The 2010-2011 Broadway season kicked off Sept. 3 when Mrs. Warren’s Profession began previews at the American Airlines Theatre.
The work “tells the story of Kitty Warren, a mother who makes a terrible sacrifice for her daughter Vivie’s independence. The clash of these two strong-willed but culturally constrained women is the spark that ignites the ironic wit of one of George Bernard Shaw’s greatest plays.”
Cherry Jones and Sally Hawkins lead a cast that also features Adam Driver, Mark Harelik, Edward Hibbert and Michael Siberry. Doug Hughes directs.
You can have the chance to meet Next to Normal stars Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley backstage after a performance of the show by placing your bid for an online auction benefiting Rosie’s Broadway Kids.
Mazzie (Enron; Ragtime; Kiss Me, Kate; Passion) and Danieley (Curtains, The Full Monty, Floyd Collins), who are married in real life, play a married couple coping with mental illness and grief in the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal currently playing at the Booth Theatre. Rosie’s Broadway Kids is an arts education organization founded by Rosie O’Donnell.
You can also place a bid for auction items that benefit the Actors Fund, including backstage tours of Next to Normal and Promises, Promises; a walk-on role in Mamma Mia!; a private vocal coaching session with Barbara Cook and more.
To place your bid, click here. Bids for the Rosie’s Broadway Kids auction close Sept. 29; closing dates on Actors Fund items vary.
The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) is looking for submissions for the 2010 Dottie Burman and John Wallowitch Songwriting Awards. For each award submission, participants must email three songs in MP3 format with accompanying lyrics in the body of the email by Sept. 14. Winners will be announced and invited to perform one of their songs at the MAC Annual meeting Oct. 16. Prizes for both awards will also include $250 and a certificate.
The email for submissions for the Dottie Burman Songwriting Award is burmanaward@gmail.com. Submissions for this award must come from songwriters age 40 and over.
The email for submissions for the John Wallowitch Songwriting Award is wallowitchaward@gmail.com. Submissions for this award must come from songwriters age 39 and younger.
For each email, participants must put their last name and the song title in the subject line (eg “Sondheim – ‘Send in the Clowns’”). The email must also contain the name of the participant, the name(s) of his or her collaborators and a contact number. Collaborating teams may only submit songs together and may not submit additional songs separately or as part of another team.
The cast of the Las Vegas edition of Jersey Boys proved the hit of Jerry Lewis’ MDA Telethon over Labor Day weekend, performing a medley of classic Four Seasons hits including “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Oh, What a Night.”
The cast includes Rick Faugno, Jeff Leibow, Peter Saide and Deven May. The Las Vegas edition of Jersey Boys currently plays The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino.
The legendary comedy couple Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara recently took in a performance of Kenny Solms’ new play It Must Be Him, currently playing at Off-Broadway’s Peter J. Sharp Theatre.
The show concerns “Louie Wexler, a whiz kid comedy writer from the heyday of variety television, is now down on his luck. With his devoted agent, and his considerably less devoted housekeeper by his side, Louie finds himself broke, lonely, and on the wrong side of middle age. Desperate to rekindle his fading career, save his posh Beverly Hills home and find the man of his dreams, Louie searches high and low for one last shot at his own real-life happy ending.”
The cast features Peter Scolari (of TV’s “Bosom Buddies,” Broadway’s Hairspray, Sly Fox) and Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Liz Torres, along with Patrick Cummings (Happiness), Tony Award nominee Stephanie D’Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Harris Doran (Love Jerry), Ryan Duncan (Altar Boyz), John Tracey Egan (The Producers), Tony nominee Jonathan Kaplan (Falsettos), Bob Ari (Bells Are Ringing), Tony Award nominee Alice Playten (Henry, Sweet Henry), Edward Staudenmayer (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) and Jessica Tyler Wright (Sweeney Todd).
Here is a shot of Stiller and Meara visiting the company after the show:
Tickets, priced at $65, are available via www.ticketcentral.com and at (212) 279-4200, or in person at the box office.
Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch recently sat down with Roma Torre of NY1’s “On Stage” to discuss their performances in the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music.
Peters (Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, Into the Woods, Song and Dance) and Stritch (Elaine Stritch at Liberty, Follies in Concert, Company) stepped into the production July 13, taking over from Tony winners Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury as, respectively, lovelorn actress Desiree Armfeldt and her ex-courtesan mother in the Stephen Sondheim-High Wheeler musical classic.
To enjoy the interview with the stage legends, click here.
The teasers for the second season of "Glee" continue with this new batch of clips, including Lea Michele and pop star Charice getting catty Lady Gaga-style with “Telephone,” and a glimpse of recurring guest star and Broadway vet John Stamos.
“Glee” will premiere Sept. 21 on Fox. In the meantime, enjoy the promo below:
Tony Award nominee Raul Esparza performs the gospel rave-up number “Step Into the Light” in a promo video for the upcoming Los Angeles production of the new musical Leap of Faith.
Esparza will play a con-man preacher who sets up shop in a small Kansas town and meets a pretty waitress (Golden Globe nominee Brooke Shields) and her son. The musical, featuring a score by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater and a libretto by Janus Cercone and Slater, is based on the 1992 film starring Steve Martin, Lolita Davidovitch and Debra Winger. Directed by Tony winner Rob Ashford, it will premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre Sept. 5-Oct. 17.
Tony Award nominee Gavin Creel hosts a series of online behind-the-scenes looks at the stage version of the beloved literary and Disney film character Mary Poppins.
The first three videos take a look at the character’s journey from the mind of author P.L. Travers, who wrote a series of books about the magical nanny’s adventures, to the classic Disney film, to the stage production that opened first in London and is currently enjoying a hit run on Broadway. The third video asks the question, “Who is Mary Poppins?”
In addition to host Creel, who played Bert during the musical’s West End run, the videos feature interviews with one of the film’s songwriters, Richard M. Sherman; George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who added songs to the stage production; various cast members, including Marys Laura Michelle Kelly, Ashley Brown and Caroline Sheen; and the show’s producers, Disney Theatrical president Thomas Schumacher and Cameron Mackintosh.
Don't miss your chance to see two Broadway legends together on stage! Save over 40% when you see Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters in A Little Night Music!
