The 80th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon is being held this afternoon, May 16, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, where winners will be announced for Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and the much coveted Distinguished Performance Award. This year's event, which began at noon, is hosted by Broadway veteran Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
BroadwayWorld is updating the winners live! Check back in to find out who took home the big awards!
RON RIFKIN, whose performance as Isaac Geldhart in the original production of The Substance of Fire earned him critical accolades as well as the Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Drama-Logue awards, will step into the role for five performances only, May 20 - 23, at Second Stage Theatre. The production's current star, JOHN NOBLE, is unable to perform those performances due to an unforeseen conflict with the filming schedule for his Fox series, Sleepy Hollow. Mr. Noble is scheduled to return for the final weekend of performances, May 24 and 25.
Second Stage Theatre's 35th Anniversary Gala celebration will honor Carole Rothman, Artistic Director of Second Stage Theatre, for her 35 years of supporting new works and artistic development in New York City theatre. This year's rock n' roll themed gala will be attended by over 250 Second Stage Alumni who have worked at Second Stage Theatre during the past 35 years, from Brooke Adams and Polly Draper who appeared in the very first season, to cast members from the currently running The Substance of Fire and the upcoming American Hero which will make its New York premiere this summer at Second Stage Uptown. Special guests participating in the evening's festivities include Lynn Nottage, Cynthia Nixon, Tony Goldwyn, and more. Co-Chairs for this year's gala are Tony James, Tony Kiser, and George Loening.
Co-Hosts Judith Light and Christopher Sieber announced the nominations for the 2014 Drama League Awards, including Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and the much coveted Distinguished Performance Award. The 2014 Drama League Nomination announcement begins the month of celebrations leading up to the 80th Annual Drama League Awards, which will be held at the Marriott Marquis Times Square (1535 Broadway) on Friday, May 16, 2014 at noon hosted by Broadway veteran Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Second Stage Theatre kicks off the 2014 Uptown Series with the New York premiere of AMERICAN HERO, written by Bess Wohl and directed by Leigh Silverman. AMERICAN HERO will feature ARI GRAYNOR (2ST Trust), DAOUD HEIDAMI (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), JERRY O'CONNELL (Seminar) and ERIN WILHELMI (The Great God Pan). Previews begin Monday, May 12th and opening night is Thursday, May 22nd.
Award-winning composer and lyricist Joe Iconis will take the stage on Monday, May 5, 2014 at New World Stages as part of MURDER FOR TWO's newly launched concert series Murderous Musical Mondays. The unplugged concert, which will feature both new songs and fan favorites, will take place immediately following the 7pm performance of MURDER FOR TWO at New World Stages (Stage 5 - 340 West 50th Street) on Monday, May 5th, 2014. Admittance to the concert is free to all those with tickets to the May 5th performance of MURDER FOR TWO. Tickets are available now on Telecharge.com.
Currently celebrating its 35th Anniversary Season, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced complete casting for its upcoming production of LAURA EASON's drama, SEX WITH STRANGERS, directed by DAVID SCHWIMMER. The company will feature Emmy Award-Winner ANNA GUNN (Breaking Bad) as Olivia and Tony Award-Nominee BILLY MAGNUSSEN (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Ethan.
Second Stage Theatre will continue to celebrate its 35th Anniversary Season by once again offering its popular retro prices ($19.79 - the year in which the Company was founded) as well as audience perks for all of the productions this season.
Producers Jayson Raitt, Barbara Whitman, Steven Chaikelson and Second Stage Theatre announced today that Murder For Two original cast member Jeff Blumenkrantz will be returning to the hit musical comedy, reprising his role of 'The Suspects' beginning Monday, March 17, 2014. Blumenkrantz, fresh from the critically acclaimed production of Sweeney Todd at New York Philharmonic, is taking over for composer Joe Kinosian, who joined the cast on Monday, January 20, 2014. Blumenkrantz reunites with current star Brett Ryback in the original musical featuring book and music by Kinosian, book and lyrics by Kellen Blair and direction by Scott Schwartz. The New York production of Murder For Two began performances at New World Stages on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, officially opened on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 and recently extended to July 6, 2014.
