VVN Broadway

Ben Foster Replaces Shia LaBeouf in Orphans

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:56:00 +0000

The producers of the Broadway production of ORPHANS, Lyle Kessler’s play, directed by Daniel Sullivan, announced today that Ben Foster will join the cast immediately in the role of “Treat.”

Producers Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole said, “We are delighted that Ben will join Alec Baldwin and Tom Sturridge when rehearsals commence at ORPHANS tomorrow morning. He is an extraordinarily gifted actor.”

Production dates remain unchanged thus far, with previews beginning March 19 and opening night on April 7 at the Schoenfeld Theatre (236 W. 45th Street).

Tom Sturridge is appearing with the support of Actors’ Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance of this production.

Tickets for ORPHANS are now on sale and can be purchased by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or online by visiting www.Telecharge.com.

BEN FOSTER (Treat) has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation. Having received rave reviews for two diverse performances showcased at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Foster will be making his Broadway debut in Orphans.

Foster’s two Sundance Films, “Ain’t Them Body Saints” and “Kill Your Darlings”, will be released later this year by IFC Films and Sony Pictures Classics, respectively. The Village Voice noted about both performances that “Foster dazzled as the young William Burroughs on the edges of the Beat true-crime tale “Kill Your Darlings”, then impressed even more as a kindly deputy trying to keep the peace in “Ain’t Them Body Saints”, a performance that evokes the young Gene Hackman in its understated masculine authority.” In a poll of 42 critics conducted by Indiewire, Foster was named Best Supporting Performance for “Ain’t Them Body Saints”. Additionally, Foster stars opposite Mark Wahlberg in Peter Berg’s highly anticipated film “Lone Survivor” chronicling the true story of the June 2005 failed mission of Seal Team 10, which will be released by Universal Pictures this Fall.

In 2009, Foster’s starred opposite Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton in “The Messenger,” a film by Oren Moverman. The film, a moving portrayal of one soldier's (Foster) journey to re-assimilate into the civilian world after his turn in Iraq, was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Peace Film Award at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and the Grand Prize at the 2009 Deauville Film Festival. Foster reteamed with Moverman in 2011 to co-star in and produce, “Rampart,” which stars Woody Harrelson as a veteran police officer who gets caught in up a corruption scandal. In the film, Ben portrays a homeless man at the center of the scandal. “Rampart,” part crime drama-part action thriller, is based upon a real LAPD scandal from the 1990’s. The film premiered at both the Toronto and AFI film festivals as well as the London International Film Festival, and was released by Millennium Entertainment in 2011.

In 2007, his portrayal in James Mangold's “3:10 to Yuma” as outlaw Charlie Prince, a cold blooded killer, earned Foster rave reviews. Of his performance, Todd McCarthy of Variety noted, "Ben Foster puts the kind of indelible imprint on this juicy role that, in earlier eras, allowed such thesps as Lee Marvin, Richard Boone, Dan Duryea, James Coburn, Jack Palance, Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin, and others to immortalize themselves in the annals of Western villainy. He is a mad delight to watch.” The cast received an SAG Ensemble nomination for their work in the film.

Foster's additional credits include Fernando Meirelles’ “360”; Baltasar Kormakur’s “Contraband”; Braden King’s “Here” ; “The Mechanic”; Nick Cassavetes’ “Alpha Dog”; the blockbuster film "X-Men 3: The Last Stand”; "30 Days of Night"; "Hostage"; and Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights," which marked his film debut.

On the small screen, Foster shared the SAG Award for Best Ensemble Cast for his work in the 2003 season of HBO's critically acclaimed drama "Six Feet Under," in which he portrayed Russell Corwin for three seasons. He was also a part of the Emmy nominated HBO telefilm "The Laramie Project." He appeared in several episodes of the cult hit "Freaks and Geeks" as the mentally handicapped student ‘Eli,’ and Foster’s lead performance in Showtime's "Bang Bang You're Dead" garnered him a Daytime Emmy.

Glee's Jane Lynch to Play Miss Hannigan in Annie

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:53:00 +0000

Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Lynch, who stars in the hit FOX television show “Glee” as ruthless cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, will take on another great tyrannical role as evil orphanage matron Miss Hannigan in the new Broadway production of ANNIE at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets). Lynch, a stage veteran of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company and The Second City, will be making her Broadway debut. She will play Miss Hannigan for eight weeks only, from Thursday, May 16 through Sunday, July 14.

Two-time Tony Award-winning actress Katie Finneran, who created the role of Miss Hannigan in the new production of ANNIE, will depart the production at a date to be announced, in order to begin filming a new NBC comedy series with Michael J. Fox.

“Some may say I know a thing or two about playing intimidating authority figures,” Jane Lynch said. “So I am excited and honored to be making my Broadway debut with the wonderful ANNIE company at the Palace Theatre and joining the pantheon of women who have taken on the great and irresistible role of wicked Miss Hannigan.”

“I am forever indebted to the creative team and producers of ANNIE. They made a dream come true for me by giving me the chance to play Miss Hannigan on Broadway. And now they have been unbelievably generous in recognizing what a unique opportunity this television series is for my family and me,” Katie Finneran commented. “I am so grateful to them for making it possible for me to begin filming the series this summer and I can't wait to come back and see the goddess Jane Lynch bring down the house at the Palace.”

Jane Lynch’s theatrical credits include The Second City, Steppenwolf Theatre and many church basements throughout the Chicagoland area. Recent film credits include A.C.O.D, Three Stooges, Wreck-It Ralph, Julie & Julia, Shrek Forever After, The Post Grad Survival Guide, Paul and Brownie Masters. Past film work includes Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind and Best in Show, as well as Role Models, The Rocker, Spring Breakdown, the animated film Space Chimps, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Walk Hard, Talladega Nights, The 40 Year old Virgin, Margaret Cho’s Celeste and Bam Bam, Alan Cumming’s Suffering Man’s Charity, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sleepover and Surviving Eden. She currently stars in the Ryan Murphy television series “Glee” on FOX for which she is an Emmy and Golden Globe winner for portraying the iconic television character, Sue Sylvester. Some of her other recent credits include the STARZ series “Party Down,” “Lovespring,” a Lifetime original series, “Desperate Housewives” and “Weeds” as well as the last season of “The L Word” opposite Cybill Shepherd. She has recurring roles on “Two and a Half Men,” “Criminal Minds” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine”. Jane’s play Oh Sister, My Sister! had runs at the Tamarind Theatre and Bang Theater, garnering the LA Weekly Comedy Ensemble of the Year Award. Jane also authored the autobiography Happy Accidents, which topped several national best sellers list, including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

Shia LaBeouf Drops Out of Orphans

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 03:25:00 +0000

Due to creative differences, the producers of ORPHANS and Shia LaBeouf will be parting ways and he will not be continuing with the production. An announcement on the replacement for the role of "Treat" will be made shortly.

ORPHANS, by Lyle Kessler and directed by Daniel Sullivan, stars Alec Baldwin and Tom Sturridge. Production dates remain unchanged thus far, with previews beginning March 19 and opening night on April 7 at the Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street).

Tom Sturridge is appearing with the support of Actors' Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance of this production.

Les Miserables Returning to Broadway in Spring 2014

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 22:19:00 +0000

Cameron Mackintosh announced today that his acclaimed new production of Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece LES MISÉRABLESwill come to Broadway in March, 2014 at a Shubert theater to be announced. This newly re-imagined LES MISÉRABLES is breaking box-office records across the country and around the world and inspired filmmakers to make the immensely successful movie which has been nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and has won 3 Golden Globes including Best Picture, as well as 4 BAFTA’s. The new productionhas been a sell-out since launching a U.S. national tour in November 2010, having already played in 64 cities throughout North America, grossing more than $130 million. International productions of the new LES MISÉRABLEShave met with equal success and acclaim in the U.K, France, Spain and Korea. New productions are scheduled to open in the coming months in Japan, Canada, Australia and Brazil.

Cameron Mackintosh said “To my constant surprise, my productions continue to be enjoyed as much as ever by audiences all around the world and I’m thrilled to have the unique chance of redoing them all over as if they were brand new shows. I’m even more delighted that they are proving just as big hits at the box office in their new form as the originals, having recently reinvented Oliver!, Phantom and Miss Saigon to similar acclaim to the new LES MISÉRABLES. It’s marvelous that modern audiences are embracing them as contemporary musicals rather than revivals. I am delighted that Broadway audiences will now join the millions of Americans who have already flocked to see this glorious new staging and spectacular re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo.”

Philip J. Smith, Chairman of The Shubert Organization, said, “We’re thrilled Cameron is bringing LES MIZ back to Broadway, where it’s been a huge success, not once, but twice. Both times in Shubert theaters. In 1985, Bernie Jacobs, Bob Wankel and I went to London to attend the world premiere. We knew that night Cameron had created something great. We were right.”

Anita Gates in The New York Times calls this new production of LES MISÉRABLES“a splendidly reworked, unquestionably spectacular production from start to finish.” Benedict Nightingale in The London Times hails the new LES MIZ “a five star hit, astonishingly powerful and as good as the original.” Peter Filichia in The Star-Ledger calls it "a dynamically re-imagined hit. This LES MISÉRABLEShas improved with age” and Roma Torre on NY1 News proclaims “this new production actually exceeds the original. The storytelling is clearer, the perspective grittier and the motivations more honest. Musical theatre fans can rejoice: LES MIZ is born again.” Terry Byrne in The Boston Globe said, “The new production of LES MISÉRABLES qualifies as a truly extraordinary theatrical experience. It is nothing less than stunning. This production is so breathtaking, you simply won’t want it to end.” Chris Jones in The Chicago Tribune called the new LES MIZ, “uncommonly raw, unusually emotional and strikingly intense. LES MIZ stands alone in its dramatic and emotional achievements. The storytelling is formidable; the theatricalization spectacular. This new production refreshes and rethinks without sacrificing any singularity of intensity or artistic occasion. It is not to be missed.”

Based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, LES MISÉRABLES is an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. The magnificent score includes the classic songs “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own,” “Stars,” “Bring Him Home,” “Do You Hear the People Sing?,” “One Day More,” “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” “Master Of The House” and many more.

Cameron Mackintosh’s production of LES MISÉRABLES is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, original adaption by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and additional material by James Fenton.

The new production is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, designed by Matt Kinley inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo with costumes by Andreane Neofitou and additional costumes by Christine Rowlands, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Mick Potter and projections by Fifty-Nine Productions. The original LES MISÉRABLES orchestrations are by John Cameron with new orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke and additional orchestrations by Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker.

