Hal Prince News

Bay Area Cabaret continues its 2011-2012 season on October 22, 2011 with renowned veteran of stage, screen and film, Tony-nominated actor/singer Peter Gallagher in the West Coast premiere of his critically acclaimed cabaret show SONGS AND STORIES.

In its continuing series Dark Nights, The New Group welcomes filmmaker Todd Solondz in conversation with playwright Thomas Bradshaw.

Dancap Productions announced their 2012 Season in style Monday morning, with Harold Prince as a surprise guest to discuss 'Prince of Broadway' the new musical being developed about his life and career. 'Prince' will premiere next summer as part of Dancap's 2012 Season. Also announced as part of the new season were American Idiot, Million Dollar Quartet, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, West Side Story and A Christmas Story. BWW was on hand to bring you photos of the event.

The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. announced today that in celebration of the Statue of Liberty's upcoming 125th Anniversary on October 28th, Macy's has committed the proceeds from the sale of its newly recorded song 'Gift of Light' to benefit the Foundation's non-profit mission for projects at Liberty and Ellis Islands, working in partnership with the National Park Service.

According to the Toronto Star, Toronto's Dancap Productions has just announced the line-up for 2012. Included in the upcoming season are In the Heights (February 7-19), Shrek the Musical (March 20-April 1), West Side Story (May 8-June 3), Beauty and the Beast (July 3-22), Million Dollar Quartet (July 20-29), and Prince of Broadway (August 2012)

PRINCE OF BROADWAY, a new musical celebrating legendary Broadway director and producer Harold 'Hal' Prince, is in development now, aiming for a Toronto production in the summer of 2012, prior to opening on Broadway that fall. According to the Toronto Star, the production will feature a wide variety of material, including music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim..

Beyond the Music, a new musical with original book and direction by Tony Award winner Andy Sandberg (Hair; The Last Smoker in America) and a fresh and exhilarating pop-rock score by multiple Emmy Award-winner Cliff Downs and Katie Kahanovitz, will have invitation-only readings in New York on October 17 and 18th, 2011.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series will present theater veterans Maureen Brennan and George Dvorsky in 'We're Still Here' on Monday, October 17 at 7pm.

Click below to watchMusic of the Night by Colm Wilkinson, Anthony Warlow, John Owen-Jones, Peter Loback, Ramin Karimloo and the Ensemble sing an encore of 'Music of the Night' at the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 25th Anniversary performance.

The national touring production of MEMPHIS, the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, will kick off on October 16, 2011 at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN (203 South Main Street) where it will play through October 23.

Bright, sunny, clarion-voiced leading lady Liz Callaway is not only known for her roles in the Broadway productions of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, BABY, CATS, MISS SAIGON and THE LOOK OF LOVE, but also for her string of highly-successful studio albums - among them, the sensational 60s ode THE BEAT GOES ON and the musical theatre-centric THE STORY GOES ON, in addition to last year's superlative PASSAGE OF TIME - and, she is also well-loved for stunning live stage double-bills with her sister, Ann Hampton Callaway - represented on record by SIBLING RIVALRY and, now, the new live album and show all about baby boomers and their sensational music, titled BOOM! In this all-encompassing conversation, Callaway and I parse her predilection for certain composers - Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, Stephen Sondheim and many more included - as well as her memories of working with some of the most important musical theatre creators of the twentieth century over the course of her thirty-year career, such as legendary director Hal Prince and Sondheim himself on projects diverse as MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, A STEPHEN SONDHEIM EVENING and FOLLIES: IN CONCERT. Plus, we also talk about Callaway's various musical influences, her childhood, her first Broadway show and first Broadway onstage experience, revisiting MERRILY twenty years later with the entire original cast, live versus studio performing, as well as what's coming up next for her in the coming months and new year - including the Christmas stage spectacular, YULETIDE - and more!

I just broke one of my self-imposed rules: Never watch a movie alone again in the United States, more so in New York City. But, who could possibly let go of the opportunity to join the audience (although virtually) at Royal Albert Hall during Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 25th anniversary presentation of their longest-running musical together, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA?

