Kaitlin Hopkins News

Today's top stories: The Music Man is still on track to come to Broadway this fall, and more!

Beloved actress Shirley Knight passed away from natural causes on April 22nd at the home of her daughter, Kaitlin Hopkins, in San Marcos, TX.

Texas Woman's University's College Audition Prep Program is back better than ever this year with two great options for high school musical theater and acting students: a new two week Intensive stay camp hosted by Texas Woman's University on their beautiful Denton, Texas campus OR a four day Weekend event packed with master classes, dance classes, mock auditions and college program overview presentations.

We make holiday shopping easy for your Broadway hopeful. Here you'll find options for a range of ages at a variety of price points.

Today's subject Chris Clark is currently living his theatre life in a big way. He is making his national tour debut in the Jimmy Buffet extravaganza Escape to Margaritaville. The tour plays here in DC through October 13th at the National Theatre.

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Michael Stotts- Managing Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, is pleased to announce a partnership with the online arts platform Acceptd and top tier university musical theatre programs to introduce universal criteria for video submissions known as the Musical Theatre Common Pre-Screen.

Deciding where to go for college or university is nothing short of daunting. To help out, we're rounding up some of the top theatre schools to give students some stats to consider when getting ready to apply or even transfer.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature HUGH JACKMAN, 1776 on Broadway, AUGUST RUSH, and More!

With the Notre Dame Cathedral still in the news after a nearly catastrophic fire so recently it seemed strange coincidence to attend a production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It certainly brought home for me the majesty of the medieval church but it also lent a small glimpse into the immense scope of Hugo's work. Kaitlin Hopkins takes the medieval setting and recreates it in a high concept artwork in black, white, tones of gray and slashes of crimson. The effect is a feast for the senses.

Today Johnny Brantley III speaks with BroadwayWorld about making his Broadway debut in a show that bridges the gap between life and what comes next!

The theater community spans across the world, but it is famously small. So when you don't pay people who works for you, it tends to get out, especially if those folks have Broadway connections. Such is the pickle that former performer and casting director David Petro seems to have found himself in. He allegedly hasn't paid various people who worked for him teaching master classes and word is now spreading.

Stephen Brower made his Broadway debut in the Broadway company of Anastasia. Beginning as a vacation cover, he soon joined the ensemble as a 'Dmitry' understudy and had the opportunity to go on in the role several times. Now he's back out on the road with Anastasia and has stepped into the role of the young con man full-time.

This past year, I saw over 50 productions in the Austin area. As I think back over the year, there are ten experiences that have stuck with me long after the curtain call. This isn't a best of list so much as it is a list of those nights in the theatre that stand out in my memory and the experiences that moved me. While I didn't get to experience everything in Austin this past year (that would flatly be impossible) these are the most memorable of those I did see.

CABARET is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around young American writer Cliff Bradshaw (John Fredrickson) and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Logan-Rae). The musical was also made into a 1972 film.

The Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University is now accepting applications for NEXUS, a two-week summer musical theatre camp for high school junior and senior students from June 7 to 22, 2019.

A crowdfunding campaign to create an endowed scholarship to honor the late Broadway actor Trent Armand Kendall has been launched by Kaitlin Hopkins the head of the BFA Musical Theatre program at Texas State University, and her husband and faculty member Jim Price, who were long time friends of Kendall and one-time cast mates with him on the hit musical Batboy.

RAGTIME is a 1996 musical about the American experience at the turn of the 20th century with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty. The score is inspired by the musical styles of the period and includes marches, cakewalks, gospel and, of course, ragtime. Based on E. L. Doctorow's 1975 novel of the same name about early 20th century America, the story weaves together the disparite lives of three groups: African Americans, represented by Harlem musician Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Ben Toomer); the White upper-class of suburbia, represented by Mother (Emma Hearn), a New Rochelle matriarch; and immigrants, represented by Tateh (Trevor Berger), a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. The musical's message of acceptance and hope in the face of challenges is even more relevant today than it was two decades ago.

Josh Bergasse and Dave Clemmons will join the award-winning musical theater faculty at Texas State University to conduct master classes for Nexus, a two-week intensive college prep summer camp designed for high school students.

Award winning writer Geoffrey Nauffts will workshop his new musical at Texas State University as part of The Harrison/Bowman New Works Commission, funded in part by The Stillwater Foundation. Switched is a new musical with book by Geoffrey Nauffts and music and lyrics by Jonatha Brooke. The workshop will be directed by Tony nominated director Sheryl Kaller.

David Hock, Scottsdale Musical Theater Company's founder and executive producer, struck it rich when he snagged two prominent theatre veterans, Bronson Pinchot and Kaitlin Hopkins, to co-star in ANNIE THE MUSICAL (on stage now at the Tempe Center for the Arts through January 7th.) He appears as well to have made a novel if not daring choice in the interpretation of their characters. The result is a light-hearted, easygoing and amusing production but one without the essential shadows, tensions, and chemistry that commonly stir one's emotions, seize the heart, and make for a memorable experience.