Neil Meron News

It has been a banner year for PROMISES, PROMISES' Katie Finneran. Her critically acclaimed performance as Marge MacDougall in the smash hit musical comedy PROMISES, PROMISES swept the 2010 awards season winning her the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. On Sunday, August 22, Ms. Finneran married long time companion Darren Goldstein (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), and now the couple has announced that they are expecting a child this winter. It is with best wishes that the producers of PROMISES, PROMISES announced today that Tony Award winner Katie Finneran will play her final performance in the smash hit musical comedy on Sunday, October 10, 2010. This new production of PROMISES, PROMISES, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford with Neil Simon's funny and touching book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's hit-packed score, began previews at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) Saturday, March 27, 2010, and opened on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Casting for Broadway's next Marge MacDougall will be announced shortly.

According to report by Deadline.com, ABC Family will be turning the story of Constance McMillen into a movie. A recent topic of national conversation, McMillen is a teenager from Mississippi who was recently barred from attending her high school prom.

As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, production for the highly anticipated remake of Footloose is now in production in anticipation of an April 2011 release date. MacDowell will join Julianne Hough, Kenny Worlmald, Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell star in the film. ETOnline recently visited the Footloose set to catch up with star Julianne Hough. Click below for the spot!

On September 7, Ellen DeGeneres made an appearance in Broadway's PROMISES, PROMISES alongside Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes. In the video below, DeGeneres visits backstage at the Broadway Theatre before her big debut. DeGeneres visited Chenoweth's dressing room where she met her dog, Maddie before being joined by Sean Hayes to practice breathing exercises with Hayes. DeGeneres then took the stage with the rest of the PROMISES, PROMISES cast to practice her singing.

As reported previously, Ellen Degeneres made a surprise cameo in PROMISES, PROMISES September 7, performing alongside Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. Footage from her surprise performance aired September 15 on the season premiere of her show on NBC. The clips have hit the internet today! Click here to watch her spot.

Lifetime Television has renewed its hit scripted series Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva for their fifth and third seasons, respectively, to premiere in 2011, during which 13 all-new episodes of each program will air on the network. The announcement was made today by Nancy Dubuc, President and General Manager of Lifetime Networks and HISTORY.

The producers of PROMISES, PROMISES announced today that the smash hit, Tony Award-winning revival will play its final performance on Broadway on Sunday, January 2, 2011, having played 30 preview and 291 regular performances. The show's stars Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Tony Goldwyn, Dick Latessa and Molly Shannon have all extended their contracts for an additional week to ring in the New Year. PROMISES, PROMISES is expected to recoup its investment in the coming weeks with complete details to be announced at that time. In addition the producers are excited to announce that discussions have begun for a possible tour of this new production of PROMISES, PROMISES, with more details to follow. PROMISES, PROMISES, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford with Neil Simon's funny and touching book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's hit-packed score, began previews at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) Saturday, March 27, 2010, and since it opened Sunday, April 25, 2010, has been one of Broadway's top grossing shows week after week.

As reported previously, Ellen Degeneres made a surprise cameo in PROMISES, PROMISES September 7, performing alongside Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. Footage from her surprise performance will air September 15 on the season premiere of her show on NBC.

The producers of PROMISES, PROMISES are thrilled to announce that 'Saturday Night Live' alumnus and 'Superstar' Molly Shannon will make her Broadway debut in the smash hit musical comedy as Marge MacDougall for a limited 11 week run from Tuesday, October 12, 2010 through Sunday, December 26, 2010. This new production of PROMISES, PROMISES, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford with Neil Simon's funny and touching book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's hit-packed score, began previews at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) Saturday, March 27, 2010, and opened on Sunday, April 25, 2010.

Last night, September 7, Ellen DeGeneres made a surprise cameo in PROMISES, PROMISES as the 'Nurse' in Act 1, performing alongside Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. The cameo was orchestrated as a promo for the upcoming season of her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres show. In a move that surprised everyone, her walk-on was kept under wraps until her debut last night, with media not being alerted until midnight following the performance.

