Top Stories You Missed on BWW This Weekend - 6/28-6/29/2014

Emmy Award-winning actor Meshach Taylor passed away late last night, June 28. His agent, Dede Binder, said the cause was colorectal cancer. His son told the LA Times that Taylor was in hospice care at his family's home and surrounded by loved ones when he died at 10:47 p.m. (more...)

It's a well-known fact that Liza Minnelli loves Cabaret. She starred in the Bob Fosse film adaptation of the musical in 1972, which won eight Oscars. And she was perhaps the most excited person in the world when she heard it was coming back to Broadway. As BWW previously reported, she remarked, 'The 1998 production of Cabaret, by Sam and Rob, is coming back to Broadway this month. With Alan! And with no less than Michelle Williams, who's always so beautiful on the big screen, as Sally. Just like last time, Studio 54 will be turned into the Kit Kat Klub. And I will be there opening night.' (more...)

It's time for the newest episode of BWW's exclusive TV series - CHEWING THE SCENERY WITH Randy Rainbow! On June 26, Shia LaBeouf was escorted out of Rounabout Theatre's revival of Cabaret in handcuffs for smoking inside the theater and engaging in other disruptive behavior. In this edition, Randy created a hilarious Cabaret parody video of the events and gives him a piece of his mind. When LaBeouf was asked to leave, he refused and then threatened the officers and people on the sidewalk outside. If anyone can tell LaBeouf how it is, Randy Rainbow can. (more...)

According to inside sources, an imminent staging of the hit Broadway musical CHICAGO, featuring Broadway cast members, might just as well be the next international production import--right on the heels of 'Stomp' and 'Wicked'--that Manila needs to boost its chances of gaining full recognition as the official 'Musical Theater hub of Southeast Asia.' (more...)

BroadwayWorld collected as many of yesterday's evening Saturday Intermission Pics as we could to bring you Part 2 of our June 28th SIP round-up! Check out part one HERE. Yesterday's SIPs come from the National Tours of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and JOSEPH AND THE TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, and more! (more...)

Producers Scott Sanders and Wynton Marsalis brought us After Midnight, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle and featuring the big-band sounds of nine-time Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars. After 273 performances, After Midnight is closing today. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through After Midnight's beginnings on Broadway! (more...)

Broadway star and breakout music performer Ariana Grande has at long last unveiled the cover for her hotly anticipated solo album, MY EVERYTHING. (more...)

All the Way, the new play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, starring Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, directed by Bill Rauch, closes on Broadway today, June 28, 2014, after playing a total of 131 and recouping its initial capitalization. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through All the Way's beginnings on Broadway! (more...)

Acclaimed actor, writer and director John Cameron Mitchell opens up about the impact of acclaimed rock musical HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH as well as shares some new details on the upcoming sequel as part of a new interview. (more...)

Casa Valentina, the new play by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, closes today, June 29, 2014, after having played 79 performances. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through Casa Valentina's beginnings on Broadway! (more...)

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Broadway World have partnered for an filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. The most recent conversation featured 2014 Tony nominee Estelle Parsons, who most recently starred on Broadway in The Velocity of Autumn, moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge. Check out the full interview below! (more...)

The new theatre-centric web comedy THAT'S EDUCATIONAL's bound to hit home for any actor, especially those who have done educational theatre tours.?'As the education of Nick continues, we get to know the inner workings of MEATY's drug policies. Also, catch a glimpse of rehearsals as the gang gets ready to hit the road again.' (more...)

In honor of All the Way's closing, Robert Petkoff took photos of the company on on instant film with a Polaroid 250 Land Camera- a fitting tribute to the historical play which takes place in the 1960s. All the Way takes audiences behind the doors of the Oval Office and inside the first year of Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency and his fight to pass a landmark civil rights bill. Check below to see the portraits! (more...)

On Monday, June 30th the Theater People Podcast welcomes 'Matilda' star Lesli Margherita. Topics discussed include her Olivier award winning turn as Inez in 'Zorro The Musical' in London's West End, the day her friend Eden Espinosa called her to insist that Lesli be seen for the role of Mrs. Wormwood in 'Matilda', and her emotional Broadway debut in the show. The episode is available now to iTunes subscribers. (more...)

Happy Birthday Emily Skinner! Emily Skinner was nominated for a Best Actress TONY Award for the Original Broadway Production of Side Show. Other Broadway credits include the original casts of Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead (with Christopher Walken) The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Drama League Award). Most recently, she starred in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot. (more...)

According to the Daily News, Tony Bennett and his wife, Susan Benedetto, say that 'the only way to make lasting gains for disadvantaged New Yorkers on this critical educational front' is by hiring more art teachers. Mayor de Blasio seems to agree. Last month, he added $23 million in arts education funding to the city's annual budget- which is a step in the right direction after the recent years of art cutbacks. (more...)

Here are the Broadway, Off-Broadway and West End shows which opened on June 29 along with all of the upcoming show openings, closings and special events! (more...)

In 2012, Joe DiPietro joined forces with director Kathleen Marshall to take a forgotten Gershwin show, revamp it, and turn it into hit Nice Work if You Can Get it. Now, according to The Boston Globe, they're at it again. This time, they are taking Garson Kanin's 1985 play Peccadillo and turning it into Living on Love. Living on Love follows a Italian maestro and his wife, an opera dive, who hire ghostwriters of the opposite sex to pen competing memoirs. They both become trapped between their drive to battle each other and the feelings that arise for their ghostwriters. (more...)

Hottest Articles on BWWOperaWorld.com from 6/22/2014 - 6/29/2014. (more...)