Broadway Across America News

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, the most fantasmagorical Broadway musical in the history of everything, has cast six children from around Arizona to make their stage debut with CHITTY at ASU Gammage, June 16-21 for an eight performance engagement.

Laura Benanti and Brian Stokes Mitchell will host the Creative Arts portion of the 2009 Tony Awards. At 7pm, viewers will be able to login at TonyAwards.com to watch the Creative Arts categories immediately prior to the CBS Broadcast. It is not yet known which awards will fill this segment, however last year's categories included Best Orchestrations and the Design awards.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) announces Ordinary Days, a new musical with Music & Lyrics by Adam Gwon, directed by Marc Bruni. This production marks the first musical presented in the Black Box Theatre.

Josefina Scaglione is starring as 'Maria' in the 2009 revival of West Side Story. The 21 year old Scaglione is a trained opera singer and has been in a production of Hairspray. She was set to portray Christine Daae in a production of The Phantom of the Opera in Argentina but had to give that lead up for her coveted casting in West Side Story. The story of how her YouTube video won her an audition and then the lead in Arthur Laurents's revival of West Side Story is already on its way to becoming Broadway legend.

Enjoy the theater industry's annual celebration of Broadway's best at the Center's fifth annual TONY® AWARDS Party on Sunday, June 7 in the McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square (345 N. College Street). Doors to the McGlohon Theatre will open at 7 p.m., with the broadcast beginning at 8 p.m.

On behalf of the Kleban Foundation, New Dramatists presented the 19th Annual Kleban Award for the most promising musical theater lyricist has to Beth Falcone and the award for the most promising musical theater librettist has to Kait Kerrigan. The 2009 awards were presented on June 1, 2009, in a private ceremony at BMI.

Sony Masterworks proudly announces the upcoming release of the New Broadway Cast Recording of WEST SIDE STORY. The recording will be available nationwide on June 2, 2009. The official opening of WEST SIDE STORY, which took place at the Palace Theatre in New York City on Thursday, March 19, 2009, has been greeted with great critical acclaim and sold-out performances. The opening followed a pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., where the musical made its original world premiere in 1957.

Additional performances for the 63rd Annual Tony Awards® Telecast were announced today. Dolly Parton along with the cast of 9 to 5: The Musical; Elton John with the cast of Billy Elliot, The Musical; Liza Minnelli; Stockard Channing; and the band Poison along with the cast of Rock of Ages, will be taking the stage, joining previously announced performances by this year's Tony-nominated Best Musicals and Best Musical Revivals, including: Billy Elliot, The Musical; Guys and Dolls; HAIR; Next to Normal; Pal Joey; Rock of Ages; Shrek the Musical; and West Side Story.

A Bronx Tale, the funny and touching memoir written by and starring Academy Award-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri, will debut in Minneapolis at Hennepin Theatre Trust's State Theatre June 2-7, 2009.

It's the time of year where the Theatre World celebrates the best of the best and special recognition is bestowed upon certain individuals for their work. No...I am not talking about the Tony Awards...although I know where I will be that evening. I talking about the 19th Annual Kleban Awards, which will be presented in a private ceremony on June 1st, 2009.

STOMP, the international sensation, is making its triumphant return to Orlando's Carr Performing Arts Centre for a one-week engagement June 9-14, 2009. The return of the percussive hit also brings some new surprises, with some sections of the show now updated and restructured and the addition of two new full-scale routines, utilizing props like tractor tire inner tubes and paint cans.

The cast and creative team of the hit Broadway musical HAIR, including Tony Award nominee director Diane Paulus joined friends and fans for the release party launch of the Ghostlight Records New Broadway Cast Recording of HAIR. The celebration took place onTuesday, May 26, 2009 at Bumble and bumble which is located at 415 West 13th Street (between 9th Ave and Washington St.). BroadwayWorld's cameras were there for the festive 'love-in' with the cast.

The new Broadway Cast Recording of the hit musical HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, featuring never-before-released tracks from the show's iconic score, is available on iTUNES, beginning TODAY (May 26th).

A CHORUS LINE, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning musical, returns to Hennepin Theatre Trust's Orpheum Theatre on June 16-21, 2009. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, this 30th anniversary production of the singular sensation is the original reality show about the lives, dreams and labors of 17 Broadway dancers auditioning for the opportunity of a lifetime-to have the chance to danc

Sony Masterworks proudly announces the upcoming release of the New Broadway Cast Recording of WEST SIDE STORY. The recording will be available nationwide on June 2, 2009. The official opening of WEST SIDE STORY, which took place at the Palace Theatre in New York City on Thursday, March 19, 2009, has been greeted with great critical acclaim and sold-out performances. The opening followed a pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., where the musical made its original world premiere in 1957.

Summer begins in downtown Pittsburgh with the 50th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival, a celebration of art, music, performance and community. The 2009 Festival runs from June 5-14 at Point State Park, Hertz Gateway Center, and numerous Cultural District locations in downtown Pittsburgh. Most Festival programs are free and open to the public. Three Rivers Arts Festival is a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) is proud to announce its 2009 - 2010 performance season with 34 extraordinary engagements at the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres, as well as the Falls Theatre at ACT. Shows range from performance art and comedy to legendary musicians, dance and silent film.

Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys, the touring production starring TV's most famous young and intrepid Latina explorer, will play six performances at Hennepin Theatre Trust's State Theatre, Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17, 2009.

CBS RADIO has launched Hair Radio, a new custom streaming internet radio station, celebrating the smash Broadway revival of the musical HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. The channel features hit songs from the 1960's and 70's, tunes from the original cast recording of HAIR, along with various recordings of the show's most popular songs from all different eras, interviews with the cast and creative team of the new Broadway revival and an extensive arsenal of show-related content.

The record breaking National Tour of Monty Python's SPAMALOT, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, will close in Costa Mesa CA on October 18th. The musical's tour will have played 1408 performances over 101 separate engagements throughout North America, to an audience estimated at nearly 3.6 million people.