WABC-TV (Channel 7) will air "Broadway Backstage: Spring Preview" on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30pm. The show is co-hosted by Vanessa Williams ("Ugly Betty," Into the Woods) and WABC-TV anchorman, Joe Torres. A look at the new season of Broadway shows, featured interviewees include David Hyde Pierce (Curtains), Angela Lansbury (Deuce), John Mahoney (Prelude to a Kiss), Liev Schreiber (Talk Radio), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins), Hugh Dancy (Journey's End), and Jan Maxwell (Coram Boy), as well as cast members from Spring Awakening and The Pirate Queen.
Featured shows include:
Coram BoyThe National Theatre of Great Britain's acclaimed production of the play adapted by
Helen Edmundson makes its American Premiere on Broadway. Based on the award-winning novel by
Jamila Gavin, with direction by
Melly Still, the show begins previews April 16 and opens May 2 at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45 Street). The company features Tony Award nominee
Jan Maxwell (
Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang),
Bill Camp (
Heartbreak House),
Dashiell Eaves (
The Lieutenant of Inishmore),
Brad Fleischer (
Pig Farm),
Charlotte Parry (
Howard Katz),
Wayne Wilcox (
Suddenly Last Summer), a 20 member choir and a 7 piece chamber orchestra.
CurtainsTaking place backstage at Boston's Colonial Theatre in 1959, an untalented leading lady is murdered on opening night, calling for Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (
David Hyde Pierce) to investigate. When the stage-struck detective arrives, he finds himself equally involved in solving the murder and making the show a hit.
Curtains features a book by Tony Award winner
Rupert Holmes, music by
John Kander, lyrics by
Fred Ebb, original book and concept by
Peter Stone, and additional lyrics by
John Kander and
Rupert Holmes. Four time Tony Award nominee
Scott Ellis directs a 31-member cast, which also stars
Karen Ziemba,
Jason Danieley,
Jill Paice and
Edward Hibbert. Choreography is by Tony Award winner
Rob Ashford.
Curtains opens Thursday, March 22 at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street). Tickets are available through Telecharge at 212-239-6200, online at
www.telecharge.com or at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre box office. (
www.CurtainsTheMusical.com)
DeuceLegendary four time Tony Award winning star
Angela Lansbury (
Mame,
Dear World,
Gypsy,
Sweeney Todd) makes her first Broadway appearance in nearly 25 years, starring opposite Tony Award-winner
Marian Seldes (
A Delicate Balance,
Three Tall Women,
Dedication, or the Stuff of Dreams) in the world premiere of a new play by four-time Tony Award-winner
Terrence McNally (
Love! Valour! Compassion!,
Master Class,
Kiss of the Spider Woman,
Ragtime) directed by two-time Tony Award-winner
Michael Blakemore (
Copenhagen,
Kiss Me, Kate). The story of two former tennis doubles legends reunited at a championship tournament in which they reminisce about the past with unexpected results,
Deuce opens Sunday, May 6th at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street), with previews beginning Wednesday, April 11th. Tickets are on sale at TeleCharge at 212-239-6200, online at
www.telecharge.com, or at the Music Box Theatre box office (239 West 45th Street). (
www.DeuceOnBroadway.com)
Frost/NixonThe new play by the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning writer of
The Queen and
The Last King of Scotland,
Peter Morgan,
Frost/Nixon features two-time Tony Award winner
Frank Langella as President Richard Nixon and
Michael Sheen (
The Queen) as Sir
David Frost, and directed by
Michael Grandage. The show begins previews at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street) on March 31. Opening Night is April 22. (
www.FrostNixonOnBroadway.com)
LoveMusikA new musical featuring the songs of
Kurt Weill, starring Tony Award winners
Michael Cerveris and
Donna Murphy,
LoveMusik previews begin Thursday, April 12 for a Thursday, May 3 opening at the Biltmore Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Making its world premiere,
LoveMusik follows the lives of brilliant German composer Weill and his tumultuous love affair with his muse and star,
Lotte Lenya. Inspired by Weill and Lenya's letters, the show features a book by Pulitzer and Tony Award-winner
Alfred Uhry (
Driving Miss Daisy,
Parade), a full range of
Kurt Weill songs, musical staging by
Patricia Birch (
A Little Night Music), and direction by 21-time Tony Awardâ winner
Harold Prince (
The Phantom of the Opera,
Cabaret, and
Sweeney Todd). (
www.manhattantheatreclub.com)
Mary PoppinsThe biggest hit to open during the 2006-2007 season,
Mary Poppins opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006, and quickly won over audience members and critics alike. Tickets are available at
www.DisneyOnBroadway.com, the New Amsterdam Theatre Box Office, and all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling Ticketmaster's Disney on Broadway hotline at (212) 307-4747. Prices range from $25 - $120. For group sales and information please call (800) 439-9000.
