Broadway Fans Rejoice with Thoughts of ‘Glee’ Hitting the Big Stage

The comedic musical television show about a high school glee club, the Fox TV series Glee has been nothing short of a smash success since its debut last year. The cast starring Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Jayma Mays and Jane Lynch has been the hottest craze on the television scene for months, and now the crew behind the TV show might just hit the road on a Broadway extravaganza.

Popcrunch.com reported recently that the producers of Glee are currently in talks with Music Theater International in a supposed deal that will bring Glee to the Broadway stage, and while nothing has been finalized as of yet, just the idea of these young actors and actresses gracing the big stage is enough to spark a flurry of excitement on the theatrical scene. According to Popcrunch, MTI chairman Freddie Gershon recently told the website, “The ‘Glee’ deal is in negotiations. We’re exploring a collaborative venture with Fox and ‘Glee.’ We just think it’s a natural.”

While Broadway looks to be in the cards for the very vocally-talented cast of Glee, the television series will return to television this spring, resuming the second part of Season 1 on April 13.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 19, 2010 - Post a comment

Off-Broadway’s ‘The Cocktail Party’ Now Playing at Beckett Theatre

Simon Jones, Cynthia Harris and Jack Koenig lead the force behind the comedic production The Cocktail Party, a revival of the T.S. Eliot classic that made its grand entrance at the Beckett Theatre Off-Broadway yesterday. The opening of The Cocktail Party was hailed an instant success by theater critics, and after showing previews starting on March 7 the production is officially up and running.

Aside from the three main actors Harris, Jones and Koenig, The Cocktail Party also features a slew of Broadway performers including Jeremy Beck, Ben Beckley, Lauren English, Erika Rolfsrud and Celia Smith. The production, according to Playbill, revolves around the “profound exploration of self-deception and redemption,” unraveling a story about an older couple’s unfaithful marriage.

T.S. Eliot penned the play in 1949, one year after earning the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Order of Merit. The Cocktail Party first appeared on Broadway in 1950, running for 409 performances and garnering a Tony Award for Best Play during its first year of running. After its initial Broadway run, The Cocktail Party ran a revival in 1968 at the Lyceum Theatre, and now it will reprise at the Beckett Theatre this spring.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 18, 2010 - Post a comment

Broadway Stars Celebrate Composer Stephen Sondheim’s 80th Birthday

Broadway stars from several different stages joined together this week to celebrate the talented Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, exalting the composer of Broadway gems like Sweeney Todd, Follies and A Little Night Music with some birthday tunes and a star-studded cast. Sondheim’s brilliant career and life in show business was celebrated in the “Sondheim: The Birthday Concert” soiree Monday night at Avery Fisher Hall, and the long list of performers for the Sondheim concert included everyone from Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald to Elaine Stritch, Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn, with David Hyde Pierce serving as the host for the evening.

The “Sondheim: The Birthday Concert” featured flashy numbers from Sondheim’s best works, led by a slew of Broadway vixens clad in red dresses to perform numbers like “I’m Still Here” (Elaine Stritch), “The Ladies Who Lunch” (Patti LuPone) and “Move On” (Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin), staples from Sondheim musicals. At the end of the evening the Associated Press reported that Sondheim stepped onto the stage to address the audience, saying, “First, you’re young. Then you’re middle-aged. Then you’re wonderful. This was wonderful.”

Sondheim will turn 80 next Monday, March 22, and he will again be commemorated on that day by the Roundabout Theatre Company. The New York City Center will have its own Sondheim celebration on April 26, adding to the festivities.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 17, 2010 - Post a comment

‘La Cage aux Folles’ Tickets Are Available Today!

The Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles will begin previews April 6, and for theatergoers who want tickets to the upcoming run starring Kelsey Grammar, they’ll be available starting today at 10 a.m. The box office at the Longacre Theatre will open today for La Cage aux Folles tickets, and the much-anticipated Broadway production will come roaring onto the stage on April 6, with the official opening date set for April 18.

