Tom Kitt News

Following an acclaimed season which included the world premiere of Paul Weitz's Lonely, I'm Not and a critically lauded second staging of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winner, How I Learned To Drive, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has just announced two of the four mainstage productions in the company's upcoming 34th season. For subscription or ticket information, please call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visit the company's website, www.2ST.com. All productions are staged at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre, 305 West 43rd Street (just west of Eighth Avenue).

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL is headed to Broadway following a tour that began in 2011. The show will play Broadway's St. James Theater, beginning previews on July 12th, opening August 1st and running through October 7th.

Today we continue BroadwayWorld's extensive look at highlights from the sixty-plus years of the Tony Awards as we anticipate this year's ceremony on June 10 on CBS with the absolutely riveting final moment of last year's telecast, featuring peerless host Neil Patrick Harris performing a verbally dexterous and dizzying - and damn good - wrap-up/rap-up penned by Tony-winning IN THE HEIGHTS composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda and director Tommy Kail.

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL is headed to Broadway following a tour that began in 2011, reports the New York Times. The show will play Broadway's St. James Theater, beginning previews on July 12th, opening August 1st and running through October 7th.

The Stages Repertory Theatre brings NEXT TO NORMAL and the Goodman household to Houston audiences this summer for a limited engagement. The rock musical plays the theater's main stage from tonight, May 16 to June 24. No further casting or creative details have been announced, but BroadwayWorld will keep you informed as the Goodman family takes shape.

In 1994 Anthony Rapp was working at a Starbucks and about to audition for Rent a new musical by a young guy named Jonathan Larson. An inspiring story about friends and artists struggling in New York's Lower East Side, it was based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme. Anthony got the part, but Jonathan died suddenly the night before the musical's off-Broadway premiere.

TheatreZone opens Season 8 in December with A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum. Broadway's great farce is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest musicals ever written -- the perfect escape from life's troubles. With Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, music and lyrics by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, Forum takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from time-tested, 2000 year old comedies of Roman playwright Plautus with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville. The result is a non-stop laugh-fest in which a crafty slave (Pseudolus) struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan (Philia) for his young master (Hero), in exchange for freedom.

In a correlative column to this weekend's extensive and exclusive InDepth InterView, tonight we are shining a special solo spotlight on the vast multitude of talents possessed by one of Broadway's brightest stars - known best to theatre fans for his tremendous turns in Maury Yeston's TITANIC, Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY, the original musicals SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, SHREK and NEXT TO NORMAL as well as original dramas such as TIME STANDS STILL - who now can now regularly be seen on NBC's hit music drama series SMASH, and, starting this Sunday in a three-episode arc on Showtime's THE BIG C with fellow Broadway notable Tammy Blanchard - the one and only Brian D'arcy James. While you will have to wait until tomorrow for the career-spanning conversation that covers his experiences working on those thrilling original musicals as well as reflections on collaborating with the starry array of cast members and creatives on the Steven Spielberg-produced SMASH and what lays ahead for Season Two, now is an absolutely ideal opportunuity to reacclimatize ourselves. Just what can't Brian d'Arcy James do? As this spell-binding collection of clips prove - everything; and then some.

Mad Cow Theatre today announced the cast for Next to Normal, the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey.

A free concert celebrating the release of Over The Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project, a multi-media charity project that includes a two-CD set of original lullabies composed and sung by Broadway's brightest stars, a lavishly-illustrated hardcover book of 17 songs from the album, a corresponding e-book encompassing the entire collection, and a documentary film. The project gathers many of contemporary theater's greatest composers and vocalists, as well as award-winning illustrators and set designers, all of whom donated their talent to this endeavor.

TheatreZone opens Season 8 in December with A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum. Broadway's great farce is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest musicals ever written -- the perfect escape from life's troubles. With Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, music and lyrics by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, Forum takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from time-tested, 2000 year old comedies of Roman playwright Plautus with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville. The result is a non-stop laugh-fest in which a crafty slave (Pseudolus) struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan (Philia) for his young master (Hero), in exchange for freedom.

Deadline.com reports that GLEE and 'American Horror Story' co-executive producer Brad Buecker will direct Lionsgate's upcoming musical TIME AFTER TIME. Steve Golin, Joy Gorman and Matt Weaver will produce the film.

David Mirvish presents an explosive new musical comedy in Toronto, opening tonight. Bring It On: The Musical will play for a strictly limited engagement tonight, May 2 through June 3, 2012 at the Canon Theatre. The production is the final show of the 2011-12 Mirvish Subscription Season.

The Arkansas Repertory Theatre brings NEXT TO NORMAL and the Goodman household to Little Rock audiences this summer for a limited engagement. The rock musical will play from tonight, May 1st through the 27th.

Bring it On: The Musical wraps up its current tour in Toronto next month, opening May 3rd at the newly named Ed Mirvish Theatre. BWW spoke with Tony Award Winning composer Tom Kitt about what it was like working with fellow Tony Award Winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, composing for cheerleaders and how we can engage young people in the arts.

Nominations for the 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced at a news conference this morning by Drama Desk winners Donna Murphy and Brian d'Arcy James. The 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards will take place on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 8:00 PM at The Town Hall in Manhattan.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director and Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has been chosen as one of the 40 finalists in this year's Partners in Preservation program, which awards up to $250,000 to the cultural institutions that receive the most votes from its supporters. If selected, Second Stage Theatre will use the grant money to restore the facade of the company's future home, the 100-year old Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway. The finalists were presented by celebrity guest Katharine McPhee of NBC's hit "Smash" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Thursday, April 26. Second Stage at the Helen Hayes Theatre is the only Broadway theatre selected as a finalist.

Today we are talking to one of the busiest choreographers on Broadway who was recently represented by four shows running on the Great White Way simultaneously (a new record) - the long-running hit JERSEY BOYS, Pulitzer Prize-winner NEXT TO NORMAL, multi-Tony Award-winning MEMPHIS and THE ADDAMS FAMILY. His most recent Broadway credit is the new Alan Menken/Glenn Slater musical adaptation of the 90s hit Steve Martin comedy LEAP OF FAITH featuring Broadway superstar Raul Esparza in the lead. In addition to discussing the unique demands of his involvement with the aforementioned new musicals with a pronounced focus on his current project, Trujillo opens up about the process of collaborating with a director and what musical staging is all about at its core, as well as outlining his experiences working with a number of notable names on his impressive assortment of projects so far and taking a look back at his own career as a performer, having previously appeared in GUYS & DOLLS, FOSSE and the film version of CHICAGO among other illustrious resume entries. Plus, Trujillo shares his infectious enthusiasm and passionate dedication to his art and reveals what he will be taking on next after LEAP OF FAITH's opening night, which is tonight - a tryout tour of a screen-to-stage adaptation of the iconic 80s hit FLASHDANCE and an original dramatic musical included. All of that and much, much more!

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street tonight, April 26, at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.