Michael Crawford News

From Nick Jonas and Michael Urie to the Ladies of THE VIEW to Adam Pascal, Raul Esparza, Barbra Streisand to Alan Menken, Bernadette Peters to Susan Boyle, Colin Quinn to GLEE and Everything in Between - It's the BroadwayWorld.com 2012 Valentine's Day Special - It's the Biggest Ever!

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier today, Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE WIZARD OF OZ is slated to have its North American premiere in Toronto in 2013.

Broadway's longest-running production of all time celebrates a triumphant quarter century on stage with The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, coming to Blu-ray™ - with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound- DVD, On Demand and Digital Download on February 7, 2012 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Damian Arnold, has announced casting for the Broadway premiere of Marc Camoletti's classic farce Don't Dress For Dinner, starring Ben Daniels as "Robert," Melora Hardin as "Jacqueline," Adam James as "Bernard" and Jennifer Tilly as "Suzanne" with Spencer Kayden as "Suzette." Don't Dress For Dinner is adapted by Robin Hawdon and directed by John Tillinger.

Audiences are following the yellow brick road over the rainbow to see Danielle Hope, winner of BBC TV's Over the Rainbow, play Dorothy at The London Palladium, the capital's home of the family musical. A new cast will soon be taking over the show, which includes Sophie Evans and Russell Grant, and you can get to know the new lion in the video below!

Nick Pitera, known for his one man Youtube medleys, has released a new video that is a medley of hits from Andrew Lloyd Webber's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. 'I am such a huge Phantom fan. Andrew Lloyd Webber is a genius! This is my attempt at paying tribute to such a great piece of musical history!' Pitera wrote.

Today we are fortunate enough to feature an illuminating discussion with the star of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL - PHANTOM 25 for short - who is also known for her appearances on Broadway and the West End in shows like THE LITTLE MERMAID, MASTER CLASS and the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel itself, LOVE NEVER DIES - the one and only Sierra Boggess! In this PHANTOM-based conversation, Sierra and I analyze the phenomenal live PHANTOM 25 performance itself - to go along with our pre-performance chat from last year (available here) - and she describes all of the time, talent and art that went into putting it all together in celebration of the show's 25th year onstage - led by legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh, of course. In addition to a complete performance rundown, we also dissect the character of Christine and the importance of her journey over the course of the musical thriller to its themes of social acceptance, the power of musical performance, and, above all else, love - which, as we know, never dies. Additionally, she shares her ample enthusiasm for the simply tremendous DVD and Blu-ray experience of PHANTOM 25 (also, my SOUND OFF review of the live performance is available here) and details the experience of having now played Christine in three distinctly different PHANTOM-based experiences - PHANTOM in Las Vegas, LOVE NEVER DIES in the West End and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA LIVE AT THE ALBERT HALL.

Audiences are following the yellow brick road over the rainbow to see Danielle Hope, winner of BBC TV's Over the Rainbow, play Dorothy at The London Palladium, the capital's home of the family musical. A new cast will soon be taking over the show, which includes Sophie Evans and Russell Grant, and you can get to know the newbies in the video below!

This weekend, BroadwayWorld will be presenting an illuminating InDepth InterView with legendary composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber all about the enchanting new performance capture film version of his PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel, LOVE NEVER DIES. Until that chat, let's take a look back at some of the finest Andrew Lloyd Webber-related performances related to the entertainment dynasty built upon his operatic pop musical version of the classic Gaston Leroux novel that is about to celebrate its 10,000th performance on Broadway later this month, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, as well as its continuation, LOVE NEVER DIES, and the two revivals of his two classic 70s hit stage collaborations with previous InDepth InterView participant Sir Tim Rice coming back to Broadway in a big way - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA. Plus, a look at the new Simon Phillips-directed production of LOVE NEVER DIES coming to Fathom-equipped movie theaters nationwide on February 28 and March 7, with DVD & Blu-ray after that, as well as the PHANTOM 25 DVD & Blu-ray being released in the US on February 7. It's a busy time of year for phans, clearly! Fetch your favorite mask and check out these four Andrew Lloyd Webber delicacies before they arrive!

Today in 1988, The Phantom of the Opera opened at the Majestic Theatre, where it has played for 9980 performances and still running. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart, the musical opened in the West End in 1986, celebrating its 25th anniversary in October 2011. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the 1986 Olivier and 1988 Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical. It is the longest-running Broadway show by a wide margin, the second longest-running West End musical, and the third longest-running West End show overall.

As we exclusively reported on Friday, Russell Grant is to take over as The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium after Michael Crawford's departure next month.

Both Michael Crawford and Danielle Hope will both depart the West End production of THE WIZARD OF OZ on February 5, 2012. Both have been with the show since the beginning, and audiences had been following the yellow brick road over the rainbow to see Crawford (as the Wizard) and Danielle Hope (as Dorothy), winner of BBC TV's Over the Rainbow, at The London Palladium. But before they leave, the cast celebrated Crawford's 70th birthday at a recent curtain call.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Saturday January 21, to the general public for William Shatner's Broadway show SHATNER'S WORLD: WE JUST LIVE IN IT at www.telecharge.com. Producers also announced the show's creative team and student ticket policy.

The Wizard of Oz's latest newsletter tells us that Michael Crawford's replacement will be announced shortly but until that time the casting is 'strictly confidential' - so does that mean the Strictly Come Dancing star is in the frame to take over?

Sophie Evans has just announced via her Twitter that she will be filling in Danielle Hope's ruby slippers in the West End production of The Wizard of Oz on February 7, 2012. Evans was the runner up in the BBC reality talent competition show, Over The Rainbow, which tracked Andrew Lloyd Webber's search for his new Dorothy.

Happy Birthday Michael Crawford! In 1981, Crawford starred in the Original London production of Cy Coleman's Barnum (1981) as the illustrious American showman P. T. Barnum. He is best known for starring opposite Sarah Brightman in the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera as the title character. In 1986, Crawford began his performance in London, continuing on to Broadway in 1988, and then Los Angeles a year later, in 1989. He played the role for 2½ years and over 1,300 performances, winning an Olivier Award (Best Actor in a Musical) and a Tony Award (Best Performance By An Actor in a Lead Role, Musical). Beginning in February 2011, Crawford has played the role of the Wizard in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical version of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium.

Michael Winner is to bring his one-man show, Michael Winner:?My?Life in Movies and Other Places, to the King's Head Theatre for a one-night only fundraiser for the theatre.

It's now official that both Michael Crawford and Danielle Hope will both depart the West End production of THE WIZARD OF OZ on February 5, 2012. Both have been with the show since the beginning, and audiences had been following the yellow brick road over the rainbow to see Crawford (as the Wizard) and Danielle Hope (as Dorothy), winner of BBC TV's Over the Rainbow, at The London Palladium where the show began previews in early February and opened in March to great reviews.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned that director Scott Faris has joined the production team of the Broadway-bound Wililam Shatner's SHATNER'S WORLD: WE JUST LIVE IN IT as director. The show will play from February 14 - March 4 at the Music Box Theater on Broadway, before embarking on a national tour.