Joan Marcus News

The past several Broadway seasons have seen extraordinary developments in musical theatre, with a steady stream of new shows, usually transferring from non-profit Off-Broadway, offering smart writing, inventive storytelling and expanded notions of the subject matter and musical styles that can be welcomed into the art form.

Audiences are reveling in a recreation of one of music history's most famous jam sessions at Bucks County Playhouse's production of the Tony Award-winning musical 'Million Dollar Quartet.' The production which runs through September 15 is directed by original Broadway cast member Hunter Foster.

The story follows a day at Sun Records back in 1956 where Sam Phillips (James Ludwig) assembles his new and hot artists Carl Perkins (John Michael Presney), Jerry Lee Lewis (Brandyn Day), Johnny Cash (Sky Seals), and Elvis Presley (Ari McKay Wilford) who recently moved on to a new label but returns to coerce Phillips to move with him.

Roundabout Theatre Company will conclude the world premiere of SKINTIGHT, by Joshua Harmon, with direction by Daniel Aukin on Sunday, August 26.

I'd like to propose something worthy of 16th century Arcadia: an Ode in Praise of HEAD OVER HEELS. For those who don't know, last month a new musical, HEAD OVER HEELS, opened on Broadway. The music combines a Renaissance source text, Sir Phillip Sidney's 'The Arcadia,' with the music of the Go-Go's to create an adult fairy tale. Not only is the musical incredibly fun, hilarious, and heartwarming, but it is also incredibly important.

NETworks Presentations, LLC, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Unique Features, bring the Broadway musical Elf to the Music Hall at Fair Park November 27 - December 2, 2018, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals and Broadway Across America. Tickets are now on sale for all performances.

It's the sly inversion of good and evil that makes WICKED fascinating. It's wrestling with doing what's fashionable versus doing what's right that makes WICKED timeless. Now, those brilliant minds at Broadway in Detroit reprise this killer musical for us to fall in love with, all over again. Whether you prefer Idina Menzel, or Kurt and Rachel's version on Glee, 'Defying Gravity' sends chills up and down one's spine; in this production, Mary Kate Morrissey nails the part and sends electricity throughout the Opera House way to the highest rafters. Based on a satirical novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has awed audiences for 15 years with its massive steampunk set, its dazzling costumes, and a bewitching score by Stephen Schwartz. Declared 'The Best Musical of the Decade' by Entertainment Weekly and 'A Cultural Phenomenon' by Variety, WICKED is the recipient of over 100 international awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards.

Can eating a pie be a religious experience? It can if it was made by Jenna, the diner waitress in the Broadway musical WAITRESS, who turns ordinary ingredients like butter, sugar, and flour into mouthwatering slices of life in a pie tin.

Most performers have a youthful "origin story" - some memory of watching a musical or being in a community production that introduced them to the magic of the stage and inspired their future path. For Lindsay Roberts, currently winning hearts in Carmen Jones at Classic Stage Company, the motivation was a little less artsy and a little more social.

MCC THEATER just today announced the full cast and creative team for the return of the critically acclaimed, sold out, extended, award-winning play School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, written by 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence Jocelyn Bioh, and directed by Tony® Winner Rebecca Taichman. The encore production will be performed at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street) from October 16th through November 25th. Opening night is set for October 22nd. Prior to the return, Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles will present the MCC production at the CTG Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City from September 2nd through September 30th.

The late afternoon and early evening rain that had been steadily falling last Friday didn't stop the faithful from arriving at Central Park's Delacorte Theater for Shakespeare In The Park's return of the Public Works' 2016 musical version of TWELFTH NIGHT.

The Public Theater's production of Public Works' TWELFTH NIGHT, conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub, Choreography by Lorin Latarro, and directed by Oskar Eustis and Kwame Kwei-Armah, opened just last night, July 31, running through Sunday, August 19.

In Skintight, Jodi Isaac's son Benjamin is in the midst of a semester abroad in Hungary, where he's been exploring his family's roots as Eastern European Jews. Now self-identified Americans, the Isaac family has been living in the United States for nearly 100 years, and memories of Jodi's grandparents' lives in Hungary are distant ones. But Jewish experiences of the Holocaust in Hungary in the 1930s and 1940s loom large in the history of any family of Hungarian Jewish descent.

You might say that Arena Stage's Artistic Director Molly Smith is responsible for some of the most socially and politically conscious theatre produced in the DC area. Her Power Plays initiative is just one example of how she presents work that entertains, educates and promotes discussion after viewing.

July 25-28, 2018 featured the vibrant and radical revival of Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope at the New York City Center as part of their 2018 Encores! Off Center series. The Grammy Award-winning and Tony-nominated musical is a celebration of African American culture and community that highlighted the issues of race politics in America through a lively mix of song and dance- with a score that features various music genres including jazz, soul, gospel, calypso, and rock. This particular production was directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winning tap dancer Savion Glover with musical arrangements by Annastasia Victory.

Gettin' The Band Back Together is now playing on Broadway, opening on Monday, August 13 at The Belasco Theatre. Get a first look at the boys in action below!

Fans of late 16th Century pastoral poetic narrative tragicomedy have been all abuzz anticipating the Broadway arrival of the new song and dance adaptation of a Sir Philip Sidney classic. But rather than go the obviously commercial route and title their creation 'The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, the Musical,' the creators have opted to call their peppy merriment HEAD OVER HEELS.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Head Over Heels officially opens on Broadway tonight, Be More Chill begins previews off-Broadway, and more!

The Public Theater's production of Public Works' TWELFTH NIGHT, conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub, Choreography by Lorin Latarro, and directed by Oskar Eustis and Kwame Kwei-Armah, is set to open on Tuesday, July 31, running through Sunday, August 19.