Michael Cerveris News

Thank you to all those who entered the 'Throw Your Arms Up, Evita!' contest - it was a sheer success! Today, BroadwayWorld is thrilled to congratulate Michael Yavorsky, whose entry won him a trip to New York to see the Tony Award-nominated production and dinner for two at the Chimichurri Grill! Check out his winning entry below, taken on the balcony of the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rachel Potter will celebrate the release of her debut country EP, 'Live the Dream,' at Joe's Pub on May 13.

The 27th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards were handed out last night, May 6, 2012 at NYU Skirball Center, in a ceremony that once again benefited the Actors Fund and honored the best of Off Broadway. BroadwayWorld was of course on hand for the festivities, and we take you backstage for photos of this year's winners and presenters below!

Voting opened on May 3, 2012 and runs through June 4, 2012 for the 10th Annual BroadwayWorld.com Awards! Here are the current standings as of 5/5

This Tuesday marked the second most exciting day of any given year for Broadway babies - the Tony Award nominations. The actual awards ceremony on CBS - Broadway's night of nights - is still a few weeks off, but now is certainly an ideal time to size up the competition(s) and see who will most likely walk away with Tony gold come June 10 - and this year's ceremony, more than most before, could very well be as surprising as this season was; or Tuesday's nominations themselves were, for that matter. While the 2011-2012 Broadway season certainly fell far short of the heady promise many ascribed to its prospects way back last Summer, we certainly saw the fulfillment of some big dreams for some notable names if not an all-in-all banner year for Broadway when collectively considered. The highly-praised Off-Broadway critical darling LYSISTRATA JONES landed with a thud early in the season, as did the re-jiggered, gender-bending revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER and its star Harry Connick, Jr., and, even the lauded and relatively successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's peerless masterpiece FOLLIES failed to make any money and closed. GODSPELL did not fare much better, though it is still running. The two highly-anticipated revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic early successes JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA were met with indifferent reviews - with the latter receiving some nasty press for its stars, neither of whom received Tony nominations - but receptive audiences so far. THE GERSHWINS' PORGY & BESS could take Best Revival, after all - but will NICE WORK's Kelli O'Hara edge out four-time Tony recipient Audra McDonald? New plays did not fare much better than the measly crop of musicals, but OTHER DESERT CITIES and VENUS IN FUR seemed to hit their target demographics squarely, but CLYBOURNE PARK looks to be the frontrunner for Best Play despite all that. We shall see. Mike Nichols may take home another Best Director for his sensitive, if workmanlike revival of Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN, as conceivably could Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. John Lithgow is offering up some fierce competition in THE COLUMNIST, though. The acting races are tight, for sure, in both plays and musicals, with more newcomers and first-time nominees than any season this century.

The Off-Broadway League today announced the confirmed performers for the 2012 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. Additionally, the remaining tickets to the show have been released for sale to the public at a discounted rate of $35 each. The 27th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards will be handed out this Sunday, May 6, 2012 at NYU Skirball Center, beginning at 7:00pm EST, in a ceremony that will once again benefit the Actors Fund.

Outspoken and always opinionated radio 'shock jock' Howard Stern, the newly appointed judge of 'America's Got Talent,' makes his first guest appearance on THE VIEW live, MAY 10. Stern is the show's sole featured guest for the entire hour and will be seated alongside all five co-hosts.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Tony nominees celebrate, Broadway sings Adele, the POPS turns 29, and so much more!

Today in 2007, LoveMusik opened at the Biltmore Theatre (now the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre), where it ran for 60 performances. LoveMusik is a musical written by Alfred Uhry, using a selection of music by Kurt Weill. The story explores the romance and lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, based on Speak Low (When You Speak Love): The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. The show was directed by Harold Prince, with musical staging by Patricia Birch and starred Michael Cerveris as Kurt Weill, Donna Murphy as Lotte Lenya, David Pittu as Bertolt Brecht and John Scherer as George Davis.

Today, we're excited to present our special annual Tony Nominees Photo Booth Portraits shot by Walter McBride. How many future Tony winners can you spot below?

Stay tuned for exclusive BWW interviews leading up to the big night and in the meantime, check out behind the scenes photos from today's event!

'I'm feeling pretty high right now- it's wonderful! I'm so happy for the production and all of the people in the cast even though they weren't recognized. I feel like the play is getting some important recognition because of this. My publicist Mandy called me on the phone to give me the news this morning. I chose not watch the TV. I've done that before and it makes me a nervous wreck- it seems that 'L' comes too late in the alphabet for that. I have to do the show tonight and then I'm taking the cast out for drinks- and trust me, they're big drinkers!'

'This is tremendously exciting for me. Of course, I'd have like to have more of my company joining me, as in this show what I do is only possible because of Elena and Ricky and the rest of the company effort. We are a very tight ensemble and I am proud to represent the work we've all done. I get to celebrate today by spending time it in studio recording the Evita cast album, so that's a real treat!'

Nominations in 26 competitive categories for THE 66th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS® were announced today by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jim Parsons and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement.

We'll be talking to nominees all day for their reactions!

Esta mañana se han presentado las Nominaciones a los Tony Awards 2012 por Kristin Chenoweth y el televisivo Jim Parsons. La ceremonia de los Premios más importantes del teatro en Broadway se celebrará en el Beacon Theatre, y seretransmitirán a través de la CBS el próximo domingo 10 de junio de 2012.

The 2012 Tony Awards Nominations Announcement was co-hosted this morning by Tony winning actress Kristin Chenoweth and Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Jim Parsons. The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 10, 2012.