Bartlett Sher News

The Ridgefield Playhouse and the AAA Northeast Live in HD Series and bring Verdi's Otello to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, October 23 at 3pm. 

The Live in HD season continues on Saturday, October 17 with Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher's acclaimed new production of Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, Otello. Dynamic conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads Aleksandrs Antonenko in his first Met performances of the tormented Moor of Venice, with Sonya Yoncheva in her role debut as his innocent wife, Desdemona. The staging, also featuring Željko Lu?i? as Otello's sinister rival, Iago; Dimitri Pittas as Cassio; and Günther Groissböck as Lodovico, also marks the Met debut of set designer Es Devlin, whose previous designs include the 2014 revival of Machinal on Broadway and numerous opera productions for Covent Garden, La Scala, and other leading companies.

Producers Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Jam Theatricals are thrilled to announce the opening of the box office for the upcoming Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roofon Friday, October 9 at 10:00 AM with a special offer. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original Fiddler's “Best Musical” Tony Award, seats will be available for $50. These seats for select winter performances must be purchased in person at the box office.

When Verdi and Boito were writing their operatic version of Shakespeare's OTHELLO, they were competing with the already-successful (though less faithful) version written by Rossini and thought about calling their opera IAGO. After seeing Bartlett Sher's new production of the Verdi OTELLO, I wondered whether it might have been renamed DESDEMONA--because soprano Sonya Yoncheva gave the opera's most devastating and gorgeous performance.

Cabaret sensation Maxine Linehan will perform songs from her latest album, Beautiful Songs, at Broadway's supper club Feinstein's/54 Below (254 West 54th Street, Cellar) at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, October 17.  Featuring a variety of music - from standards like "Danny Boy"  to original songs, including "I Think Of You," by Andrew Koss, the show encapsulates Linehan's versatility and marks her solo debut at the newly renamed Feinstein's/54 Below.  The show is created and directed by Scott Siegel, who also directed Broadway by the Year at The Town Hall and has directed Michael Feinstein.

Des Moines Performing Arts, in partnership with THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY national tour and the Madison County Chamber of Commerce, will host two special guests this weekend in Iowa's covered bridge capital. On Saturday, October 10, Elizabeth Stanley and Andrew Samonsky, who will star as Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY's upcoming national tour, will perform selections from the musical at the 46th Annual Madison County Covered Bridge Festival in Winterset, Iowa at 2 p.m. The performance will take place on the Mel Penrod Stage, located on the south side of the Iowa Courthouse Square. THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, is famously set in Iowa and will launch its national tour at the Des Moines Civic Center November 28 - December 5.

There's a new king in town and it's Hoon Lee, known for royal performances in plays like YELLOWFACE and THE SCHOOL FOR LIES.

The Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I, directed by Bartlett Sher, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street), welcomes a new leader tonight, September 29.

As previously reported, stage vets Elizabeth Stanley and Andrew Samonsky will lead the national tour of Jason Robert Brown's much-loved, short-lived musical THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. Earlier today, Samonsky took to Instagram to reveal a behind-the-scenes look at the couple's photo shoot - check it out below!

Kelvin Moon Loh took to Facebook this week to share his strong feelings about an incident which occurred during the second act of Wednesday's matinee performance, involving a child in the audience with autism.

Broadway musical THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, based on the novel by Robert James Waller, with book by Marsha Norman and music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, is headed to Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre this winter. The production begins December 8, 2015 and runs through January 17, 2016, with opening night set for December 9, 2015.

A host of special programs providing new insight into this beloved musical and the book it was based on, Sholem Aleichem's TEVYE THE DAIRYMAN.

Legendary Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick tells the story of how he and Jerry Bock wrote a beloved American standard.

Broadway's Supper Club presented Joanna Strand and Jacqui Tate last night and BroadwayWorld was there.  Ann Hampton Callaway was a surprise guest and gave the British duo her Diva Blessing. Joanna Strand and Jacqui Tate bridge the worlds of musical theatre, jazz and popular song. Infinitely versatile and with a host of West End and touring credits between them, including The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, Jekyll and Hyde, Evita and My Fair Lady as well as the Broadway transfers of Master Class and South Pacific, they captivate audiences with their unique harmonies and original arrangements. Embracing everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, their shows are guaranteed to entertain and delight.

Broadway actors Bryce Pinkham, who recently resumed his Tony-nominated role in the Tony award-winning musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and Lucas Caleb Rooney, who recently starred in Classic Stage Company's production of Doctor Faustus, have secured a home for their non-profit organization, Zara Aina, in Madagascar.?

Broadway's Supper Club presents Joanna Strand and Jacqui Tate tonight 16th September 2015 at 9.30pm.

The Metropolitan Opera will open its 131st season on Monday, September 21 with a new production of Verdi's Otello. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met opening night, a staging by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher of the late Verdi masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit. Aleksandrs Antonenko, who has starred as the doomed Otello around the world to acclaim, makes his Met role debut opposite rising Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in her first-ever performances of Otello's innocent wife Desdemona. Željko Lu?i? adds a new role to his company repertory as the evil Iago, as do Dimitri Pittas as Iago's pawn Cassio and Günther Groissböck as the Venetian ambassador Lodovico. Sher's staging will feature scenic design by acclaimed designer Es Devlin in her Met debut; costume design by six-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber; lighting design by two-time Tony winner Donald Holder; and video design by Luke Halls in his Met debut.

The upcoming Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof begins performances November 20 for an opening night on December 20, 2015 at The Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway). Below, BroadwayWorld has a brand new promo for the musical, set to the opening number -- 'Tradition'!

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Arthur Miller's THE CRUCIBLE will return to Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street) this spring. Bill Camp (as Reverend John Hale), Jim Norton (as Giles Corey), Tavi Gevinson (as Mary Warren), and Jason Butler Harner (as Reverend Samuel Parris) are among those who will join previously announced stars Ben Whishaw (as John Proctor), Sophie Okonedo (as Elizabeth Proctor), Saoirse Ronan (as Abigail Williams), and Ciaran Hinds (as Deputy-Governor Danforth).