Just in time for this week's international movie theater broadcast of the simply must-see Shakespeare's Globe Film Series production of HENRY IV: Part 2 on August 18, Vice President of NCM Fathom, Dan Diamond, was kind enough discuss with me the role his company plays in bringing major entertainment events to movie screens around the world - such as Shakespeare‘s Globe Film Series, Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY: IN CONCERT, the Tony-winning Best Musical MEMPHIS, the 25th Anniversary concert presentation of LES MISEABLES, Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, ballet, sports events like last year's WIMBELDON in 3D, as well as the August 31 re-release of the new HD print of Brian DePalma's SCARFACE - plus, most importantly, what the eminently exciting future holds for Fathom. Additionally, we touch on upcoming innovations coming to a movie theater near you courtesy of Fathom, such as 4D and lensless 3D technologies and the possibility they hold for capturing live theatre on film, as well as the ever-expanding company's goals for improving the local arts scene in communities large and small, world-wide. In the age of GLEE bringing theatre to a larger audience than ever before, the time is surely right for feature film presentations in the cinema of the best of Broadway and live performance - as well the plans to present all 37 of Shakespeare's plays - and Diamond's commitment and passion for his work comes through in this expansive conversation touching on virtually every aspect of what makes Fathom so fascinating and a formative, necessary element in the foundering and sustaining of a local and national arts scene connected by a network of movie theaters. If all that were not enough, Diamond also clues us in on some future showings such as the new Ozzy Osbourne documentary by his son, Jack, the upcoming Floyd Mayweather boxing match and, just maybe, the upcoming 25th Anniversary production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA slated for October.
You wouldn't know it from his youthful looks, but actor Ethan Le Phong has been a longtime global chameleon for quite some time. His past roles have taken him from Germany to New York, from London to Los Angeles. And for almost a year now, he has been spicing things up as Pepper in the 2nd National Tour of the global hit musical MAMMA MIA. Before the show makes its anticipated return to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County for a week-long engagement from June 21 - 26, the actor paused for a brief chat with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos to talk about his role in the hit ABBA-rific musical, his influences as a kid, and his wish to see more Asian-Americans on the Broadway stage.
Legends in their own time, ascending to the top ranks of the Hollywood and Broadway songwriting landscape, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have accomplished and climbed to heights most of what many film fans, Broadway babies and general entertainment junkies only dream of witnessing and ascending to. Marc Shaiman's work with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT prompted Stephen Sondheim - as he told me himself - to cite it as one of the best musicals of the era. And, it is - as is their Tony-winning Best Musical HAIRSPRAY, based on the film by Pope of Trash John Waters. Featuring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah and an all-around-amazing cast of triple-threats, the stunning Craig Zadan/Neil Meron-produced film version of HAIRSPRAY may be the greatest cinematic Shaiman and/or Wittman accomplishment so far. Then, there is CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - one of the snappiest new scores on Broadway in a strangely strong season of original scores - boasting boss Sinatra blues and sizzling Shirelles riffs and everything else that's swingin' in between. Up next for the team - onstage and off - is a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY directed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, in addition to what is perhaps the most exciting prospect on their impossibly cluttered horizon: the new Steven Speilberg/Craig Zadan/Neil Meron musical/comedy/drama series SMASH which has just been picked up for the Fall season on NBC! In this exclusive, extensive and exhaustive conversation we cover it all from HAIRSPRAY to CATCH ME to CHARLIE to all about SMASH and far, far beyond!
It's not a typo folks! This is not a review of anybody's production of "Sunset Boulevard," despite the vision mistakes of ALL of my friends when they asked me in writing where I was going. Instead, it's the seventh or eighth "Nunsense" musical (depending on whether or not you count one all-male show), that overwhelmingly popular and not-quite-as-critically-successful series of small-scale musicals by Dan Goggin, written over the last 25 years and featuring five characters in a series of wacky, real-time, semi-performance situations.
What's going down at McKinley High?
