Carmen Cusack has finally made her Broadway debut, and it's in the role of a lifetime. She plays Alice Murphy (at two ages) in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's BRIGHT STAR- a performance that earned her a nomination for Best Performance by and Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Hear her story below!
Today's big news: DO I HEAR A WALTZ? begins at Encores!, NC Stage's BRAVE NEW WORLD musical with Justin Matthew Sargent starts tonight, and HAMILTON gets honored with the 2016 Brendan Gill Prize!
In this second part of Understudying on Broadway (you can find Part 1 here), I'm discussing the subject with two women who each have tons of experience, Sandra (Sandy) DeNise and Sarah Jane Shanks, both currently covering the demanding, central role of 'Alice Murphy' in Bright Star. (I should mention that they both also cover the role of 'Lucy Grant,' and additionally, Sandy covers 'Mama Murphy!')
Ghostlight Records recently released the original cast recording of Bright Star, the new musical from Grammy and Emmy Award winner Steve Martin and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Edie Brickell. The album - produced by the legendary, multi-Grammy Award-winning producer, manager, and musician Peter Asher - will be available in stores everywhere beginning Friday, May 27. The digital booklet features full lyrics, show photos, liner notes from Martin, Brickell and Asher, in addition to a synopsis and essay by Bill Rosenfield. To order the album, please visit http://www.sh-k-boom.com/bright-star-original-broadway-cast-recording. Below, watch as Tony nominee Carmen Cusack records 'If You Knew My Story' in the studio!
Manhattan Theatre Club will host its annual Spring Gala on Monday, May 16 at Cipriani 42nd Street (110 East 42nd Street) honoring Marie T. Gallagher, Senior Vice President, PepsiCo, Inc.
With the chance for a Tony win looking far out of reach, the struggling musical tries building box office momentum with its five nominations.
Just In! The Outer Critics Circle, the organization of writers and commentators for media covering New York theatre announced today its award winners for the 2015-16 season in 25 categories.
Those of you who have seen Bright Star know what a tour de force the role of "Alice Murphy" is for our Tony/Drama Desk/Outer Critics Circle-nominated leading lady, Carmen Cusack. And while she seems to be indefatigable, ever in great voice, and able to do eight brilliant and emotional shows a week, plus any number of extracurricular appearances, it's only a matter of time (or vacation) before "Alice Murphy" will fall into the hands of one or both of her understudies, who have been preparing diligently for the big task. Lucky for us, those two women are the super-talented and highly experienced Sandra (Sandy) DeNise and Sarah Jane Shanks, who, in their regular Bright Star tracks, carry an already heavy load as members of the ensemble, acting, singing, dancing, and set-moving their way through almost every scene in the show.
Who really cares about spring? Awards season has arrived- the only time of the year that really matters to Broadway fans everywhere. The 2016 Tony nominees were announced earlier this week, with a record 16 nods going to HAMILTON, and show like SHUFFLE ALONG, SHE LOVES ME and LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT also picking up a considerable amount of recognition. Just yesterday the nominees flocked to the Paramount Hotel, where they met with the press for the first time since getting the big news. BroadwayWorld will be bringing you coverage from the epic day over the next month (so watch out for lots more), but for now, hold yourself over with some beautiful portraits of the nominees as captured by Walter McBride.
With direction by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreography by Josh Rhodes, Bright Star is now open at the Cort Theatre. Randy Jones and Victor Garber attended yesterday's performance - check out photos from their visit below!
The Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors (Dale Badway, President) has announced the 2016 Theatre World Award Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance who will be celebrated at the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony on Monday evening, May 23, 2016 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Circle in the Square Theatre (West 50th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue), home of the current 2015 Tony® Award-winning Best Musical, Fun Home.
At 8:30 AM tomorrow morning will be the announcement of the nominations for this year's Tony Awards! The announcements will be made by Tony nominee Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon; HBO's Girls) and Tony Award winner Patina Miller (Pippin; CBS' Madam Secretary). You can watch the first part of the announcement on CBS This Morning as well as a live webcast of the whole thing at TonyAwards.com.
Ghostlight Records has released the original cast recording of Bright Star, the new musical from Grammy and Emmy Award winner Steve Martin and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Edie Brickell in digital formats today, Friday, April 29.
This week, I put out a request for questions for me and the Bright Star cast.
The Tony Awards Administration Committee met today for the fourth and final time this season to determine the eligibility of nine Broadway productions for the 2016 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards®, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The Tony Awards Administration Committee met a total of four times throughout the 2015-2016 season to decide the eligibility for the 70th Annual Tony Awards.
Below, check out how each show fared individually in BWW's list of nominations by show.
Drama Desk, Tony®, and Emmy® Award nominee and Theater World Award and NAACP Image Award winner Vanessa Williams (Into The Woods, The Trip to Bountiful, 'Ugly Betty') and Drama Desk, Tony®, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Drama League Award Nominee and SAG & TV Land Award winner Matthew Morrison (Finding Neverland, Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza, 'Glee') just announced the nominations for the 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards.
Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, this year's Easter Bonnet Competition (#BroadwayBonnets) was held at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre (200 West 45th Street), home to Disney's The Lion King. Featuring performances by more than 230 Broadway and Off-Broadway singers and dancers, the Broadway Inspirational Voices and a stellar lineup of Broadway favorites, this year's fundraising total was a whopping $5,528,568!
Our Bright Star original cast recording (OCR) comes out this week!
Check out the 2016 Tony Award nominees below and follow us throughout the day for exclusive nominee interviews, special coverage and lots more!
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