Cats - 1982 - Broadway Articles Page 17

Before iTunes and Spotify came along, I used to collect every original cast CD of any Broadway or West End musical that I could lay my hands on, including foreign language cast recordings. By far, my largest collection of non-English cast CDs consists of Japanese cast recordings, many of which were released by Gekidan Shiki (Shiki Theatre Company). Over the last five decades, Shiki has mounted Japanese-language productions of Applause (1972), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), West Side Story (1974), A Chorus Line (1979), Evita (1982), Cats (1983), The Phantom of the Opera (1988), Crazy For You (1993), Beauty and the Beast (1995), The Lion King (1998), Aspects of Love (1999), Mamma Mia! (2002), Aida (2003), The Little Mermaid (2013), The Sound of Music (2013), Wicked (2013) and Aladdin (2015).

Exciting news just in to BroadwayWorld!  Michael Weber, artistic director of Porchlight Music Theatre, has announced the casts of the Chicago premiere of the 2014 revision of Side Show, the return of Porchlight's hit Ain't Misbehavin', multi-Jeff Award-winner Summer Naomi Smart starring in the Chicago premiere of Far From Heaven, and Porchlight Music Theatre's 2015 - 2016 artistic leadership for its four Mainstage productions.

New Line Theatre, 'the bad boy of musical theatre,' celebrates its 25th anniversary season of adult, alternative musical theatre, with a new, expanded line-up and a brand new theatre.

PITTSBURGH – Performing in Pittsburgh for the first time since 1977, Randy Newman, whose music speaks to multiple generations, closes the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Summer with the Symphony: Today Night Icons series tonight, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Heinz Hall.

Rose Theatre Kingston today announces the full company for The Wars of the Roses. Trevor Nunn will direct Oscar Batterham (John Talbot/Son who killed his father), Freddy Carter (company), Kare Conradi (Dauphin/Edward IV), Oliver Cotton (Winchester/Clifford/Hastings), Jim Creighton (Burgandy/Simpcox/Stafford/Father who killed his son/Ely), Imogen Daines (Joan of Arc/Lady Bona/Lady Anne), Harry Egan (company), Alexandra Gilbreath (Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester/Elizabeth), Alexander Hanson (Richard, Duke of York/Buckingham), Rufus Hound (Bedford/Bolingbroke/Jack Cade/Rivers), James de Lauch Hay (company), Geoff Leesley (Exeter/Mortimer/Lord Mayor/Lt of the Tower), Owen Oakeshott (Somerset/Ratcliff), Joely Richardson (Margaret), Robert Sheehan (Alencon/Richard III), James Simmons (Talbot/John Hume/Norfolk/First Murderer), Laurence Spellman (Bastard of Orleans/Young Clifford/Richmond/Second Murderer), Susan Tracy (Margery Jourdain/Duchess of York), Alex Waldmann (Henry VI/Tyrrel), Timothy Walker (Warwick/Catesby), Andrew Woodall (Gloucester/Iden/Derby) and Michael Xavier (Suffolk/George of Clarence).

Actors Theatre of Louisville's Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein announce casting for For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday by acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl. Multi award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant, known for her performance in Wit Off-Broadway, the Broadway productions of M. Butterfly, Angels in America and Racing Demon, and screen credits The Affair and House of Cards, will lead a stellar cast of actors that features an array of Broadway veterans, many making their debuts at Actors Theatre. For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville and will receive its world premiere during the 40th Humana Festival of New American Plays, March 8- April 10, 2016. The production will be directed by Les Waters.

It's official! Joining previously announced Joely Richardson, Robert Sheehan and Kare Conradi in THE WARS OF THE ROSES at Rose Theatre, Kingston are: Rufus Hound (Bedford & Bolingbroke), Jack Cade (Rivers), Oliver Cotton (Winchester, Clifford, Hastings), Laurence Spellman (Young Clifford, Richmond), Alex Waldmann (Henry VI, Tyrrell), Susan Tracy (Margery Jourdain, Duchess of York).

PITTSBURGH – Performing in Pittsburgh for the first time since 1977, Randy Newman, whose music speaks to multiple generations, closes the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Summer with the Symphony: Thursday Night Icons series on July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Heinz Hall.

The Muny presents Hairspray, winner of the 2003 Tony Award for Best Musical, featuring music by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman with a book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan. The Muny's production of Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Dan Knechtges and music directed by Charlie Alterman.

Rose Theatre Kingston today announces its most ambitious project to date - this autumn the Rose stage will be transformed into a battlefield for The Wars of the Roses, a gripping adaptation of four of Shakespeare's history plays, directed by Trevor Nunn. The productions will play in rep from 16 September until 31 October, with press performances for all three plays on 3 October.

