Joseph Smith News

After being on the road for almost two years now, the hilarious Tony Award-winning Broadway musical hit THE BOOK OF MORMON has finally made its way inside the OC... And, man, it's about frikkin' time. All that hype and hyperbole about just how amazing this show is isn't an exaggeration; every accolade this show has received since its bow is indeed much-deserved. The giddy, uber-devilish musical continues its two-week mission at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through May 25.

How do you take a devout, sacred religion like Mormonism, pack in a bunch of old, Ohio conservatives, and somehow manage to have them laughing in stitches on topics like female circumcision, rape, AIDS, and homosexuality? That's the genius of South Park writers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with AVENUE Q co-creator Robert Lopez, who accomplished just that. With 9 Tony Awards under its belt (holding in the maggots), THE BOOK OF MORMON is a truly brilliant creation of musical comedy, combining shamelessly offensive language with a generous heartfelt story, uplifting songs, terrific choreography, and quick wit. Continuous tornado sirens on opening press night didn't stop Ohioans from cramming in the Ohio Theatre to worship this truly amazing production.

The time is 1910 but the gamesmanship is timeless in Karoline Leach's Tryst, a suspenseful, romantic, psychological thriller that concludes Palm Beach Dramaworks' 2013-2014 season. Tryst opens on Friday, May 16 (8pm) and continues through June 8 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre (201 Clematis Street), with specially priced previews on May 14 and 15.

Old Vic Productions and Hampstead Theatre Productions are delighted to announce the full cast for West End transfer of critically acclaimed Good People which will play a limited season of just ten weeks at the No?l Coward Theatre from 10th April, as previously announced.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were established hit makers when they teamed up to make a musical about cowboys and farmers. What follows was a miracle-Oklahoma!, then Carousel and South Pacific; the list of extraordinary hits goes on. Tonight, April 5 and April 6 and 7 get to know these legends even better at Getting to Know You: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lyrics & Lyricists first look at the two songwriters as a team. Guest artistic director, writer and host Ted Chapin, head of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, shares an insider's perspective on the pair, gleaned from his years with the Rodgers and Hammerstein families; joined by vocalists Lewis Cleale, Mandy Gonzalez, Jonathan Groff, Rebecca Luker, and Phillipa Soo.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were established hit makers when they teamed up to make a musical about cowboys and farmers. What follows was a miracle-Oklahoma!, then Carousel and South Pacific; the list of extraordinary hits goes on. On April 5, 6 and 7 get to know these legends even better at Getting to Know You: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lyrics & Lyricists first look at the two songwriters as a team. Guest artistic director, writer and host Ted Chapin, head of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, shares an insider's perspective on the pair, gleaned from his years with the Rodgers and Hammerstein families; joined by vocalists Lewis Cleale, Mandy Gonzalez, Jonathan Groff, Rebecca Luker, and Phillipa Soo.

This tour is quite well done, with strong vocals for the leads. Evans nails 'I Believe' and Ncube shows a lovely soprano in her national tour debut. O'Neill, making his professional debut, shows solid comic ability as the awkward Cunningham

The producers of hit Broadway musical MEMPHIS are delighted to officially announce that multi award-winning recording artist Beverley Knight will star as club singer 'Felicia' when the show comes to London's West End this autumn. MEMPHIS, winner of four 2010 Tony Awards® including Best Musical has Grammy® Award-winning original score by Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan and book by Joe DiPietro.

Stage One, the charity that supports new UK commercial theatre producers and productions, today announces the latest recipient of its Start-Up Investment Fund. Stephen McGill has been awarded £50,000 by the charity to co-produce the West End transfer of the critically acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre production of The Pajama Game. He will co-produce alongside Joseph Smith, Old Vic Productions, John Brant and Gavin Kalin. The production, directed by Richard Eyre, begins previews at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 2 May 2014 and stars Joanna Riding, Michael Xavier, Peter Polycarpou, Gary Wilmot and Colin Stinton.

So, after trashing Mormonism, and by implication most other faiths (since most have foundational myths about as likely-sounding as the LDS ones, and taboos that are no less but also no more sensible than those which restrain the Mormons), there are two natural places to end up. One would be in some kind of existential humanism, the other in some kind of existential despair. But the creators don't want to go either place. So they have to fudge it, with a huge spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down and a philosophically confused but dramatically permissible twist. There is some kind of reason for the whole cast and the audience to be exultant at the end.

Peter Polycarpou, Gary Wilmot and Colin Stinton join the cast of the West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre's sparkling production of the Broadway smash hit musical, The Pajama Game, directed by Richard Eyre. Peter Polycarpou and Colin Stinton reprise their roles as Vernon Hines and Hasler, with Gary Wilmot taking over the role of Vernon Hines from 2 June. They join the previously announced Joanna Riding and Michael Xavier. The Pajama Game opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 13 May, with previews from 2 May, playing until 13 September 2014.

NY Bagel Cafe & Deli, the breakfast and lunch franchise, announced today that it will begin serving gluten free bagels and breads in its locations. With the recent increase in people being diagnosed with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, gluten free diets have been researched by doctors from all avenues of the nutritional spectrum. Gluten free diets can have a variety of health benefits such as improving cholesterol levels, promoting digestive health, and an increase in energy levels if you have a gluten intolerance.

Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out run, Chichester Festival Theatre's sparkling production of the Broadway smash hit musical, The Pajama Game, directed by Richard Eyre, transfers to the West End on 1 May playing until 13 September 2014.

STAGE ONE launches ONE STAGE - A season of work produced by emerging producers at St. James Theatre in Autumn 2014

'The Book of Mormon' has been hailed as one of the top musicals of the decade and now through January 19, 2014, San Francisco audiences will have the opportunity to judge for themselves as to whether a musical about Mormons on a mission to win converts to the Church of Latter-day Saints deserves such an accolade.

The biggest show of Orlando's Broadway Across America season, THE BOOK OF MORMON is finally here and playing at Bob Carr. It is destiny that a show that cites Orlando as the greatest place ever, brings the audience to its feet. Even people who do not like musicals are lining up and getting excited to see this masterpiece.

MIDTOWN DIRECT REP is pleased to announce a reading of Kara Lee Corthron's (Princess Grace Award-winner) Listen For The Light, directed by Amy Saltz (Almost Maine), as part of Midtown Direct Rep's play development series focuses on new and innovative American theatre: Theatre in the Loft. The performance will be Sunday, November 3rd, 2013 at 7 pm at SOPAC (One Sopac Way, South Orange, NJ, 07079). The reading is $15 per ticket at http://www.sopacnow.org/632/midtown-direct-rep-in-the-loft-nov-3.

THE BOOK OF MORMON, the religious satire musical written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone (the creators and writers of South Park), and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q) has given the national tour its latest missionary assignment: The Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas.

In March 2011, Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone's joyfully irreverent, soulfully blasphemous, and wholly scandalous comedy THE BOOK OF MORMON took Broadway by storm, going on to win 9 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Score. The musical quickly developed a ravenous parish of fans that simply couldn't get enough of the bawdy spectacle, and left many around the nation counting the days until the First National Tour kicked off. After a short two-and-a-half year wait, Houston audiences are getting their chance to experience the production, and judging by last night's reaction, we couldn't be more enthusiastic or pleased. Now holding a coveted spot as one of the best musicals I have ever seen, this show was definitely worth the wait!

BroadwayWorld collected as many of yesterday's evening Saturday Intermission Pics as we could to bring you Part 2 of our May 26th SIP round-up! Check out part one HERE.