Jonathan Larson News

Murder Ballad's Caissie Levy & Will Swenson will be on NY1 'On Stage' this weekend beginning Saturday, June 22 and repeated 5 times over the weekend on channel 1.

On July 8th, 2013 at 7:30pm, Interstate, a new concert musical, will have its first public staged reading as part of this year's HOT! Festival presented by Dixon Place. Written and performed by Melissa Li and Kit Yan, the musical follows the drama of two queer Asian-American performers embarking on their first cross-country tour with a new white drummer and learning to negotiate their relationships with their art, their communities, and each other. Melissa Li and Kit Yan, professional composer and spoken word artist, respectively, are both established NYC-based artists and long-time collaborators. This is their first musical together.

Primary Stages launches their 29th season with the New York premiere of Harbor by Tony-nominated writer Chad Beguelin (Elf, The Wedding Singer). Directed by Tony-nominated director Mark Lamos (Seascape, The Rivals, The Deep Blue Sea), the production features Erin Cummings (Starz's 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand', CBS' 'Made In Jersey'), Randy Harrison (Showtime's 'Queer As Folk', Broadway's Wicked), Alexis Molnar (world premiere of Harbor at Westport Playhouse), and Paul Anthony Stewart (Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof, The People in the Picture). Harbor runs July 23 - September 8 at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters. Opening night is August 6.

Goodspeed Musicals has announced the cast of LMNOP, an edgy new musical about an island whose citizens begin to lose their freedoms one letter at a time. The musical will run from July 25 to August 18 at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. ­- Goodspeed's home for developing fresh, innovative, and original new musicals.

Spectrum has announced Rétes, a new collaborative series on the first Sunday of each month at 7pm, beginning July 7th. Curated by composer and choreographic pianist, Eleonor Sandresky, the series will feature collaborations with fellow composer/performers.

The New York Musical Theater Festival will present a one-night-only staged concert featuring the music and lyrics of the 2013 Kleban Award-winning writer Daniel Mate on Monday July 15th with performances at 6:30pm and 9:30pm.

Sunfish, the award-winning musical by the songwriting team of Michael Cooper and Hyeyoung Kim has been selected to open DIMF (Daegu International Musical Festival), the largest international Musical Theatre festival in the world, today, June 17, 2013. Performances run at the Daegu Opera House through June 23rd.

Bucquisto: The Bar Mitzvah Concert, an evening celebrating the 13th anniversary of the songwriting team of Sammy Buck and Daniel S. Acquisto, will be presented tonight, June 17 at The Duplex.

Happy Birthday, Neil Patrick Harris! A veteran of the theater, Harris recently tackled the role of Bobby in the New York Philharmonic's production of Stephen Sondheim's 'Company' at Lincoln Center. Harris made his Broadway debut in the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'Proof,' and subsequently starred on the Great White Way as the Emcee in 'Cabaret,' and as The Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald in the Tony Award-winning production of 'Assassins.' His additional theater credits include roles in 'All My Sons,' 'Tick, Tick... Boom,' 'The Paris Letter,' 'Sweeney Todd,' 'Rent' and 'Romeo and Juliet.' Harris made his theatrical directorial debut with 'I Am Grock' at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. Additionally, he directed a production of Jonathan Larson's 'Rent' at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and more recently he helmed a production of 'The Expert at the Card Table' at the Broad Stage Theater.

Sunfish, the award-winning musical by the songwriting team of Michael Cooper and Hyeyoung Kim has been selected to open DIMF (Daegu International Musical Festival), the largest international Musical Theatre festival in the world, Monday, June 17, 2013. Performances run at the Daegu Opera House through June 23rd.

Connecticut's premier outdoor Shakespeare will present As You Like It, tonight, June 13-30, 2013. The show is one of Shakespeare's most beloved and pastoral comedies. Claire Shannon Kelly, currently the Director of Youth Programming for Shakespeare on the Sound and the director of the company's touring educational program, 'Speaking Daggers,' will direct. Kelly previously worked at the Ordway Theater, the Guthrie Theater, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and the George Street Playhouse. She is a resident of New Canaan.

