English Bernhardt News

In 2016 and 2017, I had the great pleasure of attending the Triangle Rising Star Awards at the Durham Performing Arts Center. In 2018 and 2019, I wasn't able to do so due to other commitments I had when they were being held. Last year, the 10th annual show was set to take place on May 28th with former American Idol runner-up, Broadway alum, and Raleigh native Clay Aiken serving as guest host. However, the COVID-19 pandemic (which took full swing in March of 2020) ended up forcing DPAC to suspend performances until further notice. Though this year, the Triangle Rising Star Awards have returned (albeit, virtually), and I was able to tune in from the comfort of my home.

Working on a new song? Want to perfect your audition for an upcoming show? Want to learn from some of Broadway's best? BroadwayWorld's Stage Door is here to help! 

Today's top stories: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella comes to Disney+, Andrew Lloyd Webber calls on the UK government to trial a 'game-changing' chemical that could allow theatres to reopen, and more!

It might be a while before you visit your next stage door, but that doesn't mean you can't connect with your favorite Broadway stars in 2021. New to the Stage Door family this week are Michael James Scott, Krista Rodriguez, Nikki Snelson, Courtney Mack, and English Bernhardt!

Stars from Broadway and the National Tour of Mean Girls are available for video shoutouts now on Stage Door!

On June 8th, North Carolina Theatre announced that based on recommendations from the City of Raleigh and given the circumstances surrounding the current health pandemic, they ended up canceling the remainder of their 2019-20 Season, which includes productions of Memphis, The Sound of Music, and Edges.

Anyone with connections to any form of Pop Culture within the last two decades is sure to have come into contact with the 2004 smash-hit Mean Girls the film of the same name, which was written by Tina Fey and Mark Waters. From the moment Queen-Bee Regina George portrayed in the film by Rachel McAdams terrorized North Shore High and victimized not only girls but boys alike Mean Girls earned its Cult-worthy status. With quotable lines such as, a?oeThat's so Fetch..a?? and a?oeOn Wednesdays We Wear Pinka??a?? and moments like Jingle Bell Rock, Tina Fey, and cast produced a Comedy-Hit that is still relevant two decades later. Now a full year and a half later Mean Girls which is still in residence at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City where the Broadway Cast has been continuously blowing the roof off of North Shore High since August of 2018, audiences all across the U.S. get to experience this relevant and outstanding cultural phenomenon.

The MEAN GIRLS National Tour is trying to make fetch happen at DPAC this week. If you like high school drama, big flashy vocals, and lots of pink costumes, then it's the perfect show for you. Everyone probably knows of the 2004 comedy film a?oeMean Girls,a?? written by Tina Fey, that starred Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams, and Amanda Seyfried. It absolutely took over pop culture and is still considered one of the most quotable movies today.

Direct from the Mean Girls National Tour, Mariah Rose Faith, Jonalyn Saxer, and Megan Masako Haley get In Too Deep with T.J. Pieffer as they contemplate Sondheim, Luigi, and Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza. Check out the video here!

Mean Girls a?" the record-breaking new musical comedy produced by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman, and Paramount Pictures based on the hit film a?" opens on the Kimmel Center Cultural Campus at the Academy of Music on Tuesday, November 19, running through December 1. The Mean Girls First National Tour features Philadelphia native, Mary Kate Morrissey.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at The Mean Girls National Tour which launched on September 21 in Buffalo, NY. Mean Girls features a book by nine-time Emmy Award winner Tina Fey, based on her screenplay for the film, music by three-time Emmy Award winner Jeff Richmond; and lyrics by two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin. Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs.

Mean Girls is ready to do this thing on tour! The Mean Girls tour just opened in Buffalo, New York and reviews are coming in! See what critics had to say about the tour.

Check out photos from Mean Girls on Tour's preview!

Okay we know fetch is never going to happen but the Mean Girls tour is! We stopped by rehearsals to chat with the cast as they head into the high school jungle.

Mean Girls is getting ready to launch their First National Tour September 21 in Buffalo, NY. We've got a sneak peek into the rehearsal room with the mega-talented team!

Mean Girls, the record-breaking new musical comedy produced by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman, and Paramount Pictures based on the hit film, is pleased to announce full casting for the First National Tour. The Mean Girls National Tour launches on September 21 in Buffalo, NY. Click here for the full tour route.

Royal Family Productions will present a special invite-only reading of the musical Rock and Roll Refugee. Written by Chris Henry and Genya Ravan, directed by JoAnn Hunter with musical direction by Daniel A. Weiss, the readings will take place March 14-16 at Royal Family Performing Art Space (145 West 46th street). For more information please email jessica@royalfamilyproductions.org.

Casa Mañana continues celebrating its 60th anniversary season, presented by Frank Kent Cadillac, with the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal. The show runs November 3-11. Tickets are on sale now.

PIPPIN is the story of a young prince trying to find the meaning of life. Pippin's struggle to find out where he fits into the world is not unlike the 38 middle school and high school students performing in North Carolina Theatre Conservatory's production, which opens July 6th at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater in Downtown Raleigh. The students are part of the conservatory's Master Summer Theatre Arts School (STAS), one of the flagship pre-professional training programs of North Carolina Theatre. 'Pippin never finds anything fulfilling until he finally realizes he never had to go anyplace further than his own backyard to find what he was looking for,' says Director Tito Hernandez, who has been teaching at the conservatory for 18 years. 'It has a closure at the end and the message that you can search all over you want, but the happiness has to be within.' Hernandez first saw PIPPIN after it opened on Broadway in 1972, under the direction of Bob Fosse. But he says, this production is closer to the 2013 Tony Award-winning revival, including the circus choreography, acrobatics, and extended ending. And Hernandez, a dance veteran himself having made his Broadway debut in JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY, is no stranger to Fosse's artistry. In fact, he participated in a tribute event to Fosse before the legendary choreographer passed away and had the opportunity to meet him, work with his associates, and perform his choreography. PIPPIN runs July 6-8 at A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater at The Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.