Joann Hunter News

La MaMa in association with SuperYou FUNdation will present the pop/rock musical CHIX 6 by Lourds Lane (book, music, lyrics) for four performances only. Directed by Jackson Grace Gay, musical direction by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett and choreographed by JoAnn Hunter, will play this weekend, December 1- 4, 2016 at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E 4th St).

La MaMa in association with SuperYou FUNdation will present the pop/rock musical CHIX 6 by Lourds Lane (book, music, lyrics) for four performances only. Directed by Jackson Grace Gay, musical direction by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett and choreographed by JoAnn Hunter, will play December 1- 4, 2016 at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E 4th St). Tickets are $35 (adults), $30 (seniors/kids) and can be purchased by visiting  www.lamama.org or calling 212-352-3101. 

Sheri Sanders is not only a trailblazing educator when employing pop/rock music in Musical Theatre, but she has also been surviving death-defying acts as the 'Company Cover' in the workshop of a new Broadway-bound musical 'Chix 6'. While Sanders is about to launch exciting things in January for her online training program 'Rock The Audition', she's been embodying a plethora of comic book superheroes by day.

Known as 'the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out,' The Ensemblist podcast has become the champion of the unsung performance heroes and inner workings of the theatre world. Co-created and co-hosted by Nikka Graff Lanzarote (Chicago, Women on the Verge) and Mo Brady (SMASH, The Addams Family), the podcast has covered everything from the Gypsy Robe ceremony, to the audition process, to what it's like to be a Broadway babysitter during its first three years on the air. Now, following a successful first season covering the 'Ensemblist Essentials,' this past spring, The Ensemblist is entering into its second season (check out the first episode below!) and I sat down to talk with Nikka and Mo about how the podcast has grown, what it looks like to balance careers in the arts with being podcast masters, which Broadway ensemble they'd like to join, and more-check out the full interview below!

The 34th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards, which recognizes outstanding achievements in dance on Broadway and in film, takes place on Monday, May 16, 2016.

 Disaster and School of Rock's choreographer Joann Hunter. Joann was born in Japan, raised in Rhode Island and has two shows opening on Broadway this season. She has worked with the icon Jerome Robbins, her Idol Susan Stroman, the legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, and now is paving the way to become a theatre titan herself.

Nominees for the 2014 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, September 22 at Native Voices at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. The nominations were revealed by past Ovation Award recipients Gigi Bermingham, Brighid Fleming, Parmer Fuller, Jennifer Haley, Brian Kite, Glynn Turman, and John Zalewski, along with LA STAGE Alliance Chief Executive Officer Terence McFarland.

Nominees for the 2014 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, September 22 at Native Voices at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. The nominations were revealed by past Ovation Award recipients Gigi Bermingham, Brighid Fleming, Parmer Fuller, Jennifer Haley, Brian Kite, Glynn Turman, and John Zalewski, along with LA STAGE Alliance Chief Executive Officer Terence McFarland.

Less than twenty four hours after celebrating the opening of Grease at Paper Mill, we found ourselves back in tech! This time, our sleepy cast was standing on the deck of the sparkling Skirball Center, preparing to honor Pat Birch at this year's Fred and Adele Astaire Awards. Birch is, of course, the five-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Emmy Award-winning choreographer who staged the musical numbers for original Broadway production of Grease, and both subsequent films. At the Astaire Awards, she was being honored with the Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Broadway-bound new musical THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, premiering next week at TPAC in Nashville, will feature the talents of Broadway favorites Mark Jacoby, Marissa McGowan and Michael Andrew. They will star as Dean Warfield, Stella, and Julius Kelp respectively.

Gary Duggan's play-with-music follows three friends for two weeks in one bar.

Mercedes Ellington, Joann Hunter, Mary Macleod, Jerry Mitchell, Judine Somerville and the Career Transition for Dancers hosted a 'between shows' get together yesterday, May 4, 2011. BroadwayWorld was on hand to celebrate the dance community yesterday and brings you photo coverage below.

The winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and featuring, 'The most gorgeous Broadway score this decade,' (Entertainment Weekly) the 2010 - 2011 National Tour of SPRING AWAKENING will launch in mid October and visit over 60 cities including Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale.

The winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and featuring, 'The most gorgeous Broadway score this decade,' (Entertainment Weekly) the 2010 - 2011 National Tour of SPRING AWAKENING will launch in mid October and visit over 60 cities including Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale.

Last night, February 8, the stars came out to honor stage and screen legend Angela Lansbury at The Drama League's 26th annual all-star gala, 'A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY' at the Pierre New York.

Brian, whose last job was covering the Beast and Gaston in 'Beauty and the Beast,' celebrates his Irish heritage in his 4th Broadway show.

Tony award winner, Karen Ziemba talks to BroadwayBullet backstage at Curtains, her new musical with David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk. She also discusses the show 'Contact' which brought her award and much more!