City Center News

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the second program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2014-2015season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects two PNB premieres paired with stunning repertory works in this absorbing mixed-bill. Opening the program, David Dawson's breath-taking, hyper-extended A Million Kisses to my Skin references the intoxicating bliss dancers experience while performing. Rassemblement, Nacho Duato's poignant work set to slave songs by Haitian artist Toto Bissainthe, voices communal yearning and resistance in a climate of oppression. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's (Cylindrical Shadows) critically-acclaimed signature piece, Before After, a PNB premiere, unmasks the turmoil just before a relationship ends. The performance closes with Debonair, a world premiere by New York City Ballet's rising star Justin Peck, praised for "electrifying classical dance with [his] fresh vision" (Wall Street Journal). The program also includes a musical prelude to shine the spotlight on the nationally renowned PNB Orchestra, currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary season. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, November 7-16, 2014 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $28 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street.

Harvey Weinstein will team with MSG Entertainment and creatives Warren Carlyle, Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner to create a new springtime perennial ROCKETTES spectacular at New York's famed Radio City Music Hall.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) announce recent recipients of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Initiative commissions for Manhattan Theatre Club. The commissioned writers are Jeff Augustin (Little Children Dream of God), Courtney Baron (A Very Common Procedure) and Juliana Nash (Murder Ballad), Nell Benjamin (The Explorers Club), Madeline George (The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence), Tom Holloway (And No More Shall We Part), Nathan Jackson (Broke-ology), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (An Octoroon), Greg Pierce (Slowgirl), and Alexandra Wood (The Initiate).

Complete principal casting has been announced for the new Broadway production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved Oscar and Tony Award-winning film and stage musical, Gigi. Victoria Clark, who won a Tony Award for her luminous performance in The Light in the Piazza and was also Tony-nominated for Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella and Sister Act, will star as Mamita Alvarez. Dee Hoty, who has starred on Broadway in City of Angels, Me and My Girl and Mamma Mia! and is a three-time Tony Award nominee for The Will Rogers Follies, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public and Footloose, will star as Aunt Alicia. Gigi also stars Vanessa Hudgens in the title role, two-time Tony Award-nominee Howard McGillin (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes, The Phantom of the Opera) as Honore Lachaille, Corey Cott (Newsies) as Gaston Lachaille and Steffanie Leigh (Mary Poppins) as Liane d'Exelmans.

In advance of Classic Stage Company's rare production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1947 musical Allegro, CSC's artistic director Brian Kulick and Tony Award-winning director John Doyle lead a conversation on the legendary team's most personal, groundbreaking and little-known work. The discussion also includes Ted Chapin, president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, and cast members George Abud, Claybourne Elder, and Jane Pfitsch.

54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club invites you to join Tracy McDowell (Motown, RENT, The Next Big Thing) as she shares the story of her life thus far and the music that got her through it. From Scary Au Pairs from Germany, to mental breakdowns, family drama, sex, addiction, quitting the biz, then not quitting the biz, and everything else crazy that has made her who she is today. She has the proof.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Two more shows begin off-Broadway, JERSEY BOYS welcomes two new cast members on tour, and two stars -- Susan Boyle and Billy Crystal -- release their latest projects!

In advance of Classic Stage Company's rare production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1947 musical Allegro, CSC's artistic director Brian Kulick and Tony Award-winning director John Doyle lead a conversation on the legendary team's most personal, groundbreaking and little-known work. The discussion also includes Ted Chapin, president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, and cast members George Abud, Claybourne Elder, and Jane Pfitsch.

Manhattan Theatre Club will present LOST LAKE, by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn (Proof, The Columnist), directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof, Rabbit Hole, The Country House) and starring Oscar nominee John Hawkes (The Sessions, Winter's Bone) and Tracie Thoms (Rent, 'Cold Case'), at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street), today, October 21 through December 21, 2014.

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Lost Lake, the new play by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan featuring Oscar nominee John Hawkes (The Sessions, Winter's Bone) and Tracie Thoms (Rent, "Cold Case") will start previews tomorrow at 7 PM for a Tuesday, November 11 opening night at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

Lynne Meadow and Barry Grove have announced Manhattan Theatre Club will present its Fall Benefit, honoring longtime MTC collaborator, Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

BroadwayWorld has learned that Tony Yazbeck, who plays 'Gabey' in the just-opened Broadway revival of ON THE TOWN, will marry his fiance Katie Huff today, October 20, 2014. BroadwayWorld sends our congratulations to the happy couple!

ON THE TOWN has moments of classic dance, comedy and music, but it's the earthy country sailors who make this musical soar.

Though formulaic, Fall for Dance programs, presented each fall at New York City Center with the universal ticket price of $15, tend to succeed in including a diverse set of voices. Program 4 fulfilled this expectation, featuring works by Brian Brooks Moving Company, Tim Harbour, Benjamin Millipied, and Dr. Rennie Harris. The evening was delightfully varied in both the styles danced and the experiences represented. One important exception dampened this program and the festival as a whole--the lack of work by women choreographers, a disappointing but not unusual exclusion.

When Broadway, TV and film star Cheyenne Jackson made his debut in the Broadway @ The Art House series hosted by Seth Rudetsky this past summer, the Cape Cod Times called him 'a singer with tremendous style' and raved that 'his vocal range goes deep' and 'his dance moves go from sultry to hip-swiveling rock.' On the heels of selling-out all six of his summer shows in Provincetown, Cheyenne Jackson make his debut in the Broadway @ NOCCA series on November 7th at 7:30PM for one show only. SiriusXM radio star Seth Rudetsky will join him as pianist and host. For tickets, visit broadwaynola.com or call 800-838-3006. Broadway @ Nocca is sponsored exclusively by the New Orleans Hotel Collection, Gambit and the Mystic Krewe of Satyricon.

The White Plains Performing Arts Center play reading series that features the Tony Award-winners for “Best Play” since the award's creation in 1948 continues with this months' reading of T.S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party on Thursday, October 23 at 8:00 pm.

New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Wendy Whelan will bid farewell to New York City Ballet with a special one-time-only performance tonight, October 18 at 8 p.m. For the occasion, two of the dance world's most acclaimed choreographers, Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon, will collaborate on a world premiere piece d'occasion for Whelan.

Osnes took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld earlier this week about prepping for the project, as well as what she's been up to since leaving the cast of CINDERELLA on Broadway. Check out the full interview below!