Alan Menken News

With all the chaos of getting two kids back to school, making the transition from summer to cool weather and preparing for the upcoming High Holidays, it's been hard to get my kids to the theatre. This weekend we'll be back on the family theatre circuit, checking out the return of UNCLE PIRATE at Vital Theatre Company. Until then, here's a sneak peak at what fall in New York has to offer your junior theatre fan:

The new musical A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story by Lesléa Newman will enjoy an invite-only staged reading in New York on Monday, September 26 & Tuesday, September 27, 2011.

BoHo Theatre kicks off its 2011/2012 Season with Pippin, Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked and Godspell) and Roger O. Hirson's musical experience about the search for meaning, significance, and love.

The hosts of 'The View' introduced the world television premiere performance of the brand new Disney stage musical, 'NEWSIES,' adapted from the popular Disney film starring Christian Bale, this morning. Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken, who wrote music for the 1992 motion picture 'Newsies' and has won eight Oscars© for such memorable scores as 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Pocahontas,' helped introduce the cast performance medley of both 'Santa Fe' and 'Seize The Day.'

The hosts of 'The View' introduced the world television premiere performance of the brand new Disney stage musical, 'NEWSIES,' adapted from the popular Disney film starring Christian Bale, this morning. Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken, who wrote music for the 1992 motion picture 'Newsies' and has won eight Oscars© for such memorable scores as 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Pocahontas,' helped introduce the cast performance medley of both 'Santa Fe' and 'Seize The Day.' Click below to check out the performance!

The hosts of 'The View' will introduce the world television premiere performance of the brand new Disney stage musical, 'NEWSIES,' adapted from the popular Disney film starring Christian Bale, live, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET) on ABC. Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken, who wrote music for the 1992 motion picture 'Newsies' and has won eight Oscars© for such memorable scores as 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Pocahontas,' is a featured guest and will help introduce the cast performance medley of both 'Santa Fe' and 'Seize The Day.' 'NEWSIES' is presented by Paper Mill Playhouse.

The hosts of 'The View' will introduce the world television premiere performance of the brand new Disney stage musical, 'NEWSIES,' adapted from the popular Disney film starring Christian Bale, live, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET) on ABC. Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken, who wrote music for the 1992 motion picture 'Newsies' and has won eight Oscars© for such memorable scores as 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Pocahontas,' is a featured guest and will help introduce the cast performance medley of both 'Santa Fe' and 'Seize The Day.' 'NEWSIES' is presented by Paper Mill Playhouse.

Upcoming MTI Shows - 9/18 for Milan

Upcoming MTI Shows - 9/18 for Toronto

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, opens its 37th season with the Chicago premiere of Snapshots: A Musical Scrapbook, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by David Stern.

Eric Rosen has announced his selections for Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 2011-12 season, his fourth as the theatre's artistic director.

Theatre an der Wien presenteert SISTER ACT, 15 september.

Paper Mill Playhouse just announced the cast for its season opener, the premiere of a new Disney stage musical, Newsies. Revolutionary newsie Jack Kelly will be portrayed by Jeremy Jordan of Broadway's West Side Story and Rock of Ages. Tony® Award nominee John Dossett will play newspaper giant Joseph Pulitzer. The show begins performances on Thursday, September 15. The official press opening is scheduled for Sunday, September 25.

The Un-Common Theatre Company will begin their 32nd season with 'A Christmas Carol', a fun and lively musical adaptation of Dickens' classic novella.

Bill Nabel; a veteran actor of eight Broadway shows with 30 plus years on Broadway with over 9400 performances, a member of the original casts of '42nd Street' and 'Beauty and the Beast' - the latter of which he was the only cast member to do the entire 13 year run; has switched hats and will now see two of his many works mounted within weeks of each other. Utah Shakespeare Festival will present the World Premiere of Mr. Nabel's new play LYING TO SPIELBERG at the Auditorium Theatre (351 West Center Street) in Cedar City, Utah on August 11, 12 and 31. And the Village Theatre will present the West Coast Premiere of TAKE ME AMERICA, a new musical with book and lyrics by Mr. Nabel and music by Bob Christianson from September 14 through November 20 at the Village Theatre of Issaquah, WA and the Village Theatre of Everett, WA.

DanceOn, the YouTube partnership channel exclusive to dance videos, released an inside look at the spectacular dancing in the world premiere of Newsies the Musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Cast members Jeremy Jordan, Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Evan Kasprzak of So You Think You Can Dance discuss Christopher Gattelli's athletic choreography and what it means to be in a cult classic. Plus hear from Christopher and Newsies director Jeff Calhoun about their triple threat cast. Newsises begins previews on September 15, 2011 and runs through October 16, 2011.

As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, a newly revamped version of Leap of Faith received a table reading last Friday, September 9. The show's composer, Alan Menken, has taken to his Twitter this morning to announce that the show will next have a 29 hour reading prior to a New York production. He tweets: 'LEAP OF FAITH table reading last Friday. Next is a 29 hour reading before New York production. It's SUCH a changed show!' The musical reportedly has Broadway aspirations, possibly for later this season.

The Broadway productions of SISTER ACT and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING have just announced that they will bth host performances that will benefit the Actors Fund this October. SISTER ACT will donate proceeds from its October 2 show, and HOW TO SUCCEED from its October 16 performance.