John Lithgow News

Manhattan Theatre Club's hit production of Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning MASTER CLASS, directed by Stephen Wadsworth must end its extended engagement at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) on Sunday September 4 after playing 26 preview performances and 70 regular performances. The play began previews on Tuesday, June 14 and opened Thursday, July 7 to rave reviews for the production and Tyne Daly's performance as the legendary Maria Callas. The production was extended twice due to popular demand.

Weekend movie box office estimates: August 19-21, 2011.

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. Tickets for the Miami premiere at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County will go on sale to Arsht Center members on August 15 and to the general public on August 22, as announced by the Arsht Center and Broadway Across America.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) announced that Emmy Award nominee Hugh Dancy (Journey's End, 'The Big C') will star with Tony nominee Nina Arianda in Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of VENUS IN FUR, the acclaimed new play by David Ives, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie.

Weekend movie box office estimates: August 12-14, 2011.

Barnes & Noble (The Grove at Farmers Market, 189 Grove Drive Suite K 30, Los Angeles, CA 90036) will welcome Tony-award winning singer and actress, Lea Salonga, for a performance and signing in celebration of her new CD, The Journey So Far. This live CD contains songs from musical theater, film, and the jazz and pop worlds.

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. Tickets for the Miami premiere at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County will go on sale to Arsht Center members on August 15 and to the general public on August 22, as announced by the Arsht Center and Broadway Across America.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels premiered on Broadway in March of 2005 at the Imperial Theater, and ran for more than 625 appearances.

Lea Salonga's new live CD - The Journey So Far - is set for release by LML Music/Allegro Distribution on August 9. Salonga, the Tony Award-winning Filipina singer and actress, is best known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon (and for which she won the Tony, Olivier, Drama Desk Outer Critics and Theatre World Awards), will highlight the release of the CD with a worldwide tour throughout 2011-12.

Tony Award winner Ms. Salonga is currently in town for an exclusive three-week return engagement, featuring an all-new program entitled Lea Salonga: New York in June, at the Café Carlyle at The Carlyle running until June 25. Ms. Salonga's new live album, 'The Journey So Far' (Recorded live at the Café Carlyle last year) is available for pre-order on www.leasalonga.com and will be released by LML Music on August 9.

Just over a year since she debuted her critically acclaimed cabaret act at New York's Café Carlyle (and only weeks after her 2011 stint at the same venue), Lea Salonga's new live CD - The Journey So Far - is set for release by LML Music/Allegro Distribution on Tuesday, August 9, giving her fans the world over a chance to hear her crystalline voice on a new recording, which was executive produced by Nashville's own Chris Keaton.

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. Rehearsals for the tour begin today in New York City. Joining the previously announced Tony Awardâ nominee Douglas Sills as Gomez and Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia are Tony Awardâ nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Awardâ nominee Crista Moore as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthree as Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley, Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

Weekend movie box office estimates: August 5-7, 2011.

Today we are talking to a singular literary talent who has written for Broadway, Hollywood, television and film, but, besides her Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway debut, ‘NIGHT MOTHER, which opened on Broadway in 1982, she is perhaps best known as the Tony-winning book-writer for two particularly beloved musicals of the last few decades: THE SECRET GARDEN and THE COLOR PURPLE. Generously covering her varied career writing for stage and screen, Ms. Norman and I discuss her process, her passions, her many projects old and new, and, most importantly, the two premieres she has looming large on the horizon in the next year, both coming after her highly successful collaboration with Jason Robert Brown on THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN symphonic suite (available now on PS Classics) and the recent world premiere of her new play, THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB, at the Guthrie Theater: in addition to writing the book for Jason Robert Brown's musical adaptation of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, we also discuss her newest project for Theater For Humans which is focused on international women's and children's issues and the manner in which she will tackle the hot button topics of human trafficking and enslavement in it. Additionally, we touch on the bumpy Broadway road of THE RED SHOES and working with Jule Styne, NY versus LA, musicals versus plays, GLEE, WEST SIDE STORY at the Hollywood Bowl, playwrighting pal Teresa Rebeck, as well as much, much more!

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels premiered on Broadway in March of 2005 at the Imperial Theater, and ran for more than 625 appearances.

Single tickets are available now for Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of VENUS IN FUR by David Ives, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie featuring Tony Award nominee Nina Arianda reprising her acclaimed breakthrough performance.

West Coast Ensemble's smash-hit critically-acclaimed production of GYPSY, with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, musical direction by Johanna Kent, choreography by John Todd and directed by Richard Israel, will close on Sunday, July 31 at the Theatre of Arts Arena Stage, 1625 N. Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood.

If you're looking for a quick roundup of the events this week in the theatre world, look no further: here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

On July 28, 2011 celebrities took to the red carpet for the premiere of the new movie from 20th Century Fox RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Those in attendance included Tom Felton, Terry Notary, Rupert Wyatt and more.

For one very special evening, Elliott Masie's Learning 2011 conference will present the extraordinary John Lithgow in his one-man theatrical memoir, STORIES BY HEART. Earlier in the day, Elliott Masie will interview John Lithgow on the ‘Power of Storytelling' - a key competency in the ever evolving field of Learning.