Kelsey Grammar (as Georges) stars opposite Douglas Hodge (as Albin) in the Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles, in which Grammar plays the role of a drag club owner on the French Riviera romantically involved with star performer Albin. The production originally ran from Nov. 2007 to March 2008 at the Menier Chocolate Factory, and the Olivier Award-winning show will now strike a revival at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway.

La Cage aux Folles, based on the Jean Poiret play, is directed by Terry Johnson and features music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Harvey Fierstein. The production also features a cast including Fred Applegate (Dindon), A.J. Shively (Jean-Michel), Veanne Cox (Mme. Dindon/Mme. Renaud), Robin de Jesus (Jacob), Christine Andreas (Jacqueline), Elena Shaddow (Anne), Chris Hoch (Francis), Heather Lindell (Colette), Bill Nolte (Tabarro) and David Nathan Perlow (Etienne).

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 16, 2010 - Post a comment

Broadway’s ‘Looped’ Premieres with Valerie Harper in the Lead Role

Portraying the quirky and often inappropriate actress Tallulah Bankhead like only few are capable of doing, Valerie Harper premiered in the lead role of Matthew Lombardo’s Looped over the weekend at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, where it will play an extended run. Harper has garnered rave reviews in her debut as the wild-partying and altogether shocking actress Tallulah Bankhead, and the Broadway production highlights a Bankhead experience truly her own.

Looped is based off a real-life event revolving around a sound studio session that Tallulah Bankhead took part in during 1965 for Die, Die, My Darling, her last film. The convincing Valerie Harper has recreated the event in a stunning production, which premiered in 2008 at the Pasadena Playhouse. Now portraying Bankhead at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, Harper leads the way for Looped, which has been hailed “a passionate, if not entirely convincing, rebuttal to anyone who has tried to reduce Bankhead to a punch line” by the USA Today.

Director Rob Ruggiero tackles one incredibly interesting subject in the current run of Looped, and the Tallulah Bankhead-themed play also features Brian Hutchinson and Danny Michael Mulheren in the colorful production, as well.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 15, 2010 - Post a comment

Ray Charles Musical to Play on Broadway This Fall

Unchain My Heart, a musical celebrating the life and luminous career of the great Ray Charles, will make its debut on the Broadway stage this fall. The production is headed to the big stage in what can be considered an adaptation of the 2004 Oscar Award-winning film Ray, which starred Jamie Foxx. Stuart Benjamin, who worked with the late Ray Charles for several years and produced Ray after the musician’s death, will also take the reins as producer for the upcoming run of Unchain My Heart.

The 20-member cast for the Broadway production of the Ray Charles musical has yet to be announced, but the New York Times reported that the show will begin previews on Oct. 8, 2010 with an opening date of Nov. 7, 2010. The Ray Charles musical originally opened as a developmental production in 2007 at the Pasadena Playhouse under the name Ray Charles Live!, and it features Ray Charles hits ranging from “Hit the Road, Jack” and “I Got a Woman” to “Georgia on My Mind,” Mess Around” and, of course, “Unchain My Heart.” Stay tuned for more details as the opening date for Unchain My Heart’s Broadway premiere gets closer.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 12, 2010 - Post a comment

‘Next Fall’ Opens on Broadway Tonight!

After beginning previews on Feb. 16, the Broadway debut of Geoffrey’s Nauffts’ production Next Fall will finally open on Broadway tonight at the Helen Hayes Theatre. The comedy-drama has been highly praised ever since its Off-Broadway premiere in the summer of 2009, and now actors Patrick Heusinger (Gossip Girl, Spamalot) and Patrick Breen (Fuddy Meers, Brighton Beach Memoirs) will prepare the show for takeoff on the big stage.

