Jessica Lewis - Page 180

American playwright Katori Hall's The Mountaintop was named Best Play at the 2010 Olivier Awards in London. Marking the first time a female African American playwright has received the honor in the Olivier Awards' 34-year history, Ms. Hall's play was nominated alongside such new works as Jerusalem, Enron and Red.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will present the 22nd Annual GYPSY OF THE YEAR COMPETITION on Monday, December 6 (4:30 PM) and Tuesday, December 7 (2 PM) at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 W. 42nd Street). The proceeds from the event, a dazzling once-a-year variety show filled with lavish musical numbers, original skits and Broadway stars, will benefit BC/EFA.

Deadline.com has just revealed that Broadway darling Idina Menzel will be the star of a new musical drama by Samantha Who? scribe Bob Kushell for ABC. According to Deadline: 'Idina Menzel is headlining her own musical hourlong project, a mother-daughter relationship drama in the vein of Gilmore Girls. It will star the Broadway actress as the single mother of a teenager who, to make ends meet, waits tables and performs at weddings and bar mitzvahs, odd jobs that Menzel herself worked early on while pursuing a Broadway career.'

The award-winning York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) announces casting for four new musicals (The Green Heart, Mr. & Mrs. Broadway, 9 Day Wonder and Amazing Sex), the next offerings in its acclaimed Developmental Reading Series. The Green Heart is a special closed reading.

Lead producer Michael Cohl announced today that SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark sold more than one million dollars worth of tickets within 24 hours of the show's first preview performance. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring a book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger, and new music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is now in previews at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street).

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced nominations this morning for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Eva Mendes and Jeremy Renner served as presenters and 2011 Spirit Awards host Joel McHale was also on hand. Nominees for Best Feature include 127 Hours, Black Swan, Greenberg, The Kids Are All Right and Winter's Bone.

Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy will lead the cast in Ghost The Musical playing Sam and Molly in Matthew Warchus' stage musical version of the Academy Award® winning film. Accompanied by Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown and Andrew Langtree as Carl, Ghost The Musical has new music and lyrics by Grammy® award winning Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard as well as featuring the iconic song Unchained Melody. Oscar® winning Bruce Joel Rubin has adapted his original screen play for the stage. Set and costume designs are by Rob Howell, choreography is by Ashley Wallen with musical supervision and arrangements by Christopher Nightingale, illusions by Paul Kieve, lighting by Hugh Vanstone and projection design by Jon Driscoll. Click below for a behind-the-scenes look at the recent Ghost recording session at Abbey Road Studios.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned the sad news that, 11 year old Shannon Tavarez who received an umbilical-cord transplant in late August to combat her acute myeloid leukemia has passed away. The soprano from Queens recently played Young Nala in The Lion King on Broadway.

As The Graham Norton Show continues to premiere on BBC AMERICA, Graham is joined by his 'favorite entertainer in the whole wide world', the great Bette Midler, along with actor/writer/comedian Stephen Fry and WBA Heavyweight Champion of the World, David Haye. The fifth episode of the new season of The Graham Norton Show premieres Saturday, December 4th, 10:00p.m. ET/PT.

Last night, November 29, John Stamos appeared on E!'s 'Chelsea Lately' to chat about his upcoming episode on GLEE airing tonight, November 30.

According to the UK Sun, Susan Boyle will be starring in a new musical about her life and unexpected success as an instant international superstar.

Composer Jonathan Reid Gealt's music is captured on his debut CD, Thirteen Stories Down,' by some of Broadway's brightest young stars, including Caissie Levy (Hair), Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal), Tituss Burgess (Jersey Boys), Natalie Weiss (American Idol), Will Chase (Rent), Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow), Lauren Kennedy (Spamalot), Capathia Jenkins and the Broadway Inspirational Voices, and more! The album, produced by Joel Moss and Lynne Shankel and featuring musical direction and arrangements by Shankel, will be released later this month and available for shipping on December 28. Pre-orders are being accepted on the Sh-K-Boom website.

The New York Post reports on Page Six today that Jenna Jamison may be the next celebrity to be making her Broadway debut in the near future. The former adult film star is reportedly in talks to take the stage as 'Justice' in ROCK OF AGES, the Las Vegas strip club owner.

On Sunday, November 28, the highly anticipated SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark had its first preview on Broadway. Message boards and Twitter were abuzz throughout the show, as audiences sat through 4 technical stops in Act 1, and 1 in Act 2 as well as an elongated intermission and one heckler, but the show as performed from beginning to end. The show also garnered what was most likely the most press co

Johnny Depp is back on the big screen this season, this time opposite Angelina Jolie in The Tourist. Depp recently spoke with Vanity Fair's Patti Smith about the new film and his Shakespeare and musical dreams.

Weekend movie box office update: November 26-November 28, 2010.

Commemorating World AIDS Day 2010, Liza Minnelli, amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole, New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Stockard Channing, Tyson Beckford, the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir, and others will lead an event to extinguish the lights on the historic Washington Square Park Memorial Arch to remember those lost to AIDS on December 1, 2010 at 5:30pm. Elsewhere in the city, lights will be turned off on other major landmarks. The event is free and open to the public

As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, Cynthia Nixon was set to star in Douglas Carter Beane's AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN in the West End, which had been scheduled to open in London in July of this year. Nixon appeared in the original 1997 New York production of the play. The production had been repeatedly delayed due to financing issues and today, the UK Daily Mail reports that the West End production has been cancelled.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce full casting for Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming world premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's GOOD PEOPLE directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

As BroadwayWorld speculated earlier today, James Franco and Anne Hathaway will officially serve as co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards®, Oscar telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer announced today. Both have previously appeared on the telecast but not in hosting capacities.