Theatre News Roundup: 7/2-7/3

Hello everyone!

Sorry about missing last night's TNR but (I'm bringing it back) #sorrynotsorry because I could think of anything else last night except where I was and what was happening in front of me. I went to see Little Shop of Horrors at City Center Encores Off Center with not the original Audrey but THE Audrey, Ellen Greene and oh, my God it was amazing. I will report back with more thoughts in a review soon eventually but I am still just riding high on that wave of joy and love and nostalgia and... OK, I need to stop gushing and write this TNR.

Everyone’s a Critic (REVIEWS)

• Reviews of Little Shop of Horrors

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (RUMORS)

• I can add a little more weight to the unofficially confirmed transfer of the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening. I met someone at the stage door for Little Shop last night who knows someone involved in the production who says it is definitely transferring and he's just waiting to hear if he's going to be signed or bought out.

A Musical (MUSICALS)

• White Plains Performing Arts Center STAGE 2 will present a limited engagement of CHESS Aug. 7-9 at their theatre in suburban Westchester County.

They Mean Chicago, Illinois (CHICAGO NEWS)

• Shoshana Bean and Whitney Bashor co-star in the pre-Broadway engagement of Beaches, the new musical based on the 1985 novel by Iris Rainer Dart, which opens July 2 in Chicago.

A Foggy Day in London Town (UK NEWS)

• The world-premiere run of Damon Albarn's new musical wonder.land opens at Manchester's Palace Theatre July 2

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• Photos from Little Shop 

Theatre News Roundup: 7/1

I had a fantastic voice lesson today. I hope you had an equally wonderful Wednesday. I am very excited for Little Shop of Horrors tomorrow night.

I Wanna Be A Producer (IN DEVELOPMENT)

• Hollywood Arms, the autobiographical 2002 play by actress Carol Burnett and her late daughter Carrie Hamilton, will get a special concert reading at Merkin Concert Hall Sept. 21. Burnett herself will take part, along with Tyne Daly, Emily Skeggs and Michele Pawk.
• Shakespeare in Love, a stage version of the Oscar-winning film of the same name that opened last summer at the West End's Noel Coward Theatre, will make its North American debut in 2016 as part of the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada.

Everyone’s a Critic (REVIEWS)

• Reviews of Shows for Days, running through Aug. 23 at the Off-Broadway Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center. 

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• OC Musical casting. Autumn Reeser has been cast in the role of Julie Cooper. Drew Seeley will be Luke Ward, Christine Lakin will be Kirsten Cohen, and Jarett Wieselman will be stepping into the non-singing role of the show's creator, Josh Schwartz.

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (RUMORS)

• Spring Awakening appears to be headed for a Broadway revival, according to a casting notice published on the Actors Equity website. The staging is based on the Deaf West Theatre production that incorporates hearing and non-hearing actors. The notice lists Ken Davenport, David Kurs, Cody Lassen and Deaf West Theatre as producers. No theatre or preview date is listed, but the notice says rehearsals for the procession will being in early August. The notice doesn't specify Broadway, but says the production will happen in New York.

Theatre News Roundup: 6/29-6/30

Sorry about skipping last night's TNR and being late with this one. I have a recap to write for another site on Monday's and I was out on a date tonight.

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

•  Patti LuPone stars in the Off-Broadway world premiere of Douglas Carter Beane's play Shows for Days, which also features Michael Urie. The production officially opens June 29 at Lincoln Center Theater.

The Party’s Over (CLOSINGS)

• It Shoulda Been You will end its Broadway run Aug. 

