TV Exclusive: The Broadway Sessions All-Star Holiday ShowDecember 25, 2016We here at Broadway Sessions went all out to celebrate this holiday season with our annual All Star Holiday Show Spectacular. Be prepared for kids, puppets, balloons, famous drag queens and so much more. Starring Paige Davis (Chicago), Jinkx Monsoon and Alaska (RuPaul's Drag Race), Frankie James Grande (Rock of Ages), Charl Brown (Motown), Betsy Struxness (Hamilton), Adrianna Hicks (The Color Purple), Leslie Becker (Amazing Grace), Aaron Young (Fiddler on the Roof), Bryan Fenkart (Memphis, Nerds), Gaelen Gilliland (Honeymoon in Vegas), Adinah Alexander (Kinky Boots), Jelani Remy (The Lion King), Matthew Marks (Book of Mormon), Molly Tynes (Pippin), Nathan Lucrezio (Aladdin), Devin Ilaw (Les Mis), Zurin Villanueva and CK Edwards (Shuffle Along) the kids from Matilda, Imari Hardon and the cast of Avenue Q. And of course, our signature 12 Days of Christmas!
TV Exclusive: Broadway Sessions Has a Sweet Night with SWEET CHARITYDecember 19, 2016The night was 'sweet' indeed recently as Broadway Sessions welcomed cast members from The New Group's hit revival of Sweet Charity. Cast members Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Joel Perez, Donald Jones Jr., James Brown III and Cody Williams performed, told stories and delighted the audience. The evening also featured performance by vocalist Leeanna Rubin. Enjoy highlights here!
TV Exclusive: Broadway Sessions Gets Spectacular in a Non-Christmas WayDecember 12, 2016Well, here we are friends, smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. And some of us pack more Christmas into a day than other do all season. That's why we recently invited cast members from a certain "Spectacular" to join us for an evening of "non holiday" themed music and stories. Enjoy cast members young and old and our Rising Stars Avery Smith and Tanya Sapp here.
TV Exclusive: SHUFFLE ALONG Reunites at Broadway Sessions!December 6, 2016We all know that Broadway can be a fickle lady from time to time, tossing shows to and fro. Last season's Shuffle Along was critically lauded and ten times nominated for Tonys and then it was gone. Poof. I'm sure many of us have read articles about the whys and wherefores, but the fact is the show was great and filled with amazing talent. We wrangled some Shuffle alums together for an unforgettable night of music, laughs and TAP DANCING!!!! Check out performances (and our signature Schloppy Plot Shynopsis) by Zurin Villanueva, Leo Ash Evens, CK Edwards and Joseph Wiggan here. Also enjoy performances by our gorgeous Rising Stars Kathryn Francisco, Staci Jo Johnston and a very special peck at Ben Rimalower's Patti Issues.
TV Exclusive: Open Mic'ers Bring It All to Broadway Sessions!November 29, 2016There are things that you look forward to... Christmas, birthdays, dental cleanings. For us at Broadway Sessions, we always look forward to our once monthly ALL OPEN MIC parties. And boy did we have a doozy a couple weeks back. Showman Anthony Fett took the reigns as host and some of NYC's best voices sang deep into the night. Be a part of the magic right here...
TV Exclusive: The Cast of CATS Makes a Purrrfect Broadway SessionsNovember 14, 2016The cast of CATS was simply 'purr-fect' (see what I did there?) at their recent visit to Broadway Sessions. Cast members took to their songs like cats to cream (oh, dear God), as well as giving us insight in the complicated and ever so flushed out dramaturgy of the CATs society (who likes who, who fights who etc.). Besides fantastic performances cast members helped our audience find their inner Cat with makeup tutorials and choreography lessons..the 'kitten caboodle'. Ok, I'm done! Enjoy performances by Jessica Hendy, Christopher Gurr, Francesca Granell, Christine Cornish Smith, Richard Todd Adams, Madison Mitchell, Giuseppe Bausilio, Harris Milgrim, Kolton Krouse, Nathan Patrick Morgan, Sharrod Williams and Sara Jean Ford. + Rising Star Hana Freeman.
TV Exclusive: Broadway Sessions Celebrates WICKED Day with an ElphaBall!November 7, 2016WICKED! I've got your attention now haven't I? Well, Wicked is a big word in my part of the world and maybe in yours too. 13 years ago I was honored to be a part of the original Broadway cast of the Oz-inspired blockbuster (you may have even heard my work on track #2 asking 'Glinda, is it true you were her friend?… but I digress). At Broadway Sessions we like to celebrate Wicked Day (along with another spooky holiday) with ELPHABALL! Our salute to all things Wicked, featuring all women who have played the famously misunderstood green girl, Elphaba. Our 2nd annual ElphaBall was in a word, magic.
