Talking to the London Times, Stephen Sondheim sounds off about much of the current state of commercial theatre, noting that while he can appreciate hits such as The Book of Mormon as a "fun college show", in response to the idea that this perceived trend could be permanent, Sondheim remarks: "I think so. Commercial theatre will only get more narrow as time goes on. There are so many forms of entertainment, theatre is becoming more marginalised. It's become ‘an event': you see Wicked on your anniversary. I don't think commercial theatre can fulfil a function as a constant feeding ground for emotions and thoughts."
I had the good fortune to catch her performance in the London production of EVITA back in 2006, and can NOT wait to see her again on Broadway... Video preview below.
The digital theatre world lit up earlier today (as did our live traffic meters) with the news, first reported by the London Evening Standard that Stephen Sondheim and David Ives have teamed up on a new musical, which is currently in the earliest phases of composition. According to the Standard: "Sondheim speaks of pushing forward and says he has "20 or 30 minutes" written of a new musical that he is collaborating on with American playwright David Ives, a New York regular little known in London."
We reached the legend himself who told us that "it's an idea I've had for a long time and that it springs indirectly from a moment in a play of David's."
Theatre has more than its share of armchair quarterbacks who enjoy prognosticating (bitching) about...well...everything, ESPECIALLY the how and why of the show selection at the very popular Encores! series at City Center.
Next up for the series is Rodgers and Hammerstein's PIPE DREAM, which will star Leslie Uggams, Will Chase, James Clow, James Moye, Laura Osnes, Steve Routman, Leslie Uggams, Stephen Wallem and Tom Wopat.
So, how and why did they select PIPE DREAM?
Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel explains exactly why ... here.
Long-time no blog, as my every free waking computer minute has been devoted as of late to some recent and upcoming site updates on both the back and front end. (If you haven't admired our new article, people and show pages - check 'em out, and there's MUCH more on the way including other features coming to those three). We've also more than quadrupled our server speed and capabilities to prepare for some other new features and our ever-expanding traffic.
Back to today's blog, I'd often disagreed with his reviews, but I was still saddened on Friday evening to learn of the passing of longtime theatre critic Howard Kissel, most known for his long tenure at the New York Daily News. His well-known biography of David Merrick - The Abominable Showman has long been amongst my favorite theatre reads; I even re-read (and re-purchased) it on the Kindle a couple of years back. If you haven't read it yet, you're missing out.
Critics are generally an unsung breed, but David Rooney has written a lovely piece, singing Kissel's praises over here @ the Hollywood Reporter.
We've been running Equity audition notices on BroadwayWorld.com for more than a year now, and not a day goes by that we haven't gotten a slew of requests from both readers and from casting directors to start posting notices for other audition opportunities, both large and small.
To that end, we've unveiled a Non Equity Auditions section of the site which now contains free listings for audition opportunities around the country with all the same features that our Equity center includes like our instant search, chart views, regional browsing, daily and instant email alerts and lots more.
Now, BWW is excited to announce that our content is now available on Google Plus as well!
Click Here or on the image below to Follow BWW on Google Plus! To celebrate our launch, we'll be giving away tickets weekly all month to some of the hottest Broadway shows!
We announced this news late last week on the site itself, but wanted to share my excitement here as well... Since then, we've already made more improvements including restaurant menus for all of our listings! More to come, very soon...
BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet is excited to unveil the first in a series of massive 2012 expansion plans - complete and expanded coast to coast show listings.
Complete show listings are now available for all of BroadwayWorld.com's 100 regional U.S., and 20 International markets (with additional 20 launches planned for January), allowing theater goers for the first time ever to easily browse, and search globally for Musicals, Plays, Concerts, Cabarets, Special Theatrical Events, Opera, Dance, and other live stage productions.
Updated daily, this whopping listing of over 25,000 current and upcoming productions in more than 10,000 theatres includes professional productions, amateur productions, school productions (both high schools and colleges), and more!
All show listings are linked in to the site's unsurpassed content system to provide links to news stories, cast features, photos, videos & more for each show. And speaking of content, you can also contribute by clicking on a show title and uploading media (including links, photos, videos and cast lists) using the forms located on right of the listing.
