Hottest Articles on BWW from Thursday, Mar. 21

1) Photo Coverage: BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S Opening Night Curtain Call!

BWW was there to capture the starry, starry night including the opening night curtain call - below! (more...)

2) Review Roundup: HANDS ON A HARDBODY Opens on Broadway - All the Reviews!

The new American musical Hands on a Hardbody will open tonight, March 21, at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street). Let's see what the critics had to say... (more...)

3) Breaking News: Tony Awards Committee Decides CINDERELLA is a Revival & More After Latest Meeting

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met today for the third time this season to determine the eligibility of two Broadway productions for the 2013 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The Tony Awards Administration Committee will meet a total of four times throughout the 2012-2013 season to decide the eligibility for the 2013 Tony Awards. (more...)

4) Kelli O'Hara & Steven Pasquale to Lead FAR FROM HEAVEN Musical at Playwrights Horizons; Full Cast Announced!

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) announced today complete details for FAR FROM HEAVEN, a new musical with book by Tony Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out, Three Days of Rain, the current Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Assembled Parties both now on Broadway), music by Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, Finding Neverland) and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, The Grapes of Wrath, Finding Neverland). The musical is choreographed by Alex Sanchez (Giant, Fiorello!) and directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway; Rent, Next to Normal, Giant). The musical is based on the Focus Features/Vulcan Productions motion picture Far From Heaven, written and directed by Todd Haynes. FAR FROM HEAVEN will now begin previews Wednesday evening, May 8 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Sunday, June 2 at 7PM. The limited engagement subscription run will play through Sunday, June 30 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). Headlining the cast is the previously-announced four-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara (nominated for her acclaimed performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, South Pacific and the current Nice Work If You Can Get It). One of Broadway's leading musical stars, she returns to Playwrights Horizons for the first time since starring in the World Premiere of the new musical My Life with Albertine in 2003. She will reunite with co-star Steven Pasquale (The Spitfire Grill at PH; reasons to be pretty on Broadway; The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide… at The Public; Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle nominations for A Man of No Importance at Lincoln Center; The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall, star of the NBC series 'Do No Harm'). Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Pasquale created their respective roles in FAR FROM HEAVEN for the musical's Preview Production run at Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer. In addition to Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Pasquale, the full cast of FAR FROM HEAVEN will feature J.B. Adams (Parade, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway; Annie Warbucks Off-Broadway; the film Far From Heaven), Marinda Anderson (From the Inside, Out at NY Fringe Festival; Freedom Train for TheatreWorks USA), Olivier Award nominee Nancy Anderson (Wonderful Town, A Class Act on Broadway; Kiss Me, Kate in London; Yank! Off-Broadway), Elainey Bass (Radio City Christmas Spectacular), Obie Award winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine (In the Next Room… on Broadway; Ruined at MTC), Justin Scott Brown (Les Miserables, Spring Awakening national tours), Obie Award winner Alma Cuervo (PH's The Heidi Chronicles and Isn't It Romantic?; Titanic, Cabaret, Women on the Verge… on Broadway; Road Show at The Public; Wicked national tour), Korey Jackson (Wild with Happy at The Public; 'Homeland'), Isaiah Johnson (Peter and the Starcatcher; The Merchant of Venice on Broadway), Jake Lucas (Newsies), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, White Christmas, on Broadway; Happiness Off-Broadway), Julianna Rigoglioso (Pippi Longstocking Off-Broadway; Mary Poppins national tour, The Smurfs), Sarah Jane Shanks (Wicked, Promises Promises, Shrek, Wonderful Town, The Apple Tree on Broadway), Tess Soltau (The Addams Family on Broadway; Into the Woods for The Public/Shakespeare in the Park), Mary Stout (Cather County at PH; Jane Eyre, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway) and Victor Wallace (Mamma Mia! on Broadway, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera national tours). FAR FROM HEAVEN will feature scenic design by Tony Award nominee Allen Moyer, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Peter Nigrini and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin. Musical Director is Lawrence Yurman and Production