Ann Reinking News

On Monday, August 29, 2011, the acclaimed revival of the Tony Award-winning musical CHICAGO will welcome Tony Yazbeck to the role of 'that silver-tongued prince of the courtoom,' Billy Flynn.

Broadway Star Marc Kudisch (9 to 5, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Assassins) will offer a musical theatre master class on Monday, August 29th from 6:30 to 10:30pm at the Davenport Studio in Midtown Manhattan.

Point Park University's Conservatory Dance Company is presenting six shows this season, which opens Sept. 30, 2011 and runs through April 29, 2012.

La actriz Marta Valverde interpretará el papel de Mama Morton en Chicago a partir del 22 de Septiembre en el Teatre Tívoli de Barcelona. El musical llegará a la ciudad condal después de la gira nacional protagonizado por Marta Ribera como Velma Kelly, María Blanco como Roxie Hart y Manuel Rodríguez como Billy Flynn.

On Saturday afternoon, August 27th, that revival will chalk up its 6,138th performance, surpassing A Chorus Line as Broadway's longest running American musical. Sure, there are three Broadway productions higher on the list of total performances - Les Miserables, Cats and the still-running Phantom of the Opera - but the distinction of Chicago being an American musical is a significant one.

On Monday, August 29, 2011, the acclaimed revival of the Tony Award-winning musical CHICAGO will welcome Tony Yazbeck to the role of 'that silver-tongued prince of the courtoom,' Billy Flynn.

On Saturday, August 27, 2011, the internationally acclaimed revival of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse's Tony Award-winning musical CHICAGO will celebrate another major milestone when it becomes the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, surpassing A Chorus Line with a total of 6,138 performances.

This fall, Kara DioGuardi, Grammy nominated songwriter and star of 'American Idol' and Bravo's 'Platinum Hit', will make her Broadway stage debut as merry murderess Roxie Hart in the Tony Award-winning hit musical CHICAGO for an eight-week limited engagement, Monday, September 5 through Sunday, October 30, 2011 at the Ambassador Theatre. Click below to go behind the scenes of her CHICAGO photo shoot!

Today we are talking to DROP DEAD DIVA guest star Sharon Lawrence and discussing her long-awaited return to the series as Bobbie Dobkins in Sunday's "Mother's Day" episode as well as taking a look at her long and varied film and theater career with thoughts on everything from CABARET and CHICAGO onstage to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, LAW & ORDER: SVU, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM on the small screen and the new Theresa Rebeck play she stars in opening next month at the Mark Taper Forum in LA, POOR BEHAVIOR and much, much more! Over the course of the next several weeks, we are going to be taking an extensive look at the sights and sounds both onscreen and onset of the hit TV dramedy series DROP DEAD DIVA - new episodes airing Sunday nights at 9 PM on Lifetime - featuring exclusive interviews with the leading lady divas and dashing supporting men on the LA-based supernatural legal series. Featuring a memorable collection of musical performances and Broadway guest stars over the years - Paula Abdul, Rosie O'Donnell, Delta Burke and many more included - DROP DEAD DIVA is the quintessential TV series for Broadway babies looking for some laughs and levity - the latter available in many more ways than one, given the show's heavenly aspirations. DROP DEAD DIVA centers on a legal eagle named Jane whose body acts as the means for the indomitable spirit of a model, Deb, who loses her life, to make a second chance and how the girl inside must learn to adjust to looking like the woman on the outside that she is now. In other words, a model finds out what it means to look like everyone else, in a delightfully quirky twist of fate - and learns to be a lawyer, too. Season Three picks up with the cliffhanger car crash that closed last season in a dark and shocking way. What will Grayson remember of the conversation he had with Jane pre-crash? What will Jane do to save him? What about his engagement (to somebody else)? What will happen back at the office with Teri, Kim and Parker? What about Stacy and Fred? All these questions and many more will most assuredly be answered come Sunday night! Plus, there's always a musical number or two not too far off if you stay tuned - such as this week's BroadwayWorld exclusive world premiere of "Lean On Me" available here! Be sure to check back often because in the following weeks, we will also feature conversations with DROP DEAD DIVA stars Josh Henderson, Jackson Hurst, Ben Feldman and definitely stay tuned for next week's exclusive chat with featured guest star and Tony-winner, the one and only Faith Prince! Continuing the BRIDGING TV & THEATRE: DROP DEAD DIVA series, here is my extended conversation with DROP DEAD DIVA guest star Sharon Lawrence in which we discuss her many Broadway credits - CABARET, CHICAGO, ZORBA and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF included - as well as her extensive and varied theater career and acting alongside the likes of Cherry Jones, Marian Seldes and DROP DEAD DIVA guest star and fellow Broadway baby Faith Prince. Additionally, Ms. Lawrence shares her fascinating insights into the art of acting and the role of the actor in society as well as provides detailed insight into her own process and musical theatre versus straight drama - plus, comments on SMASH, GLEE, Weill, Brecht, feminism and much, much more!

