Nicole Rosky - Page 247

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.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi revealed that she'd like to be the next reality TV star to make her Broadway debut. In a recent post on her website about what she wants in 2015, the former Jersey Shore star revealed that because of her obsession with Disney's Frozen, she now wants to be in a Broadway musical. Citing Real Housewives star NeNe Leakes' role in CINDERELLA on Broadway as another inspiration, Snooki said, 'NeNe Leakes is in Broadway in Cinderella! I'm going to LA and I'm going to have a meeting with my peoples an I'm going to tell them let's get me on Broadway.' Her interest caught our attention, and below, we bring you some of Snooki's singing as featured on YouTube. How do you think she'd fare on the Great White Way?

Tony Award-winning musical Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway) - is one of many shows to take its final Broadway bow last weekend, following a triumphant 2-year run. The show played 41 preview and 770 regular performances. Below, the cast of the national tour vows to love the Broadway cast 'til the end of time. Check out the amazing Beyonce-style farewell below!

Following the enormous success of the semi-staged performance of My Fair Lady at the Proms in 2012, John Wilson returned to perform Cole Porter's Tony Award-winning musical Kiss Me, Kate last summer. Joining John Wilson and the John Wilson Orchestra, Broadway stalwarts Ben Davis, Alexandra Silber, Tony Yazbeck and West End star Louise Dearman led the cast in an irreverent reworking of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew -- a play within a play. This was the BBC Proms debut for all four performers as they sang the energetic score in its original 1948 arrangement. Check out highlights from the special event 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.

Hailing from across the pond, stage-and-screen star Julie Andrews has made appearances in what are now considered to be classic theater and film pieces. Though she is well-known for her work on movie-musicals (MARY POPPINS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE) she also starred in numerous hits on Broadway, including MY FAIR LADY and CAMELOT. In the clip below, listen to Andrews' full interview with Alec Baldwin of his podcast- HERE'S THE THING.

Virginia's Signature Theatre is currently presenting the world premiere of Diner, the musical adaptation of the landmark film with a book by the movie's Academy Award®-winning screenwriter and director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Bugsy, The Natural) and an original score by nine-time Grammy Award® winnerSheryl Crow. Directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award® Winner Kathleen Marshall (Broadway's Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It), the production begins performances at Signature Theatre's MAX Theatre December 9. It will play for six and a half weeks, through January 25. Crow and Levinson both just took part in Post: POV, a series hosted by Peter Marks, at which the duo discussed putting the new musical together. Check out the full conversation 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.

Tickets for the 2015 KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY will take place Friday, January 9th, 2015 to Thursday, January 15th, 2015, and is an annual event when kids ages 6 to 18 can see participating Broadway shows for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. A KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY ticket includes pre-theatre activities, restaurant discounts, parking discounts, educational programs, and more. JUDITH LIGHT a two-time Tony Award winner, will serve as the National Ambassador for the 19th KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY. This year KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY salutes Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit, an organization where Light remains a longtime board member. Kids' Night on Broadway® went backstage to interview cast members from this years' participating shows to ask them your questions! Check out the interview with Chicago's Donna Marie Asbury below!

Tickets for the 2015 KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY will take place Friday, January 9th, 2015 to Thursday, January 15th, 2015, and is an annual event when kids ages 6 to 18 can see participating Broadway shows for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. A KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY ticket includes pre-theatre activities, restaurant discounts, parking discounts, educational programs, and more. JUDITH LIGHT a two-time Tony Award winner, will serve as the National Ambassador for the 19th KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY. This year KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY salutes Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit, an organization where Light remains a longtime board member. Kids' Night on Broadway® went backstage to interview cast members from this years' participating shows to ask them your questions! Check out the interview with Beautiful's Jarrod Spector below!

Tickets for the 2015 KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY will take place Friday, January 9th, 2015 to Thursday, January 15th, 2015, and is an annual event when kids ages 6 to 18 can see participating Broadway shows for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. A KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY ticket includes pre-theatre activities, restaurant discounts, parking discounts, educational programs, and more. JUDITH LIGHT a two-time Tony Award winner, will serve as the National Ambassador for the 19th KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY. This year KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY salutes Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit, an organization where Light remains a longtime board member. Kids' Night on Broadway® went backstage to interview cast members from this years' participating shows to ask them your questions! Check out the interview with Aladdin's Courtney Reed and Adam Jacobs below!

Tickets for the 2015 KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY will take place Friday, January 9th, 2015 to Thursday, January 15th, 2015, and is an annual event when kids ages 6 to 18 can see participating Broadway shows for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. A KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY ticket includes pre-theatre activities, restaurant discounts, parking discounts, educational programs, and more. JUDITH LIGHT a two-time Tony Award winner, will serve as the National Ambassador for the 19th KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY. This year KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY salutes Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit, an organization where Light remains a longtime board member. Kids' Night on Broadway® went backstage to interview cast members from this years' participating shows to ask them your questions! Check out the interview with On the Town's Allison Guinn below

Tickets for the 2015 KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY will take place Friday, January 9th, 2015 to Thursday, January 15th, 2015, and is an annual event when kids ages 6 to 18 can see participating Broadway shows for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. A KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY ticket includes pre-theatre activities, restaurant discounts, parking discounts, educational programs, and more. JUDITH LIGHT a two-time Tony Award winner, will serve as the National Ambassador for the 19th KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY. This year KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY salutes Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit, an organization where Light remains a longtime board member. Kids' Night on Broadway® went backstage to interview cast members from this years' participating shows to ask them your questions! Check out the interview with A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder's Jeff Kready & Catherine Walker below!

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.

Today in 1938, The Cradle Will Rock opened at the Windsor Theatre. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The show was recorded and released on seven 78-rpm discs in 1938, making it the first cast album recording. Following the impromptu opening and a brief run at the Venice Theatre (later renamed the New Century Theatre) in July 1937, the production reopened on January 3, 1938, at the Windsor Theatre under the auspices of the new Mercury Theatre Company. It played a total of 108 performances.

Happy Birthday, Taye Diggs! In 1996, Diggs originated the role of the landlord Benny in Jonathan Larson's Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. After Rent he appeared as Mr. Black in Andrew Lippa's off-Broadway production of The Wild Party. Diggs also played The Bandleader in the 2002 film version of the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago and filled in as Billy Flynn on Broadway.

Happy Birthday, Frank Langella! Langella won his first Tony Award for his performance in Edward Albee's Seascape and 1975 and was nominated for another for what may have been the performance for which he was best known for in the early part of his career: the title role of the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula. He then appeared on Broadway in such plays as Sherlock's Last Case, Strindberg's The Father (winning a Drama Desk Award), Match (Tony Award nomination), and Fortune's Fool, for which he won a second Tony Award. He was cast as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon, which received enthusiastic reviews during a run at the Donmar Warehouse and Gielgud Theatre in London before moving to New York's Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in April 2007, culminating in Langella's third Tony Award. He reprised the role of Nixon in the 2008 film Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard.

Happy Birthday, Bebe Neuwirth! Neuwirth made her Broadway debut in the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line in 1980. She later appeared in revivals of Little Me (1982) Sweet Charity (1986), for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and Damn Yankees (1994). 1996 saw her play the role of Velma Kelly in the Broadway revival of Chicago. That role brought her her greatest stage recognition to date, and several awards including the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Neuwirth would later return to the still-running revival of Chicago in 2006, this time in the role of Roxie Hart.She will next return to the musical as 'Mama Morton' in January 2014.

Today in 1948, opened at the Shubert Theatre. Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang. Kiss Me, Kate was a response to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and other integrated musicals, and it proved to be his biggest hit and the only one of his shows to run for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway. It won the first Tony Award presented for Best Musical, in 1949.

Virginia's Signature Theatre presents the world premiere of Diner, the musical adaptation of the landmark film with a book by the movie's Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Bugsy, The Natural) and an original score by nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow. The production began performances at Signature Theatre's MAX Theatre December 9 and will play through January 25. Signature just unveiled a new trailer for the show, and you can check it out below!