Wicked - Articles Page 9

On Wednesday, October 30th, the blockbuster musical, WICKED, will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on Broadway, a milestone achieved by only ten other Broadway productions in history. The creative team and many of the musical's previous cast members will celebrate WICKED's first decade with a special performance, followed by a company party, on October 30th at 7:00pm. BroadwayWorld will be counting down to the milestone with daily flashbacks of Wicked's biggest events, most memorable cast members, and best performances. In today's installment, we remember the actors that have taken on the role of Oz's leader- the Wizard!

On Wednesday, October 30th, the blockbuster musical, WICKED, will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on Broadway, a milestone achieved by only ten other Broadway productions in history. The creative team and many of the musical's previous cast members will celebrate WICKED's first decade with a special performance, followed by a company party, on October 30th at 7:00pm. BroadwayWorld will be counting down to the milestone with daily flashbacks of Wicked's biggest events, most memorable cast members, and best performances. In today's installment, we remember the actors that have taken on the role of Oz's resident bad boy- Fiyero!

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents the Tony Award-winning songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once on This Island, My Favorite Year, Seussical, Lucky Stiff, the upcoming Rocky, and more) in celebration of their thirty years of collaboration. In 'Nice Fighting You: A 30th Anniversary Celebration,' September 26 - 28, Ahrens and Flaherty will offer six very special concerts featuring their best known songs, rare gems and even some never-before-heard material, performed by a rotating cast of Broadway stars including Annaleigh Ashford (Kinky Boots), Stephanie J. Block (Anything Goes, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Liz Callaway (Baby,Miss Saigon, Anastasia), Kevin Chamberlin (Seussical, Dirty Blonde), Lilla Crawford (Annie),Lewis Grosso (Newsies), Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple, Ragtime, Once on This Island), Quentin Earl Darrington (Ragtime), Rebecca Luker (Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Nine), Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me Kate, Ragtime, Passion), Sean McCourt (Wicked, A Man of No Importance), Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me Kate, Ragtime, Women on the Verge...),Jessica Molaskey (Sunday in the Park With George, Songs for a New World, A Man of No Importance), Bobby Steggert (Big Fish, Ragtime), Mary Testa (42nd Street, Lucky Stiff), and Tony Award Winner, Director/Music Director Ted Sperling (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza, andThe Other Josh Cohen).

Kevin Sherwin takes in this ambitious, emotional transfer of the 2005 Broadway hit.

I was a freshman at Sam Houston State University when I first read Gregory Maguire's riveting and racy novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. That same year, on October 30, 2003 WICKED opened on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre. I was first bewitched by WICKED when the Original Broadway Cast Album was released on December 16, 2003. In October 2005, I saw the miraculous show for the first time when the First National Tour landed in Houston. Now, WICKED is retuning to Houston for the fourth time and the musical's Broadway production will turn 10 years old this year. It is currently the 12th Longest Running Show in Broadway history. WICKED, with its multiple productions all over the world, is a musical phenomenon that enchants audiences everywhere it goes.

Kinky Boots is a dynamic musical based on the 2005 British movie of the same name. The show, with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, has 13 Tony nominations under it's belt, and has come out to stellar audience reception.

'La Marie-Vison' tells the perversely fascinating tale of Marie, a transvestite prostitute who lives in elegant squalor with her dedicated servant. Every day, for eighteen years, Marie releases an exotic butterfly into the open fields of the living room. Every day for eighteen years the beautiful boy, imprisoned in her den, catches and kills it. The beautiful boy is tempted with visions of the outside world, free from the wiles of wicked Marie, but maybe the boy wasn't made for the outside world. Maybe none of us were.

Winner of the 2012 Fred Ebb Award, musical theatre composer/lyricist Sam Willmott will showcase his work with The Songs of Sam Willmott at the York Theatre tonight, April 8th at 6:30 PM. Presented by the Fred Ebb Foundation in association with the York Theatre Company, the free concert event will feature Tony nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla: Queen of the Desert) with Etai BenShlomo (Wicked), Griffin Birney (Fun Home), Alyse Alan Louis (Mamma Mia!), Grace McLean (The Last Goodbye), Matthew Schechter (Mary Poppins), and Sam Teldaldi (Fantasy Football: The Musical). The band includes Gregg Monteith and Peter Sachon. Sam Pinkleton directs with musical direction by Matt Aument. Rachel Sussman produces.