Now in its 28th year in London, LES MISÉRABLES originally premiered at the Barbican Theatre in a co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985. It transferred to the Palace Theatre in December of that year and then moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre in April 2004 where it is still playing to standing room only. In October 2006 LES MISÉRABLES took over the title of World’s Longest Running Musical followed by two other Cameron Mackintosh productions, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.

The Broadway production of LES MISÉRABLES originally opened at the Broadway Theatre on March 12, 1987 and transferred to the Imperial Theatre on October 17, 1990 running for 6,680 performances. There have been four national touring companies of LES MISÉRABLES that have played more than 200 cities. Broadway audiences welcomed LES MISÉRABLES back to New York on November 9, 2006 where the show played the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on January 6, 2008. To date, LES MISÉRABLES is the 4th longest-running Broadway production of all time.

Broadway Grosses: February 11 through 17, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:23:00 +0000

The following are the top shows on Broadway for the week of February 11 through 17, 2013.

Top Grossing

Wicked - $1,875,920
The Lion King - $1,795,279
The Book of Mormon - $1,686,039
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - $1,342,250
Cinderella - $1,056,544
Mary Poppins - $1,015,709
Once - $1,007,277
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - $957,786
Annie - $954,565
The Phantom of the Opera - $929,435

Top Capacity

The Book of Mormon - 102.6%
Cinderella - 100.0%
The Lion King - 99.9%
Wicked - 97.5%
Once - 97.3%
Rock of Ages - 96.1%
Mamma Mia! - 89.4%
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - 88.6%
Newsies - 88.3%
The Other Place - 88.1%

Broadway Grosses: February 4 through 10, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:35:00 +0000

The following are the top shows on Broadway for the week of February 4 through 10, 2013.

Top Grossing

The Book of Mormon - $1,590,728
Wicked - $1,355,055
The Lion King - $1,333,769
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - $1,002,910
Once - $850,309
Manilow on Broadway - $742,022
Cinderella - $721,654
Jersey Boys - $718,117
Annie - $696,830
The Phantom of the Opera - $684,437

Top Capacity

The Book of Mormon - 102.6%
The Heiress - 96.7%
Once - 94.0%
Wicked - 90.3%
The Lion King - 89.8%
Cinderella - 89.2%
Rock of Ages - 87.2%
Jersey Boys - 79.3%
Newsies - 78.1%
The Other Place - 74.6%

Once Gets the Grammy For Best Musical Theatre Album

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:29:00 +0000

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, has received the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, it was announced Sunday night at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The production, based on the 2007 Academy Award-winning film, opened to rave reviews on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

The original cast recording of ONCE is available via MASTERWORKS BROADWAY, a label of Sony Masterworks.

Producers Stephen Epstein & Martin Lowe; Principal soloists Steve Kazee & Cristin Milioti.

ONCE won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical. The production was also named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critic Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards.

ONCE features a book by award-winning Irish playwright & screenwriter, Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The New Electric Ballroom), the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, direction by the acclaimed John Tiffany (Black Watch),movement by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, American Idiot) and music supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!).

The set and costume design are by six time Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (The Coast of Utopia, Mary Poppins), lighting design is by three time Tony winner Natasha Katz (Aida, The Coast of Utopia), and sound design is by Clive Goodwin.

ONCE will begin a US national tour launched by The Road Company in the summer of 2013.

The cast of ONCE features Steve Kazee as 'Guy' and Cristin Milioti as 'Girl.' Also in the company are David Abeles, Will Connolly, Elizabeth A. Davis, David Patrick Kelly, Jillian Lebling, Eliza Holland Madore, Anne L. Nathan, Lucas Papaelias, Andy Taylor, Erikka Walsh, Paul Whitty, and J. Michael Zygo.

Featuring an impressive ensemble of actor/musicians who play their own instruments onstage, ONCE tells the enchanting tale of a Dublin street musician who's about to give up on his dream when a beautiful young woman takes a sudden interest in his haunting love songs. As the chemistry between them grows, his music soars to powerful new heights... but their unlikely connection turns out to be deeper and more complex than your everyday romance. Emotionally captivating and theatrically breathtaking, ONCE draws you in from the very first note and never lets go. It's an unforgettable story about going for your dreams and the power of music to connect us all.

Motown: The Musical Casts Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Berry Gordy

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:45:00 +0000

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy are proud to announce additional Broadway casting for the world premiere of MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL, based on the life of iconic Motown founder Berry Gordy.

Following a nationwide casting search for a young super-talent with an Olympic high tenor singing voice, exceptional dance ability and the range to play multiple roles, Motown founder Berry Gordy has discovered not one, but two, aspiring young men to portray his boyhood counterpart and the roles of young stars Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Raymond Luke Jr. and Jibreel Mawry will both make their Broadway debut charting the rise of three entertainment icons.

Bryan Terrell Clark will also make his Broadway debut portraying another groundbreaking Motown artist Marvin Gaye. Clark is a co-writer on Mary J. Blige’s new album “Irreversible,” and has performed with such music royalty as Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle.

As previously announced, Tony Award® nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (The Color Purple) and Valisia LeKae (The Book of Mormon) will star in the leading roles of Berry Gordy and Diana Ross and Charl Brown (Jersey Boys) will play Smokey Robinson,leading an ensemble cast of 40 featuring Timothy J. Alex, Michael Arnold, Nicholas Christopher, Rebecca E. Covington, Ariana DeBose, Andrea Dora, Preston W. Dugger III, Wilkie Ferguson, Dionne Figgins, Marva Hicks, Tiffany Janene Howard, Sasha Hutchings, Jawan M. Jackson, Lauren Lim Jackson, Morgan James, John Jellison, Crystal Joy, Jamie LaVerdiere, Grasan Kingsberry, Marielys Molina, Sydney Morton, Maurice Murphy, Jarran Muse, Jesse Nager, Milton Craig Nealy, N’Kenge, Dominic Nolfi, Saycon Sengbloh, Ryan Shaw, Jamal Story, Eric LaJuan Summers, Ephraim Sykes, Julius Thomas III, Daniel J. Watts and Donald Webber, Jr.

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL will begin preview performances March 11 and open on Broadway on April 14, 2013 at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46 Street).

Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL will feature a book by Berry Gordy and music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue.

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is the real story of the one-of-a-kind sound that hit the airwaves in 1959 and changed our culture forever. This exhilarating show charts Motown Founder Berry Gordy's incredible journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and so many more.

Featuring all the classics you love, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL tells the story behind the hits as Diana, Smokey, Berry and the whole Motown family fight against the odds to create the soundtrack of change in America. The music that shattered barriers, shaped our lives and made us all move to the same beat finally comes to Broadway in the season's most anticipated world-premiere event.

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL’s creative team features choreography by Patricia Wilcox (Blues in the Night) and Warren Adams (Toy Story), scenic design by David Korins (Bring It On: The Musical, Annie), costume design by Tony Award® nominee ESosa (The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, “Project Runway”), lighting design by Tony Award® winner Natasha Katz (Once, Sister Act), sound design by Tony Award® nominee Peter Hylenski (Rock of Ages, The Scottsboro Boys), projection design by Daniel Brodie (Jekyll and Hyde).

MOTOWN : THE MUSICAL will feature arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp (Rock of Ages), who will supervise the 18 piece orchestra and reproduce the classic “Sound of Young America” for the Broadway stage, with co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Bryan Crook (“Smash”), dance arrangements by Zane Mark (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and music direction by Joseph Joubert (Nice Work If You Can Get It).

Biographies are after the cut.

RAYMOND LUKE JR. (Young Berry Gordy, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder). Broadway debut. Raymond has been singing since he was 3 years old after being taught by his grandmother. In the summer of 2011, he attended Beverly Hills Acting School FABA (For Actors by Actors) President Alex Fieldman. He graduated earlier this year and has completed two commercials for Toys”R”Us and Volkswagen in association with ESPN. Stage credits include the Tammi Mac Minute Mixer hosted by Vanessa Bell Calloway and Tammi Mac, and he has also sung the National Anthem for the Penny Marshall Celebrity Softball game. Film: Bad Father, directed and produced by Jerry Jackson, and is currently shooting the film Failure is Not an Option, written by Lavell Grisom. He is also a band member of the new group "3 plus 1."

JIBREEL MAWRY (Young Berry Gordy, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder). Broadway debut. Jibreel is from the heart of Detroit, Michigan - home of Motown! Jibreel is a vocal artist who is deeply inspired by Michael Jackson and his message to heal the world, and has captured audiences with his heart-felt performances and humble spirit. Jibreel has been an advocate and peer mentor for the “Artist in Action: Stand up Against Bullying” initiative. He performed in the concert/rally for the campaign at Wayne State University singing Michael Jacksons "Beat It." Television: Co-host for “YE TV.” Publications: YE 313 Magazine. Training: acting/commercial/modeling World Talent, "Acting on Instinct"

BRYAN TERRELL CLARK (Marvin Gaye). After graduating from Yale School of Drama, he moved to California to begin a career as actor, singer/songwriter and host. He has starred opposite Laurence Fisburne and Angela Bassett in the film Fences and appeared in television shows such as “CSI New York,” “The Unit” and “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.” He is a co-writer on Mary J. Blige’s current album release “Irreversible,” on My Life II. Musically he has performed with such artists as Ne-Yo, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Ciara, Yolanda Adams and Maxwell. He is a featured vocalist on Michael Buble’s new release “Crazy Love” and is currently in the studio recording his solo album. He is the host of “Bryan Terrell Clark’s Tribute” which has featured such artists as Stevie Wonder, Ledisi, Lalah Hathaway, Rahsaan Patterson and Kenny Latimore. Baltimore, Maryland native.

Final Cast Announced For The Assembled Parties

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:42:00 +0000

Manhattan Theatre Club announces complete casting for its upcoming production of THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES, the world premiere play by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg, directed by MTC’s award-winning Artistic Director Lynne Meadow. The cast features Tony nominee Jessica Hecht, Tony and Emmy Award winner Judith Light, Tony Award nominee Jeremy Shamos, Obie Award winner Mark Blum, Lauren Blumenfeld (We Are Proud to Present…), Alex Dreier (Billy Elliot), Tony Award nominee Sam Robards, and Jake Silbermann (“As The World Turns”).

The limited engagement of THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES will begin previews Thursday, March 21, 2013 and open Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).

THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES welcomes us to the world of the Bascovs, an Upper West Side Jewish family in 1980. In a sprawling Central Park West apartment, former movie star Julie Bascov (Tony Award nominee Jessica Hecht) and her sister-in-law Faye (Tony and Emmy Award winner Judith Light) bring their families together for their traditional holiday dinner. But tonight, things are not usual. A house guest (Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos) has joined the festivities for the first time and he unwittingly – or perhaps by design – insinuates himself into the family drama. Twenty years later, as 2001 approaches, the Bascovs’ seemingly picture-perfect life may be about to crumble. A stunning new play infused with humor, THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES is an incisive portrait of a family grasping for stability at the dawn of a new millennium.

Greenberg returnsto MTC following the acclaimed Broadway revival of his play The American Plan. MTC’s collaboration with Greenberg spans 20 years and has seen the New York premieres of such lauded works as The Violet Hour, Three Days of Rain, and Eastern Standard. This production marks MTC’s 10th collaboration with Greenberg.

The creative team for THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES includes: Santo Loquasto (scenic design), Jane Greenwood (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), and Obadiah Eaves (original music & sound design).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. Over the past three decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 18 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and two Off-Broadway theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). Renowned MTC productions include Venus in Fur; Master Class; Good People; The Whipping Man; Time Stands Still; The Royal Family; Ruined; The American Plan; Come Back, Little Sheba; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; A Small Family Business; Sylvia; Putting It Together; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin.’

Biographies are after the cut.

RICHARD GREENBERG (Playwright) is the author of Take Me Out (Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award, NY Drama Critics Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award), which received an acclaimed production on Broadway after successful runs at The Donmar on London’s West End and The Public Theater in New York City. Other works include The House in Town, The Violet Hour, The Dazzle (Outer Critics Circle Award: John Gassner, Lucille Lortel nominations), Everett Beekin, Three Days of Rain (L.A. Drama Critics Award; Pulitzer Prize finalist; Olivier, Drama Desk, Hull-Warriner nominations; Broadway revival starring Julia Roberts), Hurrah At Last, Night and Her Stars, The American Plan, Life Under Water, and The Author's Voice, among many other plays. His adaptation of Strindberg's Dance of Death was seen on Broadway starring Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, and David Straithairn. He is writing the book for a musical version of Todd Haynes’s film Far From Heaven and has adapted Breakfast at Tiffany’s for the stage. Greenberg received the Oppenheimer Award for a new playwright as well as the first PEN/Laura Pels Award for a playwright in mid-career. He is an associate artist at South Coast Repertory and a member of Ensemble Studio Theater.

LYNNE MEADOW (Director) has been the visionary and artistic leader of Manhattan Theatre Club since 1972, creating work that has put the company at the forefront of the American theatre. Lynne has overseen hundreds of world, US and New York premieres; directed dozens of new plays on and off Broadway by America’s and England’s finest playwrights; and accepted every major theatre award (Tonys, Drama Desks, Obies, etc.) on behalf of the company.

Her most recent Broadway directing credits include the premiere of Margaret Edson’s Wit (Tony nominations for Best Revival and Best Actress in a Play); Donald Margulies’ Collected Stories (Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play); Charles Busch’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (three Tony nominations including Best Play); Alan Ayckbourn’s A Small Family Business; Off-Broadway and MTC: Donald Margulies’ The Loman Family Picnic;Alan Ayckbourn’s award-winning Woman in Mind and Absent Friends; the Obie Award-winning Ashes by David Rudkin; Charles Busch’s Our Leading Lady; David Greig’s The American Pilot; Ron Hutchinson’s Moonlight and Magnolias; Marsha Norman’s Last Dance; David Edgar’s The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs; Principia Scriptoriae; Lee Blessing’s Eleemosynary; Biography; Simon Gray’s Close of Play and Sally and Marsha.

Some of the works produced under her artistic direction include Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters; George S. Kaufman’s and Edna Ferber’s The Royal Family; Lynn Nottage’s Ruined (Pulitzer Prize); Alfred Uhry’s LoveMusik suggested by the letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya; John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play); Donald Margulies’ Sight Unseen (Pulitzer Prize finalist) and Time Stands Still; David Auburn’s Proof (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play) and The Columnist; August Wilson’s King Hedley II; David Lindsay-Abaire’s Fuddy Meers, Rabbit Hole (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nomination for Best Play) and Good People; A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia; Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! (Tony Award for Best Play) and Lisbon Traviata; Charlayne Woodard’s Pretty Fire; Athol Fugard’s Playland; Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together; Richard Greenberg’s Eastern Standard; Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart (Pulitzer Prize) and The Miss Firecracker Contest; the Fats Waller musical, Ain't Misbehavin’.

Lynne is a graduate of Bryn Mawr, and attended the Yale School of Drama. She taught at Yale, Fordham, NYU, etc. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including, the 2003 Mr. Abbott Award, the Lee Reynolds Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women, the Person of the Year from National Theatre Conference, the Margo Jones Award, The Lucille Lortel Award for lifetime achievement, The Lilly Award for Lifetime Achievement, and this past fall, the Louis Auchincloss Prize.

JESSICA HECHT (Julie) was recently seen on Broadway starring opposite Jim Parsons in Harvey and on film in The Magic of Belle Isle with Morgan Freeman and Virginia Madsen, directed by Rob Reiner. She will next be seen in The English Teacher, a comedy with Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear and Nathan Lane and Northern Borders, an independent film. Recent releases include her portrayal of the famous anarchist ‘Emma Goldman’ in J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio for director Clint Eastwood and Warner Brothers, as well as The Sitter, playing Jonah Hill’s mother, for 20th Century Fox.

Her other films include Helena From the Wedding, an ensemble drama from Beech Hill Films, and appearances in Fair Game with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, The Winning Season opposite Sam Rockwell and My Soul to Take directed by horror master Wes Craven. She also appeared with Larry David in Woody Allen’s Whatever Works, Dan in Real Life with Steve Carrell, Starting out in the Evening with Frank Langella, Sideways directed by Alexander Payne with Paul Giamatti, The Forgotten with Julianne Moore and The Grey Zone directed by Tim Blake Nelson.

Hecht’s television work is extensive and most recently includes the HBO pilot “Spring/Fall.” She performed a recurring role opposite Ted Danson on “Bored to Death” as well as a recurring role on the Emmy-nominated cable hit “Breaking Bad” (AMC) opposite Bryan Cranston. Well known for her five season recurring role as ‘Susan’ on “Friends” (NBC), she starred with Jonathan Silverman in “The Single Guy” (NBC) and with Joan Cusack in “What about Joan?” (ABC) created by James Brooks. Equally adept in drama or comedy, her many memorable performances include appearances on “The Good Wife,” “Nurse Jackie,” “CSI,” “Medium,” “ER,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Seinfeld” and “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice” with Tom Selleck.

Hecht completed her eighth season at the world famous Williamstown Theatre Festival where she performed as ‘Blanche’ opposite Sam Rockwell’s ‘Stanley’ in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by David Cromer. Hecht is proud to have been nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for her performance as ‘Beatrice’ in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge in which she starred with Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johanssen. Her other Broadway credits include the revival of Neil Simon’s award-winning play Brighton Beach Memoirs, Arthur Miller’s After the Fall, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar opposite Denzel Washington and the world premiere of the Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Her many Off-Broadway starring roles include Three Sisters with Maggie Gyllenhaal (Classic Stage Co.); Make Me (Atlantic Theater); The House in Town (Lincoln Center); Stop, Kiss (The Public); Lobster Alice and Plunge (Playwrights Horizons); Flesh and Blood (N.Y. Theater Workshop) and The Fourth Sister (Vineyard Theatre).

Hecht lives in New York with her husband, Adam Bernstein, and two wonderful children, Stella and Carlo.

JUDITH LIGHT (Faye). In June of 2012, Light was awarded the prestigious Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Other Desert Cities. She also won a Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress for the same play. Written by Jon Robin Baitz, Other Desert Cities is centered on a daughter played by Rachel Griffiths who presents her family with a memoir she is about to publish. Light played the role of Silda Grauman, the alcoholic aunt who is known to make snide remarks.

Light was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play in 2011, for her performance in Lombardi, the American play by Academy Award winner Eric Simpson. Directed by Tony nominee Thomas Kail, the play was based on the best-selling biography When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by Pulitzer-winning author David Maraniss. Light stared in the play as Marie Lombardi alongside Dan Lauria who played sports icon Vince Lombardi.

Light’s television career began with her two-time Best Actress Emmy award-winning turn as Karen Wolek on “One Life to Live.” She then went on to play Angela Bower on the hit comedy series “Who's the Boss?” Up until 2010, she was seen on the Emmy Award-winning ABC-TV series “Ugly Betty,” for which she received an Emmy nomination playing the character of Claire Meade. Simultaneously, she co-starred on NBC’s long-running drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in the recurring role of Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Donnelly. Light has also starred in “Phenom” (created by James Brooks), “The Simple Life,” created by long-time manager/producer Herb Hamsher, “The Stones” (created by Max Mutchnick, David Kohan, and Jenji Kohan) and in over 15 television movies, including her role as Ryan’s mother, Jeanne, in “The Ryan White Story.”

Light has starred in three independent films, The Shoemaker with Danny Aiello; Ira & Abby by Jennifer Westfeldt, with Robert Klein, Fred Willard and Frances Conroy - which was voted Best Comedy at the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival; and Save Me with Chad Allen and Robert Gant, a film which she also produced with Herb Hamsher through their production company, Tetrahedron Productions, in conjunction with GKE and Mythgarden Productions. Save Me had its U.S. premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, followed by screenings at both NYC’s NewFest and LA’s Outfest, as well as a screening and panel discussion aboard RSVP Vacations Queen Mary II transatlantic crossing. Save Me was released theatrically nationwide in the summer of 2008 by First Run Features.

In 2005, Light returned to her performing roots in theater, opening at MCC in New York in the production of Laura Wade’s Colder Than Here. Light showcased her musical abilities in 2004 in the role of Joanne in Steven Sondheim’s Company at the Freud Theatre in L.A. as part of Reprise! Light also appeared in Athol Fugard’s Sorrows and Rejoicings in 2002 at the Second Stage Theatre in New York and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

In 2001, Light opened in Washington, D.C. at the Shakespeare Theatre Company portraying the title character in the Henrik Ibsen classic Hedda Gabler. In 1999 she also took to the stage at the Union Square Theater, starring as the brilliant and uncompromising Dr. Vivian Bearing in the critically acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize winning Off-Broadway play Wit. Originally directed by Derek Anson Jones, Wit is a heartbreaking and at times very funny play about how Dr. Bearing copes with ovarian cancer, and how it transforms her and her views of life. A university professor who has always treasured her independence and lack of personal connections, Dr. Bearing is forced to change her stance when she undergoes radical chemotherapy. Light performed in New York until January 2000 and then toured with Wit nationwide, in such cities as Boston, Washington (at the Kennedy Center) and San Francisco. For her outstanding performance, Light received the Helen Hayes Award in Washington, D.C., as well as the Elliot Norton Award in Boston.

