Joe Mantello News

Think of it as a newfangled take on our venerated Southern hospitality-my mama raised me right, for goodness' sake-and what's more Southern than welcoming newcomers into our community? Whiskey and barbecue, of course, but until then this column will have to suffice, even if the ensemble's Patrick O'Neill has suffered through some 20 years of barbecue deficiency. Until we can rectify that situation, this is just gonna have to do…

The company is seeking Stephen Daldry to helm WICKED; Daldry - who has received Academy Award nominations for his work on BILLY ELLIOT, THE HOURS and more - most recently received a 2011 nomination for EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE.

A day-of-performance drawing for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held for WICKED, which is returning to the Capitol Theatre with performances from July 18-August 26.

Second Stage Theatre presents the world premiere musical, DOGFIGHT. Previews began June 27 in anticipation of a July 16 opening. The cast features Nick Blaemire (Godspell), Annaleigh Ashford (Rent, Wicked, Legally Blonde), Becca Ayers (The Addams Family, Avenue Q), Steven Booth (Glory Days), Dierdre Friel (Leap of Faith), Adam Halpin (Glory Days), F. Michael Haynie (Carrie), Derek Klena (Carrie), Lindsay Mendez (Godspell, Second Stage's Everyday Rapture), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet), and Josh Segarra(Lysistrata Jones). Get a first look at DOGFIGHT with Annaleigh Ashford, Josh Segarra and more in the photos below!

Jesse Eisenberg, the actor and playwright who's best known for his Oscar-nominated turn in THE SOCIAL NETWORK and whose play ASUNCION played the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater last year, will bring a new play to the 2012-13 Rattlestick season.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that it will extend the run of its critically acclaimed production of Amy Herzog's 4000 MILES, directed by Daniel Aukin, for a second time, through Sunday, July 1 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street). The original run of the production was extended through Sunday, June 17 after 4000 MILES opened to critical acclaim in early April.

As previously reported, Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 is headed to the West End, with an opening night set for October 16 at the Manchester Opera House. The Daily Mail announces today that Jackie Clune will play 'Violet,' alongside Bonnie Langford as 'Roz,' Natalie Casey as 'Judy,' Ben Richards as 'Franklin Hart' and Amy Lennox as 'Doralee.'

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) have just announced two additional productions for Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming 2012-2013 theatrical season. Meadow and Mandy Greenfield, MTC's Artistic Producer who is the lead in programming and execution at MTC's Off-Broadway home, are finalizing plans for the rest of the 2012-2013 season.

The Tony Award-winning star of Broadway's Wicked and the original stage production of Rent, just made a stop at the Midland in Kansas City on June 19. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the concert below!

piece by piece productions, Rising Phoenix Repertory, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater have announced that the world premiere of 3C, written by David Adjmi and directed by Jackson Gay, opens tonight Thursday, June 21 at 7pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place.

Second Stage Theatre will present the world premiere musical, DOGFIGHT. Previews begin June 27 in anticipation of a July 16 opening. The cast features Nick Blaemire (Godspell), Annaleigh Ashford (Rent, Wicked, Legally Blonde), Becca Ayers (The Addams Family, Avenue Q), Steven Booth (Glory Days), Dierdre Friel (Leap of Faith), Adam Halpin (Glory Days), F. Michael Haynie (Carrie), Derek Klena (Carrie), Lindsay Mendez (Godspell, Second Stage's Everyday Rapture), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet), and Josh Segarra (Lysistrata Jones). Check out the lastest backstage at DOGFIGHT with Annaleigh Ashford, Josh Segarra and more below!

The LCT3 production of Slowgirl, a new play by Greg Pierce, directed by Anne Kauffman and featuring Željko Ivanek and Sarah Steele, makes its world premiere tonight, June 18, as the first production to be presented by LCT3 in its new home, The Claire Tow Theater, on the roof of Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). Slowgirl will run for six weeks only through Sunday, July 15. All tickets are $20.

Goodspeed Musicals will proudly honor the Hoffman Auto Group on Saturday, August 11, 2012 with the very first Goodspeed Musicals Arts & Business Partnership Award. Goodspeed will also honor Emmy and Tony-Award winner Kristin Chenoweth with The Goodspeed Award for Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre.

WICKED, one of the most anticipated musical productions of the 2012 - 2013 KeyBank Broadway at the Paramount series will go on sale to the public on Friday, June 22 at 10am. Tickets will be available on-line at stgpresents.org, tickets.com, and select Ticketmaster locations. Tickets will also be available by calling 877-STG-4TIX (784-4849) or in person at The Paramount Theatre Box Office (Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm). There is an 8-ticket limit per patron.

Second Stage Theatre will present the world premiere musical, DOGFIGHT. Previews begin June 27 in anticipation of a July 16 opening. Nick Blaemire (Godspell) joins the previously announced Annaleigh Ashford (Rent, Wicked, Legally Blonde), Becca Ayers (The Addams Family, Avenue Q), Steven Booth (Glory Days), Dierdre Friel (Leap of Faith), Adam Halpin (Glory Days), F. Michael Haynie (Carrie), Derek Klena (Carrie), Lindsay Mendez (Godspell, Second Stage's Everyday Rapture), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet), and Josh Segarra (Lysistrata Jones).

Now that the 2012 awards season has come to a close, BroadwayWorld is looking ahead to an exciting season coming up. This summer/fall Broadway will welcome a plethora of productions - from star-studded revivals to exciting new musicals. Below, we bring you the line-up of officially announced upcoming shows (still subject to change). Don't forget to stay tuned for more even more opening announcements expected soon!

AccordiNg to the New York Times, David Mamet's 1984 play Glengarry Glen Ross is heading back to Broadway, this time starring Al Pacino as leading man, 'Shelly "The Machine" Levene.' Pacino previously played 'Richard Roma' the the 1992 film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Daniel Sullivan is attached to direct the project, which is set to open in the 2012-13 season.

Over 350 guests including current and past New York City high school students, and the performing arts professional mentors who have participated in TDF's Open Doors, the theatre arts mentoring program that TDF founded in 1998 with playwright Wendy Wasserstein, will attend this year's graduation at 5:30pm tonight, June 11 at The Pershing Square Signature Center - Irene Diamond Stage (480 West 42nd Street, NYC). This year has been Open Doors' biggest year ever with a total of 23 mentors and 7 guest mentors working with 22 groups of students from New York City high schools.