Nell Benjamin News

Mother's Day could be extra-special this year for the moms of the University of Michigan Department of Musical Theatre (UMSMTD) 2018 graduating class.  Most likely, many of them will accompany their just-graduated seniors to New York City and celebrate Mother's Day on the Great White Way.  Then, on Monday, May 14, 19 of the 20 UMSMTD grads will be having their first professional auditions in their chosen career of theatre.

Nell Benjamin's comedy THE EXPLORERS CLUB is a spoof of all those bold Victorian adventurers who ravaged foreign lands and annihilated indigenous cultures in the name of science. It's London 1879 and the prestigious Explorers Club is in crisis: a brilliant, beautiful woman who has discovered a legendary Lost City wants to join, but letting her in might shake the very foundations of the British Empire! THE EXPLORERS CLUB, which enjoyed a successful run off-Broadway in 2013, was honored with awards including the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant.

InterACT Theatre Productions presents LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL at The Baird Theatre

There are some comedies where a good part of the fun lies in watching the cast having fun. 'The Explorers Club,' the final offering of the season from the Mad Horse Theatre Company, is one of those.

Season 18 at New Village Arts is a celebration of the diversity of our community.  With six mainstage productions, NVA has created an eclectic season of adventurous artistic experiences. For the third season in a row, NVA has parity between its male and female playwrights and has continued its commitment to open casting. We believe that representation on stage is incredibly important, and strive to make our casts as diverse as possible.  Teatro Pueblo Nuevo will continue for its second year, and the season includes two San Diego Premieres, one West Coast Premiere, and one World Premiere adaptation. There is something for everyone in this season, and we can't wait to share it with you!

Arena Stage announces the full cast and creative team for Dave. By Thomas Meehan, Nell Benjaminand Tom Kitt, Dave is inspired by the Academy Award-nominated American political comedy film.

Paper Mill Playhouse will host an online contest to promote their production of Half Time, the new musical about not acting your age. "Generations," The Half Time Dance Contest is a social contest where participants will film a video of multiple generations of their family dancing to whatever music moves them.

London, 1879. The prestigious Explorers Club is in crisis: their bartender is terrible. Possibly worse - their acting president wants to admit a woman! True, the lady in question is brilliant, beautiful, and daring, but admitting her into this enclave could shake the very foundation of the British Empire - and how does one make such a decision without a decent drink? Prepare your secret handshake and enter the hilarious world of THE EXPLORER'S CLUB.

BroadwayWorld has a first listen to 'Apex Predator' from the Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast recording! Hear the track below!

Just yesterday the nominees flocked to the InterContinental New York Times Square Hotel, where they met with the press for the first time since getting the big news. BroadwayWorld will be bringing you coverage from the epic day over the next month (so watch out for lots more), but for now, hold yourself over with portraits of the nominees by BroadwayWorlds' very own Walter McBride.

The 2004 film "Mean Girls" was written by Tina Fey. Now a Broadway musical version of the film has earned a whopping 12 Tony nominations. Fey tells TODAY that she was at the gym when she got the news, and "I started crying in the middle of Equinox." More on this story here.

Continuing TODAY's 'Best of Broadway' week, Tina Fey is live on the TODAY plaza to introduce a performance by the cast of her Broadway musical 'Mean Girls,' which has received a dozen Tony nominations. Watch them perform a song from the show, 'Apex Predator.'

Everything's coming up Tonys! Spring has sprung, awards season has begun, and the latter is all that really matters to Broadway fans everywhere. Earlier this week, Katharine McPhee and Leslie Odom Jr. announced the 2018 Tony nominations, celebrating the best of the 2017-18 theatre season (and what a season it's been!). Leading the pack were Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical with 12 nominations, followed by Angels in America, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel andThe Band's Visit with 11 and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two with 10. Click here for a full list of nominees!

Alle 14.40 ore italiane di oggi 1 maggio Katharine McPhee e Leslie Odom Jr. hanno annunciato i nomi delle opere teatrali (play e musical), suddivise per categorie, in gara per la prossima edizione dei Tony Awards che si terra il 10 giugno al Radio City Music Hall di New York.

BroadwayWorld has been checking in with Tony Award nominees all morning! We caught up with the nominated cast and creative from Mean Girls on Broadway to get their first reactions at being up for Tony Awards this season.

Below, check out how each show fared individually in BWW's list of nominations by show.

This year's TONY AWARDS nominations have just been announced by Katharine McPhee and Leslie Odom Jr. and here they are, celebrating the best of the 2017-18 theatre season (and what a season it's been!) The 2018 TONY AWARDS will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on Sunday, June 10th on CBS. Our official Tony coverage kicks off - NOW!

The Keegan Theatre is proud to announce its 2018-2019 season, a ten-show lineup that includes three musicals, two regional premieres, two DC-area premieres, and two Keegan PLAY-RAH-KA productions for families.  "Heading into our 22nd season, Keegan is as vibrant and busy as we've ever been," says Producing Artistic Director Mark A. Rhea. "We are more passionate than ever about engaging with our community as far as the stories we tell and the programming we offer - through our main stage season, our Boiler Room series, and our ever-growing educational branch, Keegan PLAY-RAH-KA."

In the past few weeks, we've watched the nominations roll in. Today the final crop of nominees have been revealed, all leading to next week's ultimate announcement- the 2018 Tony nominations.

According to Radar, Lindsay Lohan will attend Mean Girls on Broadway tomorrow night! The report says that the actress, who originated the now-iconic role of Cady Heron in the 2004 film Mean Girls, was not previously invited to see a performance of the recently-opened musical.