WAKE UP with BWW 7/4/14 - A Star-Spangled, Spectacular Broadway Weekend!

THIS WEEKEND'S TOP ITEMS:

• PBS's A CAPITOL FOURTH airs tonight and features original Jersey Boy Frankie Valli, plus Broadway's Kelli O'Hara, music artists Patti LaBelle and Jordin Sparks, renowned composer John Williams and more!
• Ariana Grande, Miranda Lambert, Hunter Hayes and more will perform on MACY'S FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR on NBC tonight.
• Tune in to THEATER TALK for interview highlights with 1776's Peter Stone...
• Center Stage's MY AMERICA project streams as a feature-length film beginning today on Fandor,
• The classic musical MY FAIR LADY makes its Guthrie Theater debut tonight, starring Helen Anker and Jeff McCarthy.
• While you're waiting for the fireworks to start, check out Pat Cerasaro's Independence Day-themed FLASH FRIDAY feature for some holiday reading.
• And if you aren't into pyrotechnics, go see a Broadway show - here's the Fourth of July playing schedule!

NEWS YOU MISSED YESTERDAY:

• Broadway's ON THE TOWN announced it will offer a role to the winner of FOX's SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Season 11!
• Ellen Burstyn will lead a limited run of THE CHERRY ORCHARD at The Actors Studio, beginning next week...
• THIS AMERICAN LIFE's Ira Glass wants to bring radio to Broadway, and we're listening!
• Cynthia Erivo and Cassidy Janson will star in the European debut of Ahrens & Flaherty's DESSA ROSE at Trafalgar Studios this August.
• Olivier winner Michael Ball will host the 2014 WEST END HEROES Gala at the Dominion this autumn...
• And rumors are Nicole Kidman will be appearing in back-to-back productions in the West End!
• Playwrights Horizons announced casting for this season's BOOTYCANDY and GRAND CONCOURSE...
• Chris Colfer's Twitter account was hacked yesterday and rumors started that he had been let go from GLEE's final season; luckily the network has confirmed his return!
• And finally, ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME has found its FROZEN queen 'Elsa'. Learn who it is here!

Broadway Weather Forecast: Tut, tut. Looks like the 4th will be a rainy holiday, high of 75 degrees. Wear a poncho and go see fireworks anyway! Or stay dry and catch a Broadway show! On the other hand, Saturday and Sunday will be warm and sunny, so why not go on a belated Independence Day picnic when it's 83 and shining?

Quote of the Day: Patriotic advice from 1776 book writer Peter Stone...

This is a revolution, damnit! We're going to have to offend somebody!
-- Peter Stone (via BrainyQuote)

What we're looking forward to: Yesterday, NBC unveiled its poster art for PETER PAN: LIVE!, set to air in December. We can't wait to learn who will be playing the boy who never grows up, and we can't wait to watch the production as a kick-off to the Christmas season! We know, we know. One holiday at a time, right?

And finally, sharing a birthday with the United States of America is playwight Neil Simon, who turns 87 today!

Simon's prolific work for Broadway includes Promises, Promises, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity, 45 Seconds From Broadway, The Dinner Party, Little Me, The Sunshine Boys, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Lost in Yonkers, Rumors, Biloxi Blues, Chapter Two, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, fitting for July 4th -- The Star-Spangled Girl -- and many more. He has received three Tony Awards for Best Play for Lost in Yonkers, Biloxi Blues and The Odd Couple. Oh, and he has a Broadway theatre named after him; Sting's THE LAST SHIP will play there in the fall.