WAKE UP with BroadwayWorld - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - CASA VALENTINA Opens, Drama League Noms, Shakespeare's Birthday and More!
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? For your most important theatre meal of the day, we've rounded up the big news you missed yesterday, what's on the agenda today, and a few extras to start your day off right.
The Bacon: See what's on the griddle today...
- Harvey Fierstein's CASA VALENTINA opens tonight, so be sure check back later for our Review Roundup!
- Judith Light and Christopher Sieber are announcing the 2014 Drama League Award nominees this morning at Sardi's, and BWW is live-streaming the event!
- Broadway vet Nathan Lane will join MOTHERS AND SONS star Tyne Daly and playwright Terrence McNally for a talkback tonight.
- HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH opened on Broadway last night (read our Review Roundup), so we'll be bringing you fabulous coverage of all the evening's festivities later today!
- In National Tour news, Emma Hunton joins the cast of WICKED as 'Elphaba' today in Richmond, Va.
- On the cabaret scene, 54 Below will present two concerts -- BACK TO THE GARDEN and LIKE YOU LIKE IT -- tonight.
- And speaking of As You Like It, it's Shakespeare's 450th birthday today! All the world's a stage, people! Use it wisely!
Cup of Joe: Perk up and revisit yesterday's big stories...
- A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER leads the 2013-14 Outer Critics Circle nominations, the first big awards noms of the year!
- MCC Theater announced its 2014-15 season, featuring the world premiere of THE MONEY SHOT by Neil LaBute and more.
- Also this season, Atlantic Theater Company will be staging the World Premiere of the new musical FOUND.
- This year's Easter Bonnet Competition was a huge success, raising $4.5 million for BC/EFA!
- Tony winner Hugh Jackman and his wife announced their plans to launch a charitable foundation for the performing arts in Australia.
- MATILDA will play at least through May 2015 in the West End!
- We got a first look at highlights from CABARET (here) and CASA VALENTINA (here), plus new production shots for the latter, featuring Patrick Page and more!
- HBO unveiled character posters for THE NORMAL HEART, and we got news that Jonathan Groff -- one of the film's stars -- alongside ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK's Laverne Cox -- will be the Grand Marshals of the 2014 NYC Pride March in June!
- The Public Theater's HERE LIES LOVE cast recording has pushed its release back to May 6. Sorry we got you excited on Tuesday, but that's just a couple weeks away...
- And finally, BWW released the trailer for Episode 5 of SUBMISSIONS ONLY's third season, which airs next Monday!
Broadway Weather Forecast: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May... (Shakespeare's Sonnet 18). Partly cloudy and windy. High of 58 degrees.
Quote of the Day: CABARET star Alan Cumming on the power of theatre...
"I was so scared of going back to the theatre after HAMLET. I didn't know if I'd do a play again because I was afraid of the power of it."
-- Alan Cumming (via BrainyQuote)
What we're looking forward to: Shakespeare in the Park. We can't wait to see The Public's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING -- with Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe -- and KING LEAR -- starring John Lithgow -- at the Delacorte. Plus, with rumors that Annette Bening could be joining LEAR, we're excited for the full casting announcements. Is it summer yet?
Video of the Day: In an homage to Shakespeare, watch SHERLOCK's Benedict Cumberbatch as Rosencrantz and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Guildenstern in a scene from Tom Stoppard's play ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD! The performance was filmed as part of the "National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage" celebration, which aired on PBS in February.
And finally, a Happy Birthday flashback shout-out to the Bard himself, William Shakespeare, who would have turned 450 today!
Shakespeare, who was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, is the world's most celebrated English-language playwright. He penned around 38 plays, 154 sonnets and (most likely) a few other works not officially attributed to him. He worked as an actor, writer and co-owner of the theatre troup called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later the King's Men. Among his first recorded works are Richard III and Henry VI (parts I, II and III), followed by Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Bard's comedies also include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night and As You Like It, with Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra and more falling among his tragic works.
In celebration of his genius, many theaters in New York City, across the United States, around the world, and, of course, in the UK, are offering special performances and events in Shakespeare's name. The Royal Shakespeare Company will be shooting off fireworks this evening, for example, and the Broadway casts of Cinderella, Matilda and are handing out sonnets.
So, in the words of Malvolio in Twelfth Night, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." One might argue that Shakespeare did all three. Happy Birthday, Will!
See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!
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