Jessica Lewis - Page 246

Fresh off her stint in Hair, Annaleigh Ashford will lead the previously announced Heathers: The Musical concert at Joe's Pub alongside Jeremy Jordan on September 13, 2010. Ashford will protray Veronica Sawyer (played by Winona Ryder on screen), while Jeremy Jordan will play Jason Dean (played by Christian Slater in the film). Additional casting announcements are forthcoming.

Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody stars in the lead role in Detachment with Academy Award winning actress, Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, William Peterson, Bryan Cranston, Tim Blake Nelson with Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner and James Caan.

Variety reports this morning that Love, Loss and What I Wore scribe Nora Ephron is teaming up with Reese Witherspoon, Marc Platt and Fox 2000 to bring a Peggy Lee biopic to the big screen. Ephron will be writing and directing the film, and it is expected that Witherspoon will star. The project is largely Witherspoon's brainchild (she secured the rights to the story from Lee's granddaughter, Holly Foster-Wells) and the details of her performance contract are currently in the works.

Arena Stage's inaugural season at the Mead Center for American Theater opens with three productions featuring three powerful leading ladies - E. Faye Butler in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in the company's renovated, iconic Fichandler Stage; Phylicia Rashad in playwright Marcus Gardley's world premiere of Every Tongue Confess in the brand new 200-seat Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle; and Anna Deavere Smith in her one-woman play, Second Stage's production of Let Me Down Easy, which begins its national tour in the freshly refurbished Kreeger Theater.

The world of Cold War intrigue, forbidden love, and 1980s rock rules when the legendary musical Chess, by the composers of Mamma Mia!, opens at Signature Theatre tomorrow, August 10. The production will run through September 26. The first major American production in almost 20 years - and the Washington region's very first professional production - stars Broadway's Jill Paice (Curtains), Euan Morton (Boy George in Taboo), and Jeremy Kushnier (Footloose) in the Russian/American conflict made new again. Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Million Dollar Quartet) and his creative team capture the gritty, sexy world of Chess' 1985 radio hit ‘One Night in Bangkok' in the amazing intimacy of Signature's 276-seat MAX Theatre. The Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre has a national reputation for its work with musicals - polishing underappreciated gems, as well as producing world premieres and reinventing classics. In anticipation of this exciting opening, BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the production with never-before-seen dress rehearsal shots! Check back tomorrow for official opening night photo coverage and video!

BroadwayWorld has just confirmed that comedian Wanda Sykes will be leading the Media Theatre's production of ANNIE as 'Miss Hannigan' this holiday season. Sykes will open the production on November 23 and close the production on January 16, 2011 following a Christmas absence. The theater today released an audition notice and are seeking all roles, including a cover for Sykes while the star fulfills her holiday commitments. The production will be directed by Media Artistic Director Jesse Cline and musical directed by Tom Fosnocht.

On Friday, August 6, Larry King and wife Shawn King attended a performance of JERSEY BOYS at the Palazzo in Las Vegas and stopped backstage thereafter to celebrate. BroadwayWorld brings you coverage of the Kings with the 'BOYS' below!

TV Guide reports that Ben Vereen and Wayne Brady will be guest starring on CBS' How I Met Your Mother next season. Both men will appear in the second episode of the sitcom's sixth season, airing on Monday, September 27, 2010. (Season six premieres on Monday, September 20). Brady returns as James Stinson, Barney's black, gay brother. Brady premiered the character in a 2006 and reprised the role again in 2007. Vereen will play Brady's father. No word on wether or not the episode will include a musical production. With the musical talents of Brady, Vereen and Neil Patrick Harris (who plays Barney), however, a musical addition to the stint seems likely.

The Flying Karamazov Brothers return in triumph to the Minetta Lane Theatre for an open-ended engagement in their hit show 4PLAY tonight Monday, August 9 at 7pm. Previews began on July 22. This follows the show's limited engagement that played the Minetta Lane February 8 through March 7 to popular success. In anticipation of opening night tonight, BroadwayWorld brings you photo coverage of the 'Brothers' in performance below!

