A global phenomenon that has wowed audiences for over 40 years, Jesus Christ Superstar is reimagined for the 21st century as an arena rock spectacular. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's groundbreaking rock musical now features an extraordinary cast of rock, pop and R&B superstars.
Jesus Christ Superstar is a timeless work set against the backdrop of an extraordinary and universally-known series of events but seen, unusually, through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics, was inspired by the Bob Dylan anthem "With God On Our Side" which features Judas in its penultimate verse and is from Dylan' seminal 1964 album The Times They Are A-Changin'. As Tim says in his autobiography: "From a very young age I had wondered what I might have done in the situations in which Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot found themselves. How were they to know Jesus would be accorded divine status by millions and that they would as a result be condemned down the ages?
La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for His Girl Friday, adapted by John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation, House of Blue Leaves) from the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play The Front Page and the Columbia Pictures film His Girl Friday. Directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley (Glengarry Glen Ross, Memphis), the production will kick off the 2013/2014 season, running May 28 - June 30 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre.
Billy Crystal will return to Broadway this fall for a 9-week-only limited engagement of his Tony Award-winning, record-breaking play 700 SUNDAYS. This will mark the final engagement of this production. Previews will begin Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street) with opening night scheduled for Wednesday, November 13, 2013 and a final performance set for Sunday, January 5, 2014. 700 SUNDAYSis performed and written by Mr. Crystal with additional content by Alan Zweibel and direction by Des McAnuff.
'Year of the Composer' is an ambitious theatrical offering that brings musical greats Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cole Porter, and ABBA to the professional non-profit theater group that performs at the G&L Theatre in North Naples.
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment have announced their 'Broadway's Best' 2013- 2014 season of shows, as they also celebrate McCoy Rigby's 20th Anniversary season with the theatre! Beginning its 'Broadway's Best' anniversary season with Neil Simon's Tony Award-winning masterwork BROADWAY BOUND; followed by two of the most acclaimed recent plays of our time, the Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, RABBIT HOLE by David Lindsay-Abaire and Yasmina Reza's comedy of manners (where there are no manners!), GOD OF CARNAGE; followed by two of the biggest Broadway musical hits ever CATS and the regional theatre premiere of a brand new production of LES MISERABLES! Add into the mix the bonus options of its new 'Onstage Series' production of FLOYD COLLINS and the unmistakable harmonies of THE OAK RIDGE BOYS and La Mirada and the Southern California area will certainly have the 'Best of Broadway' and beyond coming its way in 2013-2014.
La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for His Girl Friday, adapted by John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation, House of Blue Leaves) from the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play The Front Page and the Columbia Pictures film His Girl Friday. Directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley (Glengarry Glen Ross, Memphis), the production will kick off the 2013/2014 season, running May 28 - June 30 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre.
The McCallum Theatre announced today its new lineup of world-class entertainment scheduled for the 2013-2014 season with Tony Award-winning musicals and plays, legendary performers, beloved singers, Desert favorites, and international artistry all part of a very full and exciting roster. Subscriptions go on sale on Monday, April 8th at 8am for the Rabobank Broadway Blockbuster Series, Broadway and Beyond Series, Fitz's Jazz Cafe at the McCallum Series, Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel Series, as well as a Create-Your-Own Series which allows patrons to mix, match, and program a full season of entertainment tailored to their own individual tastes.
President and Executive Producer Wally Jones is excited to announce the 2013-2014 Broadway season at Casa Mañana. "We are thrilled to celebrate our 55th season under the dome with a diverse collection of locally produced Broadway shows for our loyal Casa Mañana family," says Jones. Broadway season renewals and new season ticket packages are on sale now.
On Friday, March 22nd, the Orpheum Theatre announced that it will host a mix of classic musicals, modern hits, and regional premieres for its exciting 2013-2014 Broadway Season. Watch highlights from some of the season's upcoming shows, including FLASHDANCE, SISTER ACT and WAR HORSE, below!
PlayhouseSquare revealed its 2013-2014 KeyBank Broadway Series yesterday evening in the State Theatre. The exciting seven-show Series was announced by Senior Vice President of Theater Operations, Gina Vernaci, and the evening was capped off with a special performance from Anne Brummel, star of the 2nd North American Tour of Wicked, which will be delighting Cleveland audiences once again with its return in December of 2013.
The Pantages Theatre today reveals its lineup for the 2013-2014 SEASON, a seven-show package. Back by popular demand, THE BOOK OF MORMON which played a record-breaking 12-week run in the fall of 2012 will return for a limited engagement beginning January 21, 2014.
Now, Disney Theatrical Productions has confirmed that Aladdin, a new musical based on the Academy Award winning animated film, will play its pre-Broadway engagement at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre(formerly the Canon) November 13, 2013 to January 12, 2014 and will open at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre in 2014. The show will feature music by Alan Menken; lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguelin. Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph.
London-based stage actress Joanna Ampil seems to have all the luck having "Miss Saigon" (Kim), "Jesus Christ Superstar" (Mary Magdalene), "Les Miserables" (Fantine), and "Avenue Q" (Christmas Eve), among others under her belt. However, luck does not have anything to do with her success in musical theater because this hard-working thespian believes that her continuous drive to learn more, and her quest to be the best that she can be are responsible for every good thing that comes her way.
A few days shy of the holiest week of the year for Christians - aptly named Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter (with Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the most sacred events on the calendar coming between) - Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's seminal rock opera JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR was resurrected on Broadway by TOMMY and JERSEY BOYS director Des McAnuff - modeled after the hit Stratford Shakespeare Festival production last year and comprised of many of the same cast members, including all three leads - to hails of praise and hosannas, mostly. While JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR itself will always divide audiences and critics alike - and not merely because of its controversial content and its button-pushing treatment of the hallowed tale it tells - the magnetism and sheer power that Lloyd Webber's propulsive, throbbing rock score imbues gives the show an energy, vitality and life rare to find in even the most earnestly effervescent and energetic of comparable entities - the recently revived and similarly-themed GODSPELL in a revival a few blocks away included. Then, there are Tim Rice's lyrics - oh-so-spot-on in 1970, but still biting and edgy today in McAnuff's hi-tech and elaborately presented new Broadway production. Using the book of John as the jumping off point, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR tells the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ (Paul Nolan) and his subsequent betrayal by Judas (Josh Young) and sentencing to death at the hands of King Herod and Pontius Pilate (Tom Hewitt). The twelve apostles, Mary Magdalene and her female companions, lepers, Pharisees, priests and others populate the grand story told almost entirely through song - the show is 90% music - and Webber and Rice's score never, ever lets up. While this may not be the most faithful rendering as far as the Bible is concerned, nor the most historically accurate, SUPERSTAR is now available to experience for a whole new generation thanks to this new revival and the timing could not be more ideal. The time is ripe for a revival of SUPERSTAR, and, as Andrew Lloyd Webber himself has recently related, this new production of the show is the best ever as far as he is concerned. High praise indeed - coming from no less than the Lord.
It was announced today that The Stratford Shakespeare Festival's hit production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, directed by the Festival's Artistic Director Des McAnuff, will open at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway on Thursday, March 22, 2012. Previews will begin Thursday, March 1, 2012.
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