Tom Wopat News

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week, or you're just in the mood for a recap of everything theatre, BroadwayWorld's new feature, 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end of the week fix. Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to the West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more!

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN stars Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz as Carl Hanratty, Aaron Tveit as Frank Abagnale, Jr., Tony Nominee Tom Wopat as Frank Abagnale, Sr. and Tony Nominee Kerry Butler as Brenda Strong. This new musical, created by a team of Tony winners, features a book by Terrence McNally, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, choreography by Jerry Mitchell and is directed by Jack O'Brien. Click below for a behind the scenes look at the making of the show's television commercial.

DanceOn, a YouTube partnership channel exclusive to dance, released the sixth episode of DIARY OF A CHORUS GIRL today. The cast of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is rehearsing during the day and performing at night in preparation for their April 10th opening! Alex sits down with Tony Award-winning director Jack O'Brien to chat about what it means to 'be' on Broadway.

This past week, Matthew Morrison once again resided in a Broadway theatre - visiting Aaron Tveit, Tom Wopat, Norbert Leo Butz, his HAIRSPRAY costar Kerry Butler, and the rest of the cast of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN; view his backstage thoughts below!

Nominations for The 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced on Friday, April 29, 2011, at 9:30 AM at the New York Friars Club, 57 East 55th Street, in Manhattan. Former Drama Desk Award winners Audra MacDonald and Liev Schreiber made the announcements. Other speakers included Isa Goldberg, President of the Drama Desk; Robert R. Blume, Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards; Barbara Siegel, chairperson of the Drama Desk Nominating Committee and Randie Levine-Miller, Director of Special Events for the Drama Desk, who has produced the nominations announcement ceremony at the NY Friars Club for the past 15 years.

Last night, May 2, Steven Reineke led a roster of artists including Tyne Daly, Tom Wopat, Gregg Edelman, Aaron Lazar, Tony DeSare, Michele Lee, Jamie Barton, Christine Ebersole, Kelli O'Hara, Maurice Hines, Cartier Williams, Randy Redd, Zak Resnick, Matt Dengler and special guest Angela Lansbury in the New York Pops' 28th Birthday Gala concert, Celebrate Hope. The evening celebrated the legacy of late actor and comedian Bob Hope and honored decades of support by Interpublic Group.

Last night, May 2, Steven Reineke led a roster of artists including Tyne Daly, Tom Wopat, Gregg Edelman, Aaron Lazar, Tony DeSare, Michele Lee, Jamie Barton, Christine Ebersole, Kelli O'Hara, Maurice Hines, Cartier Williams, Randy Redd, Zak Resnick, Matt Dengler and special guest Angela Lansbury in the New York Pops' 28th Birthday Gala concert, Celebrate Hope. The evening celebrated the legacy of late actor and comedian Bob Hope and honored decades of support by Interpublic Group.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 1, 2011 - Sunday, May 1, 2011.

Tyne Daly, Tom Wopat, Gregg Edelman, Aaron Lazar, Tony DeSare, Michele Lee and Jamie Barton have joined the roster of guest artists to perform at The New York Pops' 28th Birthday Gala, Celebrate Hope, on May 2, 2011. A grand gala evening celebrating the legacy of late actor and comedian Bob Hope and honoring decades of support by Interpublic Group, the event begins at 7:00 PM with a concert at Carnegie Hall featuring a special lineup of concert artists, followed by a black tie dinner and dance held at the luxurious Plaza Hotel.

In a very short time since his Broadway debut roughly ten years ago, Aaron Lazar has crafted a particularly impressive career consisting of a striking series featured and leading roles in everything from LES MISERABLES and A TALE OF TWO CITIES to THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA - and the sensational PBS Live From Lincoln Center telecast of it - to his superb turn as Count Carl Magnus in the recent revival of Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury to, most recently, Lonny Price's rapturously received presentation of Sondheim's COMPANY: IN CONCERT starring Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone at Lincoln Center - which will soon be seen in 500+ movie theaters nationwide starting in June. In this revealing conversation we discuss all of the aforementioned peformances, as well as what we can expect from the forthcoming Clint Eastwood film J. EDGAR starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Josh Lucas, written by Dustin Lance Black, with Lazar in a featured role, as well as his upcoming dates premiering his new show at Feinstein‘s in June. Before all of that, you can catch Aaron live and in person May 2 at the NY Pops Tribute to Bob Hope, which will also feature performances by Kelli O'Hara, Tom Wopat and many more in addition to a special presentation by Angela Lansbury. More information about the event - and tickets - is available here.

