On Tuesday, March 25, Monty Python’s Spamalot will welcome its newest knight, Bradley Dean to the cast of the funniest show in the universe. Dean will assume the roles of Sir Dennis Galahad, The Black Knight, et al.
Dean joins Spamalot after having played Sir Galahad in the national tour. He was most recently seen in the Broadway production of Company
and The Man of La Mancha.
Dean joins a cast headed by Tony Award nominee Jonathan Hadary and Olivier Award nominee Hannah Waddingham who play King Arthur and The Lady of the Lake respectively. They are joined by “American Idol” finalist Clay Aiken, Tom Deckman, Rick Holmes, David Hibbard, and Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar.
Beginning Thursday evening, March 27, Kim Stengel, the actress who has played the role of the outrageous opera diva ‘Carlotta’ in The Phantom of the Opera more than any other actress worldwide, will join the Broadway production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, directed by Harold Prince, at The Majestic Theatre (247 West 44th Street). This will mark Ms. Stengel’s Broadway debut.
Ms. Stengel is the 12th actress to be cast in the role on Broadway, and replaces another history-maker, Patricia Phillips, who was the first person of African-American descent to play the role in the New York production. Ms. Phillips will play her final performance on Saturday evening, March 22 and return on Monday, May 19. Ms. Stengel’s two-month engagement with the Broadway cast will run through Saturday, May 17.
Continuing in their roles in the Broadway cast are Howard McGillin (The Phantom), Jennifer Hope Wills (Christine), Tim Martin Gleason (Raoul), George Lee Andrews (Monsieur André), David Cryer (Monsieur Firmin), Rebecca Judd (Madame Giry), David Gaschen (Piangi), Heather McFadden (Meg Giry) and Elizabeth Loyacano (Christine at certain performances).
The performance schedule for The Phantom of the Opera is Monday evenings at 8 PM, Tuesday evenings at 7PM, Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8 PM, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 PM. Ticket prices range from $26.50 - $111.50. To order tickets visit telecharge.com or call (212) 239-6200.
For complete information on the Broadway and worldwide productions, visit the official website at www.thephantomoftheopera.com.
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director), in association with Greg Young, Elaine Krauss, Dancap Productions and Richard Levi, is proud to present a new Broadway production of Bob Fosse’s Dancin', directed by Graciela Daniele. Dancin’ will begin previews April 17th, 2009 and open officially Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at Studio 54 on Broadway (254 West 54th Street). This will be a limited engagement on Broadway. A national tour of Dancin' will open in the fall of 2009.
Bob Fosse’s original choreography will be recreated by his career-long assistant and dancer Kathryn Doby. In addition, creative consultation will be provided by Nicole Fosse (Bob Fosse’s daughter) and Ann Reinking (original cast member).
The cast will be announced shortly.
Tickets will be available in early 2009, by phone at (212) 719-1300, online at www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the Studio 54 Box Office (254 West 54th Street). Dancin' will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:00PM.
Variety announced additional casting for Broadway's upcoming Shrek. Brian d'Arcy James will play Shrek, Chester Gregory II will play Donkey and John Tartaglia, Pinocchio. Shrek The Musical will open December 14 at the Broadway Theatre, after beginning previews on November 8.
The cast will also include Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster (Young Frankenstein) as the princess Fiona, Christopher Sieber (Monty Python's Spamalot) as Lord Farquaad and Kecia Lewis-Evans (The Drowsy Chaperone) as the Dragon.
Shrek The Musical will play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, August 14 – September 21, prior to opening on Broadway in the Fall of 2008. Preview performances will begin in early November at a theater to be announced.
Tales of the City, based on Armistead Maupin's best-selling novel, will be a new musical for Broadway it has been announced by producers Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum and Robyn Goodman, the Tony Award-winning producers of Avenue Q.
Jeff Whitty, who won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Avenue Q, will write the libretto for Tales of the City, while music will be written by Jason Sellard and John Garden of the disco, glam rock and pop band Scissor Sisters. Mr. Sellards -- aka Jake Shears, well-known for the wit of his songwriting with Scissor Sisters -- will write the lyrics to Tales of the City.
