Category Archives: Broadway News

The latest updates from Broadway including show openings, closings, actors and general Broadway news.

Broadway’s High Fidelity in Concert at 54 Below

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Will Chase

Will Chase

The short-lived Broadway musical High Fidelity, which played only 13 post-opening performances in 2006 before shuttering, will get a revival of sorts next month at the popular cabaret venue 54 Below. On May 19 and 20 at 9:30pm, original Broadway production cast members Jenn Colella and Will Chase will reunite there for a concert performance of the show.

The 54 Below High Fidelity concert staging, directed by Leigh Silverman will also feature Broadway performers Mario Cantone (Assassins), Ana Gasteyer (Wicked), and Adam Chanler-Berat (Peter and the Starcatcher). For one night only, May 19, The Indigo Girls will also participate.

High Fidelity songwriters Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody) and Tom Kitt (Next To Normal), will also be on hand for the concert event. The cover charge for the performance is $30-$40, plus there is a $25 food and/or beverage minimum. Visit 54Below.com for ticket information.

Tony Winner Faith Prince Releases Live Album

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Faith PrinceTony Award winning actress and singer Faith Prince is releasing a solo recording entitled Total Faith: Live from the Royal Room at The Colony today, April 16 (the album is also available for digital download). The album was recorded in Palm Beach, Florida in 2010.

The recording offers a lively mix of stories and songs. Among the varied collection of songs that Prince features are “If He Walked Into My Life,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” and “Not While I’m Around”. She also includes a few medleys, such as “Somewhere That’s Green” / “Suddenly Seymour” and “Take Me Back to Manhattan” / “Before the Parade Passes By”.

Faith Prince debuted on Broadway over 20 years ago and has been seen on the Great White Way in many productions since. She has had starring roles in the revival of Bells Are Ringing, the Disney musical The Little Mermaid, and, most recently, the intimate musical A Catered Affair. Faith Prince won a Best Actress Tony Award for her role in the hit 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls.

Audra McDonald To Release New Album May 21

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Audra McDonaldMultiple Tony Award winner and Broadway star Audra McDonald (Porgy and Bess) is set to release her fifth solo recording on May 21. The album, titled Go Back Home, will be available on Nonesuch Records.

Along with the title song (from John Kander & Fred Ebb’s musical The Scottsboro Boys), Go Back Home will feature an array of songs from Broadway shows and other musicals, including Stephen Sondheim’s “The Glamorous Life,” Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Edelweiss,” Kander & Ebb’s “First You Dream,” and Jule Styne and Comden & Green’s “Make Someone Happy”.

As she has often done before, McDonald will feature the work of two of her favorite modern musical theater composers, Adam Guettel and Michael John LaChiusa. The album will also highlight songs by emerging composers like Adam Gwon and Will Reynolds.

Shortly before the recording’s release, Audra McDonald will perform in a May 9 concert at Avery Fisher Hall to promote the album. PBS will film the concert and subsequently broadcast it as a part of the “Live From Lincoln Center” series on May 24.

Hands on a Hardbody Ends Its Broadway Run Today

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Hands on a Hardbody Broadway ShowThe first major casualty of the new Spring shows, Hands on a Hardbody closes at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre today. The new Broadway musical concludes after having played 28 preview performances and just 28 regular performances.

Inspired by a 1997 documentary that captured a real-life competition in which small town Texans competed for a brand new pickup truck by seeing who could keep their hands on it the longest, Hands on a Hardbody had music by Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio, lyrics by Amanda Green, and a book by Doug Wright.

The cast of the Broadway production of Hands on a Hardbody featured Keith Carradine (previously seen on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies), Hunter Foster (Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown), and Keala Settle.

Broadway Beauty Pageant To Be Held May 20

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Broadway Beauty PageantThe 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant will take place at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (60 Washington Square South) on May 20 at 8pm, and Tony Award nominated performer Tovah Feldshuh will host the event. Proceeds from the pageant will go to benefit the Ali Forney Center, which provides safe shelter for LGBT youth in New York City.

Unlike most beauty pageants, the Broadway Beauty Pageant is a male-only event, featuring cast members of Broadway shows. The men will compete in talent, interview, and swimsuit competitions. Their judges for this year’s event include Broadway and Off-Broadway stars Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Andrea Martin, and Michael Urie. However, it is the audience who will ultimately vote to crown the winner. The most recent winner of the Broadway Beauty Pageant was Andrew Chapelle, Mr. Mamma Mia 2012.

