People Be Heard - 2004 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 1

Laura Benanti is in for a busy Tony weekend. The popular performer will join Tituss Burgess to co-host “The Tony Awards: Act One,” a live pre-show, which will include the presentation of the first round of this year’s Tony Awards, airing free on Pluto TV.

Two-time Tony Award nominee Megan Hilty isn’t on an official concert tour, but that hasn’t stopped the popular Broadway and television performer from booking numerous upcoming dates including three in the Bay State alone.

New Jersey Symphony will present its season finale concerts featuring pianist Emanuel Ax performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, and the world premiere of Allison Loggins-Hull's Doublespeak.

Jesus Christ Superstar began as a concept album in 1970 before making its stage debut in 1971. The original 1970 concept album was the brainchild of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice.

The stage production does make a lot of strides that strengthens the endurance and popularity of this love story. It repeats iconic moments from the popular 2004 film, but isn’t aping the original screenplay in any way. A new libretto offers a fresh take that borrows the basic structure of the novel and memorable film moments, whilst breathing in new voices and new scenes that add different layers to these familiar characters.

Ahead of the debut PBS airing of Suffs, BroadwayWorld caught up with Shaina Taub to discuss the origins of the Suffs proshot, the importance of arts accessibility, and why PBS was the right platform to spotlight this history-making musical. 

BroadwayWorld is featuring Ismael Loutfi in a special Off-Broadway Debut of the Month! Read BroadwayWorld's full interview with Ismael as he talks about performing Ismael Loutfi: Heavenly Baba Off-Broadway at SoHo Playhouse.

The Florida Film Festival has announced the film lineup and events schedule for next month’s 35th edition, featuring a documentary about the original Toronto production of the musical Godspell, the dark comedy Over Your Dead Body, and more.

The biggest change from prior years is at The New York Times, where Helen Shaw became the first female chief theater critic at the paper of record earlier this year. Previously, The Times has had plenty of female second-string critics, but the top seat was always held by a man.

I admit I’ve never seen Stephen Sondhiem’s Assassins, nor ever heard the score or read the synopsis. A flop in 1990, the 2004 revival won five Tony awards, and it’s been in theatre rotations since, often causing controversy for its raw language and unsavory content. A play from the perspectives of infamous assassins?

GRAMMY Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs will join the Cleveland Orchestra for a series of performances featuring POULENC’S ORGAN CONCERTO. Scheduled for April 2026, these concerts mark a notable return of Jacobs, who is renowned for his mastery in organ music. The event promises to showcase his exceptional skills alongside one of the most respected orchestras in the world, offering audiences a profound musical experience.

The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards is set to feature performances by Alex Warren, Lainey Wilson, Ludacris, RAYE, and performing for the first time together TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue.

On Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 2:30 pm, I had the pleasure of seeing another first-rate performance at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT, SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN SHOPKEEPERS.

Grammy Award-winning violist Richard O’Neill and renowned pianist Garrick Ohlsson will perform a selection of classical pieces at 92nd Street Y, showcasing works by Schubert and Rachmaninoff.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin have unveiled the 2026–27 season—Nézet-Séguin’s 15th as music and artistic director—full of epic musical events, bold artistic experiences, and new musical journeys.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, has announced a new international commission with acclaimed playwright Abhishek Majumdar.

SFJAZZ will present a diverse lineup of jazz performances in February 2026, featuring renowned artists and ensembles. The month-long event will take place at the iconic SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.

While much of the dramatic weight of Angels in America undeniably stems from the specter of AIDS, it would do the play a huge disservice to reduce it to a story about disease alone. What Theater West End makes clear is that Kushner’s work is as much about identity, loss, and the human struggle to reconcile who we are deep down with who we present to the world.

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project has announced its upcoming winter-spring season, featuring a series of premieres and new recordings. The season promises a lineup of performances, showcasing both contemporary compositions and classical masterpieces.

The idea of the concept album took flight at the same time as the idea of the rock musical. A concept album introduces audiences to the score of a musical by deliberately releasing an album of the songs before any live production exists at all. The concept album ostensibly stands on its own terms.

In honor of the Aida’s 25th anniversary, BroadwayWorld spoke to stars Heather Headley (Aida), Adam Pascal (Radames), Sherie Rene Scott (Amneris), Schele Williams (Nehebka), as Thomas Schumacher (original producer and Disney Theatrical Group chief for its first three decades), lyricist Tim Rice, and book writer David Henry Hwang to compile an oral history of the show’s early days, transition to Broadway, and legacy beyond the boards.

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.

​The Fall 2025 season is in full swing, and with it, comes new plays for theatre lovers of all kinds. Whether you live for intense dramas or would rather escape with zaney comedies, there's something for everyone both on and off-Broadway in November 2025.

If you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks's novel The Notebook or the 2004 film of the same title (starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, you do not want to miss this production. It is a beautiful love story of endurance and hope even amidst the constant trials.

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.