Ryan Murphy News

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, January 8, 2012 - Sunday, January 8, 2012.

GLEE creator Ryan Murphy had stated that he was looking into a spinoff for the trio, but according to TVLine, Fox Entertainment's president Kevin Reilly now says that 'There will not be a Glee spinoff, but those characters will graduate.'

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is set to present its 3rd annual GARAGE REP, featuring three productions in rotating repertory by some of Chicago's most innovative storefront companies: LiveWire Chicago, Theatre Zarko and The Inconvenience.

In an interview with TVGuide, GLEE executive producer Ryan Murphy confirmed that he is currently in the process of casting two actors to play the roles of the fathers of the show's Rachel Berry (Lea Michele).

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture and long-form television nominations for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures; and The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television. The documentary film category and other television category nominations were already announced by the Guild in December 2011.

Today we are taking a look at the very best theatre-related entities in a variety of different categories - books, music, television, film, and, of course, theatre - as we look back on 2011 and all of the many marvelous moments of excitement, passion, joy and exultation that only theatre and theatre-related projects can possibly hope to provide. From Stephen Sondheim's LOOK, I MADE A HAT on the bookshelves of every Broadway baby worth their weight in sequins to Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone in Sondheim's COMPANY on the big screen courtesy of Fathom to the stunning Broadway revival of FOLLIES starring Bernadette Peters and its tremendous new cast album, all the way to the thrills and chills of Andrew Lloyd Webber's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL on the big screen and Blu-ray to the BOOK OF MORMON breaking Broadway records and even TV's best drama and comedy, both from mastermind Ryan Murphy - GLEE and AMERICAN HORROR STORY. Plus, we also have top film picks in the categories of Drama and Comedy, as well as the best of the best of them all, with Lars Von Trier's apocalyptic masterpiece MELANCHOLIA, George Clooney's play adaptation THE IDES OF MARCH and the 80s music video stylized thriller/drama DRIVE topping the list. All of that and a whole lot more awaits in this all-encompassing look back at the theatrical highlights in all entertainment realms in 2011, as well as a look ahead to what we cannot wait for in 2012!

Grotta Azzurra Ristorante, located on the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets in one of lower Manhattan's historic neighborhoods - Little Italy - has transformed its famous lower-level 'grotto' into an intimate live music room on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM for the remainder of December.

The season one finale of FX's hit drama series American Horror Story was the series' most-watched episode with 3.22 million Total Viewers, and it ranked as cable's top program (Live+Same Day) on Wednesday in delivery of Adults 18-49 (2.19 million), Adults 25-54 (1.9 million) and Adults 18-34 (1.25 million).

For all those silver and golden Broadway babies, young and green gleeks and plain old all-around entertainment enthusiasts of any age on your holiday shopping lists this year, today we have a SOUND OFF Special Edition 2011 Giving Gifts Guide sure to fulfill the wants, wishes, dreams and desires of your nearest and dearest theatre-loving family and friends with a white and red spotlight on the absolute essential must-haves for this holiday season! Among the festivities: we have GLEE taking on Joni Mitchell and Elvis; two charity albums benefiting arts-related causes and featuring Broadway's best; the most spectacular production of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA you are ever likely to see; candles coming in the six scents from THE SOUND OF MUSIC's beloved "My Favorite Things"; and, of course, Sondheim's massive new tome of the lyrics from the second act of his career - "with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany," no less - topping the list at #1! Plus, the most important gift of all!

On Wednesday night's Season finale of FX's AMERICAN HORROR STORY entitled 'Afterbath', Constance schemes to raise Tate's baby as her own. The episode airs on December 21st at 10:00 pm/et.

Twentieth Century Fox Television, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) announced today the winners for the "GLEE Give a Note" campaign - that started over 3 months ago - whereby 73 schools nationwide will receive grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to help save struggling music programs. As the economy continues to stumble, school music and fine arts classes are the first to feel the impact with drastic budget cuts and elimination of departments. The "GLEE Give a Note" campaign aims to soften the blow, and reignite public passion for supporting student arts programs and the teachings they provide to students.

