Jersey Boys

Gerard Alessandrini (creator, writer and director) and Philip George (director) will bring their multi-award winning satirical musical, Forbidden Broadway, for a limited run only at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 25 June to 13 September, with press night on 02 July. The show, which wrapped up its record-breaking 27-year run in New York this March, makes its first visit to London in 10 years.

Billboard's Top Cast Albums chart for week ending 5/24/2009.

The National Tour of JERSEY BOYS will play its 1,000th performance tomorrow, Saturday, May 30 at 2pm. The JERSEY BOYS National Tour opened to rave reviews in San Francisco on December 1, 2006, played a record-breaking run in Los Angeles and is still breaking house records in cities across North America. The tour is currently playing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta where it began May 27 and will run through June 21, 2009.

It's going to be a 'Season of Firsts!' Nederlander Detroit today announced its 2009-2010 Broadway in Detroit Subscription Season along with several special shows -- and nearly every production will be making its Detroit debut!

New Line Records is proud to announce the release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the critically acclaimed, Five-time Tony Award nominated, 'ROCK OF AGES.' The album, which features 22 songs from the Broadway show, will be available digitally on June 2nd and in stores nationwide on July 7th.

Featured performances for the 63rd Annual Tony Awards were announced today. The Tony Awards telecast on Sunday, June 7th will feature performances by each of the Tony-nominated Best Musicals and Best Musical Revivals, including: Billy Elliot, The Musical; Guys and Dolls; Hair; Next to Normal; Pal Joey; Rock of Ages; Shrek the Musical; and West Side Story. Additionally, The Tony Awards will feature special performances from three touring shows - Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde The Musical and Mamma Mia!

HAIR's Michael James Scott love for fashion has been in his life for a very long time. 'Style' and 'Fashion' isn't the first thing that might come to peoples minds when they think about theatre, but the talented actor is on a mission to change that and bring it to the forefront.

Broadway's surprise 'head banging' hit Rock of Ages, is among the celebrated ranks of this year's Tony contenders, earning no fewer than five nominations-including a Best Actor nomination for star Constantine Maroulis. A Season 4 veteran of American Idol, Maroulis is the first contestant from the hit FOX series to earn such a prestigious distinction. But it shouldn't come as such a big shock as the actor attended the The Boston Conservatory of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory of Music and a minor in voice from the Berklee College of Music in 2002.

Cast members and musicians from the hit musical JERSEY BOYS at The Palazzo present a new cabaret concept to the entertainment scene in Las Vegas at the Liberace Museum Wednesday, May 27. A combination of rock show and cabaret, the appropriately named VS. - A Rock Cabaret, will showcase incredible talent from The Strip in an intimate setting, with all proceeds benefitting the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts.

La Jolla Playhouse presents Dogugaeshi June 10-14, 2009 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse. The first Edge Series production of the 2009/2010 season, Dogugaeshi is an intimate, abstract work inspired by Japanese puppet theater, created and performed by Obie Award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist. Blending centuries of tradition with his own inimitable style, Twist mesmerizes audiences with a powerful voyage through historical and contemporary Japan.

On Monday, May 25th (Memorial Day), the new, smash hit, 5-time Tony Award Nominated musical ROCK OF AGES will perform three numbers as part of the Toyota Concert Series on NBC's The Today Show.

Joining 'Phantom' and 'Jersey Boys,' in Las Vegas, Disney's 'The Lion King' Opens at Mandalay Bay

I usually do CD reviews in 'roundups' but wanted to feature this one in particular because of the care that clearly went into 'putting it together' - no pun intended. Here is my review:

Variety reports that the Broadway-bound musical MEMPHIS has nabbed the Shubert Theater for its fall run, with a group sales announcement indicating the show will begin previews on September 23rd, 2009. The official announcement about a theatre location or for exact preview and opening dates has been made as of yet.

On Saturday, May 23 at 8pm - Upright Cabaret, a wildly popular theatrical showcase featuring an eclectic mix of artists from stage, screen and recording, will present BROADWAY'S NEW LEADING MEN in-concert poolside Memorial Day Weekend at the new Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs.

Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular is pleased to announce it will host the first annual Phantom Fans Week in September 2009, highlighted by a special keynote address from Phantom's Tony Award-winning director Hal Prince. This unprecedented celebration of all things Phantom will give fans from around the globe insider access to the show like never before.

Sony Masterworks proudly announces the upcoming release of the New Broadway Cast Recording of WEST SIDE STORY. The recording will be available nationwide on June 2, 2009. The official opening of WEST SIDE STORY, which took place at the Palace Theatre in New York City on Thursday, March 19, 2009, has been greeted with great critical acclaim and sold-out performances. The opening followed a pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., where the musical made its original world premiere in 1957.

Celebrated cabaret performer Jamie deRoy presents a special evening of her Multi MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie de Roy & friends on Tuesday, June 2nd (7PM) at the New York hotspot Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street ~between 5th & 6th Avenues) with a an evening of songs from Tony Award®-winning Musicals.

Dates have been announced for the Detroit premiere of JERSEY BOYS, playing the Fisher Theatre, December 17, 2009 - January 23, 2010. Tickets will go on sale September 18 and will be available for purchase at the Fisher Theatre box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 1-800-982-2787, and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.broadwayindetroit.com.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Monday, May 18, 2009.

BWW was invited to cover a very special event with the Canadian Cast of 'Jersey Boys'. This unique musical has proven to be a hit with men, and to further capitalize on that appeal, Dancap Productions ran a special 'Sports Night' where various figures in the Toronto sports community were invited to come and see the show and mingle with the cast afterwards. BWW was on hand to get all the details!

PEEPSHOW, Las Vegas' newest hit production and only striptease spectacular has officially announced blonde bombshell Holly Madison as the newest addition to the PEEPSHOW cast at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino beginning June 22.

The Colony Theatre Company presents the fifth and final production of its 2008 - 2009 season, the Los Angeles premiere of the Off-Broadway, Smash-Hit Musical Thriller, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, book, music and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen, (based on the novel by William Goldman) and co-directed by West Hyler and Shelley Butler.

BWW was invited to cover a very special event with the Canadian Cast of 'Jersey Boys'. This unique musical has proven to be a hit with men, and to further capitalize on that appeal, Dancap Productions ran a special 'Sports Night' where various figures in the Toronto sports community were invited to come and see the show and mingle with the cast afterwards. BWW was on hand to get all the details!

Upright Cabaret (www.uprightcabaret.com), L.A.'s premier theatrical showcase featuring an eclectic mix of artists from stage, screen and recording, will present three amazing (and dare we say, Popular!) evenings as they present - Upright Cabaret's 'Wicked' Summer Nights: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road at the Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd.

President Obama said, ?This impressive group of people will add valued voices to my administration as we work to tackle the many challenges our nation faces. I am grateful for their decision to serve, and I am confident they will work hard as we put our country on a path towards prosperity and security.?

'Oh, What A Season!' The Orpheum will be transformed into the most magical place in Memphis again this season. The Broadway Series starts with chorus dancers, European cirque-style acrobats, and munchkins and ends with a 1960s rock ?n roll quartet, World War II sailors, and musically talented murderesses.

The New York Times is reporting that theatrical producer and race-track aficionado, Rocco Landesman, who brought hits like 'Big River,' 'Angels in America' and 'The Producers' to Broadway, has been nominated as the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Monday, May 11, 2009.

West Side Story has returned to Broadway in a new production directed by its two-time Tony Award winning librettist Arthur Laurents. Laurents dicusses the musical with the Advocate, in the feature he reveals the evolution of the classic musical as it makes its return to Broadway.

Two-time Tony Award winners NATHAN LANE (The Producers, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and BEBE NEUWIRTH (Chicago, Sweet Charity) will star as Gomez and Morticia in THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. Produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical, THE ADDAMS FAMILY will open on Broadway Thursday, April 8, 2010 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced. Previews will begin Thursday, March 4, 2010 following a pre-Broadway engagement at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre in Chicago that begins November 13.

Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland was the place on a recent Monday night - what with stellar musical talent like 13's Ariana Grande, swinging jazz girls Ann Hampton Callaway and Marilyn Maye, impressionist Louise DuArt in the audience, and the debut New York appearance of internet superstar Miranda!

West Side Story has returned to Broadway in a new production directed by its two-time Tony Award winning librettist Arthur Laurents, Karen Olivo, who plays the iconic and passionate 'Anita' in 'West Side Story', earned a 2009 Tony Award nomination for Best Performance By A Featured Actress In A Musical for her dynamic performance.

Tickets will go on sale Sunday, May 10, for the Washington, D.C., premiere engagement of JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the National Theatre October 1 through December 12.

The Berkshire Musical Theater Workshop, BMTW, will present its inaugural staged reading of the new musical, Sense & Sensibility, at Shakespeare & Company's Elayne P. Bernstein Theater, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA on Saturday, May 9, at 2 P.M and 7:30 P.M.

JERSEY BOYS broke the Broward Center for the Performing Arts' house record in Fort Lauderdale for the week ending May 3, grossing $1,568,290.00 and topping the previous record of $1,463,925.00.

Aubrey Dan is pleased to present live onstage, the Canadian classic Anne of Green Gables - The Musical ? , a co-production between Dancap Productions Inc. and The Charlottetown Festival, P.E.I. Based on L.M. Montgomery?s popular novel, Canada?s longest-running musical and a most beloved export; Anne ? brings Montgomery?s pages to life onstage. It tells the story of freckle-faced Anne Shirley with her fiery temper, passion for melodrama and penchant for misadventures as she brings laughter, love and more than a little consternation to the village of Avonlea. Anne ? runs from May 7 to 24, 2009 at Toronto?s Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge Street (at Queen). Tickets are available now by phone at 416-644-3665 or online at dancaptickets.com and start as low as $25. Opening night is Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 7:30pm.

BroadwayWorld Presents The 2009 Tony Award Nominees: 'Best Lighting Design Of A Musical'

Want to spend the afternoon bowling with the cast of Broadway's HAIR? Do you wish you could rock out with the cast of Broadway's ROCK OF AGES? Have you ever dreamed of dancing with WEST SIDE STORY's Matt Cavenaugh? Now you can!

BroadwayWorld Presents The 2009 Tony Award Nominees: 'Best Performance By A Leading Actor In A Musical'

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Monday, May 4, 2009.

Jersey Boys Las Vegas, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, celebrates its first anniversary on The Las Vegas Strip at the Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino Sunday, May 3.

Native Voices at the Autry continues its cycle of play development with its annual Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays featuring top theater professionals serving as mentors to established and aspiring Native American playwrights. The program greatly increases the field of Native writers and brings greater visibility to Native theater.

The Smash-Hit Jersey Boys is currently playing to Canadian audiences in Toronto, ON as part of Dancap's 2009 Season. This all new Canadian production has an amazing cast, and the four leads sat down to give BWW an exclusive taste of their indvidual experiences on the road to becoming Jersey Boys.

Monday, May 4 at 9:30pm, Composer, Lyricist and Keyboard player David Bryan will make a special appearance at Joe's Pub in Manhattan as part of Upright Cabaret's 'Upright Cabaret Takes Manhattan' final concert.

On Monday, May 4 at 9:30pm, Composer, Lyricist and Keyboard player David Bryan will make a special appearance at Joe's Pub in Manhattan as part of Upright Cabaret's 'Upright Cabaret Takes Manhattan' final concert.

This weekend, May 1-4, Upright Cabaret, the wildly popular Los Angeles theatrical showcase features an eclectic mix of artists from stage, screen and recording, returns to Joe's Pub in Manhattan to present a trio of shows entitled 'Upright Cabaret takes Manhattan' featuring some of the best talent working in New York City.