Des McAnuff News

TIME Magazine's #1 Show of the Year, MATILDA THE MUSICAL, is coming to Wharton Center as part of the MSUFCU Broadway at Wharton Center series. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers, the first national tour of MATILDA THE MUSICAL will be featured on Tuesday, April 19 - Sunday, April 24, 2016 in Cobb Great Hall. Tickets to see MATILDA THE MUSICAL go on sale Monday, September 28.

As of the performance tonight, Tuesday, September 22, the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical Jersey Boys will surpass MISS SAIGON with 4,093 performances, becoming the 12th longest-running show in Broadway history.

2015 Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara was honored at Westport Country Playhouse's sold-out annual fundraiser, 'Something Wonderful: A Gala Evening Celebrating Kelli O'Hara' tonight, September 21. O'Hara is a Westport resident. BroadwayWorld has photos from the evening below!

Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is returning to East Lansing this fall. JERSEY BOYS, part of the MSU Federal Credit Union Broadway Series at Wharton Center, will be featured Tuesday, October 13 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 in the Cobb Great Hall.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), October 2-24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Tickets go on sale September 15, 2015, for the Thousand Oaks premiere engagement of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza February 23-28.

La Jolla Playhouse and Kansas City Repertory Theatre is presenting the world-premiere production of Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin, by Michael Benjamin Washington, directed by Lucie Tiberghien (Blood and Gifts). Tiberghien replaced Phylicia Rashad, who had to depart the project due to scheduling conflicts. Check out photos from the production below!

Heart and Flame Productions is thrilled to announce the cast and design team for its World Premiere Pop/Rock Musical, WE ARE THE TIGERS, book, music and lyrics by Rebekah M. Allen, musical direction by Patrick Sulken, choreography by Jacob Brent and directed by Michael Bello.

David Hasselhoff visited Jersey Boys at the Piccadilly Theatre in London on Friday 28 August and popped backstage to meet the cast afterwards. Check out the phtoos below!

La Jolla Playhouse announces additional projects for its second Without Walls (WoW) Festival on October 9 - 11, featuring more than 20 immersive and site-based works taking place simultaneously in and around the Playhouse Theatre District, UC San Diego campus and the surrounding neighborhood.

Carmine's on the Upper West Side (2450 Broadway, NYC, 212-362-2200, carminesnyc.com) celebrated its 25th anniversary on Monday evening in grand fashion. Broadway actors from 'Jersey Boys' -- Joseph Leo Bwarie, Richard Blake and Miles Aubrey -- along with Preston Truman Boyd from 'On the 20th Century' performed for party guests and enjoyed Carmine's classic Italian favorites.

David Arquette will star as SHERLOCK HOLMES in an original adaptation inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tales by playwright Greg Kramer.  SHERLOCK HOLMES premiered in Montreal in 2013 in a sold-out, critically acclaimed production at The Segal Centre directed by Andrew Shaver, who will remount the show for a North American tour, starting in Los Angeles and playing six "tour preview" performances at The Ricardo Montalban Theatre from October 15-October 18.   

BroadwayWorld has learned that Broadway's Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award winning smash hit Jersey Boys that beginning Friday, August 14, a limited number of tickets per performance will be sold to winners of a digital lottery drawing. Tickets are $27 and limited to two per person. For details and entrance to the digital lottery, visit JerseyBoysInfo.com/broadway/lottery. Entrants will be notified of their status three hours prior to show time. Tickets must be claimed and paid for at the August Wilson Theatre Box Office (245 W. 52nd Street; NYC) no later than 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Heart and Flame Productions is thrilled to present a World Premiere Pop/Rock Musical, WE ARE THE TIGERS, book, music and lyrics by Rebekah M. Allen, musical direction by Patrick Sulken, choreography by Jacob Brent and directed by Michael Bello. WE ARE THE TIGERS is produced by Matthew P. Hui, Geri Silver and Evan Bernardin. WE ARE THE TIGERS recently completed an artistic residency at New York City's Musical Theatre Factory, where it presented two sold-out workshop performances earlier this month. WE ARE THE TIGERS will preview on Friday, October 2 at 8pm; Saturday, October 3 at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday, October 4 at 7pm; Friday, October 9 at 8pm & Saturday, October 10 at 2pm and will open on Saturday, October 10 at 8pm and run through Sunday, November 8 at the Hudson Backstage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

Starvox Entertainment announced today it has signed David Arquette (Scream, Friends) to play the title role in an original adaptation of Sherlock Holmes inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tales by the late Canadian playwright, Greg Kramer. Sherlock Holmes premiered in Montreal in 2013 in a sold-out, critically acclaimed production at The Segal Centre directed by Andrew Shaver, who will remount the show for a North American tour, playing Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre from October 27 to November 8, 2015.

The British Film Institute will re-release David Lean's epic romance “Doctor Zhivago,” starring  Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, in honor of the film's 50th anniversary.

Broadway star Chilina Kennedy stopped by News 4 New York over the weekend to talk about her role in the musical, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL.

La Jolla Playhouse and Kansas City Repertory Theatre announce the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin, by Michael Benjamin Washington, directed by Lucie Tiberghien (Blood and Gifts).

Almost 20 years after its last UK production, The Who's Tommy will play a limited run at Greenwich Theatre this Summer, marking the 40th Anniversary of the original film and the 50th Anniversary of The Who. The show runs tonight 29 July through 23 August 2015.

La Jolla Playhouse opens its world premiere of Up Here, a new musical comedy featuring book, music and lyrics by the husband-and-wife composing team of Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (In Transit), recipients of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Original Song for their hit song, 'Let It Go,' from the Disney animated film Frozen. Up Here is directed by Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Broadway's Rocky, Off-Broadway's Here Lies Love, Playhouse's Peter and the Starcatcher) and will run July 28 - September 6 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre. Up Here is being presented by special arrangement with Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions, along with Victor Alvarez, Warner/Chappell Music, Sally Horchow International Productions, Caiola Productions, Dominion Pictures.