Stephen Brackett News

We're getting an upgrade thanks to Andrew Keenan-Bolger's performance at Be More Chill's final post-show hang! Check out the video to see the Broadway favorite sing 'Blue Hair' alongside the show's Tony-nominated composer Joe Iconis!

New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), is proud to continue its mission of educating and inspiring young musicians through its Orchestra, Jazz, Chamber Music, Composition, Musical Theater Composition, Apprenticeship Conducting, and First Music commissioning programs. This season includes seven world premieres of new works commissioned through the First Music program, composed for the Orchestra, Jazz, and Chamber Music ensembles. The season also features renowned and up-and-coming soloists including prodigy pianist Harmony Zhu, 2019 Sphinx Competition winner cellist Sterling Elliott, and leading young pianist Michelle Cann in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Florence Price's recently re-discovered Piano Concerto in One Movement with NYYS Orchestra, as well as in-demand drummer Matt Wilson, celebrated saxophonist Steve Wilson, and trombone virtuoso Wycliffe Gordon with NYYS Jazz. The complete NYYS 2019-2020 concert calendar follows at the end of this press release.

Yonkers International Press and Musical Theater Today have released A Strange Loop: A Musical Theater Today In-Depth Production Feature.

How much one enjoys THE LIGHTNING THIEF, The Percy Jackson Musical, currently at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston through July 28, may correlate directly with one's familiarity with the source material. On opening night, the large number of teens and tweens in the audience - who were clearly anticipating the appearance of every monster, plot twist and special effect - were laughing, cheering and clapping with unbridled vigor. However, the adults whom I queried at intermission, who had no such prior exposure to the immensely popular Rick Riordan children's book series that mashes up teen angst with Greek mythology, were considerably less enthralled.

The Be More Chill: Original Broadway Cast Recording two-disc CD set is available online and in stores today, Friday, July 19. It was released for digital download and streaming earlier this year, with a vinyl release planned for later this year.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, is presenting the world premiere musical Fall Springs.

A workshop production of Reefer Madness The Musical will be held on Thursday, July 11 and Friday, July 12, 2019.

Be More Chill: Original Broadway Cast Recording is now available for CD pre-order and the two-disc set will be released online and in stores on Friday, July 19.

Cast members from Be More Chill recently stopped by NPR's Tiny Desk for a performance! The cast performed the songs 'The Pants Song,' 'A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into,' 'Michael in the Bathroom,' and 'Voices in My Head.'

C-c-c'mon! We're giving you the chance to win tickets to see Be More Chill on Broadway! The winner will receive two tickets to a performance of their choosing*. The contest will run now through July 7th, at 11:59 PM EST. The voices in our heads are telling us that you should enter for your chance to win TODAY!

Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program and creative laboratory for the arts in northeast Wyoming, premiered its "Ucross Spotlight" series on Wednesday, June 19, with a bold, intimate conversation between playwright alums Michael R. Jackson, Billy Porter, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, as well as choreographer Raja Feather Kelly on the themes present in Jackson's provocative new musical A Strange Loop. The panel took place at the world-famous Playwrights Horizons theater following a performance of the show, with major themes of the conversation including reconciling with religion as a member of the LGBTQ community and "watering down" queer art for straight audiences. It is the first of many planned Ucross Spotlight events, which will celebrate its alumni's art and offer a first-hand look at their creative process.

In response to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons , in association with Page 73 is pleased to announce a three-week extension of the world premiere production of Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop, to July 28 (from the initially-announced closing date of July 7).

Playwrights Horizons, in association with Page 73, present the world premiere production of A Strange Loop, with book, music, and lyrics by 2017 Jonathan Larson Award and 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award-winner Michael R. Jackson, directed by Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill, Buyer and Cellar), and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly (Playwrights: If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhf**ka; Ugly (Black Queer Zoo), Fairview). A Strange Loop explores the thoughts of Usher, a black, queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a black, queer writer, working a job he hates while writing his original musical. Michael R. Jackson's blistering, momentous new musical (and his professional debut) follows a young artist at war with a host of demons-not least of which are the punishing thoughts in his own head-in an attempt to capture and understand his own strange loop.

'Don't roll your eyes at me,' a person of influence instructs a promising young musical theatre writer. 'I'm the chair of the Second-Coming-Of-Sondheim Award so I know what the f... I'm talking about!'

Tonight, the Broadway company of Be More Chill will celebrate an exciting step forward in the quest for diversity on stage, as four actors of Asian descent portray four principal roles in the show for the first time ever.

Joe Iconis announced following tonight's performance of Be More Chill from the stage that the Broadway production of the social media phenomenon musical will close on August 11th following 30 previews and 177 performances

The social media sensation Be More Chill celebrated 100 Broadway performances at the Lyceum Theatre today!

Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program and creative laboratory for the arts in northeast Wyoming, is proud to announce the debut of "Ucross Spotlight": a nationwide series of performances, live readings, moderated panels, and cultural events featuring its esteemed alumni. "Ucross Spotlight" will debut on Wednesday, June 19, at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd Street), with a conversation between Michael R. Jackson, Billy Porter and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, moderated by Jacobs-Jenkins.

Today, Be More Chill announced the special guests for "The Post Show Hang," a special Wednesday evening encore series through July 31st.

Huntington Theatre Company is delighted to bring adventurous programming for the young and young at heart to Boston this summer with The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, an electrifying (Newsday) musical adaption of The New York Times best-selling novel written by Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical will play at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston). Performances begin July 17 and will run through July 28, 2019. Tickets go on sale to the general public Sunday, June 2.