Stage Manager is Judith Schoenfeld. Cathy Whitaker (Ms. O'Hara) seems to be the picture-perfect wife and mother in 1957 suburban Connecticut. But roiling beneath the surface, secret longings and forbidden desires cause her world to unravel, with incendiary consequences. With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical, FAR FROM HEAVEN is a powerful story of romance, betrayal and intolerance, as a woman grapples with her identity in a society on the verge of upheaval. FAR FROM HEAVEN was commissioned, developed, and produced through the Playwrights Horizons Musicals in Partnership Initiative, with leadership support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Through this initiative, the musical had a Preview Production run at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer, also featuring Ms. O'Hara, Mr. Pasquale, Mr. Adams, Ms. Bernstine and Ms. Stout. The program allows Playwrights Horizons to develop new works of musical theater, each in partnership with a Regional theater - wholly within the not-for-profit system. This seven-year program aims to commission at least four new works of musical theater and develop and produce three or four full-scale productions. Each of the three musicals will be produced at both one specific Regional partner and at Playwrights Horizons. Generous support for FAR FROM HEAVEN was also provided by The Laurents / Hatcher Foundation, Stacey & Eric Mindich Fund for New Musicals at Playwrights Horizons, Daniel & JoAnne Smith, Cathy & Stephen Weinroth, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, Thomas & Patricia Barron, Bruce Horten, Rosalee A. & Bruce Lovett, Larry Tatelbaum, Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation, and Nancy Roistacher & Wayne P. Merkelson. The original 2002 film, which stars Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson, earned over 100 awards, honors and nominations. It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Actress (Ms. Moore), Best Original Screenplay (Todd Haynes), Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman) and Best Original Score (Elmer Bernstein), and was named one of the 10 Best Movies of the Decade by Entertainment Weekly. It was also named Best Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and the Village Voice, among many others. Far From Heaven also earned 4 Golden Globe nominations including Best Screenplay, a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a bevy of additional awards for leading actress Julianne Moore, including one from the National Board of Review Award and nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes. With FAR FROM HEAVEN, Playwrights Horizons continues its commitment to developing unique and ground-breaking new musicals, including Grey Gardens, James Joyce's The Dead, Floyd Collins, Assassins, Once on This Island and Sunday in the Park with George. FAR FROM HEAVEN reunites the theater company with Mr. Frankel, Mr. Korie and Mr. Greif, the composer, lyricist and director of Grey Gardens, which was one of Playwrights Horizons' most heralded original musicals. The project also marks the long-awaited return to the theater company of Mr. Greenberg, who was last represented there in 1987 with his play The Maderati. The performance schedule for FAR FROM HEAVEN will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 PM & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Both the Wednesday, May 8 and Tuesday, May 28 evening performances have 8PM curtains and the Sunday, June 2 matinee has an early 2PM curtain. Beginning the week of April 8, single tickets, starting at $80, may be purchased online via www.TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), via Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PlaywrightsHorizons or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues). A ticketing initiative created as part of Playwrights Horizons' Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for FAR FROM HEAVEN will be for tickets to the first preview on Wednesday, May 8 at 8PM. Details for the lottery are as follows: beginning Wednesday, May 1 at 12 Noon, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.PlaywrightsHorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, May 6 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3PM on Monday, May 6 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email to a limited standby list starting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, May 7 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. A limited number of tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery. Reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $25 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Cash only. LIVEforFIVE and HOTtix are two of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and The McGraw-Hill Companies. A special open captioned performance of FAR FROM HEAVEN for theatergoers who are deaf and hard of hearing will be held on the Saturday, June 8 matinee at 2:30 PM. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation, and TDF and TAP Plus, which is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. (more...)

5) BWW TV: ONCE Celebrates One Year on Broadway- Watch Cristin Milioti's Speech and the Special Encore!

At the special performance, Cristin Milioti who will be leaving the show on March 24, gave a heartfelt speech and the cast performed a special encore that was cut early in the show's downtown run and only performed twice. BroadwayWorld was there for yesterday's celebration and you can watch the full encore performance below! Plus, get a first look at Ben Hope, who officially replaces Steve Kazee as 'Guy on March 26. (more...)

6) INTO THE WOODS Film To Start Shooting In October?

According to a new interview with China Daily in promotion of her Oscar-winning work in THE IRON LADY, Meryl Streep confirms that the feature film adaptation of the multi-Tony Award-winning musical INTO THE WOODS is set to start shooting this October. (more...)

7) STAGE TUBE: BOOK OF MORMON Tour Cast Says 'Hello' to London Company

In a fun rendition of their opening song, the US touring cast of The Book of Mormon welcomed the London company with open arms. The cast said 'Hello!' to their newly extended family; 'From our family to yours -- have a Happy Opening! Wishing you a long a successful run! Break a leg!' said the blurb below the video. (more...)

8) Photo Flash: First Look - Bernadette Peters Guests on SMASH's 'Parents' Episode

Bernadette Peters guest stars on an upcoming episode of NBC's SMASH titled 'The Parents.' In the episode, after Leigh Conroy (guest star Peters) joins the cast of "Bombshell," Tom (Christian Borle) finds himself struggling to diffuse the years of tension between her and Ivy (Megan Hilty). Get a first look below! (more...)

9) GHOST THE MUSICAL to Launch National Tour from Schenectady in September 2013

The supernatural power of love is taking the U.S. by storm as the new Broadway and West End musical Ghost The Musical, adapted from the Academy Award-winning film, launches its first national tour in Schenectady, NY, at Proctors Theater. (more...)

10) Photo Flash: Promo Images Released for Broadway-Bound BIG FISH

BIG FISH might not be heading to Broadway until Fall 2013, but the Chicago production is currently gearing up, and you can check out two just-released promo images of the shows stars (Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin) below! (more...)

11) Alan Rickman Stars In New Short Film DUST

Stage and screen crossover star Alan Rickman headlines a new short film titled DUST and the poster, promo video and still images from the indie project have now been released. (more...)

12) Matthew Morrison to Release Broadway Album 'Where It All Began' on 6/4

Broadway veteran Matthew Morrison will soon release an album of Broadway standards, titled 'Where It All Began.' It will drop on June 4 as a part of Adam Levine's 222 Records. He told Billboard: 'I enjoyed the journey back to my roots on this new album. This is the album I've always wanted to make, and I am looking forward to sharing the experience with everyone.' (more...)

13) STAGE TUBE: NEWSIES Celebrates a Year on Broadway!

Andrew Keenan-Bolger and the cast of Newsies celebrate their one year anniversary on Broadway. The cast looks back on highlights of the past year. Check out the video below! (more...)

14) Steve Blanchard, Meredith Inglesby to Lead Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's SPAMALOT

Initial casting has been announced for Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's production of "Spamalot". Broadway's Steve Blanchard (Beauty and the Beast) and Meredith Inglesby (The Little Mermaid), are set to star as King Arthur and The Lady of the Lake respectively. (more...)

15) New Jeremy Jordan SMASH Music Video

SMASH Season Two standout Jeremy Jordan features prominently in a performance rehearsal sequence from an upcoming episode of the NBC musical drama series with the new HIT LIST song, 'I Heard Your Voice In A Dream'. (more...)

16) Photo Coverage: Cyndi Lauper & KINKY BOOTS Team with Columbia University Medical Center

In celebration of this cutting-edge and much needed expansion of health services for the LGBT community, the new Broadway musical Kinky Boots hosted a special one-night-only event at the show, featuring a pre-show cocktail reception with composer/lyricist Cyndi Lauper, book writer Harvey Fierstein, and director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Check out photos from the festivities below! (more...)

17) Tyne Daly to Lead New Terrence McNally Play at Bucks County Playhouse This Summer

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) (Jed Bernstein, Producing Director) has announced that single tickets are now on sale for the 2013 Playhouse Productions summer season. The world premiere of a new play by four time Tony Award -winning playwright Terrence McNally has been added to the list of previously announced shows. It will star Tony and Emmy Award- winner Tyne Daly. The balance of the season is made up of acclaimed musicals and plays and a production specifically for families. The summer season kicks off on Thursday, May 23rd at the Bucks County Playhouse (70 South Main Street, New Hope, PA). (more...)

18) Playwrights Horizons Announces Upcoming Season: FLY BY NIGHT: A NEW MUSICAL, Mr. Burns and More

Playwrights Horizons has just announced the first five productions of its 2013/2014 Season. The three World Premieres and two New York premieres (including a new musical) will be presented at the theater company's home at 416 West 42nd Street. (more...)

19) IF IT ONLY EVEN RUNS A MINUTE 11 to Feature Brandon Victor Dixon, Brynn O'Malley and More

If It Only Even Runs A Minute 11 is the eleventh edition of the Bistro Award-winning series of rare songs, behind-the-scenes tales, and inspiring photos from Broadway musicals that may not have been fully appreciated the first time around. (more...)

20) FREEZE FRAME: ONCE Cast Celebrates One Year on Broadway!

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and the 2013 Grammy Award, celebrated its first Anniversary yesterday with a special encore performance and cake after the matinee. The production, based on the 2007 Academy Award-winning film, opened to rave reviews on Sunday, March 18, 2012 and is playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 West 45th Street. BroadwayWorld was there for yesterday's celebration and you can check out a special photo preview from the festivites below! (more...)