Oscar Hammerstein News

When all is said and done, Great Lakes Theater should be extremely proud of its first collaboration of PlayhouseSquare as part of the annual Key Bank Broadway Series. The production is on par with the touring shows that stop in Cleveland. Just because SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM is considered a regional production shouldn't stop people from going to see it. You'll leave the theatre with a deeper appreciate of the theatre process, more knowledge of the amazing Stephen Sondheim and a song or two stuck in your head. (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. Three shows make a PR appearance at Sidetrack, ATC plans a "Hair" re-do, "Camelot," "Floyd Collins," three new mainstage musicals, a reading, a benefit and more! (more...)

All summer and into the fall, Fox Valley Repertory presents beloved music, modern comedy, and staged readings of new plays never before seen on stage. The season includes: Theo Ubique's nostalgic musical revue, Some Enchanted Evening, the inquisitive innovation of Collider New Play Project, Heather Moran's musical story of Rosemary Clooney in Rosie! A Tribute..., FVR Youth Ensemble's return to Disney's High School Musical, Mike Toomey's multimedia comedic recollection of television in TV & Me, Chicago's finest improv troupe performing The Best of The Second City, and marriage, mermaids, and modern comedy in Sirens, at Pheasant Run Resort (4051 E. Main St., St. Charles, IL; 630-584-6342). (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...)

Today in 1946, the second Broadway revival of Showboat opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, and ran for 418 performances. Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, from 1880 to 1927. The show's dominant themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. (more...)

Producers Scott Landis and Philip Morgaman have announced that EVER AFTER, a new musical based on the 20th Century Fox Film, will open on Broadway in the 2013-2014 season following a pre-Broadway engagement to be announced. The production will be directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall. EVER AFTER features music by Zina Goldrich and book & lyrics by Marcy Heisler, who recently won the 2012 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre for most promising musical theatre lyricist. The music director is Mary-Mitchell Campbell. (more...)

Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music returns to Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre for three performances, Friday 20 & Saturday 21 July, 2012 7:30pm and a family friendly Matinee on Saturday 21 July at 1pm. The effervescent Chelsea Plumley returns to hosting duties to guide the audience through an interactive experience and tribute to the very unique film The Sound of Music. (more...)

Walnut Street Theatre’s 2011-2012 Independence Studio on 3 season concludes with an all-new production filled with unforgettable music, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING. Directed by Bruce Lumpkin, the production opens tomorrow, May 3rd and continues through June 24th in the Walnut’s Independence Studio on 3. (more...)

It is truly gratifying to experience a quintessential musical like Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's Tony-winning, Showboat -- especially when it has a great cast like CM PAC’s current production. Initially presented in 1927, this Noel Ruiz directed production has performances through May 20th. The story follows the lives of the patrons of the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River performance boat over a span of nearly fifty years as they endure the trials of everlasting love and racial prejudice. (more...)

We'll be talking to nominees all day for their reactions! Click here for the complete list! Audra McDonald for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS "I am honored and grateful and I'm super thrilled for the production as a whole to get so many nominations. I am so proud of this production and thankful to the Tony nominating committee for recognizing all aspects of the show. I got the news via text message. As usual, it was up at 6:15 for me to get the kids to school and I was back in bed by 8! Will was here though so it was nice to roll over when I got the news and say "Hey I got a nomination!" Then we both conked out again. When we finally got up I asked him to be my date for the Tonys - he said yes! - so I guess that was our little celebration. Now it's back to being a mom for the day and get ready for the show tonight. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone at the theater tonight to congratulate them." (more...)

Following the Brighton Beach and Downtown Brooklyn series, the Brooklyn Phil concludes its 2011-12 relaunch season with three free concerts in the heart of BED-STUY, in partnership with Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and Brooklyn Public Library. (more...)

Last night, April 24, Carnegie Hall presented its gala benefit performance of The Sound of Music in the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The cast was led by Laura Osnes (Maria Rainer), Tony Goldwyn (Captain von Trapp), Brooke Shields (Elsa Schraeder), Patrick Page (Max Detweiler), Stephanie Blythe (The Mother Abbess), Mary Michael Patterson (Liesl von Trapp), Nick Spangler (Rolf Gruber), Cotter Smith (Herr Zeller), and Reed Birney (Admiral von Schreiber). They were joined by and Joel Hatch (Franz, The Butler), Joy Hermalyn (Sister Berthe), Linda Mugleston (Sister Margaretta), Faith Sherman (Sister Sophia), and Veanne Cox (Frau Schmidt). BroaadwayWorld was on hand for the exciting evening and brings you photo coverage below! (more...)

