Robert Lopez News

California Musical Theatre announced the 2015-16 Broadway Sacramento season at the Community Center Theater, featuring six shows not previously presented on the series, two of which were produced in the round at Music Circus but never before part of Broadway Sacramento.

THE BOOK OF MORMON, winner of nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, is pleased to announce a lottery ticket policy for the National Tour, which begins Wednesday, April 15 at 2pm at the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco and plays through Saturday, June 27, 2015. In San Francisco, the production will conduct a pre-show lottery at the box office, making a limited number of tickets available at $29 apiece.

What a renaissance - again! Although the period beginning with THE LITTLE MERMAID in 1989 through to the doubleheader of POCAHANTAS in 1995 and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME in 1996 and ending with MULAN in 1997 is considered by House Of Mouse superfans and many entertainment enthusiasts as the official Disney Renaissance era - meaning the company once again came to major prominence as a direct result of its animated musicals - it very much looks as if an entirely new type of Disney rebirth is in the process of occurring, spurred on by the worldwide success of the esteemed company's most successful animated feature to date, the highly theatrical and Broadway pedigreed FROZEN. Of course, in any way matching an era which in addition to MERMAID, POCAHANTAS, HUNCHBACK and MULAN shepherded BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALADDIN and THE LION KING from inspiration to actuality would be a high order, if not outright impossible, yet it seems that the recent, current and upcoming spate of ingenuously timed and expertly devised projects that Disney possesses at the moment could put them in that stratospheric level of uber entity once again in the industry - and in the hearts and minds of millions around the world, as well.

Coming off a record-setting year, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall's 2015-2016 Broadway Season continues to bring some of the most sought-after Broadway shows, as well as classic musicals that continue to excite and inspire generation after generation.

At the annual New Conservatory Theater Center (NCTC) Season Announcement Party for subscribers, donors, artists and press, NCTC Founder & Artistic Director Ed Decker announced the line-up for the 2015-16 subscription season. Regarded nationally and internationally as San Francisco's Premier LGBQI and Allied Theatre Company, NCTC builds on this rich tradition with its 2015-16 Season, featuring exhilarating U.S., regional and world premieres, as well as two extraordinary musicals.

It promises to be an evening of musical magic, touching accolades and tremendous excitement when the Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) honors at its annual Gala Bel Canto the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning songwriters behind Disney's 'Frozen,' Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and LACC President and Vice Chair Edward J. Nowak, Deputy General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company, on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 6 p.m., at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion's Grand Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

One of the most popular stories of the year so far, the unexpected announcement of a special one night only charity concert performance of a fan favorite musical-within-the-series from NBC's musical series SMASH, BOMBSHELL, to benefit the Actors Fund, is already a huge hit here on BroadwayWorld, and, now we bring you an exclusive chat with an elemental figure in the creation of the project, choreographer and director Joshua Bergasse, all about the hotly anticipated evening. As part of our conversation, Bergasse offers up a slew of new details on what plans are currently in place for the unprecedented SMASH reunion as well as share first reactions to the wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that has already racked up more than $315,000 in donations in less than two weeks, having begun with a goal of $50,000 when the event was first announced. Additionally, Bergasse parses the finer points of the BOMBSHELL score and outlines what fans can expect from the songstack on the evening as well as preliminary staging and presentational plans and also what the momentum engendered by BOMBSHELL could lead to in the future, near and far - a HIT LIST concert or perhaps a night featuring the other musicals-within-the-series. Plus, Bergasse also comments on his contributions to two new mainstage musicals this season byway of ON THE TOWN and GIGI as well as looks ahead to the La Jolla Playhouse premiere of the new musical by the FROZEN team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, UP HERE, while also glancing back at his Broadway debut in THE LIFE. All of that and much, much more!

THE BOOK OF MORMON National Tour is offering an opportunity for the Chicago community to engage with THE BOOK OF MORMON on social media and in person through a citywide scavenger hunt.

The LAKEWOOD PLAYHOUSE is proud to announce its 77th SEASON of SHOWS! It's a season filled with Laughter, Mystery, Literature, and Stories That Touch the Heart. This year includes FIVE PREMIERES that have never been seen at the Lakewood Playhouse! It also marks TWO SPECIAL ANNIVERSARIES! The 5th Season for Managing Artistic Director John Munn and the 50th Anniversary of the Very Building that we perform in! The Lakewood Playhouse Theatre TURNS 50 this year!

