Wake Up With BWW 7/22: THE LION KING Film Gross, and More!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld!

We've got an exclusive look inside rehearsal for Into The Woods at the Hollywood Bowl! Go backstage as BroadwayWorld interviews members of the cast and brings you exclusive clips from rehearsals!

The Lion King is on track to have the biggest opening ever for a Disney live action remake of an animated film! On Friday, the film grossed $78.5 million, and has a projected weekend total of $180 million to $200 million.

Tony nominee Lauren Ridloff is set to be Marvel's first deaf superhero! The actress will play a role in the upcoming film, The Eternals.

Read more about these and other top stories below!

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1) Lauren Ridloff Will Play Marvel's First Deaf Superhero in THE ETERNALS
by Stephanie Wild

Tony nominee Lauren Ridloff is set to be Marvel's first deaf superhero!. (more...)

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2) ICYMI: Watch Shoshana Bean, Alex Brightman & More Belt It Out at Broadway in Bryant Park!
by BroadwayWorld TV

Broadway in Bryant Park is back! 106.7 LITE FM's popular series will bring the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway together for FREE performances, for six consecutive weeks, continuing today, July 18, to Thursday, August 15. New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple are invited to come at 11 a.m. every Thursday, beginning July 11 through August 15, with performances running from 12:30 p.m. EST - 1:30 p.m. EST on the Bryant Park Stage.. (more...)

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3) BWW Flashback: The Many Dances of MOULIN ROUGE's Sonya Tayeh's
by Paul Smith

Sonya Tayeh has been one of the relevant names in dance for over a decade, choreographing for Madonna, Florence and the Machine, Miley Cyrus and more. Her most notable credit would be the work she has contributed to over eight seasons of So You Think You Can Dance, which has earned her two Emmy nominations.. (more...)

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4) BWW Review: PROM 2: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, Royal Albert Hall
by Sophia Lambton

*****#JakubHrusa builds a wondrous labyrinth of melodies with @bambergsymphony and @JoshuaBellMusic in the original #BohemianRhapsody @BBCProms. (more...)

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5) BWW Review: Mitchell Jarvis Returns To ROCK OF AGES in 10th Anniversary Production
by Michael Dale

When bookwriter Chris D'Arienzo's 1980s hair-band tuner Rock of Ages moved from Off-Broadway's New World Stages to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in April of 2009 - with a score made up of rock classics by Journey, Styx, Asia, Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi, Foreigner and a bunch of others - it was, to this reviewer's recollection, the first Broadway jukebox musical to acknowledge the silliness of jamming hit songs into an unrelated story.. (more...)

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Today's Call Sheet:

Jillian Mueller and Brennin Hunt take over for Vivian and Edward in Pretty Woman tonight!

The pair takes over for Samantha Barks and Andy Karl, who played their final performance yesterday, July 21. Mueller was most recently in the ensemble of Pretty Woman, and understudied Vivian. Hunt is known for his role as Roger in Rent: Live!

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BWW Exclusive: Rehearsal Clips From INTO THE WOODS at the Hollywood Bowl, Plus Interviews With the Cast!

Michael Sterling, BroadwayWorld's LA On Air Host and Co-Producer for BWW TV and Jerry Evans of JLE Media in Los Angeles spent the day at rehearsal for Hollywood Bowl's upcoming, new production of Into the Woods.

Check out the video, which includes clips from inside rehearsal, as well as interviews with the cast!

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What we're geeking out over: THE LION KING Grosses $78.5 Million on Opening Day; On Track For Biggest Opening For Disney Live-Action Remake

The Lion King is on track to have the biggest opening ever for a Disney live action remake of an animated film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

On Friday, the film grossed $78.5 million, and has a projected weekend total of $180 million to $200 million. This will surpass Beauty and the Beast, which opened to $175 million in 2017, followed by Alice in Wonderland with $116 million and $103 million for Favreau's The Jungle Book in 2016.

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Social Butterfly: West End and Broadway Stars Send Words of Encouragement To Bullied Young Musical Theatre Fan

Actress and teacher Jacqueline Hughes reached out on Twitter to ask for help with something near and dear to her heart. One of her students, young Charlie, was being bullied for his love of musical theatre.

"Sadly a little boy I teach, Charlie, who is also a dear family friend is sadly being bullied at school for his love of MT, being called gay, fat, stupid....the list goes on," she writes.

She goes on to say that Charlie was beaten up by 6 boys and left crying.

"I wondered if you wouldn't mind, if you have time sending me a little video to cheer him up, maybe some advice, your own stories, how you didn't let them stop you, what you are doing now."

What followed was nothing short of remarkable. An outpouring of support came in from West End and Broadway stars and full casts, sending videos with encouraging words to Charlie.

Watch a sampling of the videos here!

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And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Diana Rigg, who turns 81 today!

Rigg recently made her LCT debut in Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady. Broadway: Medea (Tony Award), The Misanthrope (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Abelard and Heloise (Tony nom.). Off-Broadway: Britannicus and Phaedra (BAM).

Previous national tour is include Colette, King Lear. London theater credits include West End: Pygmalion (Mrs. Higgins, 2011/Eliza Doolittle, 1974), Honour, Suddenly, Last Summer, Follies, Heartbreak House, Night and Day, Macbeth, Abelard and Heloise; National Theatre: Macbeth, Phaedra, Humble Boy, Mother Courage and her Children, The Misanthrope, Jumpers; Almeida Theatre: Britannicus, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (also West End), Medea (also West End), Phaedra; and RSC: Twelfth Night, King Lear.

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See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!