Stephen Schwartz News

The award-winning musical theatre blockbuster WICKED is returning to its original Australian home, the Regent Theatre, Melbourne in 2014 for a strictly limited season. WICKED Australian Co-Producer John Frost will be announcing season details and cast at a media launch at 12 noon on Monday July 8. More details of this thrill-ifying launch will be announced in coming weeks.

New BroadwayWorld.com Poll - Which Disney project are you most excited for?

Legendary Broadway stars will be coming to Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center in an intimate cabaret setting starting in July.

Emmy Award-winner Carol Kane will return to the Broadway production of WICKED as Madame Morrible, starting performances on Monday, July 1, 2013. Ms. Kane has previously performed the role on Broadway, in Los Angeles, and on tour. Fresh off the national tour of WICKED, Michael Wartella will assume the role of Boq, beginning performances onTuesday, June 25.

This past Tuesday 2013 Bistro Award winner Michael Hughes was reunited on stage with one of his best friend's (Mamma Mia's Callandra Dendias) for a very special cabaret which paid tribute to the music of Academy Award Winner Stephen Schwartz (with some Disney thrown in for good measure). Joining this dynamite duo were special guests Kritty Uranowski, John Connolly, Lindsey Frazier, Joel Cumber and Mark Selby on the piano. BWW has photos from the special night.

A cast member from PIPPIN filmed what we think is Broadway's first Instagram video -- a silent, backstage tour of the show. Watch it HERE!

The Dramatists Guild of America is pleased to announce their Second National Conference Having Our Say: Our History, Our Future, which will be held from August 22-25, 2013 in Chicago, IL. The conference will include keynote speeches, legal and business seminars, workshops, and conversations with theatre elite. Participating Council and visiting artists include Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Gretchen Cryer, Rebecca Gilman, Carol Hall, Winnie Holzman, David Ives, Lisa Kron, Martha Lavey, Bobby Lopez, Terrence McNally, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Marsha Norman, Theresa Rebeck, Stephen Schwartz, Jeff Sweet, John Weidman, George C. Wolfe, and Charlayne Woodard.

Last week BroadwayWorld reported that Disney Theatrical Productions has been experimenting with bringing a live stage version of THE MUPPETS to Broadway, but according to the New York Times, that's not the only project in the works. Many other shows based on animated Disney classics are being created for the stage including THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Peter Parnell and direction by Scott Schwartz), for which a table reading was recently held. It was announced several year ago that stage adaptations of DUMBO (direction by Stephen Daldry), and Tim Burton's version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (direction by Rob Ashford) were in the works, though no new information has been released recently on either project.

SILENCE! THE MUSICAL will end its triumphant two-year run Sunday, July 7th at the Elektra Theatre. The production will have played a total of 529 performances and eight previews. The show's producer, Theater Mogul, is currently negotiating licensing deals for futureSILENCE! productions to open during the 2013-14 season in major markets across the country and around the world.

Midwest New Musicals presents NORTH SHORE B & B (BOATS AND BEACHES), the 2013 Mini-Musicals Project on Sunday, July 21, 3:00 PM at Light Opera Works Second Stage at McGaw YMCA Children's Center Auditorium, 1420 Maple (at Lake) in Evanston. Tickets are $10 at the Light Opera Works box office: (847) 920-5360 or at the door.

Andrea McArdle, best known for originating the role of Annie in the 1977 Broadway production of ANNIE, premiered her solo cabaret show 70'S AND SUNNY to sold-out houses at 54 Below in late July 2012. She triumphantly retuned to the venue with an equally successful engagement in January. The album, compiled from live recordings of her January 17-19 run, 70S AND SUNNY - LIVE AT 54 BELOW pristinely captures her enthusiastically nostalgic and fascinating performances. As a voice that helped shape and define a decade, she humbly tributes other influential artists of the 70s by presenting audiences with music from the likes of Peter Alan, Stephen Schwartz, Billy Joel, Jerry Herman, and Marvin Hamlisch.

Last night, June 18, WICKED's current cast members, including Lindsay Mendez (Elphaba) and Derek Klena (Fiyero) gathered at the Gershwin theatre to commemorate the show's the 4,000th performance. BroadwayWorld was there for the special celebration and you can check out full photo coverage below!

Multi-award-winning film and theatre composer Stephen Schwartz has announced his next new stage project, an original musical centering on the lives of famed European theatrical producers Emanuel and Eleanor Schikaneder, titled SCHIKANEDER.

DEFYING GRAVITY: THE MUSIC OF STEPHEN SCHWARTZ will be presented tonight, June 18th at Toronto's Jazz Bistro. The 9 p.m. performance features vocalists, Michael Hughes (2013 New York City Bistro Award Winner, MICKEY & JUDY) and Callandra Dendias (Toronto's MAMMA MIA!), who last joined forces in 2010 for their sold-out concer t"Unexpressed" at the Berkeley Street Theatre, will reunite for DEFYING GRAVITY: THE MUSIC OF STEPHEN SCHWARTZ. With performances by special guests, including multiple East Coast Music Award nominee, John Connolly, Lindsey Frazier (star of Neptune Theatre's LEGALLY BLONDE), singer/songwriter Kritty Uranowski (Patti Cake), newcomer Joel Cumber, and accompanist Mark Selby.

Broadway In Chicago, Emerald City Theatre and First Stage are thrilled to announce their partnership for the holiday classic, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER. RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER will play the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 East Chestnut) Nov. 14 - Dec. 29, 2013.

Three-time Tony winning director Jack O'Brien's memoir 'Jack Be Nimble: The Accidental Education of an Unintentional Director' will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on June 18, 2013. For Jack O'Brien, there's nothing like a first encounter with a great performer, nothing like the sound of an audience bursting into applause. In short, there's nothing like the theater. In the special interview below, director Richard Jay-Alexander chats with his friend about what fans can expect from the new book. Check it out below!