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA, Light has worked in repertory theaters throughout the United States and Canada as well as a USO Tour of Guys and Dolls with William Atherton and Paula Wagner throughout Europe. Light’s Broadway debut was in A Doll’s House with Liv Ullmann and was followed by a season at the Eugene O’Neil Playwright’s conference.

Light is a board member and advocate for many organizations and charities representing AIDS-related and Human Rights issues including: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, The Names Project/The AIDS Memorial Quilt, The National AIDS Memorial Grove, CDC’s Business Responds to AIDS/Labor Responds to AIDS, Hollywood Health and Society, Faith in America, Project Angel Food, The Matthew Shepard Foundation, The Point Foundation, The Rome Chamber Music Festival and The Trevor Project.

Light lives in New York and Los Angeles and is married to writer/actor, Robert Desiderio.

JEREMY SHAMOS (Jeff). Tony, Drama Desk, Lortel nominee and Obie Award winner Shamos was recently seen in the Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross with Al Pacino. He received a Tony nomination for his starring role in the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park. Prior Broadway includes Elling, Reckless (MTC), and The Rivals. Off-Broadway: Clybourne Park (Drama League and Lortel Award nominations.); Animals Out of Paper (Second Stage, Drama Desk nominee); Engaged (Theatre for a New Audience, Obie Award); We Live Here and Corpus Christi (MTC); The New York Idea (Atlantic); 100 Saints You Should Know and Miss Witherspoon (Playwrights); Gutenberg! The Musical (Actors’ Playhouse/59E59); Observe the Sons of Ulster… (Lincoln Center); Shakespeare (Abridged) (Century Center); Race and The Alchemist (CSC); Stranger (Vineyard); Hamlet, Cymbeline, and Paris Commune (Public). Film: Taking Woodstock, Dedication, The Rebound, Trust the Man. Television: “The Michael Showalter” (pilot), “Fringe,” “L&O Criminal Intent,” “Damages.” MFA NYU Graduate School of Acting.

MARK BLUM (Mort). Broadway: Twelve Angry Men, The Graduate, A Thousand Clowns, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (twice), Lost in Yonkers, My Thing of Love, The Merchant. Off- Broadway: The Good Mother, Lonely I’m Not, Picked, We Live Here, After the Revolution, The Overwhelming, The Waverly Gallery, The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Music Teacher, The Seagull, Mizlansky/Zilinsky, Gus and Al (Obie), It’s Only A Play, Little Footsteps, Key Exchange, Table Settings, Say Goodnight Gracie. Regional: Long Wharf, Huntington, Old Globe. Film: I Don’t Know How She Does It, The Green, Passing Harold Blumenthal, Step Up 3-D, Desperately Seeking Susan, Crocodile Dundee, Shattered Glass, The Presidio, Blind Date, Worth Winning, Getting to Know You, You Can Thank Me Later, Miami Rhapsody, Indictment: The McMartin Trial, The Defenders, Just Between Friends, Lovesick. TV: “Damages,” “The Good Wife,” “Fringe,” “Jesse Stone,” “The Sopranos,” “The West Wing,” “NYPD Blue,” ”CSI: Miami,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Frasier,” “Ed,” “The Practice,” “Wings,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Capitol News,” and Steve Martini’s “The Judge.” He is on the faculty of Brooklyn College and HB Studio.

LAUREN BLUMENFELD (Shelley). Off-Broadway: We Are Proud to Present… (Soho Rep). Selected New York credits: Exit Carolyn (2012 IT award nomination, Best Featured Actress), Sailor Man (NYC Fringe Award), Man is Man (HERE), Let Me Collect Myself, We Are Not Birds (Ars Nova). Selected regional credits: Six Degrees of Separation, After the Revolution, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Circle Mirror Transformation (Pittsburgh Public), Tigers Be Still (TheatreSquared, AR). Film credits: Black Dog Red Dog (2013), The Rebound, A Little Princess. Lauren is also a member of Old Vic New Voices and a performer and writer for Naked Angels’ Naked Radio. Training: NYU, Tisch (the Experimental Theatre Wing and the Classical Studio)

ALEX DREIER (Timmy) performed on Broadway in Billy Elliot the Musical (Small Boy) for 1 ½ years, and performed Off-Broadway in A Child Shall Lead (Erik Kosek), The Seven Little Foys (Irving Foy), and in a benefit performance of Oliver (Fagin Boy) for the Irish Repertory Theatre. His television work includes two episodes of “Royal Pains” (Young Evan) and the HBO movie (with Christopher Plummer) Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight (Joey Edelstein). He also recently appeared in New York City Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty (Cape Bearer). His voice has been heard on a Carols for a Cure CD and a “SpongeBob Squarepants” promo (Nickelodeon). Alex studies ballet (at the School of American Ballet) and tap and other dance forms. He loves science, computer programming, and acrobatics, and has a brown belt in karate.

SAM ROBARDS (Ben). Broadway: The 39 Steps, Absurd Person Singular, The Man Who Had All the Luck (Tony and Drama Desk nominations, Derwent Award). Off-Broadway: The Overwhelming and Misalliance (Roundabout); The Altruists (Vineyard); Moonchildren, Flux (Second Stage); Album (Cherry Lane); Taking Steps (York). Regional: Bell, Book And Candle, Japes (Bay Street), The Talking Cure (Mark Taper), Burn This (Aspen), Idiot’s Delight (Kennedy Center), The Philadelphia Story (Hartman). Film: Rebound opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones; Grand Street; The Art of Getting By; Perestroika; Surviving Eden; Catch That Kid; Life as a House; AI; Bounce; American Beauty; Beautiful Girls; Casualties of War; Bird; Bright Lights, Big City; Not Quite Paradise; Fandango; Tempest. Television: “Treme,” “The Good Wife,” “Gossip Girl,” “Body of Proof,” “Blue Bloods,” “West Wing,” “Maximum Bob,” “Get a Life,” “Sex and the City,” “Law & Order,” “The Blackwater Lightship,” “Obsessed,” “On Golden Pond,” “Hamlet,” “The Warden,” “Eichmann,” and “Into Thin Air.”

JAKE SILBERMANN (Scotty/Tim). Shortly after graduating from Syracuse University, Silbermann joined the cast of “As the World Turns” where he created the groundbreaking role of Noah Mayer. Most recently, Jake completed the co-production of Marie Antoinette at A.R.T. and Yale Repertory Theatre, as well as David Adjmi’s world premiere of 3C at The Rattlestick. Other selected credits include: Dracula alongside George Hearn at the Little Shubert Theatre, and the world premieres of Phaedra Backwards (McCarter Theatre) and Derby Day (Camisade Theatre Company). Television work includes “Guiding Light,” “Gossip Girl,” and “The Good Wife.”

Alan Cummings Returning to Broadway in MacBeth

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:50:00 +0000

Direct from acclaimed, sold-out engagements at the National Theatre of Scotland and the Lincoln Center Festival, Tony and Olivier Award winner ("Cabaret") and two-time Emmy nominee ("The Good Wife") Alan Cumming returns to Broadway this spring in a thrilling one-man interpretation of Shakespeare's darkest and most powerful tragedy, MACBETH.

Produced by Ken Davenport, the National Theatre of Scotland's MACBETH will play a strictly limited 73-performance engagement at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street).

Preview performances begin on Sunday, April 7 (7 p.m.) with an official Opening Night on Sunday, April 21 (6 p.m.). The Broadway engagement will conclude on Sunday, June 30.

A tour-de-force performance directed by Tony Award winner John Tiffany ("Once") and Andrew Goldberg ("The Bomb-itty of Errors"), the National Theatre of Scotland's MACBETH is set in a clinical room deep within a dark psychiatric unit. Cumming is the lone patient, reliving the infamous story and inhabiting each role himself.

Closed circuit television cameras watch the patient's every move as the walls of the psychiatric ward come to life in a visually stunning multi-media theatrical experience of Shakespeare's notorious tale of desire, ambition and the supernatural.

"Performing MACBETH last year was the most challenging and fulfilling experience of my career by far, and so I am both honoured and daunted to do it again in my adopted hometown of New York City," said Alan Cumming. "I'm also proud of the fact that the National Theatre of Scotland is directly funded by the Scottish government and I cannot think of a better way to trumpet Scotland and its commitment to the arts than being a Scotsman doing his National Theatre's production of the Scottish play on the Great White Way."

A Tony Award winner for his celebrated performance as the Emcee in the long-running revival of "Cabaret," Alan Cumming's other Broadway credits include Mack the Knife in "The Threepenny Opera" and Otto in "Design for Living."

He made his professional theatre debut as Malcolm in "Macbeth" at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow in 1985, then went on to perform with Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre and Scotland's Dundee Repertory. At the Traverse Theatre, he appeared in "The Conquest of the South Pole," which transferred to London's Royal Court and earned him his first Olivier Award nomination. Other West End work includes "La Bête," the title role in "Hamlet" (TMA Award, Shakespeare Globe nomination), "Cabaret" (Olivier nomination), "As You Like It," "Singer" (Royal Shakespeare Co.), Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet" (National Studio, London) and "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" (National, London, Olivier Award).

Cumming is a two-time Emmy Award nominee for his current role in the CBS drama "The Good Wife." Other television and film credits include "Goldeneye," "Spy Kids," "X2: X-Men United," "Titus," "Eyes Wide Shut," "The Tempest," "Sweet Land," "Sex and the City," "Frasier" and "Tinman."

This production of MACBETH marks the second collaboration between Alan Cumming and co-director John Tiffany. The two first worked together on the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Euripides' "The Bacchae," which took the Edinburgh International Festival by storm in 2007 and subsequently toured in 2008 to Aberdeen, Inverness and the Lincoln Center Festival in New York.

Andrew Goldberg runs the Shakespeare Gym in New York City and was staff director on the National Theatre of Scotland's production of "Black Watch" in New York, when he and John Tiffany first started collaborating creatively.

MACBETH features scenic and costume design by Merle Hensel, lighting design by Natasha Chivers, sound design by Fergus O'Hare and video projection design by Ian William Galloway, voice by Ros Steen, movement by Christine Devaney and music by Max Richter.

