Michael John LaChiusa News

James William Productions and Stephenie Skyllas will present Kurt Peterson and Victoria Mallory in 'When Everything Was Possible, A Concert (with comments),' for one night only, Sunday April 29th (7:30pm) at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues), as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. They will be joined by a thirteen-piece band (Michael Rafter, Music Director), playing new orchestrations by Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick. Larry Moss directs, with musical staging by Joshua Bergasse ("Smash"). Carolyn Wong will provide lighting design, with sound design by Leon Rothenberg and projection design by Telegraphicmedia.

In a return to its studio productions, Circle Theatre presents ALMOST AN EVENING by Ethan Coen, one of the Academy Award winning Coen Brothers.

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.

The Pit Stop Players http://rosenblummusic.com/pitstop.html, a fourteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, closes its third season with a concert at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Benzaquen Hall, 450 W. 37th Street, New York, NY, on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students) http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=PIT4 or cash at the door.

Tonight, April 23, 2012, Theatre Communications Group (TCG) will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a gala honoring Kenny Leon, Judith O. Rubin, and The Shubert Foundation, at Espace (635 West 42nd Street between 11th and 12th avenues).

Casting is complete and rehearsals have begun for The Blank Theatre's world premiere production of Sukie & Sue: Their Story by Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Kirsten Sanderson. Developed last year in The Blank's Living Room Series, Sukie & Sue: Their Story is the only play ever written by LaChiusa, who has received five Tony Award nominations for his musicals.

The Annenberg Theatre will present Upright Cabaret's RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT on April 27 at 8:00 pm. RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT is the third installment of Upright Cabaret's "American Icon" Series and will star Olivier Award-Winner Lesli Margherita, Lexi Lawson (Rent, In The Heights)) and Rogelio Douglas Jr. (In The Heights, The Little Mermaid)). This high energy, multi-media Cabaret celebrates the music of Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Santana and features pop favorites such as Livin' La Vida Loca, Shake Your Bon-Bon, Rhythm Is Gonna Get You, Anything for You, Smooth, Let It Shine, and more, performed live with the Upright Cabaret band!

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner announced today that acclaimed/awarding winning actresses Judy Kuhn and Melissa Errico will star as Fosca and Clara in the company's new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical PASSION, to be directed by John Doyle (the Tony Award-winning revivals of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company). PASSION is slated to begin performances in February, 2013. Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks and months, as well as full creative team. PASSION opened on Broadway in May of 1994 and received the Tony Award that year for Best Musical.

As previously reported on BroadwayWorld, stage empress Idina Menzel has launched an extensive national tour playing throughout the United States in 2012. She is set to play the Peabody Opera House in June, and tickets for this one-night only event are on sale now.

Today in 2000, The Wild Party opened at the Virginia Theatre (now the August Wilson Theatre), where it ran for 68 performances. The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name. The Broadway production coincidentally opened during the same theatrical season (1999-2000) as an off-Broadway musical with the same title and source material. Its plot centers on a party - fueled by bathtub gin, cocaine, and uninhibited sexual behavior - hosted by Queenie and Burrs, whose relationship is disintegrating. The cast included Toni Collette (making her Broadway debut) as Queenie, Mandy Patinkin as Burrs, and Yancey Arias as Black.

On Monday, April 23, 2012, Theatre Communications Group (TCG) will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a gala honoring Kenny Leon, Judith O. Rubin, and The Shubert Foundation, at Espace (635 West 42nd Street between 11th and 12th avenues).

Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham announced the line-up today for The Public's 2012-2013 Season, beginning in the fall with an October rededication of The Public's historic downtown building. The season continues the theater's nearly 60 year tradition of developing new theatrical voices and presenting Shakespeare to the entire New York community.

Public Theater has announced the line-up today for The Public's 2012-2013 Season, beginning in the fall with an October rededication of The Public's historic downtown building. The season continues the theater's nearly 60 year tradition of developing new theatrical voices and presenting Shakespeare to the entire New York community.

The cast has been set for the world premiere of the chamber musical LOS OTROS, with book and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh and music by Michael John LaChiusa. LOS OTROS will run May 23 through July 1, 2012, with the opening scheduled for June 3. Tony Award-winner Michele Pawk has been cast to play the role of Woman and Julio Monge will play the role of Man.

The producers of Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project have confirmed that the list of participating composers and lyricists now boasts Pulitzer Prize winners Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park With George).

Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's extensive coverage of NBC's hit musical drama series SMASH with a new entry in our ever-expanding collection of interviews with the cast, creative team and guest stars of the Broadway-based show - don't forget to check out the previous InDepth InterView with songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well (available here) - by talking to the leading lady of the show-within-the-show on SMASH itself all about her role on the series; the blonde bombshell of BOMBSHELL, Megan Hilty. In this candid conversation, Hilty and I discuss portraying a musical Marilyn Monroe and the volatile Broadway star playing her, Ivy Lynn, as well as her own personal experiences working on SMASH as we look ahead to the upcoming episodes which will feature the biggest musical sequence on the series so far and will also include guest appearances by Norbert Leo Butz, Marc Kudisch, Uma Thurman and more as BOMBSHELL heads towards its long-awaited big Boston tryout for the season finale. Additionally, Hilty and I take a look back at her prior musical theatre appearances, winning hearts the country over in her starring roles in WICKED and 9-TO-5 on Broadway, in LA and on tour - both under the direction of master director Joe Mantello - and, also, take a look ahead to the forthcoming Encores! GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, which she will be headlining later this Spring. Plus, Hilty shares her experiences working with this week's SMASH guest star and Tony-winning legend Bernadette Peters and reflects on her forthcoming Disney animated film in the TINKER BELL series that features another dynamic diva, her SMASH co-star and fellow participant in this column, Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston (our interview coming up next week) - as well as touching on DOROTHY OF OZ (co-starring Lea Michele), her new animated TV project for Nickelodeon - ROBOTS & MONSTERS - and first news of a solo album coming soon. All of that and much, much more!

Casting is complete and rehearsals have begun for The Blank Theatre's world premiere production of Sukie & Sue: Their Story by Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Kirsten Sanderson. Developed last year in The Blank's Living Room Series, Sukie & Sue: Their Story is the only play ever written by LaChiusa, who has received five Tony Award nominations for his musicals.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY continues its Winter/Spring 2012 season with the debut of three time Tony Award-nominated singer and actress Judy Kuhn through tonight. See the photos of her performance below!

Idina Menzel recently visited Access Hollywood, where she admitted that she was hesitant to join the hit TV show Glee as Lea Michele's on-screen mother. Check out what she had to say in the video below!