WABC-TV (Channel 7) will air "Broadway Backstage: Spring Preview" on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30pm. The show is co-hosted by Vanessa Williams ("Ugly Betty," Into the Woods) and WABC-TV anchorman, Joe Torres. A look at the new season of Broadway shows, featured interviewees include David Hyde Pierce (Curtains), Angela Lansbury (Deuce), John Mahoney (Prelude to a Kiss), Liev Schreiber (Talk Radio), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins), Hugh Dancy (Journey's End), and Jan Maxwell (Coram Boy), as well as cast members from Spring Awakening and The Pirate Queen.
Featured shows include:Coram BoyThe National Theatre of Great Britain's acclaimed production of the play adapted by Helen Edmundson makes its American Premiere on Broadway. Based on the award-winning novel by Jamila Gavin, with direction by Melly Still, the show begins previews April 16 and opens May 2 at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45 Street). The company features Tony Award nominee Jan Maxwell (Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang), Bill Camp (Heartbreak House), Dashiell Eaves (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), Brad Fleischer (Pig Farm), Charlotte Parry (Howard Katz), Wayne Wilcox (Suddenly Last Summer), a 20 member choir and a 7 piece chamber orchestra. CurtainsTaking place backstage at Boston's Colonial Theatre in 1959, an untalented leading lady is murdered on opening night, calling for Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (David Hyde Pierce) to investigate. When the stage-struck detective arrives, he finds himself equally involved in solving the murder and making the show a hit. Curtains features a book by Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, original book and concept by Peter Stone, and additional lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes. Four time Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis directs a 31-member cast, which also stars Karen Ziemba, Jason Danieley, Jill Paice and Edward Hibbert. Choreography is by Tony Award winner Rob Ashford.The Pirate Queen
Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's (Les Misérables, Miss Saigon) musical follows the real-life story of 16th-century Irish Chieftain Grace O'Malley, the pirate, mother, and lover who saved her people by confronting Queen Elizabeth I of England. Directed by Tony Award-winner Frank Galati, and with musical staging by Graciela Daniele, The Pirate Queen was produced by Riverdance's Moya Doherty and John McColgan. (www.thepiratequeen.com) The Year of Magical ThinkingWritten by Joan Didion and based on her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking stars Vanessa Redgrave and is directed by David Hare. The show focuses on the life of one of America's most extraordinary writers, living under almost unfathomable circumstances with an unconventional marriage and household situation. Opening Night is March 29, and this is a strictly limited 24-week run at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street). (www.MagicalThinkingonBroadway.com)The musical will begin preview performances on Broadway at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets) on April 3, 2007 with an official opening date of April 29, 2007. Heading the cast of Legally Blonde is Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods. Joining her are Christian Borle as Emmett, Orfeh as Paulette, Richard H. Blake as Warner, Kate Shindle as Vivienne, Nikki Snelson as Brooke and Michael Rupert as Professor Callahan. "Sorority star Elle Woods doesn't take "no" for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone more "serious," Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style."
"August Wilson 's most contemporary play, Radio Golf, will begin preview performances on Friday, April 20 and open on Tuesday, May 8 at Broadway's Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street). The tenth and final work in two-time Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Wilson's historic decade-by-decade portrait of 20th Century African-American life will be directed by Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean) and star Harry Lennix (Stomp the Yard, Fox's "24," NBC's 'Commander in Chief') and Tony Award winner and Olivier Award nominee Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam; Caroline, or Change). They join Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams, who have been with Radio Golf since the play's world premiere in 2005. Set in 1997 in Pittsburgh's Hill District, Radio Golf could be ripped from today's headlines, as Harmond Wilks (Lennix), a charming and powerful African-American politician, is running for the highest office of his career, with the loving support of his savvy wife, Mame (Pinkins). As Harmond steps into political prominence, the past is just a few steps behind him … and gaining fast."
A Moon For The Misbegotten
Olivier Award winner Eve Best, Academy Award and Tony Award winner Kevin Spacey and Golden Globe nominee Colm Meaney will reprise their acclaimed performances in The Old Vic Theatre Company production of Eugene O'Neill's classic play at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W 47th St) for 84 performances only. They are joined by original company members Billy Carter and Eugene O'Hare. Directed by Olivier Award winner Howard Davies, the play will begin preview performances on Thursday, March 29, open on Broadway Monday, April 9 and conclude its engagement on Sunday, June 10. "O'Neill's only love story, A Moon for the Misbegotten tells the shattering story of Josie Hogan (Best), a towering woman with a quick tongue and a ruined reputation who lives in a dilapidated Connecticut farmhouse with her conniving father, Phil (Meaney). During one long moonlit night fueled by drink and lust, Josie's softer side is exposed through her feelings for Hogan's landlord Jim Tyrone (Spacey), and two implacable souls reveal to each other the grief, longing and unrequited love they've hidden from the world."
Photo of Vanessa Williams by Shira Greenberg
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