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.

As previously speculated by BroadwayWorld, Broadway legends Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin will bring their concert show, which toured the country in 2010-11, to the Great White Way this fall, the Washington Post now confirms. The pair will play the Barrymore Theatre beginning November 16. Opening night is scheduled for November 21.

According to a report by Lemonwade, Broadway legends Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin might bring their concert show, which toured the country in 2010-11, to the Great White Way this fall. The show is aiming to open in mid-October and run through the holiday season. Additional details have not yet been released.

Broadway Star Marc Kudisch (9 to 5, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Assassins) will offer a musical theatre master class on Monday, August 29th from 6:30 to 10:30pm at the Davenport Studio in Midtown Manhattan.

Playhouse on Park turns up the heat a notch on summer with CHICAGO.

Rider's Westminster College of the Arts, which includes the renowned Westminster Choir College in Princeton, is placing Musical Theater at the forefront of strategic investment in the arts at its Lawrenceville campus. Lewis joins Broadway musician Nathan Hurwitz and Broadway touring veteran Mariann Cook

Broadway heats up this summer when the company of the record-breaking, Tony Award-winning hit CHICAGO welcomes Nikka Graff Lanzarone as she makes her debut in the role of merry murderess Velma Kelly. Lanzarone, who last appeared on Broadway in Lincoln Center Theater's production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, takes over for Amra-Faye Wright.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, June 26, 2011 - Sunday, June 26, 2011.

Continuing the BRIDGING TV & THEATRE: DROP DEAD DIVA series, today, here is my extended conversation with Tony-nominee and Broadway star Kate Levering about starring in seven Broadway shows - CHICAGO and 42nd STREET included - by the time she was twenty-two, as well as working with Harry Connick, Jr. and Norbert Leo Butz on THOU SHALT NOT and auditioning for legendary dancer and choreographer Ann Reinking (and her words of wisdom), plus all about Levering's work on DROP DEAD DIVA and what we can expect in the surprising twists for her feisty character in season two as well as her other television work - including co-starring with Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Christina Hendricks and Craig Bierko. Additionally, we discuss the charitable organization that is closest to Kate's heart, Purse of Hope [www.PurseofHope.org].

'The one good thing about dance is that if you are truly yourself, then it's all good,' Ann Reinking said recently in an ABC News interview. This goes especially for the dancers that she teaches these days, who have been diagnosed with Marfans Syndrome. As for those who Reinking choreographs, she seems as inspired by them as they are by her. 'The human spirit is the greatest thing on earth,' she says of her experiences. Reinking produced a documentary on the subject in 2009. View a clip from the documentary, 'In My Hands,' below.

La actriz y bailarina mexicana Gabriela García ha formado parte de la compañía de Chicago durante más de 10 años y tras un breve descanso, vuelve solo durante esta semana a formar parte de este espectáculo. Además esta artista fundó R.Evolución Latina, una organización que anima a la comunidad latina a ir más allá, a cambiar el mundo y a atreverse a saltar a lo desconocido, mediante las artes escénicas. ¡Sobre esto y mucho más nos habla Gabriela García en esta entrevista exclusiva para BroadwayWorld!