Who would have ever thought a musical about urban planning could be as effective and engaging, and as thoroughly compelling (if somewhat confusing and confounding, by turns) as If/Then, the latest work from the Pulitzer Prize-winning (for next to normal) duo of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey?
On this week's episode, with composer Michael Mott ('Where the Sky Ends'), we drink manhattans in sippy cups and spill about Bright Star, the national treasure that is Carmen Cusack,The Color Purple, and how when Cynthia Erivo opens her mouth we all weep. We pour one out for Tuck Everlasting and American Psycho, Kimberly tells her sweet Hamilton engagement story, and Kevin does his best impression of Mandy Patinkin singing The Color Purple. Also we play Cast This Movie Musical! for Sunday in the Park, Dream Ballet Showdown, and Lights of Broadway Card Game. Hang out with us as we all get Broadwaysted!
Summertime is here, what with Memorial Day and all that it encompasses, and we can think of no better seasonal activity than taking in some local theater. No matter where you are in the Volunteer State, Tennessee theater companies are ready and willing to help transport you to a different world, another time and place where your life can be is transformed magically on a stage very near you!
This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Washington, DC, Phoenix, Singapore and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include a 'bold, new' THE TAMING OF THE SHREW in DC, HOSTAGES in Phoenix, and an interview with Simon Gleeson on the Singapore return of LES MIS, just to name a few.
If/Then is an original musical that tells the story of Elizabeth Vaughan, a 40-year-old woman who moves back to New York City seeking a fresh start to her life. The musical depicts two different paths of where Elizabeth's life could take her.
Tony Award-winning Broadway star LaChanze (If/Then, The Color Purple) will join the national tour of IF/THEN when it plays a limited one-week engagement at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall June 7-12. LaChanze's addition to the touring cast reunites her with Jackie Burns and Anthony Rapp, who along with LaChanze, starred in the original Broadway production of IF/THEN.
Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta announced today that tickets for the National Tour of IF/THEN, which was named the "Best Musical of the Year" by New York Magazine, will go on sale Sunday, May 22. IF/THEN will perform a limited one week engagement from August 9-14 at Atlanta's Fox Theatre to close the 2015/2016 Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta Series.
Decisions big or small can alter your life forever. That's the lesson from IF/THEN, opening at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre, and of one of it's stars, Anthony Rapp.
On November 11, 2015, John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington D.C. hosted BROADWAY TOMORROW: THE SONGS OF MICHAEL MOTT, featuring Jackie Burns and Brian Justin Crum and directed by Hunter Bird. Below, check out the pair perform 'Dare To Dream' from FAUSTUS!
Freaking out over Sutton Foster coming to Gilmore Girls? Trying hard to win the online #Ham4Ham? Didn't have time to check in on your favorite Broadway stars? Well don't worry BroadwayWorld has rounded up some of the biggest stories from this week from Broadway and beyond with BroadwayWorld's 'This Week in Pictures.'
I happened to be in D.C. on November 5, 2013 when IF/THEN opened its preview run. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to opening night.
Original Broadway Cast member Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked, Hair), Tamyra Gray (American Idol Season One Finalist, Rent), and Matthew Hydzik (Side Show, West Side Story, Grease) have joined Original Broadway Cast member Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the rest of the previously announced cast in the National Tour of IF/THEN. The tour is now playing at the Connor Palace Theatre in Cleveland through Sunday, February 21. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the new cast in action below!
IF/THEN begins well enough with a compelling musical number. The song 'What If?' weaves a tapestry of tight harmonies and interesting staging. It immediately establishes the premise: a woman paralyzed by the song's title question proceeds to live out two possible life paths for the audience. Think 'Sliding Doors,' but with more supporting characters and a lot more songs. Unfortunately, this ambitious multi-layered premise proves too much for the authors, and the show ultimately loses its way.
Original Broadway Cast member Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked, Hair), Tamyra Gray (American Idol Season One Finalist, Rent), and Matthew Hydzik (Side Show, West Side Story, Grease), will join Original Broadway Cast member Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the rest of the previously announced cast in the National Tour of IF/THEN, playing at the Fabulous Fox Theatre March 15 - 27.
When IF/THEN debuted on Broadway in March 2014, it reunited original RENT stars Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp with RENT director Michael Grief. Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, whose 2008 rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL had received the Pulitzer Prize, wrote the much-anticipated show, and New York celebrated the team's brisk New York return. Although the show received mostly mixed-to-positive reviews, it lasted a mere 430 performances, despite mother-daughter duos flocking to see Menzel upon the icy heels of FROZEN's success.
Original Broadway Cast member Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked, Hair), Tamyra Gray(American Idol Season One Finalist, Rent), and Matthew Hydzik (Side Show, West Side Story, Grease), will join Original Broadway Cast member Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and the rest of the previously announced cast in the National Tour of IF/THEN, starting tomorrow,Wednesday, January 27 at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: IF/THEN gets fresh faces on tour, three shows begin off-Broadway and more!
Over the past few years, the theatre community has been quietly buzzing about the stage work of Jackie Burns, the young actress whose credits include Elphaba in Broadway's WICKED, a soloist in the tribe of the 2009 HAIR revival, the original off-Broadway production of ROCK OF AGES, and most recently, as standby to IDINA MENZEL (WICKED, RENT) in the 2013 Broadway musical IF/THEN. This week, during her lunch break from rehearsals in New York City, Jackie sat down to chat with me about revisiting the show, and the pressure of stepping in for the FROZEN star.
Much like the opening night performance I experienced at the show's debut at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood last month, I was once again blown away by Menzel's incredible musical gifts with the show's opener at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa (which plays through January 24). Even better: she is still surrounded by the same equally astonishing support cast, particularly her original Broadway co-stars LaChanze, Anthony Rapp, and James Snyder. So how was the experience this time? While my initial reaction to the show itself hovered somewhere in the middle, I have to admit that I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed the show the second time around. Dare I say, I even think I *loved* it more.
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