Julie Taymor News

It became official when, SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark, was announced to open on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street (preview performances will begin Saturday, January 16, 2010). Directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with 22-time Grammy Award-winning Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics, SPIDER-MAN will be written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. Well 'True Believers', since that official statement, the 'webslinging' work has heated up, and the creative process is in full 'swing' (forgive us the pun, but c'mon...).

EXIT THE KING which stars Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon, Lauren Ambrose, Andrea Martin, William Sadler and Brian Hutchison, officially opened on Broadway, Thursday, March 26 at the Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street). BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were there to cover the grand opening night!

It became official when, SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark, was announced to open on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street (preview performances will begin Saturday, January 16, 2010). Directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with 22-time Grammy Award-winning Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics, SPIDER-MAN will be written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. Well 'True Believers', since that official statement, the 'webslinging' work has heated up, and the creative process is in full 'swing' (forgive us the pun, but c'mon...).

On Wednesday, April 29, at the historic Hudson Theatre in the Millennium Hotel, Tony Award-winner Roger Rees will host Sing Happy!, The Collegiate Chorale's spring benefit celebrating 'The Great White Way'. The evening features special musical guest and Tony Award-winning actress Victoria Clark, who recently starred in the The Chorale's highly praised concert revival of Kurt Weill & Ira Gershwin's Firebrand of Florence on March 12.

Disney Theatrical Productions and Broadway Across Canada announced today that tickets for the long-awaited production of DISNEY'S THE LION KING will go on sale to the public on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 7:00 a.m. Edmonton's most eagerly awaited stage production begins performances at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday, July 2, 2009 for a limited engagement of five weeks through Sunday, August 2, 2009. The opening night is Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. This North American National Tour is currently one of seven productions running worldwide along with New York, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Paris and Fukuoka. A new sit-down production will begin performances in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Theatre on May 5.

Theatre for a New Audience's acclaimed production of Othello directed by Arin Arbus in her Off-Broadway directing debut, returns to the stage with the entire cast intact for twelve performances only, April 15 through April 24, at The Duke on 42nd StreetSM, a New 42nd Street? project, 229 West 42nd Street. Othello is following Theatre for a New Audience's production of Hamlet, directed by David Esbjornson. Hamlet begins previews Tuesday, March 17, at 7:30pm, opening Thursday, March 26, at 6:30pm, and running through Sunday, April 12.

The producers of ROCK OF AGES announced the complete, awesome cast for Broadway's new, smash hit musical today. Constantine Maroulis, ('American Idol' Season 4, Broadway's The Wedding Singer, RENT) reprising his critically acclaimed role as 'Drew', is now joined by Broadway's best 1970's & 1980's period actors Amy Spanger (The Wedding Singer, Kiss Me Kate) as 'Sherrie' and James Carpinello (Saturday Night Fever, VH1's 'So NoTORIous') as 'Stacee Jaxx'.

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 125th anniversary year with a unique gala performance on March 15, 2009 at 6:00 p.m., featuring Met stars in recreations of historic classic productions and high points in the company's past. Music Director James Levine conducts the evening of 26 staged scenes that, with the use of projections, and scenic and costume recreations, will evoke the Met's illustrious history.

Kansas City opera fans have been waiting 10 years for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City to produce the audience favorite, La Traviata. On March 14, 16, 18, 20, & 22, 2009 the Lyric Opera of Kansas City will present Verdi's spellbinding tragedy, La Traviata at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Kansas City. Under the spell of one exquisite party, Violetta is tempted - and eventually swayed - to abandon her life of endless immoral pleasure to join lovesick Alfredo in the love affair of a lifetime despite Violetta's secret terminal disease. Violetta's colored past proves to be a hurdle for Alfredo's father, who persuades her to leave Alfredo for his own good. The pair is only reunited for the final moments of Violetta's life.

IN THE HEIGHTS star Mandy Gonzalez is set to play Lauren Hoffman, a representative from a drug treatment center on the ABC soap opera 'One Live To Live' beginning March 26th. The actress is currently set for four episodes as drug counselor Hoffman on the fabled daytime drama.

The Kimmel Center and Shubert Organization are thrilled to announce a top-notch lineup of Broadway theater as part of the new 2009-2010 Broadway Series at the Academy of Music and the Forrest Theatre. The new Broadway Series subscription season will feature: Grease starring American Idol Winner Taylor Hicks (July 7 - 12, 2009); White Christmas (Nov. 24 - 29, 2009); Dreamgirls (June 22 - 27, 2010) all at the Academy of Music; and August: Osage County (April 27 - May 2, 2010) at the Forrest Theatre.

On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees. Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.' Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.

Casting has been announced for the Las Vegas production of Disney's THE LION KING. The eagerly awaited sit-down production will leap onto the Mandalay Bay Theatre stage with preview performances May 5, and celebrate its official opening May 15. It will join the seven other highly successful companies of THE LION KING currently running all over the world, including New York, London, Hamburg, Paris, Tokyo and Fukuoka, as well as the North American National Tour. Tickets will go on sale to the public March 14.

The New York Timesi s reporting that Theatre for a New Audience and director, Arin Arbus' critically acclaimed production of Othello will return to the Duke on 42nd Street Theatre, April 15th through 24th. The show will again feature John Douglas Thompson as Othello, Ned Eisenberg as Iago, and Juliet Rylance as Desdemona.

Winners of the 2009 Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater were announced today by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which administers the Rodgers Awards. They are: Cheer Wars by Karlan Judd and Gordon Leary Rosa Parks by Scott Ethier and Jeff Hughes

The role of the wily Tartuffe will be tackled by English actor Richard Crawford. He will also double as Madame Perenlle, the benefactor's aged mother. Mr. Crawford Trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq and Rose Bruford College. He has appeared in productions at the La Jolla Playhouse and other prominent regional theatres. Richard served as lead clown in 'Slava's Snowshow' at the Union Square Theater and has directed clown work for Cirque du Soleil's 'Dralion' and 'Petrushka' at Carnegie Hall. In addition to performing he teaches Lecoq technique at S.U.N.Y Purchase.

The iconic rock band U2 graces the cover of Rolling Stone this month, the mega group is also featured inside in a wide ranging interview by writer Brian Hiatt. He trailed the world's biggest band from its Horizon recording sessions in England to its Dublin headquarters right up to President Obama's inauguration festivities.

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada used his 'Twitter' feed to comment on the upcoming musical 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark'. Quesada, a comic industry icon, excitedly stated that 'Spider-Man at it's core is a very 'classic' story in structure. Done well as it will be by Taymor. Bono and Edge, it will ROCK!' SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark, will open on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street (preview performances will begin Saturday, January 16, 2010).

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to Cleveland. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will open at PlayhouseSquare's PalaceTheatre and play for 16 performances, March 3-15. Spring Awakening is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. Spring Awakening swept the 2007 Tony Awards? winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Fl?rez, who created a sensation last season in La Fille du R?giment, star in a new production of Bellini's La Sonnambula opening March 2, directed by Mary Zimmerman and conducted by Evelino Pid?. Dessay takes the role of the sleepwalker Amina, with Fl?rez as her betrothed Elvino, and Michele Pertusi as the Count who almost ruins their wedding. Performances run through April 3, with Barry Banks singing Elvino at the final performance. Zimmerman returns with the creative team that collaborated on her hit production of Lucia di Lammermoor, which opened the 2007-08 season: Daniel Ostling, set designer; Mara Blumenfeld, costume designer; T.J. Gerckens, lighting designer; and Daniel Pelzig, choreographer.