Nicole Rosky - Page 306

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 animated versions of some of the show's greatest tunes. Today we are featuring 'The Smell of Rebellion'!

This week's featured composer is Jeremy Schonfeld, who you can catch at the Cutting Room on January 27th at 8pm! Here is Michael Hunsaker singing Jeremy's song 'Cornerstone' at our concert at the Canal Room.

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. In anticipation of the big Broadway opening, we're getting acquainted with the company. In the video below, meet director Casey Nicholaw!

The National Theatre of Great Britain will present The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens, adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, directed by Tony Award-winner Marianne Elliott, on Broadway at the Barrymore Theatre, 243 West 47th Street, in the Fall of 2014. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time transferred to London's West End, following a sold-out run at the National's Cottesloe Theatre in 2012. The production received seven Olivier Awards this year, including Best New Play. As a preview for the upcoming Broadway production, BroadwayWorld brings you highlights of the West End cast in action below!

Today in 1939, The Importance of Being Earnest opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre, where it ran for 61 performances. Written by Oscar Wilde, the show was first performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

Today in 1976, Pacific Overtures opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 193 performances. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, the musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change. The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. A Broadway revival ran at Studio 54 from December 2, 2004 to January 30, 2005, directed by Amon Miyamoto and starring B.D. Wong as the Narrator and several members of the original cast.

Today in 2011, In the Heights closed at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it ran for 1184 performances. In the Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegria Hudes. The story explores three days in the characters' lives in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights. The Broadway production was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler), and Best Orchestrations (Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman). It was also a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of THe Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

Actor Dule Hill visited HuffPost Live to discuss his role in the Broadway musical, After Midnight, opening up about how he landed his first Broadway gig. Plus, Hill revealed the secret handshake that Martin Sheen taught him on the set of The West Wing. Check out the full interview below!

Follow Lyrics & Lyricists over the rainbow to the West Coast and the glory days of MGM. On January 11, 12 and 13 Tony Award® winner Kathleen Marshall makes her L&L debut as guest artistic director for Going Hollywood, a singing, dancing, Technicolor celebration of the silver screen's greatest musicals, featuring Cameron Adams, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Joshua Henry, Jeremy Jordan, Rob McClure and Rachel York. In the video below, Marshall chats about what to expect from the special concert event!

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.

Chronicling the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter Carole King, BEAUTIFUL is currently in previews at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd Street), following a critically acclaimed, sold-out World Premiere in San Francisco. An official opening night is set for Sunday, January 12, 2014. BroadwayWorld brings you a sneak peek of the cast in action below!

Robert Mackintosh, St James Theatre and Hilary A Williams by arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh will present the Alex Parker production of PUTTING IT TOGETHER by Stephen Sondheim. First produced by Cameron Mackintosh in New York, with Julie Andrews over 20 years ago, the London premiere will be performed by a stellar, award-winning cast including: David Bedella, Daniel Crossley, Janie Dee, Damian Humbley and Caroline Sheen. The video below documents the first week the Cast and Creatives spent in rehearsal for the 2014 London Premiere at the St James Theatre. Check it out 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.

Broadway star Jennifer Laura Thompson will make her cabaret debut on January 7 and 11, 2014 at 54 Below. The concert is set to feature songs from her career both on and off Broadway. Scroll down to learn about Thompson's hopes and fears as she approaches her first solo show!

Wang took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld about what's in store for the 2014 Festival, and you can check out what she had to say below!

Sand Artist-extraordinaire Silvia Emme has teamed up with MIKA once again, this time to create an all new piece to accompany his 'Popular Song' featuring Arianda Grande. In the video below, she uses only her fingers, to draw with sand on her lightbox and create a special tribute to the show from which the song was inspired- Broadway's Wicked.

Broadway favorite Megan Hilty, who is currently starring opposite Sean Hayes in NBC's 'Sean Saves the World,' recently stopped by Yahoo Studios, where she chatted with Ali Wentworth about everything from her recent nuptials in Vegas to the crazy way that she watched NBC's 'The Sound of Music.' Check out the full interview below!

It was almost three years ago when Nikki M James took home the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in THE BOOK OF MORMON. Below, James tributes every actress that has shared the same recognition in an incredible ode to 'The Ladies Who Tony.'

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.