Alan Menken News

BEAUTY & THE BEAST is in production in the UK!

Christopher Gattelli's superb choreography - spirited and athletic, amazingly theatrical and awe-inspiring - may be reason enough to see Disney's Newsies, the show now ensconced at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, where it's entertaining audiences and eliciting some of the loudest responses we've ever heard in that cavernous space.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST on Snapchat!

Carrying the Banner to the Durham Performing Arts Center from June 2nd-7th is the national touring production of Disney's hit musical Newsies!

Disney's Newsies will claim Nashville as their own hometown with a weeklong run at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center beginning Tuesday, Osborne and Eppler's Southern Fried Nuptials takes the stage in Woodbury, and local favorite Geoff Davin unveils his latest theatrical creation - Adamenses Huckster…and there's plenty of theater continuing this week to keep you occupied all week long!

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening around us that it's difficult to keep track of it all. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, which is a comprehensive listing of theatrical openings,that will be updated each week, for the 2015/16 season.

Disney Theatrical Productions and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center announce that the Tony Award-winning smash hit musical, NEWSIES, will make its Nashville debut with a limited one-week engagement at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall, May 26-31.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Thursday, May 21st  2015) - Disney Theatrical Productions and Shiki Theatre Company celebrate the opening of the first international production of Disney'sAladdin in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, May 24th at The Dentsu Shiki Theatre Umi in Tokyo. The Tokyo production was cast locally in Japan and is performed in Japanese.

It's the official kick-off to summer, what with the Memorial Day Weekend upon us already - seriously, where did the time go? - and while we're certain your calendar is filled with cookouts, fireworks (we don't save all the sparklers for July 4th do we?) and swimming (if it warms up enough here in frosty Tennessee, where it's in the 50s as I type). But being the theatrical fanatic that we (using either the editorial "we" or the royal "we"…just take your pick) are, we would like to humbly suggest you make your way to the theater in the next few days to get some artistic inspiration.

The public is invited to an Open House and Preview Event showcasing the Fabulous Fox Theatre's 2015-2016 U.S. Bank Broadway Series on Sunday, May 31 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd. Visitors will be treated to live previews of MATILDA THE MUSICAL and BEAUTIFUL-THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL along with video previews from the other season shows.  

See how ALADDIN and THE LION KING look in Etch A Sketch!

I like Megan Hilty because she laughs a lot. She's fun! A young star of stage and screen-- having established herself as "Glinda" in Wicked on Broadway (2005-06) and subsequently becoming a TV star playing complicated and talented Ivy Lynn in the NBC hit musical drama Smash-Hilty opened her current run at the Cafe Carlyle Tuesday night to an excited, adoring audience. On stage with her band, directed by musical savant Matt Cusson--sporting a jaunty Newsies-style cap--at the keyboard (and including her husband Brian Gallagher on guitar, Ryan Hoagland on percussion, and Dennis Michael Keefe on upright bass), Hilty's effervescence was palpable, a heady mixture of genuine glee and sleep deprivation, as she effusively exclaimed her delight at being back at the Carlyle, following her last run when she was six-months pregnant. Now she has an eight-month old daughter. While her initial intention was to create a show about motherhood, the show ended up as a night of standards and Smash selections, giving the people what they know and love.

Eddie Cooper and Joe Grifasi will join the previously announced Ellen Greene, Jake Gyllenhaal and Taran Killam in the Encores! Off-Center concert production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's Little Shop of Horrors, running for three performances, July 1-2, 2015 at New York City Center. Eddie Cooper replaces his father Chuck Cooper, who will be starring in the upcoming Broadway musical Amazing Grace.

Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati presented by TriHealth announces by popular demand, THE BOOK OF MORMON, which played a record breaking three week run in 2014 returns to Cincinnati for a limited engagement March 29 - April 3, 2016 and the smash hit Broadway musical, DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will play a strictly limited engagement April 20 - 24, 2016. Ticket package holders receive priority ticket opportunities to all shows, so a season package is the best way to guarantee seats to THE BOOK OF MORMON and DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Tickets for both shows will be made available to Season Subscribers and group ticket buyers in the next two weeks.  Single tickets will be available for sale at a later date. THE BOOK OF MORMON and DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST join the previously announced 2015-2016 Season shows of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, PIPPIN, Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS, KINKY BOOTS, IF/THEN, Disney's NEWSIES, and CABARET.

 Little Shop of Horrors, Slow Burn Theatre Company's final production in the West Boca High Performing Arts Theatre before moving to their new home at the Broward Center, is a devilishly delicious mash up of sci-fi and Broadway, fertilizer and Faust, and of rock, doo-wop, and Motown.   This 'horror and rock-n-roll musical comedy' has delighted audiences of all ages for over thirty years, and includes several well-known songs, including the title song, 'Skid Row (Downtown)', 'Somewhere That's Green', and 'Suddenly, Seymour'.

Happy Birthday, Judy Kuhn! Kuhn made her Broadway debut was in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She then played Cosette in the 1987 multiple award winning Broadway production of Les Miserables brought her the first Tony Award nomination. The following year, Kuhn took on a transfer from London's West End, playing one of the main roles (Florence Vassy) in the Trevor Nunn-directed Chess, with music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA) and lyrics by Tim Rice. Later in 1993, Kuhn played the role of Betty Schaefer in the U.S premier production of Sunset Boulevard at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles. Kuhn sang the title role in the 1995 Disney animated film, Pocahontas, the film included her rendition of the song Colors of the Wind, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for its composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. On October 23, 2007, Kuhn returned to the Broadway Production of Les Miserables after 20 years, but this time assuming the role of Fantine.

Rejoice! The Ogunquit Playhouse, America's Foremost Summer Theatre, is thrilled to be one of the first regional theatres in the U.S. to produce the glorious Broadway musical comedy Sister Act. The hilarious show kicks off the Ogunquit Playhouse season tonight, May 20 to June 20.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST is coming to the big screen again in a whole new way, with brand new songs!

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Paper Mill Playhouse's recent production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, based on the novel by Victor Hugo and the Disney animated film, will get a cast recording. Keep checking back with BroadwayWorld as details regarding the cast, release date, and more are announced!

BEAUTY & THE BEAST is coming to the big screen again in a whole new way!