Benj Pasek News

This holiday season, for the first time in St. Louis, one of America's favorite Christmas movies comes to life live- on-stage in a hilarious, large scale Broadway musical, at the Fabulous Fox Theatre tonight, December 16 - January 4.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Accomplished Twin Cities actor Dieter Biebrauer is playing an iconic character in a show based on an iconic, now classic Christmas movie. But don't expect him to be just like the one you remember from the film.

Carousel Theatre for Young People (CTYP) presents a heartwarming new vision of Roald Dahl's timeless classic James and the Giant Peach, making its Vancouver premiere today, December 6, 2014 to January 4, 2015 at The Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island. Developed by Tony-nominated songwriters Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, the whimsical tale follows James Trotter who is swept away on an extraordinary journey with an unlikely contingent of insect friends.

When the musical adaptation of "A Christmas Story" first came to the 5th Avenue Theatre back in 2010 for the pre-Broadway Premiere I was dubious at best. And my fears turned out to be well founded as the musical felt scattered and lacked the emotional core that the original story and movie had. Luckily for all of us when the show went on to New York it was retooled to trim out all the fat and now that it's back has had its heart restored with direction by Brandon Ivie. So what once felt like a desperate attempt to turn a holiday classic into a cash cow now feels like a delightful homage to the original and a simpler time.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, will present THE SONGS OF F. MICHAEL HAYNIE featuring Andy Mientus (Les Miserables, "SMASH"), Alex Brightman (Matilda, Big Fish), Jason Gotay (Bring It On, "Peter Pan LIVE!"), and more on Friday, January 23rd at 11:30pm.

One show into their sixth season, and heading towards their final production at West Boca High, Slow Burn Theatre Company will present Edges, a musical, for a special two-night run December 18th and 19th, 2014 as a joint fundraiser with the West Boca Drama Department. Tickets are $20.

The Rose Theater triple-dog-dares you to see its holiday production of A Christmas Story: The Musical, playing tonight, Dec. 5-28. The fun-filled musical adaptation of the classic Yuletide film offers a stocking full of good, old-fashioned laughs sure to please the entire family.

St. Paul's Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is returning to its tradition of an original and (mostly) locally cast production during holidays, rather than the touring productions that often come through. In fact, the last Ordway Original holiday production was 2011's CINDERELLA. This year's production of the new musical based on the cult holiday movie A CHRISTMAS STORY is worth the wait. I am usually skeptical of movies turned into musicals, because often it doesn't work or it just simply isn't necessary. But I saw a preview of A Christmas Story (which officially opens on Friday and runs through December 28) last night and was pleasantly surprised; I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. In fact I loved pretty much every minute of it. The creators did a wonderful job of retaining the movie's unique tone of humor, silliness, and nostalgia while creating something new that stands on its own merits, whether you're a fan of the movie or not. And best of all, director James Rocco and his team have created a wonderful production that showcases some of the Twin Cities' finest talent, as well as giving a chance for talented local youngsters to play and shine on stage. The Ordway's A CHRISTMAS STORY is a wonderful, fun, extravagant, poignant, top-notch production of a new musical based on a beloved classic.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Big League Productions presents the 2014-2015 national tour of A Christmas Story, The Musical. The beloved holiday movie will be brought to life on Broadway stages across the country. This sparkling new production will be presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park tonight, December 2, through December 14.

Act Two @ Levine, one of the strongest youth musical theatre education programs in our area, continued its tradition this week of providing its cast members with opportunities to learn from the best of the business in Washington, DC and beyond. The young and enormously talented Tony-nominated writing team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (for A Christmas Story) provided a masterclass for those participating in Act Two's intensive Pre-Professional Program and then delivered a concert that not only proved entertaining, but also provided more opportunities for the young musical theatre aficionados to learn. Pasek and Paul, who met as freshmen musical theatre students at the University of Michigan, showcased not only their considerable songwriting talent, but their ability to engage an audience whether delivering a song or stories about their life writing for the theatre.

When you see a Christmas show at Northport's John W. Engeman Theatre, you are in for a special treat. The busy street is bustling and the stunning Long Island venue goes all out with the decorations for a festive atmosphere. Their offering this season is fan favorite A Christmas Story based on the 1983 movie.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 25th.

The John W. Engeman Theater just opened the musical adaptation of the iconic holiday classic - A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL on Thursday, November 20; the show runs through January 4, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

?The John W. Engeman Theater has just opened the musical adaptation of the iconic holiday classic - A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL on Thursday, Nov. 20, running through January 4, 2015. Below, BroadwayWorld brings photos of the bows and opening night festivities!

The Rose Theater triple-dog-dares you to see its holiday production of A Christmas Story: The Musical, playing Dec. 5-28. The fun-filled musical adaptation of the classic Yuletide film offers a stocking full of good, old-fashioned laughs sure to please the entire family.

The John W. Engeman Theater has announced the cast and creative team for the musical adaptation of the iconic holiday classic - A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL. Performances begin tonight, November 20th at 8:00pm and run through January 4, 2015.

Young People's Theatre has announced that the musical James and the Giant Peach has just been held over for a second time due to overwhelming audience demand. YPT is extending their special ?Holiday schedule which will now include performances at 11am and 2pm on most days from December 26 to January 4. Visit youngpeoplestheatre.ca for complete schedule details.

The Olathe Civic Theatre Association (OCTA) Board of Directors has announced its 41st season for 2015-2016, unveiling a balance of genres and directors that promise to propel the theatre into the next phase of its success.