Amanda Harris News

Amongst the array of wonderful shows that The Production Company has brought to the stage, West Side Story, the adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is without a doubt a triumph! Celebrating their 50th show, with what is often deemed as the best written musical of all time with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was definitely a decision well made.

The Program Launch for the second half of 2015 shows that the Independent Music Theatre team comprising Luckiest Productions (David Campbell, Lisa Campbell and Richard Carroll), Neglected Musicals (Michelle Guthrie), and Neil Gooding Productions, the driving force behind Hayes Theatre Company, have no intention of slowing down are staying true to their vision to provide a permanent home for small-scale musical theatre and cabaret.

The Mayo Performing Arts Center presents Les Miserables as its third annual youth production. Four performances will take place May 29-31. Tickets are $20-25.

Over a decade after it first opened on Broadway, hit musical Wicked still continues to make audiences rise to their feet in standing ovation all around the world. Last night, Thursday the 25th of September marked Wicked's return to Sydney after a few years absence and it was as though it never left. The streets surrounding the Capitol Theatre have embraced Wicked just as they did when it first arrived, everything is green. No, everything is positively emerald and the scene was set for a spectacular opening night. Noone was disappointed.

2014 marks the 31st Anniversary of the extraordinary Schools Spectacular. The year's celebration will be held at the Qantas Credit Union Arena (formerly known as the Sydney Entertainment Centre) with four performances being held on Friday 28 & Saturday 29 November.

Star of TV's Winners and Losers and talented cabaret artist Virginia Gay will be this year's compere with a twist at the one-night-only Twisted Broadway charity concert at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse on Monday 4th August, 2014.

High school students from across Washington State packed Benaroya Hall tonight for The 12th Annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, a high school version of the Tony Awards, proudly sponsored for the tenth year by Wells Fargo with additional support from Alaska Airlines. The house was packed with 2,000 teenagers, dressed in costume representing their schools' musical theater productions, who cheered for their peers as they performed musical excerpts and accepted awards honoring top student achievements in musical theater. The acclaimed event, directed this year by Mathew Wright, handed out awards in 21 categories ranging from Outstanding Overall Musical Production to Outstanding Lobby Display.

On January 29 & 30, the creators of the international musical sensations LES MISERABLES and MISS SAIGON will present a special concert celebrating their work at the Newport Performing Arts Theatre in Manila to raise funds to offer humanitarian relief and assist the rebuilding efforts after parts of the Philippines were left devastated in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The concerts, which will star Lea Salonga, David Harris, and Marie Zamora, will celebrate the works of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, including musical numbers from Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, La Revolution Francaise, Martin Guerre and The Pirate Queen. Supported by the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and a 100-member choir, conducted by musical director Gerard Salonga, the concert is headlined by some of the world's leading musical theatre performers.

UP CLOSE AND REASONABLY PERSONAL with AMANDA HARRISON is a candid evening of song and conversation with one of Australia's most prolific musical theatre stars. Amanda is most well-known for originating the role of Elphaba in the Australian production of Wicked for the Gordon Frost Organisation - a role that earned her Green Room, Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. OCTOBER 3rd

THE SOUND OF MUSIC, including Edward Hibbert (Max Detweiler), Anthony Fedorov (Rolf Gruber), Ben Davis (Captain) and Elena Shaddow (Maria), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Liesl), and more, will run at the Paper Mill Playhouse through December 30, 2012. Check out photos from last night's opening below!

Paper Mill Playhouse presents The Sound of Music, directed and choreographed by James Brennan, now playing through December 30. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Yesterday, November 14th, the cast of Paper Mill Playhouse's The Sound of Music, directed and choreographed by James Brennan, met the press. Cast for the show includes Edward Hibbert (Max Detweiler), Anthony Fedorov (Rolf Gruber), Ben Davis (Captain) and Elena Shaddow (Maria), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Liesl), and more. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities and you can check out photos below!

Live Performance Australia (LPA) today announced the names of Award Presenters for the 41 categories for the 2012 Helpmann Awards. These include Amanda Bishop, Blake Bowden, Bille Brown AM, Bryan Brown AM, Darcey Bussell CBE, Daniel Carter, Kate Ceberano, Gerry Connolly, Li Cunxin, Cameron Daddo, Lucy Durack, Marta Dusseldorp, Amanda Harrison, Verity Hunt-Ballard, Genevieve Lemon, Matt Lee, Emma Matthews, David McAllister AM, Lisa McCune, Rob Mills, Simon Phillips, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Leo Schofield AM, The Hon. George Souris, Lyndon Terracini, Stuart Wagstaff AM, and John Waters.

Here are the top 5 picks for Australian theatre this Summer (Australian Winter).

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. New photos of the production have been released and BroadwayWorld brings you all of them below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Photos of the production have been released on the production's official Facebook Page and BroadwayWorld brings them to you below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Go inside opening night of the new musical in the videos below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Check out highlights from the musical below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Despite the hype of the much anticipated musical, which is believed to have Broadway aspirations, the production was received with little enthusiasm by many critics (revisit the Review Roundup here). Now, the movie and show's scribe, Douglas Day Stewart, has taken to the media to defend the piece in an open letter in The Australian against their negative reaction.

According to a report by Variety, more and more musicals, such as An Officer and a Gentleman, which opened in its world premiere today, May 19 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, are using Australia has a stepping stone to larger Broadway and West End productions.