WAKE UP with BWW 6/2/14 - 'HOLLER' Begins, Plus Theatre World, Lilly and Astaire Awards!

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: We're kicking off the week leading up to the Tonys with an awards-filled Monday -- stay tuned for our coverage of the Theatre World Awards, Lilly Awards and Astaire Awards (oh my!), plus HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME begins on Broadway tonight!

TODAY'S TOP ITEMS:

• HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME, the new Tupac Shakur musical, begins previews on Broadway tonight!
• Zachary Quinto, Jefferson Mays, Tovah Feldshuh and more will participate in the 2014 Theatre World Awards ceremony tonight! Refresh your memory with the full list of winners here.
• The 2014 Lilly Awards, celebrating women of distinction in musical theater, are set for this evening, featuring performances by Kelli O'Hara, Rebecca Luker, Jason Robert Brown and more! Click here for the winners.
• Dance gets the spotlight at tonight's 2014 Astaire Awards, with appearances by Bebe Neuwirth, Valerie Harper, Hal Prince and more! For the list of nominations, follow this link.
• Travel back to the 1870s with Lapham's Quarterly's annual DECADES BALL this evening. Glenn Close, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonathan Groff, Brian d'Arcy James and more are set to attend!
• And over in Chicago, BUYER & CELLAR's Michael Urie and his partner Ryan Spahn are performing in THE LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE at About Face's "Pride Performance Series" tonight...

NEWS YOU MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

• 'GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE' topped the 2014 Drama Desk Awards! See all the winners here.
• Producers abruptly cancelled the planned US arena tour of JESUS CHRIS SUPERSTAR on Friday; read what leading man Ben Forster had to say about the decision.
• And speaking of 'GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE', Jefferson Mays might be going on tour with the show!
• Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Geoffrey Rush and possibly even Barbra Streisand could be starring in a movie adaptation of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE...
• We got a first listen to three tracks from Broadway's HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME!
• We learned that BROADWAY 4D has been scrapped due to lack of funds...
• Judi Dench will now be joining Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC's upcoming adaptation of RICHARD III.
• WE WILL ROCK YOU closed after a 12-year run in the West End on Saturday.
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita unveiled their bow tie design in honor of the 2014 Tony Awards!
• Nathan Lane is getting the Ustinov Comedy Award at Banff World Media Festival, kicking off on Tonys Sunday.
• Beth Leavel, John O'Hurley, Rob McClure and more will lead HELLO, DOLLY! at the Muny in St. Louis this summer!
• And Lin-Manuel Miranda's new play HAMILTON will run at the Public Theater next winter.

Broadway Weather Forecast: Sunny with a high of 80 degrees. Great way to kick off the week leading up to the Tonys! Let's hope this keeps up.

Quote of the Day: Are actors having more fun than the audience? Less? Does it matter?

From a very young age, I wanted to get up on stage whenever I went to the theatre - the actors just seemed to be having so much fun. One of my worries about theatre, in fact, is that the actors are quite often having more fun than the audience.
-- Olivia Williams (via BrainyQuote)

What we're looking forward to: HBO's THE NORMAL HEART on Blu-ray. It hits the shelves at the end of August, and we can't wait to watch it again!