Hottest Articles on BWW 12/25/2012 - 1/1/2013

1) Cameron Mackintosh Says LES MISERABLES Will Be Back on Broadway in 2014!

Will LES MISERABLES return to the Great White Way? With the starry film adaptation on track for a successful opening week nationwide, producer Cameron Mackintosh confirmed today with Showbiz411 that the show is preparing to return to Broadway in 2014. (more...)

2) LES MISERABLES Film Soundtrack Expected to Hit Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart by Next Week

According to Billboard.com, 'Les Miserables: Highlights From the Motion Picture Soundtrack' is zooming up the charts and on track to hit the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart by next week. The album is estimated to reach 100,000 copies sold by December 30. (more...)

3) STAGE TUBE: Watch the NEWSIES Perform 'Carry the Banner' at Disney's Christmas Day Parade!

Music, magic and merriment came together when Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida presented the 29th annual 'Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade' holiday TV special, airing today, December 25 on the ABC Television Network. Cast members from Disney's Newsies: The Musical, performed 'Carry the Banner' down Main Street, U.S.A., with a performance from the Tony Award-winning musical. (more...)

4) Countdown to Christmas 2012 (Broadway Style)- The Full List!

Below, you can check out all 12 videos featured on the list, including performances by Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Kristin Chenoweth, Angela Lansbury, and the casts of PROMISES, PROMISES and ELF. Click below to watch them all! (more...)

5) BWW TV Exclusive: Backstage at the Brooks Atkinson with PETER AND THE STARCATCHER's Adam Chanler-Berat & Celia Keenan-Bolger - Part 1!

Directed by Tony Award-winner Roger Rees and Tony Award-nominee Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher began performances on Wednesday, March 28 and opened to rave reviews on Sunday, April 15, 2012. The show will play its final performance on January 20, 2013. The production took home five 2012 Tony Awards, the most of any play of the season, including Best Scenic Design (Donyale Werle), Best Lighting Design (Jeff Croiter), Best Costume Design (Paloma Young), and Best Sound Design (Darron L West). BroadwayWorld was invited backstage at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre for a special two-part tour from Celia Keenan-Bolger and Adam Chanler Berat. Click below to watch Part 1 and be sure to check back later for Part 2! (more...)

6) STAGE TUBE: Darlene Love Performs Christmas Tunes on Letterman

Check out video of Broadway and recording star vet Darlene Love's annual David Letterman performance of Christmas, Baby Please Come Home. (more...)

7) What's Playing on Broadway New Year's Week 2012-'13

What better way to celebrate the New Year than with a Broadway show? Before heading out, plan ahead and take note of the special holiday playing schedule for the week of December 31 thru January 6. Some shows will be dark on Monday, New Year's Eve, while others will take New Year's Day off. (more...)

8) FLASH SPECIAL: Will LES MISERABLES Lead To MISS SAIGON Onscreen For Mackintosh In 2013? The Heat Is On!

With the resounding success of the page-to-stage-to-screen adaptation of LES MISERABLES in movie theaters this week - having already grossed more than $100 million since its Christmas Day debut, the biggest ever opening in movie musical history - the eyes of many entertainment enthusiasts are on mega-producer Cameron Mackintosh for what he will do next as a follow-up, as the box office receipts begin to pile up. More than a merely spurious notion, his next project seems to be set in stone should LES MIZ journey on to mega-hit movie musical status (and it very well might) - according to Mackintosh in a recent promotional interview, if the film version of LES MIZ actually breaks the half-billion mark he will indeed proceed to produce a film adaptation of another Boublil/Schonberg hit mega-musical from the 1980s that he originally presented to the world - the Vietnam-set, MADAME BUTTERFLY-inspired MISS SAIGON. While the film adaptation of LES MISERABLES virtually has set a new standard insofar as the realism and grittiness achievable in a modern movie musical - coming particularly as a result of the entirely live, onset singing; as well as the extended, extreme POV shots and overall minimal artifice - MISS SAIGON touches upon much more recent history and thus explores themes and topics much closer to home for many of us, to say nothing of the story, which largely concerns an American GI and his doomed romance with a bar girl in the last days of Saigon before it falls and Ho Chi Minh City rises. Then, there is the seedy and slimy Engineer who sets the wheels in motion and greases up the cogs of the dramatic motor on more than one occasion - and stops the show for a knock-out fantasy sequence before the final denouement, too. The casting possibilities for the four central male roles - The Engineer, Chris, John (his friend) and Thuy (Kim's cousin) - provide unique and compelling roles for the more capable singing actors amongst the vastly talented flock on Broadway and Hollywood who could potentially more than fill the fatigues and fill out the leisure suits or uniforms necessary for those roles, but what about the titular leading lady? Well, Mackintosh apparently has already got that covered - as BroadwayWorld reported, as a matter of fact - since auditions have apparently already begun in one form or another, with preliminary auditions being held for the role of Kim in Manila, Philippines, just a few weeks ago, though that was reportedly exclusively for a future theatrical mounting (a 2014 West End revival, perhaps?). Thanks to the boffo box office of LES MIZ, MISS SAIGON could very well arrive just in time for Christmas 2013 if all goes well, so now is just as good a time to speculate on the logistics as any until we know more. The heat is on! (more...)

