Michael Mayer News

Based on Green Day's groundbreaking rock opera American Idiot, Billie Joe Armstrong and the band collaborate with one of the theatre's most acclaimed creative teams, led by the Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning composer and orchestrator Tom Kitt, and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, to bring this explosive, iconic album to the stage. Beginning in the fall, AMERICAN IDIOT, which opened on Broadway in April 2010 and has been playing the St. James Theatre since, will be brought to venues around the country.

The play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, which was written in Germany in the late 19th century was censored for a time due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. Treating the rocky sexual coming of age of a group of teenagers, its helter-skelter but life-affirming journey is explored in the 2006 Tony Award winning musical of the same name Spring Awakening through folk based and alternative rock, and boasts some expertly staged storytelling, singing, choreography and exuberant performances at the Pantages for one week only.

It's been just a little more than a year since a touring production of SPRING AWAKENING has graced a theater filled with screaming fans here in Southern California. While the touring cast list has certainly changed, many of the same brilliant elements that made this 2007 Tony winner for Best Musical such a rabid, cult hit--especially among younger theatergoers--remain firmly entrenched into this groundbreaking show. Stealthily leaner yet swifter than its previous incarnations, this 2nd National Tour of SPRING AWAKENING, produced by NETworks Presentations, LLC, continues its brief, week-long stop at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through February 13.

Former American Idol runner up and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown alum Justin Guarini revealed to BroadwayWorld at the Drama League Gala last night that he will be joining the cast of AMERICAN IDIOT in March.

Megan Hilty has nabbed the coveted lead role in Steven Spielberg's new NBC pilot Smash, an ambitious drama about the mounting of a Broadway musical alongside Debra Messing. The pilot, produced by DreamWorks TV and UMS, follows a cross section of characters who come together to put on a Marilyn Monroe musical on Broadway. TV writer/playwright Theresa Rebeck wrote the script for Smash and is executive producing with Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of DreamWorks TV, Hairspray producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and Grammy and Tony-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who will pen original songs for the show. Michael Mayer (American Idiot) is directing. This has been a passion project for new NBC chief Bob Greenblatt who first developed it at Showtime.

Spring Awakening, the eight-time Tony Award winning Broadway musical - featuring 'the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade,' according to Entertainment Weekly - comes to Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center for a four-performance run February 25-27.

The 2007 Tony Award winner for Best Musical and 2008 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Show Album, SPRING AWAKENING will return to Los Angeles for one week only, February 8 - 13, 2011. This engagement will mark the first time the show has come to Hollywood's iconic Pantages Theatre.

Join New York Theatre Experiment (NYTE) for the kick-off Generations event of the 2011 Half-Life Experiment season! The Generations Project will once again bring together artists and leaders, across generations, for this forum on vision, leadership and mentorship in the arts. Bring a friend, invite a mentor, and join the dialogue, as we continue to discuss the future of our art form and our role in moving it forward. Last year's Generations events were packed to capacity- most recently, in November, we were thrilled to be joined by actor Denis O'Hare, director Michael Mayer, and playwright Annie Baker as panelists.

TVLine is reporting that Will & Grace star Debra Messing has just been cast to co-star in the upcoming NBC pilot SMASH, in which she'll 'play Julia, the musical's good-natured cowriter who is slow to embrace the commercially-iffy subject matter.'

Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters welcomed two-time Tony Award-winning actress Patti LuPone in the 92nd Street Y conversation series, 'Broadway Talks' last night, February 6.

Coby Getzug returns to LA playing Moritz in the national touring production of Spring Awakening at the Pangages Theatre Feb 8-13.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) and Signature Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director James Houghton; Executive Director Erika Mallin) in association with the Guthrie Theater (Joe Dowling, Director) announces complete casting for the New York premiere of Tony Kushner's THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES. Michael Greif, who directed the world premiere at the Guthrie in April 2009, will direct the New York premiere. Rehearsals begin Monday, February 7 in New York.

The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) is thrilled to reunite two remarkable creative forces, Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) and Preservation Hall Jazz Band (PHJB), in an extraordinary world premiere event on February 4 at 8pm at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. This exclusive one-night only performance marks the second time that NOBA, TMP and PHJB have teamed up to create a shared evening of music and dance.

OSCAR and GRAMMY Award winning rock star Melissa Etheridge will play the role of 'St. Jimmy' for a one-week engagement in AMERICAN IDIOT, February 1 - 6, 2011. Check out Etheridge's backstage AMERICAN IDIOT vlog below!

OSCAR and GRAMMY Award winning rock star Melissa Etheridge will play the role of 'St. Jimmy' for a one-week engagement in AMERICAN IDIOT, February 1 - 6, 2011. BroadwayWorld.com was there to capture her debut curtain call performance!

OSCAR and GRAMMY Award winning rock star Melissa Etheridge will play the role of 'St. Jimmy' for a one-week engagement in AMERICAN IDIOT, February 1 - 6, 2011. BroadwayWorld.com was there to capture her debut curtain call.

The producers of the critically acclaimed AMERICAN IDIOT announced today that OSCAR and GRAMMY Award winning rock star Melissa Etheridge will play the role of 'St. Jimmy' for a one-week engagement, February 1 - 6, 2011. Ms. Etheridge is one of the most iconic recording artists in the music industry. For the rest of the month, Green Day frontman and the musical's composer and co-author Billie Joe Armstrong will return to the role of 'St. Jimmy' and complete his 50 performance, limited engagement from February 10-27, 2011 at the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44 Street.

OSCAR and GRAMMY Award winning rock star Melissa Etheridge will play the role of 'St. Jimmy' for a one-week engagement in AMERICAN IDIOT, February 1 - 6, 2011. Ms. Etheridge is one of the most iconic recording artists in the music industry. For the rest of the month, Green Day frontman and the musical's composer and co-author Billie Joe Armstrong will return to the role of 'St. Jimmy' and complete his 50 performance, limited engagement from February 10-27, 2011 at the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44 Street.

On January 27, Spring Awakening will made its Melbourne debut at the National Theatre. Robert Coates directs the production. Below is BroadwayWorld.com's first look at the production photos!

As previously reported by BroadwayWorld, NBC has picked up a new pilot entitled SMASH, which is about 'a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical.' New details have emerged about the show.