Directed by Seth Sikes and including choreography from Paul McGill, the Broadway Beauty Pageant has tickets ranging from $25 -$150 available. With VIP tickets, you can to attend pre- and post-show cocktail receptions, and also receive premium seating and a gift bag. Get tickets here.

Harry Potter Parody – Potted Potter – Returning To Off-Broadway

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Potted Potter Off-Broadway ShowFollowing a national tour, Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff returns to Off-Broadway this summer to play a 13-week engagement at the Little Shubert Theatre. The production had a successful limited run at that same venue last summer.

Potted Potter is written and performed by Jefferson Turner and Daniel Clarkson, who give audiences a whirlwind re-enactment of all seven Harry Potter books in just 70 minutes. The show features songs, props, theatrical magic, and numerous costume changes, not to mention its signature event, a Quidditch game that the audience participates in.

Starvox Entertainment president Corey Ross said in a statement, “Potted Potter is a wonderfully entertaining time for all ages, both fans and neophytes of the Harry Potter phenomenon alike.” Performances will begin on May 30, and the production will run through September 1. Perfect for teenagers during the summer vacation.

Spiderman Offers Free Tax Season Tickets to CPAs

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Spider-Man uses the web to capture both villains and audiencesCertified public accountants (CPAs) looking to celebrate the long-awaited end of the tax season should head over to the Foxwoods Theatre on the morning of April 16. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark will be offering free tickets to the first 50 CPAs lined up at the box office when it opens at 10am.

“Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark celebrates unsung heroes,” stated production rep Rick Miramontez, “so who better to honor this time of year than those working so tirelessly to make sure we can all can take as many deductions as possible?”

To take advantage of this post-tax season Broadway ticket offer, interested certified public accountants will need to present their certification. If they are among the first 50 to line up on April 16, they will be rewarded with two free tickets for the 7:30pm performance that night.

Idina Menzel, Matthew Morrison To Perform at the Olivier Awards

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Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel

A few of Broadway’s best will share their talents in London on April 28 at the annual Olivier Awards, which honor distinguished achievement in West End professional theater. Idina Menzel (Wicked), Matthew Morrison (South Pacific, Hairspray, TV’s Glee), and Heather Headley (Aida) will be among the Broadway stars performing at the Olivier Awards ceremony.

Pop and theater star Petula Clark is also scheduled to perform, as well as the full casts of productions of Top Hat and A Chorus Line. Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Sheridan Smith will serve as the evening’s hosts.

The Olivier Awards will be held at the Royal Opera House and are set to be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2. The line-up of theater luminaries set to present awards during the ceremony include Daniel Radcliffe (recently seen on Broadway in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), Kim Cattrall, and Damian Lewis (TV’s Homeland).

Adam Pascal Will Join the Cast of Broadway’s Chicago

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Adam PascalStarting April 8, Adam Pascal will take on the often-replaced role of slick lawyer Billy Flynn in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago. Pascal is taking over for actor Christopher Sieber.

Adam Pascal was most recently seen on Broadway playing Huey in the Tony Award winning musical Memphis. His other Broadway credits include Aida, Cabaret, and, most famously, Rent, in which he played the role of Roger.

The Tony Award-winning Chicago revival came to Broadway in 1996. Playing at the Ambassador Theatre, the production currently stars Amra-Faye Wright as Velma, Amy Spanger as Roxie, and Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart. On the same day that Adam Pascal joins the cast, so will Christine Pedi in the role of Mama Morton.

Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz Confirmed To Star in Broadway Play

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Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig

The rumors that have been swirling for the last few weeks that real-life husband and wife Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz will star on Broadway together have finally been confirmed. Craig and Weisz will play married couple Robert and Emma in a new revival of Harold Pinter’s drama Betrayal. They will be joined onstage by Rafe Spall, playing Robert’s best friend, Jerry.

The three-person Betrayal, perhaps playwright Pinter’s best known work, tells the story of a love affair in reverse order. The play had its original Broadway production in 1979, with its most recent Broadway revival taking place in 2000.

This new production of Betrayal, produced by Scott Rudin, will be under the direction of Mike Nichols, whose recent Broadway directing credits are as varied as Spamalot and the acclaimed Death of a Salesman revival. Betrayal will have a limited engagement at the Barrymore Theatre from October 1, 2013 to January 5, 2014.