Joe Mantello News

Beginning performances on Tuesday, March 23, MANDY GONZALEZ, who originated the role of Nina in the Broadway musical, In the Heights, will assume the role of Elphaba in the musical blockbuster WICKED. Mandy joins a cast which includes Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda, Tony Award-winner Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as The Wizard, Andy Karl as Fiyero, Alex Brightman as Boq, Jenny Fellner as Nessarose, and Timothy Britten Parker as Dr. Dillamond. The role of Elphaba is currently being played by Dee Roscioli.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2005 & 2007, WICKED, the smash-hit musical, will return to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis, June 16-July 11. Tickets for the return engagement go on sale Sunday, April 18 at noon. Tickets will be available at the Fox Theatre box office, all MetroTix locations, online at www.metrotix.com or by phone at 314-534-1111. Orders for groups of 20 or more may be placed by calling 314-535-2900. Ticket prices range from $33 - $80 depending on performance date and seat location. All prices are subject to change; please refer to www.fabulousfox.com for current pricing.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23rd for Roundabout Theatre Company's (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) upcoming Broadway production of Terrence McNally's comedy Lips Together, Teeth Apart starring Megan Mullally (Chloe Haddock), Patton Oswalt (Sam Truman), Lili Taylor (Sally Truman) and David Wilson Barnes (John Haddock).

UK editor-in-chief Carrie Dunn talks to the Broadway star before her concert series in London...

Justin Bartha, Jesse Eisenberg, and Katie Kreisler will headline the upcoming reading of Eisenberg's new play THE AMBASSADORS this Sunday, February 21st, at the Rattlestick Theatre. The play will be featured as part of the Evening Reading Series.

Aaron Louis (Producing Director, 3LD Art & Technology Center) in association with New Georges and The Essentials, will present the world premiere of THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, written by Marielle Heller, adapted from the hit graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner, and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde and Rachel Eckerling in a multi-media production. Performances will begin on Sunday, March 15 at 8:00 p.m. at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street (just south of Rector Street). The official opening night will be Sunday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m. (Performances will run through Monday, April 12.)

Under the direction of Joe Mantello (Glengarry GLen Ross, Take Me Out), THE PRIDE features Hugh Dancy (Adam, Journey's End), Adam James (Last Chance Harvey), Andrea Riseborough (Happy Go Lucky) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited). Ms. Riseborough and Mr. Whishaw are making their New York stage debuts.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that their all new production of Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride, directed by Joe Mantello (Glengarry Glen Ross, Take Me Out), will extend for an additional week.

Under the direction of Joe Mantello (Glengarry GLen Ross, Take Me Out), THE PRIDE features Hugh Dancy (Adam, Journey's End), Adam James (Last Chance Harvey), Andrea Riseborough (Happy Go Lucky) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited). Ms. Riseborough and Mr. Whishaw are making their New York stage debuts.

Performances began last week at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) and continue through March 20, 2010. The show officially opened on Tuesday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m. and BroadwayWorld.com was there!

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from Wednesday, February 17 through Sunday, March 7 at The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, in downtown Dayton.

The national tour of WICKED is set to play at Dayton's Victoria Theatre beginning February 17th and will run through March 7th. For tickets and more information, please visit Ticketmaster.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater continues its 15th anniversary season with the world premiere of Blind, by Craig Wright (The Pavilion, Lady). Directed by Lucie Tiberghein (The Pavilion, Geometry of Fire), performances begin Wednesday, February 17th, 2010. Opening night is Thursday, February 25th at 7pm. The show is scheduled to run through Sunday, March 21st, 2010.

While the Northern East Coast of the U.S. was hammered with blizzard-like conditions last week, Broadway vet Kevin Kern was busy with the launch of THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, the concert revue he co-stars in, which compiles many of the prolific composer's musical hits that are in turn interpreted by six talented, well-known performers of the Broadway stage. Luckily, he and the extraordinary cast will get the chance to thaw out a little bit when the show pays a visit to the Orange County Performing Arts Center for a limited, one-week engagement on February 16 through 21. Kern-whose theater credits include Broadway's Wicked, The Wedding Singer, and Les Miserables, as well as the pre-Broadway runs of 9 to 5: The Musical and Next to Normal-recently took some time in between performances to talk with BroadwayWorld/Costa Mesa to discuss the concert, as well as his early work in the original casts of Altar Boyz and 9 to 5 (in the latter, he divulges his early star-struck shyness towards a certain Ms. Parton). He also breaks the exclusive news (to us first!) about his upcoming involvement in a hit Broadway musical that's about to cross the pond over to London!

Tickets are currently available for all American Express customers for Roundabout's upcoming production of LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART. The presale began February 15th for all cardholders and will last through February 20th.

Roundabout Theatre Company will welcome back Tony Award® winner Brian Bedford in Oscar Wilde's comic play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Alley Theatre's world premiere of the new musical Wonderland will close on Sunday, February 14.

The New York Times profiles Hollywood producer Robert Evans today, who is the subject of an upcoming Broadway play penned by television writer Jon Robin Baitz, as BroadwayWorld previously reported. The story will surround Evans real life events. In the Times article, Evans discusses how he suffered a stroke and was originally paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak. After much work, Evans has been able to return to his role of successful Hollywood producer.

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from Wednesday, February 17 through Sunday, March 7 at The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, in downtown Dayton.

Eden Espinosa, who has performed the role of Elphaba to critical acclaim on Broadway, San Francisco, and in Los Angeles, will return to San Francisco to star in the open-ended engagement of WICKED now playing at the Orpheum Theatre. Since it's opening in the Bay Area a year ago, WICKED has been seen by close to a million people. And the show continues to be a cultural phenomenon having just shattered its own record to become the highest grossing show in Broadway history.