Happy birthday, America In honor of this special day, BroadwayWorld brings you a guide to this year’s Fourth of July television specials, featuring performances by Laura Osnes, Carole King with the Broadway cast ofBeautifulstarringVanessa Carlton, Vanessa Williams and more As always, we will be bringing you video of the appearances as soon as they become available.
1898 Birthday of Gertrude Lawrence, longtime acting partner of Noël Coward (Private Lives, Tonight at 8:30) and star of musicals by the Gershwin brothers (Oh, Kay!, Lady in the Dark). She has her greatest success with her final show, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, in which she originates the role of Mrs. Anna.
1927 From Brighton Beach to Biloxi to Broadway, Bronx boy Neil Simon is born. He becomes one of America’s most prolific (and produced) playwrights with such plays as The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, Barefoot in the Park, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound, Lost in Yonkers, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and The Dinner Party. He is also an accomplished librettist, writing the books for the musicals Little Me, Sweet Charity, They’re Playing Our Song, and The Goodbye Girl.
1942 This Is the Army, Irving Berlin‘s sequel to his World War I-era hit Yip, Yip, Yaphank, opens on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre. Featuring a cast of 300 soldiers, the revue includes Berlin himself singing his hit song “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.” Proceeds from ticket sales are used to benefit the Army Emergency Relief Fund, leading Kate Smith to reportedly send a check for $10,000 to pay for her two $27.50 opening-night tickets.
1965 The Long Wharf Theatre opens its doors for the first time in New Haven, Connecticut. The premiere production is a new staging of Arthur Miller‘s witch trial tale, The Crucible. Written at the height of McCarthyism, Miller’s play depicts a Massachusetts town that falls under siege to lies and betrayal when several teenage girls appear to have been bewitched. Miller’s play draws subtle parallels between Salem and 1950s anti Communist hysteria.
1970 The first season of Summer Shakespeare in Monmouth, Maine starts today. Produced by “The Theatre at Monmouth,” the festival includes productions of Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and Christopher Fry‘s The Lady’s Not For Burning.
1999 Celebrating its 40-year anniversary as a theatre group, the San Francisco Mime Troupe presents Division Street, a musical about the urban housing crisis, in parks across the San Fran area. The Troupe was founded in 1959 by R.G. Davis, and in 1987 won the Regional Theater Tony Award for sustained excellence.
2001 TV star Tom Selleck makes his Broadway debut with the first preview of a revival of Herb Gardner‘s A Thousand Clowns.
More of Today’s Birthdays: Pat Rooney 1880. Irving Caesar 1895. Philip Rose 1921. Tracy Letts 1965. John Lloyd Young 1975.
Watch Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young sing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” in Jersey Boys:
Japanese star Ryoko Yonekura, who made her Broadway debut in Chicago in 2012, returns to the New York company for a third time beginning July 1 at the Ambassador Theatre.
Yonekura steps back into the role of Roxie Hart for 16 performances through July 14. Following her run in New York, she will join the Chicago U.S. national touring company, opposite Amra-Faye Wright as Velma Kelly, in Japan for limited engagements in Osaka (August 1-4 at the Orix Theater) and in Tokyo (August 7-18 at the Tokyu Theatre Orb).
Yonekura originated the role of Roxie in the Japanese-language production of Chicago in 2008 and again in 2010. She then learned the role in English and made her Broadway debut in 2012, returning to the company and joining the U.S. touring company in Japan in 2017.
The Broadway cast currently stars Wright as Velma Kelly, Ryan Silverman as Billy Flynn, Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Matron “Mama” Morton, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.
With a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Chicago is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, Chicago is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.
SEE WHAT IS COMING TO BROADWAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Directed by Tony winner Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Tony winner Ann Reinking, Chicago features set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony winner Ken Billington, sound design by Scott Lehrer, and casting by Stewart/Whitley.
(Updated July 1, 2019)
Unlike the vast majority of musicals granted concert productions by City Center’s Encores Off-Center, the collaborate effort known as WORKING did not play an Off-Broadway run before hitting Times Square. Instead, Chicago’s Goodman Theatre production transferred to the 46th Street Theatre in 1978, where it garnered numerous Tony nominations, including best musical.
Something great is coming Stephen Spielberg’s film adaptation of the classic musical West Side Story has officially started filming and is set to release at the end of next year To get you all ready to see the Jets and Sharks on the big screen, we’ve gathered all the info you need to know about the movie, from the casting to a peek at the film’s Maria, Rachel Zegler Check it all out
A host of Broadway favorites will take part in a one-night-only concert presentation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods, set for July 8 at New York City’s The Town Hall. The evening, presented by Cleveland Musical Theatre, will feature Broadway actors with ties to Ohio, including Tony winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) as the Witch, Tony nominee Tony Yazbeck (On The Town) as the Baker, Kate Shindle (Fun Home) as the Baker’s Wife, and Betsy Wolfe (Waitress) as Cinderella.
The four will be joined by Caitlin Houlahan (Waitress) as Little Red, Jordan Matthew Brown (The Book of Mormon) as Jack, John Riddle (Frozen) as Cinderella’s Prince, Zach Adkins (Anastasia) as Rapunzel’s Prince, Antoinette Comer (Mamma Mia!) as Florinda, Matt Bogart (Jersey Boys) as the Wolf, and Melvin Tunstall III (Beautiful) as the Steward.
Check out the video above for a behind-the-scenes look at the production, and flip through the gallery below to see character portraits of some of the show’s stars.
Cleveland Musical Theatre Artistic Director Miles J. Sternfeld will direct the concert with choreography by Martín Céspedes, scenic design by Gabriel Firestone, costume design by Sydney Gallas, lighting design by Zach Blane, sound design by Patrick La Chance, hair/makeup design by Robbie Amodeo, stage management by Giles T. Horne, and casting by Jamibeth Margolis, CSA.
Cleveland Musical Theatre, in partnership with Rent The Runway, The Black Tux & MAC Cosmetics, will present the concert.
Aligned with the mission of Cleveland Musical Theatre, the company of Into the Woods will be joined by a chorus of breakout Cleveland talent and a live orchestra. Proceeds will benefit professional opportunities and educational initiatives for emerging artists at Cleveland Musical Theatre.
Tickets start at $50 and go on sale May 28. For more information, visit ClevelandMusicalTheatre.org or TheTownHall.org.