That's not all though...We know that nothing goes together with a good show like an equally good meal - so all regional listings now including the ability to find, display and make reservations at more than 20,000 neighboring restaurants. All restaurant listings include such useful information on the average price of meals, cuisine types, menu descriptions and innovative mapping that shows its distance and a direct route to the theatre.
While users can browse regional shows both through the site's dedicated regional homepages, they may also use our Pick-a-Show feature. Users can now enter their zip code to find regional shows (musicals, plays, opera, dance, comedy, concerts, amateur and school productions and more) near them across the country.
Ok, ok, so I 'lied' yesterday when I said that we were done unveiling sneak peeks at our January 2012 site upgrades in 2011, but, here we go!
In this case though, we know how hard it is for performers to book a job, so anything we can do to lessen the struggle of knowing what auditions are coming up, is the least we can do.
We've just unveiled a snazzy (if I do say so myself) revamp of our popular Auditions Center for all your Equity audition needs including a faster and more accurate search, a new chart view, the ability to browse by region and date added/updated, to see when a notice was posted, and to email a notice to yourself and/or friends when you see it along with some other bells and whistles.
ps - Bonus points to those readers who emailed me noticing that hours after announcing yesterday's Grosses Update, we kept adding new features -- well, we couldn't help ourselves. :-)
We weren't planning on unveiling any of the (many) new features & updates cooking in the BWW kitchens until 2012, but ... patience was never on the short list of things that I'm good at. The ever-popular Broadway Grosses section of the site just got several major upgrades including some visual enhancements, iPad/iPhone compatibility, many new chart & graph types, year by year comparisons and other nifty features that are too numerous to list.
I for one loved Scarlett Johansson's Broadway debut last season opposite Liev Schrieber in their explosive production of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. While we're all eagerly anticipating whatever she does on stage next -- a new BIOGRAPHY Channel profile (with an appearance by BWW's own Pat Cerasaro) -- covers her career on stage and off to date. Check for upcoming listings here.
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Talking to the London Times, Stephen Sondheim sounds off about much of the current state of commercial theatre, noting that while he can appreciate hits such as The Book of Mormon as a "fun college show", in response to the idea that this perceived trend could be permanent, Sondheim remarks: "I think so. Commercial theatre will only get more narrow as time goes on. There are so many forms of entertainment, theatre is becoming more marginalised. It's become ‘an event': you see Wicked on your anniversary. I don't think commercial theatre can fulfil a function as a constant feeding ground for emotions and thoughts."
The digital theatre world lit up earlier today (as did our live traffic meters) with the news, first reported by the London Evening Standard that Stephen Sondheim and David Ives have teamed up on a new musical, which is currently in the earliest phases of composition. According to the Standard: "Sondheim speaks of pushing forward and says he has "20 or 30 minutes" written of a new musical that he is collaborating on with American playwright David Ives, a New York regular little known in London."
Theatre has more than its share of 
Long-time no blog, as my every free waking computer minute has been devoted as of late to some recent and upcoming site updates on both the back and front end. (If you haven't admired our new article, people and show pages - check 'em out, and there's MUCH more on the way including other features coming to those three). We've also more than quadrupled our server speed and capabilities to prepare for some other new features and our ever-expanding traffic. 
Ok, ok, so I 'lied' yesterday when I said that we were done unveiling sneak peeks at our January 2012 site upgrades in 2011, but, here we go!
Bea Arthur Nude Sells For Nearly $2 Million At Auction
Drama Desk Award Winners - MATILDA, VANYA AND SONIA, PIPPIN, VIRGINIA WOOLF & More!
John Bantay Talks to Richard Jay-Alexander About Musical Mondays Farewell
STAGE TUBE: Join Them! Watch the PIPPIN Cast on Letterman!
CHUCK Star Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez Set to Lead FIRST DATE
Photo Flash: First Look - Kelly Rowland & Paulina Rubio on THE X FACTOR!
Photo Flash: New Poster for THE BLING RING Released
Gwyneth Paltrow Returns as the Face of Hugo Boss' Latest Scent
VAMPIRE WEEKEND Tops Chart with Second No. 1 Album
iWatch Update: Apple's Wearable iOS Device Coming in 2014?
BWW Blog: Leah Edwards - Practice. Perform. Repeat
BWW Reviews: Pauline Koner, American Original
Regional Orchestra of the Week: Reno Philharmonic, NV