Well-Strung has been establishing a growing presence amongst Broadway fans. The all-male, singing string quartet whose members are Chris Marchant, Daniel Shevlin, Trevor Wadleigh and Edmund Bagnell, was the brainchild of Manager Mark Cortale and Marchant. They first came on to BroadwayWorld's radar when they appeared onstage for the Opening Gala of the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, part of the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The gala was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander and conducted by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, with members of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. But check out who they shared the stage with: Sierra Boggess, Deborah Voigt, Chris Mann, Norm Lewis & more. We then saw them at the Hirschfeld Theatre in another stellar line-up that included Rob McClure, Julie Haltson, Tituss Burgess, Lena Hall, Florence Henderson, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lillias White, Lily Tomlin and more Broadway favorites for Broadway Backwards, on March 9th, directed by Robert Bartley with musical supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and conducted by Tim Rosser. The guys definitely impressed.

The producers of the national tour of THE BOOK OF MORMON, winner of nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, and Fred Meyer Broadway In Boise announced today that single tickets go on sale today, March 20th at 10:00 AM. Tickets will be available at the Morrison Center Box Office (2201 Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise, ID 83706), by visiting MorrisonCenter.com, or by calling 208-426-1110.

Due to the incredible demand for subscriptions to the 2015/2016 season, La Jolla Playhouse announces a week-long extension for its first two season productions: Come from Away, a world-premiere musical written and composed by David Hein and Irene Sankoff, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, as well as for Up Here, a world-premiere musical comedy directed by Alex Timbers (Playhouse's Peter and the Starcatchers), featuring book, music and lyrics by the husband-and-wife team of Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who took home the Academy and Grammy Awards for Best Song with their mega-hit "Let It Go" from the Disney animated film Frozen. Come from Away will now run May 29 - July 5 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, and Up Here will now run July 28 - September 6 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Walt Disney Animation Studios' all-new short FROZEN FEVER which welcomes Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf back to the big screen, will open in theaters today, March 13, 2015, in front of Disney's 'Cinderella,' a live-action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale.

Hackensack High School will be hosting Broadway actor Rick Lyon for An Avenue Q & A tonight, March 13 at 7:00pm in the school auditorium.

The musical that has had theatregoers buzzing since its premiere, The Book of Mormon, has finally made its way to Madison. It's a show so full of lewd behavior that one would almost have to assume it was written by the men behind the series South Park. That shock value - however - is what makes this show so unbelievably fun.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Ravinia's summer season announced, plus the 'Mormon' and 'Merman' rivalry/revelry. 'The Addams Family' and 'Mr. Burns' extend, 'That's Weird' goes musical, Annaleigh Ashford and 'Tyler's Songs' bow on March 21, and Joan Curto and 'Finishing The Birthday Hat' honor Sondheim's 85th birthday!

The producers of the national tour of THE BOOK OF MORMON, winner of nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, and Fred Meyer Broadway In Boise announced today that single tickets will go on sale March 20th at 10:00 AM. Tickets will be available at the Morrison Center Box Office (2201 Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise, ID 83706), by visiting MorrisonCenter.com, or by calling 208-426-1110.

Hackensack High School will be hosting Broadway actor Rick Lyon for An Avenue Q & A on Friday, March 13 at 7:00pm in the school auditorium.

Today we are talking to one of the breakout stars of Season 3 of FOX's recent reality competition series THE X FACTOR and a stalwart Broadway regular in her own right, the passionate and versatile Rachel Potter. Espousing on her impressive new country-tinged album NOT SO BLACK & WHITE and explicating the impetus behind many of the standout tracks on the release, Potter opens up about her unique journey thus far in both her own life and her show business career - from her conservative Baptist upbringing to her early success headlining Disney theme park extravaganzas leading to a string of Broadway roles and eventually landing on THE X FACTOR, followed by her big move to Nashville and embarking on creating songs for a solo album that expresses exactly who she is, here and now. Additionally, Potter shares what audiences can expect from her upcoming live show at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC tonight as well as some special surprises she has in store for the performance. Plus, Potter reflects on some of her most memorable Disney shows and whether she would like to continue the tradition with FROZEN onstage while also recalling backstage stories from EVITA, WICKED and the LEGALLY BLONDE casting competition. All of that, her memorable GLEE audition, her desire to do FROZEN on Broadway and much more in this expansive conversation with a uniquely gifted Broadway crossover star worth watching.

Coronado Playhouse presents the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Avenue Q from January 23-February 28, 2015, benefitting San Diego Humane Society and PAWS of Coronado.