Biographies are after the cut.

ALAN CUMMING has a transatlantic, multi-award winning stage and screen career. He made his theatre debut as Malcolm in Michael Boyd's production of "Macbeth" at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow and his West End debut at the Royal Court Theatre in "Conquest of the South Pole," for which he received his first Olivier Award nomination. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre where he won an Olivier Award for "Accidental Death of an Anarchist." He was nominated for Olivier Awards for "La Bete" and "Cabaret," and his "Hamlet" at the Donmar Warehouse in London won him a TMA Best Actor Award and a Shakespeare Globe nomination. On Broadway, his acclaimed performance in "Cabaret" earned him a Tony Award. His other Broadway credits include "The Threepenny Opera" opposite Cyndi Lauper and "Design For Living," as well as roles Off-Broadway in Jean Genet's "Elle" (which he also adapted) and "The Seagull," opposite Dianne Wiest. In 2006, he returned to the British stage in Martin Sherman's "Bent," and in 2007 appeared in the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Euripides' "The Bacchae." On television, he is currently appearing as Eli Gold on CBS' hit drama "The Good Wife," for which he has received two Emmy Award nominations. Over the last few years he has also: sung at venues around the globe including the Sydney Opera House; appeared in films opposite Helen Mirren, Cher, James Franco and Christina Aguilera; voiced a Smurf, a goat and Hitler; sparred with Dianne Wiest in "Chekhov;" directed and starred in a musical condom commercial; written articles for Newsweek, Harpers Bazaar and Out; recorded an award-winning album of songs and a dance remix; made three documentaries; released a second fragrance (naturally named Second Cumming); hosted PBS' "Masterpiece Mystery" as well as speaking out for LGBT equality and civil rights and going to Buckingham Palace to receive an OBE for all of the above. Time Magazine also called him one of the most fun people in show business.

JOHN TIFFANY (Director) trained at Glasgow University gaining an MA in Theatre and Classics. From 1997 to 2001 he was Literary Director at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and was Associate Director at Paines Plough Theatre Company from 2001 to 2005. He was Associate Director for the National Theatre of Scotland from 2005 to 2012. During 2010-11 John was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University. On Broadway, John directed "Once," which won eight Tony Awards last year, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. Work for the National Theatre of Scotland includes "Macbeth," "Enquirer," "Peter Pan," "The House of Bernarda Alba," "Transform Caithness: Hunter," "Be Near Me," "Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us," "The Bacchae," "Black Watch," "Elizabeth Gordon Quinn," "Home: Glasgow." For "Black Watch," John has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director, as well as a Critics' Circle Award for Best Director, a Scotsman Fringe First, a Herald Angel, and a Critics' Award for Theatre in Scotland. Other work includes "The Glass Menagerie" (A.R.T.), "Jerusalem" (West Yorkshire Playhouse), "Las Chicas del Tres y Media Floppies" (Granero Theatre, Mexico City and Edinburgh Festival Fringe), "If Destroyed True," "Mercury Fur and The Straits" (Paines Plough), "Gagarin Way," "Abandonment," "Among Unbroken Hearts," "Perfect Days and Passing Places" (Traverse, Edinburgh).

ANDREW GOLDBERG (Director) has directed classical works, new plays, and musicals all over the world. His most well known productions include "The Bomb-itty of Errors," a hip-hop adaptation of The Comedy of Errors which premiered Off-Broadway before being seen internationally, including the Edinburgh Fringe (Stage Award for best ensemble) followed by London's West End; "Daddy Cool," the Boney M musical, at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London; as well as "Hair" in Asbury Park, "Romeo & Juliet" for American Stage, "Twelfth Night" at LaMaMa, "Fair Maid of the West" at Pleasance, London. For over five years he was the Associate Artistic Director of The New Group. He is also the founder of The Shakespeare Gym.

KEN DAVENPORT (Producer). Broadway producing credits include "Godspell," "Chinglish," "Oleanna" starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, "Speed-the-Plow," Will Ferrell's "You're Welcome America," "Blithe Spirit" starring Angela Lansbury and "13," as well as "Altar Boyz," "My First Time," "The Awesome 80s Prom" and "Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage" Off-Broadway. He also recently released "These Magnificent Miles: On the Long Road with Red Wanting Blue," a documentary on one of the top unsigned rock bands in the country. Featured on a national commercial for Apple's iPhone and named one of Crain's "Forty Under 40," Ken is one of the co-organizers of TEDxBroadway. Ken is the writer of the popular blog TheProducersPerspective.com which has been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The Gothamist and more. Other projects include smartphone app AT THE BOOTH (Entertainment Weekly's "Must List"), Broadway board game Be a Broadway Star, and websites DidHeLikeIt.com and YourBroadwayGenius.com. For more, visit DavenportTheatrical.com.

THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND is Scotland's first National Theatre company and has been touring world class work by Scottish artists throughout Scotland and beyond since 2006. The company has played to over 830,000 people across four continents. This marks the company's eight run in New York following presentations of The Wolves in the Walls at the New Victory Theater, three runs of Black Watch and Beautiful Burnout at St Ann's Warehouse, and The Bacchae and Macbeth at the Lincoln Center Festival. US tours include The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart and Long Gone Lonesome. The National Theatre of Scotland is funded by the Scottish government.

Broadway Grosses: January 28 through February 3, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:43:00 +0000

The following are the top shows on Broadway for the week of January 28 through February 3, 2013.

Top Grossing

The Book of Mormon - $1,635,426
Wicked - $1,419,249
The Lion King - $1,395,073
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - $1,008,402
Cinderella - $950,035
Once - $922,097
Annie - $821,246
Manilow on Broadway - $706,714
Jersey Boys - $779,682
Newsies - $756,383

Top Capacity

The Book of Mormon - 102.6%
Once - 98.1%
Wicked - 97.4%
Cinderella - 96.6%
The Heiress - 95.8%
The Lion King - 95.4%
Newsies - 89.9%
Rock of Ages - 88.2%
The Other Place - 85.4%
Jersey Boys - 84.7%

Casting Announced For Pippin

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:37:00 +0000

Producers Barry & Fran Weissler and Howard & Janet Kagan are pleased to announce casting for Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz’s PIPPIN, directed by Diane Paulus. PIPPIN will begin preview performances on Broadway Saturday, March 23, 2013 and officially open Thursday, April 25, 2013 at the Music Box Theatre. Tickets are available through www.telecharge.com/pippin, by calling 212-239-6200, and in person beginning Saturday, March 2nd at the Music Box Theatre box office (239 West 45th Street).

The cast, all of whom appeared in the premiere of Diane Paulus’s production of PIPPIN at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, MA, features Matthew James Thomas as Pippin, Tony and Olivier Award nominee Patina Miller as Leading Player, Tony Award nominee Terrence Mann as Charles, Tony Award nominee Charlotte d’Amboise as Fastrada, Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine and Tony Award winner Andrea Martin as Berthe. Other members of the company include Erik Altemus as Lewis, Gregory Arsenal, Andrew Cekala, Lolita Costet, Colin Cunliffe, Andrew Fitch, Orion Griffiths, Viktoria Grimmy, Olga Karmansky, Bethany Moore, Brad Musgrove, Stephanie Pope, Philip Rosenberg, Yannick Thomas, Molly Tynes, Anthony Wayne.

Matthew James Thomas, Gregory Arsenal, Lolita Costet and Yannick Thomas are appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance on this production.

The beloved coming-of-age musical PIPPIN, with a book by Roger O. Hirson, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, is directed by Diane Paulus with circus creation by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers) and choreography by Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse.

The design team includes Tony Award-winner Scott Pask (Scenic Design), Dominique Lemieux (Costume Design), Tony Award-winner Kenneth Posner (Lighting Design), Tony Award-winner Clive Goodwin (Sound Design). The orchestrations are by Tony Award-winner Larry Hochman with music supervision by Nadia Di Giallonardo, and music direction by Charlie Alterman.

Royal heir Pippin is spurred on by a mysterious group of performers to embark on a death-defying journey to find his “corner of the sky.” The original production of PIPPIN, directed by Bob Fosse, premiered on Broadway in 1972. It won five Tony Awards and five Drama Desk Awards, and ran for close to 2000 performances before closing in 1977. This production of PIPPIN made its debut at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, MA, where Diane Paulus serves as Artistic Director; December 5, 2012 to January 20, 2013. PIPPIN is noted for many Broadway standards including “Corner of the Sky,” “Magic To Do,” “l Guess I’ll Miss The Man,” “Glory,” “No Time at All,” “Morning Glow,” and “Love Song.”

Broadway Show Being Developed on Gloria and Emilio Estefan

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:34:00 +0000

Photo: Jesus Carrero for the
Nederland Organization

The Nederlander Organization and Estefan Enterprises are joining together to produce a new Broadway show inspired by the music of Gloria Estefan and her musician/producer husband Emilio Estefan.

The show will follow the journey of the couple from Cuba to international superstardom.

Gloria and Emilio issued a statement saying "We are very excited to partner with the Nederlander Organization and Bernie Yuman to, after almost a decade of planning and developing, bring our music and life story to Broadway. We are very excited to share this story, which is based on hope, determination and the belief that with hard work and passion, our dreams can become our reality. Our music has been a true reflection of who we are, where we came from and the journey that has brought us to where we are today. Our cultural roots, our life-defining challenges and the rewards that come with believing in yourself and striving for that which you believe in wholeheartedly, will be the foundation for this theatrical production. Sharing our life story through music will give us a new opportunity to honor our roots and, hopefully, to be able to inspire generations to come."

Gloria Estefan is the biggest crossover performer in the history of Latin music with ten top 10 singles (solo and with the Miami Sound Machine) and 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce to Star in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:12:00 +0000

Producers Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, and John O’Boyle announced today that Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is headed to Broadway on the heels of its sold-out premiere at Lincoln Center. The 17-week strictly limited engagement is set to begin performances on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at Broadway’s Golden Theatre. Directed by Nicholas Martin, the Broadway production will feature the entire original company, which includes Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Genevieve Angelson, Shalita Grant, and Billy Magnussen. Opening night is set for Thursday, March 14, 2013.

