Marla Louissaint News

The Broadway Education Alliance is pleased to announce that Emmy Award-winning NY1 host Frank DiLella and the 2015 Jimmy Award-winner for Best Performance by an Actress Marla Louissaint will co-host the 2018-19 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Happy Valentine's Day! Before you spend the day with the one you love, catch up on the latest Broadway news!

Big Apple Performing Arts, the home of New York City Gay Men's Chorus and Youth Pride Chorus, today announced that HARMONY | Ladies of Broadway will feature Faith Prince, Bonnie Milligan, Janet Dacal, Marla Louissaint, and Jessica Hendy performing live at the annual gala fundraiser on February 14 at Current, Pier 59.

Jimmy Awards® alumni from the previous 10 years reunited for the first ever Jimmy Awards Reunion event yesterday, January 14. Former Jimmy Awards nominees, representing every year of the program, reunited for the celebration which included special duet performances from alumni currently on Broadway and in Touring Broadway shows. Joining the festivities was special guest Patti Murin, currently starring in Broadway's Frozen.

Jimmy Awards® alumni from the previous 10 years reunited for the first ever Jimmy Awards Reunion event yesterday, January 14th at 7:30PM ET. Former Jimmy Awards nominees, representing every year of the program, reunited for the celebration which will include special duet performances from alumni currently on Broadway and in Touring Broadway shows. Joining the festivities was special guest Patti Murin, currently starring in Broadway's Frozen.

Jimmy Awards alumni from the previous 10 years are reuniting for the first ever Jimmy Awards Reunion event which will be streamed on Facebook Live on Monday, January 14th at 7:30PM ET.

There is a reason bio-musicals and jukebox tales are so popular. There is a nostalgia and comfort in knowing the music and the people that allows an audience to give themselves over to the magic of theatre. I've found audiences more susceptible to suspension of disbelief if there is an element of the familiar - like an historical figure or famous artist. It then becomes the task of the production to take that malleable group and create a story with meaning.

The acclaimed Broadway smash hit Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter, makes a triumphant return to Washington, D.C. for the upcoming holiday season. This Tony and Grammy Award winner comes to the National Theatre for 5 weeks only from November 27 thru December 30, 2018.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, September 21 for the National Theatre's "Broadway at the National" performances of SCHOOL OF ROCK - THE MUSICAL (Jan. 16 - 27, 2019), FINDING NEVERLAND (Feb. 26 - Mar. 3, 2019), A BRONX TALE (Mar. 26 - 31, 2019), STOMP (Apr. 23 - 28, 2019), and Jim Steinman's BAT OUT OF HELL (May 7 - 26, 2019).

Casting has been announced for the triumphant return to Washington, D.C. of the Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning Broadway smash hit BEAUTIFUL - The Carole King Musical, about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter. BEAUTIFUL is onstage at the National Theatre for a 5-week run during the holiday season from November 27 thru December 30, 2018.

Casting has been announced for the triumphant return to Washington, D.C. of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway smash hit Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter. BEAUTIFUL is onstage at the National Theatre for a 5-week run during the holiday season from November 27 thru December 30, 2018.

Throughout history, performance artists have become staples in pop culture, many of which can rightfully claim "icon" status. However, aside from music performance, songwriting has long been an underrated quality in the music industry. Even if songwriters become notable performers, it is not always widely known that they have written, and continue to write, for other top artists. Such is the case of Carole King, as told by Beautiful, The Carole King Musical. 

The North American tour of Beautiful - The Carole King Musical will welcome Dylan S. Wallach (Gerry Goffin) and Alison Whitehurst (Cynthia Weil) beginning September 4 in Denver, CO. The two artists join Sarah Bockel (Carole King), Jacob Heimer (Barry Mann), James Clow (Don Kirshner) and Suzanne Grodner (Genie Klein).

This year, a record 80 high school students from across America will participate in The Jimmy Awards, to compete for Best Performance by an Actor and Actress as well as other honors and scholarships at the tenth annual awards ceremony. 

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL playing right now at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) is the most jukebox of juke box musicals. With a book by Douglas McGrath, it tells the story of King's life and career using songs that she wrote, often together wither sometimes partner and spouse Gerry Goffin, and other contemporary songs by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector and others. What makes it the 'most juke box?' In a play that runs two and a half hours (including intermission), the very talented cast performs over twenty-five songs. Why so many songs? It's a play about songwriters whose best friends are songwriters, who among them wrote some of the most popular songs of the sixties and seventies. With so many songs to cover, McGrath let the music carry the first act and left the story of King's metamorphosis from composer to singer songwriter to Act 2. Somebody is doing something right because BEAUTIFUL opened on Broadway in January of 2014 and has been running ever since. This stop in Providence is the second in our fair city since it went on tour in 2015. As near as I could tell, everybody present had a helluva time last night.

The National Theatre for Student Artists (NTSA) is getting ready to welcome their fifth national teen company to New York City.

Producers Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing have announced casting for the Providence engagement of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning hit musical BEAUTIFUL THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL. The National Tour, which launched at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) in the fall of 2015, returns to PPAC February 27 March 4, 2018 as a Broadway Special.

A standing room only crowd packed Feinstein's/54 Below on Sunday for the third annual International Thespian Society alumni benefit concert. The event, produced by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), home of the International Thespian Society, was chaired and hosted by Hunter Bell ( title of show , Found).

Next week, Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond, including Christine Ebersole, Maria Friedman Sings Sondheim and Bernstein, 54 Sings The Jonas Brothers, Kyle Dean Massey, Ben Stock and more. Scroll down for details!

Next week, Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond, including Christine Ebersole, Maria Friedman Sings Sondheim and Bernstein, 54 Sings The Jonas Brothers, Kyle Dean Massey, Ben Stock and more. Scroll down for details!