I Wanna Be A Producer (IN DEVELOPMENT)

• (Keep an eye on this one!) Producers have announced initial casting and creative team for Gotta Dance, a new musical based on the acclaimed 2008 documentary of the same name, which will make its pre-Broadway world premiere beginning Dec. 13 at Broadway In Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre. The cast will include Lillias White, Andre De Shields, Georgia Engel, Haven Burton, Lori Tan Chinn and Stefanie Powers. Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the production will continue through Jan. 17, 2016, before heading to Broadway in spring 2016. Gotta Dance features a book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, original music by Matthew Sklar and the late Tony and Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde).
• My Paris, a new musical about artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, will star Bobby Steggert, Mara Davi, Donna English and John Glover. One of three new musicals being produced this summer by Goodspeed Musicals at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, CT, My Paris begins performances July 23 and runs through Aug. 16. It will feature a score by Charles Aznavour with lyrics translated by Jason Robert Brown (also music arranger). The libretto is by Alfred Uhry, who collaborated with Brown on Parade.
• Amy Spanger will appear in No One's Sonata by Seven Sater, librettist and lyricist of Spring Awakening. His collaborator on the show, Duncan Sheik, has joined the No One's Sonata creative team.
• A musical based on Ian Fleming's suave super spy James Bond is being prepared for Broadway. Executive producer Merry Saltzman (daughter of legendary Bond film producer and impresario Harry Saltzman) told Playbill.com that her company, Placeholder Productions, had secured the rights to mount a stage show. She said the show, concisely titled James Bond: The Musical, will have a book by novelist Dave Clarke and music and lyrics by country composer Jay Henry Weisz.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

•  Jessica Hecht and Adam Kantor have joined the cast of the upcoming Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, which will begin previews Nov. 12 prior to an official opening Dec. 17 at The Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway). Hecht will play the role of Golde with Kantor as Motel. 
• Joaquina Kalukango and Talene Monahon have replaced Ciara Renée and Kimiko Glenn, respectively, in the Encores! Off-Center staging of Andrew Lippa's Wild Party, which will feature Sutton Foster as Queenie. Kalukango will play Kate, and Monahon will play Mae.
• Casting has been announced for the eight new plays being developed this summer at the annual National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. 
• Judy Blazer joins the cast of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder June 30 in the role of the mysterious Miss Shingle.
• Casting has been announced for the Lexington Theatre Company's inaugural production, the Tony-winning musical 42nd Street, which will play the Kentucky venue July 23-26 at the Lexington Opera House. Karen Ziemba will head the cast as Dorothy Brock with Matthew Shepard as Julian Marsh, Nicolas Dromard as Billy Lawlor and Darien Crago as Peggy Sawyer.
  

Theatre News Roundup: 6/28

I still can't stop listening to Parlour Tricks' new album. And I still can't remember much from Preludes. I'm glad I took some notes. Very slow news day today.

The Party's Over (CLOSINGS)

• Peter Morgan's The Audience plays its final performance on Broadway June 28. The production officially opened March 8 following previews that began Feb. 14.

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• Cry-Baby Reunion Concert at 54 Below September 17, 2015 with original cast members including James Snyder and Alli Mauzey. And even better, the cast album is finally going to be released!

Theatre News Roundup: 6/27

Preludes was an interesting experience. The cast was very friendly and gracious. I may write a review one day. I don't think it made a big impression on me. It certainly wasn't as offputting as I feared it would be after listening to Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. And yet, I wish it was easier to recall the show now. Heck, I feel like it wafted away hours after I'd seen it. It certainly is a unique experience and I might have gone back if tickets were still available. 

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Australian actor Anthony Warlow will step into Finding Neverland in mid-July. An exact date will be announced shortly. Kelsey Grammer will return to the production Sept. 13.
• Primary Stages and Ensemble Studio Theatre have announced that Tina Benko will join the cast of Informed Consent, a new play by Deborah Zoe Laufer that will play the Duke on 42nd Street from August 4-September 13. Benko will assume the role of Jillian, after the previously announced Annie Parisse had to withdraw from the production due to a scheduling conflict. 

A Foggy Day in London Town (UK NEWS)

• Broadway.com has learned that Aladdin will fly into the West End, beginning performances in 2016 at the Prince Edward Theatre (instead of the London Palladium). The means that the house's current occupant,Miss Saigon, which began performances on May 3, 2014, will close—no word yet on precise dates.

