WAKE UP with BWW 7/8/14 - PHANTOM Marks a Milestone, SEX WITH STRANGERS Begins, WAYRA Opens and More!
By: Jessica Showers Jul. 08, 2014
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: PHANTOM hits 11,000 performances on Broadway, plus lots of off-Broadway beginnings tonight -- Second Stage's SEX WITH STRANGERS begins performances, with 'WAYRA' celebrating its opening, and Max Crumm joins THE FANTASTICKS!
Next up in our series of Broadway stars introducing BWW's morning feature is Laura Michelle Kelly (portrait by Walter McBride), who has starred on the big stage in Mary Poppins and Fiddler on the Roof. Kelly is set to star opposite Jeremy Jordan in A.R.T.'s Finding Neverland before the show hits Broadway. So, put just a spoonful of sugar in that cup of joe, follow the second star to the right, and straight on to the news!
Photo by Walter McBride.
TODAY'S TOP ITEMS:
- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, now in its 26th year on Broadway, celebrates 11,000 performances tonight! Check back for BroadwayWorld's photos and more!
- FUERZA BRUTA WAYRA opens off-Broadway this evening, and Second Stage Theatre's SEX WITH STRANGERS, starring Anna Gunn and Billy Magnussen, begins performances...
- The company of off-Broadway's 'REVOLUTION IN THE ELBOW' meets the press today, so stay tuned for BWW's coverage later on!
- Max Crumm joins the cast of THE FANTASTICKS as 'Matt/The Boy' beginning today, and Bianca Marroquin returns from her vacation to take back up as 'Roxie Hart' in Broadway's CHICAGO tonight.
- And be sure to take that extra shot of espresso so you're awake for the cast of HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME performing on GMA today!
NEWS YOU MISSED YESTERDAY:
- A musical adaptation of BLACK ORPHEUS is headed to Broadway with Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage writing the book!
- Save the date! BC/EFA will host its 28th Annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction on Sept 21.
- We got a first look at the stage adaptation of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE in the West End!
- LADY DAY, starring Audra McDonald, has extended again through September, while THE ELEPHANT MAN with Bradley Cooper has delayed its Broadway start date.
- Marc Kudisch, Rebecca Henderson and more will star in Signature's THE WAYSIDE MOTOR INN...
- HBO is filming a conversation between directors Mike Nichols and Jack O'Brien this Friday.
- And finally, Ann Hampton Callaway will release a new album FROM SASSY TO DIVINE: THE SARAH VAUGHAN PROJECT this fall...
Broadway Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 92, with scattered thunderstorms in the evening. Bring your umbrella to the show!
Quote of the Day: In honor of PHANTOM's 11,000th performance, original 'Christine' Sarah Brightman urges us to live...
In the past, I always used to be looking for answers. Today, I know there are only questions. So I just live.
-- Sarah Brightman (via BrainyQuote)
What we're listening to: The new LES MISERABLES: FROM STAGE TO SCREEN audiobook, out today! From the musical's early days in Paris to Cameron Mackintosh's stage incarnation, all the way up to the Oscar-winning film adaptation, LES MIS has created a thrilling life story. And, of course, we'll be refreshing our memory by watching Tom Hooper's 2012 movie, starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and more.
Video of the Day: Flash back to Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford as 'Christine' and 'The Phantom', performing at the 1988 Tony Awards!
And finally, a Happy Birthday shout-out to Anjelica Huston, who turns 63 today!
Huston has appeared on Broadway in Shakespeare's Hamlet and produced off-Broadway's Belfast Blues. She recently starred as a producer in NBC's musical drama series SMASH. Huston won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 1985's Prizzi's Honor and has also been nominated for the films Enemies, A Love Story and The Grifters. She played 'Morticia Addams' in The Addams Family movies in the early '90s, for which she received two Golden Globe nominations. The actress has appeared in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Huston released her autobiography A Story Lately Told last year.
See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!
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