TV Exclusive: Reunited ROCK OF AGES Cast Members Slay at Broadway Sessions!October 31, 2016Things got real rocky at Broadway Sessions recently as cast members from multiple companies of Rock of Ages reunited to slay their favorite rock n' roll tunes! ROA alums Tony LePage, Tess Alves, Cody Scott Lancaster, Katie Goffman, Danny McHugh and Jessica McHugh shredded faces along with 'Rising Star' KiKi Davis. Check out the beautiful carnage here!
TV Exclusive: SPAMILTON Takes Over at Broadway Sessions!October 24, 2016If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then parody is a regular old kiss on the lips to any masterpiece. And that's what Spamilton is to Hamilton, a big fat kiss on the lips. And it takes an awfully talented bunch to pull off a loving lampoon of Broadway's biggest hit. We recently welcomed that awfully talented bunch to Broadway Sessions. The Spamilton cast brought the funny, the fierce and the in your face. And don't you worry none, they paid great homage to Hamilton with beautiful renditions of Dear Theodosia, Satisfied and Burn. Check out Nora Schell, Juwan Crawley, Dan Rosales, Christ Anthony Giles, Michael Wordly, Claudia Yanez, Nicholas Edwards and our "Rising Stars" Payton Reilly and Billie Aken Tyers blasting the roof right off the Beechman basement roof.
TV Exclusive: MOTOWN Cast is Solid Gold at Broadway Sessions!October 19, 2016Cast members from the ill-fated return of Motown on Broadway reunited at Broadway Sessions recently and proved that the closing was way too soon. Cast members Allison Semmes, Elijah Ahmed Lewis, Galen Williams, Jarvis Manning Jr., Leon Outlaw Jr., Talya Groves, Trisha Jeffrey, Nicholas Ryan, Olivia Puckett and Motown cast member turned Hamltlon caster Nik Walker were nothing short of multi platinum! Rising star Claire Manship was equally dazzling. Check out performances here!
TV Exclusive: WAITRESS Cast Serves It Up at Broadway Sessions!October 10, 2016Cast members from Waitress served up sweet slices of song at Broadway Sessions recently. Alicia Keys, Sondheim and of course, Bareilles were on the menu. Cast members Charity Angel Dawson, Henry Gottfried, Thay Flood, Aisha Jackson, Ryan Vasquez and Olivia Lucy Phillip poured their hearts out in song and even explored some of the audience's most nightmarish real life 'waitress experiences' (with dramatic underscoring by musical genius Joshua Stephen Kartes). The evening also featured performances by vocalists Esteban Suero, Lexi Lyric and the Voices of Gotham barbershop chorus. NOM NOM NOM...
TV Exclusive: BROADWAY SESSIONS Goes Back to School!October 3, 2016Fall is officially in the air school is in full session. We recently went back to school at Broadway Sessions, inviting some Broadway favorites to perform the roles they sang in their high school musicals. And maybe a song or 2 they didn't get to, because (fill in the blank) got the part over them. The revenge was sweet, the stories hysterical and the voices unreal. Enjoy Wicked's Jenna Leigh Green, Phantom's Jeremy Stolle, Book of Mormon's Matthew Marks, Les Miserables Beth Kirkpatrick, Beautiful's Mike Longo and more.
TV Exclusive: All Open Mic Kicks Off New Season at BROADWAY SESSIONS!September 7, 2016WE'RE BACK! After a long summer hiatus Broadway Sessions returned to The Laurie Beechman Theatre Thursday night to kick off our 9th season of Broadway fun. And what better way to celebrate than by featuring our audience in an ALL OPEN MIC party? The packed house proved to be ripe for the harvest with one performer after the next knocking the ball clean out of the park. Check out these super talented up and comers and remembers these names. Today's open mic star may just be next year's Broadway star. And with talent like this, I'd put money on it.
TV: Broadway Kids Show Off at BROADWAY SESSIONS!August 29, 2016When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about someday making it on big Broadway. There was lots of community theatre and talent shows and dancing for grandma and daydream after daydream. For a lot of us it was just that- a dream. But for these kids, it's just another day at the office. Big talent comes in little packages on The Great White Way. Here's a look back at some of the incredible Broadway kids from Matilda, Finding Neverland, On Your Feet, Once, Les Miserables, Kinky Boots, Elf, South Pacific and of course the face shredders from School of Rock!
TV: BROADWAY SESSIONS Geeks Out Over Patrick Page!August 22, 2016This week our Broadway [OB]Session is our good friend, and arguably one of Broadway's best actors, Patrick Page! Broadway's favorite villain (Hunchback's Frollo, Lion King's Scar, Spider-Man's The Green Goblin... HADESTOWN!) is equally at home on the musical stage (he was THE GRINCH after all) as he is sinking his teeth into Shakespeare on the world's finest stages. Patrick is the sort of actor that can find truth and meaning in any text... SO we at Sessions have put his skills to task with a series of dramatic readings. Enjoy Mr. Page putting his stamp on Lady Gaga and Nikki Minaj (a personal favorite) as well as performances from some of his iconic roles and more. Keep your eye out for his beautiful wife Paige Davis! Here's to a master of his craft at WERK!