The national tour of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Wicked welcomes the return of Jackie Burns and Kara Lindsay beginning October 31 at San Diego Civic Theatre.
Michael Wartella
Burns again plays the green-skinned Elphaba with Lindsay as her popular roommate Glinda. The two actors are scheduled to continue with the tour in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.
Burns and Lindsay are joined by Michael Wartella, who returns to Oz as Boq—a role he has played both on Broadway and in the national tour. The current cast also includes Jason Graae as The Wizard, Jody Gelb as Madame Morrible, Mili Diaz as Nessarose, Jon Robert Hall as Fiyero, and Chad Jennings as Doctor Dillamond.
Burns, who is Broadway’s longest-running Elphaba, also starred in the national tour of If/Then. Lindsay previously performed the role of Glinda in the Broadway company and national tour. She has also appeared on Broadway in Newsies and Beautiful. Their return to the Wicked national tour coincides with the musical’s 15th anniversary on Broadway, which was recently celebrated by NBC with A Very Wicked Halloween. Watch performances from the TV special, including those by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, here.
Look Through the Actors Who Have Taken on the Iconic Witches as Wicked Celebrates 15 Years on Broadway
A month after Lin-Manuel Miranda hits the big screen in Mary Poppins Returns and just days after he wraps up his return to the title role in Hamilton for a run in Puerto Rico, the multi-hyphenate will present, along with Hamilton director Thomas Kail, improv hip-hop troupe Freestyle Love Supreme to Off-Broadway audiences beginning January 30, 2019.
For 32 performances (the run will last through March 2) at Ars Nova’s Greenwich House Theatre, Andrew Bancroft, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale, and Utkarsh Ambudkar will create one-night-only shows; cell phones will be required to be checked at the door. Miranda produces and may be a guest performer. Conceived of by Kail, Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale, Freestyle Love Supreme begins previews January 30 before opening February 12 at the Greenwich House Theater, 27 Barrow Street. Tickets on sale now at freestylelovesupreme.com.
“When Lin and I were developing In the Heights, our friend Anthony kept grabbing Lin during breaks from rehearsal and freestyling. When I heard them, I knew they were on to something special,” said Kail in a statement. “We spent years crafting the show after that, and many of our favorite, and most hilarious memories, are from Freestyle Love Supreme shows. We’ve been waiting for just the right moment to bring the show back to New York. It’s time!”
“Freestyle Love Supreme is the most exciting thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life. There is nothing like a live hip-hop show that is improvised from the first moment til the final curtain, and the skill set required to pull it off has introduced me to this deep bench of multi-hyphenate genius musician emcees,” added Miranda. “No two shows are the same, each show its own experience. I’m so thrilled to get the band back together; and even though I’m a co-producer this time around, I selfishly hope they let me jump onstage a couple of times over the course of the run. FLS for life.”
Each show will find the performers crafting an 80-minute musical based on suggestions from the audience. The name comes from the John Coltrane suite A Love Supreme.
1979Arnold Soboloff, who is playing Smee, the sidekick to Captain Hook, in Peter Pan at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, dies of a heart attack. He finishes a song in Act II of the show, goes off into the wings, and then collapses. He is 48 years old.
1985Wallace Shawn‘s Aunt Dan and Lemon opens at the Public Theater, with Shawn and Linda Hunt in the cast. It runs 191 shows, even though Variety portrays it as “stupifyingly dull … Another whatsit with no plot, flabby writing, no scene structure, arbitrary and unmotivated characterizations and extraneous graphic sex. In short, zero dramatic craftsmanship.”
2001Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn‘s revised musical confection, By Jeeves, opens at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre, some 27 years after it opened in Great Britain as simply Jeeves. Broadway audiences don’t take to this musical version of P.G. Wodehouse‘s Bertie Wooster stories, however, and it closes after just 73 performances, the shortest run ever for a Lloyd Webber show in its Broadway debut.
2012 All Broadway shows are canceled as New York prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. In the wake of the widespread flooding and blackouts caused by the storm, performances do not resume until October 31.
2013 Wallace Shawn stars in the American premiere of his Grasses of a Thousand Colors, opening Off-Broadway at the Public Theater. The play is about a doctor who tries to solve world hunger by rejiggering the metabolisms of animals to tolerate eating their own kind. It also stars Julie Hagerty, Emily Cass McDonnell, Kristina Mueller, and Jennifer Tilly.
