Hottest Articles on BWW 12/27/2009 - 1/3/2010

1) RAGTIME to Close on Sunday Jan. 3, 2010

The critically acclaimed new production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME will play its final performance on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52 Street) on Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. following 28 preview and 57 regular performances. (more...)

2) STAGE TUBE: Eva Longoria Parker & Tony Parker Launch Nationwide GREASE Contest

Desperate Housewives' Eva Longoria Parker and her husband, San Antonia Spurs guard, Tony Parker have launched a new GREASE contest for fans, the pair announced today. Fans are challenged to spoof famous scenes from the 1978 movie musical and submit their renditions online via Tony's official website. The winners, selected by Longoria Parker and Parker, will be flown out to meet the pair and watch one of Tony's games before the 2010 playoffs. (more...)

3) RAGTIME EXTENDS; Gets Reprieve Through Jan. 10th

Due to popular demand and a swell of strong ticket sales following an initial closing announcement yesterday, the critically acclaimed new production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME will now play its final performance on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre one week later on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. following 28 preview and 65 regular performances. (more...)

4) Photos: In The SPOTLIGHT Tribute- The Men of 2009

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5) Jerry Zaks Takes Over THE ADDAMS Family; Significant Changes Expected

The New York Times is reporting that Tony-winner Jerry Zaks has officially been brought in to take over and to supervise THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Zaks will be billed as the show's "Creative Consultant" with Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch still listed as directors and production designers, but it's been made clear that Jerry Zaks is the new man in charge. He tells the Times that he is looking forward to "taking this original musical to the next level." As a result of taking this job, Zaks will no longer direct All About Me, which stars Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein. (more...)

6) BWW's Top 40 Theatre Stories of 2009!

Below are BroadwayWorld.com's most popular articles from 2009 - it's been quite a year. Here's a look at 40 of BroadwayWorld.com's most popular stories of the year in date order. Catch up below on anything that you might have missed from the past year on BroadwayWorld.com! (more...)

7) RIALTO CHATTER: NEWSIES Headed to the Stage with Spring Reading?

Wayman Wong of the NY Daily News has revealed that Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken has told him that he and lyricist Jack Feldman who wrote the music for the 1992 film are working on bringing the show to the stage, with a reading scheduled for the Spring of 2010 and a new book being written by Harvey Fierstein. (more...)

8) 2009's Ten Memorable Theater Moments You Might Have Missed!

Michael Dale names ten memorable theatre moments from some of New York's lesser known 2009 productions. (more...)

9) Photo Coverage: HAIR Cast & More Perform at New Year's Eve in NYC!

The world rang in 2010 last night and no place was more exciting than New York City's Times Square, where the cast of Broadway's HAIR was amongst those who helped make it a night to remember! (more...)

10) STAGE TUBE: New Spike Lee Video For Jackson's 'This Is It'

Spike Lee has directed a new video for Michael Jackson's "This Is It." This Is It was a planned series of fifty concerts by Michael Jackson to be held at The O2 arena in London. (more...)

11) Photos: In The SPOTLIGHT Tribute- The Women of 2009

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12) BILLY ELLIOT Announces New 'Billy' and 'Michael'; Alvarez Departs Jan. 3

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment announced today that Michael Dameski and Jake Evan Schwencke will join the cast of the 10-time Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot the Musical, in the roles of ‘Billy' and ‘Michael' respectively. (more...)

13) STAGE TUBE: The Kennedy Center Honors - Tribute to Mel Brooks, Full Performance

Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro and Bruce Springsteen were the honorees for this year's Kennedy Center Honors and eminent artist friends and peers of this year's five honorees converged in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 6 to present entertaining and heartfelt tributes at THE 32ND ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, an entertainment special that was broadcast Tuesday, Dec. 29 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, with Caroline Kennedy as host for the seventh consecutive year. (more...)

14) FINIAN'S RAINBOW to Close January 17

Producers David Richenthal, Jack Viertel, and Alan D. Marks have announced that the critically-acclaimed Broadway production of Finian's Rainbow will close on Sunday, January 17. The production will have played 22 previews and 92 performances. (more...)

15) Photo Flash: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE Begins Previews on Broadway 12/28

Tony® Award-winner Liev Schreiber and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson met the press recently to chat about A View From the Bridge and BroadwayWorld.com was there! (more...)

16) STAGE TUBE: Cast of HAIR Performs on New Year's Eve!

The complete Tony Award-winning, Grammy Award-nominated Broadway cast of HAIR gave a performance from the smash hit musical on New Year's Eve in the heart of Times Square.Diane Paulus, Director of HAIR, staged the number, which will air on NBC's "Countdown with Carson Daly." Other musical guests on the broadcast include Green Day and Rhianna. (more...)

17) Photos: 2009 Curtain Call Flashback

A look back at some of the most exciting curtain calls of 2009! (more...)

18) Ragtime Closes Proudly

Ragtime's lack of celebrity is one of many reasons why the musical failed to set box office records, as was pointed out by Patrick Healy in The New York Times last week. While that ultimately led to an early demise -- the production closes on January 3rd -- Ragtime should wear that as a badge of honor... (more...)

19) STAGE TUBE: GLEE Comes to Italy

Glee popped over to Europe for the holidays, premiering in the UK and Italy. Several Italian promos were made with members of the cast. (more...)

20) SPRING AWAKENING: The Greatest Tragedy Of 2009?

Spring Awakening, perhaps London’s most celebrated new show of 2009, closed its doors dramatically early in May this year. What happened? (more...)