Kenny Leon News

Second Stage Theatre  continues the 2015 Uptown Series with the World Premiere of KING LIZ, written by Fernanda Coppel (Chimichangas and Zoloft) and directed by Lisa Peterson.  KING LIZ will feature MICHAEL CULLEN, JEREMIE HARRIS, RUSSELL G. JONES, CAROLINE LAGERFELT, IRENE SOFIA LUCIO, and KAREN PITTMAN.  Previews begin Monday, July 13th and opening night is Monday, July 27th.

59E59 Theaters will the 2015/2016 5A Season with the New York premiere of THREESOME, written by Yussef El Guindi, and directed by Portland Center Stage Artistic Director Chris Coleman.

Earlier this month, BroadwayWorld.com sat down with the very busy dynamic duo of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to discuss... well, everything.

The men behind the magic audition Dorothys!

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 31, 2015 - Sunday, May 31, 2015.

A first glimpse of the men behind the magic!

NBC is having an open casting call for the lead role of Dorothy in the network's upcoming holiday special “The Wiz Live!,” set for Thursday, Dec. 3.

Over 400 guests including current and past New York City high school students, and the performing arts professional mentors who have participated in TDF's Open Doors, the theatre arts mentoring program that TDF founded in 1998 with playwright Wendy Wasserstein, will attend this year's graduation at 5:30pm on Monday, June 1 at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street, NYC).   TDF's Open Doors was the first arts education program to receive a special Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre when it received the special honor in 2012. This year, Open Doors had 30 mentors working with 24 groups of students from New York City high schools.

BWW has confirmed today that NBC will host an open casting call for 'Dorothy' in THE WIZ LIVE in NYC next month.

As it closes in on its second consecutive season-long victory in the key adult 18-49 demographic, NBC unveils a new 2015-16 primetime schedule that combines popular returning series, edge-of-your-seat new dramas, inventive new comedies and season nine of the Emmy Award-winning musical competition series “The Voice.”

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater welcomed Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad with Event Chair and Arena Stage Board member Shawna Watley (Senior Policy Advisor with Holland & Knight) as the Honorary Chair for THE BLOOD QUILT World Premiere Celebration last night, May 7, 2015. The new play by Katori Hall (The Mountaintop, Our Lady of Kibeho) is directed by Kamilah Forbes and runs now through June 7, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater. Scroll down for photos from the opening celebration!

Second Stage Theatre has announced two New York Premiere productions for its upcoming 37th season.  The season will kick off in fall 2015 with the New York Premiere production of Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews' new musical, INVISIBLE THREAD (previously titled Witness Uganda), in association with American Repertory Theater, directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Finding Neverland, Pippin).  The season will continue in early 2016 with the New York premiere of Lydia R. Diamond's (Stick Fly) critically acclaimed play, SMART PEOPLE, directed by Tony Award Winner Kenny Leon (Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, Stick Fly). Two additional productions remain to be announced. 

Jujamcyn Theaters and True Colors Theatre Company (Kenny Leon, Co-Founding Artistic Director) have announced that Moye Light  from Atlanta has won first place at the 7th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition  held on Monday, May 4th at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). Cameron Southerland from Atlanta was the runner-up, and an honorable mention went to Jonathan German from New York City. The event, which was free and open to the public, featured high school students from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Portland and Seattle performing monologues by the late, legendary American playwright.

Jujamcyn Theaters and True Colors Theatre Company just presented the 7th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). The event, which is free and open to the public, features high school students from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Portland and Seattle performing monologues by the late, legendary American playwright. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the special event below!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? This weekend's big news: The Divine Miss M heads out on tour, a new Bob Marley musical debuts in Maryland, and the Lortel Awards are set for this weekend!

In the fall of 2013, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC & WQXR undertook a historic undertaking: to record -- for the first time -- all 10 plays from August Wilson's lauded American Century Cycle. Those audio recordings, along with exclusive video excerpts and photographs from the readings, are now being made available for online streaming on a time-limited basis here until August 26, 2015.

John Gore and Broadway Across America saluted FINDING NEVERLAND director Diane Paulus yesterday (Thursday, April 23) with a lunch at the Lambs Club to celebrate her contributions to Broadway and the road, hot off the heels of this week's announcement of the Finding Neverland tour, beginning in October 2016. 

Windy City Playhouse, Chicago's newest Equity theater, announces the cast for its sophomore production, Lydia R. Diamond's award-winning Stick Fly. This wisecracking family drama is directed by Chuck Smith, director of the play's 2006 world premiere production in Chicago, fresh off his successful run of Two Trains Running at the Goodman. Smith directs a stellar cast featuring Tyrone Phillips, Celeste Cooper, Paige Collins, Michael Pogue, Kristen Magee and Phillip Edward Van Lear, reprising his role of the patriarch from the original production. Stick Fly runs May 27-July 5 at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park. Press opening is Sunday, May 31 at 5:00pm.

Jujamcyn Theaters and True Colors Theatre Company have announced the judges for the 7th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition on Monday, May 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). The event, which is free and open to the public, features high school students from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Portland and Seattle performing monologues by the late, legendary American playwright.

Today, April 18th, TDF will host a special reception and performance of The Heidi Chronicles to celebrate the show's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein, and to raise funds for the arts education program she co-founded, TDF's Open Doors. Open Doors, now in its 17th year, is the first arts education program to be awarded a special Tony Honor for 'Excellence in the Theatre.'