Brief 4/11: CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD Opens Tonight, and More!

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1) Breaking: COME FROM AWAY Tour Will Launch from Seattle in October; Full Schedule Announced!
by BWW News Desk - April 10, 2018

Junkyard Dog Productions announces today that the North American Tour of the Tony Award-winning smash hit Broadway musical COME FROM AWAY will launch at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. The tour will go on to play more than 60 cities including Los Angeles, CA (The Ahmanson); Denver, CO (Buell Theatre); San Francisco, CA (Golden Gate Theatre); Vancouver, BC (Queen Elizabeth); Calgary, AB (Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium); Orlando, FL (Dr. Phillips Center); Cleveland, OH (Connor Palace); Ottawa, ON (National Art Centre) and many more across the United States and Canada.. (more...)

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2) Patti LuPone Speaks Her Mind: 'Cheap' Standing Ovations, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Uma Thurman, and More
by Nicole Ciravolo - April 10, 2018

Double Tony and Grammy Award winner Patti LuPone has proven time and time again that she is willing to speak her mind about anything -- and this week is no different. At the launch of the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, LuPone addressed a variety of topics with honesty.. (more...)

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3) VIDEO: PBS to Air Sutton Foster: Live From Lincoln Center - Watch the Trailer!
by Stage Tube - April 10, 2018

Some of Broadway's brightest stars-Leslie Odom Jr., Andrew Rannells, Sutton Foster with special guest Jonathan Groff, and Stephanie J. Block-will headline four special performances as part of a new series, LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER Presents - Stars in Concert. Combining the intimacy of cabaret with Broadway panache, each evening will showcase one of these leading voices of musical theater illuminating their musical journeys to stardom, revisiting favorite songs, and delighting viewers with their versatility and captivating performances.. (more...)

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4) Norm Lewis To Lead THE MUSIC MAN At The Kennedy Center
by BWW News Desk - April 10, 2018

Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis will lead THE MUSIC MAN at The Kennedy Center next winter.. (more...)

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5) Christopher Sieber And Jennifer Simard To Lead ANNIE At The Muny
by BWW News Desk - April 10, 2018

The Muny announced today that Tony nominees Christopher Sieber and Jennifer Simard will star as the stoically affluent Daddy Warbucks and the deliciously wicked Miss Hannigan, respectively, in the theatre's centennial season production of Annie, July 18 - 25. Annie is directed by John Tartaglia and choreographed by Jessica Hartman with music direction by Colin Welford. Annie is proudly sponsored by Edward Jones.. (more...)

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Today's Call Sheet:

-CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD officially opens tonight on Broadway!

-MEAN GIRLS' original Damian premieres his solo show YASS! YOU'RE AMAZING! tonight!

-SCHOOL OF ROCK cast members play a concert to benefit BC/EFA tonight!

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BWW Exclusive: Walk the red carpet with Point Foundation honoree Laura Benanti, and more!

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What we're geeking out over: Watch Sara Bareilles pass the WAITRESS pie to Katharine McPhee before her Broadway debut!

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What we're watching: Start listening with highlights from CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD on Broadway!

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Social Butterfly: Chita Rivera, Andy Karl and more perform 'Somewhere' at the Olivier Awards!

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And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Joel Grey, who turns 86 today!

In a career that was launched in the early 1950's, Joel Grey has created indelible stage roles each decade since: as the iconic M.C. in Cabaret (1966, Tony Award), as song and dance man George M. Cohan in George M! (1967, Tony nomination), as Charley VII in Goodtime Charlie (1975, Tony nomination), as Jacobowsky in The Grand Tour (1979, Tony nomination), as Olim in New York City Opera's Silverlake (1981), as Amos Hart in the landmark revival of Chicago (1996), and as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Wicked (2004).

Joel's non-musical stage roles include John Guare's Marco Polo Sings a Solo (1975) at the Public Theatre; the title role in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Chekhov's Platonov (1978); Larry Kramer's seminal The Normal Heart (1986) at the Public Theatre; the American Repertory Theatre's production of Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken (1991) at the Sao Paulo Biennale, directed by Robert Wilson; Herringbone at the Hartford Stage (1992); John Patrick Shanley's A Fool and Her Fortune (NY Stage and Film, 1992); and in the Roundabout Theatre production of Brian Friel's Give Me Your Answer, Do! (1999), for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Grey's film credits include Cabaret (Academy Award), Frank Perry's Man on A Swing (1974), Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976); Herbert Ross' The Seven Percent Solution (1976); Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985, Golden Globe Nomination); Steven Soderbergh's Kafka (1991); Altman's The Player (1992); Phillip Haas' The Music of Chance (1993); Michael Ritchie's adaptation of The Fantasticks (2000); Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000) with Bjork and Catherine Deneuve; and Clark Gregg's Choke, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Joel's recent television credits include "Alias," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Brooklyn Bridge," (Emmy Award-nomination), "Oz," "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," "House," "Brothers & Sisters," "Private Practice," and "Grey's Anatomy." In April 2010, The Paley Center for Media in New York presented "An Evening with Joel Grey," celebrating Joel's remarkable, multi-decade career in television.

Joel is also an internationally exhibited, acclaimed photographer. He has had three photography books published: Pictures I Had to Take (2003), Looking Hard at Unexamined Things (2006), and 1.3: Images from My Phone (2009).

Joel Grey is one of only eight actors to have won both the Tony and Academy award for the same role. In 1984, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and has received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center. In 1993, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis presented Joel with the Municipal Arts Society medal naming him a Living New York Landmark. In October 2009, Grey performed at Carnegie Hall, alongside Lady Gaga, Bono, Rufus Wainwright and more to benefit (RED) and help stop AIDS in Africa. He is currently directing an all-star, one-night only staged reading of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart on Broadway to benefit The Actors Fund and Friends in Deed.

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See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!