ICYMI: Watch the Top 15 College Students Perform for Next on Stage: Dance Edition Season 2!
Next on Stage Dance Edition is back with season 2of our online dancingcompetition Miss the announcement of our top 15 Check out the episode here
Take a Look Back at 46 Years of A Chorus Line on Broadway
The Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Chorus Line began performances on Broadway at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre July 25, 1975 before officially opening October 19, 1975. When it closed 15 years later on April 28, 1990, it was the longest-running show in Broadway history, having played 6,137 performances. (It would be surpassed by Cats seven years later and is now the seventh-longest Broadway run.) The production won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical, Score, and Book), and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
Conceived, choreographed, and directed by Michael Bennett, the show features a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch, and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The original production was conceived beginning in January 1974, opened at The Public Theater’s Newman Theatre May 21, 1975 before it transferred to its Broadway home.
Take a Look Back at 46 Years of A Chorus Line on Broadway
The original Broadway production starred Scott Allen as Roy, Renee Baughman as Kristine, Kelly Bishop as Sheila, Pamela Blair as Val, Wayne Cilento as Mike, Chuck Cissel as Butch, Clive Clerk as Larry, Kay Cole as Maggie, Ronald Dennis as Richie, Donna Drake as Tricia, Brandt Edwards as Tom, Patricia Garland as Judy, Carolyn Kirsch as Lois, Ron Kuhlman as Don, Nancy Lane as Bebe, Baayork Lee as Connie, Priscilla Lopez as Diana, Robert LuPone as Zach, Cameron Mason as Mark, Donna McKechnie as Cassie, Don Percassi as Al, Michael Serrecchia, Michael Stuart as Greg, Thomas J. Walsh as Bobby, Sammy Williams as Paul, and Crissy Wilzak as Vicki.
A Chorus Line featured co-choreography by Bob Avian, scenic design by Robin Wagner, costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge, lighting design by Tharon Musser, and sound design by Abe Jacob with stage management Jeff Hamlin, Frank Harenstein, and Scott Allen. Visit the Playbill Vault for the complete cast and creative team.
Stock and amateur rights for A Chorus Line are represented by Tams-Witmark, a Concord Theatricals Company.
From Sally to Glinda: Celebrating Tony Award Winner Kristin Chenoweth
Stage and screen star Kristin Chenoweth celebrates her birthday July 24.
Chenoweth made her Broadway debut as Precious McGuire in the 1997 production of Steel Pier. Throughout the course of her career on the Main Stem, she has starred in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown as Sally (earning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical) , Wicked as Glinda, On The Twentieth Century as Mildred Plotka/Lily Garland, and more.
In addition to her stage work, Chenoweth is also an Emmy-winning TV actor who has starred in shows including The West Wing, Glee, Pushing Daisies, GCB, Trial & Error, and more.
In honor of Chenoweth, take a look at highlights from her career.
From Sally to Glinda: Celebrating Tony Award Winner Kristin Chenoweth
VIDEO: The Stars of MARY POPPINS Prepare to Return to the Stage!
The Olivier award-winning production of Disney’sMary Poppinswillresumeperformances at the Prince Edward Theatre from 7 August 2021. The show’s leads, Zizi Strallen and Charlie Stemp had their first photo shoot in costume this week
Lillias White’s New Album Get Yourself Some Happy! Released July 23
Tony and Emmy winner Lillias White’s first solo studio album, Get Yourself Some Happy!, is released July 23 via Old Mill Road Recording. Watch White belt out “A Little Imagination,” penned by Gail C. Bluestone and Eileen Bluestone Sherman, above.
The modern mix of Motown, standards, rock-and-roll, Broadway, and jazz was recorded at Old Mill Road Recording in East Arlington, Vermont, in July 2019. The album is the culmination of a 30-year friendship and professional collaboration between White and her musical director-accompanist, Timothy Graphenreed (The Wiz), who passed away March 1, 2020. The album is dedicated to his memory.
“This recording, Get Yourself Some Happy!, is a labor of love put together by the late, great Timothy Graphenreed, Dr. Joshua Sherman, and myself,” said White in an earlier statement. “It was a joy to create. The songs were handpicked and heartfelt—and we hope the album brings smiles to your faces. I want people to see you (with your earbuds in) smiling—and wonder what you’re listening to. I hope you go out and get yourself some happy!”
The complete track listing follows:
1. When You Wish Upon A Star
2. Accentuate the Positive
3. Happy Together
4. A Brand New Me
5. Put On A Happy Face
6. The Twist
7. A Little Imagination
8. You’re My Best Friend
9. You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
10. Yes
11. That’s All
12. Make Someone Happy
13. It’s Not Where You Start
14. Get Happy
Get Yourself Some Happy! is produced by Joshua Sherman and engineered by Grammy winner Benjamin J. Arrindell.
White has also announced several concert dates, including July 23 and 24 at Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco; August 12–14 at The Green Room 42 in New York; and August 27 and 28 at The Art House in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
White won a Tony for her performance as Sonja in Cy Coleman’s The Life. She was also Tony-nominated for her work as Funmilayo in Fela!. Her other Broadway credits include Barnum, Dreamgirls, Cats, Carrie, Once On This Island, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Chicago. She received a Daytime Emmy as part of the cast of Sesame Street; her other screen credits include Pieces of April and Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down.
Revisit the 1987 Revival of Dreamgirls Starring Lillias White
(Updated July 23, 2021)
VIDEO: COME FROM AWAY Returns to The West End!
The West End production of the multi award-winning Come From Awayhas officially returned to its home atThe Phoenix Theatre in London Get a peek inside the company’s triumphant return to Gander here
In the News: Little Island’s Storytelling Festival Begins, Roundabout Announces New Directors Group Cohorts, More
Read on for more theatre news you may have missed in today’s headlines.