Riffing on some of Anton Chekov’s most time-tested themes, Christopher Durang proves in his hysterically funny and surprisingly affecting new romp, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, that whether you’re in 19th Century Russia or 21st Century Pennsylvania, the human condition never changes. Vanya (Pierce) and Sonia (Nielsen) have never left the confines of their childhood home – a rambling farmhouse in Bucks County, PA – while having to witness the glamorous exploits of their sister, Masha (Weaver), a famous movie actress, from afar. A surprise visit from Masha and her 20-something boy toy, Spike (Magnussen), throws the normally quiet household int0 utter upheaval as its residents and visitors get swept up in an intoxicating mixture of lust, rivalry, regret, and the sudden possibility of escape. Only one thing is certain: no one will get out of this without looking absolutely ridiculous!

The creative team will feature David Korins (Scenic Design), Emily Rebholz (Costume Design), Justin Townsend (Lighting Design), and Mark Bennett (Original Music and Sound Design).

Tickets, ranging from $60 to $130 will be available beginning on Monday, February 4, 2013 via telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is produced by Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, and John O’Boyle, in association with McCarter Theatre and Lincoln Center Theater.

Bette Midler's I'll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers Announces Theatre, Dates

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:06:00 +0000

Tickets will go on sale Saturday, February 2 at 10 AM exclusively for American Express® cardholders for Bette Midler’s return to Broadway in John Logan’s new play I’LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS, directed by Joe Mantello. Preferred seating is available to Gold Card, Platinum Card®, and Centurion® members. For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit Telecharge.com. The general public on sale will begin on Sunday, February 16 at 10 AM.

The limited engagement for I’LL EAT YOU LAST begins previews Friday, April 5 and opens Wednesday, April 24 at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street).

Appearing on Broadway for the first time in 30 years, Tony and Grammy Award-winning superstar Bette Midler will play the legendary Hollywood agent Sue Mengers (1932-2011) in the new, one-character play.

Sue Mengers was an American original. She was the first female “superagent” at a time when women talent agents of any kind were almost unheard of. She came from near poverty, a refugee from Hitler's Germany, and worked her way up through pluck, charm, and a legendary wit. In that uniquely American way, she invented herself; and when the career she wanted didn't exist, she invented that as well: “Superagent.” It was a term Hollywood all but coined for her. By the 1970's, she represented almost every major star in Hollywood and went on to become the town’s most renowned hostess.

The creative team includes three-time Tony Award winner Scott Pask (scenic design), Academy Award winner Ann Roth (costume design), three-time Tony nominee Hugh Vanstone (lighting design), and Drama Desk Award winner Fitz Patton (sound design).

I’LL EAT YOU LAST is produced on Broadway by Graydon Carter, Arielle Tepper Madover, James L. Nederlander, The Shubert Organization, Terry Allen Kramer, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jeffrey Finn, Ruth Hendel, Larry Magid, Jon B. Platt, and Scott & Brian Zeilinger.

Broadway Grosses: January 21 through 27, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:29:00 +0000

The following are the top shows on Broadway for the week of January 21 through 27, 2013.

Top Grossing

The Book of Mormon - $1,635,919
The Lion King - $1,515,827
Wicked - $1,493,804
Evita - $1,104,835
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - $1,091,830
Annie - $1,026,892
Once - $943,703
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - $866,531
Jersey Boys - $871,297
Newsies - $815,997

Top Capacity

The Book of Mormon - 102.6%
The Lion King - 98.9%
Cinderella - 98.8%
Wicked - 98.0%
Once - 96.4%
Rock of Ages - 94.8%
The Heiress - 92.6%
Newsies - 91.2%
Jersey Boys - 87.6%
The Other Place - 85.8%

The Trip to Bountiful Moves Up First Preview to March 30

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:23:00 +0000

The upcoming Broadway revival of Horton Foote’s beloved classic, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, will begin preview performances on Saturday, March 30 at 8pm, one day earlier than the previously announced March 31st, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 W 43rd St). Opening night remains Tuesday, April 23. Tickets are available at www.Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

The production, directed by Michael Wilson, will feature Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress CICELY TYSON, Academy Award winner CUBA GOODING, JR, (Jerry Maguire, Red Tails),Emmy Award nominee and recording star VANESSA WILLIAMS (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives), and Tony Award nominee CONDOLA RASHAD (Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias, Broadway’s Stick Fly).

The inspiring American classic, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, tells the story of Carrie Watts (Tyson), an elderly woman who dreams of returning to her small hometown of Bountiful, TX one last time, against the wishes of her overprotective son (Gooding) and domineering daughter-in-law (Williams). Her journey becomes a heartbreaking but ultimately life-affirming tale that examines the fragility of memory and celebrates the enduring power of hope and faith.

Horton Foote’s THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFULpremiered as a teleplay on NBC in 1953, starring Lillian Gish as Carrie Watts. The play had its Broadway premiere later that year with the same cast, which also included Eva Marie Saint. The play was adapted by Mr. Foote into an acclaimed 1985 film starring Geraldine Page, for which she won the Academy Award. In 2005, Signature Theatre produced the play Off-Broadway starring Lois Smith, for which she won Lortel, Obie, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Awards.

THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL’s award winning creative team has interpreted a number of plays and films by Horton Foote: Jeff Cowie (scenery), Van Broughton Ramsey (costumes), Rui Rita (lighting), and John Gromada (original music and sound design).

Bill Pullman to Join the Cast of The Other Place

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:28:00 +0000

Manhattan Theatre Club announces that Bill Pullman (“1600 Penn;” The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?) will join the cast of THE OTHER PLACE starting Tuesday, February 5 at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Pullman will assume the role of Ian.

Daniel Stern will play his final performance in the role on Sunday, February 3. Stern is leaving the production due to family matters in California that require his early departure from the show.

Pullman is an acclaimed actor of stage, television, and film, and currently can be seen in NBC’s first family comedy “1600 Penn.” His stage performances include his Drama Desk-nominated performances in two Edward Albee works: The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and Peter & Jerry. He most recently appeared on Broadway in the revival of David Mamet’s Oleanna opposite Julia Stiles.

The acclaimed production of THE OTHER PLACE, the new play by Sharr White, directed by Joe Mantello, was recently extended at MTC’s Friedman Theatre through Sunday, March 3. In addition to Pullman, the production also stars Laurie Metcalf (“Roseanne,” November), Zoe Perry (Broadway debut), and John Schiappa (Assassins, Take Me Out).

Three-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Laurie Metcalf stars in MTC’s Broadway-premiere production of THE OTHER PLACE, a riveting new thriller by fast-rising playwright Sharr White and directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Other Desert Cities, Wicked, Love! Valour! Compassion!).

Metcalf gives a “dazzling, must-be-seen performance” (Variety) as Juliana Smithton, a successful neurologist whose life seems to be coming unhinged. Her husband has filed for divorce, her daughter has eloped with a much older man and her own health is in jeopardy. But in this brilliantly crafted work, nothing is as it seems. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface.

The Heiress Closing One Day Early to Accommodate Jessica Chastain

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:22:00 +0000

The producers of the new Broadway revival of THE HEIRESS have announced that the production will now play its final performance on Saturday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m. (note the new early curtain time). The previously scheduled Sunday, February 10 closing performance has been cancelled to enable Jessica Chastain, who plays the title character, to attend the BAFTA Awards (the British equivalent to the Academy Awards) where she is nominated for Best Actress on Sunday, February 10th in London. Ms. Chastain is nominated for an Academy Award and has already received Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards for her performance in the film Zero Dark Thirty. THE HEIRESS is currently playing at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre (219 W. 48th St. NYC).

THE HEIRESS stars Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain as Catherine Sloper, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner David Strathairn as Dr. Austin Sloper, the leading man of “Downton Abbey” Dan Stevens as Morris Townsend and Tony Award winner Judith Ivey as Lavinia Penniman. Written by Ruth & Augustus Goetz, THE HEIRESS is directed by Tony Award nominated playwright and director Moisés Kaufman.

THE HEIRESS also features Molly Camp, Kieran Campion, Virginia Kull, Mairin Lee, Ben Livingston, Dee Nelson and Caitlin O’Connell.

THE HEIRESS is produced by Paula Wagner, Roy Furman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Luigi Caiola/Rose Caiola, Jim Herbert, Ted Liebowitz, Stacey Mindich,Jill Furman, Ricardo Hornos, Jon B. Platt, Eric Schmidt, Margo Lion/Rachel Weinstein and Jujamcyn Theaters.

Tom Sturridge Joining Alec Baldwin and Shia LaBeouf in Orphans

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:13:00 +0000

Tom Sturridge, the British stage and film actor whose credits include Being Julia and On The Road,will make his Broadway debut this spring in ORPHANS.

This production, which will begin performances on March 19 and open on April 7 2013 at the Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street), will mark the first Broadway staging of the play.

Sturridge will star with Alec Baldwin and Shia LaBeouf in Lyle Kessler’s play,directed by Daniel Sullivan and produced by Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole.

In the play, two orphaned brothers are living in a decrepit North Philadelphia row house. Treat, the eldest, (LaBeouf), supports his damaged younger sibling Philip (Sturridge) by petty thievery, and makes the house a virtual prison for the seemingly simple-minded Phillip. One night he kidnaps a rich older man, Harold (Baldwin), who turns out to have his own motives and becomes the father figure the boys have always yearned for.

Tom Sturridge began his career in Mira Nair’s feature film Vanity Fair alongside Reese Witherspoon, before going on to star in Being Julia with Annette Bening and Michael Gambon. A leading role ensued in Gregory J. Read’s feature Like Minds alongside Toni Collette, before he gained further recognition in Working Title’s The Boat That Rocked, directed by Richard Curtis with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy.

His film credits also include Tinge Krishnan’s Junkhearts with Eddie Marsan and Romola Garai and Walter Salles’ On The Road with Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortenson and Amy Adams in which he plays Carlo Marx, Kerouac’s alias for Allen Ginsberg. Forthcoming roles include the painter John Millais in Effie, opposite Dakota Fanning and Emma Thompson, and he has also recently completed filming on Terrence Malick’s new feature, with Ryan Gosling and Michael Fassbender.

Tom made his theatre debut in Simon Stephen’s Punk Rock which performed at the Lyric Hammersmith in London and at the Manchester Royal Exchange. He subsequently received the Critics’ Circle Best Newcomer Award in recognition of his leading performance, along with Best Newcomer at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards. He was also nominated for the Milton Schulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and London Newcomer of the Year at the Whatsonstage Awards. He has since played leading roles at London’s Royal Court Theatre, in Simon Stephens’ play Wastwater and most recently in Polly Stenham’s new play No Quarter.

ORPHANS premiered in 1983 at The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles where it won the Drama-Logue Award. Following its 1985 engagement at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, the play had a successful run at New York’s Westside Arts Theatre and was subsequently produced in London. A film version was also produced.

