Joe Tracz News

Theatre in the Park (TIP) opens its 51st season with the Kansas City premiere of the smash Broadway hit a?oeBe More Chilla??. a?oeBe More Chilla?? opens at TIP INDOORS on March 20 and runs through April 5 in the Black Box Theatre at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center.

On the heels of its opening in London, the Broadway musical Be More Chill has announced an all-Chicago cast for its the first North American post-Broadway production at the Apollo Theater.

Be More Chill has announced a six-week extension. It will now run at The Other Palace in London until Sunday 14 June 2020, making it the longest running musical at London's The Other Palace.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature Be More Chill in London, Hamilton in LA and More!

Today's top stories: West Side Story officially opens tonight, and more!

Be More Chill opened in London last night at The Other Palace! It's based on the groundbreaking novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini, with original music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz. Let's see what the critics think!

It's safe to say that Be More Chill's journey to the major stages has been decidedly unconventional. After its New Jersey commission in 2015 and the subsequent limited run and cast recording release, fans started to spread the word thanks to the power of the internet.

NAATCO (National Asian American Theatre Company) founder and Artistic Producing Director Mia Katigbak today announced the creation of The NAATCO National Partnership Project (NNPP), a national theater initiative that will ingrain the inclusion of Asian American theatre artists, technicians, administrators, and community members in the American theater.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a new Tony Kushner adaptation to an epic musical and Shakespeare sitcom, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews, interviews and features!

When it comes to the Junior Theater Festival, Rob Rokicki is all in.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 40 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2020 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 15 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

F*It Club, the New York Innovative Award-winning film and theatre company, will complete ten years of its annual series of short, commissioned world-premiere plays at the IRT Theater as part of their 3B Development Series in Manhattan's West Village with The Spring Fling: Happily Ever After, ten new short plays by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC's This Is Us, The Cake), Matthew Lee Erlbach (Showtime's Masters of Sex, The Doppelganger), Monet Hurst-Mendoza (NBC's Law and Order: SVU ), Daniel K. Isaac (Fullerton), Chelsea Marcantel (Airness), Gregory S. Moss (Indian Summer, punkplay), Leah Nanako Winkler (NBC's New Amsterdam, Kentucky, God Says This), Larry Powell (Lost Dog), Daniel Talbott (ABC's The Conners), & Pia Wilson (National Geographic's Genius).

2020 is already shaping up to be an incredible year of theatre. Here are some of our picks for the best new London shows to see in the new year. Some shows are already running, some start before Christmas, and some are already on sale, so you can get booking before ringing in 2020.

Following the conclusion of its strictly limited 16-week holiday engagement on Broadway, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical will return to the road for a national touring production in the 2020-2021 season.

Be More Chill, the mind-bendingly fun, smash hit Broadway musical, comes to Chicago in a new production at the Apollo Theater. Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill features music and lyrics by Tony nominee Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz. The Chicago production is led by the original creative team of Director Stephen Brackett and Choreographer Chase Brock. Be More Chill starts performances April 17, 2020, at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. The Opening is April 26, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.

C-c-c'mon! As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the viral hit musical Be More Chill is making its UK premiere this February at The Other Palace, and we're getting a first look at the cast that's bringing Jeremy Heere, Michael Mell, The Squip, and more to life in this new video. Check it out!

Casting for the UK premiere of Be More Chill, the mind-bendingly fun, smash hit Broadway musical was announced today.

Broadway Records announced today the surprise release of the Deluxe Edition of the Original Cast Recording of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical as well as a Karaoke Album, now available digitally. Physical copies of the Deluxe cast album are only available at www.BroadwayRecords.com and at the Longacre Theater on Broadway, where the show is playing a strictly limited engagement that must end January 5, 2020.

Michael Park, Glenn McCuen, Gideon Emery, Jennifer Ikeda, and Diego Guevera are set to recur in Netflix's new romantic comedy series Dash & Lily, according to Deadline. 

Get ready to head to Camp Half-blood because BroadwayWorld is giving you the chance to win a pair of tickets to The Lightning Thief! To enter, record your very own TikTok using the song of your choice from The Lightning Thief's cast recording, use the hashtag #LightningThiefBWW, and tag @officialbroadwayworld in your TikTok post. Entries must be submitted by 11:59PM ET on November 8th, and winners will be contacted shortly after. Bring on the monsters and enter TODAY!