Hal Prince News

Tony Award-winning actors Christian Borle (Peter and the Starcatcher, Spamalot) and Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, Elf), Tony nominee Annaleigh Ashford (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde), and Broadway stars Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show], The Little Mermaid) and Derek Klena (Wicked, Dogfight) are all scheduled to take part in the developmental reading. Dog and Pony will receive its World Premiere at The Old Globe next spring, running May 28 - June 29, 2014; casting for that production will be announced at a later time.

Nancy Rhodes, Artistic Director of Encompass New Opera Theatre, and and Honorary Chairs Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim and Maury Yeston honored legendary lyricist, librettist and composer Sheldon Harnick last night, October 28. Starring in the Musical Salute were Kennedy Center Award Honoree/Tony Award winner Barbara Cook, four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, record setting multi-Tony Award winner Harold Prince, beloved TV and Stage Icon Charlotte Rae, multiple Academy, Grammy, Drama Desk Award winner Stephen Schwartz, Academy and Grammy Award winner David Shire and nine time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune among others. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the event below!

EVITA has returned to L.A. by way of Hollywood Pantages for a limited three week engagement, now through November 10, 2013. Directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winner Michael Grandage and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford, this national touring production comes directly from the first new Broadway revival of the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical, since it debuted on Broadway over 30 years ago. Below, BroadwayWorld has photos from the the opening night red carpet!

EVITA will return to L.A. by way of Hollywood Pantages for a limited three week engagement, now through November 10, 2013. Directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winner Michael Grandage and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford, this national touring production comes directly from the first new Broadway revival of the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical, since it debuted on Broadway over 30 years ago. BroadwayWorld has photos of the starry opening night arrivals below!

Producers Hal Luftig, Scott Sanders, Troika Entertainment & The Nederlander Organization have announced that EVITA will return to L.A. by way of Hollywood Pantages for a limited three week engagement; October 23 - November 10, 2013.

Music Theatre of Connecticut MainStage, Fairfield County's award-winning professional theatre company, kicks off their 2013/2014 Season with the Tony Award winning play 'Master Class', by Terrance McNally. Performances are November 1-17, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees Saturdays at 4pm and Sundays at 2pm, at MTC MainStage Studio Theatre, 246 Post Road East (Colonial Green/Lower Level) in downtown Westport, CT. Tickets range from $25-$45 ($5 discount for seniors/students) and are available by calling 203.454.3883 or visiting www.musictheatreofct.com

Producers Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo announced today that Bronx Bombers, a new American play written and directed by Eric Simonson, will begin performances on Broadway starting January 10, 2014 at Circle in the Square Theater (235 West 50th Street). The official opening is February 6, 2014. Tickets are now on sale at the box office and Telecharge.com.

CABRILLO MUSIC THEATRE welcomes Davis Gaines (Southern California's Longest-running PHANTOM) and Victoria Strong in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza premiere of Cole Porter's most raucous, sexy, and best loved musical ever, KISS ME, KATE! Cabrillo Music Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season kicks off with the popular favorite tonight, October 18th, 2013, playing until Sunday, October 27th, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

Asolo Repertory Theatre will open its 2013-2014 season with SHOW BOAT, based on the novel by Edna Ferber, music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. This winner of the 1994 Tony Award for best revival features a score of timeless classics, including 'Ol' Man River, 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man' and 'Make Believe.' Previews will be held November 12 - 14 and the show will run from November 15 - December 29. Opening night will be held on Friday, November 15 at 8pm.

THE UNTOLD STORIES OF BROADWAY: Tales from the World's Most Famous Theaters, Volume 1 (Dress Circle Publishing. 350 pages, $19.99) by author and musical theater historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper is the first book to recount the backstage drama of Broadway's greatest shows at eight iconic theaters. Using firsthand accounts from some of the biggest names in Broadway history, the book provides a look behind the curtains of the Al Hirschfield, August Wilson, Lyceum, Mark Hellinger, Marquis, Neil Simon, Richard Rodgers, and Winter Garden Theaters.

