Jessica Lewis - Page 29

It was announced today that The Stratford Shakespeare Festival's hit production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, directed by the Festival's Artistic Director Des McAnuff, will open at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway on Thursday, March 22, 2012. Previews will begin Thursday, March 1, 2012.

Aaron Lazar's passion, originality and engaging demeanor have helped propel his career from the stage to screen, and to 'The Tao of Broadway' which will play Le Poisson Rouge on Monday November 7th.

Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello will assume the role of Mother Superior in the Broadway musical SISTER ACT, beginning performances on Saturday, November 19 at 8:00pm. SISTER ACT is currently in its eighth smash month at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway). Ms. Carmello takes over from Victoria Clark, who originated the role on Broadway and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance.

Jim Caruso's Broadway at Birdland concert series will present Liza Minnelli and Sam Harris in 'Schmoolie & Minnooli,' Sunday November 20 at 6pm and Monday, November 21 at 7pm. Billy Stritch musical directs.

As previously reported, Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that Stephanie J. Block will join the Tony Award winning company of Anything Goes performing the role of 'Reno Sweeney' while Sutton Foster is filming the television pilot, Bunheads, for 3 weeks in November. Specific dates have been announced today and Block will officially be stepping into the role November 4 through November 22.

On October 27, CHINGLISH opened at the Longacre Theatre, making its Broadway premiere following its world premiere production at Goodman Theatre in Chicago this summer. The show began performances on October 11. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the opening night party and takes you inside below!

Benjamin Walker (star of the upcoming 20th Century Fox action film ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER) will be back on stage tomorrow, Tuesday, November 1st at 9:30pm for the return FIND THE FUNNY- which he created and hosts. This will be the final Find the Funny of the year and the last show before Benjamin heads off to Australia to begin work on Legendary Pictures PARADISE LOST opposite Bradley Cooper.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark announced the second honoree of the newly developed 'Everyday Heroes' initiative: Horace Greeley High School English teacher, Jacqueline Morelli of Putnam Valley, New York. The 'Everyday Heroes' program seeks to shine the spotlight on people who embody heroism in their daily lives. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the honorary evening.

The Leopard Works Records today announced the new album, Porcelain, the first from Broadway star Bebe Neuwirth.

Stephen Ashfield (Emmett) and Ben Freeman (Warner) join Carley Stenson (Elle Woods), Natalie Casey (Paulette) and Peter Davison (Professor Callahan) in the Olivier Award winning show Legally Blonde The Musical, which is currently booking until 27 October 2012 at the Savoy Theatre.

Producers Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo (Lombardi) will next present MAGIC/BIRD on Broadway, reuniting with Tony-nominated director Thomas Kail (Lombardi, In The Heights) and Lombardi playwright and Oscar winner and Emmy Nominee Eric Simonson. The new play chronicles the intertwined life stories of two of the most influential figures in sports and pop culture of the past 25 years, basketball Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Earvin ‘Magic' Johnson. According to an audition notice out today, the production will go into rehearsal on January 23, 2012 and begin previews on February 27. An opening date and theater have yet to be announced.

The Public Theater is now presenting previews for KING LEAR, directed by James Macdonald. KING LEAR will run through Sunday, November 20 in The Public's Newman Theater with an official press opening on Tuesday, November 8. Production shots have been released and BroadwayWorld brings you a look below!

We've all heard of Lysistrata, Aristophanes' heroine of the eponymous play, in which she organizes the women of Greece to withhold sex from their men until they negotiated peace. Since its premiere in Athens in 411 BC, the story has been told, and retold, and adapted and reinterpreted and re-situated. And now, musicalized in the upcoming Broadway production of Lysistrata Jones.

In honor of its 8th Anniversary on Broadway, the blockbuster musical Wicked will treat its fans to a special 'Ultimate Encore' performance on Sunday, October 30th. Over 10,000 Wicked fans have cast their votes online for their favorite song from the musical to be performed by the current Broadway cast for this one-time-only performance following this Sunday's matinee. The 'Ultimate Encore' performance will be broadcast worldwide over Facebook that evening at 9pm for Wicked fans across the globe.

A new feature on Brett Ratner out in the New York Times today reveals the music video/Hollywood director and producer's surprising dream job: helming the movie adaptation of the Stephen Schwartz blockbuster, WICKED.

Drake Bell and Lindsay Pearse flew in from hollywood to star in a staged reading of the John Denver/Stewart F. Lane new musical, A Moment in Time, at Playwrights Horizons last week. John Denver, a singer, songwriter and humanitarian, has received numerous awards during his life including, two Grammies, an Emmy, and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photo coverage of the event.

The national touring production of MEMPHIS, the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, kicked off on October 16, 2011 at the Orpheum Theatre in - where else - Memphis, TN, where it played through October 23. The company is now in Houston, where is plays through the weekend, and will next head to Tulsa from November 1 through November 6). Production shots have just been released and BroadwayWorld brings you a first look below!

Ever want to learn Chinglish? Click below for a preview!

New York City Center has just reopened following a historic renovation and modernization with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and star-studded gala last night, October 25 at New York City Center. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg conducted The Encores! Orchestra in the opening number (as a nod to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who conducted the New York Philharmonic when City Center opened as a performing arts center in 1943). Broadway Beat was there for the reopening, and brings you interviews with the evening's participants below!

The pre-Broadway production of Noel Coward's PRIVATE LIVES starring Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross, directed by Richard Eyre, is currently playing Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre. PRIVATE LIVES comes to North America after a sold-out London run. Click below for a scene clip of the pair in action below!