The cast and creative team of the hit Off-Broadway musical Murder For Two are teaming up with some of New York's brightest up and coming composers and BroadwayWorld.com every Monday night for their spring concert series, Murderous Musical Mondays. Composer Ryan Scott Oliver will launch the series on Monday, March 24th, 2014, immediately following the 7pm performance of Murder For Two at New World Stages (Stage 5 - 340 West 50th Street).
Just yesterday, Barnes & Noble celebrated the release of the new Ghostlight Records cast recording MURDER FOR TWO with a special in-store performance and CD signing Hosted by MURDER FOR TWO creators Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair, the special event featured performances by original cast members Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback. Check out photos from the special event below!
Producers Jayson Raitt, Barbara Whitman, Steven Chaikelson and Second Stage Theatre announced today another extension for Murder For Two - the hit musical comedy that gets some of New York's biggest laughs from a piano and two multi-talented performers in what Charles Isherwood of The New York Times calls "an ingenious miniature musical in the form of a snazzy vaudevillian double act." Murder For Two, currently starring Joe Kinosian and Brett Ryback, will extend its engagement at New World Stages (Stage 5 - 340 West 50th Street) to Sunday, July 6, 2014. Featuring book and music by Joe Kinosian, book and lyrics by Kellen Blair and direction by Scott Schwartz, the show began performances at New World Stages on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 and officially opened on Wednesday, November 6, 2013.
Second Stage Theatre has announced that JON ROBIN BAITZ's drama, THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE, will be part of the company's current 35th Anniversary season. Directed by TRIP CULLMAN, THE SUBSTANCE OF FIREwill begin preview performances on Tuesday, April 22 and officially open on Monday, May 12. Casting and the full creative team will be announced at a later date.
Second Stage Theatre will continue to celebrate its 35th Anniversary Season by once again offering its popular retro prices ($19.79 - the year in which the Company was founded) as well as audience perks for all of the productions this season. When these tickets went on sale for the season's first production, Little Miss Sunshine, the entire allotment sold out in under 2 hours.
The original cast recording of MURDER FOR TWO, the hit new musical comedy starring Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback, with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair, will be released digitally on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 by Ghostlight Records. To celebrate, the cast and creative team of MURDER FOR TWO are throwing an album release party immediately following the 7pm performance on Monday, January 13, 2014 at New World Stages.
The Murder For Two composing team Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair wrote a special show-themed "12 Days of Christmas, which was recently performed by cast members Brett Ryback and Jeff Blumenkrantz. BroadwayWorld is happy to exclusively bring you the hilarious video below!
Grammy Award-nominated musician Nelson Gonzalez has joined the creative team of the upcoming Second Stage Theatre production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST, written by 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes and directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Mr. Gonzalez, who is widely considered the master of the Cuban Tres guitar, will oversee the production's musical elements and will lead a live band during performances.
Murder For Two creators Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair just heralded in the holiday season with their annual festive concert, the Kellen and Joe Christmastime Show, which included selections from their songbook (including a handful of holiday tunes) performed by some of Broadway's brightest talent. Check out photos from the special concert event below!
Producers Jayson Raitt, Barbara Whitman, Steven Chaikelson and Second Stage Theatre just announced that Murder For Two composer Joe Kinosian will reprise his Joseph Jefferson Award-nominated performance as 'The Suspects' beginning Monday, January 20, 2014 in Murder For Two at Off-Broadway's New World Stages - Stage 5 (340 West 50th Street), alongside Brett Ryback, who continues in the role of 'Marcus,' the evening's lovable, if not experienced, detective. Murder For Two features book and music by Joe Kinosian, book and lyrics by Kellen Blair and direction by Scott Schwartz.
The original cast recording of MURDER FOR TWO, the hit new musical comedy starring Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback, will be released digitally on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 by Ghostlight Records. Produced by Joel Moss and executive produced by Kurt Deutsch, the album will be available in stores and everywhere music is sold on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. The physical CD features complete lyrics, never-before-seen photos, a show synopsis by creators Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair and an essay by Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz. Admission to the album release party is exclusive to ticket holders of the Monday, January 13, 2014performance of Murder For Two. Sign up to pre-order the original cast recording at www.sh-k-boom.com/murderfortwo.html.
