Nicole Rosky - Page 233

Earlier this week, the theatre community gathered at Hudson Terrace to celebrate the nominees for 2015 Creative Arts Tony Awards at 'Designed to Celebrate.' BroadwayWorld was there for the big night to chat with this season's creative geniuses, and you can check out interviews with all of the attendees below!

The Visit, recently nominated for 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical, just  hosted a conversation with two iconic composers following last night's performance. Tony Award-winning composer of The Visit, John Kander, sat down with Tony Award winning composer of the upcoming Broadway musical Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda to chat about his writing process, working without Fred Ebb, finally bringing the show to Broadway, and more. Check out Part 1 of the conversation below!

Happy Birthday Leslie Uggams! Uggams starred in Hallelujah, Baby!, which premiered on Broadway in 1967, and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical. She appeared on Broadway in the revue Blues in the Night in 1982 and in the musical revue of the works of Jerry Herman, Jerry's Girls in 1985. Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003 - 2004) and Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond at the Kennedy Center in 2004 and on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 2005. In 2001 she appeared in the August Wilson play King Hedley II, receiving a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Today 1985, the first Broadway revival of The Wiz opened at the Lunt-Fontanne THeatre, where it ran for 13 performances. The Wiz is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland and moved to the Majestic Theatre. The 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Today in 1960, Finian's Rainbow opened at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre). Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Finian moves to the southern United States (the fictional state of Missitucky is a humorous combination of Mississippi and Kentucky) from Ireland with his daughter Sharon, to bury a stolen pot of gold near Fort Knox, in the mistaken belief that it will grow. A leprechaun follows them, desperate to recover his treasure before the loss of it turns him permanently human. Complications arise when a bigoted and corrupt U.S. Senator gets involved, and when wishes are made inadvertently over the hidden crock.

Happy Birthday, Laurence Olivier! Born in 1907, Olivier remains one of the most revered actors of the 20th century. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from the title role in Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil. Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, and A Bridge Too Far, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III.

Today in 1959, Gypsy opened at the Broadway Theatre, where it ran for 702 performances. Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The musical contains many songs that became popular standards, including 'Small World,' 'Everything's Coming up Roses', 'Some People', 'Let Me Entertain You', and 'Rose's Turn'.

The 10th Anniversary celebration of The Shubert Foundation/Music Theatre International arts education program, Broadway Junior, was held earlier this week at Broadway's Imperial Theatre (249 W. 45th St.), hosted by 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' star Darren Criss. At the annual event, students from Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Manhattan perform song and dance numbers from their school versions of Broadway musicals. The shows include Into the Woods JR, Disney's Aladdin JR, Fame JR, Annie JR, Hairspray JR, and Schoolhouse Rock Live JR. Check out highlights from the special day below!

Here is the lovely and talented Kacie Sheik singing 'Spinning,' an original tune from the new musical fantasy Unbound by Amy Molewski and Nick Luckenbaugh.  'After stumbling upon a book that sucks him into a magical world, Percy meets a headstrong, adventurous girl named Fiona. Uneasy with each other at first, the two become fast friends. But after spending more and more time together in her magic home, Fiona starts wondering if there might be something more between the two.'

The new Broadway comedy An Act of God, starring Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Jim Parsons, began performances on May 7, and officially opens on Thursday, May 28, 2015 at Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street). Joining Parsons will be two-time Tony Award nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (Finian's Rainbow, Young Frankenstein) as 'Michael' & Tim Kazurinsky ('SNL', Police Academy) as 'Gabriel'. An Act of God is written by God, transcribed by 13-time Emmy Award winner David Javerbaum and directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at Parsons in action below!

Live at the IMER (Instituto Mexicano de la Radio) Florencia Cuenca & Jaime Lozano put jazz and musical theatre together creating what they have called 'The New Standards'. Below, watch as they perform Follies' 'Losing My Mind.'

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice just presented the winners of the 60th Annual OBIE Awards. The Public Theater's Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda (including special citations for Andy Blankenbuehler, Thomas Kail, and Alex Lacamoire) received the OBIE Award for Best New American Theatre Work, which is accompanied by a $1,000 check. The Signature Theatre's Founding Artistic Director James Houghton received the OBIE Award for Sustained Achievement. The Awards were hosted by OBIE Award-winning actress Lea DeLaria ('Orange is the New Black'). BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the winners room below!

Second Stage Theatre welcomes film star Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables, Dear John, Mamma Mia!, upcoming Ted 2 and Pan) in her off-Broadway debut opposite Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom, Wild, upcoming in NBC's The Slap) in the world premiere production of NEIL LaBUTE's drama, The Way We Get By. Directed by Tony nominee LEIGH SILVERMAN, the production began previews on April 28, 2015 and officially opened last night, May 19, 2015 at Second Stage Theatre, 305 West 43rd Street. Check out highlights of the duo in action below!

Happy Birthday, Judy Kuhn! Kuhn made her Broadway debut was in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She then played Cosette in the 1987 multiple award winning Broadway production of Les Miserables brought her the first Tony Award nomination. The following year, Kuhn took on a transfer from London's West End, playing one of the main roles (Florence Vassy) in the Trevor Nunn-directed Chess, with music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA) and lyrics by Tim Rice. Later in 1993, Kuhn played the role of Betty Schaefer in the U.S premier production of Sunset Boulevard at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles. Kuhn sang the title role in the 1995 Disney animated film, Pocahontas, the film included her rendition of the song Colors of the Wind, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for its composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. On October 23, 2007, Kuhn returned to the Broadway Production of Les Miserables after 20 years, but this time assuming the role of Fantine.

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Broadway World have partnered for filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. The most recent conversation featured the company of the 12-time Tony nominated An American in Paris of (Christopher Wheeldon, Craig Lucas, Leanne Cope, Max von Essen, Veanne Cox, Brandon Uranowitz and producer Stuart Oken) moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge. Watch below to find out how things are going at the Palace Theatre, how they used their time in Paris to their advantage, and so much more. Check out the full interview below!

Award winning singer and actress Idina Menzel is heading back on the road for her upcoming World Concert Tour. Below, watch as she preps the set with her band by rehearsing a cover of Radiohead's 'Creep.'

Award winning singer and actress Idina Menzel stopped by Phoenix's 3TV to tease her upcoming World Concert Tour. Click below to find out what to expect from the tour and click here for tickets!

What do a Broadway-or-bust diva, an avant-garde performance artist, a dancer starting too late, and a hapless jack of all trades have in common? Find out in the new webseries, This Is Art, a satirical love letter to the postgraduate misadventures of undiscovered artists living in NYC.

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.

After selling out three concerts at the St. James Studios with The Color Purple's Cynthia Erivo in May acclaimed composer Scott Alan went solo on May 3rd at the St. James Theatre. Below, watch 2013 X-FACTOR winner Sam Bailey sing Alan's 'Anything Worth Holding On To'!