Alan Menken News

Bill Hanney has announced the full lineup for the 2015 Summer Season at the historic Theatre By The Sea (TBTS). The four show subscription season will feature SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, MY FAIR LADY starring Charles Shaughnessy, Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, and the Mel Brooks musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. The 2015 Children's Festival features 5 shows presented on Friday mornings for the youngest of arts lovers, and Camp Theatre By The Sea will perform LEGALLY BLONDE, JR.

Universal Studios has beat out Paramount and Disney for the previously reported untitled musical comedy starring Josh Gad and featuring original songs by the award-winning composer lyricist team of Alan Menken (ALADDIN) and Stephen Schwartz. (PIPPIN)

Fountain Hills Theater will present its 2015-16, 29th season for its three venues, Mainstage, Mainstage Too and Youth Theater as well as our Sizzlin' Summer Stock. Tickets go on sale May 1st, 2015.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®), the global leader in music rights management, will present the BMI Icon Award for outstanding career achievement to prolific composer Alexandre Desplat at the organization's 2015 Film & Television Awards.

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

On Twitter Watch, Josh Gad wrote ' that stage veteran and film star Ian McKellen has joined Disney's upcoming live-action adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST as 'Cogsworth'. Set for a release on March 17, 2017, the beloved tale will be retold for the big screen with a modern live-action lens and the help of transformative CG magic. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will star as Belle and the Beast/Prince respectively, and Luke Evans will play the role of Gaston. Emma Thompson has joined the cast as Mrs. Potts and Kevin Kline as Belle's father, Maurice. As BWW announced previously, Josh Gad will reportedly take on the role of Le Fou, with six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald playing Garderobe. Eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards for the 1991 animated classic, will score the new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, which will feature new recordings of the original songs in addition to several new songs written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice. Bill Condon will direct from a script by Stephen Chbosky, and the film will be produced by Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Production begins in May at Shepperton Studios in London. Disney also recently announced it will be creating live-action versions of MULAN and PINOCCHIO, joining reboots of THE JUNGLE BOOK, PETE'S DRAGON and WINNIE THE POOH. The live-action adaptation of CINDERELLA, starring Lily James, just hit the big screen this winter. McKellen was last seen on the big screen as 'Gandalf' in THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (a role he originated in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) and will soon appear in MR. HOLMES and THE DRESSER. He is also well known for his role as 'Magneto' in the X-MEN movies. The Olivier-winning, classically trained actor last starred on Broadway in NO MAN'S LAND and WAITING FOR GODOT opposite Patrick Stewart. Before that, he appeared in DANCE OF DEATH, IAN MCKELLEN: A KNIGHT OUT AT THE LYCEUM, WILD HONEY, IAN MCKELLEN: ACTING SHAKESPEARE, AMADEUS -- which earned him a Tony Award in 1981 -- and THE PROMISE. McKellen was a member of the Old Vic and has performed at the Chichester Festival, in the West End, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre and more. 1991's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was an animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the traditional French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont,Beauty and the Beast is the 30th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Additionally, it is third in the Disney Renaissance period. Starring Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson, Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (O'Hara), a young woman who he imprisons in his castle. The film also features the voices of Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury, who occupy supporting roles. The film was a box office success, and has since garnered over $424 million worldwide. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was nominated for several awards, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; it also received five additional Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Sound, and three separate nominations for Best Original Song. Ultimately, the film won Best Original Score, while Best Original Song was awarded to its title song. In 2002, Beauty and the Beast was deemed 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant' by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In April 1994, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST became Disney's first animated film to be adapted into a Broadway musical. '

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Jake Gyllenhaal is set to lead the Encores! Off-Center concert production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's Little Shop of Horrors, running July 1-2, 2015. The production will be directed by Dick Scanlan, with choreography by Patricia Wilcox. Jeanine Tesori is the Artistic Director of Encores! Off-Center, and Chris Fenwick is Music Director. The show will mark his musical theater debut and we can't wait to see what he can do! Click below to watch his performance of 'And I'm Telling You' from when he hosted SNL in 2007.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Chuck Cooper and Taran Killam will join the previously announced Ellen Greene in the Encores! Off-Center concert production ofHoward Ashman and Alan Menken's Little Shop of Horrors, running July 1-2, 2015. NOTE: A third performance has been added at 2pm on Thursday, July 2 in order to meet ticket demand. The production will be directed by Dick Scanlan, with choreography by Patricia Wilcox. Jeanine Tesori is the Artistic Director of Encores! Off-Center, and Chris Fenwick is Music Director. The show will mark the musical theater debuts of both Gyllenhaal and Killam.

