VIDEO: Julie Andrews Talks About Her MARY POPPINS Stunts on LIVE WITH KELLY AND RYAN!
Julie Andrews talks about how her special effects as Mary Poppins were performed, and how she almost got injured doing one of them.
BWW Interview: Jessie Mueller Talks Playing Loretta Lynn in Lifetime’s PATSY & LORETTA
Jessie Mueller plays Loretta Lynnin the upcomingLifetime original movie, Patsy Loretta. Muellerstars alongside Megan Hilty, who plays Patsy Cline. The film is based on the untold true story of the friendship between the music icons. When they first met, Patsy Hilty was already one of the biggest stars in country music while Loretta Mueller was just a coal miner’s daughter, starting off with little to her name but a 17 guitar. Instead of seeing Loretta as competition, Patsy took Loretta under her wings to help her make it in Nashville.
The Lightning Thief Composer Rob Rokicki Tells a New Perspective in Upcoming Monstersongs Concert
Songwriter Rob Rokicki grew up loving monsters—unsurprising given that he was born on Halloween. That passion doesn’t just come through on Broadway, though, where his score to The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical brings mythological heroes and baddies to life eight times a week at the Longacre Theatre.
At a Feinstein’s/54 Below concert October 29, Rokicki will share Monstersongs, a collection of songs told through the eyes of a little boy fascinated by famous creatures like Medusa, a dragon, a yeti, and a witch. Each song explores the societal constructs that created them.
Growing up watching films like Clash of the Titans and discovering Greek mythology picture books with creatures like the Kraken drove Rokicki’s interest in mythology and monsters from a young age. “I’m interested in the things that scare me,” he says. “So Monstersongs is a little bit about toxic masculinity and this young boy who is worried about how we ‘other’ people.”
The collection was recorded as an album by Rokicki featuring Tony nominees Megan Hilty (Noises Off) and Joe Iconis (Be More Chill) along with Broadway’s Jelani Alladin (Frozen), Julia Murney (Wicked), and more.
With the help of illustrator David O’Neill and virtual reality artist Denise Ko, Rokicki created a rock musical-comic book hybrid that merged song, illustration, and projection into a concert. Among the performances was last year’s presentation at National Alliance for Musical Theatre. “It was really exciting to show all these regional theaters, saying here’s this environmental, immersive theatre piece you could do in a lot of different ways,” says Rokicki.
READ: Secrets From Broadway’s The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
The concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below will use visual screens so audiences get to see the animated live show featuring Murney, Tiffany Mann (Waitress), Rokicki himself, and other Broadway stars.
Each monster is different in style to go along with the song’s message. Medusa’s story is about taking back her narrative, and the snake-haired charmer is represented through the use crumbling terracotta pottery to give the impression of Grecian urns. Other creatures are completely different. For example, the dragon’s story is told through bubbly cartoons.
Exploring group-think and the world we live in now with a patriarchal society is something Rokicki wants to dive into with his work. “We have this mythological deep-seated fear, and that never goes away. You see it now with superheroes that they’re like our own new Greek myths. There is a through-line with the projects I’m drawn to. They have a spooky or mysterious quality to them.”
So, as Halloween approaches, experience Rokicki’s Monstersongs—a visual and aural feast for anyone, whether they’re a human or a misunderstood creature.
For more information, visit 54Below.com.
Review Roundup: What Did the Critics Think of SOFT POWER at the Public?
The Public Theater presents Soft Power, with play and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton, and is directed by Tony nominee Leigh Silverman.
Megan Hilty on Patsy and Loretta, Playing Patsy Cline, and Why the Hair Had to Be Big
The first question asked during an interview about playing Patsy Cline turns out to be the first question Megan Hilty herself had about the project.
“I asked what their intentions were with the hair,” Hilty says over the phone about her new Lifetime TV movie Patsy & Loretta, co-starring fellow Broadway star Jessie Mueller. “And they said, ‘It’s very big.’ It has to be! This could live or die with bad wigs. The hair has to be right because they had very specific styles and if it isn’t right, then people won’t be able to focus on anything else.”
People are happily able to focus on the extraordinary performances from the two leads: Hilty as Cline and Mueller as her mentee and friend, fellow country superstar Loretta Lynn. Over the course of the film, they share career advice, troubles, cocktails, and drama. But don’t expect a repeat of the rivalry from Hilty’s Smash days.
“People think that audiences aren’t interested in watching two women support each other,” Hilty says. “They think we always have to be in competition, and this film proves the opposite.”
Even more remarkable are the two leads’ uncanny performances of classic songs like “Crazy” and “Honky Tonk Girl.” For Hilty, recreating such an immediately recognizable performer is just par for the course with her career.
“I think a case could be made that everything I have ever done, other people have made iconic or it was a person or somebody did it better than I could have but I’m gonna do it anyway!” she says with a laugh, referencing a career spent playing roles made immortal by Kristin Chenoweth, Dolly Parton, Marilyn Monroe, and Carol Channing. “Every single time I got to be like, ‘Well, this is what I bring to the table based on the research that I have done!’”
That research led her to a realization about Cline. “She really didn’t want anyone to know, but she had a real tender side,” Hilty says. “And I think—wild speculation, obviously—but most of her hits, she didn’t want to sing, and I think I know why. I think because the lyrics hit too close to home for her. I know I do that with songs and I can only imagine she did not want to feel that vulnerable either. But when she got in the booth and sang those lyrics, they tapped into something very tender and very real, and that’s part of why her performances are so brilliant and why so many people have a physical response to hearing her voice.”
The same could be said of Hilty, as Cline or just as herself.
Patsy & Loretta premieres on Lifetime October 19.
A First Look at Megan Hilty and Jessie Mueller in Patsy and Loretta
Justin Kirk Joins PERRY MASON Limited Series
Deadline reports that Justin Kirk will join ‘Perry Mason,’ a reimagined HBO miniseries. He joins previously-announced cast members John Lithgow, Matthew Rhys, and Tatiana Maslany.