Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1992 - New York Articles Page 14

San Jose Rep welcomes a cast of undeniable talent to the stage for the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical Next to Normal, directed by David Ira Goldstein and co-produced with the Arizona Theatre Company.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Andrew Lloyd Webber is at work on a musical based on the events surrounding the 1963 Profumo Affair.

The highly-anticipated film version of LES MISERABLES is now in theaters! To celebrate the release, this week BroadwayWorld brings you an in-depth look at the characters and the actors who portray them. Today, it's all about the Fantine (Anne Hathaway)!

Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the UK's largest theatre owner/operator and producing group, has today announced that Tim McFarlane has agreed to join ATG in the newly created role of CEO for ATG Asia/Pacific.

Individual tickets for Minneapolis Musical Theatre's (MMT) Reefer Madness and Sunset Boulevard go on sale at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 5. These productions, featured on MMT's 2013 Season and directed by their artistic director Steven Meerdink, are being presented as part of a new partnership between MMT and Hennepin Theatre Trust at the New Century Theatre, 615 Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. Reefer Madness is a raucous musical comedy about the perils of marijuana which runs February 1-24, 2013. Sunset Boulevard is the Broadway hit based on the Oscar-winning movie about faded glory and thwarted ambition which runs May 31-June 23. For tickets and information visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or aboutmmt.org, or call 1.800.982.2787.

A true star of the Australian and New Zealand stage, Delia Hannah was my first ever leading lady. As she prepares for the opening night of MARY POPPINS in New Zealand, BroadwayWorld presents a glimpse into her brain on musical theatre ...

According to a feature about the new UK arena touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar in the Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals he would like to collaborate with Stephen Sondheim.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, musical theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber is currently working on writing a new musical about the Profumo affair, which went down almost 50 years ago. Llyoyd Webber told the Telegraph on the political scandal: 'He was a scapegoat. They had to find a crime to fit him. And since MI6 said there was no security risk, why is it a closed file till 2046?'

Just yesterday BroadwayWorld.com reported the loss of Broadway legend Marvin Hamlisch, and we've been sharing memories from around the theatre industry. The below piece was posted by fellow composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Today we are taking a look at four sparkling new Blu-ray editions of well-regarded films from the Disney vault by focusing on three titles that are also currently running on Broadway in screen-to-stage adaptations at this very moment - EVITA, NEWSIES and SISTER ACT. The current trend of adapting hit films into musicals for the stage has sporadically proven that some stage adaptations can even be more entertaining onstage, while some recent movie musicals have one-upped their stage roots in a way a few Golden Age adaptations also managed to do. Such is the case with EVITA, NEWSIES, SISTER ACT and SISTER ACT 2 (the latter two both acting as inspiration for the Broadway SISTER ACT musical) - all available for the first time on Blu-ray and each certainly justifying consideration for inclusion in your library if only because each is regarded as a modern-day classic - of sorts - in its own unique and special way. And, without these films, we would never have the current versions of the shows now running on Broadway based upon them (even in the case of a classic like EVITA, whose stage version may have come first, but, as seen and heard in the hit Elena Roger/Ricky Martin/Michael Cerveris revival, now includes the film addition, "You Must Love Me"). Whatever the medium, all of these winning entities offer an entertaining way to beat the heat and celebrate the start of summer in style - with some tunes, old and new, you are not soon to forget.

Today we are talking to a Tony Award-winning legend famous for his performances starring in the original Broadway productions of PIPPIN and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, as well as his celebrated turns in stage and screen projects as diverse as ALL THAT JAZZ, SWEET CHARITY, CHICAGO, FOSSE, WICKED, GRIND, ROOTS, I'M NOT RAPPAPORT, GOLDEN BOY, IDLEWILD, FUNNY LADY, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER and many more - the simply incredible Ben Vereen. Discussing many of his most fondly remembered roles and recounting his experiences working with many legendary directors and collaborators - Bob Fosse, Hal Prince, Tom O'Horgan, Herbert Ross, Ann Reinking, Dan Sullivan, Sammy Davis, Jr., Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli and many more among them - Vereen paints a vivid picture of a bygone Broadway and reminisces about many of the most significant theatrical creators of the past fifty years and his roles in their stage and film projects. Additionally, Vereen fills us in on what we can expect from his upcoming solo spotlight show - a career retrospective - that will be kicking off at 54 Below on July 10 for a two-week engagement before an even larger, Broadway-bound mounting later this year at Princeton. Also, Vereen elaborates on the causes closest to his heart, shares thoughts on GLEE and SMASH, future plans and much, much more!

