Don McKellar News

Broadway's Tony Award® winning smash hit musical THE DROWSY CHAPERONE welcomes Peter Bartlett to the cast on Tuesday, January 16th at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway).

CanStage presents Necessary Angel's production of HALF LIFE, written by John Mighton and directed by Daniel Brooks. Limited engagement through February 3rd at the Bluma Appel Theatre. Toronto, ON...Prize-winning Canadian playwright John Mighton's latest play Half Life premiered to rave reviews in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Scotland. It has been showered with accolades including the Governor General's Award for Drama and a Dora Award for Outstanding New Play. 'CanStage is thrilled to be presenting this beautiful play on the large Bluma Appel Theatre stage, giving a bigger and more broadly-based audience an opportunity to experience this exciting new Canadian work,' enthused CanStage Artistic Producer Martin Bragg. The Necessary Angel production of Half Life will subsequently travel across Canada and be presented in Winnipeg at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in February 2007, and Vancouver at the Arts Club Theatre in March 2007. It is scheduled to be part of the Melbourne Theatre Festival in Australia in October 2007. Directed by Daniel Brooks, the cast of Half Life features the original cast of Laura de Carteret as Anna, Barbara Gordon (CanStage's Homechild) as Agnes, Carolyn Hetherington (CanStage's Written on Water) as Clara, Maggie Huculak (CanStage's A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Tammy, Randy Hughson (CanStage's Homechild) as Reverend, Diego Matamoros as Donald and Eric Peterson (CanStage's Homechild) as Patrick. Joining Mr. Brooks is a creative team that includes set and costume designer Dany Lyne (CanStage's Hair), lighting designer Andrea Lundy (CanStage's The Comedy of Errors), sound designer Richard Feren, stage manager Crystal Salverda and assistant stage manager Kate Porter. Clara and Patrick meet in a nursing home for veterans and their families. They begin to fall in love, thinking they are rekindling an old flame. Have they met before? As Clara and Patrick's middle-aged children watch their faltering parents, the older couple rediscovers beauty and love in the twilight of their lives. Half Life is a poetic and moving meditation on identity, aging and the nature of memory. John Mighton's plays Scientific Americans, Possible Worlds, A Short History of Night, Body and Soul, The Little Years and Half Life have been performed across Canada, as well as in Europe, Japan and the United States and have won several national awards including a Governor General's Literary Award for Drama for Possible Worlds, A Short History of Night and Half Life. Possible Worlds was made into a full-length feature film directed by renowned director/playwright Robert Lepage. In 2005 Mr. Mighton was awarded the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for his body of work. Mr. Mighton holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. For the past eight years he has coordinated the highly acclaimed JUMP program, designed to tutor children who are having difficulties in math. Daniel Brooks is a prolific and versatile artist whose innovation and risk-taking have made him a leader within the Canadian cultural landscape. A director, writer, actor and teacher, Mr. Brooks has been recognized with accolades and awards throughout Canada and around the world. A tremendous mentor and inspiration to an entire generation of theatre artists, Mr. Brooks was the recipient of the inaugural Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. Some of his creations include Red Tape and 86; An Autopsy (with Don McKellar and Tracy Wright); The Lorca Play, House, Here Lies Henry, Monster and Cul de sac (all with Daniel MacIvor); The Noam Chomsky Lectures and Insomnia (with Guillermo Verdecchia), Bigger Than Jesus (with Rick Miller) and The Good Life. His work as a director includes John Mighton's Possible Worlds and Half Life, Goethe's Faust, and Beckett's Endgame. His most recent play is The Eco Show. He is currently the artistic director of Necessary Angel Theatre Company. BLUMA SEASON PRINT MEDIA SPONSOR: Toronto Star CANSTAGE OFFICIAL BEAUTY CARE SPONSOR: Olay Definity OFFICIAL HOTEL OF CANSTAGE: Delta Chelsea Hotel Digital Photography available at: http://www.canstage.com/2006-2007/media/images/play_4.asp Details PREVIEWS: January 8-10, 2007 OPENS: January 11-February 3, 2007 SCHEDULE: Monday-Saturday 8:00 p.m., Wednesday matinee 1:30 p.m.; Saturday matinee 2:00 p.m. TICKETS: $20-$95 LOCATION: CanStage - Bluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. BOX OFFICE: Tickets are available in person at the CanStage Customer Service Centres, 26 Berkeley St. or 27 Front St. E., by telephone at CanStage 416-368-3110 and Ticketmaster at 416-872-1111, and online at www.canstage.com Rush seats are available for any performance one hour prior to show time. Rush seats are half the regular ticket price. For Monday nigh performances only, pay-what-you-can tickets are available in person at the CanStage Box Office beginning at 10:00 a.m. on the day of the performance. Special Group Rates available. For details call Heather Burns at 416-367-8243 ext. 266. Other activities to enhance your theatre-going experience: CanStage Tea Talks and Talk Backs - These informal post-performance question and answer periods give you an opportunity to meet the artists immediately following a production. Contact Patty Jarvis at 416-367-8243 ext. 245 for details

