Joan Marcus News

Hot Photos Alert! You've been asking us for these photos since previews began, and we've finally got a first look at Idina Menzel's BIG return to Broadway for the first time since winning the Tony Award for Wicked.

The New York City Center Encores! production of Frank Loesser's The Most Happy Fella, running for seven performances, April 2 - 6, 2014, is set to star Laura Benanti, Shuler Hensley, Cheyenne Jackson, Heidi Blickenstaff, Brian Cali, Bradley Dean, Zachary James, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Jessica Molaskey and Kevin Vortmann. The Most Happy Fella will be directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with music direction by Rob Berman. The company met the press last week, but you can check out the first photos of the whole cast together below!

It is Theatre Development Fund's belief that future audiences are built by engaging students, first-hand, in the vital and exciting activity of the creative process, as well as providing opportunities to see live performances of great theatre. To that end, 1,500 New York City public high school and middle school students from 20 schools (and one school from East Orange, NJ), who are participating in TDF's Stage Doors Program, will be attending a special matinee performance of Broadway's smash hit, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL on Thursday, April 3 at 1pm at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street, NYC).

Take one of his classic comedies, throw in a Fab Four group sort of like the Beatles and let Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong (AMERICAN IDIOT) write the music and presto: you have a modern, interesting show called THESE PAPER BULLETS.

A few days after counter-protesters display compassion for grieving members of the Westboro Baptist Church, Terrence McNally asks us to feel compassion for a grieving anti-gay mother.

ETonline writes that stage and screen actor James Rebhorn, who passed away on Friday, March 21, 2014, at the age of 65 after a long struggle with melanoma, penned an obituary for himself before his death.

Todd Haimes and the entire Roundabout Theatre Company staff mourn the loss of an extraordinarily talented member of our family, James Rebhorn. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.

There is only one more week to see the acclaimed productions of Harold Pinter's NO MAN'S LAND and Samuel Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT starring Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Billy Crudup, Shuler Hensley directed by Sean Mathias on Broadway at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street). After two extensions, the plays must close Sunday, March 30.

Mothers and Sons, the new play by four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and starring Tyne Daly, opens tonight, March 24, 2014 at Broadway's John Golden Theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say...

James Rebhorn passed away on Friday, March 21, at the age of 65. Rebhorn is most known for his role in the Showtime drama Homeland. His agent, Dianne Busch, told The Hollywood Reporter, "He died from melanoma, which had been diagnosed in 1992. He fought it all this time. He died Friday afternoon at his home in New Jersey, where he had been receiving hospice care for a week and a half."

This tour is quite well done, with strong vocals for the leads. Evans nails 'I Believe' and Ncube shows a lovely soprano in her national tour debut. O'Neill, making his professional debut, shows solid comic ability as the awkward Cunningham

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week or you're just in the mood for a recap, BroadwayWorld's 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end-of-the-week fix! Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to The West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more. Highlights this week include a first look at the Broadway company of MOTHERS AND SONS, a peek into rehearsals of THE WAY WEST with Amy Morton, coverage of opening night of BLITHE SPIRIT starring Angela Lansbury, and more!

Signature Theatre has announced a one week extension for the New York premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' APPROPRIATE, directed by Liesl Tommy. APPROPRIATE, which opened March 16, will now play through April 13 in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). The production's initial run is sold out.

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of THESE PAPER BULLETS!, a modish ripoff of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, adapted by Rolin Jones, with songs by Billie Joe Armstrong, and directed by Jackson Gay, March 14-April 5 at the University Theatre (222 York Street). Opening Night is Thursday, March 20. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

In honor of the pair joining one of The Great White Way's most beloved musicals, BroadwayWorld presents a look back at some of their finest performances and moments on stage!

To kick off this year's annual theatre festival, The Angels Project, Intiman Theatre will produce Intiman Presents 'A Savage Chat with Tony Kushner,' Saturday, May 10, 2pm, at Town Hall Seattle: An interactive community conversation between the Pulitzer Prize, Emmy Award, and Tony Award-winning playwright of Angels in America, Tony Kushner; internationally syndicated advice columnist and The Stranger Editorial Director Dan Savage; and YOU!

Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award Winner John Lithgow brings his critically acclaimed show, Stories by Heart to celebrate the Long Wharf Theatre 2014 Gala, taking place on Friday, June 6.

This Today, The New School for Drama, SAG Foundation, and BroadwayWorld.com will present a 90-minute career Conversations with Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale, starring together in Broadway's The Bridges of Madison County. Moderated by BroadwayWorld.com's Richard Ridge, O'Hara and Pasquale will share experiences from their careers on stage and screen and their current collaboration with a packed house of more than 400 union actors and drama students at The New School's John L. Tishman Auditorium.

We dug through our archives to unveil the history our 1998 revival of Cabaret. Take a look through the years as we trace back to the first preview of our multi award-winning production.

With a book, music, and lyrics by Ted Shen, and directed by Jonathan Butterell, this New York premiere began previews at The Public on Tuesday, March 18 and runs throughSunday, April 13 in The Public's Shiva Theater, with an official opening on Sunday, March 30. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!