REBECCA, the new musical based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier novel, has found its male and female leads: Jill Paice will play the role of "I" and Ryan Silverman the role of "Maxim de Winter." REBECCA will open on Broadway Sunday, November 18 at The Broadhurst Theatre. Previews will begin Tuesday, October 30.

The Associated Press reports that Andrew Lloyd Webber is in possible talks to join the judge's panel of the UK version of THE X FACTOR. Commenting on the rumor, the composer coyly told The Associated Press, 'There could be a little bit of 'you never know.'

The Bob Fitzsimmons Memorial Scholarship, this year, is being awarded to Albert Stanaj, a 2012 graduate of Archbishop Stepinac High School. He has been demonstrating an interest in theatre since the age of 9. Albert would come to Stepinac with his parents to pick up his older brother who was in rehearsal for SOUTH PACIFIC. Besides running around the theatre chasing other cast members' little sisters, Albert became a student of the theatre at that time.

Surflight Theatre, under the leadership of award-winning Broadway Producers Timothy Laczynski (The Pee-wee Herman Show, A Christmas Story), Executive Producer and Roy Miller (West Side Story, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ragtime, and the upcoming new musical Animal House) Artistic Director, continues its 63rdSeason with the Surflight premiere of All I Ask of You: A Musical Tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber, on stage for three weeks, tonight, May 26 through June 16.

This Tuesday marked the second most exciting day of any given year for Broadway babies - the Tony Award nominations. The actual awards ceremony on CBS - Broadway's night of nights - is still a few weeks off, but now is certainly an ideal time to size up the competition(s) and see who will most likely walk away with Tony gold come June 10 - and this year's ceremony, more than most before, could very well be as surprising as this season was; or Tuesday's nominations themselves were, for that matter. While the 2011-2012 Broadway season certainly fell far short of the heady promise many ascribed to its prospects way back last Summer, we certainly saw the fulfillment of some big dreams for some notable names if not an all-in-all banner year for Broadway when collectively considered. The highly-praised Off-Broadway critical darling LYSISTRATA JONES landed with a thud early in the season, as did the re-jiggered, gender-bending revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER and its star Harry Connick, Jr., and, even the lauded and relatively successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's peerless masterpiece FOLLIES failed to make any money and closed. GODSPELL did not fare much better, though it is still running. The two highly-anticipated revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic early successes JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA were met with indifferent reviews - with the latter receiving some nasty press for its stars, neither of whom received Tony nominations - but receptive audiences so far. THE GERSHWINS' PORGY & BESS could take Best Revival, after all - but will NICE WORK's Kelli O'Hara edge out four-time Tony recipient Audra McDonald? New plays did not fare much better than the measly crop of musicals, but OTHER DESERT CITIES and VENUS IN FUR seemed to hit their target demographics squarely, but CLYBOURNE PARK looks to be the frontrunner for Best Play despite all that. We shall see. Mike Nichols may take home another Best Director for his sensitive, if workmanlike revival of Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN, as conceivably could Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. John Lithgow is offering up some fierce competition in THE COLUMNIST, though. The acting races are tight, for sure, in both plays and musicals, with more newcomers and first-time nominees than any season this century.