Tales of the City will be directed by Jason Moore, who directed Avenue Q and the upcoming Shrek: The Musical
According to the producers, they anticipate Tales of the City will come to Broadway during the 2009-10 season.
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director), in association with Marc Platt, is proud to present a new Broadway production of Pal Joey, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart.
Pal Joey will feature a new book by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg, based on the original book by John O'Hara, with music direction by Tony Award winner Paul Gemignani, choreography by Graciela Daniele and directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello at Studio 54 on Broadway.
Pal Joey will begin previews on Friday, November 21, 2008 and open officially Thursday, December 11, 2008 at Studio 54 on Broadway (254 West 54th Street). This will be a limited engagement.
The cast will be announced shortly.
Tickets will be available in the Fall of 2008, by phone at (212) 719-1300, online at www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the Studio 54 Box Office (254 West 54th Street).
Pal Joey will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2PM.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2008, Broadway's razzle-dazzle hit musical Chicago is pleased to welcome Kecia Lewis-Evans (The Drowsy Chaperone, Shrek) as Matron "Mama" Morton for an 11-week engagement through Sunday, June 1 at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre (219 West 49th Street). Also on Tuesday, March 18, Broadway veteran Jeff McCarthy (The Pirate Queen, Urinetown) will begin an 11-week return engagement as slick criminal lawyer Billy Flynn.
Chicago currently stars Bianca Marroquin as Roxie Hart, Brenda Braxton as Velma Kelly, John Schneider as Billy Flynn, Ron Orbach as Amos Hart and Roz Ryan as Matron "Mama" Morton. As previously announced, Grammy Award winner Mýa will make her Broadway debut as Velma Kelly on Monday, May 12, 2008.
Visit www.ChicagoTheMusical.com for more information.
Kerry Ellis, currently starring as London's Elphaba in Wicked, is to recreate her award-winning performance on Broadway.
Kerry will play her final performance in London on June 7, 2008 before beginning performances at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre on June 17, 2008. Following her Broadway engagement, Kerry will return to the London production at the end of the year.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com. Wicked is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, 222 West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.
Emma Hunton will be making her Broadway debut on Tuesday, February 19 as the free-spirited bohemian "Ilse" in the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical, Spring Awakening.
Spring Awakening plays at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street) running Tuesdays at 7PM, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM & 8PM, and Sundays at 2PM & 7PM. For more information and tickets, log onto www.springawakening.com or www.telecharge.com or call Telecharge at (212) 239-6200 or (800) 432-7250.
The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards will take place on Sunday, May 18, 2008, at 9PM at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, it was announced by Executive Producer Robert R. Blume and William Wolf, President of the Drama Desk.
The nominations will be announced at a news conference on Monday, April 28, at 9AM at the New York Friars Club (57 East 55th Street). Plans for televising, web casting and radio broadcasting the awards ceremony will be announced shortly.
The Drama Desk is unique in that Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway shows compete equally in the same categories. In its ongoing effort to honor excellence in the New York theater, the Drama Desk deems a seventeen-performance minimum necessary to qualify for award eligibility, barring any extraordinary circumstances, as may be determined by the Drama Desk Board or by the Nominating Committee. The nominee's cocktail reception, where they receive their nomination certificates, will be held Thursday, May 1 from 4-7PM at Arte Café (106 West 73rd Street).
Well known to film audiences for roles as varied as Professor Sprout from the Harry Potter films and her BAFTA Award-winning performance in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence, acclaimed stage and screen actress Miriam Margolyes will make her Broadway debut as Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, beginning performances January 22.
Margolyes originated the role of Madame Morrible in the London production of the musical, for which she received the Theatergoers' Choice Award. She joins a cast which includes Stephanie J. Block as Elphaba, Annaleigh Ashford as Glinda, David Burnham as Fiyero, Lenny Wolpe as The Wizard, Cristy Candler as Nessarose, Logan Lipton as Boq, and Steven Skybell as Dr. Dillamond. The original Madame Morrible, Carole Shelley, is playing the role through Sunday, January 20.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com. Wicked is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, 222 West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.
