Working Title News

Today, in honor of the DVD release of Rob Marshall's film version of the 1982 Tony-winning Best Musical NINE, Maury Yeston was gracious and generous enough to grant me a few hours in which I could ask him intimate questions about his life, career and the future of theatre itself. Not one to mince words, Yeston is a veritable font of knowledge and it became clear during the interview that he may be as gifted and talented in his educational and mentorship skills as he is as a two-time Tony-winning composer and lyricist. His stage musicals include two Tony-winning Best Musicals, NINE and TITANIC, as well as: IN THE BEGINNING, GRAND HOTEL, PHANTOM, and the forthcoming DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, as well as a full-length ballet of TOM SAWYER premiering later this year. From the handwritten letter sent by Katharine Hepburn to Frederico Fellini after seeing the workshop of NINE thirty years ago to this very day when NINE hits DVD, we will take a look at this magnanimous maestro's starry career in this inaugural InDepth InterView. Enjoy!

Puppet cops, 80's hair bands, Jesus Christ, a modern day take on 'The Odd Couple,' race relations, office politics in Deep Space and a live sex show. These ideas and many, many more make up COMEDY CENTRAL's 2010-2011 development slate announced today by Kent Alterman, head of original programming and production, COMEDY CENTRAL.

According to reports from Variety, Antonio Banderas' Spain-based production shingle, Green Moon Producciones, will team up with media-technology giant Vertice 360. The duo will co-produce one to two English film or TV projects each year for the next three years.

A&E has solidified its place as the fourth largest entertainment cable network among adults 18-49, continuing its phenomenal ratings growth behind the strength of the network's Real Life Drama brand and expansive slate of original series.

Spike TV presents an ambitious new slate of non-scripted and scripted original pilots and projects in development, targeting the network's guy-centric audience. The non-scripted shows have a distinctive infotainment-theme while much of the scripted fare focuses on sports-related comedies, a genre scarcely seen on television today.

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment announced today that Gregory Jbara has returned to his Tony winning role as ‘Dad' in Billy Elliot.

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, Tony winners for their performance as Billy in the smash hit musical Billy Elliot the Musical, will be reunited to support TrueChild in their Celebrity Cook-Off event on Monday, May 3rd.

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment announced today that Gregory Jbara has returned to his Tony winning role as ‘Dad' in Billy Elliot.

truTV - one of the fastest-growing networks on television - today revealed details about several additions to the network's lineup of original programming, including a second season of CONSPIRACY THEORY WITH JESSE VENTURA, along with new projects from Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg's Katalyst (Punk'd) and Reveille (The Biggest Loser, The Office).

This June, COMEDY CENTRAL's blasting into space and bringing viewers all-new episodes of 'Futurama,' as well as bringing back everybody's favorite online guru, 'Tosh.0.' COMEDY CENTRAL also has stand-up specials from Paul F. Tompkins, Lewis Black and Juston McKinney. New episodes of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' 'Sit Down, Shut Up,' 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' and 'The Colbert Report' are also continuing through June.

Mark Shenton and Good Night Out Presents the world premiere of SHRUNK by Charlotte Eilenberg. The show is directed by Julian Birkett, Produced by Mark Shenton, Designed by Kate Guinness. The cast is made up of Jack Klaff, Amanda Ryan and runs 18th May - 12th June (PRESS NIGHT: FRIDAY 21st MAY at 7.30pm

From 31 May 2010 Genevieve Lemon will join the London cast of the multi-award winning Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre to play Billy's dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson. Lemon, a seasoned musicals performer in her native Australia, will make her West End debut as Mrs Wilkinson as the show enters into its sixth year in London.

Cartoon Network unveiled a substantial new line-up of content today at its annual Advertising Upfront presentation at New York's Time Warner Center. Delivering on its promise to launch a diverse slate of programming that young audiences cannot find anywhere else, new Cartoon Network shows will incorporate a number of genres and formats that include an unrivaled, one-hour scripted action-mystery series, matchless animated and live-action comedies and an entirely new way of programming primetime for a young audience.

Anna Mackmin returns to The Old Vic to direct a cast led by Toby Stephens in Tom Stoppard's multi-award winning modern classic, The Real Thing , opening on Wednesday 21 April 2010, with previews from 10 April.

VH1 will produce a record 44 original series in 2010 to further build on the network's connection to young adults and their hunger for programming centered around music, celebrity and real life stories.

Organized by REDCAT Gallery Director and Curator Clara Kim and Doryun Chong, Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, this exhibition brings together the work of two rigorous visual artists--Seoul-based Korean artist Park Chan-Kyong and Tokyo/Kiev-based American artist Sean Snyder. The two artists first met in Germany in 2002, and their shared interest in North Korea and the politics of the Cold War led to this initial encounter and becomes the impetus for this two-person exhibition titled Brinkmanship. The exhibition will close its run April 18th.

The Little Prince from Planet BB88 has a strange problem. He has a rose and a goat on his planet. He loves them both. But how to protect the rose from being eaten up by the goat??? A fun-filled play with many songs, dance and...Magic!

Fidelity FutureStage® Playwriting Contest winner, Katarzyna (Kathy) Roszczeda, a New York City high school senior, is headed to Broadway this June to see her original play produced on stage at the Imperial Theatre, home to 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, BILLY ELLIOT. On Sunday, April 11, Roszczeda had the opportunity to celebrate by meeting Elton John, BILLY ELLIOT composer and honorary chairperson of Fidelity FutureStage, at opening night of the musical in Chicago.

Sports coverage is finally about to get some integrity. COMEDY CENTRAL has picked-up the Onion Sports Network pilot and placed a 10-episode series order for 'The Onion Sports Network' (working title), it was announced today by Kent Alterman, head of original programming and production, COMEDY CENTRAL. The scripted series from The Onion, based on its popular Onion Sports Network online video series, is set to premiere 1Q 2011.

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment are thrilled to announce, with Broadway In Chicago that Billy Elliot the Musical, currently playing at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph), is extending its run in Chicago by fifteen weeks through October 24, 2010.