Marsha Norman News

The 2014 winners of the Lilly Awards, honoring women of distinction in American theater, were announced today by the Lilly Awards Foundation. The winners will be celebrated at the 5th Annual Lilly Awards Ceremony set for Monday, June 2, 2014 beginning at 5 p.m. at Playwrights Horizons (416 W 42nd Street, NYC).

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 18, 2014 - Sunday, May 18, 2014.

The Bridges of Madison County, the new Broadway musical by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning team Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman, starring five-time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O'Hara as Francesca Johnson, and star of screen and stage and 2014 Drama Desk nominee Steven Pasquale as Robert Kincaid, plays its final performance today, May 18, 2014, having played 137 performances. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through BRIDGES' beginnings on Broadway!

Voting opened on April 30 and runs through May 30, 2014 for the 12th Annual BroadwayWorld.com Awards! Here are the current standings as of 5/17 with just 12 days to go in voting!

The Old Globe presents Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning farce Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which will include Candy Buckley as Masha, Marcia DeBonis as Sonia, Tyler Lansing Weaks as Spike, Allison Layman as Nina, Martin Moran as Vanya, and Haneefah Wood as Cassandra. Jessica Stone will direct, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway direction of Old Globe Associate Artist Nicholas Martin, whose loss on April 30 devastated the theatre world*. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run today, May 17 - June 22, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run tonight, May 17 through the 21st. Opening night is May 22 at 8:00 p.m.

The romantic and moving score for the new Broadway musical THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY by Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman is now available to hear in full on the new cast recording, featuring show stars Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale. Physical copies of the album are available today, May 19.

The 80th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon is being held this afternoon, May 16, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, where winners will be announced for Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and the much coveted Distinguished Performance Award. This year's event, which began at noon, is hosted by Broadway veteran Jesse Tyler Ferguson. BroadwayWorld is updating the winners live! Check back in to find out who took home the big awards!

Sardi's just hosted the caricature unveiling for Jason Robert Brown, who was just nominated for two Tony Awards for The Bridges of Madison County. Brown was joined by family, friends, colleagues and the company of The Bridges of Madison County for the special event. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the celebration and you can check out photos below!

Barnes & Noble will celebrate the new Ghostlight Records cast recording of The Bridges of Madison County, the new romantic musical currently running at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street), with a special in-st0re performance and CD signing on Friday, May 23 at 5:00 PM. The event will feature stars Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale, in addition to other cast members. The composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown will join them at the piano, with Justin Goldner and Gary Seiger on guitars and Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf on cello. Barnes & Noble is located at 150 East 86th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues on the Upper East Side. Fans who purchase the CD at the store will be offered priority seating. Please call (212) 369-2180 for details.

This has been an exciting year on Broadway. The Tony Awards will be announced soon. In preparation, I went to New York to see some of the nominated shows. Here's some brief comments:

New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, this summer celebrating thirty years of their Powerhouse Theater collaboration, have announced the Play Readings Festival lineups that will bookend their upcoming 30th Powerhouse Theater Season, running from June 20 - July 27 at Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York).

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY team just Tweeted a photo of Broadway vet Kristin Chenoweth visiting star Kelli O'Hara backstage at the show on May 8, along with the caption: 'It was amazing having @KChenoweth with us last night!' and followed it up with a photo of Debra Messing, Will Chase and Michael McKean also schmoozing with O'Hara after the performance. Scroll down for both pics from the star-studded evening!

The TONY Award-winning score of PARADE will be brought to life for one night only at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, February 16, 2015. Recent TONY-nominee Jason Robert Brown will be at the helm to conduct a star-studded cast and full chorus as Music Director.

When Oprah heard there was a morning show in Chicago that needed a new host, she stayed up all night long with an editor to prepare her audition tape.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, has announced the appointment of Giovanna Sardelli to the position of Director of New Works. Sardelli brings stellar national directing credits and close ties with many of today's hottest rising playwrights to the company, which has established itself as a leader in cultivating and producing new works. No stranger to TheatreWorks, Sardelli helmed the company's 2013 production of Somewhere by rising star Matthew Lopez, as well as the TheatreWorks' 2011World Premiere of Pulitzer Prize-nominee Rajiv Joseph's The North Pool, named by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of that year's ten best productions in the Bay Area.

The Old Globe today announced the cast of Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning farce Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which will include Candy Buckley as Masha, Marcia DeBonis as Sonia, Tyler Lansing Weaks as Spike, Allison Layman as Nina, Martin Moran as Vanya, and Haneefah Wood as Cassandra.

Star of stage and screen, the legendary Liza Minnelli stopped by a performance of The Bridges of Madison County

Hillbarn Theatre closes its 73rd season with the moving, The Color Purple.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents The Trumpet of the Swan, A Novel Symphony for Actors and Orchestra, adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman from E.B. White's timeless children's novel, with music by Tony Award-winning composer, Jason Robert Brown. Norman and Brown are also currently represented on Broadway with the new musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County.