Jessica Lewis - Page 242

Get your twitter fingers ready for more unforgettable moments as MTV announces the first round of artists who will perform LIVE at the '2010 MTV Video Music Awards.' Kanye, Drake and Florence + The Machine will take creative leaps and bring fans an evening filled with groundbreaking performances that will be discussed for years to come. With the highly anticipated release of Kanye West's new album this fall, music lovers and fans alike will be glued to the screen to see what the rapper has in store for the audience when he hits the VMA stage. This year's awards will mark the first VMA performance for Grammy- nominated hip-hop artist Drake and UK indie favorite Florence + The Machine, who will perform her 4-time VMA nominated 'Dog Days Are Over.' Nicki Minaj, Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Trey Songz, Selena Gomez and Ne-Yo are the first presenters confirmed for the show. The '2010 MTV Video Music Awards' will air live from Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 9PM (Live ET/Tape delayed PT.) MTV will announce additional performers, presenters and host on a later date.

As BroadwayWorld previously speculated, producers Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay will welcome Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle to the cast of the hit Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! on Tuesday, September 14, when she takes over the role of Fela's mother (Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti) through Sunday, January 2, 2011, when the show will play its final scheduled performance. Tony Award-winner Lillias White (who received a 2010 Tony Nomination for her performance in this production) will play her final performance on September 12. Fela! received three 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Design. It is currently playing at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street) where it opened to rave reviews on November 23.

The 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and Royal Family Productions will present the New York premiere of Anthony Rapp in his musical Without You September 27 - October 9 at the TBG Theater, 312 West 36 Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, third floor. Anthony Rapp stars in Without You, book and lyrics by Anthony Rapp, based on his bestseller Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent; music by John Keaney, David Matos, Joe Pisapia, and Anthony Rapp; featuring songs from Rent, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson; directed by Steve Maler.

During the week of August 2, 2010, ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' posted strong week-to-week growth in Total Viewers (+14% - 1.50 million vs. 1.32 million), Adults 18-49 (+16% - 590,000 vs. 507,000) and Adults 18-34 (+35% - 241,000 vs. 178,000). 'JKL' produced its biggest overall audience in 5 weeks and its top Adult 18-34 number in 7 weeks ? since w/o 6/28/10 and 6/14/10, respectively.

Syfy will rekindle the magic of Camelot, announcing today the acquisition from FremantleMedia Enterprises of the third season of the popular Merlin series, which will make its U.S. television premiere on Syfy in early 2011.

Who will be America's Favorite Dancer? Tune in to SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE tonight, Thursday, Aug. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX, for one of the most-anticipated television events of the summer featuring a very special performance by Ellen DeGeneres and tWitch Boss.

A brilliant detective tormented by the darker side of humanity, Luther shines a light into the hearts and minds of psychopaths and killers, and the shadowy spaces of his own soul. A BBC AMERICA co-production starring The Wire's Idris Elba (Russell 'Stringer' Bell), Luther is a gripping, psychological thriller driven by a brilliant and emotionally impulsive detective. A self-destructive near-genius, Luther might just be as dangerous as the depraved criminals he hunts. In each episode, the murderer's identity is known from the start, focusing the drama on the psychological duel between predator and prey. Luther premieres Sunday, October 17, 2010, 10:00p.m. ET/PT.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) has announced the full cast for Tigers Be Still, a new play by Kim Rosenstock, directed by Sam Gold. Tigers Be Still will feature Reed Birney (Joseph), Halley Feiffer (Sherry), Natasha Lyonne (Grace), John Magaro (Zack).

EW.com's Ausiello Files reports that Hair alum Kyle Riabko has been cast as the newest member of the CW's Beverly Hills 90210. Riabko will be a regular in the series third season, which premieres on Monday, September 13, 2010. According to the report, Riabko's storyline involves being the love interest of either Liam (Matt Lanter), Navid (Michael Steger) or Teddy (Trevor Donovan), who will come out as gay.

