Audra McDonald News

The Drama League will honor Golden Globe Nominee and Emmy® Award winner Neil Patrick Harris at the 30th Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway on Monday evening, February 3, 2014 at the famed Pierre Hotel (2 East 61st Street). Tickets are available by calling (212) 244-9494.

Coming this Spring, Live From Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series will present Tony Award winners Patina Miller and James Naughton.

Breaking news from the Television Critics Association, NBC has just revealed their next mega-TV musical, executive produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron - PETER PAN! The broadcast has been scheduled for December 4, 2014.

Musical Theatre students at Marymount Manhattan College are thrilled to be performing two shows this January: a revival of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, and VOW, featuring writers from The Directory of Contemporary Musical Theatre Writers.

By all means GO SEE THIS PRODUCTION. The voices are amazing! In addition, you may never have another opportunity to experience music of the legendary Gershwins' at their very best, in a multi-award winning production.

Many notable cast members from the hotly anticipated 2014 Broadway revival of LES MISERABLES have converged to begin work on the new production in New York City and some of the stars and featured players have taken to social media to share comments, images and insights into the process.

Five-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald joins with real-life partner and fellow stage stalwart Will Swenson for a special pre-Valentine's Day reading of William Shakespeare's epic poem VENUS & ADONIS next month at the Public Theater.

The book launch for Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, a new book by Eddie Shapiro featuring interviews with 20 female musical theatre stars, will take place January 27, 2014 from 6-8 pm at the headquarters of Oxford University Press at 198 Madison Avenue.

The Public Theater will kick off the spring season of Public Forum Drama Club, a 'book club for plays' that will feature one-night-only readings and discussions of great works of dramatic literature. Curated by Jeremy McCarter, the popular Public Forum series presents the theater of ideas: conversations and performances with leading voices in politics, media, and the arts.

Broadway composer and lyricist John Bucchino and bookwriter Mads Nielsen's Danish-American romantic musical drama ESAURA, recently conluded a Fall 2013 run at the Fredericia Teater. The plot of the new musical is based on a free adaptation of the 1905 novel by Carl E. Simonsen 'Abraham Fournais' and has parallels to the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. The musical drama is set during the aftermath of the Battle of Fredericia and tells a fascinating story about human relationships. In short, it is a story with universal appeal played out in a Danish historical setting. Bucchino recently took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld about how the show got its start, what's in store for it's future, and more. Check out the full interview below!

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion will feature three Jeff-Award lauded performers in its lead roles, Artistic Director Fred Anzevino has announced. The role of Fosca, the sickly woman obsessed with a handsome young soldier in 19th Century Italy, will be played by Danni Smith, who just last year was honored with the Jeff Award for Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in Bailiwick Chicago's production of the musical See What I Wanna See. Smith's win came after two previous nominations in the same category, for Theo Ubique's Pump Boys and Dinettes and Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's The Glorious Ones. Playing Giorgio, the military officer who is the object of Fosca's affections, will be Peter Oyloe, a three-time Jeff Award winner. Oyloe's recent win as best leading actor in a musical for 2013's Hank Williams: Lost Highway was preceded by wins for his leading role in Equus and supporting role in The Pillowman, both at Redtwist Theatre. Collette Todd, Jeff-nominated for her role as Giulietta in Theo Ubique's Aspects of Love and recipient of critical and audience raves for her leading roles in Light Opera Works' productions of Man of La Mancha, Oliver! and Annie Get Your Gun, will play Clara - the third member of Passion's love triangle. Ms. Todd will also understudy the role of Fosca.

The new touring production of MAN OF LA MANCHA stops in Austin, TX this week, and star Jessica Norland recently answered several questions for BroadwayWorld regarding the production…

Beautiful actress/singer Laura Benanti, Tony Award winner for Gypsy, performed at 54 Below in New York during 2013, and the live concert was recorded on Broadway Records. To celebrate the release of the CD entitled In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention, Chris Isaacson Presents booked Benanti into the Catalina Bar & Grill on Thursday January 9, and the show immediately sold out. As a result, an additional concert was scheduled for Wednesday January 8, which also sold out. Why such a fuss over Laura Benanti, you may ask? The answer is simple. Apart from the fact that this is her Los Angeles debut, let's add that like Audra McDonald, Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, this lady is a sensational singer with an incomparable range, and as the title of the album suggests, she is totally worthy of the highest form of attention. In her 75-minute set, which included just about every song on the album, she also proved what a winning charm and sense of humor she possesses! Like Patti LuPone before her, Laura Benanti has a precious wit that can only be experienced to its fullest in this kind of environment, namely a cabaret setting. She let her hair down and she was...GREAT! Outstanding musicians Kevin Axt was on bass, Ray Brinker on drums, Andrew Synowiec on guitar and virtuoso musical arranger and director Todd Almond also dueted with Benanti a couple of times during the set on pieces he had arranged or composed.

The Off Broadway Alliance, the organization of Off Broadway producers, theaters, general managers, press agents, and marketing firms, will hold another in its Sunday Seminars series, focused on the culture, business and history of Off Broadway this Sunday, January 12th.

Sutton Foster won the Tony Award for her leading roles in 'Anything Goes' and 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' and starred in the ABC Family TV series 'Bunheads.' This month, she returns to the star-studded lineup of the celebrated Broadway at NOCCA series, on January 27, 2014 at 7:00 PM for one show only, with series host and SiriusXM radio star Seth Rudetsky at piano.

Point Park alumnus and Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford has received a Directors Guild Award nomination for directing The Sound of Music Live! on NBC last month.

Muny Executive Producer Mike Isaacson announced today the directors, choreographers and music directors for the Muny's 2014 Season, which opens on June 16 with Billy Elliot The Musical. "We're so happy these exciting artists are creating our 2014 season," said Isaacson. "This is a challenging season, one with incredible variety and power. We're fortunate that such extraordinary talents will be creating our 'Muny Magic.'"

Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner, Whoopi Goldberg has been tapped by The Drama League to host the 30th Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway honoring Golden Globe Nominee and Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris on Monday evening, February 3, 2014 at the famed Pierre Hotel (2 East 61st Street). Tickets are available by calling (212) 244-9494.

Lincoln Center has announced its February 2014 lineup, including the American Songbook series with Michael John LaChiusa, Jessica Molaskey, and more, as well as Great Performers' 'Art Song on Film', Target Free Thursdays and Meet the Artist Saturdays. Details below!

Live From Lincoln Center will broadcast the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's 2013 gala concert, one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, from Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The concert event will celebrate the legendary tenor's centenary with an illustrious all-American group of singers, and honoring this year'sRichard Tucker Award winner Isabel Leonard. The 'Richard Tucker at 100: An Opera Celebration' broadcast-hosted byAudra McDonald and featuring interstitial interviews with the artists, segments from backstage, and a short documentary on Richard Tucker's life-is taped from a concert on November 17, and will air on PBS stations tonight, January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. (ET) (check local listings).