Bay Area Cabaret concluded its 2012-2013 season by honoring the memory and legendary career of composer Marvin Hamlisch on June 2, 2013. Selections from his work (A Chorus Line, The Way We Were, They're Playing Our Song) were performed by special guests, including Broadway stars Lisa Vroman (The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd) and Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard), Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch, 2012 Bay Area Teen Idol winner Bobby Conte Thornton, Academy Award-winning songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and more. Scroll down for photos from the celebration!

The New Voices Collective is excited to present the world premiere of Leaving Home - a triple bill of three one-act musicals with music by Jonathan Larson Award-winner Sam Davis (Bunnicula) and book and lyrics by Drama Desk-nominee Sean Hartley (Cupid and Psyche). An amazing cast includes Stanley Bahorek (Spelling Bee, Big River, February House), Sarah Corey (Illyria, Caroline, or Change) Malcolm Gets (The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Amour, The Apple Tree), Edward Hibbert (Frasier, Curtains, Drowsy Chaperone) Kirsten Scott (Follies, Hairspray), A.J. Shively (La Cage aux Folles) and Sally Wilfert (Assassins, Make Me A Song, See Rock City).

The New Voices Collective will present the world premiere of Leaving Home - a triple bill of three one-act musicals with music by Jonathan Larson Award-winner Sam Davis (Bunnicula) and book and lyrics by Drama Desk-nominee Sean Hartley (Cupid and Psyche). An amazing cast includesStanley Bahorek (Spelling Bee, Big River, February House), Sarah Corey (Illyria, Caroline, or Change) Malcolm Gets (The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Amour, The Apple Tree), Edward Hibbert (Frasier, Curtains, Drowsy Chaperone) Kirsten Scott (Follies, Hairspray), A.J. Shivley (La Cage aux Folles) and Sally Wilfert (Assassins, Make Me A Song, See Rock City).

Speaking on tonight's Tonys red carpet, composing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul revealed that they are writing an original musical to be directed by Michael Greif, as well as crafting a new stage musical for Disney. The duo is nominated tonight for Best Score for A Christmas Story - The Musical, which they say has hopes of returning to Broadway -- or at least New York -- every year for the holiday season.

Washington National Opera (WNO) will present the world premiere of Approaching Ali tonight and Saturday, June 8-9, 2013 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Approaching Ali features music by composer D.J. Sparr and a libretto by Mark Campbell and Davis Miller, based on Miller's own autobiographical novella. This new work is the first hourlong opera created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, WNO's new commissioning program for contemporary American opera, and will be directed by Nicole Watson in her WNO debut.

Last month, Chicago's St. James Cathedral announced its fourth summer of free concerts, the "Music in the Neighborhood" series. And for the third straight year, BroadwayWorld Chicago's Regional Editor, Paul W. Thompson, author of the weekly column, "The Showtune Mosh Pit," will be performing on the series! This year, Thompson's concert will take place on Thursday, June 13, 2013, at 5:30 pm at 65 E. Huron Street in Chicago's Magnificent Mile neighborhood. His show is called, 'This Is Not Over Yet: Broadway Songs of the Millennial Era (1995-2003)." And today, his set list is being released!

Bucquisto: The Bar Mitzvah Concert, an evening celebrating the 13th anniversary of the songwriting team of Sammy Buck and Daniel S. Acquisto, will be presented June 17 at The Duplex.

Last month, Chicago's St. James Cathedral announced its fourth summer of free concerts, the "Music in the Neighborhood" series. And for the third straight year, BroadwayWorld Chicago's Regional Editor, Paul W. Thompson, author of the weekly column, "The Showtune Mosh Pit," will be performing on the series! This year, Thompson's concert will take place on Thursday, June 13, 2013, at 5:30 pm at 65 E. Huron Street in Chicago's Magnificent Mile neighborhood. His show is called, 'This Is Not Over Yet: Broadway Songs of the Millennial Era (1995-2003)." And today, his set list is being released!

JP Productions today announces the lead casting details for their forthcoming UK tour of the smash-hit Tony Award winning Broadway musical 'Rent'.