Chris Bailey News

Up next in the Encores! season is 1776, the classic Tony Award-winning musical about how the founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and gave birth to a new nation. A unique show that presents John Adams (Santino Fontana), Thomas Jefferson (John Behlmann), andBenjamin Franklin (John Larroquette) in all their fractious, fascinating complexity, 1776 features such beloved songs as 'Sit Down, John,' 'Cool, Cool, Considerate Men,' and 'He Plays the Violin.'

BroadwayWorld brings you performance highlights below!

Two-time Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Musicals has assembled five exciting teams to transform their diverse season of musicals from page to stage.

BroadwayWorld was in the rehearsal room with the cast today, where they treated us to a sneak peek of 'Till Then' (performed by Santino Fontana and Christiane Noll) and 'Sit Down, John'. Check out the numbers and meet the cast and creative team below!

BroadwayWorld was in the rehearsal room with the cast today, where they treated us to a sneak peek of 'Till Then' (performed by Santino Fontana and Christiane Noll) and 'Sit Down, John'.

Playing the radiant Martha Jefferson will be Nikki Renne Daniels, whose extensive Broadway credits include THE BOOK OF MORMON, PORGY AND BESS, ANYTHING GOES, and LES MISERABLES. Rehearsals for the production have only just begun and Nikki checked in with BroadwayWorld earlier this week to tell us all about her preparations. Check out the full interview below!

Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel today announced casting for the Encores! production of 1776, the classic Tony Award-winning musical about how the founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and gave birth to a new nation. 1776 will star Terence Archie, John Behlmann, Larry Bull, Nikki Renee Daniels, Andre De Shields, Macintyre Dixon, Santino Fontana, Alexander Gemignani, John Hickok, John Hillner, John Larroquette, Kevin Ligon, John-Michael Lyles, Laird Mackintosh, Michael McCormick, Michael Medeiros, Christiane Noll, Bryce Pinkham, Wayne Pretlow, Tom Alan Robbins, Robert Sella, Ric Stoneback, Jubilant Sykes, Vishal Vaidya, Nicholas Ward, and Jacob Keith Watson. 

Harvey Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz-filled fable Cabin in the Sky, running for seven performances for Encores! at New York City Center, tonight, February 10, through February 14. The 1940 musical is directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson with choreography by Camille A. Brown. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the show below!

Harvey Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz-filled fable CABIN IN THE SKY, running for seven performances for Encores! at New York City Center, tonight, February 10, through February 14.

BroadwayWorld and The Muny announces today the directors, choreographers and music directors for the Muny's 2016 Season, which opens on June 13 with The Wizard of Oz.

Broadway Entertainment Group FZ LLC and NETworks Presentations LLC are pleased to announce their first ever, global tour of the English language production of SHREK THE MUSICAL with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori.  The production begins its journey in Istanbul, Turkey on the 22nd January, 2016 and will tour to diverse markets including Europe, the Middle East and Asia to cities including; Abu Dhabi, Jakarta and Singapore to name a few. 

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents UNCIVIL In Concert. The original folk rock/Bluegrass-infused musical comedy, previously know as Bayonets of Angst, returns to NYC after an acclaimed sellout run at the 2015 Adirondack Theatre Festival. Originally presented by the New York Musical Theatre Festival under Executive Director & Producer, Dan Markley, UNCIVIL won rave reviews for its 2014 NYMF run and received four Excellence Awards including Best Book, Best Ensemble Performance, and Outstanding Individual Performance for Brian Charles Rooney and J. Robert Spencer.

The landmark musical with a score by Vernon Duke and John Latouche is the next offering from City Center's Encores!

Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel today announced the creative teams for New York City Center's 2016 Encores! season. J. Bernard Calloway, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster will star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz?filled fable Cabin in the Sky, running for seven performances at City Center from February 10-14. The 1940 musical will be directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago?Hudson with choreography by Camille A. Brown.

Clinton Hill cultural hub and OBIE award-winner JACK launches its winter/spring 2016 season with an a cappella opera set in Zimbabwe by composer Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, a weekend of curated works by Modesto "Flako" Jimenez, the premiere of the dirty and bracing play Tom & Eliza, by Celine Song, the English-language premiere of Argentinian playwright Rafael Spregelburd's SPAM, The Geneva Project by Jennifer Harrison Newman, Antonio Ramos' Thirsty Mind, love and starvation sitting in a lonely tree and an exploration in minimalist/pop art performance by the No Face Performance Group.  JACK also engineers the return of Walter Dundervill's ARENA (which had two sold-out runs at JACK in 2014 and 2015). 

Some of Broadway's brightest talent will lend their voices to the upcoming, kid-friendly animated comedy BLAZING SAMURAI, based on Mel Brooks' classic comedy BLAZING SADDLES. Entertainment Weekly writes that Brooks himself, as well as ALLEGIANCE's George Takei, THIS IS OUR YOUTH's Michael Cera and THE MOUNTAINTOP's Samuel L. Jackson will be heard in the forthcoming film.

I purposely avoided the recent film version of INTO THE WOODS because I really didn't find the previews or the stunt casting appropriate. For me, it's a work that requires an audience to use their imagination to a great extent, and movies tend to give form to those things that are much better left conjured up in your own mind. That's why my son and I absolutely loved The MUNY's current presentation of the show. Let's face it, a woodland setting created utilizing green screen technology and a few key set pieces is nowhere near as effective at conveying the atmosphere desired, especially when you already have those actual elements growing freely at the back of this marvelous outdoor stage. Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book) crafted a brilliant mash-up of several fairy tales and fables that is smart, funny, and, ultimately, touching. When I asked my boy what he thought of the show at the end of the night he neatly summed it up: 'I thought it was awesome!' I agree wholeheartedly. Superbly cast and conceived, this is a production that's simply tailor made for The MUNY. Go see it, and take your kids with you! It may have a few moments that are a bit gruesome or adult in content, but they'll have a wonderful time, and so will you!

Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine's (book) INTO THE WOODS opened July 21, at the Muny, and is playing through July 27 in Forest Park. The production is directed by Gary Griffin, choreographed by Chris Bailey and music directed by Brad Haak. Check out a first look at the cast in action on opening night below! The cast includes Heather Headley (Witch), Erin Dilly (Baker's Wife), Rob McClure (Baker), Ken Page (Narrator), Andrew Samonsky (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf), Elena Shaddow (Cinderella) and Ryan Silverman (Rapunzel's Prince), will be Jason Gotay (Jack), Ellen Harvey (Cinderella's Stepmother), Sara Kapner (Little Red Ridinghood), Samantha Massell (Rapunzel), Michael McCormick (Mysterious Man/Cinderella's Father) and Zoe Vonder Haar (Jack's Mother). Rounding out this incredible cast are Anna Blair (Granny/Cinderella's Stepmother), Jennifer Diamond (Florinda), Gary Glasgow (Steward), Maggie Lakis (Milky White) and April Strelinger (Lucinda).

Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine's (book) INTO THE WOODS opened July 21, at the Muny, and is playing through July 27 in Forest Park. The production is directed by Gary Griffin, choreographed by Chris Bailey and music directed by Brad Haak. Check out a first look at the cast in action on opening night below!