Michael Korie News

Rub elbows with Jackie O's scandalous relatives, as Monmouth Community Players presents GREY GARDENS, the three-time Tony Award-winning musical.

The new Broadway musical DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, based on Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning 20th-century epic Russian masterpiece, will star Tam Mutu making his Broadway debut as the passionate Doctor and poet Yurii Zhivago, Kelli Barrett (Wicked) as the alluring Lara Guishar, Tony Award nominee Tom Hewitt (Rocky Horror Show) as the cynical bourgeois magistrate Viktor Komarovsky, and Paul Nolan (Jesus Chris Superstar) as political radical Pasha Antipov. Full casting to be announced soon.

Playwrights Horizons' production of POCATELLO, the world premiere of a new play by Obie, Drama Desk and Lortel awards winner and 2014 MacArthur Foundation 'Genius' grantee Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale at PH, The Few, A Bright New Boise), is directed by Davis McCallum (The Whale at PH, The Few, London Wall, A Bright New Boise, Water by the Spoonful). The play is the third production of the theater company's 2014/2015 Season. The production will begin previews tonight, November 21 with an opening night set for Monday, December 15. The limited engagement will play through Sunday evening, January 4, 2015 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

?San Francisco's Custom Made Theatre Company has been accepted as an associate member of the National New Play Network (NNPN), according to Custom Made's managing executive director Leah Abrams.

Tickets for the new Broadway musical DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, based on Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning 20th-century epic Russian masterpiece, will be available Monday, November 17, for Audience Rewards members who get first exclusive access to tickets now through November 30, via www.AudienceRewards.com .

Playwrights Horizons' world premiere production of GRAND CONCOURSE, a new play by playwright and two-time Obie Award-winning actress Heidi Schreck (author of There Are No More Big Secrets, Creature, Showtime's 'Nurse Jackie'), opens tonight, November 11, 2014.

Playwrights Horizons today announced several major initiatives that will expand the ways in which theater writers are compensated. As a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists and to the production of their new work, Playwrights Horizons is committed to establishing new standards in compensation that will directly benefit all of its writers and taking a leadership position in responding to the reality that theater writers are among the lowest-compensated creative artists in America.

New Book from Theatre/Film/Art Publicist Now Available: THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER NEWKIRK by Walter Newkirk. Backstage stories about Lena Horne/LENA HORNE: The Lady & Her Music, Sheryl Lee Ralph/ DREAMGIRLS, Grey Gardens The Musical and The Broadway Annies including Sarah Jessica Parker, Andrea McArdle, Shelley Bruce, Alyson Kirk and Alyson Smith are featured in the new book The Secret LIfe of Walter Newkirk.

Dramatists Guild Fund Executive Director Rachel Routh and Board President Gretchen Cryer hosted their annual gala Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars, earlier this week on October 27 at The Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street). The Gala is the most critical fundraising event for the Dramatists Guild Fund, the public charity arm of the Dramatists Guild of America. The evening paid tribute to legendary writers and recognizes their significant contributions to American theater.

Rehearsals begin tomorrow, Tuesday, October 21 for the Playwrights Horizons production of POCATELLO, the world premiere of a new play by Obie, Drama Desk and Lortel awards winner and 2014 MacArthur Foundation 'Genius' grantee Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale at PH, The Few, A Bright New Boise). Directed by Davis McCallum (The Whale at PH, The Few, London Wall, A Bright New Boise, Water by the Spoonful), the play will be the third production of the theater company's 2014/2015 Season.

Previews begin tomorrow, Friday, October 17 at 7:30 PM for the Playwrights Horizons' world premiere production of GRAND CONCOURSE, a new play by playwright and two-time Obie Award-winning actress Heidi Schreck (author of There Are No More Big Secrets, Creature, Showtime's 'Nurse Jackie'). Directed by Kip Fagan (The Revisionist, Asuncion), the play is the second production of the acclaimed theater company's 2014/2015 Season. It follows the critically-acclaimed Bootycandy, a new play written and directed by Robert O'Hara, which concludes its extended run this Sunday evening on the Mainstage.

