Alan Menken News

BroadwayWorld's James Sims and Eddie Varley caught up with Heidi Blickenstaff, Tyler Maynard and Eric LaJuan Summers upstairs at Disney's New Amsterdam Theatre to get the backstory on their taking on such memorable villains in The Little Mermaid...

Van Hill Entertainment and Red Griffin Media will present the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, with performances beginning Friday, February 27th at New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street). Opening Night is set for Monday March 16th.

He's not your typical gypsy...except for the long resume of B'way and regional shows, tours, session work and concerts.

The induction and awards dinner is scheduled for Thursday, June 18 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Special award honorees will be announced at a later date.

Step into the enchanted world of Broadway's modern classic, Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Based on the Academy Award winning animated feature, the stage version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast includes all of the wonderful songs from the film, written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, (the team responsible for Little Shop of Horrors), plus new songs written especially for the Broadway version by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice (Aladdin, Aida).

At New World Stages in New York, Patina Miller, who will take on the role of Deloris Van Cartier, meets Whoopi Goldberg for the first time.

Doug Kreeger, currently in rehearsals for the upcoming Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, will be this week's guest on WGHT Radio's 'Curtain Call' Wednesday, February 18 at 9:30 a.m. 'Curtain Call' covers the NY & NJ theater scene every Wednesday morning on WGHT Radio (1500AM), North Jersey's oldies station. Morning host Teisha Bader interviews stars of Broadway, Off-Broadway and local theaters (including Paper Mill). The interview can be heard live at www.ghtradio.com.

Disney Theatrical Productions will welcome Tony Award? winner FAITH PRINCE to the Broadway company of THE LITTLE MERMAID beginning Tuesday, April 7, 2009 (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th Street, NYC). Prince will star as 'Ursula,' the evil sea witch.

Broadway favorite and [title of show] star Heidi Blickenstaff is 'Ursula' in the Disney musical THE LITTLE MERMAID on Broadway. The talented and 'very sweet' Blickenstaff assumed the 'very sassy and sinister' role on January 27, 2009.

Van Hill Entertainment is proud to announce that the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, will begin performances on Friday February 27th at New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street). Opening Night is set for Monday March 16th (7 PM). ROOMS a rock romance has music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman (Bright Lights Big City) and book by Goodman and Miriam Gordon, and will be directed by Scott Schwartz (Golda's Balcony, Bat Boy: The Musical, tick, tick... BOOM!, Jane Eyre).

Pittsburgh CLO, with the families of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, will proudly present the 12th Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater to award-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The ceremony will be held at the 2009 CLO Guild's Pink Frolic Ball on May 9, 2009, at the Omni William Penn Hotel.

Pittsburgh CLO, with the families of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, will proudly present the 12th Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater to award-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The ceremony will be held at the 2009 CLO Guild's Pink Frolic Ball on May 9, 2009, at the Omni William Penn Hotel. Established in 1988, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater recognizes the lifetime contributions of outstanding talents in musical theater. Pittsburgh CLO has presented the Richard Rodgers Award 11 times in recent years to such luminaries as Mary Martin (1988), Dame Julie Andrews (1989), Harold Prince (1991), Sir Cameron Mackintosh (1992), Stephen Sondheim (1993), Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber (1996), Gwen Verdon (2000), Bernadette Peters (2002), Shirley Jones (2007), Kathleen Marshall (2008) and Rob Marshall (2008).

Jennifer Leigh Warren has been cast as the lead in Chan Poling's new musical VENUS. A regular performer at Joe's Pub, Mr. Poling is the founder of the seminal 80's punk/pop The Suburbs and composer of Tony Award-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune's award-winning 'Children Of Paradise' among other shows.

The list of nominations has been announced for the 51st annual Grammy Awards. The Grammy Awards will be presented on February 8, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Week four of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to The Allen Room a hot new composer, Broadway's most popular ing?nue, a Disney film and Broadway composer in a rare concert appearance, and a celebration of the music of Richard Rodgers by an acclaimed guitarist/vocalist. On February 18th, young composer Nico Muhly, who wrote the haunting score to the Oscar-nominated film 'The Reader', will collaborate with Thomas Bartlett, alternative folk/country artist Sam Amidon, and designer/illustrator Maira Kalman.

After a year long global search, 24 year old US actress Patina Miller has been cast to make her West End debut playing the lead role of ?Deloris Van Cartier' in the divine new musical comedy SISTER ACT . Born and raised in South Carolina, Patina's previous credits include the critically acclaimed 2008 production of Hair in New York. The role of Deloris in SISTER ACT was made famous by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie of the same name, and Goldberg is a co-producer of the stage version.

Miss America Contestant Lynn-Taylor Smith (Miss New York and former Miss Brooklyn) sang 'Say the Word' by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk during the talent portion of the Miss America competition. The event was broadcast live from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV on TLC last Saturday night.

[title of show] star Heidi Blickenstaff replaces Sheri Rene Scott as 'Ursula' in the Disney musical THE LITTLE MERMAID on Broadway.

Stephen Schwartz, composer-lyricist of the international blockbuster musical Wicked, will appear for an evening of conversation, song, and book signing at the Museum of Performance & Design (MPD) as Wicked returns home to San Francisco on January 27 for an open-ended engagement at the Orpheum Theatre. In conversation with host Carol de Giere, author of the new biography Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked, Schwartz will describe some of his songwriting methods, answer questions about his work and the making of Wicked, and perform several of his popular pieces at the piano. Following the presentation, he will join Ms. de Giere in autographing the book.

Van Hill Entertainment is proud to announce that the Off-Broadway premiere of ROOMS a rock romance, starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, will begin performances on Friday February 27th at New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street). Opening Night is set for Monday March 16th (7 PM). ROOMS a rock romance has music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman (Bright Lights Big City) and book by Goodman and Miriam Gordon, and will be directed by Scott Schwartz (Golda's Balcony, Bat Boy: The Musical, tick, tick... BOOM!, Jane Eyre).