Today, in an extension of the FLASH FRIDAY column, we are sharpening our focus on the six upcoming revivals of musicals that are soon to hit the boards in the next few months (post-FOLLIES) and battle it out for the Best Revival as the Broadway season heats up just when the weather begins to cool: the classic Jule Styne/Bob Merrill musical that originally starred that star-of-stars, Barbra Streisand - FUNNY GIRL; the groundbreaking rock opera that rewrote the theatrical rulebook thanks to young creators Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR; the hippie, flower child take on the Christ story covering some similar Biblical ground to that of SUPERSTAR, with this one being the composing debut of WICKED songwriter Stephen Schwartz - GODSPELL; another Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice collaboration that won seven Tony Awards and acted as the vehicle for Patti LuPone's blazing Broadway debut in a starring role - EVITA; the significantly reworked, revised and rewritten new version of the beautifully scored time-travel musical by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, this time starring a male movie star crooner - ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER; and, the landmark American opera composed by the Gershwins with DuBose Haywerd - PORGY & BESS. While each and every one of these entities has a huge hit song or two that nearly everyone on the planet knows by heart - "Don't Rain On My Parade", "I Don't Know How To Love Him", "Day By Day", "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", "On A Clear Day…" and 'Summertime' included - each of these revivals also comes after a film version (or two) that, in more than a few of these cases, will be relatively difficult to top as far as expectations of many audience members undoubtedly will go. So, by taking a listen to the smash hit crossover songs from these musicals as well as looking at their respective film version's trailers - as well as a couple of surprises, too - perhaps we can glean some insight into what makes these generally pretty terrific properties so well worth reviving on Broadway, here, now, today, in 2011. Furthermore, all of this crystal ball commentary is not even taking into account the starry assortment of performers that have already been announced for these productions so far - especially with FUNNY GIRL's Lauren Ambrose and Bobby Cannavale, GODSPELL's Hunter Parrish, SUPERSTAR's lauded Josh Young, EVITA's Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris, PORGY's Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald, as well as the leading man in what was once a leading lady's role (that of Barbara Harris) in ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, Harry Connick, Jr.! What a tight race it is turning out to be for these new productions, particularly come Tony time in June! With rock to rhumba and borscht belt comedy to messianic hosannas and even full-out opera, seemingly every conceivable customer base is more than covered by this packed, potentially, well, awesome, season of shows - and many Broadway babies around BroadwayWorld are undoubtedly looking most forward to these six forthcoming revivals - with particularly good reason given the relative dearth of new musicals announced so far. So, let these revivals revive your flagging spirits as we leap into the 2011-2012 season with this comprehensive prospective and retrospective all about what makes them work so well in the first place and so worthy of another look!

Landor's RAGTIME - THE MUSICAL Ends Run Tonight, 10/8

United International Pictures, through Solar Entertainment Corporation, will release the film format of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh's 25th anniversary production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Royal Albert Hall in selected digital cinemas starting Wednesday, October 12.

This past weekend, Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL Albert Hall celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Check out video from the celebration below including composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, producer Cameron Mackintosh and choreographer Gillian Lynne; Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, who played The Phantom and Christine in the 25th Anniversary production; and special guests Colm Wilkinson and John Owen-Jones!

Beyond the Music, a new musical with original book and direction by Tony Award winner Andy Sandberg (Hair; The Last Smoker in America) and a fresh and exhilarating pop-rock score by multiple Emmy Award-winner Cliff Downs and Katie Kahanovitz, will have invitation-only readings in New York on October 17 and 18th, 2011.

Presented by NCM Fathom and Omniverse Vision, a fully staged THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL event is being broadcast to select theaters for an exclusive four-night run beginning with the LIVE broadcast on Sunday, October 2 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT; followed by pre-recorded broadcasts on Wednesday, October 5; Thursday, October 6 and one final encore on Tuesday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. local time. The first box office numbers are in and, according to the UK Film Council, The Phantom of the Opera screenings took in £550,955 over the weekend alone. Final tallies for the addition screenings should be in by the end of the week.

Last night, October 3, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), just honored acclaimed director George C. Wolfe with the 2011 'Mr. Abbott' Award for his incredible breadth and depth of work in the American Theatre. Broadway Beat was on hand for the event and takes you inside the ceremony below!

This past weekend, Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL Albert Hall celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Check out photos from the celebration below!