Chase Brock News

With direction by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreography by Josh Rhodes, Bright Starbegan performances on Thursday, February 25th, 2016 at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street), and opened just last night, March 24th, 2016. BroadwayWorld was on hand for all of the festivities and you can check out photos from the after party below!

Due to demand, a one-week extension has been announced for The Wildness: Sky-Pony's Rock Fairy Tale, presented by Ars Nova in collaboration with The Play Company. Originally set to play through March 19, this world premiere production will now play a limited Off-Broadway engagement through March 26 at Ars Nova (511 West 54th Street). This new work, with text by Obie Award winner Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Worsham and songs by Kyle Jarrow, is directed by Tony Award nominee Sam Buntrock and choreographed by Chase Brock. The Wildness: Sky-Pony's Rock Fairy Tale features David Blasher, Lilli Cooper, Jeffrey Fernandes, Katie Lee Hill, Kyle Jarrow, Jamie Mohamdein, Sharone Sayegh, Lauren Worsham (Drama Desk Award winner and Tony Award nominee) and Kevin Wunderlich. Previews began February 16 and the show celebrated its Official Opening Night on Monday, February 29.

The Play Company's (PlayCo) Idea Lab series complements the productions in their 2016 season by bringing together artists, scholars, writers and community leaders for stand-alone events to examine themes raised in the shows. Following performances of the world premiere of The Wildness, a co-produced with Ars Nova, Playco will present three post show events over three Thursdays, March 3, 10 & 17.

The world premiere of THE WILDNESS: SKY-PONY'S ROCK FAIRY TALE, with text by Obie Award winner Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Worsham and songs by Kyle Jarrow, opens tonight, February 29, 2016. Presented by Ars Nova in collaboration with The Play Company, a limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated through March 19.

Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its 61st season with ROMEO AND JULIET in a new-to-Chicago production created by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher, tonight, February 22, through Saturday, March 19 (nine performances). This is the eighth and final mainstage opera production of the widely acclaimed 2015/16 season. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the company in action below!

The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-17 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, will feature 225 opera performances of 26 operas in a varied repertory that ranges from 18th century masterpieces to one of the most acclaimed operas in recent years. Repertoire for the company's 132nd season will include the Met premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's 2000 opera L'Amour de Loin, as well as new stagings of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Dvo?ak's Rusalka, and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. A gala concert on May 7, 2017 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company's Lincoln Center location with performances by opera's leading stars honoring the Met's past and future. Ticket prices will not increase, remaining the same as in the current season, and audience development programs instituted by the company in recent years will continue.  

The world premiere of THE WILDNESS: SKY-PONY'S ROCK FAIRY TALE, with text by Obie Award winner Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Worsham and songs by Kyle Jarrow, presented by Ars Nova in collaboration with The Play Company, plays a limited Off-Broadway engagement, tonight, February 16, through March 19, with an official opening night on Monday, February 29, 2016.

Harvey Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz-filled fable Cabin in the Sky, running for seven performances for Encores! at New York City Center, tonight, February 10, through February 14. The 1940 musical is directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson with choreography by Camille A. Brown. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the show below!

Harvey Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz-filled fable CABIN IN THE SKY, running for seven performances for Encores! at New York City Center, tonight, February 10, through February 14.

The highly anticipated Studio Cast Recording of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the only stage collaboration from two masters of the American musical, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, debuted in the top spot on Billboard's Cast Albums chart. The album, available from Ghostlight Records, is also the 14th bestselling current album overall for the week and number 47 on the Billboard Top 200.  Digitally, the recording soared to number 5 on the iTunes Top Albums chart in its first day and was number 9 on Billboard's Current Digital Albums chart for its first week.

Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its 61st season with Romeo and Juliet in a new-to-Chicago production created by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher, Monday, February 22 through Saturday, March 19(nine performances). This is the eighth and final mainstage opera production of the widely acclaimed 2015/16 season.

Throughout the week, BroadwayWorld has been rolling out some preview tracks from the album, and we have another one today! Below, take a listen to 'Made of Stone.'

Beginning today, fans who pre-order the album on iTunes will be able to download four tracks, including the soaring 'Out There,' immediately. Below, watch Michael Arden record the moving number 'Out There' from the production.

New Musicals at 54 is a series presented by Feinstein's/ 54 Below Programming Director Jennifer Ashley Tepper. Some of the 10 new and diverse musicals by a selection of today's most talented writers have had out-of-town productions, some have had workshops... now's your chance to be first to see them in NYC! Join us at New Musicals at 54 for one-night-only concerts celebrating each new show with songs, behind-the-scenes stories, and all-star casts!

BroadwayWorld is excited to report the full cast for the world premiere of THE WILDNESS: SKY-PONY'S ROCK FAIRY TALE, with text by Obie Award winner Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Worsham and songs by Kyle Jarrow. 

NOW. is a multimedia / performance / installation event directed and choreographed by Pat Catterson in collaboration with dance media artist Paul Galando and presented by NYU Tisch Dance and New Media Department on Saturday and Sunday, January 30 & 31, 2016 at 12 Noon. This immersive performance captures dancers in single moments in time and place performing simultaneously both in real and virtual time.

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld New Jersey Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. 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!

MCC Theater, in association with Kurt Deutsch, President of Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records, will hold an invite-only workshop presentation of the new musical ALICE BY HEART, the latest collaboration from Tony and Grammy winning Spring Awakening composers Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld New Jersey Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. 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!