Before Mary Poppins Returns arrives in movie theatres December 19, take a look at the above featurette, in which the stars and creative team discuss the joy behind bringing the magical nanny back to the screen.
The original Disney film is nearing its 55th anniversary, and naturally, the prospect of returning to that world was daunting. But looking at the source material (P. L. Travers’ series), director Rob Marshall realized: “There was a real sense that there’s so much more story to be told.”
“This is a film with great hope and spectacle,” adds Emily Blunt, who takes on the title role this time around, amid clips filled with laughter, dancing, and dayglow animation. “And it’s moving, so I think it’s a very important film to be making right now.”
The all-star cast of the new movie also features Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Colin Firth, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, and Dick Van Dyke.
See Mary Poppins Returns Duo Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dick Van Dyke Honored at Geffen Playhouse Fundraiser
Following an acclaimed, sold-out, and extended Off-Broadway run earlier this summer, comedian Mike Birbiglia’s The New One officially opens on Broadway November 11. The show is playing a limited engagement at the Cort Theatre through January 20, 2019.
Mike Birbiglia: The New One features additional writing by Jennifer Hope Stein and is directed by Seth Barrish. Birbiglia has remained deliberately secretive about the details of the show, explaining that The New One should be discovered in the theatre.
Mike Birbiglia’s The New One is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum. This American Life’s Ira Glass is executive producer, Joe Birbiglia is associate producer, and Mike Lavoie serves as production consultant.
So in Love: A Benefit Concert for the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, presented in honor of late Broadway actor Marin Mazzie will take place November 14 at Birdland Theatre 7 PM and 9:45 PM.
The lineup will include Kelli Rabke (Joseph, Les Miserable), Danette Holden (Annie, Shrek), Todd Buonopane (Spelling Bee, On the 20th Century), Brian Charles Rooney (Pal Joey), Dara Paige Bloomfield (Ragtime), Rachel Zatcoff (Phantom of The Opera, Fiddler), Ben McHugh (Mamma Mia), Maggie Hollinbeck (Once), Adam B. Shapiro (Fiddler on the Roof), Sean Patrick Murtagh, Carly Ozard, Christian Sineath, Les Grant, Graham Keen, Nolan Muña, Caitlin McBride, Edward Miskie.
Directed by Christopher Timson. Musical director for the event will be Garrett Taylor
All proceeds are being donated to The Ovarian Research Alliance, the largest ovarian cancer organization in the world fighting this disease from all fronts: in the lab, on Capitol Hill and supporting women throughout.
There is a $30 cover with a $10 minimum. Visit Birdlandjazz.com.
From Passion to The King and I: Look Back at Marin Mazzie on the Stage
From Passion to The King and I: Look Back at Marin Mazzie on the Stage
The beloved theatre veteran died September 13, surrounded by her family and friends, at 57.
The world premiere of Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play, which opened Off-Broadway November 5, has extended its limited engagement at Playwrights Horizons. Performances will now run through December 2, instead of the previously announced November 25.
Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel directs a cast comprised of Margo Seibert, Jennifer Bareilles, Jeffrey Bean, and Greg Keller.
The play follows a group of well-intentioned white teaching artists as the scramble to create an ambitious, “woke” Thanksgiving pageant.
1904 The timeless anthem “Give My Regards to Broadway” is first sung on the Broadway stage at the opening of George M. Cohan’s Little Johnny Jones at the Liberty Theatre. The story of an American jockey in England runs just 52 performances, but the song lives on.
1910 Opening night for Victor Herbert‘s operetta Naughty Marietta, which runs 136 performances at the New York Theatre, and quickly becomes a theatre staple, enjoying countless tours and three Broadway revivals in the decades to come.
1919 Birthday of Ellen Stewart, whose La Mama Experimental Theatre Club serves as one of the cornerstones of the Off-Off-Broadway movement.
1921 Lisping comedian Ed Wynn earns a nickname with the musical comedy The Perfect Fool, written by and starring himself, which begins a 275-performance run at the Cohan Theatre. Wynn stars in many Broadway productions and films, but is perhaps best known to modern audiences as the giggling Uncle Albert who hosts the tea party on the ceiling in Disney‘s film Mary Poppins.
1922Jeanne Eagels creates the role of Sadie Thompson, a prostitute at odds with a jungle missionary, in Rain, based on a W. Somerset Maugham short story. It runs 256 performances at Maxine Elliott’s Theatre. Joan Crawford immortalizes the role on film in 1932.
1934 Opening night of Dark Victory, one of the great weepers in Broadway history, and endlessly imitated. Tallulah Bankhead stars at the Plymouth Theatre as a spoiled heiress who discovers she has just months to live, and must mend her evil ways, live life to the fullest, and make peace with the world before she departs. Bette Davis takes the role in the 1939 film version.
1956Long Day’s Journey Into Night opens (against late playwright Eugene O’Neill’s wishes) at the Helen Hayes Theatre. The cast includes Jason Robards Jr., Fredric March, and Florence Eldridge, all directed by José Quintero. Variety reports that this play is “a monumental, overwhelming drama, terrible in its ruthlessness, searing in its self-revelation, exalting in its pity and shattering in its impact.” Brooks Atkinson declares that this production helps “acquire size and stature” for the American theatre. The show runs for 390 performances.
1958The Quare Fellow opens Off-Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The show, whose title is slang for “condemned man,” is written by Brendan Behan and stars Liam Clancy. It runs for 126 performances.
1971David Rabe‘s Sticks and Bones opens at the Public Theater. David Selby stars as a traumatized Vietnam vet who returns home to his all-American family. The Golden Theatre hosts the show’s move to Broadway in 1972, with Santo Loquasto getting his first opportunity to design a Broadway set. It runs for 121 performances Off-Broadway, and then 246 performances on Broadway.
1996The Santaland Diaries opens at the Atlantic Theater Company. The play, adapted from David Sedaris’ book, Barrel Fever, features two stories: “Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family,” about a housewife who finds her husband’s illegitimate daughter on her doorstep, and “The Santaland Diaries,” describing the experience of working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s. The show runs 63 performances.
2001Elaine Stritch‘s solo show, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, debuts at the Public Theater to rave reviews. The production moves to Broadway later in the season and wins a Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event.
2003 The song catalog of rocker Rod Stewart forms the basis of a new musical, Tonight’s the Night, which opens at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre.
2004Howard Keel, 85, the handsome high baritone who sang musical theatre’s great roles in the film versions of Show Boat, Annie Get Your Gun, Kismet, and Kiss Me, Kate (and appeared onstage in stock and in the Broadway musical Saratoga), dies of colon cancer in Palm Desert, California.
Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new production of Siegfried, the third installment of Richard Wagner’s epic Ring of the Nibelung cycle, opened November 3. Performances continue at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago through November 16.
David Poutney’s new staging stars Burkhard Fritz as Siegfried, Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, Matthias Klink as Mime, Eric Owens as Wotan, Samuel Youn as Alberich, Ronnita Miller as Erda, Diana Newman as Woodbird, and Patrick Guetti as Fafner. Sir Andrew Davis leads the Lyric Opera Orchestra.
Flip through photos of the production below:
Production Photos: Siegfried at Lyric Opera of Chicago
