Benny Andersson News

The Arvada Center has announced its 2018-2019 season, a diverse line-up of plays and musicals. The three musical and four play season includes a world premiere play, two regional premieres, and a Broadway smash-hit. The season also marks the third year of the Black Box Repertory Theatre, a company of actors who will perform three of the Black Box Theatre's four plays in repertory. The 2018-19 Theatre Season is sponsored by Lutheran Medical Center.

Cape Rep Theatre is celebrating its 33rd season with an exciting line up of plays and musicals, all of them Cape Cod premieres, and one world premiere by a local playwright. The Indoor Theater season will open May 9th with the George Furth and Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, followed by the world premiere production of The Tuna Goddess, by local theater artist, Jade Schuyler. Next up is the Broadway sensation, Mamma Mia!, music by the beloved super group ABBA and book by Catherine Johnson, followed by the 5-time Tony Award winning Fun Home, book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. The season will close with the Cape Cod premiere of Shakespeare in Love, based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame A sweeping score and powerful story make The Hunchback of Notre Dame a truly unforgettable musical and an instant classic. It plays in the Marian Theatre April 26 - May 13 then June 14 - July 8 in the Solvang Festival Theatre.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a buzzy new musical to returning favourites, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld reviews, interviews and features!

The first West End production of Chess since 1986 stars Michael Ball as Anatoly, Alexandra Burke as Svetlana, Murray Head as The Arbiter, Tim Howar as Freddie, Cassidy Janson as Florence and Philip Browne as Molokov. This epic musical love story will open at the London Coliseum on Thursday 26 April 2018 (Press night on Tuesday 1 May 2018) for a strictly limited 5 week season.

Gallery Players announces the final show of its 51st season, the timely classic, Chess. It is an epic story set at the height of the Cold War, where two great chess masters-an American and a Russian-meet in Bangkok to battle for the world championship... but their greatest contest is for the love of one woman.

Mamma Mia brought the audience to their feet at the opening night performance on Friday at the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC). Produced by Dream Theatre Productions, the lavish performance of the hit Broadway musical is one of the best you will see with its stunningly talented cast. 

Lakewood Theatre Company will begin its 66th season with six productions on its Mainstage and three productions on its Side Door stage beginning July 6, 2018.  

The Phantom of the Opera' to finally haunt Norwegian audiences, as the musical will premiere in Oslo this fall. 'I am thrilled that we can finally bring the phantom to Norway. It has been a long period of negotiating. We have been working for five years to get the rights,' says producer Karianne Jaeger.

Calling all dancing queens and kings! Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus' Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, is set to run at Aurora Theatre from March 8 - April 22, 2018. Mamma Mia! is one of the most successful musicals of all time, the eighth longest running show in Broadway history and one of only five musicals to have run for more than ten years on Broadway - grossing over $2 billion and bringing smiles to over 54 million worldwide. Aurora Theatre is proudly producing Atlanta's post-Broadway premiere of the feel-good show in the heart of downtown Lawrenceville!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presented the semi-staged Broadway Center Stage concert production of CHESS on February 14-18. Check out all new clips from the production, starring Raul Esparza, Karen Olivo, Ramin Karimloo, and Ruthie Ann Miles, below!

The 2018/19 Mirvish season will feature six Canadian premieres, one North American premiere, one pre-Broadway engagement and five new productions. A total of 16 shows will play at Mirvish theatres from June 2018 to July 2019. The main subscription season will feature seven shows and the Off-Mirvish season three shows. There will be six bonus shows that will not be on subscription.

A sold-out seven performance production of CHESS in Concert blew the rafters of the roof of the Eisenhower Theater.

Australia's Global Creatures will secure its place as a leading international theatre production company as it celebrates its biggest year ever in 2018.   This year in the UK, the company opens Strictly Ballroom on the West End in April and Walking with Dinosaurs will again roam the globe on a new world tour with August dates confirmed at London's O2 Arena.

According to Michael Riedel's latest column, a handful of Broadway producers ventured to Washington, D.C. recently to catch the latest mounting of the popular musical CHESS.

Derby Dinner Playhouse will present the smash hit Broadway musical MAMMA MIA!, opening February 21 and running through April 8, 2018. For ticket information please call 812-288-8281 or visit derbydinner.com.

The Kennedy Center wraps up its production of Chess tonight at 8pm. Chess is an epic rock opera about love and political intrigue set against the backdrop of the Cold War as two superpowers attempt to manipulate an international chess championship for political ends.

Following a sold-out season at Roslyn Packer Theatre, Carmen Pavlovic, Global Creatures CEO has announced that tickets to Muriel's Wedding The Musical return season go on sale Wednesday 21 February, 2018 at 9am from http://www.ticketmaster.com.au.

While Mr. Strong definitely did not fix the book issues that have plagued the show since its inception - and dare I say it made it even worse - this production is yet another example of why the show continues to be produced. The music is exceptional and at the Kennedy Center it's performed by some of the best in musical theater today.

In the heyday of movies being adapted for the stage, one can't be shocked to see the ABBA infused MURIEL'S WEDDING next up to bat for the musical treatment. Based on the 1994 Australian blockbuster of the same title, MURIEL's WEDDING THE MUSICAL had its world premiere late last year thanks to the Sydney Theatre Company and Global Theatre. Maggie McKenna played the title role of Muriel Heslop. Growing up in Porpoise Spit, our ABBA obsessed protagonist is the outcast who incessantly dreams of the perfect the wedding and groom.