Lauren Ambrose News

Lea Michele may be leading a Broadway revival of FUNNY GIRL on GLEE, but the proposed plans of her taking the role to the actual Great White Way seem to be gaining traction.

The Berkshire Playwrights Lab continues its innovative approach to incubating new theatrical works during its 7th season of readings at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, Mass).

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced exciting casting for their Main Stage productions, along with a several special events for their 2014 Summer Season. On the Main Stage: Festival veterans including Nate Corddry, Holley Fain, Christopher Fitzgerald and Nancy Opel join the cast of June Moon, directed by Jessica Stone (July 2- 13); Justin Long returns to Williamstown, joining Renee Fleming in the World Premiere of Living on Love(July 16 - 26), and theater veterans Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, festival favorite Roger Rees, and more join Chita Rivera in the John Doyle-directed production of The Visit, with choreography by Graciela Daniele (July 31 - August 17).

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: MOTHERS AND SONS opens tonight, Block, Groff, Lewis, Rannells and more join forces for BROADWAY BACKWARDS and more!

OUR TIME will host its 12th ANNUAL BENEFIT GALA, on Monday, April 28, 2014, 7:00PM, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts & Rosenthal Pavilion at New York University, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South, New York, NY.

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced the 2014 Nikos Stage offerings, completing the 60th Anniversary Season for the Tony Award-winning theatre company. The Nikos Stage season kicks off on July 9th with the East Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's acclaimed play A Great Wilderness (July 9 - 20) and will also include a revival of Sam Shepard's Fool For Love, directed by Daniel Aukin with Lauren Ambrose (making her Festival debut) and Chris Pine (returning to Williamstown after 12 years), playing July 24 - August 3. The Nikos Stage season ends with the anticipated return of the PigPen Theatre Co.'s celebrated production of The Old Man and the Old Moon (August 6 - 17).

Now in a Teen Vogue interview between Michele and her Spring Awakening co-star Jonathan Groff, Michele reveals that plans might already be in the works. She told Teen Vogue: 'I want to do movies. I have some exciting things coming up! And I would also love to go back to Broadway. Ryan Murphy just bought the rights to Funny Girl, so we're hoping to do that at some point!'

BroadwayWorld has just confirmed that GLEE creator Ryan Murphy is currently in talks for the stage rights to FUNNY GIRL, the musical in which Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele) stars in, on the current fifth season of GLEE. There is no word yet on whether Michele is attached to the potential project, but here's to hoping for her Broadway return! Could life imitate art and could the show be setting up a real life sequence of events?

Natalie Wood's portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee and Rosalind Russell (in Ethel Merman's original role) as an overbearing mother, in the big screen adaptation of Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's Broadway musical Gypsy, lead the pack of movies in February on Reel 13.

Natalie Wood's portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee and Rosalind Russell (in Ethel Merman's original role) as an overbearing mother, in the big screen adaptation of Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's Broadway musical Gypsy, lead the pack of movies in February on Reel 13.

Shakespeare & Company is pleased to announce The Conservatory at Shakespeare & Company's winter production of Julius Caesar, co-directed by two longtime Company artists, Andrew Borthwick-Leslie and Michael F. Toomey. Now in its seventh year, the Conservatory, a 13-week professional actor-training program includes 10-16 promising actors from across the country and around the globe. This year's program features a group of 10 who will expose Shakespeare's poetry-filled psychological drama Julius Caesar for three performances in the Tina Packer Playhouse.

The Broadway production of Shakespeare's timeless love story ROMEO AND JULIET, starring international film star Orlando Bloom in his Broadway debut opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, closes today, December 8, 2013, after 27 previews and 93 regular performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street). Directed by five-time Tony Award nominee David Leveaux, Romeo and Juliet began previews on Saturday, August 24, 2013 and opened on Thursday, September 19, 2013.

It was announced today that the Broadway production of Shakespeare's timeless love story ROMEO AND JULIET, starring international film star Orlando Bloom in his Broadway debut opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, will play two weeks past its originally announced 14-week limited Broadway engagement - with a final performance set for Sunday, December 8, 2013, after 27 previews and 93 regular performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street).

Earlier this week, stage and screen star Susan Sarandon was honored at Only Make Believe's 14th Annual Gala, 'Make Believe On Broadway', hosted by Sir Ian McKellen. Below you can check out photos of her in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In The Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride!

Tony Award nominee Craig Lucas' acclaimed play RECKLESS returns to New York on October 28h, 2013 at 8pm for a one-night only benefit reading in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street), directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined) and featuring an all-star cast. All proceeds will benefit Safe Horizon(www.safehorizon.org), 'the largest organization of its kind in the United States that helps victims overcome crisis and become survives as they restore their lives'. The evening is produced by The Indigo Theatre Project (Nick Gereffi and Rachel Sussman, Co-Founding Artistic Directors), a theater company that strives to unite passion with purpose by producing high-profile readings of notable plays to benefit charities aligned with the work being read. RECKLESS is Line Produced by Allison Bressi and Associate Produced by Shoshana Feinstein.

TINA FEY, a Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner for her work on television's 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, and LESLIE KRITZER, star of Broadway'sSondheim on Sondheim and Legally Blonde, have joined the cast of the forthcoming benefit reading of Craig Lucas's play RECKLESS on October 28th, directed byKate Whoriskey (Ruined).

According to Deadline, NBC has given a put pilot commitment to a single-camera comedy from the mother-daughter duo, who are also set to star and executive produce. The project, titled GROWING IVY, is written by Martino and Will McCormack.

AMY HERZOG, a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her acclaimed play 4000 Miles, has joined the cast of the forthcoming benefit reading of Craig Lucas's play RECKLESS on October 28th, directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined).

Woo-Hoo! Thanks to OC's 3-D Theatricals, Southern California wasn't deprived of a revival of FUNNY GIRL after all. And, gosh, to top it off, they've even managed to find a Fanny Brice audiences can genuinely admire: Broadway and MAD TV alum Nicole Parker. This admirable new production of the classic Jule Styne/Bob Merrill musical plays the Plummer Auditorium through September 22 then moves to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for performances on September 27-29.

The new Broadway production of Shakespeare's timeless love story ROMEO AND JULIET starring international film star Orlando Bloom, making his Broadway debut opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, officially opens tonight, Thursday, September 19, 2013 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street). ROMEO AND JULIET began previews on Saturday, August 24th, 2013 and is scheduled to run through Sunday, January 12th, 2014.