Winner of the 2012 Fred Ebb Award, musical theatre composer/lyricist Sam Willmott will showcase his work with The Songs of Sam Willmott at the York Theatre on Monday, April 8th at 6:30 PM. Presented by the Fred Ebb Foundation in association with the York Theatre Company, the free concert event will feature Tony nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla: Queen of the Desert) with Etai BenShlomo (Wicked), Griffin Birney (Fun Home), Alyse Alan Louis (Mamma Mia!), Grace McLean (The Last Goodbye), Matthew Schechter (Mary Poppins), and Sam Teldaldi (Fantasy Football: The Musical). The band includes Gregg Monteith and Peter Sachon. Sam Pinkleton directs with musical direction by Matt Aument. Rachel Sussman produces.

The Foxwoods Theatre, currently home to Broadway's SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark, has gone by many names over the past few years- originally changing from the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in 2005, and then from the Hilton Theatre in 2010. The venue is about to go through another change as Live Nation, the current owner, is 'close to a deal to sell,' according to the New York Post.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2005, 2007 and 2010, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, will return to Houston at the Hobby Center, July 10 - August 11. Tickets for the return engagement go on sale Sunday, April 7 at 10 a.m.

Actor Cliffton Hall, who currently plays the role of Fiyero in the long-running First National Tour production of the blockbuster hit WICKED continues to have a very healthy, enviable career on the stage. Before Hall once again departs the role after WICKED's 4-Week Engagement in Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts comes to an end on March 17, the talented triple-threat chatted with BroadwayWorld about his life in the world of musical theater.

In a recent interview with EOnline, Amanda Seyfried reveals that she would love to be cast in the long-running Broadway production of WICKED. The actress most recently appeared on the big screen showing off her vocal chops in the role of Cosette in the global hit musical Les Miserables.

Mary Poppins will conclude Broadway run at The New Amsterdam Theatre today, March 3, 2013 after 2619 performances and more than six years. With attendance totaling nearly four million guests, the show has been seen by more people in the last six years than any Broadway show except Wicked and The Lion King. BroadwayWorld takes you back through the magical nanny's journey to Broadway below!

On Jan. 21, 2013, Larson and Rodgers Award winning composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver returned to Joe's Pub with a collection of work from his musicals Out of My Head (2005), Mrs. Sharp (2007), Darling (2009), 35mm (2010), Jasper in Deadland (2011), The Frog Prince Cont. (2012). Watch a sampling of performances from the concert below!

Chris Isaacson Presents brings you the perfect Holiday gift of the season, Upright Cabaret's A BROADWAY CHRISTMAS! Coming this Holiday Season, watch Stars and Snowflakes glitter together as Upright combines the best of Broadway with the carols of Christmastime. Cozy up next to your someone special, and be warmed not by an open fire but by yuletide joy and the sweet songs from your favorite musicals like Jersey Boys, Wicked, The Christmas Story, Billy Elliot, Dreamgirls - and more.

Today we are talking to a breakout Broadway star who has made a name for himself with memorable turns in this century's revivals of Rodgers & Hammerstein's FLOWER DRUM SONG, Stephen Sondheim's PACIFIC OVERTURES and Stephen Schwartz's GODSPELL on Broadway as well as turns in Schwartz's WICKED and Jonathan Larson's RENT in addition to his lauded work on the brand new Broadway-bound tuner ALLEGIANCE, co-starring Lea Salonga and George Takei - and, of course, his easily identifiable uniform-outfitted Warbler on Fox's hit musical dramedy series GLEE - the passionate and gifted Telly Leung! Besides taking a look back at many of his best-loved and most well-remembered roles to date, in this career-spanning conversation Leung and I also dissect the finer points of his new solo album, I'LL COVER YOU, as we look ahead to the splashy release party on December 2 at 54 Below, and he outlines his initial inspiration for the creation of it and recounts the recording process for the unique genre-crossing release. Plus, Leung generously shares some truly thrilling backstage stories involving luminaries such as Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Neil Patrick Harris and more as well as shares his infectious enthusiasm for future endeavors, near and far - after a well-earned vacation in January, that is. All of that and much, much more awaits!

