Ashley Park News

As previously announced, Sunday in the Park with George will re-open the historic Hudson Theatre (139-141 West 44th Street) on Broadway this winter for a strictly limited 10-week engagement. Directed by Sarna Lapine, performances are set to begin Saturday, February 11, 2017, ahead of a Thursday, February 23rd Opening Night, and will play through Sunday, April 23rd.

Just in - the complete cast and creative team for Ambassador Theatre Group's Broadway revival of the New York City Center production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George has been announced. 

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

Happy New Year, BroadwayWorld! As we eagerly anticipate the amazing musicals and plays coming up in 2017, we're taking a moment to look back at the significant Broadway closings of 2016.

Broadway Style Guide & Todd Snyder hosted a December 12th holiday soiree at Todd's new Madison Square Park flagship store for the best and most stylish of Broadway. BroadwayWorld has photos from the evening below!

Prospect Theater Company (Melissa Huber, Managing Director / Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director) is pleased to announce casting for its final 2016 IGNITE Series event on Friday, December 16th at 8pm at the TimesCenter (242 West 41st Street).  The evening will feature a a special concert presentation of the musical Striking 12, with book, music, and lyrics by Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin and Val Vigoda.

On November 11, ten young women of the Broadway community came together in New York City's Central Park to process and express their truth. They shared this creative dialogue together and with those passing by and now with you. Below, watch as they perform the Dixie Chicks' 'Not Ready to Make Nice.'

Just last night, Sarah Ruhl was honored with the 2016 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award  at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. The evening featured performances of Ruhl's work by Blair Brown, Kathleen Chalfant, Maria Dizzia, Jessica Hecht, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Polly Noonan and Joseph J. Parks. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the special night and you can check out photos below!

Special invitational presentations of THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF PRINCE JEN, a new musical based on the novel by Lloyd Alexander, are set for today (Monday) and tomorrow at MTC Studio 1 (311 West 41 Street).

Special invitational presentations of THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF PRINCE JEN, a new musical based on the novel by Lloyd Alexander, are set for November 14th and 15th at MTC Studio 1 (311 West 41 Street). Music for THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF PRINCE JEN is by Daniel Green, with book & lyrics by Lezlie Wade. The presentations will be directed by Brian Hill.

Two Seattle teenagers embark on an impulsive motorcycle journey to join a group of oil protesters on the east coast. But as they follow a major pipeline across the country, what began as two young activists' longing to belong to something greater than themselves gives way to Rain and Zoe discovering that the true danger in this world might just be growing up … no matter what the cost. A darkly comedic coming of age fairy tale, RAIN AND ZOE SAVE THE WORLD is a race to regain the possibility of change in a world whose days are numbered without it.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre presents the SONGWRITERS CABARET and SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE hosted by Drama Desk Nominee Kate Wetherhead, which are part of the 28th annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced this year's line-up for the SONGWRITERS CABARET and SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE hosted by Drama Desk Nominee Kate Wetherhead, which are part of the 28th annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS.

The longest running musical in the world The Fantasticks is always at its best when produced and performed with simplicity. When I first saw it in New York in the 60s, it was performed in a cabaret space against a brick wall, with the suspension of a paper moon above. You can't get much simpler than that. In the current revival at the Pasadena Playhouse, the setting is bigger: a dilapidated, war-torn theatre in Southern California, shuttered since 1969, into which the actors enter to create art. The space may be bigger than the original, but the fine work on display maintains simplicity, especially in its message of love. This is a stunning production, one of the very best I have seen, with a magnificent interracial cast under the seamless direction of Seema Sueko.

The Pasadena Playhouse presents THE FANTASTICKS by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. The production will be directed by Seema Sueko, who directed The Pasadena Playhouse's critically acclaimed production of Real Women Have Curves last season. 

The Pasadena Playhouse presents THE FANTASTICKS by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. The production will be directed by Seema Sueko, who directed The Pasadena Playhouse's critically acclaimed production of Real Women Have Curves last season. 

Today's big news: FOX hosts a special GREASE: LIVE panel with director Thomas Kail and HAMILTON's Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Transport Group presents PETER PAN in a star-studded concert benefit!

THE KING AND I's Ashley Park and actor Rohan Kymal recently got together to record a mashup of Broadway's 'If I Loved You' from Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL and AR Rahman's Bollywood tune 'Tu Bin Bataye,' accompanied by a talented quartet of musicians. Listen to the gorgeous result below!

It's 1955, and into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing roustabout who changes everything and everyone he meets in this hip-swiveling, lip-curling musical fantasy that'll have you jumpin' out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as 'Heartbreak Hotel,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' and 'Don't Be Cruel.'

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, Rob Ashford just directed a private industry reading of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with an all-star cast, including Broadway favorite Kristen Chenoweth. Now according to her recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the show might go on to have a life on Broadway. She explains: 'I think there is financing in place and I think it has to be a decision we can make and I have another show that I'm involved with about Tammy Faye Bakker. It's all about timing.'