Sebastian Arcelus will join the Broadway cast of Jersey Boys, the Tony Award winning Best Musical, in the role of Bob Gaudio on Thursday, January 10. Daniel Reichard, who originated the role at La Jolla Playhouse and on Broadway, will play his final performance on Wednesday, January 9, 2008. Arcelus will play opposite Tony Award winner Christian Hoff (Tommy DeVito), J. Robert Spencer (Nick Massi) and Michael Longoria (Frankie Valli).
In addition to Hoff, Reichard, Spencer and Longoria, the current Broadway cast features Peter Gregus and Mark Lotito; with Travis Cloer, Kris Coleman, Colin Donnell, Ken Dow, Heather Ferguson, Steve Gibb, Cory Grant, Donnie Kehr, John Leone, Jennifer Naimo, Dominic Nolfi, Erica Piccininni, Sara Schmidt, and Eric Schneider.
Tickets to Jersey Boys on Broadway in New York are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com, and at the August Wilson Theatre box office (245 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue). Group sales tickets available by calling (877) 5-Dodger / (877) 536-3437. www.JerseyBoysInfo.com
Tony-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress Kate Burton and TV-actor Blake Bashoff, currently featured in the ABC-TV's hit series, "Lost," will join the cast of the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening.
Burton joins the cast in the role of "The Adult Women" for a limited time, Friday, December 21 through Sunday, March 2, 2008. Bashoff joins the cast in the role of "Moritz" on Tuesday, December 18, 2007.
In addition, it was announced that Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff will extend their contracts for six months through May 18, 2008. Michele, who stars as "Wendla," was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance. Groff, who stars as "Melchior," was nominated for a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Drama League Award for his performance.
Actress Sarah Stiles, who was scheduled to make her Broadway debut in a starring role on November 13 – just days after a nearly 3-week strike shut down most Broadway shows – will finally get to take center stage November 30 at 8PM when the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q performs at the Golden Theatre (252 W. 45 St.)
Stiles will take on the starring dual roles of the musical's beloved puppet characters Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut, the second performance that Avenue Q will give since the strike ended late Wednesday night.
Busker Alley is Broadway bound! The musical starring Tony winner, Jim Dale, (Carry On films, Barnum, 'Harry Potter' audio books, "Pushing Daisies") and directed & designed by the legendary Tony, Academy and Emmy Award winner, Tony Walton, is planning to arrive for the 2008-2009 Broadway season. The announcement was made by the producers: Margot Astrachan, Robert Blume, Kristine Lewis, Jamie Fox, Joanna Kerry & Heather Duke, at an event held on November 30th, 2007 on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 which also served to launch the CD release of the JAY Records cast album of the one night York Theater benefit performance of Busker Alley featuring Jim Dale.
Further casting and details to be announced later.
Lerner and Loewe's Camelot will be presented by the New York Philharmonic in four semi-staged performances, Wednesday, May 7 and Thursday, May 8, 2008, at 7:30PM, and Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10 at 8PM. The musical – a New York Philharmonic premiere – will be directed by Lonny Price. Thomas Z. Shepard is the producer. Casting and additional production credits will be announced at a future date.
On Wednesday, May 7, 2008, the New York Philharmonic's Spring Gala will celebrate Camelot, which includes a black-tie, pre-concert reception, the concert, and a post-concert dinner with the artists. For information about purchasing Gala tables and tickets please call 212-875-5757.
Tickets ($65 to $225) go on sale for subscribers and donors on Friday, November 30, and to the general public on Friday, December 7, 2007. All tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling 212-875-5656, 9AM to 9PM daily. Tickets may also be purchased at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, Lincoln Center, Broadway at 65th Street. The Box Office opens at 10AM Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Offices closes one half-hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6PM. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic's Customer Relations Department at 212-875-5656.
