Des McAnuff News

Broadway/San Diego ~ A Nederlander Presentation is excited to announce the new 2014-2015 season chock-full of top award-winning productions including fifteen Tony Awards, and four Grammy Awards for Best Musical Theater Album -and six shows currently playing on Broadway! This year's powerful season lineup will be presented at the beautiful San Diego Civic Theatre and sponsored by San Diego County Credit Union.

Tonight, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series hosted by Elements Theatre Company, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include:

Flashdance - The Musical, the stage adaptation of the 1983 hit film that defined a generation, will run at the Community Center Theater from tonight, February 4 - 9, 2014.

On Friday, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series hosted by Elements Theatre Company, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include:

The Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical JERSEY BOYS, which has been delighting audiences in London for six years, will be touring the United Kingdom for the first time from September 2014, whilst the production also continues in London at its new home of the Piccadilly Theatre from March 2014.

Stars from the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS will perform in Super Bowl Boulevard today, January 29 at 6:00 PM as part of the NFL's reveal of the Super Bowl Roman Numerals­ the highly anticipated bright lights on Broadway at 43rd Street that frame the 20-feet tall 'XLVIII.'

The producers of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys have announced that Joseph Leo Bwarie and Nick Cosgrove will assume the role of Frankie Valli in the Broadway cast tonight, January 28, 2014.

Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Christopher Plummer takes the stage for 16 performances only in a Center Theatre Group special event, "A Word or Two," which opened at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Written and arranged by Plummer and directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, "A Word or Two" is presented in association with the Stratford Festival of Canada and continues through February 9, 2014. Click below to watch interviews with Plummer and McAnuff on opening night!

A Word or Two/written, arranged and performed by Christopher Plummer/directed by Des McAnuff/Ahmanson Theatre/through February 9 only

The Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS will perform at Yankee Stadium this Sunday, January 26 during the much-anticipated 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series in New York the National Hockey League announced today. Cast members Richard H. Blake, Matt Bogart, Jared Bradshaw and Christopher Messina will perform songs from JERSEY BOYS at the face-off between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils during the pre-show. The game and performances will be broadcast live from Yankee Stadium at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC in the U.S. and CBC in Canada.

Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Christopher Plummer takes the stage for 16 performances only in a Center Theatre Group special event, 'A Word or Two,' which opened at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre last night, January 22, 2014. Written and arranged by Plummer and directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, 'A Word or Two' is presented in association with the Stratford Festival of Canada and continues through February 9, 2014. Check out a look back at opening night arrivals below!

The producers of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys have announced that Joseph Leo Bwarie and Nick Cosgrove will assume the role of Frankie Valli in the Broadway cast on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. Mr. Bwarie, who made his Broadway debut in the show last year, has played the role of Frankie Valli nearly 1,700 performances (including Las Vegas, the 1st national tour and Broadway). Mr. Cosgrove makes his Broadway debut direct from the national tour. After nearly 6 years with the production between the Broadway, Las Vegas and Chicago companies, Dominic Scaglione Jr. will play his final performance as Frankie Valli on Sunday, January 26, 2013.

Musical Theatre West presents the second production of their 61st season, Davis Gaines (Los Angeles' longest-running Phantom in The Phantom of The Opera) starring as Professor Harold Hill and Gail Bennett (Mary Poppins) starring as Marian Paroo in Meredith Willson's timeless and joyous, THE MUSIC MAN, book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey, musical direction by Corey Hirsch, choreography by John Todd and directed by Jeff Maynard.

Broadway will travel to New Jersey when the cast of the Tony and Grammy Award winning musical JERSEY BOYS and the cast of the electrifying musical ROCK OF AGES perform at the NFL Tailgate Party on Sunday February 2, the NFL and FOX announced today.

Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Christopher Plummer takes the stage for 16 performances only in a Center Theatre Group special event, "A Word or Two," which opens at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre tomorrow, January 22, 2014. Written and arranged by Plummer and directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, "A Word or Two" is presented in association with the Stratford Festival of Canada and continues through February 9, 2014. Scroll down for a sneak peek at Plummer onstage!

Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Christopher Plummer takes the stage for 16 performances only in a Center Theatre Group special event, 'A Word or Two,' which opens at the CTG/Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Written and arranged by Plummer and directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, 'A Word or Two' is presented in association with the Stratford Festival of Canada and continues through February 9, 2014.

On Friday, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players (16 Gramercy Park, New York, NY), Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include George Drance, SJ, Artist in Residence at Fordham University, Louis Colaianni, author of How to Speak Shakespeare and Teacher/Coach, Rob Weinert-Kendt, Associate Editor at American Theatre, and Josh Cabat, Co-founder of the New York City Student Shakespeare Festival. Danielle Dwyer, CJ, Elements Artistic Director, will moderate. Admission is FREE to both the performance and panel discussion. Reservations are recommended; call 508-240-2400.

Legendary doo-wop singer Frankie Valli has canceled a scheduled appearance in Thailand due to political unrest in the area.

Stars from the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS will perform in Super Bowl Boulevard on Wednesday, January 29 at 6:00 PM as part of the NFL's reveal of the Super Bowl Roman Numerals­ the highly anticipated bright lights on Broadway at 43rd Street that frame the 20-feet tall "XLVIII."

Tickets will go on sale today, January 17 at 11 a.m. 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 at PlayhouseSquare's State Theatre May 6-18, 2014. Jersey Boys is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare.