Brief 6/20: GIRLS AND BOYS Opens Tonight Off-Broadway, and More!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Scroll down for the latest news. Want our morning reports delivered via email? Subscribe here!

1) VIDEO: Josh Gad and James Corden Perform Andrew Lloyd Webber Favorites in Latest 'Crosswalk the Musical'
by Stage Tube - June 19, 2018

James Corden returns to the London streets for a Crosswalk the Musical showcasing some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most memorable compositions, including 'Evita,' 'Phantom of the Opera,' 'Cats' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' When James finds himself in need of a leading lady, he places a call to Crosswalk veteran Josh Gad, who is ready to jump right in.. (more...)

---

2) Breaking: Michael Jackson Musical Coming to Broadway in 2020!
by BWW News Desk - June 19, 2018

The King of Pop might soon find a place on Broadway. According to Entertainment Weekly, The Michael Jackson Estate and Columbia Live Stage have confirmed plans for a Broadway-bound Michael Jackson musical. The project will feature a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, and will be directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.. (more...)

---

3) David Cook Will Return to KINKY BOOTS Next Month
by BWW News Desk - June 19, 2018

Kinky Boots producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig announced today that David Cook ("American Idol" Winner, 7th Season) will return to the role of 'Charlie Price' in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) beginning on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. He will play a limited run through Sunday, September 9, 2018. Cook succeeds Tyler Glenn (lead singer of the multi-platinum rock band, Neon Trees) who will play his last performance on Sunday, July 15, 2018.. (more...)

---

4) BWW TV: Shoshana Bean Sings from Encores! Off-Center's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD- Meet the Cast!
by TV - Press Previews - June 19, 2018

Opening the 2018 Off-Center season on June 27 (through 30), Songs for A New World was the first musical from three-time Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown. This powerful collection of songs examines life, love, and the choices ordinary people make when faced with extraordinary moments. From the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to the ledge of a Fifth Avenue high-rise, each character faces a new world which follows the unique challenge they encounter.. (more...)

---

5) The National Theatre Announces More Season Details, Including FOLLIES Casting
by BWW News Desk - June 19, 2018

The National Theatre announces new information, and recaps its upcoming season.. (more...)

---

---

Today's Call Sheet:

-GIRLS AND BOYS opens tonight!

-DUTCHMAN/STOP KISS, Presented By Sacred Circle Theatre Company, begins performances tonight!

-The Cell Premieres Paige Jennifer Barr's DEATH, DATING, & I DO As Part Of Ongoing Residency Series, Beginning Tonight!

---

BWW Exclusive: Broadway Sessions Opens Up the Mic to Celebrate Pride!

---

What we're geeking out over: Let the Games Begin! Inside BROADWAY BARES: GAME NIGHT

---

What we're watching: Frances Ruffelle Sings Still Hurting by Jason Robert Brown, From THE LAST FIVE YEARS

---

And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Jason Robert Brown, who turns 48 today!

Jason Robert Brown has been heard all over the world, whether in one of the hundreds of productions of his musicals every year or in his own incendiary live performances. Jason is the composer and lyricist of the musical, "The Last Five Years," which was cited as one of Time Magazine's 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics. Jason won a 1999 Tony Award for his score to "Parade", a musical written with Alfred Uhry and directed by Harold Prince, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theatre in December 1998, and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Musical. "Parade" was also presented on a national tour in 2000, which Jason conducted. Jason's first musical, "Songs for a New World," a theatrical song cycle directed by Daisy Prince, played Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in the fall of 1995, and has since been seen in more than two hundred productions around the world. Jason's newest musical, "13," written with Dan Elish and directed by Todd Graff, premiered this January to rave reviews at Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum, and opens on Broadway in the spring of 2008. Jason is the winner of the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre. Jason's songs, including the cabaret standard "Stars and the Moon," have been performed and recorded by Audra McDonald, Betty Buckley, Karen Akers, Renee Fleming, Philip Quast, Jon Hendricks and many others.

---

See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!