Meg Ryan News

Today we celebrate the life, work, and spirit of writer and director, Nora Ephron, who passed away on this day, June 26, 2012. She was 71.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that James Lipton, executive producer, writer, and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, has died at age 93.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a musical with old Hollywood glamour to starry Chekhov and Coward, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews, interviews and features!

Though SCR's admirable new production of the 1963 Broadway musical SHE LOVES ME, for the most part, still has many charming, beautifully-staged, and well-sung moments, it also somehow feels like it is slightly reigned in, as if there was a purposeful attempt to downscale some of its built-in whimsy and spirited vivaciousness---particularly in the first act where emotional expressions all seem to sit in the same middle areaa?? never tipping over to too angry or too sad or too happy or too, well, anything. Now on stage in Costa Mesa through February 22, 2020, the production---directed by the theater's own artistic director David Ivers---is genuinely entertaining, but still needs a huge shot of joy, romance, and pep to make it feel complete.

When the movie ANASTASIA was released in 1996, somewhere someone was humming along with the score of the 20th Century Fox film and thought 'This might make a fantastic musical.' It took nearly 20 years but the faith in the concept is paying off.

Everyone loves a good Romantic Comedy, and when people find a good one, they latch onto it. Such a RomCom was the 1937 play a?oeParfumeriea?? by Miklos Laszlo. Now, if you're not familiar with that one maybe you're more familiar with some of the films that were based on it. There was the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film a?oeThe Shop Around the Cornera??, or how about the 1949 Judy Garland-Van Johnson musical version a?oeIn the Good Old Summertimea??. No? Well I'm sure you remember the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan feature a?oeYou've Got Maila??. And beyond those, the play also spawned one of the most underrated and underappreciated shows in American Musical Theatre, a?oeShe Loves Mea?? by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick with a book by Joe Masteroff, currently playing at Village Theatre. a?oeShe Loves Mea?? has been revived on Broadway since it's 1963 beginnings twice, plus a concert version in 1977, but still there are too many people who don't know the glory of this show. Well, Dear Readers, let's try and change that.

SHE LOVES ME is a rare gem in the 21st century. 

Wagner College Theatre continues its 2019-20 Mainstage Season with the charming, romantic musical She Loves Me, with performances November 14-24 in the Main Hall Theatre.

A special 30th Anniversary screening of When Harry Met Sally, featuring exclusive content from Turner Classic Movies, comes to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Tuesday, December 3rd at 7pm, part of the Cohen and Wolf P.C. Movie Series. Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) meet when they share a car on a trip from Chicago to New York right after both graduate from college. As the two build their lives and careers in Manhattan, they find love and heartache–with other people–but their paths continue to cross and their friendship continues to grow over the years…until they confront the decision whether to let their friendship develop into romance.

Badinage Theatre Company, a small troupe of artists and alumni of Primary Stages ESPA, will present WRITER. WINO. BAGEL EATER., November 13, 14, 23, 24, at The Tank at 312 W. 36th Street.

The Women, a play by Clare Boothe Luce, is a comedy of manners that is a social commentary on the lives and power struggles of wealthy Manhattan socialites in 1936. The play has been performed on Broadway several times and had two movies based off of it, including a contemporary remake starring Meg Ryan, Eva Mendez, and Jada Pinkett Smith. According to the director, James Cady, The Women is, 'a play about men, told by women.' The play has a cast entirely made up of women and is about, 'love and what happens when you take it for granted and then lose it.'

A Doll's House is a play studied by students around the world. A production ahead of its time, it questioned the traditional roles of men and women in the 19th-century. This message, while not well received at the time, was essential to the forward movement of theatre. A Doll's House, Part 2 , written 140 years later by Lucas Hnath, aims to answer the question of what happened where Henrik Ibsen's classic play left off? 

Broadcasting legend Sir Michael Parkinson is to embark on a 7 date live tour across the North of England, with tickets on sale now, available at www.faneproductions.com/Parkinson-north-tour. Beginning on Saturday 8th February 2020 at Derby Theatre, and concluding at Bolton's Albert Halls on Saturday 15th February 2020, An Evening with Sir Michael Parkinson will celebrate the life and career of a man who has interviewed over 2,000 of the most important cultural figures of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Sir Michael Parkinson is to embark on a 7 date tour across the north of England including an evening at Darlington Hippodrome on Sunday 9 February, 2020.

A Doll's House is a play studied by students around the world. A production ahead of its time, it questioned the traditional roles of men and women in the 19th-century. This message, while not well received at the time, was essential to the forward movement of theatre. A Doll's House, Part 2, written 140 years later by Lucas Hnath, aims to answer the question of what happened where Henrik Ibsen's classic play left off?

On Friday evening, Atlanta Lyric Theatre, in a display of pure bravura, opened their 40th Anniversary Season with the regional premiere of the musical War Paint, a new tuner with a book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie that tells the story of the rise and fall of two of the cosmetics industry's most notable trailblazers, Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden.  The musical opened on Broadway in 2017 to lackluster reviews and played only 269 performances before shuttering, even with two of Broadway's biggest divas, Christine Ebersole and Patti Lupone, at the helm.   There's a reason for this.  War Paint has what I like to call Sleepless-in-Seattle Syndrome when I'm talking to a group of juiced-up creative writing students.  That's a story that, like the Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan film, has this problem:  the characters don't share enough time together in scenes to generate the type of tension needed to sustain interest over the course of the story.  The musical places too many limitations on itself by remaining true to the real-life story which includes the fact that Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden didn't actually know each other in real life and ends up painting a stage where the two principal characters are separated by an imaginary wall that can't ever be scaled, not even emotionally, and not even by the most talented actors.  But Atlanta Lyric, with their artistic director, Mary Nye Bennett, an absolute mega-talent in the role of Helena Rubenstein, and gorgeous scenic by Stephanie Polhemus, manage to offer up an excellent evening at the theater under the direction of a capable Susan G. Reid. 

A block down from Downtown Northville's historic Main Street sits a white brick building on the corner of Cady and Griswold Streets. The full garden draws patrons to the front doors and into a cozy and modern industrial lobby, fit with new paint and carpeting. This is Tipping Point Theatre, a professional theatre that has been quietly producing high-quality stage shows for the last 12 years.

One of the country's most dynamic and successful programs for the performing arts a?" Rosie's Theater Kids, located on West 45th Street in Manhattan a?" will make its 6th annual trip to Martha's Vineyard from August 11-17, it has been announced by Lori Klinger, Artistic and Executive Director of Rosie's Theater Kids (RTKids).

"She loves me/And to my amazement/I love it knowing that she loves me/She loves me/True, she doesn't show it/How could she when she doesn't know it?" If those well-known lyrics strike up a tune in your head, then you're no doubt familiar with She Loves Me, this season's big, Broadway-style musical on stage at the Peterborough Players from July 31st- August 11th.

Today we celebrate the life, work, and spirit of writer and director, Nora Ephron, who passed away on this day, June 26, 2012. She was 71.