Scott Russell News

GODSPELL, the legendary rock musical from Stephen Schwartz, the Grammy and Academy Award- winning composer of WICKED, is back. Following the enormous success of 2014's gala performance at Shaftesbury Avenue's Lyric Theatre, in support of the charity Make-A-Wish-FoundationUK, Godspell In Concert is set to tour the UK in 2015, opening at the Hackney Empire on the 4th April.

Vertical Entertainment's teen comedy BEHAVING BADLY has just released a brand-new trailer, featuring stars Nat Wolff and Selena Gomez. Check it out below!

Recently, the UUA staff members that create your religious education curricula featured several books on their blog, Call and Response. All available from your UUA Bookstore, these books are intended to help parents interpret Unitarian Universalist values and answer the tough questions children ask outside of Sunday religious education classes.

GODSPELL, the beloved musical from Stephen Schwartz, the GRAMMY and Academy Award-winning composer of WICKED, returns to London's West End for the first time in over 40 years tonight. Russell Scott Entertainment in association with In House Casting brought back the musical sensation to London for one night only, tonight, May 19, 2014. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Vertical Entertainment has acquired all U.S. rights to Tim Garrick's BEHAVING BADLY, starring Nat Wolff (“The Fault in our Stars”) and Selena Gomez along with Mary-Louise Parker, Elisabeth Shue, Dylan McDermott, Jason Lee, Heather Graham, Cary Elwes, Gary Busey, and Patrick Warburton. The deal was announced by the company's President, Rich Goldberg, who plans to release the film in theaters in August 2014.

Twenty-three singers, five apprentice coaches and one apprentice stage director, representing ten countries, will participate in the 57th season of the Merola Opera Program from June 2 to August 17. More than 900 artists vied for the 29 coveted spots in the 2014 summer program. Offered free of charge for all participants, the prestigious Merola Opera program is unique in the industry in many ways. Merola is the only young artist program to provide financial support to developing artists for five years following participation. In the past year alone, more than $150,000 was distributed to more than 100 artists supporting varied needs from coaching to language classes to audition travel. In addition, only Merola graduates are considered for participation in the San Francisco Opera's Adler Fellowship program. Selected through an extensive world-wide audition and application process, nearly one third of this season's artists come from countries outside the United States, including: Canada, China, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, Russia, Iran, Poland and Israel. This year, the program will have three returning Merola artists, Casey Candebat (Merola 2012), Sahar Nouri and Rhys Lloyd Talbot (both Merola 2013).

Twenty young opera singers who have won regional competitions around the United States will arrive in New York next week to prepare for the next phase of the country's leading vocal competition: the semi-final round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The closed semi-final competition, held on the Met stage before a panel of judges, will determine the select group of finalists who will advance to the final round of the competition. Those finalists will return to the Met to perform in the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m., where each will perform two arias with conductor Marco Armiliato and the Met Orchestra. At the end of the concert, winners will be announced, each of whom will receive an individual cash prize of $15,000 and, more importantly, career-making exposure. The Met Auditions, currently in their 61st year, are a major stepping stone to a career as an opera singer and were crucial in introducing many of today's best-known stars, such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Deborah Voigt, and Dolora Zajick. In 2007, the National Council Audition process was captured in an acclaimed documentary, The Audition, which was released on DVD and aired on PBS, including a rebroadcast on WNET in December 2013.

Marti Webb, who recently returned to the West End in triumph in her seminal musical, Tell Me on a Sunday, has confirmed she will reunite with David Essex and other original members of the rock musical Godspell at the Lyric Theatre on Monday 19 May.

Godspell, the heart-lifting feel-good Broadway musical from Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), is to be staged in the West End for the first time since it premiered there 42 years ago.

The Broadway Revival of Godspell will be performed in Concert at The Lyric Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue, for one night only, on Monday 19th May 2014 in aid of Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, who grant magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions.

Owners Cynthia and David DiSavino star in Ken Ludwig's send-up of the country club set and their clubs

FOX Sports 1, America's new 24/7 sports network launching Aug. 17, is poised for LIVE and ENHANCED coverage of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, round 10 of the 18-race MotoGP World Championship, the globe's premier motorcycle racing series.

A new farce written by Rainbow veteran John Delancey and directed by Scott Russell brings bookstore events to a new level of chaos, with hilarious results

Cynthia and David DiSavino direct a tight, funny, warm production of Jon Lonoff's SKIN DEEP under a Rainbow Dinner Theatre title

Fine comic acting and a strong script bring the joys of an Amish Christmas to stranded New Yorkers, and to a delighted audience

The Casting Society of America (CSA) winners were announced tonight of the 28th Annual Artios Awards® For Outstanding Achievement in Casting.

Given each year, in addition to the awards presented to casting directors for their achievements in Theatre, Television, and Film casting, the CSA also gave out the following special awards to Casting Director Lora Kennedy for the Hoyt Bowers Award given for excellence in casting; Harvey Fierstein received The New York Apple Award given to individual for contributions to the New York casting community and Ben Affleck, who received the Career Achievement Award.

Last Sunday saw New Talent Spotlight's company of rising West End stars take to the stage in the eagerly awaited Charity Gala 'From Stage And Screen... And Back Again!' at the Leicester Square Theatre, in aid of the Royal Hospital for Neuro- disability. Check out photos of the performers below!

New Talent Spotlight's latest production 'From Stage And Screen... And Back Again!!!' will be held tonight, 23rd September 2012 at 7.30pm at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End, in aid of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (RHN), to launch their events season this autumn, Arts On The Hill 2012. The RHN is a national medical charity which is dedicated to the rehabilitation and long term care of people with acquired brain injury or neuro-degenerative disease.

The Casting Society of America CSA) announced today the nominations for the organization's 28th Annual Artios Awards for outstanding achievement in casting given in 22 categories including film, television and theater. The CSA will fete their own on Monday, October 29, 2012 with award ceremonies to be held simultaneously at the The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles (reception will commence at 6:00 p.m. PDT) and at XL Nightclub, Cabaret & Lounge (512 West 42nd Street) in New York (reception will commence at 6:00 p.m. EDT). Honorees for this year's Career Achievement Award, Hoyt Bowers Award and The New York Apple will be announced in the upcoming weeks.