Nathan Lane News

Speculation is running rampant in California with an announcement expected shortly for the casting of the Hollywood Bowl's summer musical - THE PRODUCERS. Earlier this week, BWW reported that Richard Kind revealed on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show that he was on board for the project. Now, our LA sources are buzzing that Broadway veteran Jesse Tyler Ferguson might play 'Leo Bloom' after recently tweeting: "I wanna be a producer". No official casting announcement has been made. (more...)

Richard Kind revealed he will be leading the Hollywood Bowl's THE PRODUCERS this July on the Kevin Pollak's Chat Show on Saturday. No casting has been announced officially by the production, but when asked if the engagement was set in stone, Kind said "I think so". (more...)

The 20th Anniversary season of New York City Center’s Tony Award-winning Encores! series will open on January 30, 2013 with Fiorello!, the show that launched the series in 1994. The season will continue with It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, followed by On Your Toes. A Gala Encores! at 20 Celebration on November 12, 2012 will star Tony Award nominees and Encores! alumni Rauìl Esparza and Kelli O’Hara. (more...)

Tonight's 57th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards will be presented by Eric McCormack, Grace Gummer, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Rylance, Justin Bartha, Leslie Odom Jr., Lily Rabe, Michael McKean, Tonya Pinkins, Topher Grace, and Tracee Chimo. The event will feature live performances from David Patrick Kelly of ONCE, Joshua Henry and Sumayya Ali of PORGY & BESS, and Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra of NO PLACE TO GO. (more...)

RENT owned the 90s. No other Broadway show managed to have the dual impact on society by becoming not only a pop culture phenomenon, but also changing perceptions of what a musical on Broadway could be - and, most importantly, how it could sound. Contemporary, cool, caustic and engaging, RENT updated LA BOHEME to the East Village just as Jonathan Larson updated the way the general public looked at Broadway at a time when musicals had fallen farther out of fashion than they had since their early years approaching the turn of the last century. Yet, at the end of the millennium - to quote one of the show’s lyrics - RENT represented the hopes, dreams and desires of many Broadway babies and what we hoped would be achieved on the Great White Way in the new century. While SPRING AWAKENING, AMERICAN IDIOT and NEXT TO NORMAL certainly stand as solid continuations of the rock musical formula recalibrated and made anew in the mold made by RENT, no show since RENT has quite managed to have the cultural impact and win over audiences and critics alike in as major a way as that Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical has - with the exception, perhaps, of WICKED, which obviously owes a debt to its Oz-ian source inspiration and the built-in audience that comes along with that. Yes, indeed, RENT represents an entire generation in its sound, style, ideals and overall feeling, mood and tone and the subsequent success of the many members of the simply astounding assortment of talents that comprised the original cast acts as evidence that the show may have had the cast of the decade, as well. (more...)

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events in the theatre world? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer! (more...)

6th Street Playhouse presents "The Producers" with book and music by Mel Brooks, lyrics and libretto by Thomas Meehan and Mel Brooks. (more...)

Robert Falls' major revival of THE ICEMAN COMETH, O'Neill's towering portrait of hope and disillusionment, just opened on May 3 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. The production is led by Tony Award-winning stage and screen star Nathan Lane as Theodore "Hickey" Hickman, the quintessential purveyor and slayer of pipe dreams. The 18-member cast is one of the largest ensembles to take the Goodman stage in recent years. Tony Award-winner Brian Dennehy portrays one-time syndicalist-anarchist Larry Slade, joined by mix of local and out-of-town actors as the motley assortment of former soldiers of fortune, entrepreneurs, political dissidents and social outcasts in Harry Hope's saloon. BroadwayWorld brings you performance highlights below! (more...)

It’s difficult when you have an iconic show to work with such as “The Producers” currently playing at Village Theatre. The Mel Brooks classic movie turned Mel Brooks mega hit stage musical turned Mel Brooks movie musical is definitely a big piece of musical theater history. Add in huge stars like Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane to that history and the result of subsequent productions can vary from bland imitation to just plain not in the same league to the other end of the spectrum with spot on awesome, but you’ll always kind of compare with the original. Well, luckily the Village production is on that latter end of the spectrum. With their couldn’t-be-better-if-they-tried cast they manage an amazing show and even a few departures along the way that only made it stronger. (more...)

Broadway favorite Cheyenne Jackson just released the music video for "DRIVE," the 1st single from his upcoming July EP, available for download on iTunes and Amazon. Check out the video below! (more...)

"Oh my Lord & Taylor!" That's what you might be saying if you're a first-timer at La Cage Aux Folles, currently playing the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio. I may have laughed more Tuesday night than I have in the last month! (more...)

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. "tick...tick...BOOM!," "A Little Night Music," a local "Avenue Q?," Kevin Earley and Nathan Lane are in town, "Sexy Baby," the High School Musical Theater Awards and more.... (more...)

Awards season is in full swing and to celebrate all of the 2011-2012 nominees, we've dug deep into our archives to bring you vintage photos of all of the talent during special moments in their careers. Check out the 2011-2012 Tony-nominated women below! (more...)

Perhaps the reason the film version of the musical The Producers did not do so well as its Tony-award winning Broadway counterpart because it lacked that special magic that only live theatre can give. Movie musicals like Hairspray have succeeded on the big screen, but the current trend seems to involve actual live performances streamed in movie theaters across the nation. And it’s no wonder that people prefer the one-night-only streamed performances to Hollywoodized versions. While such broadcasts will never live up to the real thing, they contain a piece of the real thing that thrills our souls. (more...)

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will launch its 2012 milestone 50th Anniversary season with William Shakespeare’s saga of a young prince’s reformation and ascent to manhood – Henry IV, Part One. Considered one of Shakespeare’s most popular history plays, this rousing tale has not been produced on The Shakespeare Theatre stage in 20 years. Henry IV, Part One begins performances on May 30 and runs through June 24 at the Theatre’s Main Stage – the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. All tickets, including discounted ticket packages are now on sale. For tickets or for more information, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org. The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is located at 36 Madison Avenue (at Lancaster Road), in Madison. (more...)

Broadway favorite Cheyenne Jackson has announced on Twitter that the artwork for his first single and music video "Drive" has just been released! The single will be available on iTunes and YouTube on May 10. Check out the artwork below! (more...)

On Twitter Watch, Cheyenne Jackson wrote "ONE WEEK till my debut single DRIVE is released on MAY 10, 2012. Here's the artwork. (more...)

Opening night for Robert Falls' major revival of THE ICEMAN COMETH, O'Neill's towering portrait of hope and disillusionment, is coming up May 3 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. The production, currently in previews, is led by Tony Award-winning stage and screen star Nathan Lane as Theodore "Hickey" Hickman, the quintessential purveyor and slayer of pipe dreams. The 18-member cast is one of the largest ensembles to take the Goodman stage in recent years. See photos of Lane, Brian Dennehy and more in THE ICEMAN COMETH below! (more...)

Cheyenne Jackson has announced on Twitter that his first single and music video "Drive" will be available on iTunes and YouTube on May 10. (more...)

Summer 2012 will see Chicago offering more than 200 producing theaters includes a range of special summer programming, featuring everything from the latest musicals to highly anticipated world premieres. (more...)