Joan Marcus News

With all due respect to the world class singers and dancers who trod Broadway's boards every season, watching Glenn Close completely enthrall and mesmerize an audience with her two dramatic solos in the new concert revival of Sunset Boulevard is a reminder that musical theatre is at its most thrilling when musical moments are enhanced by incisive acting.

First up in Encores! 2017 season is Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Tony Award-winning musical based on Mark Twain's classic American novel. Big River will star Nicholas Barasch, Patrice Covington, Andrew Cristi, Wayne Duvall, Mike Evariste, Charlie Franklin, Annie Golden, Katherine A. Guy, Megan Masako Haley, Adrianna Hicks, Zachary Infante, Gizel Jimenez, Andrew Kruep, John-Michael Lyles, Cass Morgan, Tom Nelis, David Pittu, Tom Alan Robbins, Horace V. Rogers, Kyle Scatliffe, Christopher Sieber, and Lauren Worsham.

Acclaimed actress Glenn Close has headed back to Broadway to play the iconic role of faded Hollywood star Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Sunset Boulevard, which won her a Tony in 1995. With tickets on sale beyond the reported closing date of May 28th, patrons will now have even more chances to check out the star studded production. See all the brand new photos from the production below!

Tickets For The Australian Premiere of BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL On Sale Now

With a title like A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, you could expect a darkly toned show like SWEENEY TODD. Or perhaps something sexy like CHICAGO; or even something historic like ASSASSINS. While murder musicals have been done, you probably haven't seen something quite like this.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents Steven Levenson's (The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin; Dear Evan Hansen) new play, If I Forget, directed by Daniel Sullivan. The cast includes Larry Bryggman(Picnic), Maria Dizzia ('Orange is the New Black'), Tasha Lawrence (Good People), Jeremy Shamos (Noises Off), Seth Steinberg, Kate Walsh ('Grey's Anatomy'), and Gary Wilmes (Irrational Man). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Now on stage at the Detroit Opera House is Disney's 'LION KING,' the larger than life spectacle about the circle of life in the African Pride Lands. This show is unique; firstly it's playing for nearly a month, secondly it has die-hard fans that know every single word of the script, and they were beyond thrilled with the performance. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, LION KING is the most successful show in theatre history - it beat out Phantom and raked in over $7 billion. The costumes are the most imaginative ever constructed, and the score has hit tunes like 'Can you feel the love tonight?'

The Drama League has announced its 2017 UpClose and Rough Draft Series, to be held at The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas) in Tribeca.

In every sense of the word, ONCE arrived at The Capitol Strand Performing Arts Center on February 1, 2017, for one night only. The musical is the winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards® and is a theatrical experience like no other.

When A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER debuted on Broadway In October 2013, very few, if any, theatrical observers pegged the show for a two-plus-year main-stem run and four Tony Awards. After debuting at the Hartford Stage in Connecticut the previous November, and having another out-of-town tryout the following March at the Old Globe in San Diego, the show came to Broadway with very little fan-fare. Over-shadowed in the season by bigger-name musicals like ALADDIN, LES MISERABLES, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROL KING MUSICAL, and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE trudged along in its first six months in New York hovering between $400,000-$500,000 at the weekly box office; likely not covering its operating costs.

Now more than ever, Broadway shows are switching over to a digital lottery, allowing fans an equal chance at these coveted tickets without having to wait in long lines in inclement weather. Here's a look at all of the shows that are currently offering a digital lottery, and how you can get in on the action!

Roundabout Theatre Company's North American tour of its award-winning CABARET revival is a stunning production that stands out in high relief to the theatrics playing in our nation's capital. Fifty years after the pre-Broadway Kander and Ebb musical tried out in Boston, the show still packs a punch. Randy Harrison is mesmerizing as the Emcee, eschewing any references to the powerhouse pair of actors who preceded him in the role.

As soon as you enter the Lortel for director Trip Cullman's tight and tense production of Anna Jordan's unsettling, hard-edged drama, YEN, the intention to catch audience members a little off-balance is evident.

THE BODYGUARD, based on the eponymous film starring Whitney Houston as pop star Rachel Marron and Kevin Costner as her bodyguard Frank Farmer, has plenty of glitz and glamour to go around in its current engagement at Broadway In Chicago's Oriental Theatre. Throughout the night, lead Deborah Cox shines as Rachel in a never-ending array of glittery costumes from Tim Hatley (who also designed the set). And when Cox tears into one of Houston's classic numbers, it's also a joy.

In a new interview with The Huffington Post, HAMILTON creator Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks out against President Trump's recent executive order which bars immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, including fleeing Syrian refugees, from entering the United States. 

Producers Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing announced today that Abby Mueller will play the title role in the Broadway company of Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, beginning March 7, 2017. Mueller, who originated the role in the first national tour of Beautiful, will be taking over for Broadway's current 'Carole,' Chilina Kennedy, while Kennedy heads to her hometown to headline the show at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theater from June 27 - August 20, 2017. Kennedy will be joined in the Toronto production by Liam Tobin, who originated the role of 'Gerry Goffin' on tour. Kennedy will return to the Broadway production following the Toronto run of Beautiful.

Gary Oldman, Miley Cyrus, Keira Knightley and Al Pacino will not be coming to Broadway, after all.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against two New York City men accused of running a Ponzi scheme with money raised from investors to fund businesses purportedly created to purchase and resell tickets to such high-demand shows as Adele concerts and the Broadway musical Hamilton.

The national tour of THE BODYGUARD-based on the eponymous film featuring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner-just launched a few weeks ago and plays a limited Broadway in Chicago run starting on January 31. For those unfamiliar, the musical focuses on Hollywood star Rachel Marron (Deborah Cox) and her bodyguard Frank Farmer, who is hired to protect her from an anonymous stalker. Cast member Jasmin Richardson plays the role of Rachel's sister, Nicki Marron. She chatted with BroadwayWorld a few days before THE BODYGUARD arrived at the Oriental Theatre to discuss life on tour, why she's excited to perform in Chicago, and of course, the classic Whitney Houston songs showcased in the musical.

The play is a cauldron of emotion, presenting a range of human behaviors for Christopher to navigate, and hopefully, conquer.