Donald Holder News

Disney's THE LION KING set a new box office record during its five-week engagement at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. THE LION KING entertained more than 80,000 people with a production described by Francois Marchand from the Edmonton Journal as, 'hugely entertaining, incredibly beautiful and technically brilliant, and performed with a whole lot of heart and soul.'

Variety reports that the upcoming Broadway musical 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' got caught in the web of it's massive budget as 'the extensive work being done to prepare for the technically demanding show, both in the shop constructing the physical production and in the theater where 'SPIDER-MAN' is due to open, is said to have stopped this week.'

Casting has been announced for the Calgary engagement of Disney's THE LION KING. Calgary's most eagerly awaited stage production ever will leap onto the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium stage from Tuesday August 4 to Sunday, August 30. The press opening night is Thursday, August 6 at 8 pm. This Calgary engagement is currently one of eight productions running worldwide along with New York, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Paris, Fukuoka and Las Vegas.

Directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with 22-time Grammy Award-winning Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics, SPIDER-MAN will be written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. Bono reveals to Irish Central how he came up with the title 'Turn off the Dark.'

In an interview with Fox News film actress and 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' star Evan Rachel Wood admitted she would totally go for 'Idol' runner-up Adam Lambert.

The National Touring Company of Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC will be led by Rod Gilfry (Emile de Becque) and Carmen Cusack (Nellie Forbush), with Anderson Davis (Lt. Cable), Matthew Saldivar (Luther Billis), Keala Settle (Bloody Mary), Gerry Becker (Capt. Brackett), Peter Rini (Cmdr. Harbison), Sumie Maeda (Liat), Rusty Ross (Professor) and original 2008 Broadway cast member Genson Blimline (Stewpot).

Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, SPIDER-MAN spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen.

Tickets will go on sale this Sunday, July 19, 2009 for the first-ever Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. Direct from a smash hit engagement in Los Angeles, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles and directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, OLEANNA is a gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor and one of his female students.

Tickets will go on sale this Sunday, July 19, 2009 for the first-ever Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. Direct from a smash hit engagement in Los Angeles, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles and directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, OLEANNA is a gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor and one of his female students.

Casting has been announced for the Calgary engagement of Disney's THE LION KING. Calgary's most eagerly awaited stage production ever will leap onto the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium stage from Tuesday August 4 to Sunday, August 30. The press opening night is Thursday, August 6 at 8 pm. This Calgary engagement is currently one of eight productions running worldwide along with New York, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Paris, Fukuoka and Las Vegas.

Disney's THE LION KING set new box office records during the five-week return engagement, ending June 28, at the Community Center Theater in Sacramento, entertaining sold-out audiences of more than 88,000 people.

Disney's THE LION KING has been confirmed for a multiple-week limited return engagement at the SAN DIEGO CIVIC THEATRE beginning OCTOBER 13 and playing through NOVEMBER 8, 2009. This North American National Tour is currently one of seven productions running worldwide along with New York, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Paris, and Fukuoka. Opening night in San Diego is Thursday, October 15; with preview performances starting Tuesday, October 13, 2009.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recent all-new critically acclaimed production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME, based on the E.L. Doctorow novel featuring direction and choreography by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, will open on Broadway this fall.

Producer Jeffrey Finn announced today that OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet, will have its first-ever Broadway production as part of the 2009-2010 Broadway Season. Starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles and directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, the play is a gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor and one of his female students.

Daniel Ezralow will choreograph the Italian version of the musical 'Cats' and will also join Saverio Marconi as the director of the show produced by Compagnia della Rancia.

It's a boy for Kelli O'Hara, three-time Tony nominee who is currently on maternity leave from Lincoln Center Theater's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific. On Saturday (June 27) Kelli and her husband, Greg Naughton, welcomed Owen James weighing in at 7 lbs 3 ounces. He is the couple's first child.

Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming will star in SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark on Broadway, with music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge, written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger and directed by Julie Taymor.

The upcoming Broadway musical 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' begins an American Express pre-sale today June 24th.

Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Terrence McNally's RAGTIME, which was a critically acclaimed sell out at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. now looks set to bring it's 'new music' to Broadway. While there is no official word or comment an Equity casting notice has been posted to Backstage for a Broadway/Production contract for RAGTIME. The notice states rehearsal and performance dates are to be announced. Equity principal auditions will be held June 22, 24 and 25 while Equity chorus calls are June 26 for dancers and June 23 for singers.

Upcoming Broadway musical 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' has begin a 'pre-pre-sale' for tickets. The show has announced that pre-sale code 'SPIDEY' can be used at Ticketmaster ahead of the American Express pre-sale, which begins June 24. While the code allows you to purchase tickets prior to the pre-sale, you must still purchase the tickets with an AmEx card. Tickets may be purchased with the code through June 23.