Jed Bernstein, Producing Director of the Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) in New Hope, Pennsylvania, has announced the Summer 2012 Season. (more...)

Let ‘Ol Man River take you on a musical stroll down the Mississippi with the musical SHOW BOAT. (more...)

Southern Rep has added new dates to its 4- to 8-year-old campers in 101 Dalmations, Kids! Camp after the first round sold out. Spots are still left in its Oklahoma! and Avenue Q camps. See information below. (more...)

Today we are saluting one of the most beloved Broadway scores of all time, created by the formidable show business songwriting dynasty of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein - THE SOUND OF MUSIC. While the original 1959 Broadway production was well-received and won Mary Martin a Tony Award for her winsome Maria, the property has gone on to win over generations the world over thanks in no small part to the 1965 Robert Wise feature film version starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. On Monday, Carnegie Hall will be presenting a special concert version of the family- friendly show starring Laura Osnes, Tony Goldwyn and Brooke Shields. Be sure to check out my comprehensive conversation with Brooke Shields, who will be playing the Baroness, available here, and, also, stay tuned to BroadwayWorld for my upcoming InDepth InterView with the Maria of the concert presentation, rising Broadway superstar Laura Osnes. So, what exactly is it about THE SOUND OF MUSIC that has won over audiences of all ages for more than fifty years and set hearts aflutter and souls stirred? Is it the dramatic story of a family torn apart by death and war only to be brought back together again when least expected by a kindly maternal nun? Is it the slice of life depiction of the family dynamic and how we can all relate to one or many facets of it therein? Is it the ensuing romance between Maria and Captain Von Trapp and their delicately portrayed courtship (particularly when considering the ravishing duet added for the film, “Something Good”)? Or, is it that classic Rodgers & Hammerstein score - containing a dizzying assortment of standards that have gone on to become ingrained in our ears, minds and hearts, as well as made a fixture of pop culture itself - “Do-Re-Mi”, “My Favorite Things”, “Edelweiss”, “The Lonely Goatherd”, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”, the title song and beyond. AMC’s hit series MAD MEN even featured one of the most beloved SOUND OF MUSIC duets on a recent broadcast as an ironic episode capper all too befitting of the moment (and, given the 60s setting of the series, era) - Betty Draper mischievously sneaking an extra bowl of ice cream set to the strains of “I Am Sixteen Going On Seventeen”. Between the MAD MEN song reference, the ongoing SOUND OF MUSIC film singalongs occurring every week (with many patrons coming in costume and with props, ala ROCKY HORROR) around the world and the countless professional and amateur productions that crop up every year, as well as the glitzy Carnegie Hall concert on Monday, THE SOUND OF MUSIC has never gone out of style - it shall forever remain sixteen, even when the show itself is not too far away from hitting sixty. (more...)

Thanks to the efforts of a cast of high school students under the direction of their artistic mentor Paula Y. Flautt (who’s the fine arts director at CPA), I have to admit that Carousel is my favorite musical. It’s always been my favorite among all the musical masterpieces created by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, but I found myself so completely moved, so thoroughly enchanted by the production in CPA’s Events Center (where it continues through Saturday evening)—which boasts stellar production values, an amazing live orchestra and a production design that rivals some of the best professional mountings we’ve seen in Nashville—that Carousel has supplanted Gypsy on my list of all-time favorites. (more...)

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts announces an all-star summer line-up set to kick off in June. The summer will feature the legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, jazz songstress Diana Krall, instrumentalist Chris Botti, the multi-talented Steve Martin and many more. Tickets to all performances go on sale Friday, April 27. Season sponsors include Bank of Nevada and the Las Vegas Design Center. (more...)

Some 67 years after Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel first opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre, director Paula Y. Flatt will unveil her vision for the show—which was named by Time magazine in 1999 as the best musical of the 20th century—in a new production featuring her students at Nashville’s Christ Presbyterian Academy. (more...)

Laura Osnes will play Cinderella and Santino Fontana will portray the Prince in the new Broadway-bound production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, it has been announced by the musical's producers. CINDERELLA -- which is aiming for a Broadway opening during the 2012-13 season -- is produced by Robyn Goodman, Stephen Kocis and Jill Furman in association with Center Theatre Group. (more...)