Stephen Schwartz News

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Edwin Drood gets a Cast Recording, Michelle Williams leads Fela! tour, Liza's celebrates her Birthday in concert, and so much more!

The Beautiful Soup Theater, whose revival of Moose Murders recently played The Connelly Theatre, will return to that venue in May with a production of the short-lived musical RAGS. The musical, which closed on Broadway after only four performances in 1986, features a masterful score by Charles Strouse (Annie, Applause, Bye, Bye, Birdie!), lyrics by two-time Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz and a libretto by Joseph Stein. The musical has undergone extensive revisions over the years, and this version will reflect material from both the well-received 1994 American Jewish Theatre production and the 2011 Lyric Stage production.

The company of the second North American tour of WICKED will welcome Jennifer DiNoia as Elphaba, Hayley Podschun as Glinda and David Nathan Perlow as Fiyero on Wednesday, April 3 in Rochester, NY.

WICKED, the global musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, has added two extra performances to its Scottish premiere engagement at Glasgow's King's Theatre due to an overwhelming demand for tickets. The extra matinee performances are on Thursday 15 May 2014 and Thursday 29 May 2014 at 2.30pm and tickets are now on sale.

Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken wrote original songs for last night's episode of the ABC comedy THE NEIGHBORS. In the episode titled 'Sing Like a Larry Bird', after seeing a Broadway musical, alien Larry decides to create one of his own. Check out the show's wacky take on Broadway below!

SILENCE! The Musical is adding Sunday performances beginning this weekend, kicking off its new Spring schedule. Following the announcement that SILENCE! would be ending its long run at the end of 2012, ticket sales unexpectedly soared, shattering all previous box office records held by the show. Subsequently, the producers determined that the production would reopen on January 19th. After opening initially at Theatre 80 on July 9, 2011 to unanimous rave reviews, SILENCE! was extended numerous times by popular demand and transferred theatres twice, ultimately landing at the new Elektra Theatre which was constructed especially for the show.

Today we are talking to a Grammy Award-winning performer who has carved out a unique career in the entertainment industry between his many platinum albums, notable contributions to film soundtracks and numerous live performances in solo shows and various musicals over the course of his twenty-five-year career in show business - the charming and talented Jon Secada. Discussing various aspects of many of his most memorable recordings to date and his process in capturing them in the studio, as well as reflecting upon the ever-chaning recording industry itself, Secada opens up about his work with some of the biggest names in music - Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan, Frank Sinatra, Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz and more included - as well as all about his new single, music video and his most recent sold-out appearances around the globe. Plus, Jon recounts his experiences performing on Broadway in the hit 1990s revivals of GREASE and CABARET, as well as his most recent stage work in JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT on the road. Plus, Secada shares his thoughts on iTunes, favorite artists and much, much more!

The company of the second North American tour of WICKED will welcome Jennifer DiNoia as Elphaba, Hayley Podschun as Glinda and David Nathan Perlow as Fiyero on Wednesday, April 3 in Rochester, NY.

On Saturday, March 23, 7:30pm, composer Zach Redler and librettist Sara Cooper, the creative team behind next month's musical 'The Memory Show' at the Duke Theater, will premiere their latest work 'Windows' featuring singers Sumayya Ali (The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess) and Etai BenShlomo (Wicked). Part of AOP (American Opera Projects) and Opera on Tap's new music series, 'OPERAtion Brooklyn' the 40-minute staged song-cycle will be followed by excerpts from two new operas - Decoration and Smashed. The performances will take place on multiple floors of ART-NY's South Oxford Space (138 S. Oxford St., Brooklyn 11217) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Tickets are $20, available at www.operationbrooklyn.com. The evening will run 1 hour, thirty minutes.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time when the show last played Boston in 2010, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, will return once again to the Boston Opera House for a limited six week engagement August 7 - September 15. Tickets for the return engagement go on sale to the public Sunday, April 28 and will be available through an authorized ticket seller found only at Ticketmaster 1-800-982-2787, and by visiting www.BroadwayInBoston.com. Tickets will also be sold directly at the Boston Opera House Box Office, 539 Washington Street, Boston, MA during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 10am to 5pm).

Goodspeed's 2013 Norma Terris Theatre Season will feature three musicals: a not-so-traditional barbershop quartet entertains in The Fabulous Lipitones; a marvelous summer musical yet to be announced; and Snapshots: A Musical Scrapbook, an original tuner about trusting your heart and believing in your memories which features well-known tunes from Wicked, Godspell,Pippin and many more. Tickets go on sale for the upcoming season Sunday, March 24th. The Box Office will open at 10 a.m. and audience members are encouraged to call early for the best choice of seats.

The story is familiar, Jesus lives, does some supernatural stuff, changes the world, and dies. The real Jesus would never guessed that his story would mesh with "Ain't nobody got no time fo' dat" lady or a singing goat, but it happened and it was awesome.

Philippine news portal ABS-CBNNews.com yesterday hinted Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Ltd., live entertainment producers that brought Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'The Phantom of the Opera' to Manila last year, and are bringing the screen-to-stage adaptation of 'Dirty Dancing' to the Cultural Center of the Philippines in July, has been eyeing Stephen Schwartz's 'Wicked: The Untold Stories of the Witches of Oz,' one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time, to follow suit after 'Dirty Dancing,' besides around six other productions.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, March 10, 2013 - Sunday, March 10, 2013.

The Music Box Theatre will soon be home to The American Repertory Theatre production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus. Check out a photo of cast member Orion Griffiths from PIPPIN's open rehearsal on March 8, 2013, in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In The Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride below!

The Music Box Theatre will soon be home to The American Repertory Theatre production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus. Check out a photo of cast member Erik Altemus from PIPPIN's open rehearsal on March 8, 2013, in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In The Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride below!

The Music Box Theatre will soon be home to The American Repertory Theatre production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus. Check out a photo of cast member Charlotte d'Amboise from PIPPIN's open rehearsal on March 8, 2013, in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In The Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride below!

The Music Box Theatre will soon be home to The American Repertory Theatre production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus. Check out a photo of cast member Philip Rosenberg from PIPPIN's open rehearsal on March 8, 2013, in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In The Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride below!