Audra McDonald News

Happy Birthday, Adam Guettel! Adam Guettel is an American composer-lyricist of musical theater and opera. He is best known for the musical 'The Light in the Piazza,' for which he won two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations, and two Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Orchestrations. His early works include 1996's 'Floyd Collins,' 'Love's Fire,' and 'Saturn Returns.' Guettel's songs have been recorded by such artists as Audra McDonald and Brian d'Arcy James. He also contributed original scores to several documentary films, including 'Arguing the World and Jack: The Last Kennedy Film.' In 1999, he performed a concert evening of his own work at New York's Town Hall.

With just over a week until Christmas, it is time for all of us pathological procrastinators to get our butts in gear. Whether it is braving the insanity of the mall or paying for express shipping, we need to suck it up and start Christmas shopping!

The two Broadway stars are honored by a society named for a fictional award in the film ALL ABOUT EVE.

The Public Theater will kick off its summer program with a musical adaptation of TWELFTH NIGHT, created by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub.

He founded one of the most popular singing groups of the proverbial rock era, The 5th Dimension. Their Grammy-winning, uplifting anthems for a generation, 'Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In' and 'Up-Up and Away' brought soothing yet exhilarating harmony during the turbulent times of the late '60's.

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Washington, DC Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

The Public Theater announced today that after three years of successful programming and community engagement, PUBLIC WORKS will grow on both a local and national level. Three new community partners join PUBLIC WORKS 2016, which will include Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education (Bronx), Military Resilience Project (all boroughs), and Center for Family Life in Sunset Park (Brooklyn), who join Public Works partners Brownsville Recreation Center (Brooklyn), DreamYard Project (Bronx), and The Fortune Society (Queens), in addition to alumni partners Domestic Workers United (all boroughs, including Staten Island) and Children's Aid Society (Manhattan), as additional community partner organizations.

'Tis the Season with Brian Stokes Mitchell is THE highlight of this holiday season.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Shuffle Along Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed has shifted its spring performance schedule. Instead of opening on April 21, 2016, the show will now open on April 28, with previews beginning on March 15.

 DALLAS, TX, December 8, 2015 – The Dallas Opera will present opera legend Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano, for another magnificent performance in The Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series. The one-time-only recital will be presented Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at City Performance Hall (a 749-seat venue located at 2520 Flora Street in the Arts District, Dallas, TX 75201). Also featured at the exclusive event will be Jake Heggie, composer (Great Scott, Moby-Dick) and accomplished pianist, who has had a long-standing artistic collaboration with Miss von Stade.

HBO took to Twitter yesterday to unveil a new promo for its 2016 slate of new and returning series, films and specials. Among them were the TV adaptation of Broadway's ALL THE WAY, starring Bryan Cranston, Audra McDonald in a special presentation of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL, the upcoming LOOKING film with Jonathan Groff, the new series VINYL with stage and screen star Bobby Cannavale and more. Click below to watch the magic unfold! 

Today, December 8, Palm Beach Dramaworks launches the third season of its highly successful Dramalogue - Talking Theatre! series with Paul Gemignani: Musical Theatre's Master Maestro. The program features the esteemed Broadway musical director in conversation with Sheryl Flatow. Gemignani, recipient of the 2001 Lifetime Achievement Tony Award, will discuss a remarkable career still going strong after more than 40 years, and talk about how he helps shape a show and bring a score to life. The program will be presented twice, at 2pm (limited seating available) and 7pm at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? This weekend's big news: ONCE UPON A MATTRESS opens this Sunday!

Perhaps no one felt more relief after the conclusion of NBC's THE WIZ LIVE! than Shanice Williams. The 19 year old, unknown actress (until last night) made a big impression as the show's heroine, leaving theatre fans to question: Will she play Dorothy on Broadway?

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Washington, DC Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

NBC's upcoming holiday production of THE WIZ LIVE! will air TONIGHT at 8pm EST!  The production will star newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy alongside Grammy and Golden Globe-winner Queen Latifah as the Wizard, nine-time Grammy-winner Mary J. Blige as Evillene, original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, as Auntie Em and David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion. For More Information, Click Here.

Watch the new Well-Strung video below!

Today's the day! And a huge one it is for the company of NBC's THE WIZ LIVE! The Long Island soundstage that the cast and crew have been calling home for the past month will be bustling today as finishing touches are placed on the star-studded production. Theatre fans know that this won't be the first time that NBC has pulled off such a massive undertaking. 9.21 million people tuned in for last year's PETER PAN LIVE!, while THE SOUND OF MUSIC, presented in 2013, yielded a whopping 18.62 million live viewers- an unprecedented ratings boom for the network. Few can understand the pressure that comes with this kind of attention, but the casts of THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! and PETER PAN LIVE! have been through all of it before. BroadwayWorld has been in touch with both companies to find out if they have any advice for their successors. Find out what they had to say below!