Finally appearing together again after their Tony Award? winning performances in Evita, Patti LuPone joins Mandy Patinkin onstage for An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. These Broadway legends will bring their critically acclaimed theatre concert to the Fisher Theatre, April 14 -19, 2009.
The gender-reversed benefit concert extravaganza is always one of the Center's most anticipated events of the year, and on Monday, February 9, 2009, Broadway Backwards returned to Broadway's American Airlines Theatre. BroadwayWorld's cameras were everywhere to capture all the gender-bending fun!
Eight new productions, four of which are company premieres, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2009-10 season. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine jointly announced plans that include: the Met premieres of Rossini's Armida, Verdi's Attila, Jan?ček's From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich's The Nose; new productions of Bizet's Carmen, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Thomas's Hamlet, and Puccini's Tosca; and 18 revivals from the company's repertory. The season is the first to be entirely planned under Gelb's leadership, in collaboration with Levine (the past three seasons were planned before Gelb became General Manager in 2006-07 but included some productions, repertoire, and casting changes made by Gelb).
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch will lead the New York Philharmonic in New York Moments, a concert featuring iconic musical moments from Broadway and film, with stars from the stage and screen (in alphabetical order): Ashley Brown, who originated the title role in Mary Poppins on Broadway; Maria Friedman, who played Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd and Marian in The Woman in White in London; Joel Grey, whose numerous starring roles have included the famous M.C. in Cabaret, on Broadway and in the film; Jennifer Holliday, one of the original Dreamgirls; Liza Minnelli, last seen on Broadway in Liza's at The Palace; Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, stars of the current Lincoln Center Theater production of South Pacific; and 15-year-old up-and-coming singer, Nikki Yanofsky. The concert will take place Monday, April 20, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. All except Mr. Hamlisch and Ms. O'Hara are making their New York Philharmonic debuts.
Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) continues its 2008/2009 Season with the New York premiere of THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, a new play by Evan Smith (Psych and The Uneasy Chair at Playwrights Horizons, Remedial English for the Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons, Servicemen at The New Group). This will be Mr. Smith's fourth collaboration with the theater company.
The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) has announced the 10 members of the 2009 Emerging Writers Group, the second season of an annual program that targets playwrights at the earliest stages of their careers and nurtures their artistic growth by providing necessary resources and support. The 10 writers were selected from more than 400 applicants.
The 2009 Emerging Writers are J. Julian Christopher, D.S.A. Deen, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Bridget Kelso, Mona Mansour, Vickie Ramirez, Jordan Seavey, Alena Smith, Kevin Christopher Snipes, and Lauren Yee.
The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will now begin previews on February 4, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.
THE SWEETEST SOUNDS -- ALLEGRO Written in 1947, ALLEGRO was preceded in the R&H canon by OKLAHOMA! and CAROUSEL, and followed directly by SOUTH PACIFIC and THE KING AND I. In this podcast, hosted by Jeff Lunden, the bold innovations and experimental aspects of ALLEGRO are explored in the context of the first complete recording of its score, released by Sony Masterworks Broadway today, February 3, 2009. The CD is produced by David Lai, Bruce Pomahac and Ted Chapin.
Kelli O'Hara, the Tony nominated star of South Pacific is has a new 'production' in the works that will demand she take leave from the Lincoln Center hit starting in March, she is expecting her first child with husband Greg Naughton. The star's web site now lists March 1, 2009 as her final performance.
Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, has announced the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Newcomers to the cast include Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Sasha Allen, who join the rest of the tribe, who are reprising their roles from Central Park last summer. Currently in rehearsal at the Union Square Theatre, HAIR begins preview performances on Friday, March 6 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC) with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
Intiman Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Bartlett Sher and Managing Director Brian Colburn, announces that Abe Lincoln in Illinois will conclude its 2009 season - the year of the Lincoln Bicentennial - under the direction of Sheila Daniels, Intiman's Associate Director. Robert E. Sherwood's epic play, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, will launch Intiman's second American Cycle, a series of large-cast plays and free community programs. Through great plays and conversations at Intiman and throughout the Puget Sound region, the American Cycle bring artists and audiences together to share the issues and hopes we feel in our community and as citizens of our country at this moment in its history.
Award winning vocalists Brian Farley and David Gurland return for one final performance of their first full show together.- An evening of RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN. Already great interpreters of the American Popular songbook, this will be the pair's first foray into the catalog of arguably the greatest songwriting team in history. Featuring songs from Carousel, The Sound of Music, The King and I, this years' biggest Broadway hit South Pacific, and many more. Musically directed by Tracy Stark., The show previously played the Laurie Beechman Theatre in July to packed houses and ecstatic reviews.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced casting for its production of RAGTIME in the Eisenhower Theater April 18 - May 10, 2009. Based on a 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, the production features book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and will be directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The musical is part of the Kennedy Center's Broadway: The Third Generation, a series celebrating the current generation of Broadway musical composers. The official press night will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
SHN will present the all-new production of the Lincoln Center prize-winning musical classic Rodgers and Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC at the Golden Gate Theatre in September 2009. Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC swept the 2007-2008 theater awards winning 7 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award for Best Musical Revival, and is directed by Bay Area native Bartlett Sher. Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC replaces the previously announced production of EVER AFTER in the Best of Broadway series. Plans for the World Premiere of EVER AFTER have been indefinitely postponed. Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC, which is produced by Lincoln Center Theater in association with Bob Boyett and NETworks Productions, is presented as the final production of the 2008-2009 Citibank Best of Broadway series season under the direction of Carole Shorenstein Hays. This production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC will begin its national tour following the San Francisco engagement.
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch will lead the New York Philharmonic in New York Moments, a concert featuring iconic musical moments from Broadway and film, with stars from the stage and screen (in alphabetical order): Ashley Brown, who originated the title role in Mary Poppins on Broadway; Maria Friedman, who played Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd and Marian in The Woman in White in London; Joel Grey, whose numerous starring roles have included the famous M.C. in Cabaret, on Broadway and in the film; Jennifer Holliday, one of the original Dreamgirls; Liza Minnelli, last seen on Broadway in Liza's at The Palace; Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, stars of the current Lincoln Center Theater production of South Pacific; and 15-year-old up-and-coming singer, Nikki Yanofsky. The concert will take place Monday, April 20, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. All except Mr. Hamlisch and Ms. O'Hara are making their New York Philharmonic debuts.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF starring Chaim Topol, the original star from the movie, will perform a one-week limited engagement at the Detroit Opera House, March 3- 8, 2009. Heralded as one of the great masterpieces in American Musical Theatre, tickets are available for purchase at the Fisher Theatre box office, the Detroit Opera House box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 1-800-982-2787, and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.broadwayindetroit.com.
A perennial hit since it first opened in 1964, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF has enjoyed critical acclaim for bringing to the stage a poignant story about the enduring bonds of the family. Detroit audiences will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Jerome Robbins' original Broadway direction and choreography, complete with the star of the original West End production and the 1971 film, Chaim Topol.
On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees.
Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.'
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
Broadway's cuddliest friends kick off a new year with the 12th annual BROADWAY BEARS auction on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (237 West 42 St.), in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Sure to out-do last year's collection, 40 one-of-a-kind BROADWAY BEARS - each dressed in original, handmade costumes representing some of the theater?s most legendary performers and/or performances ? will be put up for auction.
Once again this year's BROADWAY BEARS will be hosted by Bryan Batt ('Mad Men,' La Cage Aux Folles, Beauty and the Beast, Jeffrey) with long-time Sotheby's auctioneer, Lorna Kelly.
Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Richard M. Parison, Jr., Producing Director, announce the theatre?s 15th Anniversary Season. Opening on the Mainstage will be Rodgers and Hammerstein?s musical masterpiece Carousel from June 17 through July 11. BSC will present its first thriller, the Tony Award-winning play Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer, from July 16 through August 1. Tennessee Williams? landmark play A Streetcar Named Desire will conclude the Mainstage summer season from August 6 through 29. The Mainstage fall show will be announced at a later date.
On Stage 2, receiving its world premiere is Mark St. Germain?s Freud?s Last Session from June 10 through 28. Glen Berger?s hit Off-Broadway play Underneath the Lintel will play on Stage 2 from July 8 though 26.
The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will now begin previews on February 4, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.
Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its eleventh season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, R&B, country, rock, show tunes, bluegrass and multimedia, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2009 season - January 14 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top vocalist Kurt Elling and country's winning Patty Loveless. It will feature the rare opportunity to hear Paulo Szot, star of Broadway's South Pacific, and film and stage star Alan Cumming, in intimate concert settings.
The 92nd Street Y announces casting for the 2009 season of Lyrics & Lyricists, the Y's legendary American Songbook series. Polly Bergen, Lucie Arnaz, Tom Wopat and Marilyn Maye are among the storied cast members who will sing the songs of Richard Rodgers, Ira Gershwin, Mel Torm?, DeSylva, Brown & Henderson, David Zippel and others. This is the first season curated by new series artistic director DEBORAH GRACE WINER, and her inaugural line-up of guest artistic directors - MARTIN CHARNIN, DAVID ZIPPEL, ROBERT KIMBALL, REX REED, and BILLY STRITCH.
South Coast Repertory starts off the New Year with the World Premiere of You, Nero, a comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Freed. Commissioned by SCR, You, Nero imagines a meeting during the declining years of the Roman Empire between Scribonius, a put-upon playwright, and Emperor Nero, the all-powerful, narcissistic arbiter of art. The Roman romp stars Danny Scheie as Nero and John Vickery as Scribonius. Produced in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and directed by Sharon Ott,You, Nero will run from Jan. 4 through Jan. 25, 2009 on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Low-priced previews are available from Jan. 4 through Jan. 8. Opening night is Jan. 9. Press night is Saturday, Jan. 10 at 7:45 p.m. Tickets to You, Nero may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.
The new Broadway production of GUYS AND DOLLS has launched the show's official website. The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will begin previews on February 3, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.
After much anticipation, DTC artistic director Kevin Moriarty announced today the members of the inaugural resident acting company of his tenure for the 2009-10 season. Although the acting company is slated for the 09-10 season, the full nine-member company will be seen in DTC's upcoming production of In the Beginning, a dramatic exploration of the book of Genesis, Jan. 21-Feb. 22.
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