Direct from Broadway, SISTER ACT, the hilarious, five-time Tony-nominated musical smash, is coming to Miami. Called 'In a word, DIVINE!' by the Associated Press, SISTER ACT opens at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County tonight, April 14 for a limited engagement!

It's not exactly a secret that cabaret has for decades been a world dominated by female entertainers. Sylvia Syms, Julie Wilson, Margaret Whiting, Karen Akers, KT Sullivan, Karen Mason and myriad others have assumed the top notches of the art form. But, perhaps, men might be taking their place among the front lines and a perfect example this past week were the shows from cabaret veterans Kevin Dozier and Frank Torren.

Sharon Playhouse, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Simpkins and Managing Director Justin Ball, has announced initial casting and creative teams for its 2015 Season with the musicals My Fair Lady, Merrily We Roll Along, and Little Shop of Horrors on the Mainstage; Ed Dixon's new play Georgie: The Life and Death of George Rose and True Love on Stage 2 in the Bok Gallery. The Youth Theatre will present the Tony-winning Peter and the Starcatcher.

California Musical Theatre announced the 2015-16 Broadway Sacramento season at the Community Center Theater, featuring six shows not previously presented on the series, two of which were produced in the round at Music Circus but never before part of Broadway Sacramento.

Deadline writes that Broadway and FROZEN vet Josh Gad and writer/director Jeremy Garelick just unveiled an untitled musical comedy project featuring tunes by the legendary Alan Menken, with lyrics by WICKED's Stephen Schwartz.

The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati ends its 90th MainStage Season with DISNEY'S ALADDIN JR., this weekend, April 10-12 and April 18, 2015 at the Taft Theatre.

Disney's NEWSIES had the honor of performing at the 137th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of The White House on Monday, April 6. Cast members performed 'Carrying the Banner', 'Santa Fe' and 'Seize the Day.' Check out a look back below!

The Ogunquit Playhouse has announced the appointment of Brian Swasey to the position of Associate Producer. Brian is no stranger to the Playhouse as he directed the productions of The Berenstain Bears, and The Cat In The Hat. He is also no stranger to the seacoast area; he is originally from Portland, Maine, and is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Musical Theatre and Dance. Brian Swasey recently stated, 'Growing up in New England, and seeing many shows at the Ogunquit Playhouse, I leapt at the chance to return to the area and become a part of the Playhouse family as the new Associate Producer."

Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical, is returning to Playhouse Square as part of the Star Performance Series. Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage at Playhouse Square April 24-26, 2015. For information on the production, visit BeautyAndTheBeastOnTour.com.

El musical 'Sister Act' ha prorrogado su estancia en el Teatre Tívoli de Barcelona hasta el próximo 10 de mayo. En agosto el espectáculo se embarcará en una gira por España que visitará más de 20 ciudades.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? This weekend's big news: Jonathan Groff discusses his career today, a starry CAROUSEL begins in Chicago, and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS opens this Sunday!

What a renaissance - again! Although the period beginning with THE LITTLE MERMAID in 1989 through to the doubleheader of POCAHANTAS in 1995 and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME in 1996 and ending with MULAN in 1997 is considered by House Of Mouse superfans and many entertainment enthusiasts as the official Disney Renaissance era - meaning the company once again came to major prominence as a direct result of its animated musicals - it very much looks as if an entirely new type of Disney rebirth is in the process of occurring, spurred on by the worldwide success of the esteemed company's most successful animated feature to date, the highly theatrical and Broadway pedigreed FROZEN. Of course, in any way matching an era which in addition to MERMAID, POCAHANTAS, HUNCHBACK and MULAN shepherded BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALADDIN and THE LION KING from inspiration to actuality would be a high order, if not outright impossible, yet it seems that the recent, current and upcoming spate of ingenuously timed and expertly devised projects that Disney possesses at the moment could put them in that stratospheric level of uber entity once again in the industry - and in the hearts and minds of millions around the world, as well.