Tom Kitt News

Today we are celebrating the incredibly accomplished multi-award-winning performer, composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Buzz Theatre Productions will present 'Next to Normal' for its inaugural production. Performances will take place on Friday, March 6th and Saturday, March 7th at 8pm at Old Paramus Reformed Church (660 E. Glen Avenue) in Ridgewood, NJ. The rock and roll musical, which features book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, deals with a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effect that her illness and the attempts to alleviate it have on her family. The musical also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and the underbelly of suburban life.

According to an Equity casting notice, Disney Theatrical Productions will soon hold a developmental lab for a musical version of Freaky Friday. Christopher Ashley will helm the project, which will feature music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (If/Then, Next to Normal) and a book by Bridget Carpenter. The lab will take place March 31 through April 10, 2015.

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: Off-Broadway is teeming with new shows, including TEXAS IN PARIS, THE MYSTERY OF LOVE AND SEX, KILL ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT and more!

On Monday, April 6th, over a dozen songwriters will join forces for a one night benefit concert to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at the Highline Ballroom.

For over 25 years, stars of stage and screen have come out to bowl in support of Second Stage's award-winning seasons and to assist the theatre in its fund-raising efforts at its annual All-Star Bowling Classic. Last night, stars gathered at Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge to bowl and BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the event below!

For Canfield and Kelly's From Broadway to Survivor cabaret, the charming couple shared with audiences their New York experiences, love story, and their vibrant talents. This made for a fun night of Broadway showmanship that amused the collected audience.

Just days after we revealed that IF/THEN was set for the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles from December 8, 2015 to January 3, 2016, we can now report that it's official -- the show is going on tour! This morning, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts announced that the National Tour of IF/THEN, will launch in Denver in October 2015. Performances at The Buell Theatre begin October 13 and run through October 25. IF/THEN is part of the 2015/2016 Broadway season.

STARS OF DAVID: STORY TO SONG, a new musical revue based on the best-selling book by Abigail Pogrebin, and produced by Tony Award winning producer Daryl Roth, continues its Florida tour, opening tonight, January 28 and continuing through February 1 at Miami's Dave and Mary Alper JCC, followed by performances February 4 through February 15 at Miami Beach's The Gleason Room - Backstage at the Fillmore and February 17 through March 15 at West Palm Beach's Kravis Center - Persson Hall.

IF/THEN will have no performances today, January 27 - February 1 to accommodate Idina Menzel's rehearsal and travel schedule for her performance of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 1 (click here for THAT exciting news!).

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

For one night only, tonight, January 26, 2015 at 54 Below, hear the songs of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey as you've never heard them before!

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: Two awards ceremonies are held today, YouTube star Christina Bianco leads APPLICATION PENDING off-Broadway, and a slew of concerts spread across the city!

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: The Cast of IF/THEN Sings Kitt & Yorkey; David Michael Finkelstein's Bar Mitzvah: The Musical Comedy In Concert; Josh Canfield & Reed Kelly: From Broadway to Survivor; Ellyn Marie Marsh: INNAPPROPRIATE; and T Oliver Reid: Drop Me Off at Harlem.

STARS OF DAVID: STORY TO SONG, a new musical revue based on the best-selling book by Abigail Pogrebin, and produced by Tony Award winning producer Daryl Roth, continues its Florida tour, opening January 28 and continuing through February 1 at Miami's Dave and Mary Alper JCC, followed by performances February 4 through February 15 at Miami Beach's The Gleason Room - Backstage at the Fillmore and February 17 through March 15 at West Palm Beach's Kravis Center - Persson Hall.

On Twitter, Lin-Manuel Miranda had this to say @Lin_Manuel: Honored honored honored. See you nerds at @Weswings. GO WES! #PartyonFountain Miranda is the composer-lyricist of Broadway's In the Heights, which received four 2008 Tony Awards (including Best Orchestrations, Best Choreography and Best Musical), with Lin-Manuel receiving a Tony Award for Best Score, as well as a nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He is the recipient of a 2009 Grammy Award for In the Heights, Original Broadway Cast Album and was named a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Lin-Manuel contributed new songs to the revival of Stephen Schwartz'sWorking, collaborated with Arthur LaurentsandStephen Sondheim on Spanish translations for the 2009 Broadway Revival of West Side Story, and most recently, partnered with Jeff Whitty, Tom Kitt and Amanda Green for Bring It On: The Musical. He starred in the Encores! production of Merrily We Roll Along. His next musical, Hamilton, will have its world premiere at The Public Theater in 2015. '

The lobby of the Noel S. Ruiz Theatre at CM Performing Arts Center was bustling with excited audience members for the opening night of “Bring It On: the Musical”: its Long Island Premiere. Though the show started about twenty minutes late, that excitement held true through the entire show. Along with the guest I had brought with me, I had never seen the musical nor heard any of its music; but we assumed we would love it because we trust most of Lin-Manuel Miranda's artistry. “How bad could it be?”

IF/THEN has just announced that it will have no performances January 27 - February 1 to accommodate Idina Menzel's rehearsal and travel schedule for her performance of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 1. Performances will resume on Tuesday, February 3. Ticket holders for performances January 27 - February 1 will be rescheduled into another performance. The musical will play its final performance on Sunday, March 22, following 29 previews and 401 performances.

Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's Pulitzer Prize winning musical NEXT TO NORMAL looks at the all too common, but not often enough discussed, issue of mental illness as it affects what appears to be a normal suburban family with respect and without judgment. Darylin Ramondo (Director & Producer) has taken this work and adapted it to the intimate space of Hayes Theatre with wonderful results.