Taylor Louderman Presents Virtual Musical Workshop PITCH IN
Taylor Louderman Tony Nominee, Mean Girls, Hannah Kloepfer, and Nat Zegree present PITCH IN a new one-act STEM youth musical for all genders and flexible cast sizes.
Annie Dorsen, 600 Highwaymen, and More Among Artists Commissioned to Make Work for Onassis USA’s Enter Project
Onassis USA, an affiliate of the Onassis Foundation, has commissioned a number of artists around the U.S. and the world to create new work (from home) as part of its new ENTER project. Theatre artists invited to take part in the global initiative include 600 Highwaymen, Isabella Rossellini, MacArthur Fellow Annie Dorsen, and Radiohole, among many others.
Developed from the artists’ homes in 120 hours or less, the ENTER pieces will draw on different experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its many transformations of life as we know it. The series of original works launches April 24 and can be viewed for free on the Foundation’s YouTube channel and at Onassis.org/enter.
Among the first works to be freely available will be 600 Highwaymen’s short narrative film Fighting World; Maria Antelman’s video work AntiBody; married duo Kimberly Bartosik and Roderick Murray’ The Game, created with their daughter Dahlia Bartosik-Murray; Radiohole’s Happy Hours, a new work from playwright and screenwriter Efthimis Filippou; and Dorsen’s Training Text, Step 2250, a short cartoon featuring a text generated by a machine learning algorithm trained on answers to the question: “What is the meaning of life?”
“The space created, filled, and tragically sometimes taken away by COVID-19, has challenged how we experience and make new art,” says Vallejo Gantner, the artistic and executive director of Onassis USA. “This strange combination of isolation and constant reaching out; of new ways of listening and talking; and of touching and being touched; have inspired us to create a new commissioning program called ENTER which we hope will be in part a kind of artistic time capsule, refracting the frustration, grief, comedy, and fear of this moment of pandemic.”
Living Room Concerts: WICKED’s Lindsay Pearce Sings ‘Waving Through a Window’
For today’s performance we’ve got Wicked’s Lindsay Pearcesinging ‘Waving Through a Window’ from Dear Evan Hansen
The Daily Distraction: Celebrate Shakespeare’s Birthday With Hamlet 2 and Sexy Jesus
These are frightening times, and we all must take necessary precautions as we social distance and self-isolate. That being said, you deserve a break every now and then. Welcome to Playbill’s Daily Distraction.
Day 38: Just as Shakespeare Intended!
Though there’s no clear record of William Shakespeare’s actual birthday, historians conjecture the Bard was born April 23, 1564. He died 52 years later to the day, and though there’s no clear record of his incomplete works at the time of his death, historians are fairly certain they didn’t include a sequel to Hamlet featuring a time-traveling Jesus Christ with washboard abs.
But that doesn’t stop the characters of Hamlet 2, the irreverent 2008 musical comedy in which a drama teacher (played by Steve Coogan) sets out to save his school’s theatre program by creating and producing an anachronistic, flippant, and glorious sequel to the Bard’s tragedy.
Watch the cast—including Spring Awakening alums Skylar Astin and Phoebe Strole—perform the show-stopping “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus” above. There’s some adult language, sexualization of the Messiah, and mild homophobia.
As one parent in the movie says, “I’m simultaneously horrified—and fascinated.”
Happy birthday, Will.
Need more distractions? Click here.
Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Something Rotten! on Broadway
Something Rotten! opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre April 22, 2015. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, the musical played 32 previews and 708 performances before closing January 1, 2017. The comedy earned 10 Tony Award nominations, winning Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Christian Borle’s performance as Shakespeare.
Featuring music and lyrics by Mrs. Doubtfire creative team Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick and book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten! tells the story of brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of The Bard. When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical.
Look Back at Something Rotten! on Broadway
In addition to Borle, the production starred Brian d’Arcy James as Nick Bottom, John Cariani as Nigel Bottom, Heidi Blickenstaff as Bea, Brad Oscar as Nostradamus, Kate Reinders as Portia, Brooks Ashmankskas as Brother Jeremiah, Peter Bartlett as Lord Clapham/Master of the Juustice, and Gerry Vichi as Shylock. Rounding out the ensemble were Michael James Scott, Linda Griffin, David Hibbard, Jenny Hill, Stacey Todd Holt, Aaron Kaburick, Austin Lesch, Beth Johnson Nicely, Aleks Pevec, Angie Schworer, Eric Sciotto, Brian Shepard, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Ryan VanDenBoom, Marisha Wallace, and Bud Weber.
Something Rotten! featured scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, and sound design by Peter Hylenski with stage management by Charles Underhill, Mary Kathryn Flynt, and Patrick Wetzel.
VIDEO: SIX Broadway Star Andrea Macasaet Invites Fans to Karaoke and Chill
One of the queens of Broadway’s SIX Andrea Macasaet has been hitting social media for the past two weeks to sing some quarantine karaoke for her fans and followers.
Deaf Broadway Streams ASL Readings of INTO THE WOODS and More
ASL proficient members of the Broadway community are banding together online to bring you fully signed readings of your favorite musicals
Video Roundup April 20: Amber Riley Returns to Dreamgirls, Betsy Wolfe Dedicates a Song to Nick Cordero, More
A host of Broadway celebrities and stage performers are taking to social media to spread joy when attending the theatre is not an option.
To keep folks entertained and comforted during the pandemic, Amber Riley returned to Dreamgirls, Betsy Wolfe dedicated a song to Nick Cordero, the Off-Broadway cast of Rock of Ages reunited virtually, and Ramin Karimloo challenged U.K. improv group the Showstoppers.
Check them out below, and keep coming back for more videos.
Olivier winner Amber Riley virtually joined Dreamgirls composer Henry Krieger and the West End cast of the musical to perform a rendition of “One Night Only.”
Broadway alum Betsy Wolfe sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for her Bullets Over Broadway co-star Nick Cordero, who is currently battling a devastating case of COVID-19.
Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo (Les Misérables) issued a 24-hour challenge to the musical improv group Showstopper!: compose a song about parents homeschooling their kids while social distancing in the style of School of Rock within 24 hours. (The Olivier-winning group will showcase their final product tomorrow.)
The cast and band of the Off-Broadway production of Rock of Ages got together (virtually) to perform “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake.
Broadway star Heidi Blickenstaff and her entertainment attorney husband Nicholas Rohlfing launched their first PSA for a new campaign, GenZStayatHome. The initiative highlights the importance of staying home in an effort to keep themselves from unknowingly spreading COVID-19.
West End Tina star Aisha Jawando performed a special arrangement of “The Best” to support front line workers and to celebrate the musical’s second anniversary in London.
Looking for more videos? Check out Playbill’s Daily Distraction series here.
