Nick Schlieper News

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, at the recent WhatsOnStage.com Awards, Gary McQuinn, producer of the Australian hit PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESSERT, announced that the show has planned a Broadway transfer for sometime in 2011.

At last night's WhatsOnStage.com Awards, Gary McQuinn, producer of the Australian hit PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESSERT, announced that the show has planned a Broadway transfer for sometime in 2011, as previously reported by BroadwayWorld. Whatsonstage.com confirmed the statement today.

Yesterday, Sunday 14 February, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical won the Best Musical Award, voted for by readers of Whatsonstage.com. In addition Oliver Thornton won Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Brian Thomson won Best Set Design and the late Ross Coleman won the award for Best Choreographer. The 2010 Whatsonstage Awards were voted for by a record 46,000 theatregoers.

According to an equity casting notice, the West End hit, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, will open on Broadway at a house to be announced on March 6, 2011. According to the same notice, the production will first play the Prince of Wales Theater in Toronto, with previews beginning October 12, 2010.

The Sydney Theater Company's production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' helmed by Liv Ullman and starring Cate Blanchett was an immediate success when it played a limited engagement at the BAM Harvey Theatre late last year. Since the closing of the show, rumors abound of a possible Broadway run. An entry in the The New York Times' ArtsBeat blog today reports that Stephen C. Byrd, the producer who holds the rights to 'Streetcar' has decided not to attempt to transfer the Sydney Theatre Company's production. Instead, spokesman Gary Springer said on Tuesday that a revival of sorts may be in the works, incorporating a multiracial cast into the production, while eyeing a Broadway run in the Spring 2011.

A slew of celebrities from all walks of the entertainment scene have flocked to see 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical' currently playing in the West End at the Palace Theatre. The 'Priscilla' website has compiled videos of these celebrity visits, which include backstage meet and greet with the cast and interviews with the celebrities. Included in these videos are Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Lorraine Kelly, Stephen Fry, Jodi Picoult, David Hasselhoff, Sarah Harding, Martina Navratilova, Miriam Margoyles and Carol Mcready, Ray Meagher, Cilla Black and Christopher Biggins, Heather Small, Greg Burns, Bette Midle, and Jermaine Jackson.

As previously reported, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will celebrate a year in the West End on 23 March 2010 having completed over 425 performances at the Palace Theatre since its opening last year. From 8 March Jason Donovan (Tick) and Oliver Thornton (Adam) will be joined by Don Gallagher as Bernadette, as booking for the show extends until 26 February 2011. Over the summer (6 June - 5 September 2010) there will be Sunday performances of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical at 3pm. The show is reportedly Broadway-bound thereafter in 2011.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will celebrate a year in the West End on 23 March 2010 having completed over 425 performances at the Palace Theatre since its opening last year.

Don Gallagher takes over from Tony Sheldon as Bernadette from March 8th 2010

Nominations were announced today for the Sydney Theatre Awards for 2009, which will be presented at a gala ceremony on Monday January 18 at 6pm at the new venue of the Showroom of Club Swans, Kings Cross.

The Australian is reporting that actress Cate Blanchett and her husband, playwright, screenwriter and director Andrew Upton have jointly re-upped as artistic director of the Sydney Theater Company until 2013. There's no word yet on any impact that this might have on the potential transfer of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' to Broadway.

Nominations were announced today for the Sydney Theatre Awards for 2009, which will be presented at a gala ceremony on Monday January 18 at 6pm at the new venue of the Showroom of Club Swans, Kings Cross.

As previously reported, buzz has begun that the Cate Blanchett-led production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' now playing its final performances at BAM, may have a Broadway future. In a new report in the New York Times, Patrick Healy reports: 'Stephen C. Byrd, a theater producer who holds the rights to mount 'A Streetcar Named Desire' on Broadway, said in an interview that he would 'love' to transfer the critically acclaimed production now at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, starring Cate Blanchett, to Broadway in 2010.'

The New York Times is reporting that multiple producers have contacted Cate Blanchett and BAM in regards to moving A Streetcar Named Desire to the Great White Way. The BAM production, like it's Kennedy Center predecessor, is entirely sold out and has been one of the winter's hottest tickets. No official announcements have been made, though the Times reports that a move would occur no earlier than the spring of 2010.

A recent performance of BAM's production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE was postponed for almost an hour and a half as the result of a traffic backup that caused the star, Cate Blanchett, to arrive late at the theatre. The audience was told the 3:00pm performance would be postponed until 4:00pm, and then delayed again until 4:30pm to allow the star time to arrive at the theatre.

Liv Ullmann, living legend of cinema and theater, has just directed a production of A Streetcar Named Desire that stars Cate Blanchett and opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November. While Ullmann was preparing that production, a documentary, The Sealed Orders of Liv Ullmann, captured her mentoring young actors through scenes from this same Tennessee Williams play. The Paley Center will premiere this film by four-time Academy Award nominees Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman, on December 14 at 6:30pm at The Paley Center for Media.

It has become apparent that money will not stand in the way of certain theatre patrons desperate to see the Sydney Theatre Company's production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' starring Cate Blanchett at the BAM Harvey Theatre in Brooklyn. According to a report in the New York Times, websites like Craigslist, StubHub and Ebay are seeing staggering ticket prices, with ticket holders asking as much as $2,000 for orchestra seats, and some buyers offering as much as $250 or more for any seat.

Last night, December 10, actress Cate Blanchett sat down with Charlie Rose to discuss playing te famed Blanche Dubois in BAM's A Streetcar Named Desire.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical is playing at Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus, London W1 through May 2010.

Cate Blanchett's powerful turn as Blanche DuBois in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at the Bam Harvey Theatre is not only winning over theatre critics and patrons, but has also managed to impress peers the likes of Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, and Alan Cumming.