Francesca Zambello News

Washington National Opera, under the leadership of General Director Plácido Domingo, opens its monumental production of Siegfried, running for five performances, May 2 to 17 at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Disney Theatrical Productions will welcome Tony Award? winner FAITH PRINCE to the Broadway company of THE LITTLE MERMAID beginning Tuesday, April 7, 2009 (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th Street, NYC). Prince will star as 'Ursula,' the evil sea witch.

The Tony Award®-winning Old Globe is pleased to announce the cast of its 2009 Summer Shakespeare Festival, featuring two works by Shakespeare, Twelfth Night and Coriolanus, along with Edmond Rostand's celebrated classic, Cyrano de Bergerac. The three productions will be performed in nightly rotation in the Globe's outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre June 13 - September 27, 2009.

THE OLD GLOBE announces calendar for May - August, 2009 Cornelia, By Mark Olsen Directed by Ethan McSweeny May 16 - June 21

ASU Gammage announced the 2009-2010 Broadway Across America - Arizona season. The seven show series includes the 2008 Tony? Award winner for Best Musical IN THE HEIGHTS, Best Play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY and the family hit MARY POPPINS. The full series includes: LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL - September 22 - 27, 2009

Washington National Opera, under the leadership of General Director Placido Domingo, opens its monumental production of Siegfried, running for five performances, May 2 to 17 at the Kennedy Center Opera House. In this new production, a company premiere conducted by Michael Gittler, acclaimed director Francesca Zambello sets Wagner's tale within the context of the American experience.

ASU Gammage announced the 2009-2010 Broadway Across America - Arizona season. The seven show series includes the 2008 Tony? Award winner for Best Musical IN THE HEIGHTS, Best Play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY and the family hit MARY POPPINS. The full series includes: LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL - September 22 - 27, 2009

Theatre Under The Stars' (TUTS) President and CEO John C. Breckenridge announces TUTS' 2009-2010 Season: The One That You Want! September 2009 to May 2010 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. 'The quality and beauty of this lineup is something TUTS is very excited about,' said Breckenridge. 'This is the type of season that exemplifies the soul of TUTS. The incomparable energy of Grease, beauty of South Pacific, the over-the-top production quality of Miss Saigon, and the quintessential nostalgia of The Sound of Music are all at the heart of why theatre is so emotionally impactful.' In its 2009-2010 Season, TUTS combines powerful Broadway classics with innovative new creations and revivals.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will launch a national tour in October at The Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, following a five-week engagement beginning September 10 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing ?Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series 'Little House on the Prairie' during the 1970's, now continues her legacy ?on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura.

BroadwayWorld's James Sims and Eddie Varley caught up with Heidi Blickenstaff, Tyler Maynard and Eric LaJuan Summers upstairs at Disney's New Amsterdam Theatre to get the backstory on their taking on such memorable villains in The Little Mermaid...

Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director of Signature Theatre, today announced casting for the world premiere production of the musical Giant by composer Michael John LaChiusa and playwright Sybille Pearson.

Tony? Award winners Kathleen Marshall (Pajama Game, Wonderful Town) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), and Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) have joined the panel of Jurors for The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) for the 2009 Next Link Project along with lyricist Susan Birkenhead, composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown, producer Robyn Goodman, and director Francesca Zambello.

The new musical version of 'Little House on the Prairie' will launch a National Tour in St. Paul this fall, The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced Monday that 'Little House' will kick off its 2009-10 theater season.

Disney Theatrical Productions will welcome Tony Award? winner FAITH PRINCE to the Broadway company of THE LITTLE MERMAID beginning Tuesday, April 7, 2009 (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th Street, NYC). Prince will star as 'Ursula,' the evil sea witch.

Broadway favorite and [title of show] star Heidi Blickenstaff is 'Ursula' in the Disney musical THE LITTLE MERMAID on Broadway. The talented and 'very sweet' Blickenstaff assumed the 'very sassy and sinister' role on January 27, 2009.

Come hang out with the NYMF gang on Wednesday evening, January 28! Get all of your burning Next Link Project and Festival Submissions questions answered and also learn about other ways you can get involved with NYMF. A meet and greet to answer any questions from those interested in applying will be held Wednesday, January 28, 6-8pm at the Irish Rogue (356 West 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues. NYMF staff members will be on hand to answer questions about the Next Link Project submissions process and chat about other ways to get involved with the Festival. A cash bar with drink specials will be available, including $3 Domestic Bottles & Drafts and $4 Martinis & Cosmos. Drop by after work and say hi! The New York Musical Theater Festival is currently accepting open submissions for its Next Link Project for the sixth annual festival taking place September 28 - October 18, 2009. Any work that has not been produced professionally in New York City may be submitted by authors with or without industry representation, but scripts should be ready for developmental production and the widespread exposure NYMF provides. All entries undergo double-blind evaluations by several members of NYMF's reading team, with finalists referred to a grand jury of celebrated industry professionals. Previous jury members have included such Tony winning talents as Victoria Clark, Raul Esparza, Robyn Goodman, Margo Lion, Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Kathleen Marshall, Kevin McCollum, Tom Meehan, Phylicia Rashad and BD Wong.

