Nicole Rosky - Page 202

Disney's recent production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, based on the novel by Victor Hugo and the Disney animated film, may not be Broadway-bound, but in just one week, fans who missed the Paper Mill and La Jolla Playhouse productions will get to hear it. The American Premiere Studio Recording of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the only stage collaboration from two masters of the American musical Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, will be released on January 22, and we've got a special sneak peek! Click below to check out an exclusive track from the album- 'Someday,' as performed by Ciara Renee and Andrew Samonsky, who played Esmerelda and Phoebus.

Today in 1925, the late Broadway legend Gwen Verdon was born. Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s. She is also strongly identified with her second husband, director-choreographer Bob Fosse, remembered as the dancer-collaborator-muse for whom he choreographed much of his work and as the guardian of his legacy after his death. Verdon is most remembered for starring in Sweet Charity, Chicago, and Damn Yankees.

As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, legendary singer, songwriter and actor David Bowie has passed away following a long battle with cancer. He was 69. The news was shared on Bowie's officialFacebook : January 10 2016 -David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer.  While the world mourns the loss of the icon, C'mon Everybody celebrated his legacy last night with performances from Tony winner Lena Hall, Stephen Trask, Tim Mislock and many more. Watch below as they perform 'Life on Mars?,' Five Years,' and 'Boys Keep Swinging.'

Today in 1939, The Importance of Being Earnest opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre, where it ran for 61 performances. Written by Oscar Wilde, the show was first performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

The Broadway revival of Hughie, starring Academy Award winner, Golden Globe Award winner & BAFTA winner Forest Whitaker and Tony Award winner Frank Wood will begin performances on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 at Broadway's Booth Theatre, with opening night on Feb. 25, 2016. Below, BroadwayWorld is exclusively bringing you the first TV spot for the incoming production!

Today in 1976, Pacific Overtures opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 193 performances. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, the musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change. The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. A Broadway revival ran at Studio 54 from December 2, 2004 to January 30, 2005, directed by Amon Miyamoto and starring B.D. Wong as the Narrator and several members of the original cast.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off, starring Andrea Martin as 'Dotty Otley,' Campbell Scott as 'Lloyd Dallas,' Tracee Chimo as 'Poppy Norton-Taylor,' Daniel Davis as 'Selsdon Mowbray,' David Furr as 'Garry Lejeune,' Kate Jennings Grant as 'Belinda Blair,' Megan Hilty as 'Brooke Ashton,' Rob McClure as 'Tim Allgood' and Jeremy Shamos as 'Frederick Fellowes.' Tony nominee Jeremy Herrin will direct the new Broadway production as part of Roundabout Theatre Company's 50th anniversary season. BroadwayWorld has a first sneak peek of the cast in action below!

The company of the latter production is in the home stretch of preparations and Wolfson (KINKY BOOTS) and Pizzolo (FUN HOME) just checked in with BroadwayWorld to tell us all about the process. Check out the full interview below!

MCC THEATER will soon present Zachary Quinto in the New York premiere of Smokefall, by Noah Haidle and directed by Anne Kauffman, who directed The Nether for MCC last season to great acclaim. Quinto will also be joined by rising star Julia Garner, currently starring opposite Lily Tomlin in the Oscar-buzzed independent film Grandma; film and television star Robin Tunney and NYC theater veterans Jon DeVries and Brian Hutchison. The company just met the press and BroadwayWorld was there for the big day. Go inside rehearsal below!

In honor of Throwback Thursday, BroadwayWorld is celebrating the past with a new series that will take you back in time with some of our favorite vintage video features. That's right- we are opening up the BroadwayWorld Vaults to reminisce on shows are long gone from the Broadway-scene, but have left an indelible mark on the world of theatre as a whole. Today, we bring you a vintage BroadwayWorld 'STAGE MAGIC' video from 2009. Watch as Lea Salonga (currently starring on Broadway in Allegiance) reveals the magic behind her career below!

Today in 2008, The Little Mermaid opened at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman (written for the film) and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The musical had a pre-Broadway tryout in Denver, Colorado in July through early September 2007. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.

Today in 2011, In the Heights closed at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it ran for 1184 performances. In the Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegria Hudes. The story explores three days in the characters' lives in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights. The Broadway production was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler), and Best Orchestrations (Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman). It was also a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of THe Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

Today in 1985, the second Broadway revival of THe King and I opened at the Broadway THeatre, where it ran for 191 performances. The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The story deals with the experiences of the British schoolteacher, who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the play, as well as by a love that neither is able to express. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951 at Broadway's St. James Theatre.

The critically acclaimed play The Woodsman, a uniquely inventive retelling of the origins of Oz's Tin Woodsman, will begin performances on Wednesday, January 27, 2016 and officially open on Monday, February 8, 2016 (7:30) at Off-Broadway's New World Stages - Stage 5 (340 West 50th Street). Check out a sneak peek below!

Today in 1963, Oliver! opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre, where it ran for 774 performances. Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. It premiered in the West End in 1960, enjoying a long run, a successful Broadway production in 1963 and further tours and revivals. It was made into a musical film in 1968. Major London revivals played from 1994-1998 and again from 2008-2011.

After two sold out shows (Ellyn Marie Marsh is: INAPPROPRIATE) at Feinstein's/54 Below last January, Ellyn just brought new show downtown to Joe's Pub. The show, billed 'A Night of Delusions of Grandeur' featured high belting, comedy, popular songs, medleys, musical theater numbers, a lightning round - everything you would want in a variety show about a performer who thinks she's God's gift to mankind. As the lovechild of Nicki Minaj and Ethel Merman, Marsh put on a show not to be missed and you can check out highlights below!

Today in 1946, the second Broadway revival of Showboat opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, and ran for 418 performances. Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, from 1880 to 1927. The show's dominant themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love.

Norma's coming back to the big screen! As BroadwayWorld previously announced, Glenn Close will star as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD, presented by English National Opera (ENO) and the GradeLinnit Company, this coming spring. Now, writer Christopher Hampton revealed that a movie version of the musical is in the works, according to the Evening Standard.  He told ES: 'In fact we are looking down the line to make a movie of it later. When we first did Sunset Boulevard it was somehow still too close to the original. Now you have to ask yourself and find a director who would ask 'What is there about this story that was made so perfectly in 1950 that justified me doing it again?' '

Today in 2009, Hairspraiy closed at the Neil Simon Theatre after 2,641 performances. Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and 'downtown' rhythm and blues. In 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, plump teenager Tracy Turnblad's dream is to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show.