Whoopi Goldberg joined the cast of the hit musical comedy SISTER ACT on Tuesday, August 10 in the role of Mother Superior. She will perform in the show through Tuesday August 31st, playing an exclusive 23 show run. No stranger to stages around the world, the role however marks Whoopi's West End debut. Whoopi follows the hugely popular Sheila Hancock, who created the role and has played Mother Superior since the show opened in May last year. She is joined on stage by the critically acclaimed Patina Miller in the lead role of Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi's role in the original movie), recording artist Simon Webbe as Curtis Shank and Dad's Army star Ian Lavender as Monsignor. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a clip of Golberg herself weighing in on how it feels to make her West End debut in a show that hits especially close to home.

Alysha Umphress and cast members from AMERICAN IDIOT will visit Seth's Broadway Chatterbox tonight, August 12, at 6:00 PM. Off-Broadway, Umphress has appeared in Make Me a Song (the music of William Finn). She is a three-time MAC Award nominee for best female jazz vocalist and is making her Broadway debut in AMERICAN IDIOT.

Last night, August 11, 2010, in Los Angeles, California, celebrities attended the launch party for the Blackberry Torch. BroadwayWorld brings you full coverage below.

As BroadwayWorld has reported, Ira Levin's thriller DEATHTRAP will open at the Noël Coward Theatre in London on Tuesday 7 September. Simon Russell Beale will star as ‘Sydney Bruhl', Estelle Parsons as ‘Helga ten Dorp,' Jonathan Groff as ‘Clifford Anderson' and Claire Skinner as ‘Myra Bruhl'; the cast also includes Terry Beaver. The trailer for the West End production has been released and BroadwayWorld brings you a first look below!

MTV exclusively reports that GLEE creator and Eat Pray Love director Ryan Murphy will next helm The Normal Heart film starring Mark Ruffalo, and may have his sights set on directing the screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked.

As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, Christina Aguilera will make her big screen debut with Screen Gems' movie musical, 'Burlesque,' due out on November 24, 2010. She headlines the film alongside Cher and Stanley Tucci, who are additionally joined by Alan Cumming, Eric Dane, Dianna Agron, and Kristen Bell. Today, the clip of Aguilera singing Etta James' 'Something's Got A Hold On Me' has been released!

As previously reported and confirmed today by Whatsonstage.com, West End's 'Elle Woods' and 'Paulette,' Sheridan Smith and Jill Halfpenny, respectively, will be departing LEGALLY BLONDE on October 23, 2010. It has been rumored that Jennifer Ellison was in talks to take over the role of Elle, in addition to Broadway's original Elle Woods, Laura Bell Bundy.

92nd Street Y has announced that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Michael Caine will be joining the lin-up of guests in conversation this fall.

New York metro area public television station WLIW21 will air a special premiere presentation of the acclaimed Beatles concert RAIN - A Tribute to The Beatles on Saturday, August 14 at 9:30PM with an encore on Sunday, August 15 at 1:30PM. The 90-minute program will also feature in-studio interviews with two original band members of RAIN - Joey Curatolo (‘Paul McCartney') and Steve Landes (‘John Lennon'). This special airs prior to the Broadway engagement of RAIN- A Tribute To the Beatles On Broadway which begins previews October 19 at the Neil Simon Theatre for a limited 11-week run. During WLIW21's broadcasts, viewers who support the station with a suggested donation can receive tickets to the October 22 performance of RAIN live on Broadway and attend a post-show meet & greet!

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced that Tony Award nominee JAN MAXWELL will star in Arthur Kopit's acclaimed play WINGS this fall. Directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle (Sweeney Todd, Company), WINGS will begin previews at Second Stage Theatre (305 West 43rd street) on Tuesday, October 5. The production will officially open on Sunday, October 24.

TV Guide exclusively reports today that Marcia Gay Harden will be returning to NBC's 'Law & Order: SVU' as Federal Agent Dana Lewis in the eighth episode of the show's 12th season. Harden debuted the character in 2005 under her alias 'Star Morrison' in a case centering on a white supremacist group's involvement with a school murder. Harden reprised the character in 2007 in a guest stint, for which she earned an Emmy nomination.