Follow cast member Mary Glen Frederick through a two-show day at Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost at the 50-seat custom space at 94 Gansevoort Street. Each night the performers prepare and serve the audience an eight-course tasting menu, complete with wine pairings, throughout the action of the play.
The cast includes Oge Agulué as Longaville, Mary Glen Fredrick as Rosaline, Matthew Goodrich as Berowne, Rami Margron as Maria/Costard, Charles Osborne as Don Adriano de Armado/Boyet, Darren Ritchie as King Ferdinand of Navarre, Victoria Rae Sook as Princess of France, Alex Spieth as Understudy, Alan Trinca as Understudy, and Joe Ventricelli as Chef.
The production features design by Shawn Lewis with Justin West as associate designer.
Follow her through her two-show day below:
Spend a Two-Show Day at Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost
Spend a Two-Show Day at Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost
44 PHOTOS
WELCOME TO MY REIGN OF TERROR EVERYBODY. I’m Mary Glen Fredrick, and I’m playing Rosaline in Shake & Bake’s brand spankin’ new production of Love’s Labour’s Lost! We serve you a rollicking Shakespeare comedy, sick music and dance breaks, and an eight-course wine and tasting menu, right in the heart of the Meatpacking District. I’m gonna be taking you along for a TWO SHOW DAY, so fasten your seatbelts, cause you’re mine for the next 44 photos. LET’S GO. Mary Glen Frederick
Most of our gorgeous and talented cast gathers to warm up and also express our undying love for each other. Mary Glen Frederick
Rami Margron (doubling in a masterful turn as sweet Maria and rakish Costard) stretches like a boss. Should I use past or present tense for this? I’m gonna use present tense. Mary Glen Frederick
Victoria Rae Sook (throwing down the utmost Girl Power as The Princess of France) warms up those dulcet tones. Mary Glen Frederick
Charles Osborne (who will make you pee from laughing so hard as both the lovelorn Don Armado and the saucy Boyet), in the great tradition of Lizzo, been working on his fitness. Mary Glen Frederick
Oge Agulué (stealing hearts nightly as most tender Longaville) puts all of our warmups to shame and THAT’S OKAY. Mary Glen Frederick
“O, he hath drawn my picture in his letter!” Berowne writes a sexy love poem but didn’t exactly go to art school. Mary Glen Frederick
Here’s a closeup because it is of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE that you all see the drawings that our incredible assistant stage manager Kacey Gritters creates every night. Her goal is to make me break when I open the letter onstage, and honestly, WOULDN’T YOU? Mary Glen Frederick
When an eight-course meal is served as a part of the show, your backstage is also a kitchen! Head Chef Dave Goldman and our wonderful Brie Hayes prep the dessert (a delectable panna cotta served at the final curtain). Mary Glen Frederick
FIGHT CALL. Matthew Goodrich (whose charmingly randy Berowne chafes against his vow of abstinence) and Darren Ritchie (our resident crooner and most commanding King of Navarre) get frisky with that whisk(-y). Is everyone this bad at writing captions? I should go. Mary Glen Frederick
The national tour production of the award-winning musical Come From Away began performances at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre October 9 where it will continue through November 4.
With a book, music, and lyrics by Tony and Grammy nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away is directed by Tony winner Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) with musical staging by two-time Tony nominee Kelly Devine (Rocky) and music supervision by Grammy nominee Ian Eisendrath.
The Broadway Center Stage production of Little Shop of Horrors plays the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Eisenhower Theater October 24–28.
Michael James Leslie Joseph Marzullo/WENN
The cast includes How I Met Your Mother‘s Josh Radnor, seen on Broadway in The Graduate and Disgraced, as down-on-his-luck plant-shop worker Seymour, Tony nominee Megan Hilty (Wicked, Smash, Noises Off) as Audrey, Tony nominee Lee Wilkof (who originated the role of Seymour in the original Off-Broadway production) as Mr. Mushnik, Tony nominee Nick Cordero (A Bronx Tale, Bullets over Broadway) as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., Amber Iman (Shuffle Along, national tour of Hamilton) as Crystal, Amma Osei (Rock of Ages) as Ronnette, and Allison Semmes (Motown ) as Chiffon.
