Nancy Opel News

We speak to the cast of the new Chocolate Factory show!

Lortel Statues for 14 categories and 2 special awards were handed out by celebrity presenters at the 2010 Lucille Lortel Awards at a live awards ceremony last night, May 2, at Terminal 5. Hosted by the Off-Broadway League, the live show was co-hosted by Bryan Batt and Bebe Neuwirth and featured performances by Alan Menken, STOMP, Seth Rudetsky, Edward Watts of The Fanasticks and LaChanze. BroadwayWorld was on the red carpet to capture the evening's starry arrivals!

Lortel Statues for 14 categories and 2 special awards were handed out by celebrity presenters at the 2010 Lucille Lortel Awards at a live awards ceremony tonight at Terminal 5. Hosted by the Off-Broadway League, the live show was co-hosted by Bryan Batt and Bebe Neuwirth and featured performances by Alan Menken, STOMP, Seth Rudetsky, Edward Watts of The Fanasticks and LaChanze.

A representative for The Westport Country Playhouse has confirmed that Broadway star Kate Baldwin will lead the theater's production of I DO! I DO! from August 10 through August 28.

Harold Prince and Susan Stroman will direct an all-American cast in the world premiere of Paradise Found at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Based on the novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night by Viennese author Joseph Roth, Paradise Found previews from 19 May. With music by Johann Strauss II, adapted and arranged by Jonathan Tunick, Paradise Found has book by Richard Nelson and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The production will run until 26 June. Set design is by Beowulf Boritt, with costumes designed by Judy Dolan, lighting by Howell Binkley and sound by Gareth Owen.

Hal Prince is currently taking on a new challenge very different from many of the shows he has worked on in the past. In the process of bringing PARADISE found to an eventual home on Broadway, Prince understands he may have to compete against several of his own shows.

GPR Records, the new CD label specializing in Broadway, classical, spoken word and children's music, is sponsoring a poetry contest that will take place on Twitter, called TwItsPoetic, to celebrate National Poetry Month and the release of their first CD Poetic License: 100 Poems by 100 Performers.

Rehearsals begin yesterday, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26. BroadwayWorld was on hand to capture the introductory event!

Rehearsals begin today, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26.

Nominations in 14 categories and 2 special awards were announced today by the Off-Broadway League for the 2010 Lucille Lortel Awards recognizing outstanding achievement Off-Broadway. This year's ceremony will benefit The Actors Fund.

As the Helen Hayes Awards ceremony on April 5th honors performances and productions from the past year, DC theatergoers will be hearing two gorgeous scores by Jason Robert Brown and Jeanine Tesori, and seeing a new opera about a boxer, a splashing pool on stage, Tyne Daley as diva Maria Callas, Maurice Hines tapping his way on the Lincoln Theatre stage, Mrs. Robinson seducing Benjamin, a red balloon thrilling young audiences, Harvey Fierstein wishing he was a rich man, tales and songs from a Scottish Jewish composer, a new children's show with lots of princesses, a little musical with the title in [ ], a triumphant mounting of a short-lived Broadway musical, and a wordless Kafka classic performed in Georgian style. The crocuses, cherry blossoms, and azaleas will be in full bloom, as the nation's capital will be awash in beautiful colors. It's the perfect time to visit and see some great shows in our DC area theatres.

GPR Records' first release will be 'Poetic License' featuring 100 poems read by 100 performers of the stage and screen. The CD will be released on April 2nd in celebration of National Poetry Month and will be available on Amazon.com and on itunes. There has never been a spoken word recording that has included so many performers reading such a wide variety of poetry, each selection a personal choice of the performer. GPR Records is presenting this collection in hopes of inspiring audiences with a new appreciation of the spoken word.

GPR Records' first release will be 'Poetic License' featuring 100 poems read by 100 performers of the stage and screen. The CD will be released on April 2nd in celebration of National Poetry Month and will be available on Amazon.com and on itunes. There has never been a spoken word recording that has included so many performers reading such a wide variety of poetry, each selection a personal choice of the performer. GPR Records is presenting this collection in hopes of inspiring audiences with a new appreciation of the spoken word.

GPR Records' first release will be 'Poetic License' featuring 100 poems read by 100 performers of the stage and screen. The CD will be released on April 2nd in celebration of National Poetry Month and will be available on Amazon.com and on itunes. There has never been a spoken word recording that has included so many performers reading such a wide variety of poetry, each selection a personal choice of the performer. GPR Records is presenting this collection in hopes of inspiring audiences with a new appreciation of the spoken word.

GPR Records' first release will be 'Poetic License' featuring 100 poems read by 100 performers of the stage and screen. The CD will be released on April 2nd in celebration of National Poetry Month and will be available on Amazon.com and on itunes. There has never been a spoken word recording that has included so many performers reading such a wide variety of poetry, each selection a personal choice of the performer. GPR Records is presenting this collection in hopes of inspiring audiences with a new appreciation of the spoken word.

GPR Records' first release will be 'Poetic License' featuring 100 poems read by 100 performers of the stage and screen. The CD will be released on April 2nd in celebration of National Poetry Month and will be available on Amazon.com and on itunes. There has never been a spoken word recording that has included so many performers reading such a wide variety of poetry, each selection a personal choice of the performer. GPR Records is presenting this collection in hopes of inspiring audiences with a new appreciation of the spoken word.

Glen Roven, Peter Fitzgerald, and Richard Cohen are pleased to announce the formation of a new CD label, GPR Records, (www.GPRRecords.com) which will record and distribute Broadway, classical, spoken word, and children's music. GPR aims to surprise listeners with recordings that are both unusual and entertaining

The Toxic Avenger, winner of 'Best New Off- Broadway Musical' by both the Outer Critics Circle and BroadwayWorld's Theatre Fans, is on sale through February 21st, 2010. The Joe DiPietro/David Bryan penned musical is currently playing at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

Monday, February 8 saw the launch of the 2010 24 Hour Musicals. The cast included stars Malcolm Gets, Cady Huffman, Kathleen Turner, Jeanine Tesori, in addition to John Ellison Conlee, Christopher Gatelli, Adam Gwon, Julia Jordan, Moisés Kaufman, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Richard Kind, Nancy Opel, Steven Pasquale, Mo Rocca, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Ted Sperling, Tracie Thomas, Alicia Will, and David Yazbeck.

Creative teams and casting have been set for the four brand new musical which make up the Monday, February 8, 2010 'The 24 Hour Musicals' held at The Gramercy Theatre (127 East 23rd Street, between Park and Lexington Aves) - doors open at 7:00pm for a 7:30pm performance, it has been announced by producers The 24 Hour Company and the Exchange.