Marc Shaiman News

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

Boasting a stellar cast from stage and screen, SMASH stars Emmy award winning actress Debra Messing, Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston, Katharine McPhee, Jack Davenport, Tony Award nominee Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James. In the videos below, Hilty, Huston, McPhee, and Messing chat about what to expect from the show and their characters. Click below to check it out!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Les Miserables,' 'Smash,' Idina Menzel, 'Come Fly Away,' 'Jersey Shore,' 'Legally Blonde,' Rogers Park theater history and more....

Signature Theatre in Arlington presents the Broadway musical set in 1962, HAIRSPRAY. In the video below, Fox 5's Annie Yu visits the stage and talks to the show's star.

Signature Theatre today announced that the run of Hairspray will be extended for one week, through February 5th.

For all of those who can't get enough of SMASH, check out this new video below that details the making of the Marilyn musical within the series, written by Broadway's Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can), featuring interviews with team members and more!

NBC showcased its upcoming winter shows earlier this week. Along with returning hits, the network also featured SMASH, which debuts February 6. Check out the red carpet below!

Can't wait until February to see NBC's new Broadway-themed show SMASH? According to The Hollywood Reporter, you won't have to: the pilot episode will be available for free on several media platforms including iTunes, Amazon and Xbox on January 16.

NBC and iTheatrics are teaming up for the national launch of "NBC's 'Smash': Make a Musical," a philanthropic initiative that will help create sustainable musical theater programs in underserved schools nationwide.

NBC and iTheatrics are teaming up for the national launch of 'NBC's 'Smash': Make a Musical,' a philanthropic initiative that will help create sustainable musical theater programs in underserved schools nationwide.

The buzz surrounding the premiere has been deafening, and we have just gotten our hands on the first official full-length clips! Click below for a SMASH, episode 1 preview!

A thundering chorus of 3,000+ Broadway stars, students and teachers will lock step and raise their voices and hearts in song during the 2012 Junior Theater Festival, a monumental celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence happening January 13 - 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Presented by New York's iTheatrics and Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and sponsored by leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), Disney Musicals and NBC, the Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary school, middle school and high school aged students.

Boasting a stellar cast from stage and screen, SMASH stars Emmy award winning actress Debra Messing, Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston, Katharine McPhee, Jack Davenport, Tony Award nominee Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James. McPhee has added another role to her busy schedule: Malaria No More spokesperson.

Entertainment Weekly has released a first look at SMASH stars Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee in costume as the title character in the show's musical, Marilyn. See it below!

Today we are taking a look at the very best theatre-related entities in a variety of different categories - books, music, television, film, and, of course, theatre - as we look back on 2011 and all of the many marvelous moments of excitement, passion, joy and exultation that only theatre and theatre-related projects can possibly hope to provide. From Stephen Sondheim's LOOK, I MADE A HAT on the bookshelves of every Broadway baby worth their weight in sequins to Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone in Sondheim's COMPANY on the big screen courtesy of Fathom to the stunning Broadway revival of FOLLIES starring Bernadette Peters and its tremendous new cast album, all the way to the thrills and chills of Andrew Lloyd Webber's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL on the big screen and Blu-ray to the BOOK OF MORMON breaking Broadway records and even TV's best drama and comedy, both from mastermind Ryan Murphy - GLEE and AMERICAN HORROR STORY. Plus, we also have top film picks in the categories of Drama and Comedy, as well as the best of the best of them all, with Lars Von Trier's apocalyptic masterpiece MELANCHOLIA, George Clooney's play adaptation THE IDES OF MARCH and the 80s music video stylized thriller/drama DRIVE topping the list. All of that and a whole lot more awaits in this all-encompassing look back at the theatrical highlights in all entertainment realms in 2011, as well as a look ahead to what we cannot wait for in 2012!

The holiday season is just around the corner and New Year's Eve will be here before you know it. And what better way to celebrate 2012 than to go back in time to the funkadelic 60's as Signature Theatre hosts their annual New Year's Eve party.

Cal que nevi?, es un espectáculo musical representado con éxito durante seis navidades consecutivas en el café teatro Llantiol de Barcelona. En él, seis intérpretes y un pianista, cantan temas conocidos y otros que no lo son tanto, sobre las fiestas navideñas y lo que éstas representan para gente de todo tipo.

While it hasn't even debuted yet on NBC, according to NY Magazine, the musical within SMASH might be on its way to the Broadway stage. Jesse Green writes: 'If Smash is successful and gets renewed, the Marilyn musical should reach "Broadway" next winter-much faster than a real production would. But, even stranger, if the Marilyn musical is itself successful, producers hope to crack it out of its Smash shell and move it to the actual Broadway sometime thereafter.'

My 2011 theatrical exploits, while not as numerous as I'd like, have been enjoyable on the whole and happily have involved the West End, the London and Edinburgh Fringes and Broadway. In an attempt to summarise I have come up with a few arbitrary and inconsistent categories into which to put some of the shows I've seen.

Boasting a stellar cast from stage and screen, SMASH stars Emmy award winning actress Debra Messing, Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston, Katharine McPhee, Jack Davenport, Tony Award nominee Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James. In the video below, McPhee chats about her character, Karen Cartwright, and what to expect from the new series!