According to EW.com, Andie MacDowell is set to play Vi, in the highly anticipated Footloose remake. MacDoweel will join Julianne Hough, Kenny Worlmald, and Dennis Quaid, who will play MacDowell's husband-Reverend Moore. The movie is set to hit theatres in April of 2011, and production will begin in the near future.

It has been a banner year for PROMISES, PROMISES' Katie Finneran. Her critically acclaimed performance as Marge MacDougall in the smash hit musical comedy PROMISES, PROMISES swept the 2010 awards season winning her the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. On Sunday, August 22, Ms. Finneran married long time companion Darren Goldstein (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), and now the couple has announced that they are expecting a child this winter. It is with best wishes that the producers of PROMISES, PROMISES announced today that Tony Award winner Katie Finneran will play her final performance in the smash hit musical comedy on Sunday, October 10, 2010. This new production of PROMISES, PROMISES, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford with Neil Simon's funny and touching book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's hit-packed score, began previews at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) Saturday, March 27, 2010, and opened on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Casting for Broadway's next Marge MacDougall will be announced shortly.

The producers of the Tony Award-winning production of PROMISES, PROMISES are thrilled to announce that Tony and Emmy Award winner and 2010 Emmy nominee Kristin Chenoweth has extended her run in the smash hit musical comedy for three additional months. Kristin Chenoweth and her Tony-nominated and Emmy Award-winning co-star Sean Hayes will play their final performance together in PROMISES, PROMISES on Sunday, December 26, 2010.

Daniel Radcliffe will make his Broadway musical debut as J. Pierrepont Finch in a new production of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical comedy HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opening at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) Sunday, March 27, 2011, at 5pm.

He's cool, he's hip, he's short...ish. He's the happening host, the man with a spring in his step (thanks to his platform shoes), the man who puts the 'i-t-y' in Marvelosity! He's the wannabe King of talk -- a driven, terribly insecure and narcissistic fellow, with a bit of a self-destructive bent -- and nothing is off limits as long as it's all about him. He's the one, the only, Martin -- and he will show you just how marvelous he is as he interviews four eccentrically distinct guests in his one man show at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street, starting on July 13th, as part of the Eleventh Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival.

Daniel Radcliffe will make his Broadway musical debut as J. Pierrepont Finch in a new production of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical comedy HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opening at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) Sunday, March 27, 2011, at 5pm.

He's cool, he's hip, he's short...ish. He's the happening host, the man with a spring in his step (thanks to his platform shoes), the man who puts the 'i-t-y' in Marvelosity! He's the wannabe King of talk -- a driven, terribly insecure and narcissistic fellow, with a bit of a self-destructive bent -- and nothing is off limits as long as it's all about him. He's the one, the only, Martin -- and he will show you just how marvelous he is as he interviews four eccentrically distinct guests in his one man show at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street, starting on July 13th, as part of the Eleventh Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival.

Adam Goodman, President of Paramount Pictures Film Group, announced on Tuesday the completion of principle casting on writer / director Craig Brewer's 'Footloose'. Following an extensive worldwide search, newcomer Kenny Wormald will play the highly coveted role of ‘Ren', opposite previously announced star Julianne Hough as ‘Ariel'. Dennis Quaid also joins the cast in the role of ‘Reverend Moore', along with Miles Teller as ‘Willard'.

The new Broadway Cast Recording of PROMISES, PROMISES was released nationwide physically and digitally on June 22, 2010 and is produced by Grammy Award winners David Caddick and David Lai. For the first time in over forty years PROMISES, PROMISES returns to the stage starring Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes and Tony and Emmy Award winner Kristin Chenoweth. Directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford, this new production of PROMISES, PROMISES, with Neil Simon's funny and touching book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's hit-packed score, opened at the Broadway Theatre Sunday, April 25, 2010.

Adam Goodman, President of Paramount Pictures Film Group, announced today the completion of principle casting on writer / director Craig Brewer's 'Footloose'. Following an extensive worldwide search, newcomer Kenny Wormald will play the highly coveted role of ‘Ren', opposite previously announced star Julianne Hough as ‘Ariel'. Dennis Quaid also joins the cast in the role of ‘Reverend Moore', along with Miles Teller as ‘Willard'.