WAKE UP with BWW 4/13/2015 - 39 STEPS, THE 24 HOUR MUSICALS, O'Neill Honors Nathan Lane and More!
By: Jessica Showers Apr. 13, 2015
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: 39 STEPS brings madcap adventure off-Broadway, THE 24 HOUR MUSICALS returns to NYC, and Lane, Hall & Groff are among tonight's gala honorees!
Next up in our series of stars introducing BWW's morning feature is Alysha Umphress (portrait by Walter McBride), current star of Broadway's ON THE TOWN, who has also appeared in BEACHES, BRING IT ON, ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT and AMERICAN IDIOT!
Photo by Walter McBride
TODAY'S TOP ITEMS:
- 39 STEPS opens tonight off-Broadway with original star Arnie Burton and more!
- Schwartz & Almond's musical play IOWA opens tonight at Playwrights Horizons...
- Phillip Boykin leads York's developmental lab of LORD TOM, beginning tonight.
- A slew of stars gather for the 2015 edition of THE 24 HOUR MUSICALS!
- Nathan Lane will be honored with the O'Neill Center's Monte Cristo Award tonight.
- Bryce Pinkham hosts the 2015 National Corporate Theatre Fund awards gala this evening...
- And Jonathan Groff and Jeffrey Tambor will be celebrated at the Point Honors gala!
NEWS YOU MISSED THIS WEEKEND:
- The 2015 OLIVIER AWARDS were held this weekend - see the full winners list!
- Sir Ian McKellen will play 'Cogsworth' in the live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST movie!
- FINDING NEVERLAND is among the 2015 ELLIOT NORTON AWARD nominees.
- We got a first look at Broadway's FINDING NEVERLAND (right) as well as LIVING ON LOVE (here), a peek at 39 STEPS off-Broadway, plus photos and highlights from IT SHOUDLA BEEN YOU and AMERICAN IN PARIS (here)!
- And Lyric Opera of Chicago's CAROUSEL unveiled production shots and footage...
- FUN HOME is getting a Broadway cast album.
- A ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW reboot is headed to FOX, and Rebel Wilson says PITCH PERFECT 3 is in the works!
Broadway Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 67 degrees in the City today!
Quote of the Day: In honor of Ian McKellen's casting in the live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST...
"Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There's more to life than you know and it's all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and then go for it."
-- Ian Mckellen (via BrainyQuote)
Video of the Day: Watch Jeremy Jordan performing a World Premiere song from FAUSTUS!
And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Liz Callaway, who turns 54 today!
Tony nominee and lauded cabaret performer Callaway last appeared on Broadway in The Look of Love. Among her other credits are Something Wonderful, Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, Baby, Cats and Merrily We Roll Along. Among her off-Broadway credits are The Spitfire Grill, Fiorello! with Encores!, One Two Three Four Five, Marry Me a Little, Brownstone, Follies in Concert and more. Callaway is the sister of singer and composer Ann Hampton Callaway, with whom she sang the theme song for Fran Drescher's The Nanny, and with whom she often appears in cabaret and stage shows.
Photo by Stephen Sorokoff
See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!