Joan Marcus News

The Public Theater's THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, the first show of The Public's 2013 season of free Shakespeare in the Park, opened tonight, June 18, at the Delacorte. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS features Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklater as Dromio and Antipholus respectively and will run through Sunday, June 30. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Shout! Broadway will release the new 2012 Cast Recording for ANNIE CD on Tuesday, June 18. To celebrate the release of the CD cast members Jane Lynch, Anthony Warlow, Lilla Crawford, Brynn O'Malley, Clarke Thorell, creators Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Tom Meehan and more will sign copies of the album at Barnes & Noble (160 East 54th Street at 3rd Avenue) beginning promptly at 12:30 p.m. and ending at 1:45 p.m.

In The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, we are given a window into a fraught father-son dynamic, that of Tom and James, whose relationship is at the heart of this play. Of course, they are far from the first paternal pairing to be at the center of a drama.

Beginning June 28, ANNIE will play an additional matinee on Friday afternoons on Broadway at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway at 47th Street) - rather than an evening show on Wednesday, it was announced today.

The 88 Sing for Hope Pianos will come together for a finale concert event as the conclusion of a two-week public art installation on the streets of New York. The celebration will include free performances on the :08 of every hour kicking off at 12:08 p.m. with a very special performance by the cast of the Broadway musical 'Once.' Subsequent performances will include Sing for Hope's Youth Chorus and artists such as The Chevin, Christina Pegoraro, Tara Kamangar and more. At 7:08 p.m., the conclusion of the event, all 88 pianos will be played in unison for a memorable closing finale.

The argument for using the pop music method of 'slant rhyming' (frowned on by musical theatre lyricists as 'false rhyming' or using 'sound-a-likes') is that by not limiting lyricists to using perfect rhymes it greatly expands the number of ideas that can be expressed.  If that's so, the number of slant rhymes used in Venice, the new hip-hop/rock musical riff on Shakespeare's Othello, could potentially contain enough ideas to fill up a First Folio.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Broadway celebrates its biggest night, the Public brings back PENZANCE, CINDERELLA gets a cast album and so much more!

Though the coming of summer usually signals local theaters' final shows for the 2012-2013 season, there are still plenty of things to see, hear and experience in the O.C. to keep avid theatergoers entertained. Below is a listing of our five top Summer Must-See Picks, plus a few other noteworthy shows to check out, too!

Through clever use of multimedia, playwright/performer Moe Angelos' Sontag: Reborn offers glimpses at both the precocious enthusiasm of youth and the wry remembrances of one looking back upon those same years.  ('Childhood: a terrible waste of time.')  Both come in the form of novelist, essayist, literary critic and inspiration for at least one Broadway showtune, Susan Sontag.

Balagan Theatre made three major announcements during a packed Season Preview Party at the Moore Theatre on Monday, June 10: Nirvanov as the fifth show in the 2013-2014 mainstage season, a star-studded trio of leading ladies in Carrie: The Musical, and a newly created New Works Program, whose Summer Series debuts July 6. Check out a sneak peek below!

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) recently announced a one week extension today for the new Public Lab musical Venice, with book by Eric Rosen, music by Matt Sax, lyrics by Matt Sax and Eric Rosen, additional music by Curtis Moore, and choreography by Chase Brock. Directed by Eric Rosen, Venice began performances on Tuesday, May 28 and was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, June 23. It will now run an additional week through Sunday, June 30. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of te cast in action below!

Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Lynch, who stars in the hit FOX television show 'Glee' as ruthless cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, made her Broadway debut last month as tyrannical orphanage matron Miss Hannigan in Annie. Lynch will play Miss Hannigan for eight weeks only, through Sunday, July 14. The actress recently chatted with BroadwayWorld about making the move to New York for the show, sharing the stage with so many talented little girls, filling the big shoes of Katie Finneran, and so much more!

The 88 Sing for Hope Pianos will come together for a finale concert event as the conclusion of a two-week public art installation on the streets of New York. The celebration will include free performances on the :08 of every hour kicking off at 12:08 p.m. with a very special performance by the cast of the Broadway musical 'Once.' Subsequent performances will include Sing for Hope's Youth Chorus and artists such as The Chevin, Christina Pegoraro, Tara Kamangar and more. At 7:08 p.m., the conclusion of the event, all 88 pianos will be played in unison for a memorable closing finale.

THE EXPLORERS CLUB is now in previews at Manhattan Theatre Club with an official press opening set for Thursday, June 20 featuring Brian Avers (Rock 'n' Roll), Max Baker (Cyrano DeBergerac), Steven Boyer (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Arnie Burton (Peter and the Starcatcher), Carson Elrod (All in the Timing), David Furr (The Importance of Being Earnest), Tony Award nominee John McMartin (Into The Woods), Drama Desk Award winner Lorenzo Pisoni (Humor Abuse at MTC), and Tony Award nominee Jennifer Westfeldt (Friends With Kids, Wonderful Town). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Tim Minchin, composer and lyricist of the Broadway hit, MATILDA THE MUSICAL was a guest on STUDIO 360 this weekend. Listen as he plays songs from the hit including 'When I Grow Up,' 'Quiet' and 'The School Song' and speaks with host Kurt Andersen about his music and lyrics for the show. Click below!

MATILDA THE MUSICAL will perform on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' tomorrow night Tuesday June 11. MATILDA THE MUSICAL opened to rapturous reviews in April and has received four Tony Awards, the Best Musical award from the New York Drama Critics Circle, and five Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical. Each of the four girls who share the title role (Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro) received a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater. 'The Late Show' airs on CBS at 11:35 PM, (Channel 2 in New York).

ANNIE, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, will launch a US National Tour in the 2014-2015 season. The national tour will be produced by Troika Entertainment. The new production of the classic Tony Award-winning musical, opened to critical acclaim on November 8, 2012 at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street).

Hilarious, visually arresting, and surprisingly heart-warming, PRISCILLA - QUEEN OF THE DESERT---the rousing stage musical adaptation of the 1994 Oscar-winning indie film of the same name---is an outlandishly silly show from start to finish, filled with non-stop eye-popping visuals, out-of-this-world costumes, playfully cheeky adult banter, and a smile-inducing songbook crammed with familiar, decade-defining pop hits. Though a show about drag queens may not necessarily be everyone's cup of tea, open-minded theatergoers seeking to experience a fun, non-serious, genuinely entertaining spectacle will truly enjoy this musical comedy's first national tour production now playing a limited engagement at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through June 16.

Lindsay Mendez and Derek Klena recently joined the cast of Wicked, assuming the roles of Elphaba and Fiyero. They join a cast which includes Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda, Randy Danson as Madame Morrible, Adam Grupper as The Wizard, Catherine Charlebois as Nessarose, F. Michael Haynie as Boq, and John Schiappa as Dr. Dillamond. Check out a first look at the duo in action below!

The duo will give a special performance, celebrating the production's latest monumental achievement: becoming the first show to ever to reach 25 years on Broadway.