Avenue Q Celebrates Fifth Birthday

A celebration is in order for one of Broadway’s most hilarious and popular productions.  Avenue Q, the puppet production is celebrating its fifth anniversary on Broadway today.  Present and past performers will be filling the theater as the puppet friendly musical hits a milestone mark with five years on Broadway.  Recently the popular musical also reached another milestone when it played its 2,000th performance on June 3.  After tonight’s performance there will be a brief, onstage ceremony including a special furry, Q cake.

Avenue Q features music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and also a book by Jeff Whitty.  After an acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theater, Avenue Q began previews at the Golden Theatre on July 10, 2003.  Since then it has won the 2004 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.  Be sure to get your own pair of Avenue Q tickets.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 31, 2008 - Post a comment

Charlotte d’Amboise Set to Exit A Chorus Line

Tony nominee Charlotte d’Amboise is ready to leave the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line on August 10. D’Amboise was nominated for a Tony Award for her work as Cassie in the musical. She will be succeeded by the actress Jessica Lee Goldyn on August 13 and continue through the musical’s final performance on August 17. d’Amboise is also known for her appearances in Sweet Charity, Contact, Chicago, Company, Damn Yankees, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Son and Dance and Cats and Carrie.

A Chorus Line has become an extremely popular show on Broadway started as Michael Bennett’s 1975 production. It opened in its current capacity at the Shoenfeld on October 5, 2006. This was following a six week run at San Francisco’s Curran Theater. The show is produced by John Breglio. Be sure to keep your eye out for Charlotte d’Amboise and also get your pair of A Chorus Line tickets from Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 30, 2008 - Post a comment

A Dedication of Fiddler to Bruce Adler

The St. Louis Muny, which is the nation’s oldest and largest outdoor theater is set to dedicate its upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof to Bruce Adler, the Tony nominated actor who died on July 25 of liver cancer.  He had originally been cast as Tevye in the production, but had ducked out due to his illness.  The cast of Fiddler on the Roof will likely put all of their hearts and soul into their performance out of respect for Mr. Adler.

Fiddler originally opened on September 22, 1964 at the Imperial Theater and it won Tony Awards in 1965 for Best Musical.  It is well known for its famous score that includes songs like: “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Sunrise, Sunset” and “To Life.”  Since the first opening of the play four revivals of Fiddler have played on Broadway.  According to press notes on Playbill.com, the play concerns “husband and wife Tevye and Golde, who are raising five daughters in the village of Anatevka, on the eve of the Russian revolution in the early twentieth century.  Holding fast to their traditions, they find themselves bending as their three older daughters fall in love with a tailor, a revolutionary teacher and an outsider.”  Get your Fiddler on the Roof tickets from Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 29, 2008 - Post a comment

P.J. Benjamin to Join Wicked as New Wizard

P.J. Benjamin is scheduled to join the hit Broadway production of Wicked on July 29.  He will portray the elusive Wizard of Oz.  Originally Benjamin played the same part in the musical’s national touring company for nearly two years prior.  He will now join a cast that includes Kendra Kassebaum, Kerry Ellis, Cristy Candler and Ben Liebert among others.  In addition to being featured in the national tour of Wicked, Benjamin also boasts credits from the musical Chicago.

According to press notes posted on Playbill.com, “Wicked is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, which turned every Oz myth inside out.  Wicked explores the early life of the witches of Oz: Glinda and Elphaba. The two main characters meet at Shiz, a school where both hope to take up sorcery.  Glinda is madly popular and Elphaba is, well, green.  By a misunderstanding, they wind up roommates and, after an initial period of mutual loathing, being to learn something about each other.  Their life paths continue to intersect through a shared love, entry into the Emerald City and interaction with the Wizard himself.  Eventually, their choices and convictions take them on widely different paths.  Get your Wicked tickets from Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 28, 2008 - Post a comment

Bruce Adler Dies at 63

Bruce Adler, who was known for winning two Tony Award nominations died in the early hours of July 25.  Adler was loved his time on Broadway including in productions of Oklahoma!, Those Were The Days and Crazy For You.  His greatest successes came with the latter productions, which were prominent in the early 1990’s.  Mr. Adler also is known for his performances extensively in regional theater.  He will be sorely missed on the stage and many of his fans will remember his great roles in Anything Goes, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver and Guys and Girls.

