Hunter Parris News

The show that introduced America to a pot-dealing soccer mom and changed the face of the network is sparking up its final toke: after eight unforgettable, jaw-dropping seasons, WEEDS is coming to an end. SHOWTIME will air the final 13 episodes beginning Sunday, July 1st at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. In addition, the series will achieve a much-coveted television milestone: the 11th episode of the season will mark the series' 100th. Created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Lionsgate, WEEDS has been honored with multiple award nominations, including 21 Emmys(R), 10 Golden Globes(R) and six SAG(R) Awards over the course of its seven seasons on air. Its success put SHOWTIME on the map as a destination for top-quality original series and set the stage for hits like DEXTER(R), NURSE JACKIE, CALIFORNICATION and HOMELAND.

Variety reports that Showtime has canceled its long-running series WEEDS. The half-hour comedy from Lionsgate first aired on the cable network in 2005 and features Broadway vet Hunter Parrish. The upcoming eighth and final season of the show is currently in production and is set to air July 1.

Voting opened on May 3, 2012 and runs through June 4, 2012 for the 10th Annual BroadwayWorld.com Awards! Here are the current standings as of 6/1 with just 2 days to go in voting!

Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz was honored and presented with with Desert Ensemble Theatre Company's inaugural Melpomai Award at When You Believe: A Conversation With and Tribute To Stephen Schwartz on May 19 in Palm Springs. The event was held in the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum, and featured a conversation with Schwartz as well as performances of his stage and movie musical hits. Directed and moderated by Scott Logsdon (Les Miserables), the evening included performances from Tony nominee Andrea McArdle (Annie), Hunter Parrish (Broadway's Godspell revival and Showtime's 'Weeds'), Kate Flannery (NBC's 'The Office'), Pamla Vale Abramson, Melissa Batalles, Garrett Hoy, Ben Reece, Haviland Stillwell (Les Miserables and Fiddler on the Roof) and Laura L.Thomas. Joel Baker was the musical director and accompanist. See photos of the stars performing on stage below!

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 6, 2012 - Sunday, May 6, 2012.

Stage and screen stars Kristin Chenoweth & Jim Parsons will announce this year's Tony nominees tomorrow morning, May 1, 8:30am EST at New York Public Library. The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, which are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 10, 2012. In preparation for the big announcement, TonyAwards.com has released a Cheat Sheet that reminds you of the eligible shows/people of this season. The full Cheat Sheet is as follows:

Tonight at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway and 'Weeds' star Hunter Parrish ends his run as Jesus in the first-ever Broadway revival of Stephen Schwartz's GODSPELL. The show welcomes a new leading man-stage and screen star Corbin Bleu (Disney's 'High School Musical,' Broadway's In the Heights)-to the starring role.

A careful look through the New Testament indicates that Jesus Christ liked to eat. In addition to the notable Last Supper, he dined at the home of Martha and Mary; grilled fish at the seashore; multiplied loaves and fishes; was a guest at a friend's wedding at Cana; and ate with friends on the road to Emmaus. After healing Peter's mother-in-law, she got up and prepared a meal for Him and His coterie. It's a small wonder then that Hunter Parris, who plays Jesus in the Broadway revival of GODSPELL, chooses to be interviewed over lunch at one of his favorite Chelsea eateries.

Anna Maria Perez de Tagle and George Salazar, Filipino actors and singers who are making their Broadway debuts in the current production of GODSPELL, and the rest of the show's cast were in full force to welcome the Filipino-American press, and Filipino-American TV and film actor Sam Milby, at a cocktail reception at Bambo 52 sushi bar and lounge in New York City, on Thursday, March 15, followed by an evening performance of GODSPELL at Circle in the Square Theatre, and a post-show talk back with KABABAYAN LA's Janelle So.

It's going to be a sizzling summer of comedy on SHOWTIME with the season premieres of the hit series WEEDS (10 p.m. ET/PT) and EPISODES (10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on Sunday, July 1st. Thirteen half-hour episodes of WEEDS' eighth season go into production in Los Angeles in April, and nine half-hours of EPISODES' second season recently wrapped production in London and Los Angeles.

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met today for the second time this season to decide the eligibility of 13 Broadway productions for the 2012 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards®, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The Tony Awards Administration Committee will meet a total of four times throughout the 2011-2012 season to decide the eligibility for the 2012 Tony Awards.

Godspell's Julia Mattison is joined by fellow cast members from Broadway's Godspell, in a holiday comedy rock show at the Beechman on December 19th. The concert will debut a number of new twisted holiday tunes, with songs like "Frostbite! Awesome!" and "Santa is the Ultimate Creeper". Mattison and friends will bring the laughs with these new tunes and some fresh takes on old classics.

Broadway's new production of GODSPELL has partnered with the 2011 New York Cares Coat Drive. The GODSPELL initiative - dubbed the "Give Him Your Coat As Well" Coat Drive - takes place now through Saturday, December 31at Circle in the Square Theatre.

Godspell's Julia Mattison is joined by fellow cast members from Broadway's Godspell, in a holiday comedy rock show at the Beechman on December 19th. The concert will debut a number of new twisted holiday tunes, with songs like "Frostbite! Awesome!" and "Santa is the Ultimate Creeper". Mattison and friends will bring the laughs with these new tunes and some fresh takes on old classics.

Emmy Award-winning actress Margo Martindale, star "A Gifted Man," on the Network; actor Hunter Parrish, star of "Weeds" and the Broadway revival of "Godspell"; actor Steve Guttenberg, star of the new Broadway comedy "Relatively Speaking"; and model Lindsay Ellingson, who will be featured in "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" Nov. 29 on CBS, will drop by to chat with anchors Kevin Frazier from "The Insider" and Christina McLarty from "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider."

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!

On Fri-Sun, March 19-21, 2010 at 10pm (8pm Sunday) - Upright Cabaret presents 3x Grammy Nominee TAYLOR DAYNE, in three rare intimate performances entitled "TAYLOR DAYNE: Up Close and Upright!" Only at Upright Cabaret on Vermont (located within the Vermont Restaurant Complex), 1714 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

On Fri-Sun, March 19-21, 2010 at 10pm (8pm Sunday) - Upright Cabaret presents 3x Grammy Nominee TAYLOR DAYNE, in three rare intimate performances entitled "TAYLOR DAYNE: Up Close and Upright!" Only at Upright Cabaret on Vermont (located within the Vermont Restaurant Complex), 1714 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

On Fri-Sun, March 19-21, 2010 at 10pm (8pm Sunday) - Upright Cabaret presents 3x Grammy Nominee TAYLOR DAYNE, in three rare intimate performances entitled "TAYLOR DAYNE: Up Close and Upright!" Only at Upright Cabaret on Vermont (located within the Vermont Restaurant Complex), 1714 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

SPRING AWAKENING, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical is pleased to announce 'Boys Night' - taking place tonight Tuesday, November 11 at 7:00PM at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and an after-party at a nearby bar and lounge.