by a dazzling cast to make this enchanted 'Under the Sea' love story a hit.

Last week's poll asked which project you're most excited to see on stage. Check out your response below!

The Round Barn Theatre has announced its next year's season three months earlier than ever before. 'We have aggressively surveyed our subscribers and patrons since the beginning of the year to determine their choices for shows throughout the nine month season,' said Artistic Director Jeremy Littlejohn, 'We have dubbed the resulting season 'Incredible' to describe the diversity of choices that make up the 2014 season.'

Paper Mill Playhouse, one of the country's premier not-for-profit theaters, has announced a special, Autism/Sensory friendly performance of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID. This performance, designed specifically for children on the autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities, and planned in cooperation with Autism New Jersey and Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers, will be held today, June 26, 2013, at 4:00PM. This is the first time Paper Mill Playhouse has expanded its Autism-Friendly performances to a main stage production.

New BroadwayWorld.com Poll - Which Disney project are you most excited for?

Last week BroadwayWorld reported that Disney Theatrical Productions has been experimenting with bringing a live stage version of THE MUPPETS to Broadway, but according to the New York Times, that's not the only project in the works. Many other shows based on animated Disney classics are being created for the stage including THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Peter Parnell and direction by Scott Schwartz), for which a table reading was recently held. It was announced several year ago that stage adaptations of DUMBO (direction by Stephen Daldry), and Tim Burton's version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (direction by Rob Ashford) were in the works, though no new information has been released recently on either project.

Alright DFW, if you didn't take my advice with my last review, you still have this week to go see SISTER ACT. This time however, the show has moved to Fort Worth's Bass Hall in their last show of the 2012-2013 season of Broadway at the Bass supported by Sewell.

Direct from Broadway, SISTER ACT, the hilarious, five-time Tony-nominated musical smash, is coming to North Texas next month. Presented by Performing Arts Fort Worth, SISTER ACT makes its debut at Bass Performance Hall tonight, June 18-23.