Barry Manilow Postpones Broadway Opening Due to Illness

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:19:00 +0000

Manilow on Broadway will not be opening tonight as scheduled as Barry is down with a chest infection.

The singer cancelled his final preview performance on Wednesday but had high hopes of being well for the opening. Also out are Friday and Saturday night's performances, pushing the show back to a Tuesday opening.

The producers issued a statement saying "It turns out the only thing worse than hell and high water is bronchitis. Barry is deeply sorry to disappoint his fans and is doing everything he can to ensure a speedy recovery."

The performances have been rescheduled for February 28, March 1 and March 2.

Watch: New Promotional Reel for Once

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:59:00 +0000

Broadway Grosses: January 14 through 20, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:57:00 +0000

The following are the top shows on Broadway for the week of January 14 through 20, 2013.

Top Grossing

Wicked - $1,700,024
The Book of Mormon - $1,655,074
The Lion King - $1,547,560
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - $1,266,814
Glengarry Glen Ross - $1,070,538
Evita - $1,018,693
Once - $951,399
Annie - $902,883
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - $891,457
Jersey Boys - $823,113

Top Capacity

The Book of Mormon - 102.6%
The Lion King - 97.9%
Wicked - 95.1%
Once - 92.8%
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - 92.2%
Rock of Ages - 92.1%
Glengarry Glen Ross - 88.6%
Manilow on Broadway - 88.5%
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - 86.1%
Newsies - 84.8%

Jekyll & Hyde Sets April Opening

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:40:00 +0000

Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Independent Presenters Network, Chunsoo Shin, Luigi Caiola and Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley are pleased to announce the first preview, opening night and ticket on-sale dates for the new Broadway production of the international musical sensation JEKYLL & HYDE,starring Tony Award nominee Constantine Maroulis in the dual title role of ‘Dr. Henry Jekyll’ & ‘Edward Hyde’ and Grammy-nominated R&B superstar Deborah Cox as ‘Lucy’. Following the completion of its current national tour, the 13-week limited Broadway engagement of JEKYLL & HYDE will begin previews on Friday, April 5, 2013 and open on Thursday, April 18, 2013, at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway) rather than the previously-announced Richard Rodgers Theatre.

After four thrilling, chilling years on Broadway and multiple worldwide tours, this dark and dangerous love story returns in a stunning new production that includes all the classic songs (“This is the Moment”, “A New Life”, “Someone Like You”) that first grabbed audiences by the throat and transformed JEKYLL & HYDE into a four-time Tony Award nominated theatrical phenomenon. Conceived for the stage by Tony and Grammy Award nominee Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, JEKYLL & HYDEfeatures a book & lyrics by two-time Oscar winner, Emmy winner and four-time Tony Award nominee Leslie Bricusse, music by Frank Wildhorn, and direction & choreography by Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun.

In addition to Maroulis and Cox, the cast also features Teal Wicks (Wicked) as ‘Emma Carew’, Laird Mackintosh (Mary Poppins) as ‘John Utterson’, Richard White (The Most Happy Fella) as ‘Sir Danvers Carew’, David Benoit (Avenue Q) as ‘Bishop/Spider’, Stephen Mitchell Brown, Jerry Christakos, Dana Costello, Wendy Fox, Brian Gallagher, Sean Jenness, Mel Johnson Jr., James Judy, Ashley Loren, Courtney Markowitz, Aaron Ramey, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Rob Richardson, Blair Ross, Doug Storm, Haley Swindal and Jason Wooten.

JEKYLL & HYDE features scenic & costume design by Tony Award nominee Tobin Ost (Newsies), lighting design by Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter (Peter and the Starcatcher, Newsies,), sound design by Ken Travis (Newsies) and projection design by Daniel Brodie (Motown). Orchestrations are by Kim Scharnberg. Musical supervision and arrangements are by Jason Howland.

A pre-tour preview engagement of JEKYLL & HYDEwas presented at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, California from September 7-30, 2012. The 25-week national tour launched on October 2, 2012 at San Diego's Civic Theatre.

JEKYLL & HYDE is based on the acclaimed novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, about a London doctor who accidentally unleashes an evil alternate personality in his quest to cure his father’s mental illness. The musicalwas first introduced as a concept album in 1990 featuring Colm Wilkinson and Linda Eder, and shortly thereafter had its world premiere at the Alley Theatre in Houston starring Chuck Wagner as ‘Jekyll’/‘Hyde’ and Linda Eder as ‘Lucy’. Following a 30-city National Tour, the original Broadway production opened at The Plymouth Theatre on April 28, 1997 and earned four Tony Award nominations. Directed by Robin Phillips and choreographed by Joey Pizzi, the production starred Robert Cuccioli, who earned a Tony Nomination as well as Joseph Jefferson, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for his portrayal of‘Jekyll’/‘Hyde’, Linda Eder,who won the Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut as ‘Lucy’, and Christianne Noll as ‘Emma Carew’. After 1,543 performances, and such replacements as Sebastian Bach and David Hasselhoff in the title role, the production played its final performance on January 7, 2001. The show’s popularity catapulted well beyond the Great White Way and, within the subsequent decade of its world premiere, JEKYLL & HYDEbecame an international sensation with multiple tours in the UK and North America, and over a dozen recordings from Germany, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Japan and South Korea, among others.

JEKYLL & HYDE is produced by Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Independent Presenters Network, Chunsoo Shin, Luigi Caiola and Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley.

Biographies are after the cut:

CONSTANTINE MAROULIS (Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde) played the lead role in a three-year run in Broadway’s Rock of Ages and received a Best Actor Tony nomination and a Drama League nomination for his performance. Constantine made his Broadway debut in the Tony-Nominated production of The Wedding Singer and was recently seen in the title role of the hit production of Toxic Avenger at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas.Constantine was a finalist on the fourth season of American Idol. He played the role of Roger Davis in the national tour of RENT. Constantine co-starred in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. He was a series regular on the CBS daytime drama The Bold and The Beautiful, which featured original songs from his debut album “Constantine,” released on his own label, Sixth Place Records. Other television credits include Law & Order, The Tonight Show, America’s Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Conan, Ellen, Regis & Kelly, MTV and many more. In 2011, he was presented with both The Gabby Award and The Elios Award, which recognizes the excellence Greek Americans have achieved in various fields. Constantine appears in the Warner Brothers feature film, Rock of Ages starring Tom Cruise. Constantine graduated from the Boston Conservatory and apprenticed at The Williamstown Theatre Festival. @ConstantineM

DEBORAH COX (Lucy) A multi-platinum selling and a multi-talented entertainer, Cox has conquered the R&B and pop charts, including six top-20 Billboard R&B singles, an impressive eleven #1 hits on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart and the lead role in Elton John and Tim Rice's Broadway musical, Aida. While singing with Celine Dion, Cox was discovered by the infamous Clive Davis and instantly signed to Arista records. Her gold selling debut album Deborah Cox was released in 1995. In 1998, she followed up with the release of her second CD One Wish. From this CD came the double platinum “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” which held the record for being the longest running #1 R&B Single for 14 consecutive weeks and earned her a Lady of Soul and a Soul Train Award. Her second single “We Can’t Be Friends” also went to #1 on Billboard's singles chart and sold over 500,000 copies. “Things Just Ain’t The Same” and “It’s Over Now” followed.

Deborah has sung with Andrea Bocelli, toured with David Foster, Cyndi Lauper and Sarah Mac Lachlan with Lilith Fair. She was also invited to perform for First Lady Michelle Obama and President Obama. In 2000, Deborah collaborated with Whitney Houston to record the duet “Same Script Different Cast” for her Greatest Hits CD. Her third album, “The Morning After” was released in 2002 with “Up & Down (In & Out)” co-written with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. In 2003, her fourth album “Remixed” was releasedfeaturing her Billboard chart topping dance remixes. In 2012, Deborah garnered her 11th number one Billboard Dance single with “If It Wasn’t For Love”. In addition to roles in both film and television, Deborah also released her fifth album, a Grammy® nominated tribute album “Destination Moon” to the legendary Dinah Washington in 2007 (Universal). That same year she also received The Civil Rights Award from the New York Senate for her efforts in the fight for Human Rights and equality. In 2008, she formed Deco Recording Group and released her sixth studio album The Promise, where she earned her 10th #1 spot on the Billboard Dance Chart with the international hit “Beautiful U R”. Behind the scenes, Deborah has recorded singles for several film soundtracks including Akeelah and the Bee, “Hotel Rwanda, Kingdom Come, Money Talks, A Good Man is Hard To Find and Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns.”

TEAL WICKS (Emma Carew) burst onto the musical theater scene in 2008 when she snagged the role of Elphaba in the Los Angeles company of Wicked, a role she reprised in the San Francisco company before making the leap to Broadway in 2011. Other notable credits include Pippin on tour and at Goodspeed Opera House, belle époque musical The Blue Flower at both Boston’s American Repertory Theatre/Off-Broadway at 2nd Stage, and the New York City Center Encores! production of Stairway to Paradise.

LAIRD MACKINTOSH (John Utterson) recently played George Banks in Mary Poppins on Broadway and across America on the 1st National Tour. Other: Private Lives (Victor Prynne) at the Pittsburgh Public, The Phantom of the Opera (Raoul. Phantom u/s), The Drowsy Chaperone (Robert Martin), White Christmas (Phil Davis), The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon Moncrieff), Arcadia (Septimus Hodge). Stratford Shakespeare Festival: My One and Only (Billy Buck Chandler), Fuente Ovejuna (Leonelo), To Kill a Mockingbird (Boo Radley), The Music Man (Ewart), South Pacific (Lieutenant Cable), Hello Dolly! (Cornelius Hackl), Into the Woods (Rapunzel's Prince), Anything Goes (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh), My Fair Lady (Freddy). www.lairdmackintosh.com

RICHARD WHITE (Sir Danvers Carew) Feature Film: Beauty and the Beast (Gaston); Broadway: Most Happy Fella (Joey); Off Broadway: Elizabeth and Essex (Essex with Estelle Parsons), Topper (George Kirby); New York: Brigadoon (Tommy with Tony Roberts), South Pacific, Merry Widow (Danillo), Desert Song (Red Shadow); National Tours: Urinetown (Lockstock, Cladwell), Camelot (Lancelot); Great Performances: New Moon (Robert Mission), Showboat (Gaylord Ravenal); Regional: Yeston/Kopit Phantom (Phantom)--recording RCA, South Pacific (De Becque), Camelot (Arthur), Man of La Mancha (Quixote), La Cage aux Folles (Georges), A Little Night Music (Carl Magnus), Drowsy Chaperone (Aldolpho).