GLEE fans who love comic books will be in luck just in time for the holidays -- the stars of Fox's hit television show have now been made into characters in the 32-page comic biography, Fame: The Cast of Glee, released today by Bluewater Productions.

A television staple since the very beginnings of the format, the Christmas episode is a tried and true trope of TV this time of year and no show promises more hatfuls of holiday cheer and buckets of glee more than, well, GLEE does - and, last night, on the seasonally-themed "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" (titled after one of the two new original songs penned for the episode), GLEE was a cool, neon blue star in the oft-midnight black galaxy - one far, far away, evidently; especially given the Chewbacca cameo and STAR WARS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL nods - of network TV today (or ever, for that matter). Capturing the copious charm of the cast and commonalities of the holidays among us all, the Matthew Morrison-directed Christmas special was a jolly Santa, his decked-out sleigh and all the merry reindeer to go along with them. Positively overflowing with song selections from the simply spectacular GLEE: CHRISTMAS VOLUME 2 - available now - last night's GLEE was not only a holiday music lover's and gleek's dream, but it also came with a maraschino cherry on top for the Broadway babies among us - THE SOUND OF Music's "My Favorite Things"; sung in Summer in the famous Rodgers & Hammerstein show and Robert Wise film version, the song has nevertheless become widely associated with the season due in no small part to Barbra Streisand's unforgettable inclusion of it on her peerless 1967 classic, A CHRISTMAS ALBUM. "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" also gave Sue Sylvester some room to exact her ongoing revenge - and redemption - while the rest of the episode contained a multitude of New Directions-centric plot developments, surprises and, of course, seriously Santa-friendly musical numbers - all, fascinatingly enough, with an all-inclusive (and, even, religion-friendly; in Rory's nativity story scene) style. Not that Judy Garland's Christmas classic special wasn't paid as much homage as Santa and the baby Jesus were - as we should always expect from GLEE - because it was. More on that in a moment. So much to discuss!

The long-awaited return of Trouty Mouth himself - Chord Overstreet; singing Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup", no less - was only the beginning of the big moves and even bigger events of last night's epic GLEE "Sectionals" episode. Yes, this year's sectionals competition certainly spelled a vast departure from less successful years' past and seeing and hearing New Directions taking on the vaunted catalog of Michael Jackson was the convergence of two true blue pop culture institutions coming together and making musical magic at long, long last - from "ABC" to "Man In The Mirror". Michael's sister Janet got her hotly anticipated GLEE treatment, as well, in the form of a syncopated and spirited "Control", during the stylishly executed Jackson tribute sequence. For the Broadway babies amongst the gleeks, we also were treated to an EVITA homage from Ohio's rival glee group, the Unitards, led by GLEE PROJECT's Lindsay Pearce. In addition to Finn and Rachel's discovery of White Chocolate (aka Sam) making ends meet as a stripper - as well as their subsequent reclaiming of him back to McKinley High and to the ranks of New Directions - "Sectionals" proved to be a strong and satisfying end to the journey of Season Three: Part 1 and next week's Christmas episode seems poised to provide ample entertainment value over the rushed tying up of loose dramatic ends as the series prepares to go on a brief hiatus until February. "Sectionals" displayed the continued rise to prominence - musical, dramatic and otherwise - of some featured players to the top of the star ranks and afforded Chord Overstreet and Darren Criss in particular with some delectable dramatic and musical moments - providing a distinct parallel to off-stage/off-show realities; Criss having become the biggest GLEE breakout star of all in a very short span of time - with Harry Shum, Jr. and Jenna Ushkowitz given solo moments to shine, as well. So, too, did Dianna Agron get her dramatic due at long last and her bumpy and grumpy story arc for Season 3 seems to be finding its footing and justification in the overall themes of the consistently strong season - her particularly well-delivered and delicately measured scene with Idina Menzel's Shelby (the adoptive mother to Quinn and Puck's baby, Beth) being a dramatic highlight of the season so far. So, too, was Finn and Blaine's scene in the gym an understated and sensitive reading of this episode's particularly smart and sharp script. Lea Michele continues to get short shrift in the musical department, but her leading of Fun.'s "We Are Young" was a welcome reminder of her golden instrument. So, while there were definitely many dramatic moments to remember in "Sectionals", the music - as always and forever - was the central delight and the payoff of the pairing of GLEE and the music of Michael Jackson (and Janet) was generally well worth the wait.

