Thoroughly Modern Millie - 2003 - West End Articles Page 17

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's blockbuster 2012 Season continues this fall when the criminally entertaining Kander and Ebb musical Chicago opens at the theatre on Friday evening, September 9th.

Paper Mill Playhouse just announced the cast for its season opener, the premiere of a new Disney stage musical, Newsies. Revolutionary newsie Jack Kelly will be portrayed by Jeremy Jordan of Broadway's West Side Story and Rock of Ages. Tony® Award nominee John Dossett will play newspaper giant Joseph Pulitzer. The show begins performances on Thursday, September 15. The official press opening is scheduled for Sunday, September 25.

The 15th Annual New York International Fringe Festival will present the premiere of the new play SAMMY GETS MUGGED!, by award-winning writer Dan Heching, from August 15 to 28. Directed by Noah Himmelstein, the cast features Stephanie Pope Caffey (Broadway's Chicago, Fosse and more), Patrick Byas ('Law & Order: SVU') and Mr. Heching.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announced today the eight musicals selected to be part of the 23rd Annual Festival of New Musicals on Thursday, October 27 and Friday, October 28 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. are pleased to announce that SHREK THE MUSICAL with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori, directed by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford, will play DeVos Performance Hall, for one week only, June 21-26, 2011.

Award-winning actress, producer and bestselling author Whoopi Goldberg addressed the Savannah College of Art and Design graduating class of 2011 at commencement ceremonies in Savannah and Atlanta, Saturday, June 4.

Due to popular demand, Signature Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director James Houghton; Executive Director Erika Mallin) is pleased to announce a one-week extension for Tony Kushner's THE ILLUSION, directed by Michael Mayer. The production, originally slated to run through July 10, 2011, will now play through Sunday, July 17, 2011. THE ILLUSION began previews Tuesday, May 17 at the Peter Norton Space (555 W. 42nd Street) with opening night scheduled for June 5.

Culled from as A-list a list as you are ever likely to acquire - Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Michael Mayer, Theresa Rebeck and Marc Shaiman/Scott Wittman onwards - SMASH is the adult answer to riveting dramatic musical entertainment coming with heart, laughs, unforgettable characters and some of the biggest twists this side of the starry stages on the Great White Way. Oh, yeah, and those hallowed Broadway halls, too. Plus, SMASH provides a great new opportunity to showcase the unbelievable talent on display on the stages of Broadway and Off-Broadway and beyond, particularly given the fact that it is shot in New York and it is being cast by the biggest casting director on Broadway, Bernie Telsey. Consider the theatre-centric casting LAW & ORDER times seventy six (trombones). All of New York is the talent pool from which the stage of SMASH shall be set. And, what exactly is SMASH about, anyway? Well, SMASH is all about Broadway and what makes a musical tick - from the very inception of the show's idea by the songwriters, through writing, rehearsals and the road; all the way to the big Broadway opening where dreams are made - and nightmares born - on one magnificent, momentous night. As viewers, we are taken inside the ticking clock of the show and we experience each and every one of the multitude of machinations enacted by everyone from the stars - Marilyn Monroe, and the actress playing her, Ivy; and, more importantly, her alternative, Karen - to the overworked director (Derek), harried songwriters Tom and Julia, and the speculative and cutthroat producer behind it all, Eileen.

Previews for Signature Theatre Company's (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) production of Tony Kushner's THE ILLUSION begin tonight, Tuesday, May 17 at the Peter Norton Space (555 W. 42nd Street) with opening night scheduled for June 5.

Roundabout Theatre Company announced the full company of the new musical Death Takes A Holiday, with a book by Peter Stone & Thomas Meehan, music & lyrics by Maury Yeston, directed by Doug Hughes. The cast will include Linda Balgord (Contessa Danielli), Matt Cavenaugh (Eric Fenton), Mara Davi (Alice), Joy Hermalyn (Cora), Jay Jaski (Lorenzo), Simon Jones (Dr. Dario Albione), Rebecca Luker (Duchess Lamberti), Patricia Noonan (Sophia), Julian Ovenden (Prince Sirki / Death), Jill Paice (Grazia), Michael Siberry (Duke Lamberti), Alexandra Socha (Daisy Fenton), Don Stephenson (Fidele), Max Von Essen (Corrado Montelli).

The 2011 Tommy Tune Awards winners have been announced! To a crowd of more than 2,000 people, Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) declared the winners of TUTS' ninth annual Tommy Tune Awards on the evening of Wednesday, April 20, at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.

