Nicole Rosky - Page 219

Today in 1980, 42nd Street opened at the Wintergarden Theatre, where it ran for 3486 performances. 42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit. Based on the novel by Bradford Ropes and the subsequent 1933 film adaptation, it focuses on the efforts of famed dictatorial Great White Way director Julian Marsh to mount a successful stage production of a musical extravaganza at the height of the Great Depression.

Ghostlight Records just released the Original Broadway Cast Recording of IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU - starring Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris, Sierra Boggess and Lisa Howard - in digital formats, with the physical CD online and in stores on Friday, October 9, 2015. Directed by Emmy and Tony Award-winner, David Hyde Pierce in his Broadway directorial debut, IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU features an original book and lyrics by Brian Hargrove and music by Barbara Anselmi. Below, go behind the scenes of the company's recording sessions!

Here is Ben Fankhauser (Newsies) and Nick Blaemire (Found) singing 'Brothers,' a new song by Alexander Sage Oyen from his original musical A Night Like This.  

Today in 1980, the second Broadway revival of Oklahoma! closed at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 293 performances. Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943.

'Theatre for the deaf? On Broadway?' It's a question that many theatre fans have asked since July 7, when official word came that Deaf West Theatre's production of Spring Awakening would land on Broadway this fall. The upcoming production, which will run September 8 through January 9 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, will sound the same to fans of the 2006 Tony-winning musical, but it will be performed simultaneously in American Sign Language by a cast of 27. Wait...what? That's right- this production, which marks the first Broadway revival of the show since it closed in 2009, comes complete with ASL, and though the concept seems revolutionary, this is far from the first time that it has been done (and has worked). Let's review:

Hugh Jackman as the Mask? Jim Carrey as Wolverine? The actors are in the midst of a hilarious social media exchange in which each is impersonating the other's biggest role. Check out how it all went down below!

Gene Kelly has been big part of this past Broadway season. Not only did the legendary song and dance man play the original Jerry Mulligan in the 1951 film AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (a role now played onstage by Robert Fairchild), but he also brought Gabey to life on the big screen in 1949's ON THE TOWN (now played by Tony Yazbeck). Though the musical theatre icon passed away almost twenty years ago, his legacy continues to inspire performers everywhere. This Sunday, August 23, would have marked Kelly's 103rd birthday, and to celebrate ON THE TOWN's Cory Lingner and Eloise Kropp put together their own performance of 'Main Street.' Check it out 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 video from 2011. Relive the magic of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN below!

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Happy Birthday, Andrew Rannells! Rannells played Bob Gaudio in the First National Tour of Jersey Boys. In January 2009, he reprised the role of Gaudio in the musical's Broadway production. Rannells originated the role of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, a musical written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez. For his performance, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. His last performance was June 10, 2012. He will soon play Bryan Buckley in Ryan Murphy's new television series The New Normal on NBC.

Happy Birthday, James Corden! In 2004, Corden played the role of Timms in the original London stage production of Alan Bennett's play The History Boys, as well as in the Broadway, and Sydney productions. In 2011 he attracted international attention as the lead in the award-winning comedy play One Man, Two Guvnors, which transferred from the National Theatre to the West End and then to Broadway, and was also cinecast worldwide via National Theatre Live. For his ongoing Broadway run of the play, Corden won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

Today in 1983, La Cage Aux Folles opened at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 1761 performances. With a book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics and music by Jerry Herman, it is based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret. The original 1983 Broadway production received nine nominations for Tony Awards and won six, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. The success of the musical spawned a West End production and several international runs. The 2004 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival, the 2008 London revival garnered the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. The 2010 Broadway revival was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. La Cage aux Folles is the only musical which has won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical twice and the only show that has won a Best Production Tony Award (Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical) for each of its Broadway productions.

Deaf West's acclaimed production of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's Spring Awakening, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Spencer Liff, just began rehearsals for its Broadway transfer and company member Sean Grandillo is vlogging about the experience. He writes: 'Here's another little peek into what's been going on with us in between the packed schedule of staging the show, rehearsing choreography, music, and ASL, and getting ready to bring our show to New York!'

Audra McDonald has a big year ahead of her! After embarking on a concert tour this fall, the six-time Tony winner, who recenty wrapped filming for Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast, will be back on Broadway, starring alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon in SHUFFLE ALONG. Before all of that, McDonald will head to Provincetown, MA to take part in the acclaimed Broadway @ Town Hall concert series, hosted by SiriusXM radio star Seth Rudetsky. For one show only on Monday, August 24 (6:30 PM), she will be joined onstage by her husband and fellow Broadway star Will Swenson, with whom she is currently starring in Williamstown Theatre Festival's A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN. McDonald recently checked in with BroadwayWorld about Monday's concert, and updated us on all of her upcoming projects! Check out the full interview below:

Last month, twenty of the brightest talents on Broadway were featured in Broadway Sings Bruno Mars, the latest concert in the Broadway Sings series. The tribute series takes the music of well-known music icons and creates new, unique arrangements and orchestrations by twisting the style to fit the strength of the performer. Previous concerts have included Adele, Stevie Wonder, and Justin Timberlake; this November, producer Corey Mach (Godspell, Wicked) and music director Joshua Stephen Kartes will present Broadway Sings Sara Bareilles.?

Today in 2007, the second Broadway revival of Grease opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it ran for 554 performances. Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School (loosely based on William Howard Taft School), follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love, cars, and drive-ins.

Deaf West's acclaimed production of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's Spring Awakening, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Spencer Liff, just began rehearsals for its Broadway transfer and company member Sean Grandillo is vlogging about the experience.  He writes: 'So this week the cast of Deaf West's upcoming revival of Spring Awakening on Broadway started our rehearsals, and I couldn't be more excited. I thought I'd vlog my way through the process to share this incredible experience with the world!' Check out episode 1 below!

The cast of new musical DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, which opened on April 21st and closed on May 10th, 2015 at the Broadway Theatre, hit the recording studio this spring to prepare for the release of the show's original cast recording, which is now available via Broadway Records HERE. Below, check out an exclusive inside look at the cast in the recording studio!

Today in 1981, the second Broadway revival of My Fair Lady opened at the Uris Theatre (now the George Gershwin Theatre), where it ran for 120 performances. My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a well born lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a hit, setting what was then the record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals.

Earlier this month, Samuel French tried out the new 'High School version' of the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages in a live workshop presentation performed by a cast of 13 -17 year olds. The workshop helped the creators to adapt one of Broadway's raciest 'Rock-n-Roll' musicals into an appropriate, 'PG-rated' show for young performers and audiences. Young actors featured in presentation included Jake Moskovitz (15 year old actor playing Drew Boley), Olivia West (17 year old actor playing Sherrie), plus a whole company of teens taking on the other roles. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you inside the special workshop to see just how the show is shaping up for a younger cast!