Who Will Win at the 2016 Tony Awards? We Compare Year By Year!
by BWW Special Coverage - Jun 10, 2016
The 70th Annual Tony Awards are this Sunday June 12th at 8/9c hosted by James Corden. It's the biggest award show of the Broadway season and it closes out a long awards season for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays. We can't help but wonder what chances this year's Best Musical and Best Play nominees have of taking home the ultimate prize.
STAGE TUBE: BC/EFA's 30th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition Raises $5,528,568; Watch the Grand Total Reveal!
by Nicole Rosky - Apr 26, 2016
Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, this year's Easter Bonnet Competition (#BroadwayBonnets) was held at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre (200 West 45th Street), home to Disney's The Lion King. Featuring performances by more than 230 Broadway and Off-Broadway singers and dancers, the Broadway Inspirational Voices and a stellar lineup of Broadway favorites, this year's fundraising total was a whopping $5,528,568!
Porchlight Music Theatre to Revisit CHESS as Part of Ongoing Series, 5/3-5
by Tyler Peterson - Apr 12, 2016
Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the final production in the third smash season of Chicago's "lost" musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits Chess, music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, lyrics by Tim Rice and Bjorn Ulvaeus and book by Tim Rice, with direction by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreography by Porchlight Artistic Associate Brenda Didier and music direction by Jimmy Morehead. Porchlight Revisits Chess is presented for three-nights-only Tuesday, May 3 through Thursday, May 5 at 7:15 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight's Dreamgirls (previews begin April 8) on nights when there are no performances at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets for Chess are $30 in advance and $35 at the door the night of the performance. All tickets include access to the popular pre-performance event, Behind the Show Backstory, a multi-media presentation, created and hosted by Weber, that discusses that evening's production including the show's creative history, juicy backstage gossip and more. Single tickets to Chess are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252. The 2016 - 2017 season subscriptions to Porchlight Revisits includes The Rink (October 4 - 6), Little Me (February 28 - March 2, 2017) and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (May 9 - 11, 2017) are also available at porchlightmusictheatre.org.
Porchlight Revisits Staged Concert Series to Close with CHESS
by Tyler Peterson - Mar 30, 2016
Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the final production in the third smash season of Chicago's "lost" musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits Chess, music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, lyrics by Tim Rice and Bjorn Ulvaeus and book by Tim Rice, with direction by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreography by Porchlight Artistic Associate Brenda Didier and music direction by Jimmy Morehead. Porchlight Revisits Chess is presented for three-nights-only Tuesday, May 3 through Thursday, May 5 at 7:15 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight's Dreamgirls (previews begin April 8) on nights when there are no performances at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets for Chess are $30 in advance and $35 at the door the night of the performance. All tickets include access to the popular pre-performance event, Behind the Show Backstory, a multi-media presentation, created and hosted by Weber, that discusses that evening's production including the show's creative history, juicy backstage gossip and more. Single tickets to Chess are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252.
Rubicon Theatre's U.S. Debut of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE Opens Tonight
by BWW News Desk - Mar 5, 2016
Rubicon Theatre Company's 2015-2016 season continues with the American premiere of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton. Adapted from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson that also inspired the legendary John Ford 1962 film, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a classic tale of love, honor, ambition and revenge set against the backdrop of the American West.
The Repertory Collective to Present THE RECKONING, PECORA FOR THE PUBLIC
by Tyler Peterson - Feb 24, 2016
The Repertory Collective confront the Banksters of Wall Street in the world premiere one-man play The Reckoning, Pecora For The Public written by Neil Thomas Proto, directed by Arne Zaslove and starring Bob DeDea. This new play for the '99%' immortalizes Italian-American Ferdinand Pecora's valiant effort to expose the malignant and deceptive practices of Wall Street's most elite financiers and bankers including JP Morgan Jr., based on actual transcripts from the 1933 United States Senate Banking Committee hearings to determine the root causes of the 1929 stock market crash. The Reckoning, Pecora For The Public opens Friday March 3rd, 7:30 PM and runs Thursday-Saturdays through March 19th, 7:30 PM with a Matinee on Saturday March 12th, 2:30 PM and a Pay-What-You-Can Industry Night Monday March 14th at the Cornish Playhouse Alhadeff Studio, 201 Mercer Street. $25 General, $22 Senior/Military/TPS, $18 Student. $20 with Discount Code '99%'
Rubicon Theatre to Stage U.S. Debut of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
by BWW News Desk - Feb 23, 2016
Rubicon Theatre Company's 2015-2016 season continues with the American premiere of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton. Adapted from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson that also inspired the legendary John Ford 1962 film, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a classic tale of love, honor, ambition and revenge set against the backdrop of the American West.
'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for December 9th, 2015
by Paul W. Thompson - Dec 9, 2015
The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Details on the arrivals of 'Hamilton' and 'If/Then,' and Bill Pullinsi's and Michael Flatley's retirements mark the end of two eraa. 'Far From Heaven' and 'Heathers' will premiere locally, and 'Bel Canto' bows at the Lyric Opera. 'Daddy Long Legs' streams, 'Option Up!' debuts new works, and voting for the BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards heats up!
Wedow, Abell, Polianichko and Allen Conduct Lyric Opera of Kansas City's 2015-16 Season, Beginning Tonight
by BWW News Desk - Sep 26, 2015
Lyric Opera of Kansas City General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the four conductors for the 2015-2016 season in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Gary Thor Wedow (pictured, left, Mozart's Don Giovanni), and David Charles Abell (Bizet's Carmen) will be returning to the Lyric Opera. Alexander Polianichko (Dvorak's Rusalka) and Christopher Allen (Donizetti's The Elixir of Love) will be making their Lyric Opera debut.
Gattelli & Flaherty's IN YOUR ARMS, Featuring 10 Dance Vignettes by Iconic Writers, Begins Tonight at The Old Globe
by BWW News Desk - Sep 16, 2015
The Old Globe opens its 2015-2016 Season with IN YOUR ARMS, a World Premiere dance-theatre musical featuring direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies, Godspell, Lincoln Center Theater's The King and I and South Pacific) and original music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once on This Island; two-time Oscar nominee for Anastasia). The production begins tonight, September 16, with an opening slated for September 24, and runs through October 25, 2015.
Wedow, Abell, Polianichko and Allen to Conduct Lyric Opera of Kansas City's 2015-16 Season
by BWW News Desk - Aug 17, 2015
Lyric Opera of Kansas City General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the four conductors for the 2015-2016 season in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Gary Thor Wedow (pictured, left, Mozart's Don Giovanni), and David Charles Abell (Bizet's Carmen) will be returning to the Lyric Opera. Alexander Polianichko (Dvorak's Rusalka) and Christopher Allen (Donizetti's The Elixir of Love) will be making their Lyric Opera debut.
BWW Previews: PRINCE OF BROADWAY at Tokyu Theatre Orb and Other Musicals Scheduled for Tokyo This Fall
by Bonny Loo - Aug 10, 2015
Before iTunes and Spotify came along, I used to collect every original cast CD of any Broadway or West End musical that I could lay my hands on, including foreign language cast recordings. By far, my largest collection of non-English cast CDs consists of Japanese cast recordings, many of which were released by Gekidan Shiki (Shiki Theatre Company). Over the last five decades, Shiki has mounted Japanese-language productions of Applause (1972), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), West Side Story (1974), A Chorus Line (1979), Evita (1982), Cats (1983), The Phantom of the Opera (1988), Crazy For You (1993), Beauty and the Beast (1995), The Lion King (1998), Aspects of Love (1999), Mamma Mia! (2002), Aida (2003), The Little Mermaid (2013), The Sound of Music (2013), Wicked (2013) and Aladdin (2015).