Douglas Sills News

Theatrical agent JIM WILHELM passed away early Monday morning, April 24th, 2023 in New York City at the age of 68 after a short, quiet fight with cancer.

Next up at L.A. Theatre Works, The Confession of Henry Jekyll, M.D., David Rambo’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic horror novel, “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” playing April 14th through April 16th. Anna Lyse Erikson directs Seamus Dever in the titular role. David managed to squeeze out some time between his many, many producing/ writing gigs to answer a few of my queries.

45 years ago, on February 19, 1978, On the Twentieth Century opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre. Watch videos of the original and revival casts!

Max offers a collection of content curated from across WarnerMedia's catalog and a roster of new Max Originals, plus acquired franchises and films. Among those include an impressive lineup of muscials, plays, and films that theater lovers will enjoy. From Grease to In the Heights to Cats, check out what Broadway lovers can stream on Max now!

Playwright and lyricist Joe DiPietro (Memphis, Nice Work If You Can Get It) sat down with Patrick Oliver Jones, for this week's episode of Why I'll Never Make It, to talk about his long history with theatrical children's charity Only Make Believe as well as a couple of his shows that struggled coming to and surviving on Broadway. Listen here!

The cast of The Gilded Age, starring Cynthia Nixon, Denee Benton, and more, appeared at PaleyFest this weekend. BroadwayWorld was there and snapped some photos of the cast on the red carpet. Check them out here!

Just recently, Jennifer Simard celebrated receiving a coveted portrait at Sardi's. During the unveiling, Simard was surrounded by her friends, including her castmates from Company.

Today's top stories include all new photos of this year's Tony Nominees! Plus, The Music Man has announced a standing room policy, check out rehearsal photos from Broadway-bound 1776, and more!

The series stars Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Debra Monk, Kristine Nielsen, Taylor Richardson, Douglas Sills, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Michael Cerveris, Erin Wilhelmi, Kelli O'Hara, Donna Murphy, Patrick Page, Laura Benannte, Audra McDonald, Robert Sean Leonard, and more.

Laura Benanti and Robert Sean Leonard have joined the second season of The Gilded Age as recurring characters. Newly-confirmed guest stars include Dakin Mathews (Waitress), Christopher Denham (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), David Furr (Burn This), Matilda Lawler (The Ferryman), Michael Braugher (To Kill a Mockingbird), and more.

Kelli O’Hara, Donna Murphy, Debra Monk, Kristine Nielsen, Taylor Richardson, Ben Ahlers, Kelley Curran, Douglas Sills, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Michael Cerveris, Erin Wilhelmi, Patrick Page, and Sullivan Jones will appear in the second season as regulars. Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Denee Benton, and more will also appear in the new season.

Stars in the House for Ukraine, an 11+ Hour telethon of the weekly streaming show, raised $139,000 for the International Rescue Committee's humanitarian efforts for those affected by the war in Ukraine. That total is inclusive of a generous matching donation by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which matched the first $50,000 worth of donations.

The original title of the Sondheim-Laurents ANYONE CAN WHISTLE was THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS, though the crowd at Carnegie Hall on Thursday for the MasterVoices concert performance of the trouble musical were hardly fidgety. They were willing and able to sit through the cockamamie book and story Arthur Laurents concocted to hear the wonderful score by the late and very lamented Stephen Sondheim. And, believe me, Ted Sperling, leading the orchestra and big chorus, with a couple of strong guest performers, showed how good much of this score can be.

If Anyone Can Whistle must be a concert, please, let it be a concert like this. MasterVoices, an organization dedicated to elevating choral works, brought the show to Carnegie Hall for a one-night engagement. They masterfully adapted the show as a scaled-down concert version, dropping any bells and whistles.

The performance starred Vanessa Williams in the role of a corrupt mayor of a small economically depressed American town. Joining her were Elizabeth Stanley, Tony Award winner Santino Fontana, Douglas Sills, Eddie Cooper, and Michael Mulheren. The show was narrated by Joanna Gleason. It was directed and conducted by MasterVoices Artistic Director Ted Sperling.

Tonight, March 10, 2022, the concert production of MasterVoices' performance of Anyone Can Whistle, takes the stage at ​​​​​​​ Carnegie Hall. The performance will star Vanessa Williams, who performed in the 2002 Broadway revival of Sondheim's Into the Woods and the 2010 revue Sondheim on Sondheim, in the role of a corrupt mayor of a small economically depressed American town.

BroadwayWorld has learned that Joanna Gleason will join the cast of the concert production of Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall, taking place  on Thursday, March 10.

From March 12-13 Christine Andreas will be presenting her woman show, PIAF - No Regrets at Kravis Center.

Through her performances in The King and I, Kiss Me, Kate, South Pacific, and more, Kelli O'Hara is no stranger to slipping into a different era in history. BroadwayWorld caught up with O'Hara to discuss her role in the new series, how she researched The Gilded Age, working with the all-star theatre cast, and more.

The nine-episode drama series stars an extensive list of Broadway names, including Carrie Coon, Denée Benton, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Baranski, Michael Cerveris, Claybourne Elder, Linda Emond, Katie Finneran, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, Kristine Nielsen, Kelli O’Hara, and more.