Hottest Articles on BWW 1/22/2013 - 1/29/2013

During an interview with E! News on the red carpet of tonight's Screen Actor's Guild Awards, Tina Fey announced some big, breaking news: she is nearing a deal with Paramount Pictures to develop a MEAN GIRLS musical. (more...)

After completing 23 episodes of the backstage web-series known as 'Rock of Ages Productions', Mitchell Jarvis has completed the final work in the series, 'A Rockwork Orange'. This dark and zany parody of 5 of Jarvis' favorite films, is shot exclusively at intermissions of actual Broadway performances of 'Rock of Ages'. From their tiny dressing rooms tucked away in the bowls of the Helen Hays Theatre, the entire cast is represented in this tiny epic. Check it out below! (more...)

Last night, GLEE made its big Winter return on FOX with Episode 11 of Season Four, titled "Sadie Hawkins" and a virtually (and sonically) dizzyingly plot-packed and music-bedecked episode written by Ross Maxwell and directed by Bradley Buecker. New characters were introduced, romances were born and furthered and a lot of songs were sung - all in all, a GLEE just right for the midway point of the year. (more...)

Have you heard of the 24 Hour Plays? It's a simple concept that is ridiculously complex to pull off. Every year, a big group of actors, playwrights, and directors volunteer a single day -- 24 full hours -- in which they create a night full of original theatre. It started in 1995 as a group of young theatre-makers who set out toput on a show where, as founder Tina Fallon explains, 'opening night and closing night could be at the same time, so our friends would actually show up'. (more...)

BroadwayWorld was there and brings you footage of the landmark moments below! This special evening featured an extended curtain call with remarks from producer Cameron Mackintosh and director Harold Prince, a specially-taped video greeting from composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (in London and unable to attend due to a back procedure) and original West End and Broadway star Sarah Brightman (their first joint interview in 30 years), a note from original Phantom Michael Crawford and on-stage post-show performances from current stars Hugh Panaro and Sierra Boggess, joined by international 'Phantoms' John Owen Jones, Ramin Karimloo and Peter Jöback. (more...)

Now, Disney Theatrical Productions has confirmed that Aladdin, a new musical based on the Academy Award winning animated film, will play its pre-Broadway engagement at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre(formerly the Canon) November 13, 2013 to January 12, 2014 and will open at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre in 2014. The show will feature music by Alan Menken; lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguelin. Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph. (more...)

SMASH makes its long-awaited return to the NBC lineup for a second season on Tuesday, February 5 (9-10 p.m. ET) and will continue in its regular time slot on Tuesday, February 12 (10-11 p.m. ET). Season two will feature a slew of new talent, including Jennifer Hudson, Jeremy Jordan, Andy Mientus, Krysta Rodriguez, Sean Hayes, Jesse L. Martin, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Nikki Blonski, and more. Check out the SMASH billboard that just went up on 42nd Street below! (more...)

Moments before the curtain goes up, Broadway favorite Cheyenne Jackson takes a pause to reflect on the hectic creative process that's brought him to the stage - a mere 24 hours after the initial meeting. (more...)

The longest-running show in Broadway history, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Harold Prince and produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Company, Inc., once again makes theater history when it becomes the first Broadway show ever to celebrate its 25th Anniversary tonight, January 26, 2013. Much of the Phantom family will reunite for this special event, and the current cast will also be a big part of the festivities. Below, watch BroadwayWorld's exclusive footage from tonight's starry arrivals, including the original Christine, Sarah Brightman! (more...)

Multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor will direct and Elliot Goldenthal will compose original music for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the inaugural production in Theatre for a New Audience's first home in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Streets. Previews begin October 19, 2013 for an opening November 2. (more...)

Former member of Destiny's Child Michelle Williams will join the national tour of the hit Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! when it opens at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, DC on January 29. Fela! received three 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography. Williams and the rest of the cast met the press earlier today, and you can check out a photo preview from the festivities below! (more...)

At some point or other in their careers, all performers have had the paralyzing dream of freezing on stage, of blanking on their lines before the curtain rises. Add to this the mounting pressure of putting on a show in 24 hours and you'll get a sense of the overwhelming - and often crippling - emotions the star-studded cast of ONE NIGHT STAND faced as they prepared for their debut. Check out the video below as the cast chats combatting their fears before the big opening! (more...)

The cast and creative team of The Phantom of the Opera- 25 Years on Broadway Gala Performance at the Majestic Theatre in New York City took a triumphant curtain call last night, January 26, 2013. BroadwayWorld was there and brings full coverage of the bows below! (more...)

ONE NIGHT STAND is a funny, intimate, behind-the-scenes journey from the blank page to the live stage, as top Broadway and television writers, actors, and directors produce four original short musicals, all within 24 hours. Think A Chorus Line meets Project Runway - a window into the creative process with a compressed time frame: the spark, the camaraderie, the sheer panic and the ultimate thrill of expression. Click through for an exclusive preview of ONE NIGHT STAND! (more...)

Claude-Michel Schönberg, co-composer of LES MISERABLES, has confirmed that 'Suddenly,' the new, Oscar-nominated song written specifically for the movie, may be added to the stage show at some point. (more...)

For the first time in over a decade, Kristin Chenoweth, the Emmy and Tony Award winning Broadway star of Wicked and TV's The West Wing, Pushing Daisies and GLEE, returns to the UK, for one week only, in her debut UK concert tour. Premiering at the world renowned London Coliseum on Monday 11th March, before visiting the Manchester Opera House on Wednesday 13th March, Edinburgh Festival Theatre on Friday 15th March and Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on Sunday 17th March, the show is an eclectic mix of musical wonderment, reflective of Kristin herself. (more...)

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook will celebrate the best in American singing and songwriting starting January 30, 2013. Opening night belongs to Lea Salonga, who captivated Broadway audiences with her debut in Miss Saigon many years ago and has since become the voice of Disney movie princesses as well as starring in other major musicals. Salonga has played both Eponine and Fantine on stage in Les Miserables, and in the video below she takes on yet another role. Check out her rendition of 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' below! (more...)

Grammy Award-winning superstar Barry Manilow's hometown concert event, Manilow on Broadway, began its limited Broadway engagement on January 18, 2013, at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). Opening Night is set for Thursday, January 24, 2013. The music icon met the press earlier today, where he had a special chat with Jujamcyn Theaters' Jordan Roth about his concert return to the Great White Way. Check out what he had to say below! (more...)

Two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone made an appearance on Bravo's 'What What Happens: Live' last night, January 23, where she talked about everything from her famous photography rant to names that she'd call Andrew Lloyd Webber. Check it out below! (more...)

It's Saturday, and that means it's time for BroadwayWorld's 'Saturday Intermission Pics' round-up. Today's photos feature last SIPs from the cast of EVITA, which closes on Broadway today, plus well-wishers from the casts of the LES MISERABLES 25th Anniversary Tour, NEWSIES, HAIRSPRAY in Concert and THE FANTASTICKS. THE BOOK OF MORMON also says goodbye to Rory O'Malley today, and THE LITTLE MERMAID closes its doors at SPAC. In addition, check out, photos from ANNIE, MARY POPPINS, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, SPIDER-MAN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, WEST SIDE STORY, FLASHDANCE, THE WIZARD OF OZ in Toronto, and much more! (more...)