Tim Rice News

BroadwayWorld.com's Seattle sources have exclusively confirmed for us that Disney's Aladdin will indeed open at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in July of 2011. The stage production will feature all the songs from the film as well as restored songs from early drafts of the score.

With 'a crash of drums, a flash of light,' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat explodes on stage at Olney Theatre Center as its first production of Season 2011. This traditional biblical parable is set to unfold in a very untraditional, musical manner.

'We are thrilled to bring back the award-winning smash hit Broadway musical, Disney's Beauty and the Beast,' states Christopher B. Manos, Producer of Theater of the Stars. 'Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage at the Fabulous Fox Theatre from January 12-16, 2011.

Broadway bound Ricky Martin has released the music video to his new single, The Best Thing About Me is You. Click below to check it out!

Check out the first instalment of our interview with Rob Jones, Wizard of Oz Set and Costume Designer, who reveals the details of the design process from sketchbook to stage - and how he and his team work with Production Manager and regular Oz Blogger Matt Towell to create the fantastic land of Oz…

After 15 years of friendship and co-starring roles in Jonathan Larsen's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal came together to bring fans what they've been waiting for: an up-close-and-personal concert featuring their individual work as well as fan-favorite numbers from the production that rocketed them to international stardom. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the event and brings you photo coverage below.

Imagination and teamwork will be center stage when a diverse cast of over 2,000 students and teachers representing 50+ schools and educational theatre groups from 15 states and Canada join Broadway creatives in a monumental celebration of the arts at the 2011 Junior Theater Festival happening January 14 - 16, 2011, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars president, Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding chairman of iTheatrics. Four-time Tony nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical) will receive the Junior Theater Festival Award for Advancement of Musical Theatre for Young People, while Broadway producer and Disney Theatrical Group president Thomas Schumacher will be the festival's keynote speaker and Grammy award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox will participate in a Q&A session with all attendees. For the first time, in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the festival will also feature 'Dream Boxes' where students will record 30 second messages with their dreams for the future to be uploaded on the Internet.

For the first time, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the stars from 'RENT,' will embark on a National Concert Tour exclusively through rj productions. Feinstein's at Loews Regency will join rj productions in producing ADAM AND ANTHONY LIVE AT TOWN HALL on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 8 PM.

Upcoming MTI Shows - 1/09 for Paris

The New York Times will hold its 10th annual Arts & Leisure Weekend on Jan. 6 to 9, 2011.

'Sir Tim Rice & Friends,' a salute to the Disney on Broadway songbook was held on Friday, January 7 and hosted by Oscar and Tony Award-winning lyricist Tim Rice. All seven of the accomplished performers are veterans of one or more Disney Theatrical Productions' Broadway shows.

The Seattle Times is reporting that 'The 5th Avenue Theatre has apparently forged a deal with the Walt Disney Company to stage the world premiere of a new Disney musical, 'Aladdin,' in the summer.

Disney's The Lion King, playing at the Durham Performing Arts Center through January 30, is theatrical storytelling at its most spectacular. Take a familiar father/son story that borrows heavily from Shakespeare, the Greeks, and the Bible. Add incredible, near unimaginable, artistry - puppets, masks, glorious costumes and scenery. Mix in a heavy dose of humor and catchy, familiar music. Throw in a mix of African traditions and some Asian influences and you have one of the finest and most collaborative pieces of popular theatre that has ever graced the stage.

We head back to the Wizard of Oz rehearsal rooms to catch up with some of the company's swings - Olly, Becky, Ceili and Anna - who take some time out to explain to us exactly what being a swing means!

Highlights Include Michael Bolton, Vic Damone, Michael Feinstein, Roberta Flack, Dudu Fisher, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine, Peking Acrobats, Don Rickles & Joan Rivers, Jake Shimabukuro, The Temptations & The Four Tops, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Forever Plaid, Tango Inferno, NETworks Presents Disney's Beauty & The Beast & The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein

Andrew Lloyd Webber's new The Wizard of Oz promises to be the biggest theatre event of the year, combining all the much-loved songs from the Oscar-winning movie score with new songs. Now, the full cast for the much anticipated show has been revealed. Joining the previously announced MICHAEL CRAWFORD (Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz), DANIELLE HOPE (Dorothy), EDWARD BAKER-DULY (Hickory/Tin Man), DAVID GANLY (Zeke/Cowardly Lion), PAUL KEATING (Hunk/Scarecrow), EMILY TIERNEY (Glinda), and HANNAH WADDINGHAM (Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West) are: SOPHIE EVANS (Alternate Dorothy), STEPHEN SCOTT (Uncle Henry/Ensemble, first cover Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz), and HELEN WALSH (Aunt Em/Munchkin Barrister/Ensemble).

In his latest update, Production Manager Matt Towell takes us backstage at the London Palladium (which turned 100 on 26th December 2010) to see how the set's progressing as we move ever-closer to Opening Night…

Having essayed the roles of Belle in BEAUTY & THE BEAST and the title role in MARY POPPINS on Broadway, as well as having created a role in the jukebox revue ON THE RECORD, Ashley Brown has carved a place for herself as the premiere Disney leading lady of the 21st century and her participation in the recent symphonic presentation of SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARVES only furthers that point. I spoke to Ashley yesterday as she was on her way to rehearsals for SIR TIM RICE & FRIENDS, a special concert taking place in NYC on Friday at 6 PM and we discussed her career so far and her plans for the future, both near and far. Also, here you will find the first news of Ashley's upcoming PBS special airing in March and a forthcoming original Charlie Chaplin musical as well as a Cole Porter revue based on the film ROMAN HOLIDAY.

The New York Times will hold its 10th annual Arts & Leisure Weekend on Jan. 6 to 9, 2011.

Broadway leading man and AMERICAN IDOL season 2 contestant Josh Strickland spoke to me yesterday about his career so far - on a trip from the Broadway stage in TARZAN, to the burlesque stage in Jerry Mitchell's PEEP SHOW in Las Vegas, right to the concert stage in NYC on Friday night in SIR TIM RICE & FRIENDS - all in just a handful of years. All of that is without even mentioning season two of the smash hit reality series HOLLY'S WORLD that he co-stars on, which will be following KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS: KARDASHIANS TAKE NEW YORK on Sunday nights starting January 23 on E!. Also, Josh shared with me the first news about his new dance album coming out later this year, as well, which is the centerpiece of his storyline on the show this season! More information about the one night only NY TIMES Arts & Leisure-hosted SIR TIM RICE & FRIENDS event on Friday at 6 PM is available here.