Christopher Ashley News

The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical MEMPHIS launched its national tour Oct. 14, prior to an official opening set for Oct. 16 at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN.

La Jolla Playhouse announces its first production of the 2012/13 season: the world-premiere musical HANDS ON A HARDBODY, written by Pulitzer Prize winner and La Jolla Playhouse 2011 Gala Honoree Doug Wright (I AM MY OWN WIFE), Amanda Green (BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL) and Trey Anastasio of the popular band Phish, with direction by Neil Pepe (SPEED-THE-PLOW) and choreography by Benjamin Millepied ('Black Swan'), running April 27 - June 10, 2012 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse announces its first production of the 2012/13 season: the world-premiere musical Hands on a Hardbody, written by Pulitzer Prize winner and La Jolla Playhouse 2011 Gala Honoree Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife), Amanda Green (Bring It On: The Musical) and Trey Anastasio of the popular band Phish, with direction by Neil Pepe (Speed-the-Plow) and choreography by Benjamin Millepied (Black Swan), running April 27 - June 10, 2012 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Hockadoo! The 2010 Tony winning Best Musical MEMPHIS will celebrate its second anniversary on Broadway on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at the Shubert Theater.

Hockadoo MEMPHIS Fans! How would you like to be among the first to get a sneak peek at the new Huey? The 2010 Tony winning Best Musical MEMPHIS announced today that there will be a special 'sneak peek' event at Broadway's Shubert Theatre featuring Tony nominee Adam Pascal as 'Huey Calhoun' and you can be there! This will be an exclusive opportunity to see Adam Pascal on stage at the Shubert before he begins performances. Click here and enter your email address by Monday, October 17th for a chance to be there at 4.30pm on Thursday, October 20th. We will let you know by Tuesday, October 18th if you will be in the Shubert Theater the first time that Adam Pascal takes the stage! Pascal will officially begin performances on Tuesday, October 25th.

Critically acclaimed MEMPHIS won four 2010 Tony® Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score (David Bryan and Joe DiPietro), Best Book (Joe DiPietro), and Best Orchestrations (David Bryan and Daryl Waters). MEMPHIS won four Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Performance by an Actress (Montego Glover), Outstanding Music (David Bryan) and Outstanding Orchestration (David Bryan and Daryl Waters). MEMPHIS has also won four Outer Critic Circle Awards including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Score (David Bryan & Joe DiPietro), Outstanding Actress (Montego Glover) and Outstanding Choreography (Sergio Trujillo).

Previews begin this Thursday, October 13 for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director), Women's Project (Julie Crosby, Producing Artistic Director) and La Jolla Playhouse (Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director; Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director) production of the New York premiere of MILK LIKE SUGAR, a new play by Kirsten Greenidge in her New York debut.

The William & Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, are pleased to announce the sixth round of Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship recipients. The program is designed to support actors' professional and artistic development, to enrich relationships between actors and nonprofit theatres and to ensure continued professional commitment to live theatre. Funded by the Fox Foundation and administered by TCG, the fellowship is one of only a few programs of its kind for actors in the country.

Shout! Factory and Broadway Worldwide, Inc. today announced a new deal to bring Broadway's 2010 Tony Award®-winning Best Musical MEMPHIS to the home entertainment marketplace in the U.S. and Canada. Under this multi-year agreement, Shout! Factory will be the exclusive home entertainment distributor to release MEMPHIS featuring the original Broadway cast, on Blu-rayTM, DVD and for digital download. This announcement was made by Shout! Factory's founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos; and Broadway Worldwide's founder and CEO Bruce Brandwen.

MEMPHIS' Montego Glover and David Bryan performed the National Anthem at the NY RedBulls vs LA Galaxy soccer game on Tuesday, October 4th. Check out photos from the big event below!

Lottery entries are now being accepted, starting today, Wednesday, October 5, for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director), Women's Project (Julie Crosby, Producing Artistic Director) and La Jolla Playhouse (Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director; Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director) production of the New York premiere of MILK LIKE SUGAR, a new play by Kirsten Greenidge in her New York debut, directed by Rebecca Taichman (Menopausal Gentlemen, Orlando, The Scene).

Tony Award Winner for Best Musical in 2010, the national touring company of Memphis makes its way to Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center for a limited November 15-20 run at Andrew Jackson Hall, fresh off its kick-off in the city that gave the show its name. Memphis' national tour was launched at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis.

The holidays will be here before you know it and The Bushnell has a full range of festive holiday programming and more to celebrate the season!

MEMPHIS, the 2010 Tony® Award Winner for Best Musical, and the show that's currently blowing the roof off Broadway, opens at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, November 15, for a limited engagement!

Due to popular demand, La Jolla Playhouse today announced an extension of its production of Susurrus, the innovative, site-specific piece that launched the Playhouse's new Without Walls (WoW) program. Written by internationally-renowned theatre artist David Leddy, Susurrus will now run at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Thursdays -- Sundays through October 2 and on the following additional dates: Saturday, 10/8, Sunday, 10/9, Friday, 10/14, Sunday, 10/16, Friday, 10/21, Saturday, 10/22 and Sunday, 10/23.

Variety is what distinguishes the mix of styles and stories in the 2011-12 series of HCA/TriStar Broadway at TPAC.

Suervision Media and Broadway Worldwide have plans to bring a handful of Broadway favorites to the big screen in the near future- Memphis, Jekyll & Hyde, Putting It Together, and Smokey Joe's Cafe will all make there way to theatres around the world. Memphis will reach the UK and Ireland in November, and South Africa and Hong Kong later this year. The other three shows will reach Europe January- March 2012, and then the rest of the world in April.

Broadway In Chicago has announced that MEMPHIS, the 2010 Tony® Award Winner for Best Musical, and the show that's currently blowing the roof off Broadway, opens in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph St.) on Nov. 22, 2011 for a limited two-week engagement! Individual tickets for MEMPHIS go on sale Sunday, Sep. 18, 2011 at 10 a.m.

Broadway In Chicago has announced that MEMPHIS, the 2010 Tony® Award Winner for Best Musical, and the show that's currently blowing the roof off Broadway, opens in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph St.) on Nov. 22, 2011 for a limited two-week engagement! Individual tickets for MEMPHIS go on sale Sunday, Sep. 18, 2011 at 10 a.m.

The 2010 Tony winning Best Musical MEMPHIS welcomed nationally syndicated radio star Mike Gallagher to the Shubert Theatre for a special one week only cameo appearance last night, September 6. Gallagher will perform through Sunday September 11, 2011. In MEMPHIS, Mike Gallagher will open the show with an expanded cameo part written by book writer Joe DiPietro. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photos from his opening night!