Des McAnuff News

Happy New Year, BroadwayWorld! As we eagerly anticipate the amazing musicals and plays coming up in 2016, we're taking a moment to look back at the significant Broadway closings of 2015.

As 2015 comes to a close, BroadwayWorld takes one last look at this season's brightest moments before the curtain comes down, showcasing what readers - and audiences - loved most. Below, check out the curtain call highlights on Broadway from 2015!

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for Guards at the Taj, the final production of the 2015/2016 season. Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), the show marks Associate Artistic Director Jaime Castañeda's directorial debut at the Playhouse. The production will run February 2 - 28, 2016 (press opening: Wednesday, February 10) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. Tickets go on sale Sunday, December 6 at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling (858) 550-1010.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Nicolas Dromard (MARY POPPINS, THE BOY FROM OZ) will join the cast of JERSEY BOYS later this month. Dromard will play Tommy DeVito (which he previously played in the 1st national tour), temporarily taking over for Richard H. Blake. He joins the company on December 21.

Like many Ventura County performers, Autumn Bodily has a long career in local theater. She started as a teenager in 1986 with Young Artists Ensemble in one of their earliest productions. Autumn made her Conejo Players debut in 1989 in Annie before getting married at 22 and moving around the state. She attended college and grad school, had children, and worked as a company member for the Sierra Repertory Theatre in Sonora. Her next move took her and her family from Northern California to San Diego where she worked for the La Jolla Playhouse doing page-to-stage productions. While there, she worked on many shows that would later progress to Broadway. In 2006, she performed in the musical version of Doctor Zhivago, working with composer Lucy Simon and director Des McAnuff. The show had a brief run this past spring on Broadway but only lasted for 23 performances. Since she returned to the Conejo Valley, she has performed in a variety of community theater productions, including Cabaret (Camarillo Skyway Playhouse) as Fraulein Kost and Damn Yankees (Conejo Players) as Gloria Thorpe. Autumn plays the role of Sally Durant Plummer in the Conejo Players Theatre's current production of Follies.

The cast of the long-running hit musical JERSEY BOYS, now celebrating ten years on Broadway, performed a medley of songs on yesterday's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS.

Chilina Kennedy, star of 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' will be at the Cutting Room in Midtown on Monday, 11/23.

TIME Magazine's #1 Show of the Year, MATILDA THE MUSICAL, will make its Boston premiere! Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers, the first national tour of MATILDA THE MUSICAL will be coming to the Boston Opera House for a limited two week engagement June 14-26, 2016 as part of the 2015-2016 Lexus Broadway In Boston Season.

The MFA Musical Theatre Program at San Diego State University is once again teaming up with La Jolla Playhouse to develop a new musical, following up on their collaboration on the reading of BD Wong's new musical MR. DOCTOR last February. This year, after a competitive selection process, the musical ON THE EVE has been chosen for a public staged reading at SDSU tonight, November 19, 2015 at 6:30pm in the Experimental Theatre.

Tickets are on sale now for the return engagement of the Tony, Grammy, and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC), Tuesday, April 26 through Sunday, May 1, 2016.

Broadway Philadelphia presents TIME Magazine's #1 Show of the Year, MATILDA THE MUSICAL, at the Kimmel Center's Academy of Music tonight, November 17-29, 2015.

La Jolla Playhouse, nationally-renowned for its development of new work, has announced four world-premiere productions for the 2016/2017 season, including works by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro, Pulitzer Prize winners Quiara Alegria Hudes and Ayad Akhtar, and 2014 Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award winner Jeff Augustin.

An outgoing phone message from the SOMETHING ROTTEN! star, dinner with THE LION KING's Dialect Consultant, an on-stage appearance in JERSEY BOYS.

The Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys officially celebrated 10 record-breaking years on Broadway this weekend at the August Wilson Theatre, and oh, what a celebration it was. Check out photos from the special curtain call and after party below!

Find out what it's like to play a pop music legend on Broadway from the boys who did it.

From fluffy entertainments to serious dramas, JERSEY BOYS has helped the jukebox musical grow.

The MFA Musical Theatre Program at San Diego State University is once again teaming up with La Jolla Playhouse to develop a new musical, following up on their collaboration on the reading of BD Wong's new musical MR. DOCTOR last February. This year, after a competitive selection process, the musical ON THE EVE has been chosen for a public staged reading at SDSU on November 19, 2015 at 6:30pm in the Experimental Theatre. 

Following a lively photo shoot throughout the August Wilson Theatre with photographer Walter McBride, the three talented actors sat down with BWW to share their reflections and fondest memories of their time with the show.

Producer Larry G. Spangler and The Spangler Group announced today that T Bone Burnett has joined the creative team of Happy Trails, the new Broadway-bound musical based on the life and career of American icons Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans.  The music world legend will be writing the score (music and lyrics) for the musical, which will feature a book by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Jersey Boys, The Addams Family) and direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, Big River, Tommy).  Due to a scheduling conflict, the previously announced songwriting team of Alan Menken (music) and Glenn Slater (lyrics) has departed the production. 

In honor of JERSEY BOYS' 10th anniversary on Broadway, the cast shared their top 10 favorite lines from the show. See what they had to say in the video below, and check out some surprise guests from around the globe to help celebrate the milestone!