Jessica Parker News

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: go inside A Very Wicked Halloween, and more!

Freeform announced today that Bette Midler will join Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker for the network's “Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Halloween Bash,” an all-star party in honor of the cult classic film's milestone anniversary. The two-hour special, filmed at the iconic Hollywood Forever Cemetery to celebrate the movie's status as a Halloween staple, will premiere on SATURDAY, OCT. 20 at 8:15-10:15 p.m. EDT/PDT, as part of Freeform's “31 Nights of Halloween” programming event. 

Producer Mark Cortale's sixth annual Broadway @ NOCCA series kicks off on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 7:30pm when internationally renowned star of opera and musical theatre, Marisol Montalvo, brings her acclaimed new show MAD SCENE to NOCCA's Lupin Hall! Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at BroadwayNOLA.com or by calling 800-838-3006. Lupin Hall is located on the NOCCA campus at 2800 Chartres Street.

On September 27, New York City Ballet presented the seventh installment of its annual Fall Fashion Gala, celebrating choreography and costume design with an evening of world premiere ballets and creative collaborations between some of today's most exciting artists from the worlds of dance and design. Go inside the gala in the video below!

Golden Globe® and Emmy® Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin stars in a brand-new, prime-time talk show bringing his unfiltered, provocative interview style to television with “The Alec Baldwin Show,” premiering SUNDAY, OCT. 14 (10:01–11:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand. “The Alec Baldwin Show” gives viewers a front-row seat to in-depth, intimate and candid one-on-one conversations as Alec, a prolific entertainer and quick-witted personality, sits down with some of the most compelling celebrities and cultural icons of our time. Alec's distinctive interview style and extraordinary ability to draw out never-before-told personal stories, coupled with a newsworthy roster of guests, make for a captivating hour of television each week.

Mika Brzezinski, founder of "Know Your Value" and co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," is heading west and taking the "Know Your Value" live event series to San Francisco on Dec. 1 at The Palace Hotel.

The legendary El Capitan Theatre celebrates the Spooktacular 25th Anniversary this October of its two Halloween favorites: Disney's beloved "Hocus Pocus" October 11-21, followed by the 25th annual presentation of Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" October 22-31, shown in 3D with spine-tingling interactive 4D sensory effects, including lights, fog, scents, and more wind and snow than ever before! In addition, props and photo opportunities from these two classic Halloween movies will be on display before and after every screening.

Freeform announced today that it will air “Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Halloween Bash,” an all-star party in honor of the cult classic film's milestone anniversary. The 90-minute special, filmed at the iconic Hollywood Forever Cemetery to celebrate the movie's status as a Halloween staple, will premiere on SATURDAY, OCT. 20, at 8:15 PM EDT/PDT as part of Freeform's “31 Nights of Halloween” programming event. 

The Hudson River Park has announced that they will honor Award-winning actor, Claire Danes; Deputy Mayor, City of New York & Vice Chair, Hudson River Park Trust, Alicia Glen and Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC, Scott Rechler at the 2018 Gala on Thursday, October 11th at Pier 62 in Hudson River Park.

The internationally acclaimed Broadway @ concert series hosted and music directed by Sirius XM Radio Star Seth Rudetsky is finally landing smack dab in the middle of Broadway itself this fall.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre (DMT) opens its 2018-19 season to Once Upon a Mattress, with performances running September 13-30, 2018.

On Monday, November 5, 2018, the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) will host its annual New York Fall Gala at Cipriani 42ndStreet in New York City.  At this year's gala, EJAF Founder Sir Elton John and Chairman David Furnish will honor Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, philanthropist Patricia Hearst, and long-time advocate Joe McMillan, CEO and Chairman of DDG, with EJAF's Enduring Vision Award.  Nine-time Grammy Award Winning Singer, Songwriter Sheryl Crow will be the special musical guest, and Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, will be the featured speaker. CBS This Morning co-anchor and journalist Gayle King will host the event.

Based on the popular comic strip by Harold Gray, Annie has become a worldwide phenomenon and was the winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The beloved book and score by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, features some of the greatest musical theatre hits ever written, including 'Tomorrow.'

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre (DMT) opens its 2018-19 season to Once Upon a Mattress, with performances running September 13-30, 2018.

Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine 'Extra,' the second longest running entertainment news show in syndication, will celebrate its milestone 25th season beginning Monday, September 10th, 2018.

The complete lineup for the Spotlight on Documentary section of the 56th New York Film Festival, taking place September 28-October 14 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, has been announced. This year's series of dispatches from the front lines of nonfiction cinema features intimate portraits of artists, depictions of the quest for political and social justice, and much more.  

Producer Mark Cortale has announced that Bob The Drag Queen, winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 8, will make her anticipated debut at Town Hall in Provincetown for one show only, during Labor Day Weekend, on Sunday, September 2 at 8:30 PM. For Tickets and information, visit www.ptownarthouse.com or call 800-838-3006.

Several years ago, I remember watching the Tony Awards and seeing Broadway power couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker presenting the award for Best Score and getting all giddy and nerdy over it because "NEW SONGS!" Well that's how I feel every summer at Village Theatre's Festival of New Musicals. I get to see what's out there up and coming and maybe get to walk away seeing a new gem. And this year was no exception with a couple of shows blowing me away. Now, of course, these are workshops and staged readings of shows, so we cannot really review them, but I can at least tell you what they offered us.

The team behind the critically acclaimed, sold out UK premiere of Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs, adapted by Nathan Lane at Jermyn Street Theatre, are to present a new production of the hit Broadway musical Once Upon A Mattress.