Next Fall, which has recently been backed financially by Elton John and David Furnish, is directed by Sheryl Kaller, the same director from the Off-Broadway production, and in an uncommon decision the entire Off-Broadway cast has made the leap to the Helen Hayes Theatre along with the production. Aside from Heusinger (Luke) and Breen (Adam), Next Fall also features Maddie Corman (Holly), Sean Dugan (Brandon), Connie ray (Arlene) and Cotter Smith (Butch).

Next Fall is a provocative production focused on a storyline about the five-year relationship between Adam and Luke, transcending typical “love story” themes to examine the topics of faith, love and commitment. Unleashing themes of sexuality, love, religion and family, Next Fall is a colorful production and modern American play that has been applauded ever since its premiere last year Off-Broadway.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 11, 2010 - Post a comment

More Bad News for Broadway’s ‘Spider-Man’

Will the conflicted Broadway run of Spider-Man ever prepare for takeoff? It certainly won’t with Evan Rachel Wood, as the actress who was supposed to star as Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming musical has officially parted ways with the stalled production. The timeline for Spider-Man has already been pushed back a month, and Wood announced this week she won’t be participating in the production anymore, citing a scheduling conflict as her reason.

Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark was originally slated to launch Feb. 25 at the Hilton Theatre, but monetary problems halted the musical this winter, continuing to delay the production through February and, now, into March. The Julie Taymor production will still (as of now) feature Alan Cumming as Normal Osborn (The Green Goblin) and Reeve Carney as Peter Parker, but no word has yet been spoken about finding a replacement for Wood.

Spider-Man features music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and the Edge and a book by Taymor and Glen Berger. The production is expected to release a new timeline in the near future, and it looks like it will also be announcing a lead actress in the role of Mary Jane Watson soon, as well.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 10, 2010 - Post a comment

‘Love Never Dies’ Opens in London Today!

Love Never Dies, the much-anticipated follow-up to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece The Phantom of the Opera, will open tonight at the Adelphi Theatre at the West End, following previews that started Feb. 22. Leading the force for the brand new production are Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine), and the musical also features Joseph Millson (Raoul), Liz Robertson (Madame Giry) and Summer Strallen (Giry’s daughter Meg).

Love Never Dies is the sequel to The Phantom and follows the eerie love story from the Paris Opera House to Coney Island, picking up 10 years after the Phantom’s disappearance. Andrew Lloyd Webber recently expressed his feelings regarding the musical, telling The Independent, “I’m genuinely excited to see what people make of ‘Love Never Dies’ because in so many ways it goes much further than the old ‘Phantom’ did. Without giving anything away about the ending, it’s like I closed a door when I put the last notes down. I don’t think I’ll be able to go any further down this particular musical path - well, not for a while anyway.”

The sequel to The Phantom of the Opera is such an anticipated production it has already been scheduled for dates on Broadway, slated to begin Nov. 11, 2010. An Australian premiere is also already planned for 2011.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 9, 2010 - Post a comment

‘The Addams Family’ Begins Previews Tonight

The much-anticipated Broadway musical The Addams Family will make its grand entrance onto the Broadway stage this evening, as the production will begin previews tonight at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The Addams Family’s grand opening is slated for April 8, and it is sure to illuminate the Broadway scene in the upcoming weeks, especially with a starring cast that includes: Nathan Lane (Gomez), Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia), Terrence Mann (Mal Beineke), Carolee Carmello (Alice Beineke), Kevin Chamberlin (Uncle Fester), Jackie Hoffman (Grandma), Zachary James (Lurch), Adam Riegler (Pugsley), Wesley Taylor (Lucas Beineke) and Krysta Rodriguez (Wednesday).

The Addams Family is an old TV and film favorite with new crossover appeal on the big stage, and its storyline in the current Broadway musical takes a turn from prior plots, instead revolving around a storyline involving Wednesday having a “normal” boyfriend. The production has a book by Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Director Jerry Zaks is working with the creative team, and The Addams Family is sure to be another dark success in the same vein as the rest of the quirky Addams family ventures, which have scored big with American audiences for years.

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Permalink - Posted in General on March 8, 2010 - Post a comment


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