Nicole Rosky - Page 222

The Skivvies are back in action! Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley, award-winning NYC actor/musicians doing stripped down versions of eclectic covers and comedic, genre-hopping mashups. Not only are the arrangements stripped down - cello, ukulele, glockenspiel, melodica - but the Skivvies literally strip down to their underwear to perform. It's undie-rock at its finest. Featured in People Magazine's Hottest Bodies Issue as the Most Playful performers, the Wall Street Journal calls them 'highly original...smart...ingenious'.

Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.

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

Broadway in Bryan Park continued its 2015 program on Thursday - and BroadwayWorld was on hand to capture the first day. This week's line-up included performances from the casts of MATILDA, LES MISERABLES, THE FANTASTICKS, ON THE TOWN and HAPPY 50ISH. Below, watch as Edward Watts, William Thomas Evans, Philip Hoffman, Daniel Berryman and Samantha Bruce perform The Fantasticks' 'Try to Remember,' 'Never Say No,' and 'Soon It's Gonna Rain.'

Broadway in Bryan Park continued its 2015 program on Thursday - and BroadwayWorld was on hand to capture the first day. This week's line-up included performances from the casts of MATILDA, LES MISERABLES, THE FANTASTICKS, ON THE TOWN and HAPPY 50ISH. Below, watch as the company of Matilda performs 'When I Grow Up.'

Broadway is abuzz with news about NBC's upcoming presentation of The Wiz, with Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and original Dorothy Stephanie Mills all having just signed on to star. They aren't the only ones with love for The Wiz though. On Monday night, January 20, 2014 BroadwayWorld.com kicked off our 10th anniversary celebration with a benefit for BC/EFA entitled BroadwayWorld.com Visits Oz. In celebration of this week's big news, we bring you our own concert highlights of The Wiz, including performances of 'So You Wanted to See the Wizard?,' 'Be A Lion,' 'Home,' 'If You Believe,' and of course, 'Ease on Down the Road.'

Duncan Sheik has a busy year ahead of him! Contributing music to The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, which just opened at the Westside Theatre, he now travels to Poughkeepsie to work on his new musical, Noir, at Vassar's 2015 Powerhouse season. Soon after, rehearsals begin for the first Broadway revival of Spring Awakening, and then he starts preparing for the Broadway transfer of his musical version of American Psycho. Below, he updates BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge on his crazy year ahead!

The beauty of a long-running Broadway show is being able to see an iconic role portrayed by more than just one star. Today, BWW is continuing our new series SHOWTUNE SHUFFLE! In this edition, not two, but eight Elphabas and Fiyeros sing Wicked's 'As Long as You're Mine' from start to finish. Click below to watch Teal Wicks, Richard H. Blake, Caroline Bowman, Matt Shingledecker, Lindsay Mendez, Derek Klena, Christine Dwyer and Justin Guarini trade off the melody and strut all over the Bryant Park stage!

It's been a while since Disney veteran Heidi Blickenstaff, a replacement for Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has sang of  those 'Poor Unfortunate Souls.' Below, watch as she belts out the classic Disney tune at a Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise!

Kelli O'Hara might be the reigning queen of Broadway, but another Anna Leonowens might give her a run for her money. Below, watch as 100 year-old Patricia Morison, who played the role opposite Yul Brynner in the original 1954 production, sends a special greeting to O'Hara!

Today in 1965, Oliver! opened at the Martin Beck Theatre, where it ran for 64 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 2009-2011.

Today in 2003 Avenue Q opened at the John Golden Theatre, where it ran for 2534 performances. Avenue Q was conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore. Avenue Q is an 'autobiographical and biographical' coming-of-age parable, addressing and satirizing the issues and anxieties associated with entering adulthood. It opened Off-Broadway in March 2003, co-produced by The New Group and the Vineyard Theatre, and later won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and spawned Las Vegas and West End productions, two national tours, and a variety of international productions.

Happy Birthday, Sam Mendes! Sam Mendes is best known for whis work as the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, and his direction of the film American Beauty and the Broadway production of Cabaret on Broadway starring Alan Cumming. His production of Oliver! became the longest running show ever to play at the London Palladium. Additional stage credits includeTennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, Stephen Sondheim's Company (which had the first ever African American 'Bobby'), Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus and his farewell duo of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night, which transferred to the Brooklyn Academy Of Music and Gypsy on Broadway starring Bernadette Peters.

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 2008. Relive the magic of SHREK below!

Megan McGinnis is heading back to the New York stage, starring alongside Paul Alexander Nolan in John Caird and Paul Gordon's musical adaptation of DADDY LONG LEGS. Based on the 1912 novel by Jean Webster, DADDY LONG LEGS tells the extraordinary tale of Jerusha Abbott (McGinnis), the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. One day, a rich, anonymous benefactor (Nolan) decides to send her to college, but she must write him a letter once a month. Unaware of his identity, she invents a nickname for him: Daddy Long Legs. Through her brilliant and witty letters, Jerusha shares her experiences of college while discovering her own identity and reveling in the wonders of literature, adventure and love. But one key fact eludes her - who is Daddy Long Legs? McGinnis returns to the role after leading the premiere at the Rubicon Theatre Company in 2009, and subsequent productions around the country. She received the 2010 Los Angeles Ovation Award, an Indy Award (West Coast) and the Acclaim Award (Cincinnati), for her role in the musical. Now as she prepares to return to the role years after creating it, she is checking in with BroadwayWorld to chat about the upcoming production. Check out the full interview below!

She is known for bringing magic and song to life on Broadway in her award-winning role in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. Now Laura Osnes has brought a bit of her own fairytale singing to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Earlier this month, Osnes joined the Choir and Orchestra in two gala performances entitled 'Music for a Summer Evening,' their annual concert held in conjunction with community-wide Pioneer Day celebrations. Below, check out her full concert!

Celebrating 20 years since its first performance off-Broadway, an all-new London production of triple-Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown's first musical, Songs for a New World is at the St. James Theatre for a strictly limited run of three weeks, directed by Adam Lenson. This special 20th Anniversary production of Songs for a New World features an award-winning cast, including Cynthia Erivo, Jenna Russell, Damian Humbley and Dean-John Wilson, alongside a five piece band.

Mack & Mabel, which will embark on a UK & Ireland Tour in Autumn 2015 following its premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre, stars double Oliver award-winning Michael Ball and Rebecca LaChance. Based on the real-life romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, it tells the story of a group of pioneering filmmakers who changed the world surrounded by the great fun of the silent screen: heroes in capes, girls tied to the tracks, glamorous Bathing Beauties and the chaos of the Keystone Kops.

Star of 'Breaking Down the Riffs,' Natalie Weiss, with Addi McDaniel and Jacqueline Kerrod recently performed at NYC's Highline Ballroom. Check out highlights from the concert below!

Earlier this month, Jose Llana stepped into the role of the King of Siam in Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I, directed by Bartlett Sher, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). This marks Llana's second experience in the iconic show, as he made is Broadway debut almost 20 years ago as Lun Tha in the 1996 revival. Llana joins Tony winner Kelli O'Hara for a strictly limited 11-week engagement through Sunday, September 27. Just after he took his first bow on the Vivian Beaumont stage, he checked in with BroadwayWorld to update us on taking on his new role, reuniting with some of his Here Lies Love friends, and so much more. Check out the full interview below!