Broadway's Rex Smith (Grease, The Pirates of Penzance) and Kamilah Marshall (Hairspray, Rent) join Carol Channing and the previously announced Eric Kunze (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), Krysta Rodriguez (The Addams Family, In The Heights) and Tony-Nominated Jonelle Allen (Two Gentlemen of Verona) in BACK WHERE YOU BELONG - a benefit concert celebrating Carol Channing's 90th Birthday, April 16 at The Heritage Forum Theatre of Anaheim.

La Jolla Playhouse presents A Dram of Drummhicit, by Arthur Kopit and Anton Dudley, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, running in the Mandell Weiss Theatre May 17 - June 12 (media night: Sunday, May 22 at 7:00 pm). Tickets for A Dram of Drummhicit are available at the Playhouse Box Office: (858) 550-1010 or online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

Broadway's Rex Smith (Grease, The Pirates of Penzance) and Kamilah Marshall (Hairspray, Rent) join Carol Channing and the previously announced Eric Kunze (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), Krysta Rodriguez (The Addams Family, In The Heights) and Tony-Nominated Jonelle Allen (Two Gentlemen of Verona) in BACK WHERE YOU BELONG - a benefit concert celebrating Carol Channing's 90th Birthday, April 16 at The Heritage Forum Theatre of Anaheim.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents the U.S. premiere of Ingmar Bergman's AUTUMN SONATA, directed by Robert Woodruff, based on a literal translation by Wendy Weckwerth, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) April 12-May 7, 2011.

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is pleased to announce casting for Tony Kushner's THE ILLUSION. The production will be directed by Michael Mayer.

La Jolla Playhouse is proud to announce its 2011/12 season resident theatre company: Eveoke Dance Theatre.

In addition to its Mainstage and Children's Theatre productions, Way Off Broadway produces a number of special events throughout the year.

John C. Breckenridge, President and CEO of Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS), announced today the nominations and presenters for TUTS' ninth annual Tommy Tune Awards which will be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Developed by TUTS, the Tommy Tune Awards honor musical theatre excellence at the high school level. Presenters this year will include Houston-area native, Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) graduate and cast member in Broadway's revival of La Cage Aux Folles, Logan Keslar. Also presenting will be last year's Tommy Tune Award winner for Best Leading Actress, Stephanie Styles. To complete the evening, the ceremony's namesake, Tommy Tune, will be a special guest presenter for one of the awards.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents the U.S. premiere of Ingmar Bergman's AUTUMN SONATA, directed by Robert Woodruff, based on a literal translation by Wendy Weckwerth, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) April 12-May 7, 2011.

On Monday, May 2, 2011 The New York Pops' marks its 28th birthday with Celebrate Hope, a grand gala evening celebrating the legacy of late actor and comedian Bob Hope and honoring decades of support by Interpublic Group. The event begins at 7:00 PM with a concert at Carnegie Hall featuring a special lineup of concert artists - including Brooke Shields, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Ebersole, Kelli O'Hara, Maurice Hines, Cartier Williams and special guest Angela Lansbury - under the baton of Music Director Steven Reineke. The New York Pops will also be joined on stage by the singers of The Camp Broadway Kids and the West Point Glee Club. Following the concert, a black tie dinner and dance will be held at the luxurious Plaza Hotel.

Running the gamut from vaudeville and musical theatre classics, to today's top Broadway shows, with a touch of "old blue eyes" thrown in for good measure, the 2011 Theatre Museum Awards pay tribute to a wide range of the performing arts.

Last fall, the Way Off Broadway Actor's Studio, which was created in 2003 as an extension of the theaters wildly popular Children's Theatre Summer Camp, completely reshaped and revamped its program.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) continues its 2010/11 Season with Steven Sater and Serj Tankian's world premiere rock musical Prometheus Bound, directed by Diane Paulus.

That Melodie Madden Adams, the actress and singer in question, gave a wonderful performance is unquestionable - and not unexpected - and her ease in becoming Margaret is a very good example of actress and character being perfectly in-sync: 'I have an insane love for anything vintage,' she explains, making the role perfect for her. In fact, when she's not onstage (she'll start rehearsals very soon for her role as Lenny in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart at Boiler Room Theatre), she's busily attending to the affairs of her online company, www.pinkcupcakevintage.com. And she thinks 'one of the most underestimated talents in this town is Billy Ditty.'