Tom Kitt News

A Fabulous Night for Singing

Broadway musicals of the most recent vintage will find a new home in Tennessee in 2015 as The Arts Center of Cannon County plans an impressive and ambitious season of shows. Ranging from two Disney classics (Mary Poppins and Tarzan) to two productions based on hit films (Bring It On and Ghost) and a riveting courtroom drama (12 Angry Men), the Woodbury-based theater company promises an upcoming season that will delight audiences while bolstering ticket sales.

I have to admit that I was very excited when I read that veteran actor Michael Winther would be returning to Center Stage to star in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical NEXT TO NORMAL. It was Director David Schweizer who asked Winther to come to Center Stage for the role of Dan. Schweizer also directed Winther back in 2007 when he played the role of Dromio in BOYS FROM SYRACUSE along with Manu Narayan and Paolo Montalban. Winther became friends with Narayan when the two both worked on Broadway at the same time, Narayan was the star of BOMBAY DREAMS at the Broadway Theater and Winther was down the street at the Winter Garden in MAMMA MIA! Winther related it was Narayan who called him up last year to take Narayan's place in San Paolo, Brazil to perform in the KIezmer musical THE NIGHT IN THE OLD MARKET PLACE. So Winther spent ten days in Brazil along with another actress from the BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, Charlotte Cohn.

IF/THEN's James Snyder is not just a Broadway star and heart-throb. He is also a songwriter and talented guitarist! In this video, watch as he shows his fans how to play 'Somebody Better' off his album LA Curse' (also written by Ross Golan)- right at places for the show! Jenn Colella also makes a cameo. Check it out below!

The Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar had its Broadway premiere last night, October 23, 2014, starring Hari Dhillon (star of the acclaimed London's Bush Theatre production), Gretchen Mol ('Boardwalk Empire'),Karen Pittman (Domesticated) and Josh Radnor ('How I Met Your Mother'). BroadwayWorld's Richar Ridge was on the red carpet to chat with the show's guests before the curtain went up. Check out interviews with Julia Murney, Tom Kitt, Tony Danza, Judith Light and more below!

The Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar had its Broadway premiere last night, October 23, 2014, starring Hari Dhillon (star of the acclaimed London's Bush Theatre production), Gretchen Mol ('Boardwalk Empire'),Karen Pittman (Domesticated) and Josh Radnor ('How I Met Your Mother'). BroadwayWorld was there for the whole night of festivities and we take on the star-studded red carpet below!

This holiday season, get ready for more outrageously delightful songs and charmingly naughty puppets, as New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the return of its sold-out, record-breaking hit Avenue Q, with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, book by Jeff Whitty, based on an original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx.

Sonnet Repertory Theatre presents their Twelfth Annual Benefit and Cabaret on Sunday, November 23, at Joe's Pub to honor award-winning actress, CELIA WESTON.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Two more shows begin off-Broadway, JERSEY BOYS welcomes two new cast members on tour, and two stars -- Susan Boyle and Billy Crystal -- release their latest projects!

Producer Aaron Harnick announced today that The Visitor, based on the 2007 Oscar-nominated dramatic film of the same name, will get the musical treatment from Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning team Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. The Broadway-bound musical will have a private industry reading this December.

Or perhaps a better title for this review should be "pretty typical," i.e. typical for a modern American musical.

Center Stage presents the rock musical Next to Normal, the second show of its music-filled 2014-15 Season.

Director David Schweizer returns to Center Stage and directs a sublime musical.

Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda and his wife, Vanessa Nadal, who have been married since 2010, made quite the announcement this morning: the two are expecting their first child - and soon!

Today, Actors' Equity Association named IF/THEN the recipient of the 'Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway' Award for the 2013-14 theatrical season. The award honors shows that exemplify and promote the union's founding principles of diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity for all who work in the theatre. Accepting the award on behalf of the IF/THEN producers and creative team was the production's Casting Director, Bernard Telsey. Scroll down for a photo!

The Public Theater announced a four-week extension for the world premiere musical HAMILTON, with book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Inspired by the book 'Alexander Hamilton' by Ron Chernow and directed by Thomas Kail, HAMILTON begins performances on Tuesday, January 20 and was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, February 22. The musical will now run an additional four weeks to Sunday, March 22, with an official press opening on Tuesday, February 17.

I was fortunate enough to see a showing of the National Tour of Next To Normal with Alice Ripley at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle in 2012; I am also a proud USD theatre graduate, so when I took my seat in the Wayne S. Knutson Theatre on the campus of The University Of South Dakota, I knew this show had a lot to live up to. Luckily enough for me, it exceeded my expectations in many ways.