Michael James Leslie, who originated the role of the Voice of the Plant in the Los Angeles, London, and Broadway productions of Little Shop, again voices Audrey II in the Kennedy Center presentation of the popular musical. Leslie recently replaced Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart, who departed the company due to unforeseen circumstances unrelated to the production, according to a Kennedy Center spokesperson.
The limited engagement also features musical direction by Joey Chancey, set design by Tony winner Donyale Werle, lighting design by Cory Pattak, costume design by Jennifer Caprio, sound design by Tony winner Kai Harada, and projection design by Alex Basco Koch.
Conceived and executive-produced by Jeffrey Finn, the Broadway Center Stage series launched last season with semi-staged productions of Chess,In the Heights, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In addition to Little Shop, this season will feature Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (starring Tony nominee Norm Lewis) and The Who’s Tommy.
Andrea McArdle, who was Tony-nominated for originating the title role in the 1977 Broadway smash Annie, will play Miss Hannigan in the Axelrod Performing Arts Center production of the Martin Charnin, Charles Strouse, and Thomas Meehan musical. Performances runs November 2–8 in Deal Park, New Jersey.
McArdle returns to the role for a second time, having played Miss Hannigan at North Carolina Theatre in 2010.
Annie is directed and choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance Emmy Award nominee and Broadway Wicked veteran Al Blackstone.
Featuring a book by Meehan, music by Strouse and lyrics by Charnin, Annie opened in April 1977, making McArdle a star overnight. At the time, she was the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony as Best Lead Actress in a Musical. Her co-star, the late Dorothy Loudon, won the Tony for her performance as Miss Hannigan.
McArdle’s Broadway appearances also include Les Misérables, Starlight Express, Beauty and the Beast, and State Fair.
The Heart of Rock & Roll, the new musical inspired by the music of Huey Lewis and the News, ends its West Coast run October 21. Directed by Gordon Greenburg (Holiday Inn), the show opened September 17 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. The musical features Matt Doyle (The Book of Mormon, Spring Awakening) and Katie Rose Clarke (Miss Saigon) in the leading roles.
The Heart of Rock & Roll follows Bobby (Doyle), a Chicagoan whose failed band leads to him returning to corporate America. While working, he meets his boss, Cassandra (Clarke), who has also traded in her personal life for a professional one. Together, the two realize their dreams when Bobby gets another shot at stardom and Cassandra is up for the CEO job. And, of course, there’s a little bit of love mixed in.
Written by Jonathan Abrams (book) with a story by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan Abrams and orchestral arrangements by Brian Usifer (Frozen, Kinky Boots), The Heart of Rock and Roll was awarded the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
The rest of the cast includes Paige Faure, John Dossett, Patrice Covington, F. Michael Haynie, Billy Harrigan Tighe, and Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Orville Mendoza, and Zachary Noah Piser. The creative team features Lorin Lataro (choreography), Derek McLane (scenic design), Paloma Young(costume design) and Howell Binkley (lighting design).
First Look at Matt Doyle and Katie Rose Clarke in Huey Lewis and the News Musical The Heart of Rock & Roll
First Look at Matt Doyle and Katie Rose Clarke in Huey Lewis and the News Musical The Heart of Rock & Roll
Gordon Greenberg directs the new musical, which opened at San Diego’s Old Globe September 14.
14 PHOTOS
Orville Mendoza, Katie Rose Clarke, Matt Doyle, James Royce Edwards, and Robert Pendilla Jim Cox
Matt Doyle, Patrice Covington, and cast Jim Cox
Katie Rose Clarke, Billy Harrigan Tighe, Robert Pendilla, Christopher Ramirez, and Josh Tolle Jim Cox
John Dossett and cast Jim Cox
Matt Doyle and Orville Mendoza Jim Cox
John Dossett and Katie Rose Clarke Jim Cox
F. Michael Haynie, Lucas Papaelias, Matt Doyle, and Zachary Noah Piser Jim Cox
Matt Doyle and Lindsay Nicole Chambers Jim Cox
Nicolette Burton, Matt Doyle, Oyoyo Joi, and Salisha Thomas Jim Cox
