Nicole Rosky - Page 305

Happy Birthday, Jesse L. Martin! Martin is best known for originating the role of Tom Collins in the Broadway theatrical production of Rent, and for his portrayal of NYPD Detective Ed Green on the NBC drama television series Law & Order. He made his Broadway debut in Timon of Athens, and then performed in The Government Inspector with Lainie Kazan. In 2010, Martin returned to the stage for one of his biggest theater commitments since Law & Order performing in the productions of The Merchant of Venice and The Winter's Tale as a part of The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. He played the roles of Gratiano and King Polixenes, respectively. The Merchant of Venice later transferred to Broadway to the Broadhurst Theater for a limited engagement, during which time Martin reprised his role as Gratiano.

Today in 1931, Broadway veteran James Earl Jones was born. He has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. He has acted in many Shakespearean roles: Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet. On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of On Golden Pond, directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn. In February 2008, he starred on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre. In October 2010, Jones returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy along with Vanessa Redgrave at the Golden Theatre. In November 2011, Jones starred in Driving Miss Daisy in London's West End, and on November 12 Jones received his honorary Oscar in front of the audience at the Wyndham's Theatre, which was presented to him by Ben Kingsley.

Happy Birthday, Lin-Manuel Miranda! Miranda is most famous for writing and starring as 'Usnavi' in the Broadway musical In the Heights, which opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2008, and for which he won the Tony Award as composer and lyricist. He also wrote Spanish language dialogue and worked with Stephen Sondheim to translate into Spanish song lyrics for the revival of West Side Story, which opened on Broadway in March 2009. Most recently, Miranda worked on the musical theatre version of Broadway's Bring It On, inspired by the 2000 cheerleader comedy film of the same name.

Randy Weiner's newest genre-crossing, environmental experience, Queen of the Night, which began performances on December 31, 2013, has announced an extension from its original six week limited run at the legendary supper club, Diamond Horseshoe (235 W. 46th Street, NYC) with an official opening night on Saturday, February 1, 2014. Check out a just-released trailer for the show below!

AVENUE Q's Jennifer Barnhart, Darren Bluestone, Sala Iwamatsu, Jason Jacoby, Veronica Kuehn, Nick Kohn, Jed Resnick, and Danielle Kamilah Thomas just joined Alan Seales from Google for a special performance and Q&A. Check out the full appearance below!

Friends in Theater Company will soon present Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once on this Island, one-night-only production benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York and Western New York onMonday, January 20, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Lucille Lortel Theater (121 Christopher Street New York, NY 10014). In the video below, Billy Porter, Stark Sands, Annaleigh Ashford, Ann Harada, Santino Fontana, Ryan Steele and more show their support for the cause!

The original cast recording of Murder for Two, the hit new musical comedy starring Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback, with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair, was released digitally yesterday, January 14, 2014 by Ghostlight Records. To celebrate, the cast and creative team of Murder for Two threw an album release party immediately following Monday's performance at New World Stages. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there for the special event chat chat with the cast about the album, and you can check out what they had to say below!

Today in 2008, The 39 Steps opend at the American Airlines Theatre, where it ran for 771 performances. The play is a farce adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. Patrick Barlow wrote the adaptation, based on the original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon of a two-actor version of the play. The play's concept calls for the entirety of the 1935 adventure film The 39 Steps to be performed with a cast of only four. One actor plays the hero, Richard Hannay, an actress plays the three women with whom he has romantic entanglements, and two other actors play every other character in the show: heroes, villains, men, women, children and even the occasional inanimate object. This often requires lightning fast quick-changes and occasionally for them to play multiple characters at once. Thus the film's serious spy story is played mainly for laughs, and the script is full of allusions to (and puns on the titles of) other Alfred Hitchcock films, including Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest.

Disney's Aladdin, a new musical comedy based on the Academy Award®-winning animated film, begins performances at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre on February 26th, 2014 for a March 20 opening. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, the show features music by Tony Award® and eight-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken(Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman(Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony Award and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida) and two-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw(The Book of Mormon). In the video below, watch the full marquee installation at the New Amsterdam Theatre!

Broadway composer and lyricist John Bucchino and bookwriter Mads Nielsen's Danish-American romantic musical drama ESAURA, recently conluded a Fall 2013 run at the Fredericia Teater. The plot of the new musical is based on a free adaptation of the 1905 novel by Carl E. Simonsen 'Abraham Fournais' and has parallels to the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. The musical drama is set during the aftermath of the Battle of Fredericia and tells a fascinating story about human relationships. In short, it is a story with universal appeal played out in a Danish historical setting. Bucchino recently took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld about how the show got its start, what's in store for it's future, and more. Check out the full interview below!

Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Tony Award winning musical comedy Pippin, directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, is currently playing at Broadway's Music Box Theatre. In the video below, go behind the scenes with the cast as they filmed highlights from the show!

Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Machinal, starring Rebecca Hall, written by Sophie Treadwell and directed by Lyndsey Turner, began previews on, Friday, December 20 at 8:00PM ahead of an official opening on Jan. 16, 2014 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway. Machinal is a limited engagement through March 2. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights of the cast in action below!

Today in 1999, Fosse opened at the Broadhurst THeatre, where it ran for 1093 performances. Fosse is a three-act musical revue showcasing the choreography of Bob Fosse. The original Broadway production, conceived and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Ann Reinking was choreographed by Reinking and Chet Walker. In 2002, Fosse, featuring Reinking and Ben Vereen, was aired as part of the Great Performances series on PBS television. A London production opened at the West End Prince of Wales Theatre on February 8, 2000 and closed January 6, 2001. The musical did not recreate the musical numbers as originally presented but instead had primarily black-and-white costumes (including the all-important hats), set against a simple setting.

The new musical, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter opened last night at the Sondheim Theatre on Broadway. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there for the after party festivities, where got to chat with the whole company, including the lady of the night- Jessie Mueller. Check out what they had to say after the curtain went down below!

Author Tim Federle's follow-up to Better Nate Than Ever -- FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, NATE! -- will be published by Simon and Schuster on January 21, 2014. Check out a trailer for the new book below!

As BoadwayWorld previously reported, Tony nominee Valisia LeKae recently announced that she would depart the cast of Broadway's MOTOWN because of an ovarian cancer diagnosis. To express their support of their castmate, the company united to perform a song written especially for her. 'I Am Here' was written by Julius Thomas III and arranged by Jason Michael Webb. Below, check out the song as performed by the cast of MOTOWN!

The new musical, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter opened last night at the Sondheim Theatre on Broadway. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was on hand on the red carpet, and while he was there he chatted with all of the evening's biggest guests, including Bernadette Peters, Phil Collins, Sara Bareilles, Billy Porter and more. Check out what they had to say about their love for Carole King below!

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.

Winner of a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards including Best Musical, Matilda The Musical, currently playing at the Shubert Theatre, is based on the beloved novel by best-selling author Roald Dahl(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox). It is the story of an extraordinary girl who dreams of a better life. Armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, Matilda dares to take a stand and change her destiny. The show has been nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Below, BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you an exclusive series which features music videos from the show's Grammy nominated score. Today we are featuring 'Revolting Children'!

Winner of a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards including Best Musical, Matilda The Musical, currently playing at the Shubert Theatre, is based on the beloved novel by best-selling author Roald Dahl(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox). It is the story of an extraordinary girl who dreams of a better life. Armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, Matilda dares to take a stand and change her destiny. The show has been nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Below, BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you an exclusive series which features music videos from the show's Grammy nominated score. Today we are featuring 'Loud'!