Yesterday, August 8, Grammy-winning country music star Larry Gatlin took the stage of the Nederlander Theatre to join the cast of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET in a special performance of the song 'Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down,' a song written in tribute to Cash who was a friend of Gatlin's. In addition, Gatlin wrote songs that were recorded by Cash, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins, three of the members of the real Million Dollar Quartet. BroadwayWorld brings you a look at his cameo below!

The Seattle Repertory Theatre has announced casting for the upcoming 2010-2011 season. Of the 23 roles cast so far, 21 have been filled by Seattle performers, ranging from up-and-comers like Troy Fischnaller and Alexandra Tavares to long-time staples like Charles Leggett, Sea?n G. Griffin, Todd Jefferson Moore and Suzanne Bouchard. Additionally, five of the eight directors are local, as are many of the designers.

Broadway In Chicago has announced that individual tickets for AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER will go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 13 at 10:00 a.m. The Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning actress will perform an exclusive, four-night engagement to inaugurate the new Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) September 23 - 26, 2010.

West End stars Dianne Pilkington (Glinda in 'Wicked', 'The 39 Steps'), Oliver Tompsett (Fiyero in 'Wicked'), Daniel Boys (Princeton in 'Avenue Q'), Michael Arden ('Aspect of Love') and Broadway's Gavin Creel ('Hair', 'Mary Poppins') are to guest star with Broadway star Shoshana Bean live at the Ambassador's Theatre on Tuesday August 17.

Last night, August 8, 2010, the 2010 Teen Choice Awards were held at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. BroadwayWorld brings you full coverage of the arrivals below.

Legendary actress Patricia Neil passed away yesterday, August 8, at her home in Martha's Vineyard at the age of 84. Neal had been fighting lung cancer for several years.

Last night, August 5, Family Guy mastermind Seth MacFarlane serenaded Jay Leno and the audience on the Tonight Show audience with music that appears on his new album. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Universal Republic Records has signed Television Executive Producer/Actor Seth MacFarlane for a fully orchestrated album of 1940s and 50's classic show tunes, scheduled to hit stores and online platforms later this year. Click below for a preview of what's to come!

While most celebs travel incognito, Tony nominee Constantine Maroulis basked in the spotlight last night. After his performance of ROCK OF AGES, the Tony Award nominee graciously signed autographs for fans who lined up outside the stage door, before crossing the street to his own private CitySights tour bus. The former 'Idol' star and his entourage headed over to the show's after party at B.B. Kings on top of the iconic double-decker blue bus for all passersby to see. BroadwayWorld brings you Maroulis-siting coverage below!

Multiple Emmy award-winning television host, celebrated performer, renowned philanthropist, and all-around talent, Rosie O'Donnell will make her return to daytime television exclusively on OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK. From 1996 to 2002, Ms. O'Donnell delighted audiences as the host of the highly successful daytime talk show 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show.' For OWN, she will bring her trademark humor and down-to-earth approach to a new daily talk show scheduled to premiere in 2011. The announcement was made today by Chief Executive Officer, Christina Norman.

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier, the complete Broadway casting has been announced for THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, the new Kander & Ebb musical. Following a sold out, critically acclaimed and award-winning run Off-Broadway, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will open on Broadway on Sunday, October 31 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). Previews will begin on Thursday, October 7. Prior to Broadway, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is playing a limited engagement at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. The production opened on July 31 and runs through September 25 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a look at the show's opening number!

Producers Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser will present LOMBARDI at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre this fall starring Dan Lauria as Vince Lombardi and Judith Light as Marie Lombardi, written by Academy Award winning playwright Eric Simonson and directed by Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail. Joining Ponturo and Kirmser as special producing partner is the National Football League, marking the organization's first foray on Broadway. LOMBARDI, a new American play, is based on the best-selling biography When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, by Pulitzer Prize winning author David Maraniss. BroadwayWorld brings you the first production shots, taken during the show's out of town engagement in Great Barrington Mass., just released, below!