The national tour of ANYTHING GOES, the new Broadway revival of Cole Porter's timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece, will make its Houston premiere today, October 14-19 as part of the 2014-2015 Season of Broadway at the Hobby Center.

The score to Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's Off-Broadway musical FAR FROM HEAVEN may be less than memorable, but gorgeous visuals and a superb performance by Jennifer Ellis as Cathy make SpeakEasy Stage's 2014-15 season opener unforgettable.

Today, October 2 at 12:30pm Senior Services of the Chatham's in Chatham, NJ welcomes Walter Newkirk, founder of Walter Newkirk Public Relations LLC and author of memoraBEALEia : A Private Scrapbook about Edie Beale of Grey Gardens for a lecture about Grey Gardens: the critically acclaimed documentary, the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, and the Emmy and Golden Globe winning HBO film film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. A free screening of the HBO film will be presented followed by a Q&A session with Walter, an expert on all things Grey Gardens.

As BroadwayWorld first reported, the new Broadway musical DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, based on Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning 20th-century epic Russian masterpiece, will begin performances on Friday, March 27, 2015, and open on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway). This sweeping musical romance, which revolves around five intertwined lovers set against a panoramic portrait of a nation in upheaval, is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), with a book by Academy Award nominee Michael Weller (Ragtime), music by Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Lucy Simon (The Secret Garden), lyrics by Tony Award nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens) and Emmy Award nominee Amy Powers (Ella Enchanted), and choreography by Tony Award nominee Kelly Devine (Rocky). DOCTOR ZHIVAGO will be produced on Broadway by Anita Waxman, Tom Dokton, Latitude Link, Ted Hartley/RKO Stage and Chunsoo Shin, with Joe Corcoran, J. Todd Harris, The Pelican Group and John Frost. Junkyard Dog Productions is the executive producer of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO. Casting to be announced soon.

Playwrights Horizons announced the appointment of Liz Fallon Culp as the institution's new Director of Development. Ms. Culp joins the acclaimed theater company direct from New York Public Radio (WNYC/WQXR), where she served as the Senior Director of Major Gifts and Legacy Giving. She began with the theater company this month, leading its seven-person Development department.

Tonight, September 29 (8 pm), Symphony Space will present Sundance...Sings!, spotlighting songs from groundbreaking shows developed with support from the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, sung by a stellar cast. Christine Ebersole, Ann Harada, Annie Golden, Joshua Henry, and fourteen other notables will take the stage at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in selections from the Broadway oeuvre of Stew + Heidi Rodewald, Scott Frankel, Adam Guettel, Lisa Kron, Michael John LaChiusa, Bill Finn, Steven Lutvak, Duncan Sheik, and others.

Bucks County Playhouse Producers Robyn Goodman and Alexander Fraser announce the launch of a musical theatre development program focusing on the importance of lyrics in the creation of new musicals: The Oscar Hammerstein Festival - named in honor of the master writer whose countless accomplishments during his illustrious career include having mentored a young Stephen Sondheim at Hammerstein's Bucks County farm -- is a year-long program that offers expert mentorship to early career composers and lyricists. The Oscar Hammerstein Festival will culminate in a weekend with musical theatre experts, artists, and enthusiasts and various events open to the general public. The Festival will launch this weekend, September 26 - 28, 2014.

Bucks County Playhouse is launching their first Oscar Hammerstein Festival this year. This festival was inspired by the mentorship Hammerstein offered Stephen Sondheim as a young man. One of the people teaching a workshop at the Hammerstein Festival is Michael Korie. Korie is a lyricist and librettist, who is known for writing the lyrics for the musical GREY GARDENS. I had a chance to speak with Korie about the Hammerstein festival as well as the importance of working with emerging artists.

Earlier this month, BroadwayWorld.com exclusively broke the news that Doctor Zhivago is headed to Broadway in early 2015. The show will likely replace RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA at the Broadway Theatre after that production closes on January 3, 2015.