Nicole Rosky - Page 492

The Broadway at Birdland concert series will present the return of composer JASON ROBERT BROWN on Monday, July 30, with two shows, at 6 and 8:30 pm. Jason's musical guest stars will be Leslie Odom, Jr. (Sam Strickland on "Smash," Leap of Faith), Heidi Blickenstaff (title of show, First You Dream) and Jennifer Damiano (Tony nominee/Next To Normal, Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark).

Judy Craymer, producer of the global smash-hit musical phenomenon MAMMA MIA! earlier this week announced that the new musical, VIVA FOREVER! will open at the PICCADILLY THEATRE in London's West End in perfect time for Christmas. VIVA FOREVER! will preview from Tuesday 27 November and officially open on Tuesday 11 December 2012. Go inside the big announcement in the video below!

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) will take its MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT on tour again this July with a production of RICHARD III, directed by Amanda Dehnert. The three-week tour, July 16 to August 3, will bring free Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts before a sit-down run at The Public Theater, August 6-25. Tickets for Richard III at The Public are $15 and go on sale July 12.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival and Janet Billig Rich & Rebecca Roffman present a staged reading of the new musical IT'S ON!, the T.V. show theme song musical. Readings will take place on Tuesday July 10th and Wednesday July 11th at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center located at 480 West 42nd Street. The official opening is Tuesday, July 10th at 8:00 PM.

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten has announced the opening of the first two productions of the 2012 season: The Importance of Being Earnest on the Main Stage and the World Premiere of The Blue Deep on the Nikos Stage on June 28. It is the first time in the Festival's 58-year history that two shows have opened on the same night to kick-off the season.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre's artistic director Eric Rosen has announced the cast of the Rep's production of Pippin. Rosen will direct the musical, which runs September 14-October 7, and kicks off the theatre's 2012-13 season.

Happy Birthday Terrence Mann! Mann's Broadway credits include the Beast in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Inspector Javert in Les Miserables and Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel. He also has starred in additional Broadway productions including Lennon, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Getting Away With Murder, A Christmas Carol, Rags, Barnum, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and Jekyll & Hyde. He has earned multiple Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nominations.

Happy Birthday David Alan Grier! Grier began his professional career on Broadway as Jackie Robinson in The First, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and won the Theatre World Award. He then joined the cast of Dreamgirls before going on to star opposite Denzel Washington in A Soldier's Play, for which both actors reprised their roles in the film adaptation titled A Soldier's Story. Recently was seen in David Mamet's Race on Broadway and received his second Tony Award nomination. He is currently starring on Broadway in Porgy and Bess.

Happy Birthday Emily Skinner! Emily Skinner was nominated for a Best Actress TONY Award for the Original Broadway Production of Side Show. Other Broadway credits include the original casts of Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead (with Christopher Walken) The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Drama League Award). Most recently, she starred in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot.

Today in 1987, the FIRST Broadway revival of Dreamgirls opened at the Ambassador Theatre, where it ran for 177 performances. Dreamgirls features music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called 'The Dreams', who become music superstars. The musical opened on December 20, 1981 at the Imperial Theatre, and was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical, and won six. It was later adapted into a motion picture from DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures in 2006. The 1987 cast featured Lillias White as 'Effie.'

TRIASSIC PARQ The Musical, 2010's Best Musical winner at FringeNYC, opened last night, June 27th for a limited Off-Broadway engagement through 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, Brandon Espinoza, Wade McCollum, Claire Neumann, Lee Seymour, Shelley Thomas, and Alex Wyse.

Last February, ITV1 and Andrew Lloyd Webber announced a new reality competition show- SUPERSTAR, described as 'a brand new show that will give the British public the chance to choose the country's next major rock star.' The show seeks the new lead in an arena tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, to kick of at the O2 Arena in London. The show will now officially debut on July 7 on ITV1 at 7:25pm.

SPARKLE will be released in theaters on August 17th by Sony Pictures, starring Broadway veteran Jordin Sparks, Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Carmen ejogo, Tika Sumpter, Omari Hardwick, Cee-Lo Green, and the now late Whitney Houston. Directed by Salim Akil and written by Mara Brock Akil, the movie just released a music video titled 'Celebrate' that features clips from both Sparks and Houston in the film. Check it out below!

The Muny features CHICAGO as its second show of its 94th season, running through July 1- directed and choreographed by Denis Jones. Patti Murin and Natascia Diaz star as Roxy Hart and Velma Kelly, joined by Justin Guarini as Billy Flynn. Also appearing are Jackie Hoffman as Mama Morton, Patti Cohenour as Mary Sunshine and Dean Christopher as Amos Hart. Meet the cast of the show in the videos below!

The Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) in New Hope, Pennsylvania, will celebrate its return with Rodgers & Hammerstein's A Grand Night for Singing, playing Monday, July 2 through Sunday, July 29. The cast and creative team met the press this morning, and BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge was there to chat about the upcoming show. Check out what they had to say below!

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director), Barry Grove (Executive Producer), and Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) announced that Manhattan Theatre Club will launch The Studio at Stage II where bold, new work meets bold, new audiences at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street). The Studio at Stage II will launch this fall with the world premiere production of MURDER BALLAD, a new musical by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash, directed by Trip Cullman, and the American premiere of MTC's commission CHOIR BOY, a play with music by Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Broadway's Ed Dixon, currently featured as The Captain in Roundabout Theatre's Anything Goes celebrates the publication of his memoir SECRETS OF A LIFE ON STAGE...AND OFF, with a cabaret act/book launch at The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street). The event is sold-out.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival this year features something for everyone. For history lovers, there's Henry V, The War of 1812 and Wanderlust, a new musical set during the gold rush of the Great North. Lovers of romance will enjoy The Matchmaker, as well as the classic Shakespeare plays Cymbeline and Much Ado About Nothing. Another classic, the Greek tragedy Elektra, comes from the hand of one of Greece's most avant-garde directors. Lovers of literature will want to see Christopher Plummer's A Word or Two. For families, there's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, MacHomer and The Pirates of Penzance. A season rich in musicals also features the Broadway favourite 42nd Street. The season runs now thru October 28. In the video below, Mike Shara describes the story and themes of CYMBELINE, and how the production has been staged.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival this year features something for everyone. For history lovers, there's Henry V, The War of 1812 and Wanderlust, a new musical set during the gold rush of the Great North. Lovers of romance will enjoy The Matchmaker, as well as the classic Shakespeare plays Cymbeline and Much Ado About Nothing. Another classic, the Greek tragedy Elektra, comes from the hand of one of Greece's most avant-garde directors. Lovers of literature will want to see Christopher Plummer's A Word or Two. For families, there's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, MacHomer and The Pirates of Penzance. A season rich in musicals also features the Broadway favourite 42nd Street. The season runs now thru October 28. Hear MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING's Ben Carlson and Deborah Hay talk about wit, love and their characters' transformations in the video below!

Broadway In Chicago's Concert moves to Millennium Park this summer. The FREE BROADWAY IN CHICAGO CONCERT will take place on Monday, August 6, 2012 at 6:15 p.m. at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. Hosted by ABC-7's Janet Davies, star of 190 NORTH, the concert will feature performances by the iconic rock legend CYNDI LAUPER with members of the cast from the pre-Broadway world premiere of her new musical KINKY BOOTS, Joey from WAR HORSE and Cathy Rigby as PETER PAN.