James Earl Jones News

Bay Street Theatre, Martin Richards and The Gilead Company present the World Premiere musical BIG MAYBELLE: SOUL OF THE BLUES with Tony Award-winner Lillias White starring as legendary blues singer Maybelle Smith; written and directed by Paul Levine. Michael Mitchell is the Musical Director; Orchestrations are by Musical Supervisor Kenny Seymour. The show runs tomorrow, August 7 through Sunday, September 2. Scroll down for photos of White performing onstage at Bay Street!

With this week's news of the passing of American literary and political icon Gore Vidal at the advanced age of 86, now seems a particularly apt time to look back at a truly anomalous career and some of the highlights of a life lived on pages, stages, planes, trains and many of the most exclusive locales in the world.

Project Cuddle® is thrilled to announce the nonprofit organization heads to Broadway for its fifth annual fundraiser "A Night on Broadway!" Join Project Cuddle and John Stamos for a performance of the 2012 Tony Award nominated play Gore Vidal's The Best Man on Friday, September 7 at 8PM at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street, NYC). Immediately following the play will be an intimate post-show Q&A session.

Winner of the 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical, SILENCE! The Musical the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Christopher Gattelli, will open a Los Angeles company with performances beginning August 31, at the Hayworth Theatre. This engagement marks the West Coast Premiere of the Off-Broadway hit. The press opening is scheduled for Saturday, September 8, 2012. SILENCE! The Musical is produced by Theater Mogul.

Off-Broadway's SILENCE! The Musical will celebrate its 300th performance tonight, August 1st at the brand new Elektra Theatre in the heart of Times Square, 669 Eighth Avenue (at 42nd St.). Winner of the 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical, SILENCE! The Musical is the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli. After opening at Theatre 80 on July 9, 2011, the show became a sold-out phenomenon and was selected by Time Magazine as one of the year's Top 5 Musicals.

John Stamos and Kristin Davis, who recently joined the cast of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN on Broadway, were guests on yesterday's edition of GOOD AFTERNOON AMERICA on ABC. The actors discussed their hit Broadway play as well as their early beginnings in television. To view their appearance, click here!

Five-time Tony Award® and three-time Academy Award® nominee Angela Lansbury and two-time Tony Award® winner and Academy Award® winner James Earl Jones are coming together in Brisbane in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic play Driving Miss Daisy. It was announced today by Events Queensland and Australian theatre producer John Frost that Driving Miss Daisy will play an exclusive Australian season at the Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane from February 5, 2013.

The brand new Elektra Theatre officially opened in Times Square this past Wednesday, July 25th. The first tenant at the Elektra Theatre is the transfer of the award-winning smash Off-Broadway hit, SILENCE! The Musical. Check out photos from the opening celebration below!

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones will lead an Australian premiere of DRIVING MISS DAISY next winter. According to Courier Mail, the show is set to open at the Playhouse Theatre at QPAC on February 5.

Driving Miss Daisy, one of modern American theatre's most touching and irresistible stories, will kick off Newington Mainstage's second season September 14-16 at its brand new home at the Newington Town Hall. Directed by and starring Broadway veteran Carolyn Kirsch, this Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winning comedy-drama is sure to warm your heart with its message of friendship, understanding and hope.

Bay Street Theatre will present the World Premiere of a musical as the third production of the 2012 Mainstage Season. Tony award winner Lillias White will play Maybelle Smith in BIG MAYBELLE: SOUL OF THE BLUES, written and directed by Paul Levine. Michael Mitchell is the Musical Director; Orchestrations are by Musical Supervisor Kenny Seymour. The show runs Tuesday, August 7 through Sunday, September 2. Showtimes are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8pm with Wednesday matinees on August 15, 22, and 29 at 2pm and a 4pm matinee on Saturdays August 18 and 25. Sunday showtime is at 7pm. Tickets to this spectacular event are $66-76. Previews August 7-10 are sponsored by PCH Builders and Property Management. The week of August 12-18 is sponsored by Peconic Landing.

Signature Theatre has announced the next wave of upcoming supplemental programs, which allow more intimate and direct access to a playwright's vision and process.

DREAMGIRLS, the smash Broadway musical turned hit movie, previews August 22, opens August 29 and runs through November 4 at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire.

Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, Kerry Butler, Michael McKean, and Angela Lansbury have now been replaced in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN by Cybill Shepherd, John Stamos, Kristin Davis, Mark Blum, and Elizabeth Ashley, respectively. Original cast members James Earl Jones, John Larroquette and Jefferson Mays will remain with the production through its final performance on Sunday, September 9, 2012. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the new cast of THE BEST MAN on stage in the photos below!

The Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble presents the West Coast premiere of ELMINA'S KITCHEN, written by award-winning playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, directed by Gregg T. Daniel. This gut-wrenching drama is set in the notorious "Murder Mile" section of London's East End. ELMINA'S KITCHEN examines the bitter clash of values between three generations of black men and its effect on their family and community. The play runs August 11 through September 9. Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm. The Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea, Los Angeles, Calif.

The brand new Elektra Theatre officially opens in Times Square tomorrow evening, July 25th. The first tenant at the Elektra Theatre is the transfer of the award-winning smash Off-Broadway hit, SILENCE! The Musical. The festivities will begin with a 6 PM cocktail hour, attended by Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Kara Lindsay and the cast of Broadway's NEWSIES. There will be an 8:30 after party immediately following the 7 PM performance of SILENCE! The Musical.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company previously announced that STC Affiliated Artist Stacy Keach will join Artistic Director Michael Kahn for the final installment of the Classic Conversations series to be held at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St. NW) tonight, July 23, 2012, at 8 p.m. Classic Conversations with Michael Kahn is a series of discussions with classically-trained actors presented as part of the Company's 25th Anniversary Season.

The acclaimed Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Emily Man, takes its final Broadway bows on its original closing date, today, July 22, 2012. The show is aiming to open on London's West End this fall.

Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury leaves her role as Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN today, July 22, 2012. Original cast members Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack and Kerry Butler also departed the production this month.

The Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire was awarded the Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award for the 2011-2012 Season from Actors' Equity Association (AEA) on Tuesday. The show, produced by Front Row Productions (Stephen Byrd, Alia Jones-Harvey), received the honor at a presentation at Equity headquarters. Christine Toy Johnson and Julia Breanetta Simpson (AEA Co-chairs Eastern Regional Equal Employment Opportunity Committee) presented the award, which turns the spotlight onto those doing exemplary work to promote the goals of diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in theatre. Check out photos from the big event below!