Christopher Ashley News

Now on its national tour, Memphis docks at the Pantages for two weeks only through August 12, and the production is thrilling from top to bottom with a great book, great score, sensational direction and choreography and a truly fantastic cast of triple threat actors, singers and dancers. Memphis is one those rare shows that gives the audience a realistic picture of radio and the emergence of television as it took possession of the nation in the early 50s.

Tonner Doll Company plans to release their very first Broadway collection: The Memphis Collection. Inspired by the 2010 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Memphis, this collection will feature the fashions straight from the stage.

The producers of the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Musical MEMPHIS announced today that the production will recoup its $12 million investment as of its final performance on Broadway on Sunday, August 5, 2012 after 30 previews and 1,166 regular performances. MEMPHIS opened on October 19, 2009 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre (225 W. 44th Street), having begun previews on September 23rd.

Tony Award winning Broadway composer and international rock star David Bryan has donated a 9 foot Steinway concert grand piano to the United States State Department Collection to be housed in the Benjamin Franklin Ballroom at the Harry S. Truman State Department Building in Washington, DC. As a founding member and keyboard player for Bon Jovi, Bryan has toured the world and shared his music with millions of people. The plaque that accompanies the State Department piano reflects Bryan's personal belief that "In the timeless celebration of music is that which brings us together, not separates us." That belief is also underscored in Bryan's Tony Award winning Best Musical MEMPHIS, playing through August 5th at Broadway's Shubert Theater and across America on a celebrated national tour.

Currently playing at the La Jolla Playhouse is The Nightingale, by the creative team behind the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening: Steven Sater (book and lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music). Directed by Tony Award nominee Moises Kaufman (33 Variations, I Am My Own Wife), the production runs July 10 - August 5, 2012 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. The theatre recently held an open discussion about the color-blind casting of the show, which has gotten attention amoungst the Asian-American community. Here what they had to say about the subject in the full panel video below.

MEMPHIS the 2010 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, opens at the San Diego Civic Theatre tonight, July 24 for a limited engagement and will play through July 29th.

Today we are talking to one of Broadway's most recent stars to make a big impression in Hollywood with his many recent TV and film appearances - from GLEE, 30 ROCK and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM to the forthcoming HBO Liberace biopic BEHIND THE CANDELABRA as well as the new NBC series MOCKINGBIRD LANE - following his stints on the Great White Way in the lead roles of musicals such as ALL SHOOK UP, XANADU and FINIAN'S RAINBOW - the convivial, exceedingly talented Cheyenne Jackson. Giving us an all-access pass to his new role as songwriter, crafting two pop gems - "Drive" and "Before You" - and creating accompanying music videos for them as a preview of his forthcoming EP, which will also include collaborations with Sia and more. In addition to his recording career and songwriting responsibilities, Jackson also has a number of high profile film and TV projects coming up and he gives us the 411 on his role opposite Michael Douglas in the new Steven Soderbergh HBO film BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, as well as shares his experiences filming the new Bryan Fuller-created NBC reboot of THE MUNSTERS titled MOCKINGBIRD LANE. Also, will he be returning to 30 ROCK for its final season? What about a GLEE reprise? Plus, Jackson fills us in on the newest member of his family, as well as recollections of working on Dustin Lance Black's remarkable landmark PROP 8 live multi-media presentation, his involvement with Neil LaBute's THE HEART OF THE MATTER, his new film MUTUAL FRIENDS, participating in BARACK ON BROADWAY duetting with SMASH star Megan Hilty and what we can expect from his appearance in the new Christopher Ashley-directed movie musical adaptation of Ahrens & Flaherty's LUCKY STIFF. All of that and much, much more!

BroadwayWorld brings you exclusive photos from last night at MEMPHIS. Tico Torres, the drummer for Bon Jovi, brought his family to the show to support his friend David Bryan. Check out photos of Torres with Montego Glover, Adam Pascal, Derrick Baskin, and James Monroe Iglehart below!

La Jolla Playhouse has just announced casting for its upcoming production of An Iliad, a one-man adaptation of Homer's classic tale, adapted by Denis O'Hare (Tony Award-winning actor in Take Me Out) and Lisa Peterson (director of the Playhouse's Surf Report and Be Aggressive), based on a translation by Robert Fagles, directed by Lisa Peterson. A co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, An Iliad features Henry Woronicz as the "Poet," with Brian Ellingsen as the "Musician" and runs August 11 - September 9 in the Mandell Weiss Forum.

Broadway and MEMPHIS star Adam Pascal stopped by Good Day New York this morning to treat audiences to a live performance of 'Memphis Lives in Me,' one of the show's most iconic numbers. Check out the performance and photos of Pascal's visit below!

The producers of the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Musical MEMPHIS announced tonight that the production will play its final performance on Broadway on Sunday, August 5, 2012 after 30 previews and 1,166 regular performances. MEMPHIS opened on October 19, 2009 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre (225 W. 44th Street), having begun previews on September 23rd.

Leigh Silverman, Carolyn Cantor, Jean-Michele Gregory and Cape Cod Theatre Project's Artistic Director Hal Brooks will be developing new plays this summer with The Cape Cod Theatre Project.

Making its West Coast premiere, Blood and Gifts tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the play offers up a slice of historical fiction laced with dark humor, as it follows the character of CIA operative Jim Warnock and his struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan. We have a sneak peek of the production below!

See the four-time Tony Award winner and you won't miss a beat.

Making its West Coast premiere, Blood and Gifts tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the play offers up a slice of historical fiction laced with dark humor, as it follows the character of CIA operative Jim Warnock and his struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan.

LEAP OF FAITH might have taken its final bow back in May, but sources in the cast tell us that an album is in the works. The cast will gather tomorrow, June 13 to record the original cast album. A release date has not yet been announced.

Making its West Coast premiere, Blood and Gifts tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the play offers up a slice of historical fiction laced with dark humor, as it follows the character of CIA operative Jim Warnock and his struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan.