Author Archives: Pawdesh Salawi - Broadway Theatre Nerd

Pawdesh Salawi - Broadway Theatre Nerd

About Pawdesh Salawi - Broadway Theatre Nerd

She'll be the first to admit that it sounds corny, but Pawdesh just loves to help people, so obviously customer service is a perfect fit. Pawdesh has mostly worked in retail, doing everything from ringing up clothes to selling custom light fixtures. She much prefers working at nytix.com., where she gets to help customers find an awesome Broadway show at a price that won't leave them broke. Pawdesh is currently studying jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and in her free time (free time? what free time??) she likes to go to museums and hang out with her friends.

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All-Female Glengarry Glen Ross Reading Presented in L.A.

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Robin Wright

Robin Wright

With the recent Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross featuring Al Pacino still fresh in many theatergoers minds, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is presenting a reading of the famed David Mamet drama that features female actors performing the all-male script.

This Glengarry Glen Ross reading will star Robin Wright (currently impressing audiences in Netflix’s House of Cards series) as Ricky Roma, Catherine O’Hara as Shelley Levene, Maria Bello in the role of Dave Moss, Mae Whitman as John Williamson, and Allison Janney playing the part of George Aaronow.

The reading is part of Jason Reitman’s “Live Read” series, in which well-known film scripts are featured in live readings. (Presumably the cast will read from the screenplay of the Glengarry Glen Ross movie adaptation.) The Glengarry Glen Ross reading is scheduled to take place on February 21 at 7:30pm.

Les Miserables Returning To Broadway in 2014

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Les MiseŽrables Broadway ShowIt turns out that you just can’t keep a good show closed. Though the original 15-year Broadway run of the global hit Les Miserables ended in 2003, and a Broadway revival in 2006 was relatively short-lived, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced today that he’ll be bringing the beloved musical back to Broadway next year.

The production of Les Miserables that will be coming to Broadway in March 2014 is a re-imagining of the musical which has been successfully touring across the U.S. and internationally. The New York Times has referred to this version of Les Miz as “a splendidly reworked, unquestionably spectacular production from start to finish”.

The combination of the attention that Les Miserables has recently received due to its successful, award-winning film adaptation starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, and the positive buzz that the touring production has received, is most likely what has prompted the show’s return to Broadway.

Cameron Mackintosh stated, “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.”

John Leguizamo Broadway Show To Be Adapted As Film

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John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo

Actor and comedian John Leguizamo’s autobiographical one-man show Ghetto Klown (which played on Broadway in 2011) is soon to be adapted for the big screen, though it will be a fictionalized version of Ghetto Klown and will be re-named Fugly! Currently the movie is expected to open in theaters at the end of this year.

Fugly! will star John Leguizamo as a Latino comic named Jesse Sanchez. When he has a near-death experience, Sanchez must revisit the ups and downs of both his personal and professional life. Under the direction of Alfredo De Villa, the film will co-star Rosie Perez, Ally Sheedy, Yul Vasquez, Tomas Milian, Radha Mitchell, and Griffin Dunne.

“This is my first foray into screenwriting and in trying to up-end a format by making an ‘anti-romantic comedy,’” said Leguizamo. “‘Fugly’ was a term we used and invented in New York when I was a kid for anything truly abhorrent. It was used on me many a time in my hood. This time I’m appropriating it. This is my revenge through art!”

Broadway Cat Wanted: Breakfast at Tiffany’s Looking To Cast a Kitty

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catsThe forthcoming Broadway production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Richard Greenberg’s new play version of Truman Capote’s famed novella-turned-film, has put out a casting call for a feline to play the role of “Cat” in the show. Cat owners are invited to submit contact info and photos of their pet by sending an email to kittygolightly@oandmco.com. The casting call will take place during the week of February 11th.

“Holly Golightly’s beloved companion, Cat, is one of the most famous felines in all of literature,” stated Breakfast at Tiffany’s director Sean Mathias. “We will search high and low until we find the perfect animal to take on this role.”

Starring Emilia Clarke as Holly Golightly, the part made famous on film by Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s will start performances on March 4 at Broadway’s Cort Theatre.

Broadway-Bound Motown Has Found Its Young Michael Jackson

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Jibreel Mawry

Jibreel Mawry

Motown the Musical, the new Broadway musical that tells the story of Motown Records and its founder Berry Gordy, has found the talented young actors who will play youthful versions of Berry Gordy, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder. Jibreel Mawry and Raymond Luke Jr., who were found during a country-wide casting search, will share the three roles in Motown the Musical.

Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, Motown the Musical features many hits from Motown Records’ incredible catalog, which includes music by legends such as Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, and of course Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

Motown the Musical is set to begin preview performances at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 11, with an official opening night set for April 14.

Stage Stars Uncover Shakespeare

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Jeremy IronsThe new PBS special Shakespeare Uncovered features several esteemed stage performers and directors exploring the genius of William Shakespeare, still regarded as the English-speaking world’s greatest playwright after 400 years.  Combining biography, history, play analysis, actual performances of the text, and personal thoughts by the series’ various celebrity hosts, Shakespeare Uncovered is designed to share the brilliance of Shakespearean theater with new generations.

In Shakespeare Uncovered, Ethan Hawke takes on Macbeth, Derek Jacobi shows audiences the power of Richard II, Jeremy Irons talks about Henry IV and Henry V, David Tennant tackles Hamlet (which he recently played to acclaim on the London stage), Trevor Nunn reveals The Tempest, and Joely Richardson looks at Shakespeare’s beloved comedies.

To find out more about Shakespeare Uncovered and to view entire episodes online, visit video.pbs.org/program/shakespeare-uncovered.

Jessica Chastain To Star in Film of the Play Miss Julie

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Jessica ChastainActress Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Help), currently starring on Broadway in the revival of the drama The Heiress, will soon take on another classic play, though this time it will be on film. Chastain is set to star opposite film actor Colin Farrell (Total Recall) in a new movie adaptation of August Strindberg’s 1956 play Miss Julie.

Directed by Liv Ullmann, the new Miss Julie film will feature Jessica Chastain in the role of a count’s daughter who becomes flirtatious with a footman (played by Farrell). What seems innocent at first becomes potentially dangerous as the two engage in a psychological power struggle.

Cast of Musical Cabaret To Reunite on Today Show

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Liza Minnelli

Liza Minnelli

Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, and Michael York are among the cast members of the 1972 film Cabaret who will gather for a reunion on the NBC network’s popular morning show The Today Show on January 30. They will be reuniting in honor of the movie musical’s 40th anniversary.

The movie Cabaret was based on the acclaimed, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Directed by legendary Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse, the film went on to win eight Oscars. Cabaret enjoyed a big hit revival on Broadway in 1998, when the Roundabout Theatre Company put on a new production starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson.

The Cabaret film’s stars, Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, are still closely associated with the musical in the eyes of many musical theater aficionados. Grey originated the role of the Emcee on Broadway, and the Kander & Ebb songs from the musical are among Liza’s fan favorites.

Bill Pullman To Join The Other Place on Broadway

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Bill PullmanFilm, TV, and sometime Broadway actor Bill Pullman will be returning to the Broadway stage for a brief time when he takes over for Daniel Stern in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of The Other Place at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.  Stern, who is currently co-starring alongside Laurie Metcalf, will be leaving the production on February 3 due to a family situation, and Pullman will replace him starting February 5.  The Other Place is currently scheduled to conclude its extended Broadway engagement on March 3.

Bill Pullman is currently being seen regularly by television audiences in the new NBC sitcom 1600 Penn, in which he portrays the President of the United States (Josh Gad, formerly of Broadway’s The Book of Mormon, co-stars as his son).  Pullman has previously appeared on Broadway in productions of David Mamet’s Oleanna and Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart To Co-star on Broadway

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Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen

Two of Britain’s finest stage actors will be taking the Broadway stage together later this year.  Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart — both well known to film and TV audiences — are set to star together in not one but two plays, Samuel Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot and Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land.  In an unusual situation for Broadway, the productions will play in repertory.

Few details, including exact dates, theater, and additional cast members, have been determined yet.  But the rep productions are expected to start in Fall 2013 under the direction of Sean Mathias.  Stephen Brimson Lewis will provide set and costume design, while Peter Kaczorowski will serve as lighting designer.

“British actors are used to playing in repertory, whether for the National Theatre or the Royal Shakespeare Company,” stated Ian McKellen.  ”We enjoy the challenge of variety, and audiences, myself included, enjoy watching a group of actors in contrasting roles. We hope, at least once a week, to give Broadway audiences the chance of seeing Beckett and Pinter on adjacent nights, perhaps even on the same day.”