by Webmaster | Nov 22, 2018 | New Musical News Feed
After making her Broadway debut earlier this year, American Idol and Smash star Katharine McPhee will make her West End debut in 2019, reprising her starring role as pie maker Jenna in the musical Waitress for its U.K. premiere.
Waitress, currently still running on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, will premiere at London’s Adelphi Theatre February 8, 2019, before officially opening March 7.
Now in its third year on Broadway, Waitress (based on the film by Adrienne Shelly) features a book by Jessie Nelson, a score by six-time Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, choreography by Lorin Latarro, and direction by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.
Additional casting for the U.K. bow will be announced at a later date.
See Katharine McPhee Make Her Broadway Debut in Waitress
by Webmaster | Nov 20, 2018 | New Musical News Feed
Earlier this year, a simple tweet sparked musical fands around the internet to introspect and consider: “You need to play your therapist a single Broadway number to explain yourself as a person. What’s it gonna be?” While celebrities like Mara Wilson and Broadwy show accounts like SpongeBob SquarePants got in on the action, Playbill’s quiz is here to help you answer the question. Take our quiz below!
Take a new quiz every Wednesday on Playbill.com!
by Webmaster | Nov 18, 2018 | New Musical News Feed
Steven Pasquale, currently starring in American Son opposite Kerry Washington on Broadway, celebrates his birthday November 18.
His previous New York stage credits include Junk, The Bridges of Madison County, The Robber Bridegroom, reasons to be pretty, and Far From Heaven. He is also known for his TV performances in such shows as Doubt, Bloodline, American Crime Story, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me.
Flip through photos of his stage performances below:
A Photographic Look at the Stage Career of Steven Pasquale
by Webmaster | Nov 16, 2018 | New Musical News Feed
William Goldman, the playwright, screenwriter, and novelist whose prolific body of film work includes the Oscar-winning pictures Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men in addition to Misery, Marathon Man, A Bridge Too Far, and his beloved adventure The Princess Bride, has died at age 87 in Manhattan. The new was confirmed by his daughter Jenny.
A scrupulous and observant writer, whose works were energized by a responsibility to capture the truth—no matter the subject or medium—Mr. Goldman could be both unforgiving and revolutionary.
Mr. Goldman earned Oscars for the 1969 Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and his bombshell 1976 account of the Watergate Scandal, All The President’s Men. But he was beloved by generations young and old for his romantic fantasy adventure The Princess Pride.
The 1973 work is masterfully crafted as a novel within a novel. The self-aware literary framing device in which the narrator addresses the readers, skipping past “boring moments” and injecting idiosyncratic asides as he recounts the romantic adventure of Princess Buttercup and Westley.
Prior to his work on screen, however, Mr. Goldman cut his teeth as a writer for the stage, penning the 1961 Broadway play Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole and the book and score for A Family Affair (which played Broadway the same season), co-written with his brother James and John Kander. He returned to Broadway in 2015, penning the Bruce Willis- and Laurie Metcalf-led stage version of Misery (having already adapted Stephen King’s novel for the screen).
While Hollywood brought Goldman financial security and established him as one of the most in-demand and successful screenwriters of his era, it was his groundbreaking 1969 publication The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, an all-access account of the 1967–1968 Broadway season that shed light on the insider world of commercial theatre. The deeply researched tome is filled with insights on box office figures, the nuances of the Broadway business model, the politics of coveted theatrical real-estate, and an direct (if divisive) assessment of the artists of the era.
The Season is a theatrical must-read. A precursor to the world of Smash, it served as the inspiration for Broadway producer Dori Berinstein’s 2003 documentary film ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway, which followed the high-profile 2003–2004 season by capturing the arrival of Wicked, Avenue Q, Taboo, and Caroline, or Change.
by Webmaster | Nov 15, 2018 | New Musical News Feed
The York Theatre Company honored five-time Tony-winning director-choreographer Susan Stroman with the 2018 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre November 12. The award was presented at the 27th Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala, which also honored Betty Cooper Wallerstein with the York Theatre Company Founders’ Award.
Hosted by Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick, special guests included Lynn Ahrens, Sierra Boggess, Nick Cordero, Stephen Flaherty, John Kander, William Ivey Long, Richard Maltby, Jr., Terrence Mann, Debra Monk, Brad Oscar, Laura Osnes, Bryonha Marie Parham, Tiler Peck, David Shire, David Thompson, Kaley Ann Voorhees, John Weidman, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba, among a cast of 60 performers recreating some of Stroman’s most memorable numbers from shows such as Crazy for You, Oklahoma!, Contact, And the World Goes ‘Round, Show Boat, Bullets Over Broadway, Steel Pier, Scottsboro Boys, The Producers, and more.
York Associate Artistic Director Michael Unger directed the evening’s celebration.
Flip through photos of the evening below:
Photos: York Theatre Company’s 2018 Gala
by Webmaster | Nov 13, 2018 | New Musical News Feed
The Tony Award-winning revival of Chicago is celebrating over 20 years on Broadway. The show opened November 14, 1996, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre before transferring to the Sam S. Shubert Theatre the following year. In 2003, the musical moved to the Ambassador Theatre, where it continues to play.
Chicago is the second-longest running show in Broadway history (after The Phantom of the Opera) and the longest-running American show in Broadway history.
The original cast, directed by Walter Bobbie, featured Ann Reinking as Roxie Hart, Bebe Neuwirth as Velma Kelly, Joel Grey as Amos Hart, and James Naughton as Billy Flynn.
Look back at the original cast, and photos from their 20-year milestone in 2016 below:
Look Back at the Original Cast of Chicago and Their Reunion 20 Years Later
