Stephen Sondheim News

Pandora Productions has been presenting plays and musicals that speak to the LGBTQ community for over 20 years but in the 2015-2016 season she will step outside the comfortable 'box' to present a Tony award winning musical by a gay composer but without the usual LBGTQ themes. Stephen Sondheim's PASSION opens the season in September.

The full cast of Beautiful-The Carole King Musical, the smash hit musical about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter, just performed in City Parks Foundation's SummerStage festival in Central Park. The free event was comprised of all of the classic hits from the Broadway production, performed concert-style in Central Park. Check out photos from the special event below!

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, and KulturfestNYC, the citywide week-long summer mega-festival that brought in over 50,000 attendees, present 'Another Hundred Years' tonight, August 5th at 9:30pm.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, and KulturfestNYC present 'Another Hundred Years' tonight, August 5th at 9:30pm.

Musical theatre is not generally known for being an early adopter of up-to-the-minute trends in popular music, particularly since the advent of rock n roll and the great divide between popular music and theatre music began in the 1950s. Nevertheless, the presence of modern music idioms in contemporary musicals is a fascinating and often wildly entertaining element to assess when analyzing the great pantheon of scores that have graced the Great White Way. With the predominance of rap music in popular music for the majority of the last 30 years, it comes as no surprise that many musicals have employed the genre in the storytelling and song styling designed specifically for the shows, but the level of success as storytelling devices, character showpieces and as authentic rap music itself varies. Of course, with HAMILTON set to open on Broadway later this month, all of New York City is talking about the persuasive power of the scores of Lin-Manuel Miranda, he who was responsible for multiple rap showstoppers in his self-penned Tony Award-winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS as well as the hip hop tunes in the screen-to-stage adaptation of BRING IT ON, so now is a perfect time to take a look back at some of the most memorable and revolutionary uses of rap music on Broadway to date.

Jamie Wilson has announced a national tour of an all new production of the hit musical comedy SISTER ACT, directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood with musical supervision and arrangements by Tony award-winning Sarah Travis. SISTER ACT UK tour opens at Curve, Leicester on Saturday 30 July 2016, coming to the King's Theatre Glasgow from Tuesday 4 until Saturday 8 October 2016. Tour schedule attached with further dates and casting to be announced soon.

Single tickets to the Huntington Theatre Company's 2015-2016 Season will go on sale to the general public at midnight on Tuesday, August 4. Single tickets to A Little Night Music and A Confederacy of Dunces are on sale now. The upcoming season features four world premieres, Stephen Sondheim's most popular musical, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and August Wilson's powerful memoir, with performances by award-winning Boston favorites and international theatre artists. 

?Bernadette Peters releases her third children's book this summer. Titled STELLA AND CHARLIE, FRIENDS FOREVER, it will hit the shelves today, August 4, 2015.

With a cast featuring Music Circus audience favorites and Broadway veterans, several of which have performed in the show on Broadway and on tour, West Side Story, the fifth production in the 65th Music Circus season, celebrates Broadway at its greatest. Performances are tonight, August 4 through Sunday, August 9 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.

Center Theatre Group and Playwrights Horizons have announced casting for "The Christians," a new play written by Lucas Hnath ("A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney," "Isaac's Eye," "Death Tax"). 

This week at 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

Grammy award winning singer and songwriter Melissa Manchester has done it all.  Her first singing job, as a solo singer/pianist in the clubs of New York, is where she met Bette Midler.  She was hired as a back-up singer for Bette, as one of the famous, “Harlettes,” and six months later, she had her own recording contract!

Jamie Wilson has announced a national tour of an all new production of the hit musical comedy SISTER ACT, directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood with musical supervision and arrangements by Tony award-winning Sarah Travis. SISTER ACT will open at Curve, Leicester on Saturday 30 July 2016. Tickets go on sale Monday 10 August 2015. Tour schedule attached with further dates and casting to be announced soon.

Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.

The full cast of Beautiful-The Carole King Musical, the smash hit musical about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter, will perform in City Parks Foundation's SummerStage festival in Central Park for one-night-only, tonight, August 3 at 8:00 PM (doors open at 7:00 PM).

BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at The Encore Theatre's fairytale musical 'Into the Woods!' Preview night is Thursday, August 6th.  Check out a first look below!

The Encore Theatre set to open the fairytale musical 'Into the Woods!' Preview night is Thursday, August 6th.  Check out an exclusive backstage look below!

Jamie Wilson is delighted to announce a national tour of an all new production of the hit musical comedySISTER ACT, directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood with musical supervision and arrangements by Tony award-winning Sarah Travis. SISTER ACT will open at Curve, Leicester on Saturday 30 July 2016. Tickets go on sale Monday 10 August 2015. Tour schedule attached with further dates and casting to be announced soon.

Summer Stock Austin has been a part of the Austin theatre scene since 2005. Annually, college and high school students from across Texas meet to mount several productions with professionals from Austin and around the country in a one-of-a-kind experience. They work as a traditional 'stock' company; each member performs, designs, builds, and assists on the various aspects of theatrical productions. Similar programs charge high school students tuition, but Summer Stock Austin not only offers the experience to all participants free of charge, many of the college students work as mentors throughout the process. Led by a host of professionals with experience ranging from Austin to Broadway, students begin making invaluable connections as they embark on their professional careers and gain firsthand knowledge of working in a professional setting.

Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre will play host to Steven Stead's production of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's musical thriller, which first premiered on Broadway in 1979.