Mr. Adler made it onto the big stage with his role in Oklahoma!  Make sure that you check out this delightful production that was written by composer Richard Rodgers.  The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943 and has since made waves on the stage in cities and towns around the world.  Check out the availability of Oklahoma! tickets from Stubhub.com you don’t want to miss the show that helped Bruce Adler get his start on the stage.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 25, 2008 - Post a comment

Hairspray Sequel?

The word is circulating that John Waters is planning to pen a sequel to the popular movie-musical Hairspray.  Hairspray has become a popular musical onstage and became an even bigger sensation when the film hit theaters, starring John Travolta.  The movie Hairspray grossed more than $200 million worldwide and New Line Cinema hopes that a sequel will be wrapped up and ready to go by mid-July 2010.

Hairspray, the movie, took huge inspiration from the musical currently running on Broadway, and takes most of its inspiration from the stage production, which in turn is based on the 1988 John Waters film of the same name.  The speculation thus far is that the sequel to Hairspray will likely pick up where the first film left off, in 1962 Baltimore.  All fans of the show and of the movie will likely want to keep their eyes open for an future developments in the project.  Be sure to also get your Hairspray tickets from Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 24, 2008 - Post a comment

Avenue Q to Celebrate Fifth Birthday!

The Tony Award winning musical, Avenue Q is gearing up to celebrate its fifth birthday at Broadway’s John Golden Theater on July 31.  The puppet friendly musical also recently celebrated its 2,000th performance on Broadway, which occurred on June 3.  The musical is now recognized as the 25th longest running production in Broadway history.  Avenue Q features music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx as well as a book by Jeff Whitty.

Avenue Q made it to Broadway after a much acclaimed off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theater.  It officially opened on July 31, 2003 and has been attracting fans since then.  The musical won the 2004 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.  Be sure not to miss this hilariously quirky puppets when they take the stage to entertain you!  Get your Avenue Q tickets as soon as possible.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 23, 2008 - Post a comment

Bailey Is the New Shining Star in Legally Blonde!

Actress Bailey Hanks has been recently named the winner of the MTV reality casting competition called “Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods.”  Hanks will make her Broadway debut in the musical on July 23 at 8PM.  Hanks was confirmed the winner of the reality show on March 18 and she succeeds Legally Blonde’s original Elle Woods, Laura Bell Bundy.  Bundy played her final performance on June 20.

Legally Blonde is based on the film of the same name, originally starring Reese Witherspoon.  It has music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin.  The show centers around the blonde Elle Woods who decides to follow her boyfriend to Harvard to prove to him that she has the intelligence to go along with her girlie good looks.  Be sure to check out Bailey in Legally Blonde on Broadway.  Get your own pair of Legally Blonde tickets from Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 22, 2008 - Post a comment

The Film Mamma Mia is Second Highest Grossing Film of Weekend

The musical film, Mamma Mia! just recently became the second highest grossing film of the weekend, coming in second to The Dark Knight, which features the late Heath Ledger.  The Dark Knight is the highest grossing opening of any film to date.  Mamma Mia! though also made an impressive showing pulling in $27,605,000 for its first weekend in U.S. theaters.  The film made its world premiere in London and did exceptionally well, prompting a great showing in the United States.

The film, according to press notes posted on Playbill.com is described as such: “An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna is about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she’s raised alone.  For Sophie’s wedding Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends-practical and no-nonsense Rosie and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya.  Sophie, though is on the quest to find the identity of her father so that he may walk her down the aisle.  She brings back three men from Donna’s past and over 24 magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities.  Get your Mamma Mia! tickets from Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 21, 2008 - Post a comment

Mamma Mia is Here (In Movie Form)!

Today is opening day for the movie, Mamma Mia! which has already made a splash as the popular show on Broadway.  The film was an extremely popular hit in the U.K. and is also expected to do very well in the United States.  The film stars Academy Award winner Meryl Streep as mom Donna Sheridan.  The film itself follows another large list of other Broadway musicals that have been made into films, including Chicago, Dreamgirls, The Producers and Hairspray.  The soundtrack to the film is currently the seventh best selling recording, according to the numbers on the Billboard charts.

The cast of the movie also features Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Christine Baranaki, Julie Walters, Stellan Skargard and Dominic Cooper.  The film, according to press notes posted on Playbill.com is described as: “An independent single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek Island is about to let go of the spirited daughter that she has raised alone.  Sophie, the daughter is on a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle.  She brings back three men from Donna’s past to the Mediterranean paradise and over 24 chaotic, magical hours new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled.”  Get your Mamma Mia! tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in General on July 18, 2008 - Post a comment


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