The New York Post's Michael Riedel reports that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is about to announce a revival next spring for his record-breaking musical CATS

The 69th Annual Tony Awards are this Sunday June 7th at 8/9c hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming. It's the biggest award show of the Broadway season and it closes out a long award season for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays. We can't help but wonder what chances this year's Best Musical and Best Play nominees have of taking home the ultimate prize. 

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) has announced the complete cast for the musical Peter Pan, its second production of the 2015 Nutmeg Summer Series. Directed by Cassie Abate, Peter Pan will star Riley Costello in the title role. Costello was recently seen as Dunlap Dewberry in Because of Winn Dixie at Arkansas Repertory Theatre and as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Costello's Broadway credits include Bye, Bye Birdie, 13: the musical, and Everyday Rapture. Performances of Peter Pan begin on June 18, 2015 and run through July 3, 2015 at Connecticut Repertory Theatre's Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre. Tickets are on sale now at crt.uconn.edu or 860-486-2113.

The Muny announced today the cast for its production ofHairspray. Winner of the 2003 Tony® Award for Best Musical, it features music by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman with a book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan. The Muny's production of Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Dan Knechtges and music directed by Charlie Alterman.

In the history of musical theater, there is little question of the cultural significance of "CATS." It was the first branded spectacle musical and its biggest song "Memory" became an instant standard. All the big musicals that have come along since owe a debt of gratitude to the special effects and overall spectacle "CATS" allowed the world to experience for the first time onstage. Due to the size of the production and the incredible cast requirement for dozens of triple-threat actors and actresses who can handle the operatic score and dancing from tap to jazz to ballet, "CATS" is a treat to behold for audiences of all ages whenever a production comes to town.

The show that revolutionized musical theatre and was the biggest box office hit in Atlanta Lyric Theatre's 35-year history is returning this summer! It is time to re-introduce your family to the wonders of live theater with the magic, the mystery, the memory of CATS, playing July 17, 18, & 19, 2015 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (2800 Cobb galleria Pkwy., Atlanta). Tickets are available at www.TicketMaster.com, the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Box Office, or by calling (800) 745-3000.

A successful Broadway company manager, general manager and producer for more than 20 years, Peter Neufeld passed away peacefully after a long battle with Parkinson's disease this morning, January 27, 2015, at The Actors Fund's Lillian Booth Residence in Englewood, NJ, where he had been living since 2007. He was 78.

Pittsburgh CLO has announced casting for the 23rd annual production of A Musical Christmas Carol this December at the Byham Theater. This talented cast will feature Pittsburgh CLO veterans and an exciting group of newcomers, led by Pittsburgh's own Tom Atkins as Ebenezer Scrooge. Tickets are now available by calling 412-456-6666, online at pittsburghCLO.org or at the Theater Square Box Office.

Grammy Award-winning musician Brian Setzer donated his signature orange Gretsch guitar to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History during a ceremony Oct. 17. The replica guitar is evocative of Setzer's original 1959 Gretsch 6120 'Stray Cat' guitar, for which he raided his Monopoly game for two dice drilled holes in them and attached them to take the place of the missing tone knobs.

In celebration of this season's ON THE TOWN, we've collected 10 of our favorite dance musicals. From classics like ANYTHING GOES, 42ND STREET, A CHORUS LINE and WEST SIDE STORY to modern marvels such as NEWSIES and STRICTLY BALLROOM, the way choreography is used to tell a story continues to evolve and inspire.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces its theater, music, dance, lectures and Theater for Young Audiences programming for the 2014-2015 Season, which begins today, October 7-19 with the Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theatre Company production of The Man Who Planted Trees in the Lovelace Studio Theater; and in the Bram Goldsmith Theater a new lecture series in partnership with Writers Bloc, presenting a conversation with Leon Panetta on October 15 and Marsalis Well Tempered: An Evening with Branford Marsalis featuring the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on October 16.

It's Official! It's been rumored for months, news leaked out last night in London, and BroadwayWorld.com has now confirmed online reports that Nicole Scherzinger will join the London revival of CATS as 'Grizabella.'

Today in 2000, Cats closed at the Wintergarden Theatre, where it ran for 7485 performances. Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. Cats first opened in the West End in 1981 and then on Broadway in 1982, each time directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Gillian Lynne; it won numerous awards, including both the Laurence Olivier Award and the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces its theater, music, dance, lectures and Theater for Young Audiences programming for the 2014-2015 Season, which begins October 7-19 with the Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theatre Company production of The Man Who Planted Trees in the Lovelace Studio Theater; and in the Bram Goldsmith Theater a new lecture series in partnership with Writers Bloc, presenting a conversation with Leon Panetta on October 15 and Marsalis Well Tempered: An Evening with Branford Marsalis featuring the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on October 16.

Theatre503 announces their fall lineup.