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The Theatre Community Remembers the Life and Work of Howell Binkley

by | Aug 15, 2020 | New Musical News Feed

Two-time Tony winning lighting designer Howell Binkley died August 14, 2020, at the age of 64 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Among his designs were the original Broadway productions of Jersey Boys and Hamilton, both of which won him Tony Awards in 2006 and 2016, respectively. His work on Hamilton’s West End staging landed him an Olivier Award in 2018.

Read the full Playbill obituary here.

Following the news of Binkley’s passing, the theatre community flooded social media with treasured memories about working with him.

Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley’s Final NYC Concert Streams on Broadway on Demand August 14

by | Aug 13, 2020 | New Musical News Feed

Broadway On Demand streams the final New York City concert of Jason Danieley and the late Marin Mazzie August 14 at 8 PM.

Marin Mazzie & Jason Danieley: Broadway & Beyond was filmed at Feinstein’s/54 Below in 2017. The concert stream will feature a pre-show event with Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mazzie’s co-star in Ragtime and Kiss Me, Kate, beginning at 7:30 PM. For tickets and more information, click here.

Broadway & Beyond is a celebration of Danieley and Mazzie’s life together through music and theatre, with songs they introduced in original productions, from Broadway revivals, and from their concerts across the country. Expect tunes from Ragtime, Passion, The Full Monty, Curtains, The Visit, and Kiss Me, Kate.

At the time of this concert, Ms. Mazzie, a three-time Tony nominee, had been living with ovarian cancer since her diagnosis in May 2015. The couple was just short of celebrating their 21st wedding anniversary when Ms. Mazzie passed away September 13, 2018.

The stream, priced $7.99, includes a 48-hour playback period. All proceeds will be donated to the Cancer Support Community, Tina’s Wish, and The Actors Fund through Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Salonga, Marin Mazzie, and Jason Danieley Preview Their 54 Below Shows

Playbill Vault’s Today in Theatre History: August 11

by | Aug 10, 2020 | New Musical News Feed

1924 Singer and vaudeville star Sophie Tucker opens at the Palace.

1924 Helen Hayes opens in Edgar Selwyn and Edmund Goulding‘s play Dancing Mothers about a girl who decides to become a “flapper” over the objections of her parents. It stays for 312 performances and is later filmed with Clara Bow.

1933 Birthday of avant garde Polish director Jerzy Grotowski, whose techniques enjoy a great vogue in the 1960s after publication of his book, Towards a Poor Theatre.

1965 Actor Viola Davis is born in South Carolina. A star of both stage and screen, she wins Tony Awards for her performances in August Wilson’s King Hedley II and Fences, and an Academy Award for the 2016 film adaptation of Fences.

1999 Cheryl L. West‘s Jar the Floor opens at Off-Broadway’s Second Stage Theatre. The play looks at four generations of African-American women who gather to celebrate the family’s great-grandmother’s 90th birthday. The connections between the various mothers and daughters are exposed when the youngest member of the clan arrives with an unexpected guest. The production stars Irma P. Hall, Regina Taylor, Lynne Thigpen, Linda Powell, and Welker White.

2011 Three years after the original Broadway production closed, Rent returns to New York. A revival of Jonathan Larson‘s award-winning rock musical about a group of friends, lovers, and artists seeking to express themselves in the age of AIDS, opens Off-Broadway at New World Stages. The freshly conceived production is helmed by the show’s original Tony Award-nominated director, Michael Greif. The cast includes Adam Chanler-Berat as Mark, Matt Shingledecker as Roger, and Annaleigh Ashford as Maureen.

2015 The world premiere of Annie Baker‘s John opens Off-Broadway at Signature Theatre’s Irene Diamond Stage. Georgia Engel stars as Mertis, the cheerful innkeeper at a Bed & Breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

More of Today’s Birthdays: Helen Broderick (1891-1959); Hugh Martin (1914-2011); I. M. Hobson (1935-2003); Arlene Dahl (b. 1928); Ian McDiarmid (b. 1944); Sophie Okonedo (b. 1968).

Watch highlights from the 2011 Off-Broadway revival of Rent: