John Rapson News

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE to be held on Monday, November 27th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM. Hosted by series Producing Artistic Director and Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis, the popular series allows performers to showcase their versatility and share anecdotes about their experiences. Performers scheduled for November 27th are Zach Adkins (Anastasia), Kennedy Caughell (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812), Erin Clemons (Hamilton), Kayla Davion (Waitress), Amanda Lea LaVergne (Annie), Tony LePage (Come From Away), Madison Micucci (The Band's Visit), Katie Sexton (The Play That Goes Wrong) and Eric Ulloa (On Your Feet!). Musical Director/Accompanist for the evening will be Eugene Gwozdz.

Producers for the Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street announced today that they have sold their 20,000thpie downtown where the show is performing at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street).

The Barrow Street Theatre Pie Shop is full of joy today!

There's a new demon barber in town... The Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street recently welcomed Hugh Panaro as its new leading man.

Below, get a first look at Hugh Panaro and Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello in the Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, now playing at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street, NYC)!

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will welcome Hugh Panaro (as Sweeney Todd) with Jake Boyd (as Anthony), Eryn LeCroy (as Johanna), Michael James Leslie (as Judge Turpin) and John Rapson (as The Beadle) will join the cast including Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello (as Mrs. Lovett), Stacie Bono (as Pirelli & Beggar Woman) and John-Michael Lyles (as Tobias) this week at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street). Check out a first look at Panaro and Carmello in action below!

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE... to be held on Sunday, August 27th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 9 PM.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Today's big news: A WALL APART by Air Supply's Graham Russell opens at NYMF!

Producers of the Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are pleased to announce that Hugh Panaro (as Sweeney Todd) with Jake Boyd (as Anthony), Eryn LeCroy (as Johanna), Michael James Leslie (as Judge Turpin) and John Rapson (as The Beadle) will join the cast.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE... to be held on Monday, July 10th at the series' new home, The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 8 PM.

The 21st Annual IRNE Awards ceremony was held last night in the Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Brookline/Boston. 

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents a concert of the John McMahon-Jay Jeffries musical LOVE AND OTHER FABLES on April 9, 2017 at 7pm.

I should probably say that A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is murderously hilarious. But the Tony Award winner isn't quite an over-the-top farce. The show's music might remind you of anything from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, or perhaps even a bit of Sondheim's A Little Night Music. But it's not quite those, either. The unique, character-driven musical, which plays through Sunday at Broadway Sacramento, is rather silly, rather charming and all together entertaining. Never has murder been so fun.

Genuinely one of the funniest musical comedies to ever grace Broadway, A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER easily proves quite early on---and pretty much throughout its two uproarious acts---why it won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical. Filled with hilarious sight gags, wickedly witty banter, and some of the silliest characters to ever be dropped into a musical (many of which are portrayed by one actor in a dizzying tour-de-force), the show's first national tour continues its way-too-short, week-long stop at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through March 5.

The Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, will play Community Center Theater in Sacramento from March 7 through 12 in its First National Tour.

A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE PROVES TO BE A FROTHY DELIGHT ON A COLD WINTER'S NIGHT The sleeper hit A GENTLEMANS GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER took the 2014 TONY AWARDS by storm when it won the coveted Best Musical prize. Not surprisingly, TONY voters were enthralled with the production, but also realized the potential this delightful chamber sized musical would have touring the country. With it's compact cast and impressive unit set, the provinces are to benefit in attending this charming bon bon that plays out as a cross between a bawdy English Music Hall comedy and a zany British farce. Originally produced by The Hartford Stage and The Old Globe, A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE's journey to Broadway paid off for all involved.

With a title like A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, you could expect a darkly toned show like SWEENEY TODD. Or perhaps something sexy like CHICAGO; or even something historic like ASSASSINS. While murder musicals have been done, you probably haven't seen something quite like this.

When A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER debuted on Broadway In October 2013, very few, if any, theatrical observers pegged the show for a two-plus-year main-stem run and four Tony Awards. After debuting at the Hartford Stage in Connecticut the previous November, and having another out-of-town tryout the following March at the Old Globe in San Diego, the show came to Broadway with very little fan-fare. Over-shadowed in the season by bigger-name musicals like ALADDIN, LES MISERABLES, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROL KING MUSICAL, and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE trudged along in its first six months in New York hovering between $400,000-$500,000 at the weekly box office; likely not covering its operating costs.

A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER has been delighting audiences everywhere since its award-winning debut in 2012. Nashville got to experience that joy when it made its debut at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall opening night on Tues., Jan. 24. The show is nothing short of a spectacle, providing equal parts comedy with dark wit and standout performances to match.

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.