Global Roundup 10/4 - Alice Ripley in SUNSET BOULEVARD, CHASING RAINBOWS, LITTLE SHOP And More!

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature ALMOST FAMOUS, Rob McClure As MRS. DOUBTFIRE, and more!

Check out our top news and features from around the BroadwayWorld below! Want more great global content? Check out our "Around The World" section!

Top Stories

VIDEO: George Salazar and MJ Rodriguez Perform 'Suddenly Seymour' on THE LATE LATE SHOW - Pasadena Playhouse's Little Shop of Horrors is now on stage through through October 20! Last night, George Salazar (Seymour) and MJ Rodriguez (Audrey) appeared on The Late Late Show where they performed Suddenly Seymour. Watch the video! In addition to Salazar and Rodriguez, the production stars Amber Riley as "Audrey ll." They are joined by Kevin Chamberlin, three-time Tony Award nominee known for his theatre roles such as Horton in Seussical and Fester in The Addams Family on Broadway in the role of "Mr. Mushnik." Matthew Wilkas, known for his starring role in the gay indie film Gayby and for playing Peter Parker in Broadway's Spider-Man:Turn Off The Dark has been announced for the role of "Orin Scrivello." The cast of Little Shop of Horrors is rounded out by Brittany Campbell, Tickwanya Jones, and Cheyenne Isabel Wells, and puppeteers Tyler Bremer, Kelsey Kato, Tim Kopacz, Sarah Kay Peters, and Paul Turbiak.
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VIDEO: Alice Ripley Stars In North Shore Music Theatres's SUNSET BOULEVARD - BroadwayWorld has a first look at Alice Ripley as Norma Desmond in North Shore Music Theatre's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Masterwork, SUNSET BOULEVARD, playing for two-weeks only from Tuesday, September 24 thru Sunday, October 6, 2019.
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Breaking: BE MORE CHILL Will Get A London Upgrade in 2020 -
Be More Chill is to transfer to London to make its UK premiere at The Other Palace on Wednesday 12 February 2020. Be More Chill is based on the groundbreaking novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini.
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VIDEO: Get a First Look at Footage From CHASING RAINBOWS: THE ROAD TO OZ at Paper Mill Playhouse - Performances are underway for Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz at Paper Mill Playhouse! With a book by Marc Acito, musical adaptation and additional music by David Libby, and conceived by and additional lyrics by Tina Marie Casamento, the show plays through Sunday, October 27, 2019.
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Top Reviews

Salt Lake City: Contributor Tyler Hinton reviews PHANTOM at the Hale Centre Theatre, writing "Maury Yeston's PHANTOM on Hale Centre Theatre's Centre Stage has been cast, designed, and directed to magnificence. Experience a new, more human side to the story you know so well through this magnificent, emotional production of a beautifully crafted musical."

Connecticut: Contributor Joseph Harrison reviews QUIXOTE NUEVO at Hartford Stage, writing "There are some stories that have a timeless quality, speaking to the aches and the joys of modern life regardless of the era in which they are told. Such is the classic tale of Don Quixote, a story that, when Miguel de Cervantes published it in 1605, took on a certain meaning and century after century has been seen through an evolving lens, from comic novel to tragic statement against nobility. But in Octavio Solis' new play QUIXOTE NUEVO, which opens Hartford Stage's 2019/2020 season, the infamous Spanish Knight of La Mancha has become the Latino Knight of La Plancha (Texas) battling border surveillance drones instead of windmills and fighting for the undocumented versus the poor citizens of war-ravaged Spain."

Buffalo: Contributor Michael Rabice reviews MEAN GIRLS at Shea's Buffalo Theatre, writing "The brilliant comedian Tina Fey has brought her clique of nasty teenage girls to town to open the First National Tour of her Broadway hit musical, MEAN GIRLS. After the success of the film version, Fey and her husband, composer Jeff Richmond, have added music to the story of teenage angst and meanness. The genre has been well populated over the years, with growing up and adolescent relationships proving to be great fodder for shows like GREASE, BYE, BYE, BIRDIE, HAIRSPRAY, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and most recently, THE PROM."

Boston: Contributor Nancy Grossman reviews Alice Ripley in SUNSET BOULEVARD at North Shore, writing "In the annals of musical theater, Norma Desmond is one of those larger than life characters, like Mame Dennis, Dolly Levi, and Eva Peron, who cries out for an actor with a specific and rare combination of skills to play the role. Tony Award-winner Alice Ripley ascends to playing the faded silent-screen star in the North Shore Music Theatre production of SUNSET BOULEVARD, after originating the role of Betty Schaefer in the 1994 original Broadway cast which starred Glenn Close. In so doing, Ripley joins the pantheon of singular talents who have put their personal stamp on the musical iteration of Norma, stepping out of the shadow of the indelible mark Gloria Swanson made on celluloid in Billy Wilder's 1950 film."

Regional Editor Spotlight:

Nancy Grossman

From producing and starring in family holiday pageants as a child, to avid member of Broadway Across America and Show of the Month Club, Nancy has cultivated her love of the art and respect for the craft of theatre. She fulfilled a dream when she became an adult-onset tap dancer in the early 90's ("Gotta dance!"); she fulfills another by providing reviews for BroadwayWorld.com. Nancy is a member of the Boston Theater Critics Association, the organization which bestows the annual Elliot Norton Awards which honor the outstanding achievements of the Boston theater community, and she formerly served on the Executive Board of the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE). Nancy is an alumna of Syracuse University, has a graduate degree from Boston University, and is a retired Probation Officer-in-Charge in the Massachusetts Trial Court system.

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