9) Movie Musicals Box Office - LES MISERABLES vs. Previous Musical Films - the Story So Far

With Tom Hooper's big screen adaptation of LES MISERABLES already making a healthy start at the box office, BroadwayWorld decided to gather a ranking of the Top 20 movie musicals since 1974. Grease leads the pack, and as of today, December 30, 2012, Les Mis is at No. 11 and likely to keep rising! (more...)

10) BWW TV Exclusive: LES MIS Producer Debra Hayward on Filming in Extreme Places, Her Learning Curve and More!

Now, finally in movie theaters, BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was invited to chat with producer Debra Hayward about working on a learning curve, filming scenes in extreme locations, and so much more. Check out the full interview below! (more...)

11) Breaking News: Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes Led DEAD ACCOUNTS to Close on Broadway on January 6

Just announced is word that DEAD ACCOUNTS, led by Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes will play its final performance on Sunday, January 6. When it plays its final performance, DEAD ACCOUNTS will have played 27 preview performances and 44 regular performances. (more...)

12) VIDEO: ITV's THE Spice Girls STORY: VIVA FOREVER

Britain's ITV1 network aired an all-new Spice Girls documentary on Christmas Eve which tells the definitive story of one of pop music's biggest ever all-female groups. Fifteen years after they first took the world by storm, a new musical about the girls called Viva Forever! hits the West End. The program looks at the creative process behind the show. Check it out below! (more...)

13) LES MISERABLES Character Card: FANTINE

The highly-anticipated film version of LES MISERABLES is now in theaters! To celebrate the release, this week BroadwayWorld brings you an in-depth look at the characters and the actors who portray them. Today, it's all about the Fantine (Anne Hathaway)! (more...)

14) STAGE TUBE: Jenny Powers and Baby George Work Out on TODAY

Broadway vet Jenny Powers recently appeared on THE TODAY SHOW with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, demonstrating workouts that can be done with a baby at home. In tow was Powers' Broadway baby with husband Matt Cavanaugh (West Side Story), George. View the video below! (more...)

15) STAGE TUBE: Max von Essen Sings FIORELLO's 'When Did I Fall in Love?'

See his performance of 'When Did I Fall In Love' from FIORELLO below! (more...)

16) Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Led Zeppelin Among Honorees for 35th ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS - Tonight!

Bluesman Buddy Guy, actor Dustin Hoffman, comedian and television host David Letterman, ballerina Natalia Makarova and rock band Led Zeppelin will receive honors for 2012 on THE 35TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, to be broadcast tonight, Dec. 26 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The special has been broadcast on CBS each year since its debut. (more...)

17) VIDEO: Hudson, Hilty & More Chat SMASH Season 2!

Jennifer Hudson, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee and Christian Borle speak about what's in store for Season 2 of SMASH in an all-new behind-the-scenes video released by NBC. Check it out below! (more...)

18) LES MISERABLES Character Card: VALJEAN

The highly-anticipated film version of LES MISERABLES is now in theaters! To celebrate the release, BroadwayWorld brings you an in-depth look at the characters and the actors who portray them. Today, it's all about the musical's protagonist - Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman)! (more...)

19) STAGE TUBE: Cape Coral, FL Theatre Cancels Run of Neil Simon's RUMORS Due to Language

Cultural Park Theater in Cape Coral, FL, will not to continue with its run of RUMORS after deciding that the language would be considered inappropriate by its audiences. View a news clip on the decision below. (more...)

20) BWW TV Exclusive: Backstage - Makeup at PHANTOM

Go backstage with PHANTOM performer Jeremy Stolle ('Passarino') to learn a few of the show's makeup artist's tips and tricks. (more...)