A few days shy of the holiest week of the year for Christians - aptly named Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter (with Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the most sacred events on the calendar coming between) - Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's seminal rock opera JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR was resurrected on Broadway by TOMMY and JERSEY BOYS director Des McAnuff - modeled after the hit Stratford Shakespeare Festival production last year and comprised of many of the same cast members, including all three leads - to hails of praise and hosannas, mostly. While JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR itself will always divide audiences and critics alike - and not merely because of its controversial content and its button-pushing treatment of the hallowed tale it tells - the magnetism and sheer power that Lloyd Webber's propulsive, throbbing rock score imbues gives the show an energy, vitality and life rare to find in even the most earnestly effervescent and energetic of comparable entities - the recently revived and similarly-themed GODSPELL in a revival a few blocks away included. Then, there are Tim Rice's lyrics - oh-so-spot-on in 1970, but still biting and edgy today in McAnuff's hi-tech and elaborately presented new Broadway production. Using the book of John as the jumping off point, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR tells the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ (Paul Nolan) and his subsequent betrayal by Judas (Josh Young) and sentencing to death at the hands of King Herod and Pontius Pilate (Tom Hewitt). The twelve apostles, Mary Magdalene and her female companions, lepers, Pharisees, priests and others populate the grand story told almost entirely through song - the show is 90% music - and Webber and Rice's score never, ever lets up. While this may not be the most faithful rendering as far as the Bible is concerned, nor the most historically accurate, SUPERSTAR is now available to experience for a whole new generation thanks to this new revival and the timing could not be more ideal. The time is ripe for a revival of SUPERSTAR, and, as Andrew Lloyd Webber himself has recently related, this new production of the show is the best ever as far as he is concerned. High praise indeed - coming from no less than the Lord.

Sondheim is the winner of an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award. Described by Frank Rich of the New York Times as 'the greatest, and perhaps best-known artist working in musical theatre', his most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Assassins. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. Lloyd Webber has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He has also gained a number of honours, including a knighthood in 1992, followed by a peerage from the British Government for services to Music, seven Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, fourteen Ivor Novello Awards, seven Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. Several of his songs, notably 'The Music of the Night', 'I Don't Know How to Love Him', 'Don't Cry for Me, Argentina' and 'You Must Love Me', 'Any Dream Will Do' and 'Memory' have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent musicals.

The full Broadway cast has been announced for The Stratford Shakespeare Festival's hit production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, directed by the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Artistic Director Des McAnuff which will open March 22, 2012 (previews begin March 1) at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52nd Street).

Producers Ben Sprecher, Louise Forlenza, The Shubert Organization, Peter Bezemes, Tony Fusco, Larry Feinman, Nanda Anand and Peter Bogyo by special arrangement with/and based on the Vereinigte Buhnen Wien GmbH production, announced that the new musical REBECCA, based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier novel, will open on Broadway Sunday, April 22 at The Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Previews will begin Tuesday, March 27. Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid, Love Never Dies, Master Class and as Christine in last month's 25th Anniversary Concert of The Phantom of the Opera in London) will play the lead role of 'I'. Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks.

Film and television star Jerry O'Connell, now in rehearsals to make his Broadway debut in the World Premiere of Alan Rickman starring in the new comedy SEMINAR by Theresa Rebeck, will co-host 'Live! with Regis and Kelly' this Thursday morning, October 13.

Hot on the heels of My Fair Lady, the critically acclaimed, smash hit musical which launched the Paramount Theatre's new Broadway series just last month, the Aurora-based theater is ready to GO, GO, GO, GO to it again.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the 16 local groups who have been chosen to go forward to the finals of the English Heritage Angel Awards were announced.

Producers Jeffrey Finn, Jill Furman, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith and Roy Furman have announced the on-sale Ticketing schedule for two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) making his eagerly-anticipated return to Broadway starring in the World Premiere of SEMINAR, a new comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, The Understudy, Omnium Gatherum, The Family of Mann, Spike Heels, NBC's upcoming 'Smash'). Directed by acclaimed Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, Tigers Be Still, Kin, The Coward) in his Broadway debut, the production will also star Tony Award nominee Lily Rabe (The Merchant of Venice, Steel Magnolias, this summer's lauded A Doll's House at Williamstown) and Obie Award winner Hamish Linklater (The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, 'The New Adventures of Old Christine'). SEMINAR will begin previews on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at The Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street) with an Opening Night set for Sunday, November 20 at 6:30 PM.

Producers Jeffrey Finn, Jill Furman and Smuggler Films announced today that Tony Award nominee and two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Lily Rabe (The Merchant of Venice, Steel Magnolias, this summer's lauded A Doll's House at Williamstown) and Obie Award winner and Drama Desk nominee Hamish Linklater (The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, 'The New Adventures of Old Christine') have joined two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) in the World Premiere of SEMINAR, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, The Understudy, Omnium Gatherum, The Family of Mann, Spike Heels, NBC's upcoming 'Smash').