WAKE UP with BWW 1/19/2015 - CHICAGO's New Billy, Scott Alan at 54 Below and More!
By: Jessica Showers Jan. 19, 2015
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: CHICAGO crowns its new King of the Courtroom, Scott Alan comes to 54 Below, Broadway stars team up for concerts across the city and more!
Next up in our series of stars introducing BWW's morning feature is cabaret and Broadway star Amy Spanger (portrait by Walter McBride), who has appeared on the Great White Way in Elf, Rock of Ages, The Wedding Singer, Urinetown, Kiss Me, Kate, Chicago and Sunset Boulevard.
Photo by Walter McBride
TODAY'S TOP ITEMS:
- John Dossett joins Broadway's CHICAGO as 'Billy Flynn' tonight!
- A slew of Broadway vets help Scott Alan in his concert debut at 54 Below this evening...
- Tyne Daly, Richard Easton and Tony Yazbeck are set for GTG's HOW HE LIED TO HER HUSBAND today.
- Marc Kudisch, Alli Mauzey, Duncan Sheik and more are guests onstage tonight with Sky Pony at Joe's Pub!
- And BROADWAY SINGS P!NK comes to the Highline Ballroom tonight.
NEWS YOU MISSED THIS WEEKEND:
- NBC is working on a Broadway musical with Stevie Wonder!
- Broadway's MOTOWN recouped before its closing.
- JEKYLL AND HYDE is prepping for a 25th Anniversary international production!
- We got a first look (right) at RENT in Cuba!
- Christine Baranski and Ruthie Henshall will lead FOLLIES in London this spring.
- AFTER MIDNIGHT is headed out to sea this fall...
- Carrie Coon has signed on for Playwrights Horizons' PLACEBO.
- Goodspeed will bring works by Brown, Davis and Marshall to the stage this year!
- Julianne Hough and Vanessa Hudgens are set for GREASE: LIVE on FOX next January, while NBC has picked up the rights to THE WIZ for its next live TV broadcast...
- Michele, Breslin, Palmer and Grande will lead Ryan Murphy's new series SCREAM QUEENS.
- And IF/THEN's Idina Menzel will belt the National Anthem at the Super Bowl!
Broadway Weather Forecast: Sunshine with a high of 43 degrees on this MLK day!
Quote of the Day: Birthday boy Michael Crawford on the importance of failure...
"Sometimes you learn more from failure than you do from success, and in some ways it's better to have failure at the beginning of your career, or your life."
-- Michael Crawford (via BrainyQuote)
Video of the Day: Watch the cast of London's 'WOMEN ON THE VERGE' perform 'Madrid' in the West End!
And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Michael Crawford, who turns 73 today!
Crawford is best known for originating the title role in The Phantom of the Opera, both in the West End and on Broadway. He won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony and Drama Desk awards for his portrayal. Before that, he nabbed an Olivier for his performance in Barnum in London. The actor has also appeared in the West End in Billy, Flowers for Algernon, The Woman in White and, most recently, The Wizard of Oz (pictured below). Crawford also starred on Broadway in Dance of the Vampires. He was knighted in the Queen's New Year Honors in 1988 and last year.
West End's 2011 revival of THE WiZARD OF OZ.
See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!
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