Little Island’s Inaugural Storytelling Festival Starts July 21
As previously reported, a five-day festival of storytelling, curated by Artists-in-Residence PigPen Theatre Co., begins July 21 at Little Island, New York City’s new public park on the Hudson River. The multidisciplinary Storytelling Festival features singer-songwriters, musicians, poets, and more employing a variety of art forms across the park to highlight the art of storytelling. Theatre favorites participating in the event include Amber Iman, Shaina Taub, Daniel J. Watts, Ato Blankson-Wood, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Jose Llana, Kuhoo Verma, and more. The festival runs through July 25. For a full schedule of storytelling programs, visit Little Island. org.
The Motherhood Concert Features Songs by Moms, Performed by Parents
The Motherhood Concert: Truth Set to Music, featuring songs penned by moms and performed by parents, will be offered free of charge on International Mother Artist Day, August 2 at 7 PM ET, and will be available to stream through August 6. Presented by the Parent Artist Advocacy League for Performing Arts and Media, the evening will be directed by Mary Hodges and will feature Tony winner Adriane Lenox, Pearl Sun, Darlesia Cearcy, Rodney Gardiner, Christina Acosta Robinson, Don Darryl Rivera, and Joanne Javien with guest appearances from Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Charise Castro Smith, and more. Songwriters, selected by a diverse committee from more than 136 song submissions, include Jessica Delfino, Miranda Ferris Jones, Becca McLarty, April Dae Okpwae, Ilene Reid, Katya Stanislavskaya, and Rachel Woods, who also serves as co-music director. The original songs highlight the universal, shared experience of caregiving and all of the joys and struggles that come along with it. The band will include Christie Chiles Twillie, Kristy Norter, Melissa Westgate, Shirazette Tinnin, Meg Toohey, and Caitlin Gray with arrangements and orchestrations by Anna Ebbesen and Jennifer Green; the copyist/transcriber is Sheela Ramesh. Concert producers include Colleen McCormack, Rachel Spencer Hewitt, and Adriana Gaviria. To reserve tickets or learn more, click here.
Roundabout Theatre Announces New Cohort for Directors Group
Roundabout Theatre Company has selected the third cohort of the Leon Levy Roundabout Directors Group. Launched in 2019, the initiative provides career assistance to emerging directors who have traditionally been denied equitable opportunities in American Theatre. Participating directors for 2021–2022 are Jason Aguirre, Borna Barzin, Mack Brown, Daniella Caggiano, Kevaughn Harvey, Alex Keegan, Emilia Lirman, Andrés López-Alicea, and Nicholas Polonio, under the leadership of Roundabout Associate Artistic Director Jill Rafson and Associate Artist Cristina Angeles. In addition to the new cohort of directors, the 2020-2021 cohort will continue with Roundabout for a second season, to give them a more complete experience after spending their entire year meeting digitally. To read more about the program and the cohort, visit RoundaboutTheatre.org.
Reimagining of Rites of Passage Spotlights BIPOC Artists
Rites of Passage: 20/20 Vision, a collaborative art and performance project focusing on the lives and visionary futures of Black, Indigenous, Immigrant, (cis and trans) Women of Color in America, will be presented August 13–17 at Massachusetts’ Whitney Center for the Arts. Conceived and developed by Founder and Artistic Director Pooja Prema, 20/20 Vision was created in collaboration with 65 Women of Color from around the country and will see patrons traveling through 21 rooms, experiencing each as a “rite of passage” in the lives of Women of Color from birth to death. Featured rooms include “Migration/Diaspora,” “No Longer Silent,” “Sustenance,” “Trans-cendance,” “The Living Womb,” “Legacy,” and “Adolescence.” The reimagining of Rites of Passage, which debuted in 2013, centers the work of BIPOC artists, providing platforms for their stories to be told and archived. “After a year of unprecedented challenge on every (un)imaginable level, Rites of Passage: 20/20 Vision emerges as a space for healing, remembering, and reconnection in real space and time. It’s an invitation for all of us to reflect on our shared past, present, and future through the lens of Women of Color. We call it 20/20 Vision because it’s a collective experiment in cultivating clear sight. How did we get to this moment and where do we go from here—as a nation, as a people?” said Prema. For more information visit RitesofPassageProject.org.
American Theatre Critics Association Announces New Play Awards
The ATCA has awarded two new play awards to playwrights Douglas Williams and J. Nicole Brooks. Williams wins the 2021 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for his play Ship. The Osborn Award recognizes the work of a playwright who has not yet received a major production. Ship made its world premiere in February 2020 at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia, where Williams is playwright in residence. Brooks was honored with the 2021 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for their play Her Honor, Jane Byrne. The Steinberg/ATCA Award recognizes an outstanding script that premiered professionally outside of New York City. Her Honor, Jane Byrne premiered at the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. Two 2021 Steinberg/ATCA citations were also awarded: Graveyard Shift by khat knotahaiku, produced by Chicago’s Goodman Theatre; and Verböten, with music and lyrics by Jason Narducy and a book by Brett Neveu, produced by House Theatre of Chicago.
Tune in alert: It’s the last chance to catch CollaborAzian’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, an abridged version of Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s Tony-winning musical featuring an all-Asian American production team and cast including Ali Ewoldt and Thom Sesma. The stream is available through July 22. For more details, visit Playbill’s Live Stream Calendar.
VIDEO: Laura Dreyfuss Covers The Weeknd’s ‘Save Your Tears’
Produced by Michel Heyaca, the cover follows her 2020 single Sidelines and serves as a re-entry point for Dreyfussas she prepares to release her solo debut EP later this year.