110 in the ShadeStarring Tony Award winner
Audra McDonald as "Lizzie Curry", Tony Award winner
John Cullum as "H. C. Curry" and
Steve Kazee as "Starbuck," the new Broadway production of
110 in the Shade tells of a heat wave in 1930's Texas in which a woman looking for love with the town sheriff has her world changed when a charismatic rainmaker comes to town. The show features a book by
N. Richard Nash, music by Tony® Award honoree
Harvey Schmidt, lyrics by Tony Award-honoree
Tom Jones, and direction by
Lonny Price.
110 in the Shade will begin previews on Friday, April 13th, 2007 and open on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 at Studio 54 on Broadway (254 West 54th Street). This is a limited engagement through July 15th, 2007.
Prelude to a KissJohn Mahoney,
Annie Parisse, and
Alan Tudyk star in a new Broadway production of
Craig Lucas' romantic drama
Prelude to a Kiss, directed by
Daniel Sullivan at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd St). The show follows a couple's courtship with a picturesque wedding, only to have their worlds turned upside down by a mysterious elderly man who appears at the wedding.
(
www.roundabouttheatre.org)
The Pirate Queen
Alain Boublil and
Claude-Michel Schönberg's (
Les Misérables,
Miss Saigon) musical follows the real-life story of 16th-century Irish Chieftain
Grace O'Malley, the pirate, mother, and lover who saved her people by confronting Queen Elizabeth I of England. Directed by Tony Award-winner
Frank Galati, and with musical staging by
Graciela Daniele,
The Pirate Queen was produced by
Riverdance's
Moya Doherty and
John McColgan. (
www.thepiratequeen.com)
The Year of Magical ThinkingWritten by
Joan Didion and based on her memoir,
The Year of Magical Thinking stars
Vanessa Redgrave and is directed by
David Hare. The show focuses on the life of one of America's most extraordinary writers, living under almost unfathomable circumstances with an unconventional marriage and household situation. Opening Night is March 29, and this is a strictly limited 24-week run at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street). (
www.MagicalThinkingonBroadway.com)
Legally Blonde
The musical will begin preview performances on Broadway at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets) on April 3, 2007 with an official opening date of April 29, 2007. Heading the cast of Legally Blonde is Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods. Joining her are Christian Borle as Emmett, Orfeh as Paulette, Richard H. Blake as Warner, Kate Shindle as Vivienne, Nikki Snelson as Brooke and Michael Rupert as Professor Callahan. "Sorority star Elle Woods doesn't take "no" for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone more "serious," Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style."
Radio Golf
"August Wilson 's most contemporary play, Radio Golf, will begin preview performances on Friday, April 20 and open on Tuesday, May 8 at Broadway's Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street). The tenth and final work in two-time Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Wilson's historic decade-by-decade portrait of 20th Century African-American life will be directed by Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean) and star Harry Lennix (Stomp the Yard, Fox's "24," NBC's 'Commander in Chief') and Tony Award winner and Olivier Award nominee Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam; Caroline, or Change). They join Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams, who have been with Radio Golf since the play's world premiere in 2005. Set in 1997 in Pittsburgh's Hill District, Radio Golf could be ripped from today's headlines, as Harmond Wilks (Lennix), a charming and powerful African-American politician, is running for the highest office of his career, with the loving support of his savvy wife, Mame (Pinkins). As Harmond steps into political prominence, the past is just a few steps behind him … and gaining fast."
A Moon For The Misbegotten
Olivier Award winner Eve Best, Academy Award and Tony Award winner Kevin Spacey and Golden Globe nominee Colm Meaney will reprise their acclaimed performances in The Old Vic Theatre Company production of Eugene O'Neill's classic play at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W 47th St) for 84 performances only. They are joined by original company members Billy Carter and Eugene O'Hare. Directed by Olivier Award winner Howard Davies, the play will begin preview performances on Thursday, March 29, open on Broadway Monday, April 9 and conclude its engagement on Sunday, June 10. "O'Neill's only love story, A Moon for the Misbegotten tells the shattering story of Josie Hogan (Best), a towering woman with a quick tongue and a ruined reputation who lives in a dilapidated Connecticut farmhouse with her conniving father, Phil (Meaney). During one long moonlit night fueled by drink and lust, Josie's softer side is exposed through her feelings for Hogan's landlord Jim Tyrone (Spacey), and two implacable souls reveal to each other the grief, longing and unrequited love they've hidden from the world."
Photo of Vanessa Williams by Shira Greenberg