Holding the world's record for playing the longest-running role in entertainment history, Erica Kane on ABC‘S ALL MY CHILDREN, is just one mere jewel amongst the scores in the fifty-year career crown tiara of television icon Susan Lucci. Having appeared on Broadway in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and performed in nightclubs across the country with Regis Philbin, she is certainly no stranger to the stage - and what could better define working actor than memorizing scripts for a new hour-long drama every day, five days a week, for forty-one years? Commitment to her craft, an intense love of performance, and an affinity for the expression of human emotion - as well as an instant likeability and irrepressible allure - are just a few of the many features that make up the impressive journey of two women - Erica, included - over the course of Lucci's compelling and personally revealing new autobiography ALL MY LIFE, in stores today - as well as our warm and candid discussion about it. From Broadway to Hollywood; New York to LA to Vienna; from Broadway stages, concert stages, cabarets, to screens large and small - and, also, to some of the strongest television films of all time (plus, some starry stories and DANCING WITH THE STARS tidbits, too) - see some of the reasons why she is simply known as La Lucci, just as any grand opera diva (soaps, stage or otherwise) should undoubtedly be.
Today we are continuing our series of coverage of the offerings this Spring at The Public Theater with the playwright of the new LAB production, URGE FOR GOING, Mona Mansour. With topics ranging from the Palestinian crisis to Patty Hearst and the play, ME AND THE SLA, that it inspired; her Lebanese upbringing; her affection for John Waters; humble beginnings at the Groundlings leading now to the New York premiere of her first play at the Public, URGE FOR GOING; and more. Additionally, Mansour provides her insights into the culturally rich material at the core of URGE FOR GOING, her own family's reaction to the controversial material and what audiences can expect from the drama.
Following smash hit productions in Australia, London and Toronto, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL began previews on Broadway on February 28 and opened on March 20th. PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL stars Tony Award® nominee Will Swenson, Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams as the trio of friends on a heart-warming, uplifting road trip of a lifetime who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed.
Growing up as the daughter of one of the most iconic comediennes of all time could not have been easy, yet Melissa Rivers has managed to carve her own place in the Hollywood landscape as a producer and television personality herself, coming after nearly a decade of co-hosting the red carpet fashion rundowns on E! and the TV GUIDE channel with her mother Joan. Her (mostly) behind-the-scenes work as a producer on E!'s weekly FASHION POLICE show starring Joan is just half of her duties, as she also stars in and produces the new WE reality series JOAN & MELISSA: JOAN KNOWS BEST? Also, she manages to find the time to be a single mom and confidant to her legendary mother - and clean up after camera crews. I was lucky enough to speak to Melissa over the weekend in anticipation of tonight's special edition FASHION POLICE: SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS on E! and Tuesday's JOAN KNOWS BEST? on WE. Also, be sure to check out my weekend feature interview with Joan Rivers, as well.
Today, we have perhaps the biggest Broadway star of the modern era, having appeared in the three most iconic theatre-related enterprises in entertainment in each of the last three decades, having lead roles in the original casts of Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1996 rock musical RENT, a Best Actress Tony Award for her work in Stephen Schwartz's megahit WICKED, and now a recurring role on Fox's hit 2011 Golden Globe-winning musical comedy series GLEE - the amply gifted and endearing Idina Menzel. In this exclusive interview we discuss her US concert tour with Oscar-winning maestro Marvin Hamlisch - as well as what she will be singing in their NY Philharmonic performance on February 5th - as well as new motherhood, new music and what she would like to do on the future - on Broadway, on GLEE and beyond! Plus, what does she think of TV daughter Lea Michele taking on her signature RENT tune coming up on GLEE?
Today we are talking to the composer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL, Tom Kitt, about his influences - from Sondheim to Schwartz to Finn to Elton John to some of his own contemporaries - and working with Green Day on AMERICAN IDIOT and his own eponymous band, to the creation of a Broadway phenomenon by tracing the path of the show from FEELING ELECTRIC to NEXT TO NORMAL - plus, the many exciting projects that he has coming up this year and beyond, including a thorough discussion of his upcoming collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Amanda Green and Jeff Whitty on BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL and the very first news of a new, original Kitt/Yorkey musical on the horizon - and much, much more.
