Ordway News

Learn more about this native Minnesotan who's made it big in NYC after her beginnings in Moorhead, Minn.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 36 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2016 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 19 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration. BroadwayWorld is excited to report that Goodspeed has announced its 2016 participants. Scroll down for details!

OkayBetterBest, a new musical written by Rhonda Kess and Michael Weems and directed by Hunter Foster, will be presented the Ars Nova Loft (511 West 54th Street) as a special industry reading on Thursday, December 3 at 3:00 PM and Friday, December 4 at 3:00 PM. The cast includes Jason Gotay (Bring It On: The Musical, Spider-Man Turn off the Dark), George Salazar (Godspell, Here Lies Love), Julia Mattison (Godspell), Elena Ricardo (Mamma Mia!), Christina Sajous (Holler If Ya Hear Me, American Idiot), Justin Matthew Sargent (Bonnie & Clyde, Rock of Ages) and Remy Zaken (Spring Awakening). Industry members interested in attending should email OkayBetterBest@gmail.com and indicate their affiliation.

Sony Music Entertainment Canada today announces the latest release of Daniel Taylor. Known for his breathtaking passion and dedication to excellence, world-renowned countertenor Daniel Taylor returns with FOUR THOUSAND WINTER, a new release featuring 14 stunning seasonal pieces of winter and seasonal music.

?Iconic Entertainment Studios and T&D Productions announced that Broadway's A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN will take the stage, touring 34 cities across the U.S. and Canada for a total of 70 shows, including a stop at Atlanta's Fox Theatre Sunday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m. Conceived, written, and directed by Randy Johnson, the rock musical features choreography by Patricia Wilcox and musical direction by Tyler Evans.

After breaking box office records in 2014, Mozart's timeless comedy The Magic Flutereturns to Minnesota Opera (tonight, November 14 - 22 at the Ordway) in the revolutionary production by Komische Oper Berlin and the British theater group 1927.

Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold will play at the Ordway's concert hall on Sunday, December 6 at 2 p.m. just in time for the holidays.

This holiday season, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is excited to present Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, Dec. 10-Jan. 2. Tickets for the Ordway produced family classic start at $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in-person at the Ordway ticket office.

BroadwayWorld is excited to report that Broadway's A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (produced by Iconic Entertainment Studios and T&D Productions) will tour to 34 cities across the U.S. and Canada for a total of 70 shows, kicking off February 9th in Toronto. Conceived, written, and directed by Randy Johnson, the rock musical features choreography by Patricia Wilcox and musical direction by Tyler Evans.

The Duluth Playhouse will present Disney's MARY POPPINS, December 3-20, 2015, welcoming back guest director/choreographer Michael Matthew Ferrell.

Rehearsals started this week at The 5th Avenue Theatre for the exultant classic musical, Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, the iconic show sweeping Seattle for the holidays. Boasting such beloved songs as 'Do Re Mi,' 'My Favorite Things,' 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen,' and 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain,' this production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music will be presented as only The 5th can do, complete with a sensational live orchestra, stunning costumes, and incredible sets. Under the direction of David Bennett and with choreography by Trina Mills and music direction by Kat Sherrell, this musical will feature an exuberant all-local cast of fresh faces and favorite performers that includes Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess, joining the previously announced David Pichette as Max Detweiler and Jessica Skerritt as the Baroness Elsa Schraeder, with Hans Altwies as Captain Georg von Trapp and Kirsten deLohr Helland as Maria.

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today it will present The Hip Hop Nutcracker, Nov. 24-25. The show comes to the Ordway on its first international tour, shortly after sold-out performances in New Jersey and New York. Tickets for The Hip Hop Nutcracker range from $25-$90 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in-person at the Ordway ticket office.

Victoria Theatre Association welcomes the show-stopping Broadway musical BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, Nov. 3-8, 2015 at the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, as part of the 2015-2016 Premier Health Broadway Series.

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is excited to announce that Bremer Bank has signed on to be the sponsor of the Ordway's 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Musical Theater Series. The announcement of this multi-year partnership follows shortly after the announcement of Bremer Bank's sponsorship of the Ordway's upcoming holiday show, The Sound of Music.

MINNEAPOLIS (October 5, 2015) – After breaking box office records in 2014, Mozart's timeless comedy The Magic Flutereturns to Minnesota Opera (November 14 – 22 at the Ordway) in the revolutionary production by Komische Oper Berlin and the British theater group 1927. Fantastical hand-drawn animation, synchronized with live performance, sets a surreal stage upon which its quirky characters, all cleverly based on familiar silent-movie personalities, explore love, truth and the pursuit of enlightenment. This acclaimed production has been seen in just two American cities – Los Angeles and Saint Paul – but has received international praise. Britain's Guardian said, “This production is a joy to watch: an enchanting, big-hearted, supremely lovable piece of whimsical animation and nimble stagecraft.” The New York Times concurred: “... this production stays miraculously fresh, sustaining surprise and delight in its two-and-a-half hours.” Packed with exquisite singing and stage wizardry, Mozart's final opera will enchant young and old alike.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will continue its popular Broadway Songbook series this weekend, Oct. 9-11 with Broadway Songbook: The 70s Songbook. Tickets are $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts today announced casting for the roles of Maria, Captain von Trapp and the von Trapp children for its upcoming holiday production of The Sound of Music, running Dec. 10, 2015-Jan. 2, 2016. Tickets for the Ordway produced family classic start at $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in-person at the Ordway ticket office.

James Rocco and the Ordway's BROADWAY SONGBOOK® series have been seen in this space many times before. Usually, the shows are a virtual musical theatre master class with a local slate of triple threats. This time is no exception but THE 70s SONGBOOK is a slightly different show, just as the decade was a slightly different musical theatre experience. Cue the Disco beat. (Or maybe not!)

Robert Hartwell, of BroadwayWorld'sBroadway Quick Change, will soon help out Kristen Beth Williams, who plays Sibella on the First National Tour of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and while he's giving her dressing room a full make-over, he'll be asking her questions from her biggest fans. Submit questions in the comments section below for a chance to find out whatever you'd like to know about Kristen and life on the road!