Nicole Rosky - Page 482

Monday night's "Classical Julie," starring the inimitable Julie Halston, was one of the all-time best nights in the History of Halston, let alone the history of the Broadway at Birdland series, and comedy in general. (Her portrayal of Lady MacBeth, as played by Little Edie Beal, will be imitated for years to come!) Some of the smartest and funniest people in showbiz swarmed to see her, including Edward Hibbert, Harriet Harris, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Amy Rutberg, Louise DuArt & SQuire Rushnell, Mike Doyle, Mary Testa, Richie Ridge, Richard Hillman, Natalie Douglas, and a boatload of her beloved Anything Goes cast members. The evening was directed by Carl Andress.

Beginning performances on Tuesday, July 31, KYLE DEAN MASSEY will return to the role of Fiyero in the Broadway company of WICKED. He joins a cast which currently includes Jackie Burns as Elphaba, Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda, Randy Danson as Madame Morrible, Adam Grupper as The Wizard, Etai BenShlomo as Boq, Jenny Fellner as Nessarose, and Tom Flynn as Dr. Dillamond. Richard Blake, who is currently playing the role of Fiyero, will play his final performance on Sunday, July 29.

Actress Brittany Snow recently visited Spring Awakening at Downtown's Los Angeles' Hayworth Theatre. The actress caught a performance this past weekend of the show - to support the LOVE IS LOUDER movement and her Pitch Perfect co-star Kelley Jakle. Check out a photo of her with the cast below!

New casting and additional dates have been announced for the international tour of Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT, the two-time Tony Award®-winning Broadway hit. Alex Nee will star as Johnny, along with Thomas Hettrick as Tunny, Casey O'Farrell as Will, Alyssa DiPalma as Whatsername, Jenna Rubaii as The Extraordinary Girl, Kennedy Caughell as Heather and Trent Saunders as St. Jimmy.

According to Deadline.com, stage veteran Liev Schreiber has joined the cast of the upcoming Lee Daniels film The Butler, as Lyndon B Johnson. Danny Strong wrote the script with Daniels.

Today in 1975, A Chrous Line opened at the Shubert THeatre, where it ran for 6137 performances. A Chorus Line is a musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch. With nineteen main characters, it is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical. The show provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. The original Broadway production received 12 Tony Award nominations and winning nine of them, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

David Mirvish will present the North American premiere of the gritty, powerful rock 'n' roll drama BACKBEAT: The Birth of the Beatles, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre Theatre for a strictly limited engagement July 21 until September 2, 2012. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the show below!

FIRE ISLAND DANCE FESTIVAL returned to Fire Island Pines for its 18th awe-inspiring edition, raising a record-breaking $374,260 through three weekend performances. FIRE ISLAND DANCE FESTIVAL 18, the hottest charity event of the season in the Pines, was presented July 20-22 and was produced by and benefitted Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

According to the Huffington Post, stage and screen star Sherman Hemsley recently passed away in his Texas home. He was 74 years old.

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten announced today the full cast and creative team for the World Premiere of WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! by Olivier Award-winning playwright Katori Hall, which will be presented from August 8 through August 19 (opening August 9) on the Nikos Stage. The cast began rehearsals today on the bucolic Williams College campus in preparation for their run as the last production of the 2012 season.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced today the casting for the West Coast premiere of The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer's landmark play focusing on the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York City in the 1980s. Directed by five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart unfolds like a real-life political thriller as a tight-knit group of friends refuse to let doctors, politicians, and the press bury the truth about an epidemic ravaging the gay community behind a wall of silence. The Normal Heart performs a limited run September 13-October 7, 2012, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, September 19, at 8 p.m. The Normal Heart is presented in association with Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C., by special arrangement with Daryl Roth.

According to the New York Observer, broadway song writing veteran Sheldon Harnick's new musical version of Moliere's The Doctor in Spite of Himself, might play New York in the near future. Harnick revealed that the show, which played the William Inge Festival in 2011, could possibly open at Classic Stage Company next season.

Just last night, 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, resumed performances at The York Theatre at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). Kathie Lee Gifford stopped by to visit the cast and you can check out photos below!

The producers of Ghost The Musical announced today that the show will play its final performance on Broadway on Saturday, August 18th at 8pm after 39 previews and 136 regular performances. Ghost The Musical opened on April 23, 2012 at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street), having begun previews on March 15th.

Currently playing at the La Jolla Playhouse is The Nightingale, by the creative team behind the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening: Steven Sater (book and lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music). Directed by Tony Award nominee Moises Kaufman (33 Variations, I Am My Own Wife), the production runs July 10 - August 5, 2012 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. The theatre recently held an open discussion about the color-blind casting of the show, which has gotten attention amoungst the Asian-American community. Here what they had to say about the subject in the full panel video below.

Happy Birthday Kristin Chenoweth! On Broadway, Chenoweth has appeared in Steel Pier, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Epic Proportions, Funny Girl, Wicked, The Apple Tree, Promises, Promises, and On the Twentieth Century. Her Off-Broadway credits include The Fantasticks, Box Office of the Damned, Scapin, Strike Up the Band, A New Brain, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Candide, The Apple Tree, Stairway to Paradise, Love, Loss and What I Wore and many more.

According to the LA Times, Sony Classical will soon release a new Placido Domingo album which will feature a slew of collaborators. Set for an October 16 release, the album will include duets with such artists as: Josh Groban, Harry Connick Jr., Susan Boyle, Megan Hilty, Katherine Jenkins, and Xavier Naidoo.

New York City Center's 2012-13 season will open on September 27 with the ninth annual Fall for Dance Festival, featuring 20 acclaimed international and U.S. dance companies and choreographers in five programs for only $15 a ticket. City Center will celebrate the 20th season of its acclaimed Tony Award-winning Encores! series on November 12 with a Gala benefit starring Raul Esparza and Kelli O'Hara. The Encores! Anniversary Season will open on January 30, 2013, with Fiorello!, the show that launched the series in 1994, and will continue with It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, followed by On Your Toes.

After a three-year absence, Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway returns to the 47th Street Theatre with a brand new edition, Forbidden Broadway: ALIVE AND KICKING. The show, which opens Thursday, September 6, will run for a limited engagement through January 6, 2013. Previews begin tomorrow, July 24th. This production will mark Forbidden Broadway's 30th Anniversary, as well as its 21st edition. Check out photos of the cast below!

Mariah Carey, one of the best-selling female recording artists of all time, has joined AMERICAN IDOL as a new judge. A five-time Grammy Award-winning global superstar with more than 200 million records sold worldwide and more No. 1 songs than any solo artist in history, her 18 Billboard No. 1 singles (17 of which Carey wrote) rival all but The Beatles. Carey joins the judges' panel when AMERICAN IDOL returns in January 2013 on FOX.