Marissa Sblendorio - Page 5

Star of both stage and screen, Jay Armstrong Johnson has had a busy year, between his 54 Below shows, his album, and his roles on QUANTICO and 'My Gay Roommate.' He's finally making his return to the stage after dancing his way into our hearts in ON THE TOWN, by starring as the titular role in New York City Opera's production of Leonard Berstein's CANDIDE.

The producers of the Tony, Grammy & Olivier Award-Winning Best Musical Jersey Boys recently announced that the Broadway production will end its record-breaking, 11-year run today, Sunday, January 15, 2017 after 4,642 performances at the August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd St, NYC).

The Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple will play its final performance on Broadway today,  Sunday, January 8, 2017. The production will has played 449 regular and 33 preview performances at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 W 45th Street). Soon, a North American tour of the production will launch, most likely in the fall of 2017.

Despite the beautiful theaters that grace it's streets, I think we can all agree that Times Square that holds a colorful cast of characters. From a questioning Spiderman, to a headless Minnie Mouse, and even, wait a second, is that Mike Pence? 

The New York Post's legendary gossip columnist, Cindy Adams, just made her Broadway debut during the curtain call of Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS as Grizabella. She might not be Mamie's understudy, but she was there to promote her eighth annual Blessing of the Animals on December 11, 2016 at Christ Church (524 Park Avenue), which includes a procession of animals to the altar for blessing.

Tracy meets Dorothy? Now that's something I gotta see! The stars of last year's holiday hit THE WIZ LIVE! Shanice Williams (Dorothy) and Elijah Kelley (Scarecrow), stopped by to visit the cast and crew of HAIRSPRAY LIVE!

There seems to only be one thing on every New Yorker's mind. The Cubs winning the World Series? Nope. Donald Trump becoming President? Nah. People only care about HAMILTON!  You can't blame them, though. Combining hip hop and musical theatre to tell the story of America's founding fathers is quite an interesting subject. But, they're not the only ones using hip hop at their show. 

Last night, BroadwayHD had an advanced screening of the final film in New York City, and BroadwayWorld had a chance to talk to some of the stars of the production, as well as the producers behind BroadwayHD, about how they felt about the finished product. 

Luke Frazier and The American Pops Orchestra , Washington, DC's innovative hometown orchestra, will open their all-star 2016-2017 season with I'll Be Seeing You: A World War II Love Story on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11th.  The show stars  stars Broadway and TV favorite Ron Raines, as well as Florence Lacey, Claybourne Elder, and Rachel Eskenazi-Gold. 

CAGNEY, the new hit musical about Hollywood's tough guy in tap shoes, just recently welcomed Broadway's Jeffry Denman  to the company.  Denman is best known for starring in the original company of Irving Berlin's White Christmas for which he was nominated for a Fred & Adele Astaire Award. He was Munkustrap in the final cast of Cats (original Broadway production) and was featured in the original company of The Producers which led him to pen the memoir, A Year with The Producers. 

John Leguizamo will present The Q Brothers' Othello: The Remix, written, directed and composed by GQ and JQ, which will make its New York debut at the Westside Theatre (407 W. 43rd), beginning previews on Tuesday, October 25th and officially opening on Thursday, November 17th.

Matt Cox is a playwright, actor, improviser, who's behind the popular shows KAPOW-I GOGO and PUFFS OR: SEVEN INCREASINGLY EVENTFUL YEARS AT A CERTAIN SCHOOL OF MAGIC & MAGIC. With PUFFS recently making it's debut at the Elektra Theatre after a lager than life run at the People's Improv Theatre, this Harry Potter parody puts audiences in the perspective of the most ragged on house: the Hufflepuffs. 

The second annual Elsie Fest, a one-day outdoor music festival celebrating stars and songs from the stage and screen, took place yesterday, Monday, September 5th at the Ford Amphitheater at the Coney Island Boardwalk.

THE ROADS TO HOME is the first production in Primary Stages' 2016-17 season. In this collection of one-act plays, Horton Foote illustrates the lives of three Texan women in the 1920s as they struggle to understand what the concept of home means for each of them. THE ROADS TO HOME offers a rare chance to experience a Foote gem not seen on the New York stage in over 25 years and is directed by Foote's longtime collaborator, Michael Wilson.

This weekend, we sadly say goodbye to three groundbreaking productions as they take their final bows: AN ACT OF GOD, THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and LES MISERABLES. 

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, after a year and a half of performances, Broadway's FINDING NEVERLAND will play its final performance at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater today, August 21, 2016. The production will have played 33 previews and 565 performances and will transfer to London's West End to open in the spring of 2017. 

Declan Conlon has an impressive resume, spanning throughout all types of theatre and television genre's including Showtime's THE TUDORS. Now, he is making his way to the states, starring as Ian in QUIETLY at New York's Irish Repertory Theatre. BroadwayWorld had a chance to talk to Declan about what it's like to bring QUIETLY to a brand new audience and his preference between acting on stage versus screen.

Tori Murray is Broadway's biggest star in the making. She's had show's at Feinstein's/54 Below, worked with Sutton Foster, and she's only 12 years old! To celebrate her return to Feinstein's/54 Below, in which she will be the youngest solo act to ever appear at venue, we decided to catch up with her to talk about READY OR NOT, HERE I COME, RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL, and her appearance with Sutton Foster on Nickelodeon's  ALL IN WITH CAM NEWTON.

Too sad about the principles leaving HAMILTON that you can't focus on anything else? Well don't worry BroadwayWorld has rounded up some of the biggest stories from this week from Broadway and beyond with BroadwayWorld's 'This Week in Pictures.' Highlights from this week include the NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE AWARDS,  DUST CAN'T KILL ME at NYMF, Megan Hilty and Matthew Morrison with The New York Pops and SO much more! 

Disney fans and audience members of THE LITTLE MERMAID Live in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, June 6th, were treated with a wonderful surprise. Susan Egan, the original Belle from the Broadway version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, came on stage as an opening to the concert, to sing a medley of songs from the musical including 'Belle', 'Something There', and of course 'Beauty and the Beast.'