Having essayed the roles of Belle in BEAUTY & THE BEAST and the title role in MARY POPPINS on Broadway, as well as having created a role in the jukebox revue ON THE RECORD, Ashley Brown has carved a place for herself as the premiere Disney leading lady of the 21st century and her participation in the recent symphonic presentation of SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARVES only furthers that point. I spoke to Ashley yesterday as she was on her way to rehearsals for SIR TIM RICE & FRIENDS, a special concert taking place in NYC on Friday at 6 PM and we discussed her career so far and her plans for the future, both near and far. Also, here you will find the first news of Ashley's upcoming PBS special airing in March and a forthcoming original Charlie Chaplin musical as well as a Cole Porter revue based on the film ROMAN HOLIDAY.
In a conversation encapsulating everything from Albee and WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF to Aristophanes and Virginia Woolf herself - and even a little Stephen King - this concluding portion of this exclusive interview with this remarkably gifted actor ends with a look ahead to LEAP OF FAITH. Plus, what's on his iPod, what books he's reading, and a whole lot more!
Over the course of our ninety minute conversation earlier this week, Tony-winning Broadway star Alice Ripley was kind enough to open up about her role in the phenomenon of the Pulitzer Prize-winning NEXT TO NORMAL, which is now kicking off a US Tour beginning in Los Angeles, as well as offer thoughts on many of her significant stage roles that she has taken on over the course of her impressive and varied career. Pete Townshend and THE WHO'S TOMMY to Andrew Lloyd Webber and SUNSET BOULEVARD and TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, to Sondheim with COMPANY (as the greatest Amy of all time), and even a turn in ROCKY HORROR; Alice Ripley has seemingly done it all,and her passion, dedication and insight into her craft are amply evident in both her studied performances on stage as well as in discussing the art of acting in musical theatre in conversation and her inspirations as Diana Goodman, ranging from Albee to O'Neill to actors like Cynthia Nixon, Toni Collette and more. In her most comprehensive print interview to date, BroadwayWorld is proud to present InDepth InterView: Alice Ripley.
Here is the second part of our three-part discussion, in which Esparza and I analyze his roles and performances in plays, as well as a thorough discussion of the art of acting - and, additionally, a chat about roles he would like to play in the future, both near and far.
Today we are talking to one of the brightest stars in all of Oz - Australia, that is - the dashing leading man and internationally renowned solo recording artist David Campbell! In this enthusiastic and ingratiating interview, Campbell talks about his life on the stage - having starred in SUNSET BOULEVARD, THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, URINETOWN, SHOUT! and many hit musicals in his homeland - as well his extensive recording and concert tour career, with a special focus on this week's US release of his stellar show tune album ON BROADWAY which features the world premiere recording of one of the best Broadway eleven o'clock numbers of the last twenty years - maybe ever - coming from the forthcoming Marc Shaiman/Scott Wittman score for CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (which opens on Broadway near the end of this season). Plus, he addresses the rumors of taking on the role of The Phantom in the Australian premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES and gives us an update on his upcoming US concert appearances. Check out our chat, then be sure to pick up ON BROADWAY which is in stores and on iTunes now! He may sing 'Goodbye' like nobody‘s business, but we are just saying hello to the charismatic David Campbell.
Renée Taylor and Joe Bologna star in a World Premiere tour de force comedy/drama Sort of A Love Story written by Joe Bologna and Richard Krevolin at the historic El Portal Theatre Mainstage in North Hollywood for nine performances only October 14-24, 2010. This will be their 3rd engagement at the North Hollywood landmark.