Vanities, a new musical by Jack Heifner, with music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Judith Ivey, will open on Broadway in the Fall of 2008.
Vanities will be produced on Broadway by Junkyard Dog Productions and Bartner/Jenkins. Casting and a theatre will be announced at a later date.
Vanities, a new musical, was originally produced at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto in the summer of 2006 with Megan Hilty and Leslie Kritzer; and showcased at the 2006 National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) Festival of New Musicals.
Robert Ahrens, lead producer of the Broadway musical Xanadu announced that Cheyenne Jackson will permanently assume the role of Sonny in the production. Cheyenne Jackson stepped into the role after the show's original star, James Carpinello, was injured. Ahrens acknowledged Carpinello's contribution to the show and said "We hope to work with James in the future on one of the international productions of the show." Ahrens also praised Jackson for both stepping into the role on extremely short notice and for his amazing work in Xanadu.
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' musical Mamma Mia! welcomes Broadway favorite Judy McLane (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chess) back to the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) as two new "Dads" make their Broadway debut on Wednesday, September 26, 2007. Christopher Shyer (Canadian premieres of Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera) will star as "Sam Carmichael" as Ben Livingston assumes the role of "Harry Bright."
The Lerner and Loewe 1951 hit Broadway musical, Paint Your Wagon, will be launched by co-producers Christopher Allen, D. Constantine Conte (48 Hours, Persido), and Larry Spellman (Say Goodnight Gracie), for a cross-country tour to open on Broadway followed by a London production starting with Utah's Pioneer Theatre Company September 28 through October 13, 2007. For information on the Utah production visit PioneerTheatre.org
Chuck Mores will direct the debut in Salt Lake City, UT and Scott Schwartz will direct the tour and on Broadway. Schwartz directed the 2003 Broadway hit Golda's Balcony, and the Off-Broadway revival in 2004-2005 of The Foreigner, starring Matthew Broderick.
The book and orchestrations have been revised significantly by David Rambo ("CSI" fame) and Steve Orich (Jersey Boys). There will be a cast totaling 26 performers.
John Breglio has announced the newest members of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical A Chorus Line. The new stars begin performances Tuesday, July 24, 2007.
Nick Adams (Chicago, The Pirate Queen) as Larry, Michael Gruber (Cats, "Stairway to Paradise" at Encores!) as Greg, Bryan Knowlton (tours of Oliver! and A Chorus Line) as Paul, Melissa Lone (Mary Poppins) as Maggie, J. Elaine Marcos (The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity) as Connie, Krysta Rodriguez (Spring Awakening, Good Vibrations) as Bebe, Jason Patrick Sands (Legally Blonde, The Producers) as Don, Will Taylor (La Cage aux Folles, The Producers) as Bobby, Katherine Tokarz (Wicked) as Kristine and Kevin Worley (42nd Street) as Al join Michael Berresse (Zach), Natalie Cortez (Diana), Charlotte D'Amboise (Cassie), Jessica Lee Goldyn (Val), Deidre Goodwin (Sheila), James T. Lane (Richie), Paul McGill (Mark), Heather Parcells (Judy) and Jeffrey Schecter (Mike) in a cast of 30 that includes Michelle Aravena, David Baum, Mike Cannon, E. Clayton Cornelious, Dena Digiacinto, Joey Dudding, Lyndy Franklin, Nadine Isenegger, Pamela Jordan, Jessica Lea Patty and Grant Turner.
13, with music and lyrics by Brown (Parade, Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years) and a book by Elish, opened to generally strong reviews in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group's Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles on January 7th, 2007 and ran through February 18th. Featuring an onstage teen band and a cast of thirteen young performers, the show, according to the article, "concerns a 13-year-old who moves from New York to Indiana weeks before his bar mitzvah. His mission is to get the cool kids in school to come to the ceremony."
Nunn's Olivier Award-winning West End revival of My Fair Lady starred Martine McCutcheon as Eliza Doolittle and Jonathan Pryce as Henry Higgins. No casting has been announced for the Broadway production.