Today, with musicals such as The Book of Mormon enjoying phenomenal box office success, revivals like The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess delighting new generations, and musical stage versions of popular films such as Once and Newsies dominating the Tony Awards, Broadway is proving yet again that its vitality and magic endure. Nominated for five 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards and winner of two, including Outstanding Nonfiction Series, THIRTEEN's landmark Broadway: The American Musical returns tonight, October 7 at 10 p.m., and continues on six consecutive Sundays through November 11 (check local listings).

Last performed by Colorado Ballet in 2005, this crowd-pleaser is sure to be a great start to an unforgettable season.

Today, with musicals such as The Book of Mormon enjoying phenomenal box office success, revivals like The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess delighting new generations, and musical stage versions of popular films such as Once and Newsies dominating the Tony Awards, Broadway is proving yet again that its vitality and magic endure. Nominated for five 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards and winner of two, including Outstanding Nonfiction Series, THIRTEEN's landmark Broadway: The American Musical returns Sunday, October 7 at 10 p.m., and continues on six consecutive Sundays through November 11 (check local listings).

Shoshana Bean joins the cast of 'A Magical Night On Broadway' at The Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage tonight, September 8 at 8:00 pm. 'A Magical Night On Broadway" is a fully-staged and costumed tribute to the American musical theatre starring stage, film and television personality JoAnne Worley and featuring music from some of Broadway's most celebrated musicals including "Chicago," "Wicked," "Hairspray," "A Chorus Line," "The Lion King" and more. Joining Worley are Bean and Broadway and television star Rex Smith, Tony-nominated actress Jonelle Allen, Terron Brooks and Carol Channing's American Glee Club - a young song and dance group representing America's public schools, along with a few surprise guests. The show is directed by David Green with musical direction by Stephen Smith.

Shoshana Bean joins the cast of 'A Magical Night On Broadway' at The Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage on Saturday, September 8 at 8:00 pm. 'A Magical Night On Broadway" is a fully-staged and costumed tribute to the American musical theatre starring stage, film and television personality JoAnne Worley and featuring music from some of Broadway's most celebrated musicals including "Chicago," "Wicked," "Hairspray," "A Chorus Line," "The Lion King" and more. Joining Worley are Bean and Broadway and television star Rex Smith, Tony-nominated actress Jonelle Allen, Terron Brooks and Carol Channing's American Glee Club - a young song and dance group representing America's public schools, along with a few surprise guests. The show is directed by David Green with musical direction by Stephen Smith.

MAC Award nominated songwriters Sam Carner & Derek Gregor (Unlock'd) and Drew Fornarola (COLLEGE The Musical) team up for AWKWARD THREESOME: Carner & Gregor and also Fornarola at The Duplex Thursday, June 28 at 9:30pm. They will be joined by some of Broadway's top young performers. The songwriters will present selections from their shows, as well as debuting a new song co-written by all three of them. The evening will be directed by Marlo Hunter with music direction by Gregor and Emily Whitaker. Scheduled to perform are Claybourne Elder (Bonnie and Clyde); Ali Ewoldt (Les Miserables); Alyssa Fox (Wicked - SF); Julie Reiber (Wicked); A.J. Shively (La Cage Aux Folles); Brian Sills (The Lion King Tour); Sarah Stiles (Avenue Q); and Dashaun Young (The Lion King).

The Tony Award-winning star of Broadway's Wicked and the original stage production of Rent, just made a stop at the Midland in Kansas City on June 19. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the concert below!

MAC Award nominated songwriters Sam Carner & Derek Gregor (Unlock'd) and Drew Fornarola (COLLEGE The Musical) team up for AWKWARD THREESOME: Carner & Gregor and also Fornarola at The Duplex Thursday, June 28 at 9:30pm. They will be joined by some of Broadway's top young performers. The songwriters will present selections from their shows, as well as debuting a new song co-written by all three of them. The evening will be directed by Marlo Hunter with music direction by Gregor and Emily Whitaker. Scheduled to perform are Claybourne Elder (Bonnie and Clyde); Ali Ewoldt (Les Miserables); Alyssa Fox (Wicked - SF); Julie Reiber (Wicked); A.J. Shively (La Cage Aux Folles); Brian Sills (The Lion King Tour); Sarah Stiles (Avenue Q); and Dashaun Young (The Lion King).