Rob Ashford News

DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. brought SHREK THE MUSICAL to the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway @ 53rd St) last night Sunday, December 14, 2008. Preview performances began on Saturday, November 8, 2008. The big green musical celebrated in full Broadway style and BroadwayWorld's cameras were there to bring you the starry arrivals for Shrek's big opening night party!

Oscar winner Rachel Weisz is to play Blanche Dubois in a West End production of A Streetcar Named Desire. The Tennessee Williams revival is set to take place at London's Donmar Warehouse and will be directed by Rob Ashford. No other cast details, exact dates or other production information has been released. The current plans are for 'Streecar' to open in July 2009.

McCarter Theatre Center announces casting for 28th ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF CHARLES DICKENS'A CHRISTMAS CAROL.' Adapted by DAVID THOMPSON Directed by MICHAEL UNGER Featuring Lisa Altomare, Richard Gallagher, Karron Graves, Stephen James King, James Ludwig, Janet Metz, Ned Noyes, John O'Creagh, Anne O'Sullivan, Karen Pittman, Nikki E. Walker with renowned Irish Actor Dermot Crowley as Ebenezer Scrooge Previews begin Sunday, December 7, 2008

The results of the 2008 Executive Board Election were announced on November 17, 2008 at the annual SSDC membership meeting in New York. Joining the leadership of President Karen Azenberg, Executive Vice President Larry Carpenter and Treasurer Doug Hughes are director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall as Vice President and director Mary B. Robinson as Secretary. New members Joe Calarco and Leigh Silverman joined the Board, along with incumbents Rob Ashford, Edie Cowan, Ethan McSweeny, Tom Moore, Lisa Peterson, Daniel Sullivan, David Warren and Chay Yew. After twelve years of valued service, Mark Brokaw and Sheldon Epps rotated off the Board.

The UK's Daily Mail Newspaper is reporting that Michael Ball is in very early talks to star in the upcoming West End Revival of Barnum. Rob Ashford is said to be directing and choreographing the show as well. Produced by Cameron Mackintosh, the show is slated for 2010.

McCarter Theatre Center announces casting for 28th ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF CHARLES DICKENS'A CHRISTMAS CAROL.'

The former child performer and reigning 'best dancer on Broadway' takes a dramatic non-human role.

BWW just got an exclusive account of a top secret, closed reading that happened over the weekend at Playwright's Horizons Rehearsal Studio (although Playwrights is not involved in this).

The Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) world premiere production of Nick Whitby's 'To Be or Not To Be' officially opened on Broadway last night, Tuesday October 14th. BroadwayWorld's cameras were there to capture the star-studded red carpet arrivals.

13, A New Musical, with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years), began previews on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 officially opened at The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 W. 45th Street) last night, Sunday, October 5, 2008. With a book by award winning children's author & songwriter Dan Elish ('Born Too Short, Confessions of an 8th Grade Basket Case') and Robert Horn (Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance), 13, A New Musical is directed by Tony Award nominee Jeremy Sams (The Sound of Music in the West End) and choreographed by Tony Award nominee Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific).

The Seagull, in a new version by Christopher Hampton and directed by Ian Rickson, opened on Broadway last night, Thursday October 2nd at the Walter Kerr Theatre. The production, starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Sarsgaard plays a limited 14-week engagement through Sunday, December 21st.

Lisa Kron has been chosen to host the 2008 New York Innovative Theatre Awards (the IT Awards), in a ceremony dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway. There will be entertainment interludes performed by New York's own Blue Man Group.

Lisa Kron has been chosen to host the 2008 New York Innovative Theatre Awards (the IT Awards), in a ceremony dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway. There will be entertainment interludes performed by New York's own Blue Man Group.

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation is proud to announce the recipient of the 2008 Denham Fellowship. The Denham Committee, comprised of board members Edie Cowan, Tisa Chang, Paul Lazarus, Sharon Ott and Mary Robinson, decided to name director Jessi D. Hill as the second Denham Fellow and award her $3,000 in support of her production of Angel Eaters at Flux Theatre Ensemble in New York, New York.

Variety is reporting that Tony-nominated choreographer Rob Ashford will be joining the creative team of the upcoming production of Shrek on Broadway.

Producers Emily Miller and New York Theatre Barn have announced that Tony Award-Winner Cady Huffman (The Producers, The Will Rogers Follies) will star in WOOD, which is an official selection of the upcoming 2008 New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group, has set the 2009 season at the Mark Taper Forum of the Los Angeles Music Center. The new season, which features six productions, will run from January 15, 2009, through January 24, 2010.

The new production of Lerner and Loewe's BRIGADOON, directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford and scheduled to play in Boston this fall, prior to a Broadway opening, has been postponed. The delay is due to the lack of an appropriate Broadway theatre in Spring, 2009.

Winners of DRAMA DESK AWARDS for the 2007/2008 New York theater season will receive their engraved trophies at a cocktail reception in their honor on Tuesday, July 22, 2008, from 4:00 to 6: 30 PM, at Tony's DiNapoli Restaurant, 147 W. 43rd St, it was announced by Robert R. Blume, Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards show, and Bruce Dimpflmaier, General Manager, of Tony's Di Napoli Restaurant.

Roundabout Theatre Company host the opening of 'The Marriage of Bette and Boo.'