Des McAnuff News

Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is now playing at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts through July 18 in its North Carolina premiere.

It was announced today that Billy Crystal will bring 700 SUNDAYS, his Tony Award-winning Broadway blockbuster, to six cities for limited engagements this fall, launching at Washington, D.C.'s National Theatre September 8 - 17. The tour will also play Philadelphia, Dallas, Palm Beach, Miami and Atlanta. 700 SUNDAYS, a play performed and written by Mr. Crystal with additional content by Alan Zweibel is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Ellen Richard, Executive Director) continues this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Wildflower features Nadia Bowers, Ron Cephas Jones, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jake O'Connor and Renée Felice Smith. Previews begin Monday, July 13 and opening night is Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm.

York Little Theatre will present the rock opera, Tommy, July 17 - 26, 2009. Written by The Who's Pete Towshend and Des McAnuff, Tommy first premiered on Broadway in April of 1993 and ran for 899 performances. It won 5 Tony awards including Best Original Score, and 6 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Orchestrations.

Cast members from the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS will perform on PBS-TV's 'A Capitol Fourth' independence day concert celebration on Saturday, July 4 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm ET (check local listings).

The Chicago production of JERSEY BOYS, the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning hit musical, celebrated its one millionth patron last week. The lucky person was Carol Miller from Orland Park, IL, who found out at the end of the matinee performance on June 3 when the cast announced her name and asked her to join them on stage.

Guys and Dolls will close on Broadway on June 14th, the show will have played 28 previews and 113 performances. Guys and Dolls stars Oliver Platt ('Nathan Detroit'), Lauren Graham ('Miss Adelaide'), Craig Bierko ('Sky Masterson') and Kate Jennings Grant ('Sarah Brown'). The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, Guys and Dolls began previews on February 5th, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night took place on March 1st, 2009

Reprise Theatre Company presents Broadway Under The Stars for one night only, on Saturday, June 27 at 8:30 pm at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, starring six favorite Reprise performers -- Jason Graae, Lucas Grabeel, Dorian Harewood, Jean Louisa Kelly, Vicki Lewis, and Valarie Pettiford. The production is directed by Lee Martino, with music direction by Mary Ekler.

Casting has been announced for the Boston engagement of JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre Thursday, July 23 through Sunday, September 26 (press night Wednesday, July 29 at 7 PM).

At a press conference held today at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 176 nominations from 218 eligible productions that opened between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009 for the 30th annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards which honour excellence in the performing arts in Toronto.

The Chicago Company of JERSEY BOYS joins a very select group of shows in Chicago to welcome over one million patrons, as it continues to wow audiences in an open run at the Bank of America Theatre.

The Chicago Company of JERSEY BOYS joins a very select group of shows in Chicago to welcome over one million patrons, as it continues to wow audiences in an open run at the Bank of America Theatre.

The National Tour of JERSEY BOYS will play its 1,000th performance tomorrow, Saturday, May 30 at 2pm. The JERSEY BOYS National Tour opened to rave reviews in San Francisco on December 1, 2006, played a record-breaking run in Los Angeles and is still breaking house records in cities across North America. The tour is currently playing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta where it began May 27 and will run through June 21, 2009.

It's going to be a 'Season of Firsts!' Nederlander Detroit today announced its 2009-2010 Broadway in Detroit Subscription Season along with several special shows -- and nearly every production will be making its Detroit debut!

Dates have been announced for the Detroit premiere of JERSEY BOYS, playing the Fisher Theatre, December 17, 2009 - January 23, 2010. Tickets will go on sale September 18 and will be available for purchase at the Fisher Theatre box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 1-800-982-2787, and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.broadwayindetroit.com.

The Colony Theatre Company presents the fifth and final production of its 2008 - 2009 season, the Los Angeles premiere of the Off-Broadway, Smash-Hit Musical Thriller, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, book, music and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen, (based on the novel by William Goldman) and co-directed by West Hyler and Shelley Butler.

Two-time Tony Award winners NATHAN LANE (The Producers, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and BEBE NEUWIRTH (Chicago, Sweet Charity) will star as Gomez and Morticia in THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. Produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical, THE ADDAMS FAMILY will open on Broadway Thursday, April 8, 2010 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced. Previews will begin Thursday, March 4, 2010 following a pre-Broadway engagement at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre in Chicago that begins November 13.

Tickets will go on sale Sunday, May 10, for the Washington, D.C., premiere engagement of JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the National Theatre October 1 through December 12.

JERSEY BOYS broke the Broward Center for the Performing Arts' house record in Fort Lauderdale for the week ending May 3, grossing $1,568,290.00 and topping the previous record of $1,463,925.00.

The Smash-Hit Jersey Boys is currently playing to Canadian audiences in Toronto, ON as part of Dancap's 2009 Season. This all new Canadian production has an amazing cast, and the four leads sat down to give BWW an exclusive taste of their indvidual experiences on the road to becoming Jersey Boys.