Rialto Chatter - Page 12

Actor Benjamin Walker, star of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, has been dropped from his role as Beast in 'X-Men: First Class,' The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye reports. However, adds Bamigboye, Walker may be offered the role again, as screen tests for potential replacements have not yet been satisfactory.

PerezHilton reports that Kylie Minogue is working with creative partner William Baker to conceive and possibly co-direct a jukebox musical of her hits.

Michael Reidel reports in the New York Post today that Liev Schreiber and director Gregory Mosher, who collaborated on this past season's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, may be teaming up again on a revival of Jason Miller's THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON. According to Reidel, Mosher also has his eye on Brian Cox to co-star in the all-male production. The show could come to Broadway as early as next season.

Theboot.com reports that Laura Bell Bundy may be coming back to Broadway in the very near future - as both a performer and producer. The actress/country music singer recently told KILT Radio: 'I'm working on a project that will be announced soon that's for Broadway...But it's to bring country music to Broadway. I'm trying to merge those worlds together. I think a lot of Broadway musical fans, they don't realize are from the South or from middle America. That's who comes to see Broadway shows in New York. It will be really cool, so I'm excited about it. I'm a producer of it as well.'

BroadwayWorld previously reported that Horton Foote's THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE would aim for a Fall 2010 Broadway opening, rather than rush the show into Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre following its acclaimed Signature Theatre run. The Hartford Courant is now reporting that Foote's play is no longer being considered for a Fall 2010 opening: 'all the talk is about the spring.'

American playwright Katori Hall's The Mountaintop was named Best Play at the 2010 Olivier Awards in London. Marking the first time a female African American playwright has received the honor in the Olivier Awards' 34-year history, Ms. Hall's play was nominated alongside such new works as Jerusalem, Enron and Red.

According to contactmusic.com, FELA! has been asked by officials at the Nigerian Ministry of Culture to perform in Nigeria this October. A FELA! performance would be part of the celebration for the country's 50 years of independence.

E!Online is reporting that Brooke Shields may very well be heading back to the Great White Way next season, telling friends that she is preparing to begin rehearsals for a show at the end of the summer. The show is unknown, however, internet rumors have associated the star with Leap of Faith, which is being helmed by Promises, Promises director/choreographer Rob Ashford.

The New York Times has just revealed that BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, which is playing the Public Theatre through June 27 after multiple extensions, has been offered the Jacob's Theatre on Broadway for a fall opening by the Shubert Organization, should producers choose to make the quick transfer.

According to published reports, Kristin Chenoweth has confirmed that she will be departing PROMISES, PROMISES on September 26, 2010 and head back onto the GLEE set to film additional guest appearances.

The Roundabout Theatre Company has put out a casting call for a New York production of Noel Coward's BRIEF ENCOUNTER, currently playing in London, presented by the Kneehigh Theatre. Production contract details reveal that Emma Rice will direct.

RZA of the hip-hop group The Wu-Tang Clan harbors dreams of making the group's album 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' into a Broadway musical, theboombox.com reported today.

Fueling the already-started rumors, the 2010 Off-Broadway musicals BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON and THE KID may receive commercial productions, the New York Times has reported.

Matthew Morrison, who originated the role of Lieutenant Joseph Cable in the current Broadway production of SOUTH PACIFIC, may be returning to the production in order to appear in the 'Live from Lincoln Center' performance on August 18, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday. According to a Lincoln Center spokesman, Morrison's return will depend on his filming schedule for 'Glee,' the hit television show of which he is a star.

Whatsonstage.com is suggesting that Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking may get West End Treatment as year as later this year. If true, this would be the second big announcement surrounding the show, which is being filmed at the South Orange Performing Arts Center on June 25th for an HBO documentary feature, BroadwayWorld learned today.

Rumors have been abound that Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters could succeed Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning masterpiece A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. It now appears that might be just the case.

64th Annual Antoinette Perry 'Tony' Awards, the culmination of the theatrical awards season, will take place on Sunday, June 13th, live from Radio City Music Hall. The Tony Awards will air live on CBS from 8:00-11:00PM (ET/PT time delay), presented by The Broadway League and The American Theatre Wing. PROMISES, PROMISES star Sean Hayes hosts.

Actress Kim Cattrall wants to return to Broadway in a new revival of Noel Howard's Private Lives.

According to Variety, a recent industry reading of the 1978 musical Ballroom has incited some speculation about a 2012 Broadway revival with Jerry Mitchell at the helm as director/choreographer.

Australian singer Kylie Minogue is rumored to be collaborating with London's RENT director William Baker on an untitled Broadway project. This is not Minogue's first encounter with Baker; he was the creative director of her 2008 tour, 'KYLIEX2008.' The new musical project will be the story of her extensive musical career and incorporate the best of her musical library. The piece will reportedly be in the style of Mamma Mia, according to Whatsonstage.com.