Alex Timbers News

One of the most popular stories of the year so far, the unexpected announcement of a special one night only charity concert performance of a fan favorite musical-within-the-series from NBC's musical series SMASH, BOMBSHELL, to benefit the Actors Fund, is already a huge hit here on BroadwayWorld, and, now we bring you an exclusive chat with an elemental figure in the creation of the project, choreographer and director Joshua Bergasse, all about the hotly anticipated evening. As part of our conversation, Bergasse offers up a slew of new details on what plans are currently in place for the unprecedented SMASH reunion as well as share first reactions to the wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that has already racked up more than $315,000 in donations in less than two weeks, having begun with a goal of $50,000 when the event was first announced. Additionally, Bergasse parses the finer points of the BOMBSHELL score and outlines what fans can expect from the songstack on the evening as well as preliminary staging and presentational plans and also what the momentum engendered by BOMBSHELL could lead to in the future, near and far - a HIT LIST concert or perhaps a night featuring the other musicals-within-the-series. Plus, Bergasse also comments on his contributions to two new mainstage musicals this season byway of ON THE TOWN and GIGI as well as looks ahead to the La Jolla Playhouse premiere of the new musical by the FROZEN team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, UP HERE, while also glancing back at his Broadway debut in THE LIFE. All of that and much, much more!

The Public Theater announced additional casting today for the 2015 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, beginning Wednesday, May 27 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This summer will feature Shakespeare's late romances with THE TEMPEST, directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, and CYMBELINE, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan. Jesse Tyler Ferguson will return to the Park this summer as Trinculo in THE TEMPEST, along with Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe teaming up again with Daniel Sullivan on CYMBELINE to play Posthumus Leonatus/Cloten and Imogen, respectively.

The first Broadway revival of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Wendy Wasserstein play The Heidi Chronicles officially opens tonight, March 19, 2015, at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). Scroll down to learn more about the cast and watch interviews with the company!

TUTS Underground, in association with Third Coast Creative, presents LMNOP - A New Muzical, April 7 - 19 in Zilkha Hall at The Hobby Center. Chaos arises when letters begin to fall from a town monument and government officials ban them one by one. The community depends on the strength of a determined teenage girl to fight for their freedom of speech. This unique musical is part romance, part clever word game and part adult fable that reminds us of how precious our liberties are and how important it is to have the courage to stand up for what we believe.

'If music be the food of love, play on.' Even before the invention of the musical comedy (more on that later), William Shakespeare knew the importance of music in telling stories on stage. For our March feature, my colleague Jeff Walker and I thought that instead of marking the Ides of March with songs about murder, betrayal, and fate, we would focus on the synergy between showtunes and Shakespeare.

Due to the incredible demand for subscriptions to the 2015/2016 season, La Jolla Playhouse announces a week-long extension for its first two season productions: Come from Away, a world-premiere musical written and composed by David Hein and Irene Sankoff, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, as well as for Up Here, a world-premiere musical comedy directed by Alex Timbers (Playhouse's Peter and the Starcatchers), featuring book, music and lyrics by the husband-and-wife team of Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who took home the Academy and Grammy Awards for Best Song with their mega-hit "Let It Go" from the Disney animated film Frozen. Come from Away will now run May 29 - July 5 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, and Up Here will now run July 28 - September 6 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Based on the novel Peter & the Starcatchers by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson, this play features a company of twelve actors play more than a hundred unforgettable characters, all on a journey to answer the century-old question: How did Peter Pan become The Boy Who Never Grew Up?

MCC THEATER has announced that the New York premiere of Jennifer Haley's The Nether directed by Anne Kaufman has now extended for a final time through Sunday, March 29, 2015.

My name is Luis Salgado and at the moment I'm very excited to be a nominee for Best Director at the Venus/Adonis Festival for Zuccotti Park, the musical. To me, the nomination only means that I must work harder to continue moving forward. It also confirms that the process of Art with a Purpose is effective to me, and my company. It's really a process of growth and it's paying off.

MCC THEATER has announced that the New York premiere of Jennifer Haley's The Nether directed by Anne Kaufman has now extended through Sunday, March 22, 2015 due to popular and critical acclaim. The production opened on Tuesday, February 24th and was previously scheduled through March 15, 2015 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street). A production of The Nether also just opened to great critical acclaim in London's West End at the famed Royal Court Theatre. The play had its world premiere in Los Angeles in 2013 at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre. For info and tickets, please visit www.mcctheater.org.

Rosenfield, who plays 'Woodnut' in the production, just chatted with BroadwayWorld about opening night, the twists and turns of this plot, and so much more! Check out the full interview below!

Women's Project Theater, under the leadership of newly-appointed Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty, is pleased to present the World Premiere of BRIGHT HALF LIFE - a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Tanya Barfield and directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman - in a five-week limited engagement at New York City Center Stage II (131 W. 55th Street) through March 22, 2015. Opening night is set for tonight, February 25.

MCC Theater presents the New York premiere of Jennifer Haley's The Nether directed by Anne Kaufman and starring Ben Rosenfield, Sophia Anne Caruso, Merritt Wever, Peter Friedman and Frank Wood. The Nether runs now through March 15, 2015 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street). Check out photos from opening night below!

The Nether runs now through March 15, 2015 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street), with opening night set for tonight, February 24th.

Amazon Studios today announced it has renewed second seasons of its current kids series: Creative Galaxy, Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street, and recent Annie Award winner Tumble Leaf.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, the five-time Tony Award-winning musical, will play the Playhouse on Rodney Square (previously named the DuPont Theatre) for a limited engagement from tonight, February 17, through February 22, 2015.

As BroadwayWorld reported last night, Disney's FROZEN is aiming to hit the stage by 2017. According to a report by the Daily Mail, the movie musical's Oscar-winning songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez met with the film's writer and co-director Jennifer Lee, head of Disney Theatricals Thomas Schumacher, and Broadway and West End director Alex Timbers to discuss their options. Lee is writing the book with guidance from the Lopezes, who have also written 'a couple' of new songs for the show.

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: ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY begins tonight, THE LAST FIVE YEARS movie debuts and Broadway's THE AUDIENCE starts on Valentine's Day!

FROZEN is aiming to hit the stage by 2017. According to a report by the Daily Mail, the movie musical's Oscar-winning songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez met with the film's writer and co-director Jennifer Lee, head of Disney Theatricals Thomas Schumacher, and Broadway and West End director Alex Timbers to discuss their options.

Amazon today announced it will premiere all ten episodes of its first hour-long drama series BOSCH today, February 13 on Prime Instant Video in the US, UK and Germany.