Joan Marcus News

THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST is the third in a cycle of plays that began with Hudes' Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue, a play about a young Marine coming to terms with his time in Iraq and his father's and grandfather's service in Vietnam and Korea. The second play in the trilogy, the 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Water by the Spoonful, received its New York premiere at Second Stage Theatre in 2013. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

Seymour 'Red' Press, Music Coordinator of our highly anticipated musical Violet turns 90 years old today! To celebrate, we have put together a photo gallery to honor some of his amazing achievements as a Music Coordinator working on some of the most successful productions at Roundabout Theatre Company.

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the Fabulous Fox Theatre for a limited engagement from April 8 - 20, 2014.

Wicked certainly has an interesting reputation among theatergoers. Some theater fanatics love the show. Others hate it. I've always found myself somewhere in the middle. Wicked certainly has both flaws and merits, but to those who only see its flaws, I have this observation to share. Of all the long running shows currently on Broadway, there are only three that feature more than one female lead. Of those three shows, only one involves female leads who aren't merry murderesses and aren't singing ABBA tunes. So kudos to Wicked, and kudos to the touring production currently in Austin for making it easier to see the shows merits and more difficult to see the show's flaws.

In a sure sign spring is near, The Bushnell announced today its 2014-2015 Broadway Series season. Beginning in September 2014, The Bushnell will bring seven popular Broadway titles to Hartford as part of the Series, along with an additional off-Series blockbuster to round out a strong season lineup. Series titles are Broadway classics EVITA, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, and CAMELOT, last year's Tony-winning Best Musical Revival, PIPPIN, Gershwin tuner NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, and back-to-back Tony Award-winning Best Musicals ONCE and KINKY BOOTS. The phenomenal crowd-pleaser WICKED was also announced to return to Hartford for three weeks in November as a special off-subscription offering.

David Henry Hwang's Bruce Lee bio-play is dramatically lightweight.

Barnes & Noble at 86th and Lexington in New York City will welcome the cast and creators of FUN HOME, The Public Theater production based on Alison Bechdel's graphic novel, for a musical performance and CD signing on Thursday March 13, 2014 at 6 p.m.

There are only 5 more weeks to see the acclaimed productions of Harold Pinter's NO MAN'S LAND and Samuel Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT starring Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Billy Crudup, Shuler Hensley directed by Sean Mathias on Broadway at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street). After two extensions, the plays must close Sunday, March 30. For performance schedule and more information, visit TwoPlaysInRep.com.

Directed and edited by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this international collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Miami's Gable Stage began previews at The Public on Tuesday, February 18 and runs through Sunday, March 23 in The Public's Anspacher Theater, with an official press opening on Wednesday, March 5. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the cast in action below!

Signature Theatre is currently presenting the world premiere of THE OPEN HOUSE, by Will Eno and directed by Oliver Butler. All tickets for the initial run of the production are $25 as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. The production is now playing through through March 23, 2014 with a March 3 opening night in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical, is coming to Columbus as part of the TSYS Broadway on Broadway series. Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage in the Bill Heard Theatre at RiverCenter on Saturday, March 15 at 7:30pm. The curtain will rise once more for an encore matinee performance, Sunday, March 16 at 2:30pm.

Jason Robert Brown, Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale all score beautifully in a soaring and thoughtful musical romance.

The event, taking place in the Eisenhower Office Building's South Court Auditorium, will feature remarks from Obama, and will be livestreamed at http://www.whitehouse.gov//live.

The Bridges of Madison County, the new musical based on the best selling novel by Robert James Waller, opens tonight, February 20, 2014, at 8:00 PM at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street). Let's see what the critics had to say...

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts announces the highly anticipated lineup of performances for the 2014-2015 Broadway Las Vegas Series. Running August 2014 to May 2015, the upcoming season sponsored by Southern Nevada Ford Stores will boast Broadway favorites, three first national tours and exciting Las Vegas premieres. As a testament to The Smith Center's commitment to bringing top-tier productions and first-run shows, the center is excited to launch its first-ever national tour with the previously announced, Tony Award-winning musical KINKY BOOTS.

Broadway In Chicago and Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy have announced an additional open call casting search for African American singers for the upcoming national tour of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, with a rare opportunity to audition for this hit Broadway musical at Ballet Chicago (17 N State Street) on Thursday, February 20 at 12 p.m. The first national tour will launch in Chicago April 22 - July 13, 2014 at the Oriental Theatre.

When GHOST: THE MUSICAL opened on Broadway it was met by a bevy of critical slams and was plagued by technical issues that would stall the production. Now, the troubled movie turned musical turned theme-park ride is limping, zombie-like, across the nation in a Non-Equity National Tour. Luckily, the production is employing a handful of theatre professionals. In many ways, that is this overblown clunker of a show's only saving grace.

Caryl Churchill's latest plays like two hours worth of sketches from the last ten minutes of SNL.

Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Machinal, starring Rebecca Hall and directed by Lindsay Turner, will conclude its limited engagement on March 2, 2014 at 2:00PM.

The talk back series at Harold Pinter's acclaimed production of NO MAN'S LAND continues Thursday, February 20 with Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Billy Crudup, Shuler Hensley and moderator Barbara Chai (Wall Street Journal correspondent). After the performance of NO MAN'S LAND, Chai and the actors will discuss Harold Pinter's play and answer audience questions about the production and the acclaimed repertory season. The ticketed audience for each performance is welcome to stay, free of charge, for the talk back. A ticket is required for the performance.