Wake Up With BWW 2/3: Jerry Herman Memorial Tonight, and More!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld!

Broadway will gather to remember Jerry Herman at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre today. Performers will include Kristin Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Klea Blackhurst, Alice Borden, Jane Dorian, Lewis Stadlen, Lorna Luft, Ron Raines, Jason Graae, Marilyn Maye, Jeremy Jordan, Don Pippin, Lee Roy Reams, and Debbie Gravitte, with a special video tribute from Angela Lansbury.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) will hold the 2020 TCG Gala: Our Stories tonight at The Edison Ballroom (240 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036). The Gala will honor North Carolina Black Repertory Company's National Black Theatre Festival, based in Winston-Salem; playwright David Henry Hwang; and TCG's arts advocacy at the federal level. The evening will include performances from A Strange Loop and Soft Power, and feature Billy Bustamante, James Jackson, Jr., and Alyse Alan Louis.

This weekend also brought us an unreleased song from Frozen 2, a new High School Musical: The Musical: The Series video, and much more!

Read more about these and other top stories below!

Want our morning reports delivered via email? Subscribe here!

1) VIDEO: Elsa Comes Out and More in SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's FROZEN 2 'Deleted Scenes'
by Stage Tube

During last night's episode of Saturday Night Live, the parody sketch show performed a spoof of Frozen 2!. (more...)

---

2) VIDEO: Listen to 'Unmeltable Me,' an Unreleased Song From FROZEN 2
by Stage Tube

An unreleased song, called 'Unmeltable Me' has surfaced from Frozen 2, featuring Josh Gad as the snowman Olaf!. (more...)

---

3) VIDEO: The Cast of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES Sings an Acoustic Version of 'Wondering'
by Stage Tube

Cast members from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series joined forces to record an acoustic version of the song 'Wondering' from the show!. (more...)

---

4) BWW Review: EURYDICE at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
by Maria Nockin

On February 1, 2020, Los Angeles Opera presented the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin's third opera, Euridice. He composed it together with Sarah Ruhl who wrote the original 2003 play. Aucoin, Ruhl, and this presentation's stage director, Mary Zimmerman, have been the recipients of the MacArthur Fellowships known as 'Genius Grants.' . (more...)

---

5) Protests, Statements Raise Controversy Over WEST SIDE STORY Casting of Amar Ramasar

Since principal casting was announced for the Ivo van Hove-directed Broadway revival of West Side Story was announced last July, there have been public concerns over the actor playing the role of Bernardo, Amar Ramasar.. (more...)

---

---

Today's Call Sheet:

Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, and more will gather to remember Jerry Herman tonight!

As BroadwayWorld reported last month, Tony Award winning composer and lyricist Jerry Herman passed away at 88 years old. Next month, Broadway will unite to remember the legend.

Michael Feinstein will produce a memorial event on February 3 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Performers will include Kristin Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Klea Blackhurst, Alice Borden, Jane Dorian, Lewis Stadlen, Lorna Luft, Ron Raines, Jason Graae, Marilyn Maye, Jeremy Jordan, Don Pippin, Lee Roy Reams, and Debbie Gravitte, with a special video tribute from Angela Lansbury.

TCG Gala: OUR STORIES takes place tonight!

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has shared the entertainment and performers for the 2020 TCG Gala: Our Stories, which will be held on Monday, February 3, 2020, at The Edison Ballroom (240 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036). The Gala will honor North Carolina Black Repertory Company's National Black Theatre Festival, based in Winston-Salem; playwright David Henry Hwang; and TCG's arts advocacy at the federal level. The evening will include performances from A Strange Loop and Soft Power, and feature Billy Bustamante, James Jackson, Jr., and Alyse Alan Louis.

---

What we're watching: Watch the Original Storyboard Sequence For 'Into the Unknown' From FROZEN 2

Get a peek into the Frozen 2 animation studio with this all new video from Disney!

See how this sequence from Frozen 2 evolved from storyboard to final frame, featuring the song "Into the Unknown" written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez.

---

Social Butterfly: Go Inside Week Two of the Rehearsal Room For London's BE MORE CHILL

Rehearsals are underway for the UK premiere of viral hit musical Be More Chill.

Find out more about this new American musical that everyone is talking about, and get a sneak peek into week 2 of the rehearsal room of the London production.

---

And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Nathan Lane, who turns 64 today!

Lane most recently appeared in Gary on Broadway. Previously, he appeared as Roy Cohn in the National Theater production of Angels in America on Broadway and in London.

Other Broadway credits include: The Front Page (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards); It's Only a Play; The Nance (Tony and Drama Desk nominations, Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award); The Addams Family (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations); Waiting for Godot (Outer Critics Circle nomination); November; Butley; The Odd Couple; The Frogs; The Producers (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier awards); The Man Who Came to Dinner; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards); Love! Valour! Compassion! (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards); Laughter on the 23rd Floor; Guys And Dolls (Tony nomination, Drama Desk And Outer Critics Circle awards); On Borrowed Time; Some Americans Abroad; Wind In The Willows; Merlin; Present Laughter (Drama Desk nomination); Hickey in The Iceman Cometh at BAM (Monte Cristo Award From The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center).

He has received six Primetime Emmy nominations, two Daytime Emmy Awards and the People's Choice Award. He has appeared in more than 35 films including The Birdcage (Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild and American Comedy awards); Ironweed; Frankie and Johnny; Mousehunt; Jeffrey; The Lion King; Stuart Little; Nicholas Nickleby (National Board Of Review Ensemble Award); The Producers (Golden Globe nomination); Swing Vote; Mirror, Mirror; Carrie Pilby; No Pay, Nudity; and The Vanishing of Sidney Hall. In 2006 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2008 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

---

See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!