Broadway's smash hit musical THE DROWSY CHAPERONE toasted the New Year with its best week ever and a new house record at the Marquis Theatre, grossing $1,381,179. for nine performances for the week ending December 31st, 2006.

Tony Award winners Sutton Foster and Bob Martin, stars of the Tony Award winning musical THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, will be featured on NY-1's 'On Stage' this weekend.

Bob Martin, who plays '20s musical aficionado Man in Chair in the Broadway hit The Drowsy Chaperone, was present for the recent unveiling of his caricature at the legendary Sardi's Restaurant

Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel, who stars in the title role of the Tony Award-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone, will sit down with 'Broadway's Biggest Hits' radio host Bud Wilkinson this weekend to discuss both her own plans for New Years Eve and what she speculates her tipsy alter ego 'Beatrice Stockwell' might do to toast a highball to 2007

Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel, who stars in the title role of the Tony Award® winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone, recently sat down with Associated Press Radio's Jane Waldman to chat about the joy that originating her role in the hit musical has brought her this year, backstage Holiday spirit, and spending Christmas at her home away from home on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre

The Broadway hit The Drowsy Chaperone had its best week ever and set a new house record at the Marquis Theatre, grossing $1,073,880 for the week ending December 10, 2006

The five-time Tony Award® winning hit musical THE DROWSY CHAPERONE recouped its initial investment on Broadway in just thirty weeks and less than seven months following opening to critical acclaim at the Marquis Theatre on May 1, 2006. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE paid back its $8 million capitalization during the week ending November 26, 2006 following 272 performances (240 regular performances and 32 previews).

On the morning on November 22nd, Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel - who plays the title character in the hit musical - woke up to light the new vintage neon marquee of the Marquis Theatre, where The Drowsy Chaperone continues its run

The Drowsy Chaperone has set a new house record at the Marquis Theatre, grossing $1,047,478 for the week ending October 8, 2006

Some of the stars of The Drowsy Chaperone will join the ladies of 'The View' on September 13th

Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster, currently showing off on Broadway in The Drowsy Chaperone, will be featured on Sirius Satellite Radio's 'Seth Rudetsky's Studio A Cabaret' on Broadway's Best Channel 77 on Friday, August 11th

Bob Martin, who received a Tony nomination for his performance as The Drowsy Chaperone's musicals-obsessed Man in Chair and who won for co-writing that show's book, will chat with host Seth Rudetsky at 'Seth's Broadway Chatterbox' on July 20th

BroadwayWorld.com is proud to introduce its newest site feature...Broadway Art by Norn Cutson!

Stars of the new Broadway musical, The Drowsy Chaperone--Danny Burstein, Sutton Foster and Bob Martin- will be featured on XM Satellite Radio's 'On Broadway' Channel 28 on Monday, July 3 at 12 noon and 9:00pm EST

The cast of the award-winning Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone appeared at Virgin Megastore Times Square for a CD signing of the cast recording of The Drowsy Chaperone on Wednesday, June 28th, and BroadwayWorld was there to capture the event!

The first season of the cult hit television miniseries 'Slings & Arrows' co-created by THE DROWSY CHAPERONE's Tony Award winning creators Bob Martin and Don McKellar will be released on DVD today by Acorn Media.

While Edward Hibbert performs in the Los Angeles premiere of Kander and Ebb's Curtains at the Ahmanson Theatre, Noble Shropshire will take on his role as dry-witted Underling in The Drowsy Chaperone from July 3rd through September 10th

The cast of the award-winning Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone will appear at Virgin Megastore Times Square (1540 Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets) for a CD signing of the cast recording of The Drowsy Chaperone on Wednesday, June 28th