Walt Disney News

According to USA Today, INTO THE WOODS and PITCH PERFECT star Anna Kendrick is writing a collection of autobiographical essays for Touchstone, set for release next fall.

Marvel Music and Hollywood Records will release the original motion picture digital soundtrack for Marvel's 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'on April 28, 2015.

100 days from today, more than 7,000 athletes from 177 countries will assemble in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 25, for the start of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park is pleased to announce the commissioning of a new work in celebration of conductor and artistic director John V. Sinclair's 25th anniversary with the Society. The piece, titled Music, Awake!, with music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec and words by distinguished author Terry Teachout, celebrates the universal power of music. It will be premiered during concerts with the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra on April 16 and 17, 2016. Terry Teachout and Paul Moravec are experienced collaborators, having premiered three operas in recent years for companies such as The Santa Fe Opera and Philadelphia's Center City Opera Theater.

ESPN, the official media partner of the Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 (LA2015), today announced its initial coverage team and plans for the event that will begin July 25 with live coverage of the Opening Ceremony at 9 p.m. ET.

Artists Lounge Live presents Sara Jean Ford, who starred as Christine in Broadway's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in DREAM OF NOW, DREAM OF THEN: The High Notes and Hijinks of a Broadway Soprano tonight, April 16, 2015 at 7:30pm at Metropolis Performing Art Centre, 111 W. Campbell St. in Arlington Heights.

Learn about Walt Disney's vision for the future in the TOMORROWLAND featurette below starring George Clooney, producer/writer Damon Lindelof, and director Brad Bird!

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®), the global leader in music rights management, will present the BMI Icon Award for outstanding career achievement to prolific composer Alexandre Desplat at the organization's 2015 Film & Television Awards.

WHAT: Esteemed conductor Neeme Järvi leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances, Friday, April 17, at 8 pm, as well as Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, at 2 pm. The program features LA Phil Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour as the soloist in Suk's Fantasie, the composer's brilliant and rarely heard fantasy-concerto. Bookending the Suk work are two offerings from Brahms – his Tragic Overture and the dramatic Fourth Symphony, for which the LA Phil won its most recent Grammy award.

On Twitter Watch, Josh Gad wrote ' that stage veteran and film star Ian McKellen has joined Disney's upcoming live-action adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST as 'Cogsworth'. Set for a release on March 17, 2017, the beloved tale will be retold for the big screen with a modern live-action lens and the help of transformative CG magic. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will star as Belle and the Beast/Prince respectively, and Luke Evans will play the role of Gaston. Emma Thompson has joined the cast as Mrs. Potts and Kevin Kline as Belle's father, Maurice. As BWW announced previously, Josh Gad will reportedly take on the role of Le Fou, with six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald playing Garderobe. Eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards for the 1991 animated classic, will score the new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, which will feature new recordings of the original songs in addition to several new songs written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice. Bill Condon will direct from a script by Stephen Chbosky, and the film will be produced by Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Production begins in May at Shepperton Studios in London. Disney also recently announced it will be creating live-action versions of MULAN and PINOCCHIO, joining reboots of THE JUNGLE BOOK, PETE'S DRAGON and WINNIE THE POOH. The live-action adaptation of CINDERELLA, starring Lily James, just hit the big screen this winter. McKellen was last seen on the big screen as 'Gandalf' in THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (a role he originated in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) and will soon appear in MR. HOLMES and THE DRESSER. He is also well known for his role as 'Magneto' in the X-MEN movies. The Olivier-winning, classically trained actor last starred on Broadway in NO MAN'S LAND and WAITING FOR GODOT opposite Patrick Stewart. Before that, he appeared in DANCE OF DEATH, IAN MCKELLEN: A KNIGHT OUT AT THE LYCEUM, WILD HONEY, IAN MCKELLEN: ACTING SHAKESPEARE, AMADEUS -- which earned him a Tony Award in 1981 -- and THE PROMISE. McKellen was a member of the Old Vic and has performed at the Chichester Festival, in the West End, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre and more. 1991's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was an animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the traditional French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont,Beauty and the Beast is the 30th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Additionally, it is third in the Disney Renaissance period. Starring Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson, Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (O'Hara), a young woman who he imprisons in his castle. The film also features the voices of Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury, who occupy supporting roles. The film was a box office success, and has since garnered over $424 million worldwide. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was nominated for several awards, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; it also received five additional Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Sound, and three separate nominations for Best Original Song. Ultimately, the film won Best Original Score, while Best Original Song was awarded to its title song. In 2002, Beauty and the Beast was deemed 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant' by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In April 1994, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST became Disney's first animated film to be adapted into a Broadway musical. '

Forty-one local students from the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA) will travel to Walt Disney World during the April school break to perform for Disney audiences and participate in workshops with Disney performers, choreographers and directors. This is FSPA's 20th year performing at Disney World as part of the Disney Performing Arts program.

Disney Junior, TV's #1 network for preschoolers, has ordered fourth seasons of its hit animated series 'Sofia the First' and 'Doc McStuffins.' The announcement was made today by Nancy Kanter, Executive Vice President, Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Junior Worldwide.

In celebration of last night's 'Disney Night' on ABC's DANCING WITH THE STARS, frontrunners Nastia Liukin & Derek Hough danced (& lip synched!) to 'Love Is An Open Door' from the hit Disney film FROZEN

Renowned pianist Helene Grimaud returns to the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage, tonight, April 14, at 8 pm. The performance is the conclusion of the LA Phil's 2014/15 Colburn Celebrity Recitals series.

Lincoln Center Education announces "A Conversation With Brian Stokes Mitchell," a new event in its Next Stage series which explores the role of education in an artist's creative and commercial work. Equally comfortable in front of TV cameras, a symphony orchestra, and Broadway footlights, Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell joins moderator Lincoln Center President Jed Bernstein in the intimate Clark Studio Theater for a candid conversation about his career and the importance of arts education in his work.

As production gets underway in Vancouver, The Walt Disney Studios announced it will co-produce and co-finance Steven Spielberg's “The BFG.” This marks the three-time Academy Award winner's first time directing a Disney-branded movie.

Philadelphia Theatre Company announces its 2015-2016 season with five plays that showcase work by our nation's most exciting and provocative playwrights. The season features the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar; the East Coast premiere of Exit Strategy, a new play by rising

Penguin Rep Theatre, under the leadership of founding artistic director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn, announces its 2015 season, the professional Equity company's 38th at its home in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

Upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, April 12, 2015.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's premier Asian American theatre, celebrates its Golden Anniversary at their Annual Visionary Awards Dinner & Silent Auction. The Visionary Awards laud the achievements of individuals who have raised the visibility of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community through their craft. The fundraising event will take place on Monday April 20, 2015 at the Universal Hilton. Proceeds from the gala will benefit East West Players' educational and artistic programs.