Since late August, I have been leading the production team of Merrick Theater and Center for the Arts main stage production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF- and it's been full of drama (on the stage that is - yuck yuck). The theater's management (Joe, Tony, Joanne and Ben) are all cool cats, each with their own personalities but all with the same expectation: that my team and I create a wonderful production of Hal Prince's classic . And boy, do I have the team to make it happen!

Just last week, Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group announced the casting and initial tour schedule for their spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera launching a major North American Tour in Providence, R.I. at the Providence Performing Arts Center. With newly reinvented staging and stunning scenic design, this new version of PHANTOM, the most successful musical of all-time, will be performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this one of the largest productions on tour in North America. Meet the cast below!

SIGNS OF LIFE enters its final two weeks at the Zacek McVay Theater at the Biograph (2433 N Lincoln Ave), playing through October 27, 2013.

Pieter Toerien presents Andrew Lloyd Webber's magnificent musical SUNSET BOULEVARD at Theatre on the Bay as part of the theatre's 25th anniversary celebrations this year. Toerien, a legendary local producer, established this intimate stage as a home to world class entertainment for drama, comedy, dance, musicals and cabarets. The 264 seater venue serves as a platform for magic, captivating an audience of all ages time and again.

Internationally celebrated composer Andrew Lloyd Webber joined iconic West End stage star Elaine Paige for her BBC Radio 2 show Elaine Paige ON SUNDAY this week and touched upon a wide range of topics, including his thoughts on bringing his PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel, LOVE NEVER DIES, to the US.

The international touring cast of WEST SIDE STORY put together a fun lip-sync video to Icona Pop's summer anthem 'I Love It'. Watch them party it up below!

Nathan Lane, Harold Prince, Angela Lansbury, Laura Osnes, Harriet Harris, Kate Burton, Kristine Nielsen, Alfred Uhry will salute actress Dana Ivey and arts patron Barbara Fleischman at The Acting Company's Gala on Monday, October 21 at Capitale. Ms. Ivey will receive the John Houseman Award recognizing her profound commitment to the development of American actors and a national audience for the theater. Ms. Fleischman will be presented the Warburg Humanitarian Award for her outstanding philanthropic endeavor and support of the arts. Harriet Harris (Cinderella) and Barclay Collins are Gala Chairs, Nathan Lane (The Nance) and Hal Prince (21 Tony Award winner) will present the awards; Stephen DeRosa (Boardwalk Empire) will host, Laura Osnes (Cinderella) will perform. Tributes will be offered by a host of celebrities. Three hundred guests complete an industry-filled audience of producers, directors, entertainers and other notables including TheHonorable Thomas Kean, record producer Clive Davis, playwrights Alfred Uhry and Elizabeth Egloff, actresses Angela Lansbury (upcoming in London's Blithe Spirit), Debra Monk (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Kate Burton (Scandal), Kristine Nielsen(Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) and Patricia Conolly, directors Nicholas Martin (Vanya and Sonia and Masha an Spike),Jack O'Brien (Macbeth), Mark Lamos (Harbor) and Walter Bobbie (Venus in Fur) and producers Jack Viertel, James Houghtonand Edgar Lansbury.

Oscar and three-time Tony Award-winner Tony Walton will receive the Mike and Dianne Bowman Lifetime Achievement award at Texas State University this fall and will hold the title of Artist-in-Residence for the 2013-2014 season, as part of the Bowman Guest Artist Series.

Today we celebrate a master of the modern musical in honor of this week's start of previews for his newest theatrical venture, THE LANDING, as well as first news on a major NYC bow for his long-gestating project THE VISIT, to say nothing of the longest-running American musical in history going strong on Broadway (CHICAGO) and a hotly anticipated revival of CABARET on the way in 2014 - the one and only John Kander.

CABRILLO MUSIC THEATRE announces its full cast to join the previously announced Davis Gaines (Southern California's Longest-running PHANTOM) and Victoria Strong in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza premiere of Cole Porter's most raucous, sexy, and best loved musical ever, KISS ME, KATE! Cabrillo Music Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season kicks off with the popular favorite on Friday, October 18th, 2013, playing until Sunday, October 27th, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.