The Life - 1997 - Broadway Articles Page 9

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Gary Smith, the Emmy-winning television producer whose credits included six Tony Awards broadcasts, passed away on Saturday, July 18, in Los Angeles.

This summer Irish Rep brings back The Weir by Conor McPherson, directed by Ciarán O’Reilly. A longtime Irish Rep favorite, this marks the company’s fourth staging of The Weir, following acclaimed runs in 2013 and 2015, and a 2020 digital adaptation. Read reviews for the production.

This past season contained a higher than usual amount of Broadway shows involving death; in fact, Operation Mincemeat and Dead Outlaw both specifically revolved around transporting a corpse! And Death Becomes Her leans into the hilarity as two women become gorgeous living corpses before our very eyes, thanks to a touch of magic. But plays and musicals about death and its attendant macabre topics have been a part of the theatre landscape for many decades...

For years, Broadway musicals have spawned multiple film adaptations, from the early days of cinema to Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story. Take a look at our list of 15 musicals that have danced their way to the screen more than once!

Moonlight Stage Productions’ “Anastasia” offers a glittery train ride through royal rumors, sweeping ballads, and animated-movie nostalgia, with just a few detours into brooding Soviet angst.

Franklin Stage Company will present an encore performance of award-winning solo show Magdalen by actress and playwright Erin Layton July 25–27 at Chapel Hall in Franklin, NY.

The University Musical Society is welcoming four new Board members who were elected at the organization's annual meeting. Learn more about the Board Members here!

Tickets go on sale this week for the highly-anticipated major musical ANASTASIA, which will open at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in April 2026. Learn more about the show here!

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater are open this July with a full slate of nightly performances! See the full lineup here and learn how to purchase tickets!

Two River Theater’s celebrated Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) Festival of new plays by Latine playwrights will take place for its 14th year this summer. See the full lineup here and learn how to attend!

Four-time Grammy-winning vocalist and powerhouse producer, composer, and independent record label founder Erykah Badu is teaming up with hip-hop producer The Alchemist for a new tour.

The York Theatre has launched a new website and logo for the organization. Learn more about The York Theatre and the changes to the organization here!

After years in development and several stagings across the globe, Disney’s Hercules has crashed like a lightning bolt into the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The show, with a book by Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by David Zippel, is an adaptation of the 1997 Disney film of the same name, an animated musical that follows the son of Zeus and Hera, Hercules, as he must earn his rightful place on Mount Olympus and face off against his evil uncle, Hades.

Just In Time’s origin story as well as overall conceit has much in common with one of Broadway’s very first jukebox musicals, which was ahead of its time. In 1985, Leader of the Pack, telling the story of pop singer-songwriter Ellie Greenwich, opened at the Ambassador on Broadway. Learn all about pop music bio-musicals here!

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park will present the 2025 Annual Festival in Tivoli, NY, featuring original performances by artists innovating in dance, music, film, archiving, storytelling, and more. Learn how to attend.

On June 10, 2025, Trinity Repertory Company held its 26th Pell Awards Gala, honoring Emmy Award-winning  comedian Tina Fey, Tony Award-winning actress and singer Kelli O’Hara, Tomaquag Museum Executive Director Lorén M. Spears,  and Mixed Magic Theatre Executive Director Bernadet V. Pitts-Wiley. Check out photos from the ceremony.

Palm Beach Symphony has revealed the 2025-2026 Masterworks Concert Series led by Music Director Gerard Schwarz. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets!

Tony Award-winning production of BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB celebrated it’s 100th performance at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway. See photos here!

The Echo Theater Company will present the West Coast premiere of Berta, Berta a sensuous love story by Angelica Chéri that was inspired by a prison chain gang song from Parchman Farm.

Lincoln Center Theater has revealed its 2025-2026 season of productions in the Vivian Beaumont, Mitzi E. Newhouse, and Claire Tow Theaters. See the full lineup here!

Which Best Musical and Best Play nominees will take home the ultimate prize? BroadwayWorld has rounded up the winners of the Tony Awards, the Drama Desk Awards, the Drama League Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Awards for the last fifty years to compare winners year by year.

Lyrics & Lyricists celebrate and examine Kander & Ebb's work with one final performance June 2 at 7 pm. This production deserves to move. Its talent is full of that quality the team wrote about as in their score for Chicago: CLASS!

Full speed ahead! The Omaha Community Playhouse has taken to the water with a 1997 Tony Award winning musical, TITANIC, THE MUSICAL. An ambitious undertaking based on actual events of the April 15, 1912 maiden voyage of the unsinkable RMS TITANIC, the musical displays humanity in all its shades when facing the prospect of a better life across the Atlantic or imminent death in its icy waters.

Natalie Venetia Belcon has won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB.

On Friday May 30, 2025, at 8 PM, the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra will present a concert at Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall conducted by Kenneth Kiesler featuring soloists Karen Slack, soprano, Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano, and Daniel Washington, bass.