John Bolton News

On November 8th, A Christmas Story, The Musical! launches its National Tour at The Hershey Theatre in Hershey, PA. America's #1 Christmas movie comes to life on stage as hilarious holiday musical featuring a bright holiday score by composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Joseph Robinette based on the writings of radio humorist Jean Shepherd and the 1983 holiday film favorite. Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown, The Wedding Singer) will direct the production with Warren Carlyle (Finian's Rainbow, Follies, An Evening With Hugh Jackman) choreographing. Peter Billingsley, who starred as Ralphie in the original 1983 film, serves as a producer for the holiday tour.

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical! congratulate their composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul on receiving the 2011 Songwriter's Fellowship Award.

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical! have announced complete casting for the 2011 holiday season tour. Broadway favorite Karen Mason (Wonderland, Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard) will play school teacher Miss Shields in an ensemble that includes John Francis Babbo, Jonathan Burke, Andrew Cristi, Sally Elting, Nick Gaswirth, Nicholas Gonzales, Casey Gorab, Drea Gordon, Leslie Henstock, Carl Kimbrough, Sean Mcknight, Mara Newbery, Lyn Philistine, Charlie Plummer, Alex Puette, Johnny Rabe, Kayla Rea, Emily Rudolph, Jake Bennett Siegfried, Marguerite Willbanks, George Andrew Wolff, Kirsten Wyatt and Adam Pelty (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Steel Pier) will play Santa.

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical! have announced the latest additions to their creative team and principal cast. Tony Award winning John Rando (Urinetown, The Wedding Singer) has signed on as the new director for the national holiday tour.

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. (www.UnsungMusicals.org) will present a special exploratory reading of the 1969 musical comedy The Fig Leaves Are Falling as part of The Archival Project, a UMC initiative aimed at researching, assembling and restoring the material from unpublished and out-of-print musical shows.

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. will present a special exploratory reading of the 1969 musical comedy The Fig Leaves Are Falling as part of The Archival Project, a UMC initiative aimed at researching, assembling and restoring the material from unpublished and out-of-print musical shows. Featuring John Bolton (Curtains, Spamalot), Troy Britton Johnson (The Drowsy Chaperone), Natalie Venetia Belcon (Avenue Q) and Cortney Wolfson (Legally Blonde, The Addams Family), the reading will be held on July 29 at 3pm at Manhattan Theatre Club's Creative Center, 311 West 43rd Street.

The annual Helpmann Awards® recognise distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in the many disciplines of Australia's vibrant live performance sectors, including musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre. The Helpmann Awards also incorporates the JC Williamson Award for outstanding contribution to the Australian live performance industry.

If I Were a Rich Man, Little Tin Box, Til Tomorrow, She Loves Me, Will He Like Me and Sunrise, Sunset are just a few of the tunes that were be brought to life on Monday, May 16, 2011, at New York's legendary National Arts Club. The Theatre Museum paid tribute to legendary Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick -- the Museums 2011 Career Achievement Award recipient. The award was presented from longtime colleague Hal Prince, winner of an unprecedented 21 Tony Awards.

Classic tunes from Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, and others will fill the air at New Yorks legendary National Arts Club on Monday May 16, 2011 as The Theatre Museum pays tribute to famed Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick -- its 2011 Career Achievement Award recipient.

If I Were a Rich Man, Little Tin Box, Til Tomorrow, She Loves Me, Will He Like Me and Sunrise, Sunset are just a few of the tunes that will be brought to life next Monday -- May 16, 2011-- at New Yorks legendary National Arts Club as The Theatre Museum pays tribute to legendary Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick -- the Museums 2011 Career Achievement Award recipient.

Classic tunes from Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, and others will fill the air at New Yorks legendary National Arts Club on Monday May 16, 2011 as The Theatre Museum pays tribute to famed Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick -- its 2011 Career Achievement Award recipient.

The Green Room Awards took place at The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne last night, and global favorite MARY POPPINS led the night with a total of nine awards out of its twelve nominations. Yana Alana and the Paranas in Concert, a cabaret production, was a close second for total awards with six out of eight cabaret awards.

From the Cast of ANYTHING GOES and SPIDER-MAN, to the Ladies of THE VIEW, Raul Esparza, Barbra Streisand, Alan Menken, Bernadette Peters, Susan Boyle, Kelsey Grammer, GLEE and everyone in between...it's the BroadwayWorld.com 2011 Valentine's Day Special! Its Biggest Ever!

The Sixth Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, produced by Goodspeed Musicals' Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, kicks off its much anticipated three day festival of brand new works on Friday, January 14, at the Goodspeed Opera House with a staged reading of Room 16.