Theatre News Roundup: 6/25-6/26

Hello lovely readers,

I'm sorry some of these TNR stories are a day late. I don't know if I've mentioned this but anytime I skip a day, those stories will be rolled into the next day's post. If you're curious, I was out at a Parlor Tricks concert last night. Pick up their album or listen to it on Spotify. It is called Broken Hearts/Bones and it is fantastic but they are even better live. I'm going to be seeing Preludes tonight and I'm a little nervous because I finally finished listening to Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 and I kind of hated it. Actually, I hated it a lot. I think if I listened to it all the way through a few more times it might wear me down but it's difficult to call it objectively good. It would just probably become more tolerable over time. Also, it has killed any desire I ever had to read War and Peace. (Remember to click Read More)

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• The new Broadway musical Amazing Grace, begins previews on Broadway June 25 at the Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street).
• Ruthless! The Musical returns Off-Broadway beginning June 25 at St. Luke’s Theatre.
• A musical adaptation of E. Lynn Harris' 1994 novel "Invisible Life" begins June 25 at the Apollo Theater.

I Wanna Be A Producer (IN DEVELOPMENT)

• Jordan Ross and Lindsey Rosin, the creators of Cruel Intentions: The Musical, are at work on a musical version of "The O.C." that will bow in Los Angeles Aug. 30.
• Amy Heckerling, the writer/director of the 1995 film comedy "Clueless" confirmed June 25 that a musical version of the story is being developed for Broadway. In an interview with Variety, Amy Heckerling said, “I’ve written what they call ‘the book,’ and it’s a jukebox musical," meaning it uses pre-existing pop songs instead of an original score.

Everyone’s a Critic (REVIEWS)

• Reviews for Bend It Like Beckham the musical
• Reviews for A New Brain at Encores

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Kelsey Grammer is planning to take time off from his role as Captain Hook in the Broadway musical Finding Neverland this summer, but will return in the fall. Exact dates will be announced at a later time. Anthony Warlow will assume the role in the interim.
• Howard McGillin has joined the cast of the Bay Street Theater's upcoming production of Grey Gardens.
• Sally Mayes will be playing Rose this summer in Harbor Lights Theater Company's staging of Gypsy in Staten Island.
• The Broadway at Birdland concert series, in association with Jacob Langfelder, will present Love Me: Downtown and Downunder – A Pride Celebration June 28.

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• On Aug. 6 at 7:30 PM, The New York Pops will perform an inaugural concert at its new summer home, Forest Hills Stadium, with Sutton Foster.
• Broadway Sings Bruno Mars, celebrating the hits of the funk superstar, will be presented July 20 at 7 PM at the Highline Ballroom.

A Musical (MUSICALS)

• 59E59 Theaters will stage Songbird by Michael Kimmel with music and lyrics by Lauren Pritchard. Amy Spanger will lead the cast of the new Off-Broadway musical. Performances are set to run Oct. 20 through Nov. 29. Songbird puts a Southern twist on the Anton Chekov classic, The Seagull. Spanger will play a fading country star returning to her Nashville home after many years to help launch the music career of a son she abandoned.

Theatre News Roundup: 6/24

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• Aaron Lazar, Ana Gasteyer and Dan Fogler join Jonathan Groff in the New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center series revival of William Finn and James Lapine's A New Brain June 24-27.

I Wanna Be A Producer (IN DEVELOPMENT)

• The Labyrinth Theater Company will host a private industry reading of Five Points: An American Musical, June 26. Directed by Dan Knechtges, Five Points features a book by Harrison David Rivers, music by Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar and lyrics by Lyons. "In 1863 in the midst of the Civil War a new art form was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan: Tap dance. Five Points: An American Musical, charts the trajectories of two families — one white and one black — as they risk everything in pursuit of the American Dream."
• Dancer, a musical about Northern Dancer, the Canadian horse that made history winning the Kentucky Derby in 1964, will play the Elgin Theatre in Toronto May-June 2016, according to Canadian newspaper The Star.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Sag Harbor's Bay Street Theater has announced full casting for its July 11 concert reading of the first act of The Prince of Egypt. Joining previously announced leads Aaron Lazar and Norm Lewis, will be Matthew James Thomas, Patina Miller, Stephen Bogardus, Julia Murney, Kyle Barisich, John Treacy Egan, Ryan Knowles, Joanna Howard, Julia Motyka, and Anna Schiavoni.