Jessica Lewis - Page 66

THE ADDAMS FAMILY welcomed five new principal cast members beginning Tuesday, March 8 at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street) when Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]) assumed the role of Alice Beineke, Adam Grupper (Brighton Beach Memoirs) the role of Mal Beineke, Brad Oscar (Tony-nominated for The Producers) as Fester, Rachel Potter (Wicked nat'l. tour) as Wednesday Addams and Jesse Swenson (Spring Awakening) as Lucas Beineke. Original cast members Nathan Lane, Kevin Chamberlin, Terrence Mann, Carolee Carmello, Krysta Rodriguez and Wesley Taylor will give their final performances on Sunday, March 6.

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that Patrick Breen (Next Fall) and Luke MacFarlane ('Brothers and Sisters') have joined the cast of the premiere presentation of Larry Kramer's ground-breaking play, The Normal Heart, on Broadway. Breen will play Mickey Marcus and MacFarlane will play the roles of Craig Donner and Grady. They join the previously announced Ellen Barkin as Dr. Emma Brookner, John Benjamin Hickey as Felix Turner, Joe Mantello as Ned Weeks, Lee Pace as Bruce Niles, and Jim Parsons as Tommy Boatwright. Additional cast information will be forthcoming. Joel Grey will direct the presentation, which begins its limited 12-week engagement on Tuesday, April 19 at the John Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street), with an official opening night set for Wednesday, April 27. George C. Wolfe will help supervise the presentation through opening night.

Kristin Chenoweth has hinted on her Twitter that she may be heading back to Broadway in the near future in a Scott Ellis production.

The New York Times reports today that Will Swenson (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Hair) will direct independent feature film adaptation of Carol Lynn Pearson's play 'Facing East.' Pearson is also writing the screenplay. The play centers on a family's struggle to come to terms with their Morman faith after losing their gay son to suicide. The subject mater is not far from Swenson's heart, as he witnessed similar struggles within his own childhood Mormon community. Say Swenson of the project: 'Getting through my own adolescence as a young Mormon was challenging as it was, but watching my best friend struggle with his identity as a gay teenager was heartbreaking.'

ROCK OF AGES opened on April 7, 2009 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre to critical acclaim, following an off Broadway engagement in the fall of 2008. The Broadway production was nominated for Five 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and New Line Records released the Original Broadway Cast Recording in July 2009, featuring 28 songs from the show. The New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. film of the musical, directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray), was originally scheduled to be released in 2011. As previously reported, a new release date has now been set for the film: June 1, 2012.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opens Sunday, March 27, 2011, at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street). The performance preview footage has been released and appears below!

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opens Sunday, March 27, 2011, at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street). Two new production shots have been released and BWW brings you a first look below!

According to an AEA casting notice, the Broadway-bound production of FUNNY GIRL will play Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles from January 15 through February 26, 2012. Opening night is set for February 1, 2012.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN has launched a new seat upgrade initiative offering every audience member the chance to upgrade their seat to a pair in the 'First Class' section of the orchestra. During preview performances, beginning 30 minutes before curtain, audience members can text in to a number listed in their Playbill and one winner will be chosen at random 10 minutes prior to show time. Every audience member who enters, regardless of seat location in the theater, is eligible to be upgraded. The seat upgrade is sponsored by JetBlue - the Official Airline of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, opening Sunday, April 10 at The Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52nd Street).

Last night, March 24, the stars came out to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera gala premiere of Rossini's Le Comte Ory at Lincoln Center.

Yesterday, March 24, Elton John paid tribute to his late friend, Elizabeth Taylor, at his concert in Pittsburgh. Said John during the concert: '[It is] a sad day becuase I lost a friend and you lost a hero....[who] stood up when no one was prepared to stand up and be counted against AIDS. God bless you, Elizabeth. God knows how we're going to replace you. This is for you and your beautiful memory and for all of the people you helped saved.'

Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes is now in previews at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway, gearing up for an April 7 opening. Click below for a performance preview of 'You're The Top!' and stay tuned for more on stage performance previews!

Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes, performed live on ABC's 'Good Morning America' between 8AM-9AM on this morning! Sutton Foster and company members performed the tap dancing finale of Act 1. Click below for the performance!

Yesterday, May 23, the new film, Sucker Punched, premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Sucker Punch is an American action-fantasy film written by Steve Shibuya and Zack Snyder, and directed by Snyder. Sucker Punch features an ensemble female cast that includes Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung. The film follows a young girl in the 1950s about to be lobotomized as she attempts to escape an asylum with her inmate friends.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo have announced that due to popular demand the run of Peter and the Starcatcher has extended again for one final week-through Sunday, April 24, when it will play its last performance.

ROCK OF AGES opened on April 7, 2009 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre to critical acclaim, following an off Broadway engagement in the fall of 2008. The Broadway production was nominated for Five 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and New Line Records released the Original Broadway Cast Recording in July 2009, featuring 28 songs from the show. The New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. film of the musical, directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray), was originally scheduled to be released in 2011. As previously reported, a new release date has now been set for the film: June 1, 2012.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opens Sunday, March 27, 2011, at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street). New production shots have been released and BWW brings you a first look below!

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that supermodel and television personality Emme, 'Two and a Half Men' star Conchata Ferrell, two-time Tony Award nominee Alison Fraser (The Secret Garden), actress and radio host Marla Maples and '90210' star AnnaLynne McCord will all join upcoming casts of the Off Broadway hit Love, Loss, and What I Wore, now in its second smash year at the Westside Theatre (407 W 43 Street).

Produced by Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment, SISTER ACT begins preview performances tonight, March 24 and will open on Wednesday, April 20, 2011. SISTER ACT features an original score with music by multi-Academy, Grammy and Golden Globe Award-winning composer Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Enchanted), lyrics by Tony Award-nominee Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid), a book by multi-Emmy Award winners Cheri and Bill Steinkellner ('Cheers'), and additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed). Directed on Broadway by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks (Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing...Forum, Smokey Joe's Café), the production features choreography by Tony and Olivier Award nominee Anthony Van Laast (Mamma Mia, Bombay Dreams) and is based on the Touchstone Pictures motion picture Sister Act written by Joseph Howard.

Broadway's elite will gather to honor a most-deserving philanthropist, Paul Libin, executive vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters, at UJA-Federation of New York's Entertainment, Media, and Communications Division's 2011 Excellence in Theater Award Dinner on Monday, March 28, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. at The St. Regis New York, Fifth Avenue and East 55th Street, Manhattan.