The Sixth Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, produced by Goodspeed Musicals' Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, kicks off its much anticipated three day festival of brand new works on Friday, January 14, at the Goodspeed Opera House with a staged reading of Room 16.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is presenting a brand new addition to holiday theater offerings with the new adaptation of the classic 1983 film, "A Christmas Story: The Musical". And while half the show harkened fond memories of the film and left me with a wonderful sense of hope for this new piece of musical theater, the other half fell into old familiar musical traps and left me wanting as it shot its eye out. In case you haven't seen the movie that is shown incessantly over the holiday season (sometimes for 24 hour periods nonstop) here's a brief rundown. We follow the quest of young Ralphie Parker as he plots and schemes to convince his parents (and Santa) to get him the best Christmas present in the world, a Red Ryder 200 Shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. The problem is he keeps running into obstacles of his Mother, his teacher and even Santa as they warn him away from the gift with the familiar, "You'll shoot your eye out." But Ralphie is tenacious and will have his prize. Meanwhile we also get to know the rest of the Parkers and their neighbors as we dive into the world of story originator Jean Shepherd. Complete with bullies, major awards and triple dog dares, the story harkens back to a simpler time when the biggest thing kids had to worry about was what Santa was bringing them. The show itself is a charmer with book by Joseph Robinette who manages to keep the feel of the original material intact and still hits all the points and jokes that have become so familiar. The problem I ran into was with the songs. As I said, half of the show worked great. Act One was filled with wonderful tuners that captured the tone perfectly. And composers/lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul seemed to show that someone understands the structure of musical theater. The songs were either perfect for moving the story along or emphasizing through song what a character couldn't do any other way. And the songs "Ralphie to the Rescue" and "A Major Award" were both complete show stoppers and crucial to the story. Then we hit Act Two and suddenly it was like a completely different writing team as the songs ceased being essential as every single moment in the play got one right up to the end. So many superfluous numbers that could have been forsaken for just telling the story weighed down the second half until it finally ended with a whimper of exhaustion. The cast however is superb and has the perfect style for the period. Clarke Hallum plays the scheming Ralphie and even though he was a bit presentational at times, his voice is right up there with any of the adults on stage. Anne Allgood is endearingly lovely as Ralphie's Mother and her moment in Act Two where she covers for Ralphie had me in tears. Frank Corrado is spot on as the narrator Jean Shepherd as he weaves this wonderful tale for us in the guise of a radio drama. And special kudos to John Bolton as Ralphie's "Old Man" who practically steals the show with is antics and especially with his overly zealous "Major Award" number. With a gorgeous set from Walt Spangler and costumes that look like they were transported right from the movie by Elizabeth Hope Clancy, this show could have been the new theatrical holiday standard by which all of the "Elf"s, and "Grinch"s would be judged. I only wish the writers had realized what they were doing so right in the first half and could have kept it up in the second. "A Christmas Story: The Musical" plays at the 5th Avenue Theatre through December 30th. For tickets or information contact the 5th Avenue Box Office at 206-625-1900 or toll free at 888-5TH-4TIX (584-4849) or visit them online at www.5thavenue.org. Photo Credit: Chris Bennion

Asher Fogle, a journalist and the wife of composer/lyricist Justin Paul, gives BroadwayWorld an exclusive first hand report of opening night for A Christmas Story: The Musical! in Seattle. Fogle met Paul when she was a graduate journalism student at Columbia University, concentrating on arts reporting and cultural criticism. She is currently a freelance reporter for a variety of entertainment publications in New York.

Based on the stories of radio humorist Jean Shepherd and adapted from the hilarious 1983 family holiday film, A Christmas Story: The Musical! follows young Ralphie Parker, as he schemes his way towards the holiday gift of his dreams -- a Red Ryder 200 Shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. With its sparkling original score by Broadway's hottest young composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, its wicked wit, and its heart of pure gold, A Christmas Story: The Musical! is a yuletide delight for the whole family.

Based on the stories of radio humorist Jean Shepherd and adapted from the hilarious 1983 family holiday film, A Christmas Story: The Musical! follows young Ralphie Parker, as he schemes his way towards the holiday gift of his dreams -- a Red Ryder 200 Shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. With its sparkling original score by Broadway's hottest young composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, its wicked wit, and its heart of pure gold, A Christmas Story: The Musical! plays through December 30, 2010, and is a yuletide delight for the whole family.

We are pleased to announce the cast for A Christmas Story: The Musical!, the 5th Avenue Theatre's upcoming holiday production. The roster features an impressive array of Seattle area talent, as well as three actors from New York.