Jeremy Sams News

SHN previously announced that the first North American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ will play a special engagement at the SHN Orpheum Theatre for two weeks only, tonight, October 16 - 27, 2013.

There are some classics you just don't mess with. "Casablanca", "Lawrence of Arabia" and yes, "The Wizard of Oz". OK, so there have been a number of sequels or prequels and complete rewrites (such as "The Wiz", which I love) but up to now no one has felt they could make the original better. That is until the ego that is Andrew Lloyd Webber came along and said, "Sure it's good but it needs my special flair." Well Sir Andrew, keep your special flair to yourself as what you have done is to jam in utterly forgettable new songs and horrifying jokes into the show and created a bastardized version of a classic.

On the occasion of composer Benjamin Britten's centennial, the Met will present its first performances of his 1960 opera A Midsummer Night's Dream in more than a decade. James Conlon leads his first Met performances of the opera, which is directed by Tim Albery in a revival of his acclaimed 1996 production.

Below is a preview of Jeremy Sams's new production of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, starring Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman, conducted by Adam Fischer. The production opens on December 31, 2013.

Susan Graham - winner of a Grammy, an Opera News Award, Musical America's Vocalist of the Year, and hailed by the New York Times as 'an artist to treasure' - returns for another compelling season, highlighted by three role debuts. As Houston Grand Opera's 2013-14 Lynn Wyatt Great Artist, she undertakes Prince Orlofsky in the company's first staging of Die Fledermaus in 30 years.

What do you do for an updated stage adaptation of arguably one of cinema's much-beloved motion pictures of all time? Well for theater impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber and director Jeremy Sams, you populate the show with over-the-top, more cartoonish characters and snarky, audience-winking dialogue. Oh, yeah, and add a few new songs from Webber and his frequent collaborator, lyricist Tim Rice, too. The touring company plays the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through October 6.

THE WIZARD OF OZ national tour, with old standards and new music written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and a book adapted by Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams, opened at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre last week on September 18. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Soprano Susanna Phillips - winner of the Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Artist Award in 2010 - is a singer who 'demonstrates rare stylistic fluency, canny pathos and dynamic finesse,' according to the Financial Times, which added: 'Susanna Phillips - remember the name.' The Alabama-born soprano has a higher profile than ever during 2013-14, including her sixth consecutive season at the Metropolitan Opera. Phillips starts her Met season tonight, portraying Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte under the baton of music director James Levine in his long-awaited return to the podium. The Dallas Morning News declared her to be 'a glorious Fiordiligi, her soprano honeyed and agile.' This Così runs until October 5, with a return in the spring; the final performance, onApril 26, will be transmitted to audiences worldwide in the Met's ever-popular Live in HD series. Phillips will also sing the role of Rosalinde in a new staging of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus by two-time Tony Award-winner Jeremy Sams as part of the Met's New Year's Eve gala, with performances until February 22. At the Met again in April, she plays Musetta in Puccini's La bohème, reprising the role in which she made her house debut in 2008. After a recent Met performance, the New York Times said: 'Phillips sparkled as the sassy Musetta, her bright, nimble soprano tinged with a coquettish flair.' The April 5 La bohème will be her first Live in HD broadcast of the season. Phillips has been praised by the Aspen Times for her 'heart-tugging phrasing' in the role of Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes; she takes up the role again in a concert performance of Peter Grimes with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony, in Missouri and at Carnegie Hall on the composer's 100th birthday (Nov 22).

The Wizard of Oz, featuring some of movie music's most unforgettable standards, along with new music written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber; a book adapted by Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams... and everything else that is good made its way successfully to Hollywood's Pantages Theatre last week (September 18) for a high flying opening night celebration which drew a full house of young and old alike. Among those involved with the festivities were BWW TV's own Los Angeles correspondents Michael Sterling and Jerry Evans on the red carpet walk of fame. Among the celebrities in attendance were Rico Rodriquez (ABC's Modern Family) and his sister Raini Rodriguez (Disney's Austin and Ally), Fox TV's Lauren Potter (Glee), Academy Award winner George Chakiris (West Side Story), Kate Linder (The Young and The Restless), Jane Kean (The Honeymooners), Ann Jeffrey's (General Hospital, Topper), Corbin Bleu (One Life to Live), RJ Mitte (AMC's Breaking Bad), Michelle Dockery of the BBC's Downton Abbey and others of note. Check out the video below!

The Wizard of Oz/adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams/music by Harold Arlen/additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber/lyrics by E.Y. Harburg/additional lyrics by Tim Rice/directed by Jeremy Sams/Pantages Theatre/through October 6

San Jose Stage Company Artistic Director Randall King announces The Stage's 2013-14 Season:

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment, Warner Bros. & The Nederlander Organization have announced that the first North American tour of the new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ will make its L.A. debut at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited 3 week engagement; today, September 17 - October 6, 2013. Full casting for the tour is now complete.

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment & Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures present the first North American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ, beginning tonight, September 10, 2013 at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment, Warner Bros. & The Nederlander Organization have announced that the first North American tour of the new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ will make its L.A. debut at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited 3 week engagement; September 17 - October 6, 2013. Full casting for the tour is now complete.

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment & Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures just announced that casting is complete for the first North American tour of the new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ, which will commence on September 10, 2013 at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Broadway actor Danny Burstein will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in the non-singing role of Frosch in this season's performances of Die Fledermaus. The new production of Johann Strauss II's operetta, conducted by Adam Fischer and directed by Jeremy Sams in his Met directorial debut, features new English-language lyrics by Sams and dialogue by acclaimed Broadway playwright Douglas Carter Beane.

The most beloved family film of all time, THE WIZARD OF OZ, makes its way to the stage in a spectacular new edition outfitted with new songs by legendary composing team Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and North America will finally have its chance to view the new extravaganza as it embarks on a new US tour.

SHN announced today that the first North American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ will play a special engagement at the SHN Orpheum Theatre for two weeks only, October 16 - 27, 2013. Tickets go on sale Friday July 12 at 10am.