City Center News

Jake Gyllenhaal, Ellen Greene, Taran Killam, Eddie Cooper, Joe Grifasi, Tracy Nicole Chapman, Marva Hicks and Ramona Keller star in the Encores! Off-Center concert production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, running for three performances, July 1-2, 2015 at New York City Center. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below! 

Following two sold-out engagements in both 2013 and 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival presents tap sensation Dorrance Dance with famed singer/songwriter Toshi Reagon and her band BIGLovely in the return of The Blues Project, July 1-5 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Founded in 2011 by Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient Michelle Dorrance, Dorrance Dance features some of today's best tap artists, performing alongside co-choreographers of The Blues Project Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and Derick K. Grant. Award-winning musician and composer Toshi Reagon created the music for The Blues Project, which is performed live by Reagon and members of her band, BIGLovely, on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums and percussion, and violin.

Earlier this week, BroadwayWorld announced a new partnership with renowned caricature artist Ken Fallin, a life-long theater enthusiast, who has drawn many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Fallin previously drew for BroadwayWorld and our readers have long wanted his return, so it is with great pleasure that we welcome him back! Be sure to check back for more of Ken's exclusive art. Below, check out his illustration of Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, Sydney Lucas, Emily Skeggs, and Beth Malone in Fun Home!

Eddie Cooper and Joe Grifasi join Ellen Greene, Jake Gyllenhaal and Taran Killam in the Encores! Off-Center concert production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, running for three performances, tonight, July 1, and tomorrow, July 2, 2015 at New York City Center.

Manhattan Theatre Club presents the New York premiere of Of Good Stock, the new play by Melissa Ross, directed by MTC's award-winning Artistic Director Lynne Meadow. The limited engagement opens tonight, June 30, at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). Let's see what the critics had to say...

The Old Globe's presentation of Kiss Me, Kate, the classic musical comedy featuring a book by Sam and Bella Spewack and an iconic score by Cole Porter, begins tonight, July 1, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

Judy Blazer joins the cast of the Tony Award winning Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, in the role of 'Miss Shingle' tonight, June 30.

Manhattan Theatre Club presents the New York premiere of Of Good Stock, the new play by Melissa Ross, directed by MTC's award-winning Artistic Director Lynne Meadow. The limited engagement began previews on June 4, for tonight's June 30 opening at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

Ciara Renee and Kimiko Glenn have officially withdrawn from Encores! Off-Center's upcoming production of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY due to scheduling conflicts, BroadwayWorld has confirmed. Joaquina Kalukango and Talene Monahon replace the pair, respectively.

The National Music Council is set to honor music legends Kris Kristofferson, Charley Pride and Jim Lauderdale, along with music management icon Jim Halsey and country music producer/director Sherman Halsey

The National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA)/Jimmy Awards welcomes stage and screen star Sutton Foster as host of the seventh annual awards ceremony tonight, June 29th, at 7:30PM at the Minskoff Theatre, 200 West 45th Street in Manhattan.

Ocean State Theatre Company (OSTC), the not-for-profit professional theatre company, which recently completed its third season in its state-of-the-art theatre in Warwick, along with the legendary comedy club, Catch A Rising Star, are proud to announce the appearance of  “Imus in the Morning's” Rob Bartlett and Tony Powell at Ocean State Theatre tonight, June 27 at 7:30pm.

The Old Globe presents William Shakespeare's delightful and romantic Twelfth Night, directed by Rebecca Taichman, whose production of the time-traveling Time and the Conways fascinated audiences last April, as part of the 2015 Summer Shakespeare Festival. The Old Globe engagement runs through July 26, 2015, with opening night tonight, June 27 at 8:00 p.m., in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

 With what's bound to be the feel good theatrical event of the summer, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company presents Pump Boys and Dinettes, an all-American musical celebrating friendship and life's simple pleasures. The show is a revival of a Broadway favorite - a 'triumph of ensemble playing' whose cast includes composer/performer Joe Iconis (NBC's 'Smash') and his 'family' of actor/singer/musicians.

In honor of the New York return of A NEW BRAIN, today we salute medically-themed moments from musicals.

Circus comes to New York City as part of City Parks Foundation's SummerStage Kids International Contemporary Circus Festival, with free performances in all five boroughs from today, June 26 - August 17, 2015.

The World Music Institute and 92nd Street Y announce a rare U.S. appearance by Nigerian superstar King Sunny Ade & His African Beats tonight, June 26, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. at 92Y, to kick off WMI's 30th Anniversary Season, the first curated by recently appointed artistic director Par Neiburger.

Today, BroadwayWorld kicks off a brand new interview series titled HOW I GOT THE JOB shining a special solo spotlight on a performer in which they share candid recollections and revisit the point at which they became involved with a particular project on their resume, whether it be stage piece, film or TV project... To kick off the series, we are talking to an internationally recognized stage and screen star CELEBRATED for her iconic originating role in the popular stage musical and subsequent feature film adaptation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, the fiercely idiosyncratic Ellen Greene. Opening up about her experiences in landing that unforgettable part, Greene also previews what audiences can expect from her return to the stage as art of the hotly anticipated Encores! Off-Center mounting of the musical co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal at City Center later this week. Additionally, Greene reflects on some of her other standout appearances over the years, such as the acclaimed 1976 New York Shakespeare Festival production of THE THREEPENNY OPERA and David Rabe's IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM at the Public Theater, not to mention the legendary cult musical RACHAEL LILY ROSENBLOOM (AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT), plus her notable ongoing collaboration with TV mastermind Bryan Fuller on HEROES, PUSHING DAISIES and HANNIBAL and much more.