A Broadway Musical - 1978 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 4

Tickets for the Milwaukee engagement of THE WIZ will go on sale November 14 at 10 a.m. ahead of the production’s one-week run at the Marcus Performing Arts Center from March 24–29, 2026.

The iconic rock musical Hair is back in a bold new Brazilian production directed by Charles Möeller and Claudio Botelho. Opening at São Paulo’s BTG Pactual Hall, the show celebrates the spirit of the 1960s counterculture — peace, love, and rebellion — through powerful anthems like Aquarius and Let the Sunshine In. With a cast of 30 led by Rodrigo Simas and Eduardo Borelli, this vibrant staging fuses rock, poetry, and raw emotion to explore freedom, identity, and protest in a turbulent era. Nearly six decades after its debut, Hair still pulses with youthful defiance and idealism, inviting audiences to sing, reflect, and feel the rhythm of a revolution that never truly ended.

During his prolific and storied career, Sondheim collaborated with many other artists, from book writers to directors, from actors to musicians. Seeing Sondheim’s regular collaborators, close friends, one-time associates, mentors, and rare connections make appearances in his collection was both moving and illuminating.

Everybody look around! The Wiz is back and coming to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. This groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway, with its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and 70s funk.

Carol Burnett has funded a scholarship at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The scholarship will support undergraduate students in the school’s Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program.

In its inaugural mini-tour, the musical cabaret show, Don't Ask, I'll Tell, is moving from Bloomington, IN and Chicago to the historic Laurie Beechman Theatre. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets.

While different tryout theaters have different relationships to the development of new shows, it’s worth looking at both which commercial rental theaters and which non-profit theaters have had the most Best Musical Tony Award winners come from their stages.

Earlier this year, it was announced that the Library of Congress had acquired the Stephen Sondheim collection. The legendary composer and lyricist passed away in 2021 at the age of 91 after a long and extraordinary career. His collection at the Library of Congress is in the midst of being catalogued, and this piece shares several highlights from the boxes of Sondheim’s lyric drafts, music manuscripts, rewrite notes, brainstorm pages, song list outlines, and more.

Tckets for the Portland, OR engagement of The Wiz will go on sale Monday, October 20 at 10 AM. Learn more about the Portland engagement and see how to purchase tickets here!

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Penelope Milford, Academy Award and Drama Desk-nominated actress and Broadway alum, has passed away at the age of 77.

There are no musical numbers in the Fox Theatre’s 2025-2026 season opener. But that’s okay. Instead of a full-blown musical spectacle the company has opted for a moving production of The Life of Pi.

The newly revamped Laurie Beechman Theatre has revealed its line-up of Halloween shows from Tony-nominated Broadway stars, drag artists, and more! Learn how to purchase tickets.

Sara Chase brought Madeline Kahn back to life at The Laurie Beechman with a new twist on the cabaret bio show. Her good script, beautiful soprano and top-notch support made for a very entertaining 75 minutes

Inspired by the Academy Award winning Gore-a-palooza, The Substance: The Parody Musical is the deliriously raucous musical event set to splatter 42nd street this Halloween season with blood, gore, and sparkle—Elisabeth Sparkle, that is. 

As the fight for women to have equal rights and opportunities has evolved, so has the presence of plays telling these stories. When I wrote my book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out, the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers, I researched many musicals that are in this genre as well.

The benefit of a stage production means it will always be malleable to change, always willing to look at how a story written in the past can still be relevant in the present, and remain timeless for the future. What follows in this new production of The Wiz is a recontextualization of our favorite characters. While the structure of the story is faithful to the Baum novel and MGM film, it comes with small, but noticeable details that reframe this familiar story not just as a fantastical quest, but as a bildungsroman and revenge tale at the same time.

After a sold-out run, Finding Dorothy Parker, an evening celebrating the wit and wisdom of celebrated NY writer Dorothy Parker, will return to The Laurie Beechman Theatre at West Bank Café.

Grease at the Suncoast Broadway Dinner Theatre brought a new and exciting twist to the beloved show, spearheaded by a strong cast and immersive environment.

Perhaps no one is more surprised Steve Hackett is doing a retrospective on THE LAMB 50 years after the fact than the guitarist himself. THE LAMB was ranked in the top ten of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 50 progressive rock albums of all time. The BBC called it a “conceptual masterpiece.” Hackett has another word for it: an anomaly.

The Wiz premiered on Broadway 50 years ago, but you would never guess that the show is that old by watching the current production at the Springer Opera House. The energetic cast and wondrous visuals breathe fresh life into the play and make The Wiz compelling from start to finish.

Drag culture in La Cage aux Folles isn’t just the “bold face” of the gay community; it’s a celebration of visibility itself, a way of inviting even those on the periphery to understand more deeply what it means to live authentically, unbothered, and unashamed.

Multiple lost Broadway theaters intersect with the Hammerstein family. This follows since Oscar Hammerstein I was a theater owner and builder. In addition to Hammerstein’s which was named after him and is now the Ed Sullivan, and the New Victory which he originally built, there is also the Hammerstein Ballroom. Read more here!

Porgy and Bess is a famous 'folk opera' created by George Gershwin, with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and lyrics by DuBose and Ira Gershwin. The work chronicles the life of a Black community on Catfish Row in Charleston and is known for its fusion of operatic elements with American folk music, jazz, and blues. The story focuses on the love between Porgy, a disabled beggar, and Bess, a woman seeking a better life.

Broadway currently boasts 41 theaters. This number has always been ever-changing—since even before the first time the word “Broadway” was used to describe professional theater in New York.

Now in its fifth year, the hit musical improv comedy show, Shitzprobe, is moving uptown to the historic Laurie Beechman Theatre. Learn more about the show and its new home!