Nicole Rosky - Page 479

Direct from a 13-city National Tour, Bring It On: The Musical opens on Broadway tomorrow, Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at The St. James Theatre for a 12-week limited engagement through Sunday, October 7, 2012. The show got its start at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, and in the video below the old friends wish the cast a happy opening.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones will lead an Australian premiere of DRIVING MISS DAISY next winter. According to Courier Mail, the show is set to open at the Playhouse Theatre at QPAC on February 5.

Center Theatre Group has announced that Robert Egan is set to direct Jon Robin Baitz's immensely entertaining "Other Desert Cities" at the Mark Taper Forum. The play that received a 2012 Tony nomination for Best Play will be presented in its West Coast premiere at the Taper and will close out the Taper's 45th season at the Los Angeles Music Center.

Stage Entertainment, in cooperation with Disney Theatrical Productions, present the Dutch premiere of The Little Mermaid, which premiered on Broadway in 2007. After presenting Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Netherlands is the first country to scoop the European premiere of the Disney musical. Disney's The Little Mermaid opened on May 12, premiering at Martini Plaza in Groningen and then playing larger theaters in the Netherlands. BroadwayWorld brings you production shots below!

The Hollywood Bowl's production of THE PRODUCERS ended its limited run on July 29, 2012. The cast featured Richard Kind as Max Bialystock, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Leo Bloom, Roger Bart as Carmen Ghia, Gary Beach as Roger De Bris, Rebecca Romijn as Ulla and Dane Cook as Franz Liebkind.

Stage favorite Michael Crawford has been busy advising Great Britain's 13-person synchronized swimming team for the London Olympics. Crawford shared his artistic expertise with the team, who will perform a Peter Pan-themed Olympic free routine at next week's events. The team shared the below photo of Crawford on their Facebook page, as he wished them all good luck!

Just last night, Tony Award-nominee Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde, Les Miserables), Helen Hayes Award-winner Natascia Diaz (Man of La Mancha, Seussical, The Capeman, Carnival) and Drew Sarich (Les Miserables, Lestat, starring in the upcoming Broadway-bound production of Rocky the Musical in Europe) starred in the benefit concert of the Benny Andersson, Tim Rice and Bjorn Ulvaeus musical CHESS for The Actor's Fund. This special CHESS "In Concept" Concert took place at LaGuardia Arts at Lincoln Center (100 Amsterdam Avenue). This stripped down all through-sung concert-version focused on the music, lyrics and characters, emulating the original 1984 concept album and incorporating virtually all of the original London score. BroadwayWorld brings you exclusive highlights from the concert below!

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.

Featured in this week's event will be the casts of Chaplin, The Musical, Mamma Mia!, One Man, Two Guvnors, Silence, The Musical, and My Sinatra.

Nashville and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) host the world premiere of "The Nutty Professor" Musical this month. Directed by Jerry Lewis, the show is a new musical comedy based on the 1963 film of the same name. The Broadway at TPAC Special Event began previews on July 24, and officially opens tonight, July 31- running through August 19 in TPAC's James K. Polk Theater. Featuring music by Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Marvin Hamlisch (A Chorus Line) and a book and lyrics by three-time Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), "The Nutty Professor" is a musical treat for the whole family, based on the classic 1963 film in which Lewis starred and co-wrote.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Mariah Carey has officially joined the AMERICAN IDOL judges panel for 2012, but an announcement has yet to be made regarding who will fill the other two chairs at the table. According to US Weekly, Broadway veteran Nick Jonas is on his way to doing just that. An IDOL insider told US: 'Nick is pretty close to signing to be the Idol judge. They flew him in to L.A. last week for final meetings.'

Image Entertainment, Inc. has acquired the home entertainment rights to Company In Concert, Stephen Sondheim's iconic tour de force on contemporary relationships, with an all-star cast including Criag Bierko, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Katie Finneran, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Lazar, Patti LuPone, Jill Paice, Martha Plimpton, Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jim Walton and Chryssie Whitehead. The announcement was made by Image Entertainment's Chief Acquisition Officer, Bill Bromiley.

Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva might be focused this week on winning gold in London, but according to the New York Times, he has already set his sights on performing on a different stage. He told NYT: "I want to do musicals, acting, Broadway, everything."

The raucous, irreverent, and unfiltered new Off-Broadway musical comedy The Last Smoker in America, with book and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Bill Russell (Side Show) and music by Drama Desk Nominee Peter Melnick (Adrift in Macao), with direction by Tony Award winning producer and director Andy Sandberg (Hair; Gore Vidal's The Best Man), choreography by Tony Award nominee AC Ciulla (Footloose) and music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Fred Lassen (The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess), began performances Wednesday, July 11, 2012 upstairs at The Westside Theatre (407 West 43rd Street). Opening Night is Thursday, August 2, 2012. BoadwayWorld brings you highlights from the show below!

CLOSER THAN EVER, with Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Music by David Shire, presented by The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) in association with Edward Negley, Neil Berg and Adam Friedson, recently resumed performances at The York Theatre at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). Santino Fontana and Joan Rivers stopped by to visit the cast and you can check out photos below!

The producers of the Tony-winning hit musical comedy NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT just announced that Will Chase (NBC's "Smash") will take on the role of Jimmy Winter from Tuesday, August 21st to Sunday, August 26th only while two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick is on vacation. Broderick returns to the show full time on Tuesday, August 28th.

TRIASSIC PARQ The Musical, 2010's Best Musical winner at FringeNYC, will end its strictly limited engagement as scheduled this Sunday, August 5th. Written by Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo, TRIASSIC PARQ is directed by Mr. Pailet, with choreography by Kyle Mullins and musical direction by Zak Sandler. The cast of TRIASSIC PARQ features Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Hairspray, Lysistrata Jones), Brandon Espinoza (Les Miserables, Captains Courageous), Wade McCollum (Submissions Only), Claire Neumann (Boston Marriage), Lee Seymour (title role in Hamlet, Shakespeare's Globe), Shelley Thomas (Zanna, Don't!), and Alex Wyse (HBO's Bored to Death).

SoHo Playhouse, Inc. (15 Vandam Street, New York City) today announced the three exciting productions that will make up their 2012-13 three-play season.

The Public Theater announced today that there will be a special family-friendly matinee of the free Shakespeare in the Park production of INTO THE WOODS on Wednesday, August 22 at 3 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater. This matinee is designed to engage younger audiences and to serve families unable to attend evening performances. The 95-minute production will comprise act one only of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved musical INTO THE WOODS. There will still be an 8 p.m. evening performance of INTO THE WOODS on August 22. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the production with a photo preview of the cast in action below!

MSG Entertainment will present Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical for a limited engagement at The Theater at Madison Square Garden beginning Thursday, December 13 through Sunday, December 30, 2012. Celebrate the holidays with this heart-warming classic tale that will entertain the whole family as the show makes its triumphant return to New York City. Tickets go on-sale to the general public on Monday, August 13 at 12PM.