Brief 7/26: HEAD OVER HEELS Opens, BE MORE CHILL Begins Previews, and More!

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1) Cher, Reba, HAMILTON Creators, And More To Receive Kennedy Center Honors
by BWW News Desk - July 25, 2018

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the selection of four Honorees who will receive the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements, and a special Honors distinction for a work of art and its co-creators. Recipients to be honored at the 41st annual national celebration of the arts are: singer and actress Cher, composer and pianist Philip Glass, Country music entertainer Reba McEntire, and jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. This year, the co-creators of Hamilton-writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and music director Alex Lacamoire-will receive a unique Kennedy Center Honors as trailblazing creators of a transformative work that defies category.. (more...)

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2) Lila Coogan, Stephen Brower, and More Cast in ANASTASIA First National Tour
by BWW News Desk - July 25, 2018

Take the journey! Casting has been announced for the North American tour of the critically-acclaimed Broadway production of ANASTASIA. This production features a book by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally, a lush, new score by Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) and direction by Tony Award-winning director Darko Tresnjak. The tour will launch at Proctors in Schenectady, NY on October 9, 2018 and will go on to play 30 cities in its first season.. (more...)

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3) Nicolette Robinson to Show Broadway What Baking Can Do as Next Jenna in WAITRESS
by BWW News Desk - July 25, 2018

Waitress announced today that Nicolette Robinson will take over the role of Jenna in the smash hit musical on September 4 and will be in the show through October 28.. (more...)

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4) VIDEO: Watch Sutton Foster Perform 'THE LONELY GOATHERD' from THE SOUND OF MUSIC on YOUNGER
by TV News Desk - July 25, 2018

Watch Sutton Foster perform 'The Lonely Goatherd' from THE SOUND OF MUSIC on last night's episode of TV Land's Younger. Watch the clip below! . (more...)

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5) Sally Struthers, Hal Linden, Ed Dixon & Mark Jacoby Star in Ogunquit Playhouse's GRUMPY OLD MEN
by BWW News Desk - July 25, 2018

Fasten your seat belt, it's going to be a grumpy ride! The Ogunquit Playhouse is proud to produce the U.S. premiere of the new musical-comedy, Grumpy Old Men the Musical on stage from August 8 to September 1 - just in time to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the hit film that starred Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret. This hilarious new show was penned by Dan Remmes, with music by Neil Berg and lyrics by Nick Meglin. Director for the Ogunquit production of Grumpy Old Men the Musical is Matt Lenz.. (more...)

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Today's Call Sheet:

-HEAD OVER HEELS officially opens tonight!

-BE MORE CHILL begins previews off-Broadway tonight!

-Broadway in Bryant Park continues today with performers from Come From Away, Kinky Boots, The Band's Visit, and This Ain't No Disco!

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BWW Exclusive: Backstage Bite with Katie Lynch: MEAN GIRLS Stars Ashley Park and Kate Rockwell Get Plastic in the Kitchen with Fruit Rollups!

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Set Your DVR...

-Glenn Close will appear on THE TODAY SHOW

-Josh Groban will appear on THE TALK

-Sutton Foster will appear on LIVE WITH KELLY & RYAN

-Debra Messing will appear on THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH James Corden

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What we're geeking out over: Get a first Look at Nikki M. James, Shuler Hensley & More in Public Works' TWELFTH NIGHT in the Park!

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What we're watching: Watch Highlights from Savion Glover-Helmed DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE at Encores! Off-Center

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And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Helen Mirren, who turns 73 today!

Helen Mirren has won international recognition for her work on stage, screen and television. For her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen in 2006, she received an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Actress. She was also named Best Actress by virtually every critics organization from Los Angeles to London. In 2014 she was honored with the BAFTA Fellowship for her outstanding career in film. On television she played the title role in Elizabeth I? for which she won Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards.

Mirren began her career in the role of Cleopatra at the National Youth Theatre. She then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she starred in such productions as Troilus and Cressida and Macbeth. In 1972, she joined renowned director Peter Brooks Theatre Company and toured the world. Since then her theatre work has spanned numerous productions in the West End, the Fringe, the RSC, the National Theatre and Broadway, including A Month in the Country, for which she received a Tony nomination, and The Dance of Death opposite Ian McKellen. Subsequent productions include Orpheus Descending at The Donmar Warehouse and Mourning Becomes Electra at the National, for which she received an Olivier Best Actress Award nomination. She returned to the National in 2009 in the title role of Racine Phedre directed by Nicholas Hytner. This made history when it became the first theatre production to be filmed for "NTLive"? and was seen in cinemas throughout the world. In her most recent performance in 2013 in London's West End, she reprised her role of Queen Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan's The Audience, directed by Stephen Daldry, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress.

In 2013 she starred alongside Anthony Hopkins in the film Hitchcock, and with Al Pacino in HBO's "Phil Spector,"? for which she won a SAG Award for her performance. On television she earned an Emmy and three BAFTAs for playing Jane Tennison in the multi award-winning series "Prime Suspect." Her other television includes "Losing Chase,"? for which she won a Golden Globe Award, "The Passion of Ayn Rand,"? for which she won a Emmy Award, "Door to Door"? and "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone."?

Mirren's latest film is Disney's The Hundred-Foot Journey directed by Lasse Hallstrom and produced by Stephen Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, in which Mirren portrays a French restaurateur Madame Mallory. Currently in production, Mirren will be starring in The Weinstein Company's Woman in Gold, in which she plays Maria Altmann, the Austrian Jewish refugee who fought to reclaim her family's paintings that had been stolen by the Nazis in World War II.

Helen Mirren became a Dame of the British Empire in 2003.

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See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!