Fan fave Chord Overstreet will make his return to GLEE on the upcoming episode entitled 'Hold On To Sixteen'. In a just-released vidwo on Glee's YouTube channel, the actor discussed what it was like to come back to the popular FOX series.

As previously reported, among the next round of hits to get the GLEE treatment include a mash up of Destiny Child's 'Survivor' and Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive', and Toby Keith's latest hit, 'Red Solo Cup', featured on his latest album 'Clancy's Tavern.' The newest epiosode of GLEE airs on FOX December 6 and 8pm EST.

Having already broken down barriers in Season Three insofar as the depiction of gay teenage romance in concerned, last night on GLEE Ryan Murphy and company addressed lesbianism and its similarly taboo place in society - both in school and out. Brave and daring, GLEE's "I Kissed A Girl" episode surely opened up the doors to closets and more open conversations pertaining to human sexuality, yet it also painted a complex and all-too-real picture of the challenges facing teens of any and all sexual persuasions and how challenging it really is to be a teenager at the edge of seventeen in 2011. On the musical side, last night's show boasted an eclectic assortment of Sapphic-themed songs to go along with the dramatic content, such as Dolly Parton's "Jolene", Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One", KD Lang's "Constant Craving" and Katy Perry's recent hit "I Kissed A Girl". With Pink's "F-ing Perfect" given the duet treatment courtesy of Kurt and Blaine and a stripped-down, male-sung version of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" rounding out the seriously stupendous songstack, it was a night to remember for many more reasons than merely oh-so-fabulously spilled slushies and touching coming out stories - the music really, truly acted as an elemental ingredient; even more than usual. So, too, did Naya Rivera's seriously fine acting throughout make her turn as Santana this season a truly Golden Globe and Emmy-worthy performance - not unlike how Kurt's complex coming out story rightfully acted as award bait for Chris Colfer in seasons past. So, for all of that - and to recount the stunning "Constant Craving" and all of the rest of the superb musical sequences; as well as all about Rachel's surprising expulsion from McKinley High right when Sectionals are quickly approaching - read on.

The legendary Grotta Azzurra Ristorante, located on the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets in one of lower Manhattan's historic neighborhoods - Little Italy -- is transforming its famous lower-level 'grotto' into an intimate live music room on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM starting in mid-December. The policy will be a $20 cover charge plus a two drink minimum. Dinner at this fabled Italian restaurant will be available upstairs in the main dining room at 6 PM. A limited snacks menu will be available in the 'grotto" during the performances. The capacity of the 'grotto" is 50 people.

Darren Criss, breakout star of Fox's Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning smash hit television show 'GLEE', will make his Broadway debut as J. Pierrepont Finch in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, performing a strictly limited three week engagement from January 3, through January 22, 2012. He will replace Daniel Radcliffe, who will play his final performance on Sunday, January 1, 2012. Tickets for Mr. Criss' engagement in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING are now on sale. Go behind the scenes of his recent photo shoot below!

Darren Criss, breakout star of Fox's Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning smash hit television show 'GLEE', will make his Broadway debut as J. Pierrepont Finch in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, performing a strictly limited three week engagement from January 3, through January 22, 2012. He will replace Daniel Radcliffe, who will play his final performance on Sunday, January 1, 2012. Tickets for Mr. Criss' engagement in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING are now on sale.