Last night, Thursday 4/28, Norbert Leo Butz and the cast of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN performed 'Don't Break the Rules' on 'The Late Show with David Letterman.' Click below to check out the performance!

One of the busiest leading men on Broadway since his two-year stint in the smash hit revival of Irving Berlin's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN co-starring Bernadette Peters (and, later, Susan Lucci and Reba McIntire), having appeared in Joe Mantello's highly-lauded revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and last season's Sondheim musical retrospective SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, the original star of DUKES OF HAZZARD himself, Tom Wopat, can currently be seen eight times a week in the jet-set new musical CATCH ME IF YOU CAN by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. In this career-spanning retrospective interview, Wopat and I take a look at his TV work ranging from directing DUKES to co-starring on CYBILL and bring it all the way to today with TAKING CHANCE on HBO and last year's JONAH HEX feature film. We also have news on John Doyle's directorial debut MAIN ST. co-starring Orlando Bloom, Ellen Burstyn and many more, as well as a thorough discussion of his musical side: Sondheim, his recording career, upcoming albums, concerts and more - plus, a complete consideration of his newest Broadway venture CATCH ME IF YOU CAN in anticipation of the NY Pops tribute to Bob Hope that he is co-starring in alongside Kelli O'Hara, Aaron Lazar and many more this Monday, also featuring a special presentation by legendary theatre icon Angela Lansbury. More information - and tickets - are available here.

The 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Harvey Fierstein, will be held Monday, May 23, at 9:00 PM at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan Center, 8th Avenue and 34th Street. This year, for the first time, a 90-minute Highlights Special of the Drama Desk Awards Ceremony will be televised nationally on OVATION, the national cable network dedicated to presenting creative arts programming to national TV audiences. The ceremony will be given two primetime broadcasts plus four other airings between June 4 and June 19, 2011.

From her creation of the pivotal roles of Susan in Marvin Hamlisch & Craig Carnelia's simply smashing (if underappreciated) SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS and Clara in Adam Guettel & Craig Lucas's five-time Tony-winning THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, to her effortless essaying of two of the most beloved female roles in the musical theater canon, opposite two of the biggest leading men on Broadway - THE PAJAMA GAME with Harry Connick, Jr. and SOUTH PACIFIC with Matthew Morrison (and Paulo Szot) - in addition to her work in Frank Wildhorn's JEKYLL & HYDE and DRACULA, Stephen Sondheim's FOLLIES and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, along with her stunning studio albums - all of these are just some of the reasons why Kelli O'Hara is in a very special class of performers. In this all-encompassing conversation we discuss all of the aforementioned shows, as well as working with all of her fabulous co-stars and collaborators, and we also take a look at her recording studio work with Harry Connick, Jr. and take a look ahead to her sophomore solo album, ALWAYS which will be released on June 3. Plus, we have first news on her new roles in the musical versions of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, written by Jason Robert Brown, and FINDING NEVERLAND by Scott Frankel. We even have dish on working with Liza Minnelli and shooting SEX & THE CITY 2! This is all coming in anticipation of the tribute to Bob Hope at the NY Pops gala on May 2, which will also feature performances by Tom Wopat and Aaron Lazar - both of whom we will continue our SPOTLIGHT ON NY POPS series with later on this weekend. Don't miss them or a special presentation by theatre legend Angela Lansbury! Further information about the NY POPS event - including tickets - is available here.

Tonight, Thursday 4/28, Norbert Leo Butz and the cast of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN perform 'Don't Break the Rules' on 'The Late Show with David Letterman.'

We chat with Broadway baby Kritzer, who relives her 1990s Jersey high school years in her new cabaret act.

DanceOn, a YouTube partnership channel exclusive to dance, released the seventh episode of DIARY OF A CHORUS GIRL today. The cast and crew of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN prepare for the start of previews, and Alex Ellis has her first performance on a Broadway stage! Click below to watch the episode!

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN began preview performances on Friday, March 11, 2011 at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre and opened on Sunday, April 10, 2011. Click below for a sneak peek of 'Jet Set' from the show!

The 'Sas' is back. Rachelle Rak (better known to the Broadway community as 'Sas'), has had a career as a Broadway dancer to be envied. Having worked on Broadway for ten straight years in the original companies of Cats, Fosse, Starlight Express, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (among others) and the revival company of monster hits such as Oklahoma!, it seemed Rak had not only 'made it,' but found a home as the consumate chrous girl. Until 2006.

The cbp:LLC organization (formerly Cherry Blossom Players) is proud and excited to announce AUDITIONS for our first summer musical since the revamp of the group: that whoopin'-hollerin'-Wild West-themed comedy -- 'Annie Get Your Gun'.