DAVID BENOIT (Bishop, Spider) Broadway: Avenue Q (Nicky/Trekkie), Les Miserables, Dance of the Vampires. National Tours: Young Frankenstein (Kemp/Blind Hermit), Les Miserables (Thenardier), Avenue Q, All Shook Up (Sheriff Earl), Forbidden Broadway: Japan, The Captain's Daughter (Pugachev) at The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia. Off-Broadway: Forbidden Broadway:10th Anniversary, Forbidden Broadway: Summer Shock!, Forever Plaid (Sparky), The Big Bang, Forbidden Hollywood (Chicago). Regional: Adding Machine (Mr. Zero) at Studio Theatre DC, (Helen Hayes' nomination: Best Actor)...Trailer Park (Norbert) at Speakeasy Theatre, MA(Elliot Norton Nom).

FRANK WILDHORN (Co-Conceiver and Music) Multi-Grammy and Tony Award nominated composer/producer Frank Wildhorn's works span the worlds of popular, theatrical, and classical music. In 1999, Frank became the first American composer in 22 years to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War. Also for Broadway: Dracula, Victor/Victoria, Wonderland, and Bonnie & Clyde (Tony Award nominated for Best Score). Frank produced Harlem Song at the famed Apollo Theatre. International: Cyrano, The Count of Monte Cristo, Carmen, Rudolf, Mitsuko, Never Say Goodbye, Camille Claudel, and Tears of Heaven. Frank served as music director for the Goodwill Games in New York City (1998). He wrote the song “Gold”, the opening number for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Received the prestigious Charles Dickens Award from USC, where there is a scholarship under his name. Among the artists who have recorded and performed Frank’s works: Whitney Houston (#1 international hit “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?”), Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Hootie & the Blowfish, The Moody Blues, Johnny Mathis, Linda Eder, Freddie Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Stacy Lattisaw, Molly Hatchet, Blues Traveler, Trace Adkins, Patti LaBelle, Jeffrey Osborne, BeBe Winans, Amy Grant, Anthony Warlow, to name a few. Associate artist at the Alley Theatre in Houston. Father to Justin Samuel and Jake Ryan.

LESLIE BRICUSSE (Book and Lyrics) is an author-composer-lyricist who has contributed to many musical films and plays during his career earning him two Oscars and a Grammy Award. At Cambridge University, he co-authored, directed and performed in his first two musical shows, Out of the Blue and Lady at the Wheel, both of which made their way to London’s West End. While performing in An Evening with Beatrice Lillie at the Globe Theatre, he wrote his first musical, Boy On The Corner, and the screenplay & score of his first motion picture, Charley Moon, which won his first Ivor Novello Award. His subsequent stage musicals include Stop The World-I Want To Get Off; The Roar Of The Greasepaint-The Smell Of The Crowd; Pickwick; Harvey; The Good Old Bad Old Days; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Henry’s Wives; Scrooge; Sherlock Holmes; Noah’s Ark; Sammy; Cyrano De Bergerac; Kennedy; Victor/Victoria and It’s a Dog’s Life! He has written songs and/or screenplays for such films as Doctor Dolittle; Scrooge; Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Superman; Victor/Victoria; Santa Claus; Home Alone I & II; Hook; Tom & Jerry, The Movie; various Pink Panthers and The Great Music Chase. He has been nominated for ten Oscars, nine Grammys and four Tonys, and has won two Oscars, a Grammy and eight Ivor Novello Awards, the premiere British Music Award. Bricusse’s songs have been recorded by many major artists, including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis, Jr. (who recorded 60 Bricusse songs), Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Bette Midler, Nina Simone, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Ray Charles, Ethel Merman, Placido Domingo, Jennifer Holliday, Robbie Williams, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Linda Eder, Diana Krall, Maroon 5, Michael Bublé, The Black-Eyed Peas, Muse, Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah. In 1989 he received the Kennedy Award for consistent excellence in British songwriting, bestowed by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and was inducted into the American Songwriters’ Hall of Fame - only the fourth Englishman to be so honoured, after Noel Coward, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. H.M. the Queen conferred on him The Order of the British Empire in 2001.

JEFF CALHOUN (Director and Choreographer) Broadway: Disney's Newsies (director), Bonnie & Clyde (director/choreographer), Grey Gardens (musical staging), Deaf West’s Big River (director/choreographer; 2004 Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre), Brooklyn (producer/director/choreographer), Annie Get Your Gun (co-choreographer with Graciela Daniele; 1999 Tony Award, Best Revival), Grease (director/ choreographer; 1994 Tony nomination, Best Choreography), Tommy Tune Tonite! (directing debut), The Will Rogers Follies (associate choreographer). West End/ international: Disney’s High School Musical 1 & 2: On Stage! (director). Regional/ national tour: Disney's Newsies (Director: World Premiere), Paper Mill Playhouse; Jane Austen’s Emma: A Musical Romantic Comedy(director/choreographer), The Old Globe; Bonnie & Clyde (director/musical staging; 2009 San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Musical and Outstanding Director of a Musical), Asolo Rep Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse; Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical (director/ choreographer), first national tour; Deaf West’s Pippin (director/choreographer), Mark Taper Forum; Disney’s High School Musical: On Tour! (director), Disney Theatrical; The Civil War (director), Ford’s Theatre. Jeff is an Associate Artist at Ford’s Theatre.

NEDERLANDER PRESENTATIONS, INC. (Producer) Nederlander Presentations is the producing arm of a family company that is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary. Under the aegis of Chairman, James M. Nederlander and President, James L. Nederlander, the company owns/operates nine Broadway theatres in New York and a chain of legitimate theatres and amphitheaters around America and in London. The Nederlanders are also award-winning producers of Broadway and touring productions currently including Evita, Annie and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Johnny Orsini and Lewis J. Stadlen Join Nathan Lane in The Nance

noreply@blogger.com (VVN Network) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:55:00 +0000

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of André Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Jonny Orsini and Lewis J. Stadlen will join two-time Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane in its upcoming production of THE NANCE, a new play by Douglas Carter Beane to be directed by Jack O’Brien. The production will begin previews on Thursday, March 21 and open on Monday, April 15 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45 Street). Additional casting for THE NANCE will be announced at a later date.

A nance, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “an effeminate or homosexual man.” In the world of 1930’s burlesque, a nance was a wildly popular character, a stereotypically camp homosexual man, usually played by a straightperformer. In The Nance, playwright Douglas Carter Beane tells the story of Chauncey Miles (Nathan Lane), a headline nance performer in New York burlesque, who also happens to be homosexual. Integrating burlesque sketches into his drama, Beane paints, with humor and pathos, the portrait of a homosexual man, living and working in the secretive and dangerous gay world of 1930’s New York, whose outrageous antics on the burlesque stage stand in marked contrast to his messy offstage life.

THE NANCE will have sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Ann Roth, lighting by Japhy Weideman, sound by Leon Rothenberg, choreography by Joey Pizzi and original music and arrangements by Glen Kelly.

Jonny Orsini’s stage credits include productions off-Broadway with The New Group, the Irish Repertory Theatre and at Ars Nova. He’s appeared in leading roles in the films Beneath, Generation Um, Rocksteady, Cigarette Candy and Eddie and Paul. His TV credits include Gunny and Law & Order.

Lewis J. Stadlen has appeared with Nathan Lane in the Broadway productions of The Man Who Came To Dinner (Drama Desk nomination), Laughter on the 23rd Floor and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Tony Award nomination). His other Broadway credits include The People in the Picture, The Producers, 45 Seconds From Broadway, The Odd Couple (Female version), Candide (Tony Award nomination), The Sunshine Boys and Minnie’s Boys (Drama Desk, Theatre World and Outer Critics Circle Awards). He’s appeared in the films In & Out, To Be or Not to Be, I.Q, The Verdict and Serpico and on television on the series Smash, Damages, and The Sopranos.

Nathan Lane returns to Lincoln Center Theater where he appeared in Richard Nelson’s Some Americans Abroad and wrote the book for and starred in the new version of the Stephen Sondheim/ Burt Shevelove musical The Frogs. A two-time Tony Award winner for his performances in The Producers and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, his many Broadway credits include starring roles in the musicals The Addams Family and Guys and Dollsand the plays Waiting for Godot, November, Butley, The Odd Couple, The Man Who Came To Dinner, Love! Valor! Compassion!, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, On Borrowed Time and Present Laughter. Winner of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, his off-Broadway credits include Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, Trumbo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, She Stoops to Conquer, The Common Pursuit, The Film Society, Mizlansky/Zilinksy, The Lisbon Traviata (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards), Bad Habits, Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Love! Valour! Compassion! (Obie Award) and Do Re Mi at City Center Encores! His more than 30 films include The Producers (Golden Globe Award nomination), Swing Vote, Nicholas Nickleby (National Board of Review Ensemble Acting Award), Stuart Little, The Lion King, Jeffrey, Mousehunt, Frankie and Johnny, Ironweed and The Birdcage (Golden Globe Award nomination, Screen Actors Guild and American Comedy Awards). The winner of two Emmy Awards and a People’s Choice Award, he can currently be seen on TV on The Good Wife.

Douglas Carter Beane’s plays include The Little Dog Laughed, As Bees In Honey Drown, Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, Music From A Sparkling Planet, The Country Club, Advice From A Caterpiller and The Cartells. He was nominated for Tony Awards for his books for the musicals Xanadu (for which he won a Drama Desk Award), Sister Act and Lysistrata Jones and wrote the book for the current new stage version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

Jack O’Brien won Tony Awards for his direction of the LCT productions of The Coast of Utopia and Henry IV. His other LCT productions include The Invention of Love, Pride’s Crossing, The Little Foxes, Hapgood (Lucille Lortel Award) and Two Shakespearean Actors. His many Broadway productions include Catch Me If You Can, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hairspray (Tony Award), The Full Monty and Damn Yankees. He staged the Metropolitan Opera’s recent production of Il Trittico and in London directed Love Never Dies and Hairspray on the West End and His Girl Friday at the National Theatre. He was Artistic Director of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre from 1981 to 2007.

This spring Lincoln Center Theater is also producing Richard Nelson’s new play Nikolai and the Others, directed by David Cromer, beginning Thursday, April 4 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the LCT3 productions of Luck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge, directed by Rebecca Taichman (January 28 – March 10) and A Kid Like Jake by Daniel Pearle, directed by Evan Cabnet (June 2 – July 14), both at the Claire Tow Theater.