Nan Knighton News

BroadwayWorld.com has received word that 'Frank Wildhorn & Friends' which was scheduled to play a very special series of performances at Las Vegas' Judy Bayley Theater to benefit The Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV has been cancelled. Performer Linda Eder posted the following update on her official web site, while the other stars have relayed the same news both online and off.

'Frank Wildhorn & Friends' will play a very special series of performances at Las Vegas' Judy Bayley Theater to benefit The Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV. The benefit performances will take place on Friday, September 4th at 8pm, Saturday, September 5th at 8pm and Sunday, September 6th at 7pm.

La Jolla Playhouse announced today the addition of the world-premiere musical Bonnie & Clyde, to its 2009-10 season, replacing The Big Time. This production features music by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel), lyrics by Tony Award-winner Don Black (Sunset Boulevard, Song and Dance), book by Ivan Menchell (The Cemetery Club, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and direction by Jeff Calhoun (Deaf West's Big River and Pippin, Grease!). Bonnie & Clyde will run November 10 - December 20, 2009 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse announced today the addition of the world-premiere musical Bonnie & Clyde, to its 2009-10 season, replacing The Big Time. This production features music by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel), lyrics by Tony Award-winner Don Black (Sunset Boulevard, Song and Dance), book by Ivan Menchell (The Cemetery Club, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and direction by Jeff Calhoun (Deaf West's Big River and Pippin, Grease!). Bonnie & Clyde will run November 10 - December 20, 2009 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre.

On Tuesday, May 5th, CYRANO (with music by Frank Wildhorn and book & lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) opened in Tokyo to what was reported to be a rapturous ovation. CYRANO stars Takeshi Kaga (star of Jekyll & Hyde and Les Miserables) and is produced by Toho Company, HoriPro, and Fuji Television, Cyrano plays at the famous Nissay Theatre. After a run in Tokyo, the show will play Osaka at the Umeda Art Theatre and then tour Japan.

National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) held its Annual Chairman's Awards Gala and benefit on Monday, April 20 at New York's Cipriani's Pegasus (30 Rockefeller Plaza). This year, NCTF Chairman James S. Turley, Chairman & CEO of Ernst & Young, honored Jane Fonda (returning to Broadway this season in 33 Variations), producer John Breglio (the recent revival of A Chorus Line) and USA TODAY. Accepting the award on behalf of the USA TODAY was be Ed. Cassidy. All net proceeds of the event will be distributed as the NCTF/John Breglio Fund for New American Theatre.

National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) will held its Annual Chairman's Awards Gala and benefit on Monday, April 20 at New York's Cipriani's Pegasus (30 Rockefeller Plaza). This year, NCTF Chairman James S. Turley, Chairman & CEO of Ernst & Young, honored Jane Fonda (returning to Broadway this season in 33 Variations), producer John Breglio (the recent revival of A Chorus Line) and USA TODAY. Accepting the award on behalf of the USA TODAY was be Ed. Cassidy. All net proceeds of the event will be distributed as the NCTF/John Breglio Fund for New American Theatre.

CARMEN (book by Norman Allen, lyrics by Jack Murphy, and directed by Gabriel Barre), currently running at the Karlin Theatre in Prague and starring the Czech Republic's biggest pop star Lucie Bila, has broken all box office records there and is now the biggest hit in the history of Czech theatre according to local media.

Tony and Grammy nominated composer Frank Wildhorn, who, in 1999, had three shows running on Broadway simultaneously (J&H, SP, and TCW), is about to duplicate that feat in Europe, with three new original musicals.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned that The Roundabout Theatre Company will be presenting a reading of the new Broadway-bound musical BONNIE & CLYDE on February 8 and 10, 2009. The show features a book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black, direction by Jeff Calhoun and music direction by John McDaniel. Starring in the reading will be Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Stark Sands as Clyde.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned that The Roundabout Theatre Company will be presenting a reading of the new Broadway-bound musical BONNIE & CLYDE on February 8 and 10, 2009. The show features a book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black, direction by Jeff Calhoun and music direction by John McDaniel. Starring in the reading will be Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Stark Sands as Clyde.

European producer Werner Signer announced the workshop of 'The Count Of Monte Cristo,' the latest Wildhorn/Murphy collaboration, which opens in St. Gallen, Switzerland on March 24, 2009. The European pre-cast recording, which was recorded in Vienna in English with both European stars and Brandi Burkhardt as Mercedes, has been #1 on the European charts for two weeks now.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned that The Roundabout Theatre Company will be presenting a reading of the new Broadway-bound musical BONNIE & CLYDE on February 9, 2009. The show features a book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black, direction by Jeff Calhoun and musical direction by John McDaniel.

The Japanese premiere of RUDOLF: THE LAST KISS, a musical composed by Frank Wildhorn, written by Jack Murphy, directed by Amon Miyamoto and produced by Toho. Co., Ltd. opened to an enthusiastic audience at the prestigious Imperial Theatre on Wednesday, May 6 in Tokyo.

'The Monday Nights, New Voices' series, created by composer Scott Alan, continues May 14th, 7PM, at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre

New Voices' Monday Night series, created by composer Scott Alan, continues May 14th, 7PM, at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre.

The 'Monday Nights, New Voices' series, which was created by composer Scott Alan, continues May 14th at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre.

The revival of A Chorus Line, the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic musical, opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 W. 45th St.) on Thursday, October 5, and a star-studded afterparty was held at the Palace Hotel!

Tony's Di Napoli Times Square recently welcomed the cast of A Chorus Line, which began previews at previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Monday, September 18 and will open on Thursday, October 5

Saturday Night Fever seems to have a new lease of life at the moment.