Tituss Burgess News

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, August 30, 2015 - Sunday, August 30, 2015.

Music director, Broadway producer, and skilled musician Michael J. Moritz Jr. will be spending this fall traveling the United States with one purpose in mind: teaching. To get the inside scoop on his US coaching tour, I sat down with Michael J. Moritz Jr., and we discussed his multifaceted career, teaching, and music.

Today in 2009, The Little Mermaid closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman (written for the film) and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.

Like all of the theatre community, BroadwayWorld is shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely passing of 21-year-old Les Miserables performer Kyle Jean-Baptiste after an accident at his mother's home on Friday night. Below, read the heartfelt messages that friends and fans have been sharing to social media ever since the news of his death.

Just prior to taking the court for the 2015 U.S. Open, kicking of this Sunday, Aug. 31, tennis star Serena Williams decided to channel her nervous energy into a spectacular karaoke performance of 'Under the Sea' from THE LITTLE MERMAID.

UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT star Tituss Burgess stopped by this morning's TODAY to talk about the upcoming second season of the show, but wound up issuing an on-air apology to his mom!

In an interview with PEOPLE, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT star Tituss Burgess shared how he found out about his Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy series.

The Tectonic Theater Project is proud to announce a star-studded one-night-only special benefit reading of Moises Kaufman's GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE, the award-winning play about Oscar Wilde and the trials for his 'crime' of homosexuality, on October 5, 2015 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater (524 W 59th St).

Tituss Burgess stopped by NBC's LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS and recalled playing Sebastian the Crab in Broadway's THE LITTLE MERMAID.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Ease on down the road to Central Park for a WIZ reunion!

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is proud to announce that songwriter Jonathan Reid Gealt will celebrate the release of his new cd, 'Whatever I Want It To Be,' at Birdland with a bevy of Broadway stars on Sunday, November 29 at 6pm.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater on Sunday, September 27 at 9:30 PM to open the Fall 2015 Season.

'The more real you play it, the better for any piece, even a comedic piece like this one.' Stage and television actor Robert Creighton is talking about his upcoming role debut in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, which opens August 6th at the Maine State Music Theatre. Creighton, who is playing the meaty role of Frankenstein's bungling, hunchbacked assistant Igor, says of his approach to the part, 'The script is so good, so honed that I just have to say the words and stay out of their way. I don't have to mug. It is so well-crafted that I simply embrace the stupidity of it all, enjoy that and watch the audience enjoy it, too. When you play it for real, you are not making fun of the humor or commenting on the material, and the situation takes care of itself.'

SPARKLE & CIRCULATE with JUSTIN SAYRE - the official monthly podcast of the International Order of Sodomites - has posted the ninth episode, which features an in-depth conversation with James Gavin, author of the acclaimed biography 'Is That All There Is? The Strange Life of Peggy Lee' and previous books on Lena Horne, Chet Baker and New York nightlife. The show is available on iTunes here. Previous episodes- featuring interviews with Randy Harrison, Justin Vivian Bond, Michael Musto, Frank DeCaro, Kim David Smith, Jeffery Self and R&B legend Sarah Dash - are also available. SPARKLE & CIRCULATE is produced by Dan Fortune and Tyrus Emory.

Ever wonder which Broadway tunes have inspired your favorite performers? Check back every Tuesday for ON RECORD- to find out which cast recordings have made an impact on Broadway's brightest stars. In this week's edition, we hear from Arielle Jacobs, who is currently starring as 'Nessarose' in Wicked- playing at the Gershwin Theatre. Read on to find out her top five picks!

Two time Tony Award nominated producer, two time Grammy Award nominated record producer and internationally acclaimed Music Director/Pianist Michael J. Moritz Jr. announces US Coaching Tour, spanning 15 cities over 45 days this October-November. Sessions are available for all ages and skill level.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to OASIS (298 Eleventh Street, San Francisco CA) tonight, August 1 at 7:00 PM after a sold out debut show in April.

The Broadway Dreams Foundation (BDF), in partnership with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, returns to Philadelphia for a weeklong musical theater intensive, August 2-9, during which Philadelphia's most promising performers will receive unprecedented instruction from the industry's top directors, choreographers and professionals.  To conclude the weeklong intensive, BDF will present GENERATION, a unique Broadway-style revue featuring performances by Broadway veterans and emerging local talent.  

Lines are blurring. Gender-bending is seemingly everywhere these days, from high fashion ads to news coverage to I AM CAIT, Queen Latifah as The Wiz and beyond. Furthermore, one of the most provocative and popular stories of last week was the news of a Canadian regional production of A CHORUS LINE casting a male actor in the leading role of Cassie, renamed Casey. With the additional angle of Broadway currently being abuzz with the appearance of stage and screen star Taye Diggs stepping into the iconic high heels of the titular character in the recently multi-Tony Award-winning musical HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH - itself centered on a transsexual character - it seems as though now would be the ideal time to consider some other musical theatre mainstays and how they could be re-purposed and refreshed with a gender-bended twist. Although certain roles seems tailor-made to such treatment, it is illuminating to consider the rich possibilities that could potentially be afforded in the experience of witnessing the right performer of perhaps the perceivably wrong sex tackling a role normally associated with the opposite gender. Who knows, maybe a female Phantom or a make Elphaba are not that wildly spurious or far-fetched to consider given the compelling performances that have been given by unlikely actors in roles traditionally portrayed in a certain way. Theatre is nothing without reinvention and these are my top 10 picks for musicals I would like to see taken on with fresh eyes and a new outlook.

After a SOLD OUT engagement last fall, #SOBLESSED Live! returns to 54 BELOW on July 27th at 9:30 p.m., benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS! Krysta Rodriguez ('Smash') and Adam Kaplan (Newsies) join host Lesli Margherita (Matilda) in #SOBLESSED Live! featuring Christine Dwyer (Wicked), Chris McCarrell (Les Miserables), Nikka Graff Lanzarone (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde, AEA PRESIDENT!), Alex Wyse (Deaf West's Spring Awakening), Chelsea Nachman (Twitter) as Laura Benanti.