Highlights From The Big Knife Starring Bobby Cannavale Clifford Odets' The Big Knife is the story of Charlie Castle (Bobby Cannavale), a dynamic stage actor who has become a Hollywood star at the expense of his art, his values and his marriage. Longing to walk away from his studio contract, he makes one last attempt to restore his honor. Directed by Doug Hughes, the production plays the American Airlines Theatre. Read Playbill's A Life in the Theatre with The Big Knife's costume designer Catherine Zuber.
Highlights From Kinky Boots Starring Stark Sands and Billy Porter Stark Sands and Billy Porter star in Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein's new musical Kinky Boots. When Charlie Price (Sands) is forced to step in and save his family's shoe factory in Northern England following the sudden death of his father, help comes from the unlikeliest angel, a fabulous drag performer named Lola (Porter). Together, this improbable duo revitalizes the failing business while stepping out from their fathers' shadows and transforming an entire community through the power of acceptance. Jerry Mitchell directs and choreographs. Read the Playbill Cue & A with Kinky Boots star Celina Carvajal.
Highlights From Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy Starring Tom Hanks Nora Ephron’s new play Lucky Guy dramatizes the real-life story of tabloid journalist Mike McAlary's meteoric rise, fall and rise again, ending with his coverage of the Abner Louima case for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, shortly before his untimely death on Christmas Day, 1998. Tom Hanks stars and George C. Wolfe directs. See the opening night Photo Call.
More Highlights From MCC's 2013 Miscast: Groff, Jordan, Borle, Boggess, Krakowski Hosted by Victor Garber, MCC Theater's 2013 Miscast gala honored Tony winner Judith Light. The annual benefit, which brings together Broadway stars to perform songs from shows and roles in which they'd never be cast, counted Christian Borle, Jonathan Groff, Megan Hilty, Jane Krakowski, Jeremy Jordan, Sierra Boggess, LaChanze, Jason Danieley and Cheyenne Jackson among its featured performers. In these highlights from the evening's festivities, Borle and Groff team up for "If Momma Was Married" from Gypsy, Krakowski spouts Latin-infused hip hop from In the Heights, Boggess puts Britney Spears spin on "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera, and Jordan teams with Groff for a "Smash" duet. Watch, in its entirety, as Jackson and Jordan sing a Side Show classic.
Highlights From the Broadway-Aimed A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays plays eight different characters in the new comic musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. The Robert L. Freedman (book and lyrics) and Steven Lutvak (music) show is the Edwardian era-set tale of Monty Navarro (Ken Barnett), eighth in line to inherit a dukedom. The charmer, seducer and avenger — bent on recognition and acquiring the family fortune — is more than willing to murder his way, heir by heir, to the title. After a 2012 Hartford Stage engagement, the Darko Tresnjak-directed co-production with The Old Globe, is making its West Coast debut in San Diego, now through April 14 — with an eye on a future Broadway bow. Read the Playbill story about the many hats, dresses, jackets and pants that Jefferson Mays wears in the show.
Highlights From Hands on a Hardbody on Broadway Based on the 1997 S. R. Bindler documentary about an endurance contest in which entrants must keep one hand on the surface of a vehicle at all times in order to win a brand new pickup truck, Hands on a Hardbody charts the course of ten hard-luck Texans striving for the American dream. With music by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio and music and lyrics by Amanda Green, the tunes draw from influences such as Dr. John, Aretha Franklin and ZZ Top. After a successful 2012 run at the La Jolla Playhouse, the production arrives on Broadway under the direction of Neil Pepe and stars Keith Carradine, Allison Case and Hunter Foster. For more on the production, read the Playbill story.
Highlights from Broadway Backwards 8 with Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kyle Dean Massey and Stephanie J. Block Robert Bartley created Broadway Backwards not only as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York City, but also as a vehicle through which to tell stories from an LGBT perspective. In this eighth offering of the show, stars from stage and screen joined up at Broadway's Palace Theatre to perform some of the most iconic songs from the world of musical theatre with the Backwards signature twist. Howie Michael Smith runs through "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm" from How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Brian Stokes Mitchell takes on the Gershwins' "The Man I Love," Stephanie J. Block performs "Our Time" from Merrily We Roll Along and Kyle Dean Massey and Robert Creighton (along with an all-male ensemble) celebrate A Little Night Music's "A Weekend in the Country." For details on the fundraising record-breaking performance, click here.
Highlights From Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike on Broadway, Starring Sigourney Weaver After stops at Princeton's McCarter Theatre Center and Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi Newhouse Theater, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike comes to Broadway's John Golden Theatre. Nicholas Martin directs the touching and outrageous comedy set in Bucks County, PA, with characters and themes inspired by the world of Chekhov. When movie star Masha (Sigourney Weaver) returns home to the family farm, she brings out feelings of regret and resentment in brother Vanya (David Hyde Pierce) and stepsister Sonia (Kristine Nielsen), who still live there after many years of caring for their ailing parents. Cleaning woman Cassandra (Shalita Grant) warns that terrible things are to come, with Masha's boy toy Spike (Billy Magnussen) arriving on cue. For Playbill's Opening Night feature on the production, click here.
Highlights From Breakfast at Tiffany's The world-premiere production of Breakfast at Tiffany's, adapted by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg, conjures New York City in the 1940s at Broadway's Cort Theatre. Directed by Sean Mathias, this new take on the Truman Capote novel about a young writer and the woman-child who lives below him in his apartment building, stars Emilia Clarke (HBO's "Game of Thrones") as fun-loving Holly Golightly, Cory Michael Smith as writer Fred and George Wendt as bartender Joe Bell. For more information on Breakfast at Tiffany's, click here.