An all-star cast of Ana Gasteyer (Wicked, 'Saturday Night Live'), Carolee Carmello (Mamma, Mia!, Parade), Tony? Award-winner Adriane Lenox (Doubt, Caroline, Or Change), Brad Oscar (The Producers, Jekyll & Hyde), Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King, Ragtime), John Dossett (The Constant Wife, Gypsy), Sam Harris (The Producers, The Life) and Sara Chase (Godspell at Paper Mill Playhouse) will star in a reading of the eagerly anticipated Broadway-bound musical FIRST WIVES CLUB this Monday, February 2 in New York City. FIRST WIVES CLUB will have its premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego July 15 through August 23, 2009. The cast for the fully staged production will be announced soon. FIRST WIVES CLUB marks the once-in-a-lifetime reunion of the famous Motown songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland), who created such monumental hits as 'Where Did Our Love Go?,' 'Baby Love' and 'Stop! In The Name of Love' for The Supremes and 'How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved By You)' for Marvin Gaye. These chart-topping legends, who had more airplay than the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis combined, have reunited for this one production.

[title of show] star Heidi Blickenstaff replaces Sheri Rene Scott as 'Ursula' in the Disney musical THE LITTLE MERMAID on Broadway.

Recording and stage star Sam Harris has revealed via his 'vlog' that he has joined the workshop for the upcoming musical version of the hit film THE FIRST WIVES CLUB. he'll be playing a new character not found in the movie, he begins rehearsals this week in NYC for the reading. He also hinted that after the Old Globe run of the musical the production team was aiming for an October 2009 bow on Broadway. Sam Harris first shot into the public eye as the 'Star Search' icon and has found success as a Tony-nominated Broadway star for THE LIFE and also as an acclaimed replacement in THE PRODUCERS, a multi-million selling recording artist, a concert touring sell-out in venues all over the country including Carnegie Hall and on television in last years CBS series, 'The Class,' where he was touted by Liz Smith as 'the comedy breakout character of the television season.' Based on the best-selling novel and Hollywood blockbuster of the same name, FIRST WIVES CLUB features music & lyrics by the famous songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland and a book by Tony winner Rupert Holmes (Curtains!, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Say Goodnight Gracie). The production will be directed by award winning opera and theatrical director Francesca Zambello (The Little Mermaid for Disney on Broadway, Little House on the Prairie for the Guthrie Theatre, Rebecca at the Vienna Raimund Theatre and Porgy and Bess and the Wagner Ring Cycle at the San Francisco Opera). The popular 1996 Paramount film The First Wives Club - about three divorced women who seek revenge on their former husbands - was based on Olivia Goldsmith's novel and featured a screenplay by Robert Harling. The motion picture grossed over $130 million and boasted a star-studded cast comprising Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton.

Come hang out with the NYMF gang on Wednesday evening, January 28! Get all of your burning Next Link Project and Festival Submissions questions answered and also learn about other ways you can get involved with NYMF. A meet and greet to answer any questions from those interested in applying will be held Wednesday, January 28, 6-8pm at the Irish Rogue (356 West 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues. NYMF staff members will be on hand to answer questions about the Next Link Project submissions process and chat about other ways to get involved with the Festival. A cash bar with drink specials will be available, including $3 Domestic Bottles & Drafts and $4 Martinis & Cosmos. Drop by after work and say hi! The New York Musical Theater Festival is currently accepting open submissions for its Next Link Project for the sixth annual festival taking place September 28 - October 18, 2009. Any work that has not been produced professionally in New York City may be submitted by authors with or without industry representation, but scripts should be ready for developmental production and the widespread exposure NYMF provides. All entries undergo double-blind evaluations by several members of NYMF's reading team, with finalists referred to a grand jury of celebrated industry professionals. Previous jury members have included such Tony winning talents as Victoria Clark, Raul Esparza, Robyn Goodman, Margo Lion, Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Kathleen Marshall, Kevin McCollum, Tom Meehan, Phylicia Rashad and BD Wong.