Today we have Part I of the BWW Exclusive two-part InDepth InterView with legendary stage and screen actress - and, bar none, the greatest Tennessee Williams actress alive - Tony-winning star, and a legend in her own time: Elizabeth Ashley! In this first part, we talk her early stage career from TAKE HER, SHE'S MINE directed by George Abbott and produced by Hal Prince in the 60s up to AGNES OF GOD opposite Amanda Plummer and Geraldine Page in the early 80s continuing to Tracy Letts' Pulitzer-prize winning opus AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY in 2007 - to say nothing of the central focus of our extended conversation: her most recent role playing the mother of twin sons named Otto (and/or 'otto') in Edward Albee's newest absurdist masterpiece, ME, MYSELF & I, which can currently be seen at Playrights' Horizons! From the grande dame of Williams, to life with Orson Welles, to living on the road (by choice), and a life in the theatre (no choice), Ms. Ashley is a fabulous, veritable walking, talking history of the American theatre in the last forty years and no one - I repeat, no one - can tell a story better than she can! From Mohammad Ali to Edward Albee, this interview has it all! She is one of the greats, onstage and off. There will never be another Liz Ashley and this first part is just half the reason why!
Renée Taylor and Joe Bologna star in a World Premiere tour de force comedy/drama Sort of A Love Story written by Joe Bologna and Richard Krevolin at the historic El Portal Theatre Mainstage in North Hollywood for nine performances only October 14-24, 2010. This will be their 3rd engagement at the North Hollywood landmark.
Yesterday, I had the exceptional privilege of conducting an InDepth InterView with legendary Oscar-winning Hollywood and Broadway legend Julie Andrews, star of films like MARY POPPINS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC; original TV musicals like Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA; and stage shows like the original productions of MY FAIR LADY, CAMELOT and VICTOR/VICTORIA. In our exclusive conversation we discussed everything from her favorite cast albums and theatre scores to working with Robert Wise on THE SOUND OF MUSIC and STAR! to ENCHANTED, THE PRINCESS DIARIES, SHREK and this summer's smash-hit Pharrell Williams/Neptunes-composed animated musical DESPICABLE ME. We also discuss plans for a US tour and the resounding success of her children's book series - even after all these years she still was at the top of the book charts and featured in the top movie of the week last week! Additionally, We also discuss her opinions on co-stars Russell Brand and Steve Carell, rock music in the theatre, GLEE, the Obamas, Sondheim, the Tony Awards and much more. Here is much more than a mere spoonful of the endless vat of sweetness - as well as generosity, beauty, elegance and class - that defines Ms. Julie Andrews.
We talk cushions, bras and interior design as we catch up with Margaret (Maggie) Preece, who finished her acclaimed run as the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music earlier this year.
Actor Tyler Murree seems to have a knack for landing roles in costume-heavy shows. Whether Shakespearean or Tolkien-esque, the Toronto-trained thespian likes disappearing into each and every role he takes on. His past shows have included the world premiere production of The Lord of the Rings: The Musical, the North American premiere of Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage, A Christmas Carol, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, and even the all-pantomime production of Aladdin: the Magical Family Musical. In 2005 he originated the role of charming villain Franco DiFortunato in Disney's Twice Charmed: An Original Twist On The Cinderella Story. Currently he stars as the hilarious Timon the Meerkat in the North American touring company of Disney's Tony® Award-winning stage musical THE LION KING, performing for a three-week engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center from May 26 through June 13. While on break from the tour in Calgary, Murree spoke with Broadway World's Michael Lawrence Quintos about playing the world's most famous meerkat.
'Have you guys been following the whole immigration fight in Arizona? Well, at a rally this weekend, Sarah Palin said, “We're all Arizonans now.' Yeah, at which point every immigrant in Arizona was like, 'soooo...we can stay?'
Currently off-Bway in 'Restoration', Cake is a regular on NY and London stages as well as TV and film.
Today, we are talking to the creative team of the ten-time Tony-nominated revival of FENCES starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis playing to packed houses every night on Broadway. Last night, it won 3 Drama Desk Awards including Best Revival of a Play. In this first part of a three-part series, the team discusses what drew them to FENCES and August Wilson's work in the first place, hat his work means to them and the notion of collaboration. And so much more...
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