John Lee News

BroadwayWorld has a first look at the new musical HOOD, now playing at Dallas Theater Center, below! Check out photos of the cast swinging in action!

Not every new musical can be a HAMILTON, but that's exactly what makes the eclectic genre of American musical theatre thrive and bloom. However, there are a few necessary, key ingredients in creating musical theatre magic, including relatable principal characters and some heartfelt showtunes. And, although Dallas Theater Center's efforts to produce an edgy new musical based on the Robin Hood folklore don't ever get past the surface of the legendary story, there's still something irresistible about being in the room where a new work is being created.

Robyn Hurder (Nice Work If You Can Get It, Grease) will take on the role of 'Roxie Hart' in Broadway's record-breaking hit musical CHICAGO from Friday, July 14 through Tuesday, July 18 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.).

Seminal British folk rock band Fairport Convention's 50 th anniversary will be celebrated on July 28 with two exciting releases via A&M/UMe a lavish 7CD box set chronicling their extraordinary first decade entitled, Come All Ye The First Ten Years, and a 180-gram vinyl reissue of their influential classic album, Liege & Lief. Both releases are available for pre-order now.

2017 Regional Theatre Tony Award Recipient Dallas Theater Center will present the world premiere of Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure, a new musical comedy written and directed by five-time Tony-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane with music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn.

The Old Globe presents the first offering in the 2017 Summer Shakespeare Festival: William Shakespeare's epic King Richard II, helmed by award-winning director Erica Schmidt (Off Broadway's A Month in the Country, All the Fine Boys, Humor Abuse) in her Globe debut. The play will run now through July 15, 2017, in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Opening night is tomorrow, June 18, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at Robert Sean Leonard and the company in action below!

Lincoln Center Theater has announced that Steven Pasquale will head the cast of its upcoming production of Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar's new play JUNK, directed by Doug Hughes, beginning previews Thursday, October 5 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

It has just been reported that Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, directed by Kate Whoriskey, will close on Sunday, June 25.

In this febrile climate, do we want societal critique from our theatre or pure escapism? As I experienced when I recently swapped BroadwayWorld UK Editor duties for a New York trip, both theatrical regions are currently just as charged by provocative, resonant commentary as by jazz hands ­– as this year's Tony Award nominations reflect.

Legendary jazz fusion pioneers The Eleventh House's all new album, 'Seven Secrets' will be released today on Savoy Jazz. 43 years after their iconic debut album 'Introducing The Eleventh House with Larry Coryell,' Coryell had reunited with original players Randy Brecker on trumpet, the late Alphonse Mouzon on drums, John Lee on bass and son Julian Coryell on second guitar on this recording. Produced by the band with the help of engineer Luciano Rubio, 'Seven Secrets' is a striking return to form that taps into the magic of The Eleventh House and takes them to the next level. Said Larry prior to his heartbreaking and untimely passing this year: 'It's still jazz the way we envision it, unique, exciting and open to genre-busting adventures. It won't turn off any jazz lovers and we know it will excite people who aren't quite sure if they like jazz just as the vibe we and those other bands did in the 70's. We're still taking jazz to another level without disrespecting it and having an incredible time doing it!' The album captures the unbridled energy and joy of a band reuniteda beautiful work and joyous moment in the legacies of Coryell and Mouzon.

Curated by Juan Michael Porter II, THE SERIES 2017 presents a versatile range of artistically provocative choreographers in contrasting programs of dance.  At each performance, one or two of the 12 guest companies will share the program with Michael Mao Dance in a set of works that run the gamut from social dance to jazz to contemporary ballet to abstract pieces marked by their German Expressionistic values. The common thread running through each company featured in THE SERIES  is the use of spectacular physical virtuosity to communicate fantastic ideas, June 6-11 at the Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 West 26th Street.

Check out these highlights of CHICAGO, the longest running American musical in Broadway history. With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Chicago is now the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team of the first offering in the 2017 Summer Shakespeare Festival: William Shakespeare's epic King Richard II, helmed by award-winning director Erica Schmidt (Off Broadway's A Month in the Country, All the Fine Boys, Humor Abuse) in her Globe debut. The play will run June 11 - July 15, 2017, in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Previews run June 11 - 17. Opening night is Sunday, June 18 at 8:00 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below, plus Robert Sean Leonard in character as King Richard II!

2017 Regional Theatre Tony Award Recipient Dallas Theater Center will present the world premiere of Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure, a new musical comedy written and directed by five-time Tony-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane with music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn.

Curated by Juan Michael Porter II, THE SERIES 2017 presents a versatile range of artistically provocative choreographers in contrasting programs of dance.  At each performance, one or two of the 12 guest companies will share the program with Michael Mao Dance in a set of works that run the gamut from social dance to jazz to contemporary ballet to abstract pieces marked by their German Expressionistic values. The common thread running through each company featured in THE SERIES  is the use of spectacular physical virtuosity to communicate fantastic ideas, June 6-11 at the Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 West 26th Street.

Today, the acclaimed Broadway play Sweat, announced #WeAreSweat, a campaign celebrating the power and sense of community that Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play inspires in audiences.

This season, Manhattan Theatre Club stunned and excited theatregoers when it was announced that Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon, two of the most formidable females of stage and screen, would be returning to the boards in an unconventional new revival of Lillian Hellman's family drama, The Little Foxes.

The winners of the 2017 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards will be announced Monday, May 8, 2017 at approximately 5:30pm. The selections will be made at the organization's 82nd annual voting meeting.

Bianca Marroquin, a regular fixture of Broadway's Tony Award-winning hit musical Chicago, announced via twitter today that she will return to the show as 'Roxie Hart' beginning May 1st for a nine-week run through July 2nd at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St., NYC).

Michael Harney, star of the three-time SAG Award-winning Netflix hit drama series Orange Is The New Black as Inmate Counselor Sam Healy, returns to his theater roots as playwright of the evening of highly anticipated one-act plays right here in Los Angeles.