Global Roundup 4/19 - MUNY Casting, Corey Cott in WEST SIDE STORY, Encore Performance of ALIEN Play and More!

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature Jenn Colella in PETER PAN, Patti LuPone, DEAR EVAN HANSEN London, and More!

Check out our top news and features from around the BroadwayWorld below! Want more great global content? Check out our "Around The World" section!

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Top Stories

Taylor Louderman, Will Swenson, Mamie Parris, Ann Harada, Jason Gotay, Laura Michelle Kelly and More Announced For THE MUNY's 101st Season - BroadwayWorld has learned that The Muny announced today 25 principal cast members for the first season of its second century. Complete company casting will be announced throughout April and May. The 101st season opens on a brand new, state-of-the-art stage with Muny favorite Guys and Dolls followed by the U.S. regional premiere of Kinky Boots. The season continues with 1776, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, Footloose and a newly-reimagined Lerner and Loewe's Paint Your Wagon. Season 101 closes with the highly-anticipated Muny debut of Roald Dahl's Matilda. (Read more)

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Photo Flash: First Look at Corey Cott, Mikaela Bennett, and the Cast of WEST SIDE STORY - Lyric's coproduction of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story opens next month and features Broadway star Corey Cott as Tony and rising star Mikaela Bennett as Maria. We've got a first look at the company in action, check out the photos below! (Read more)

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Debra Messing, Jessie Mueller, Bianca Del Rio, and More Head to P-Town This Summer - For his ninth consecutive season as Producing Artistic Director at Provincetown's Art House, Mark Cortale is announcing a special music and comedy lineup. At the top of the marquee once again will be his internationally acclaimed Broadway @ series, which the dynamic duo of Cortale and his creative partner, Sirius XM radio star Seth Rudetsky, first launched in P-Town in 2011 and now makes its home in more than a dozen major venues worldwide. (Read more)

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New Jersey High School That Staged Theatrical Adaptation of ALIEN Will Present Encore 4/26- A high school in New Jersey had taken the internet by storm with their stage production of Alien. Following the viral story, the film's original director, Ridley Scott, reached out and to offer to assist in funding an encore performance of the production. (Read more).

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Top Reviews

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Tampa/St. Petersburg: Contributor Peter Nason reviews BWW Review: River Ridge's Royal Knight Stage Company's Production of Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Is an Audience Favorite, writing "Director David O'Hara has mounted one gorgeous-looking musical."

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Austin: Contributor Lynn Beaver reviews BWW Review: Roald Dahl'S MATILDA THE MUSICAL - Joyously Magical, writing "Roald Dahl's novel, MATILDA was published in 1988 to join his other popular children's books; among them, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, THE WITCHES and BFG. In 2010 The Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned a musical version and MATILDA THE MUSICAL was born in London's West End. ZACH's production includes two youth casts, I had the opportunity to see the 'Young Orange Cast'."

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Central Virginia: Contributor Jeremy Bustin reviews BWW Review: ATLANTIS at Virginia Repertory Theatre, writing "Virginia Repertory Theatre should be applauded for its effort to produce new works in Richmond. If its critically-acclaimed productions of David L. Robbins' The End of War and last year's River Ditty were giant steps toward elevating the status of Central Virginia's premier regional theatre, then its unbaked 'developmental' production of Atlantis, produced in partnership with Greg Schaffert and Glass Half Full Productions, is something of a misstep."

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New Jersey: Contributor BWW News Desk reviews Review Roundup: Critics Weigh in On BENNY & JOON at Paper Mill Playhouse, writing "Paper Mill Playhouse presents the East Coast premiere of Benny & Joon with book by Kirsten Guenther, music by Nolan Gasser, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture written by Barry Berman and Leslie McNeil. Benny & Joon began performances Thursday, April 4, 2019, and will continue through Sunday, May 5, 2019, at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ). Benny & Joon is presented by special arrangement with Larry Hirschhorn. Opening Night is set for Sunday, April 14, 2019, at 7:00pm."

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Detroit: Contributor Brian Stanczak-Tuscany reviews BWW Review: MAMMA MIA! At The Bonstelle Theatre Will Leave You Dancing In Your Seat!, writing "Wayne State University's production of Mamma Mia!, running now through April 14th, will leave you singing and dancing in your seat. Using the songs of Swedish supergroup ABBA, Mamma Mia! follows the life of Sophie Sheridan in the days before her wedding in Greece. She wants her father to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. The only problem is she has no idea who her father is. Sophie looks through her mother's old diaries and discovers that her father must be one of three possible men. She invites them all to her big day in an attempt to discover who her real father is. Trouble ensues as these three men all meet for the first time, all thinking they are Sophie's father. Sophie's mother Donna has to live with the daunting reality of her past coming back to haunt her on her daughter's big day. Wayne State's production of this jukebox musical is exhilarating, upbeat, and energetic."

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Regional Editor Spotlight:

Peter Nason

An actor, director, and theatre teacher, Peter Nason fell in love with the theatre at the tender age of six when he saw Mickey Rooney in "George M!" at the Shady Grove in Washington, D.C. He has appeared in dozens of productions around the country, helmed several films and directed over thirty plays. His love of the theatre, and his passion for the craft of acting and directing, has led him to reach hundreds of Florida teenagers to help make the stage their home. He has currently started a new theatre program at a Title 1 school where he hopes the students there will find the same joy of performing that he found.

A graduate of the University of Alabama and the Scuola Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, Italy, Peter is an award-winning playwright and has written for various periodicals and newspapers, including "The Tampa Tribune," where he was a book reviewer and community columnist. One of his literary heroines, the late great Pauline Kael, summed up his philosophy of reviewing: "In the arts, the critic is the only independent source of information. The rest is advertising." Peter resides in Wesley Chapel, Florida with his beloved Boston Terrier, Ike.

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