Tag Archives: Tom Kitt

Magic Mike Broadway Musical in the Works

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Magic Mike

Magic Mike

The Next to Normal team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (who also wrote the new Broadway-bound musical If/Then) will team up with Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark scribe Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to adapt the recent film Magic Mike into a Broadway musical.

Magic Mike director Steven Soderbergh and star Channing Tatum will serve as producers on the musical. The popular 2012 movie, which co-starred Matthew McConaughey, Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer and Matt Bomer, was inspired by Tatum’s experience as a male stripper.

Another of the show’s producers, Reid Carolin, previously spoke to USA Today about the Magic Mike musical, saying, “We are working on it as a Broadway show, which would be a different story, more of a romp, more of a fun night out at a club with a story. I’m almost more excited about that than the movie because I think it’s the perfect thing for women to go see on Broadway, to be participants in the show.”

Idina Menzel To Star in If/Then on Broadway in 2014

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Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel

If/Then, a new musical by the Next to Normal team of Brian Yorkey (book/lyrics) and Tom Kitt (music), is coming to Broadway early next year. The show is scheduled to start preview performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 4, with an opening set for March 27.

Tony Award winning actress Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba in Wicked, will star in If/Then, which will be directed by Michael Greif. Before coming to Broadway, the musical will get its world premiere in Washington D.C. at the National Theatre this coming November.

If/Then is a romantic new musical about Elizabeth, a woman who moves to New York City to get a fresh start in her life and career and discovers that the smallest decisions and occurrences have greater impact that she could have ever imagined.

Find out more about the show at www.IfThenTheMusical.com.

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.

Backstage for Christmas Cabaret Showcases Broadway Talent

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Go backstage tonight at the “Backstage for Christmas: A Holiday Cabaret”, a unique event being held in a rehearsal room in Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre (home to Spider-man Turn Off the Dark).  The event will be an intimate, acoustic evening presented in a cocktail party style and featuring a mix of Broadway performers, favorite holiday songs, and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Broadway world.

“Backstage for Christmas” will feature the participation of Broadway singers and actors such as Tituss Burgess (The Little Mermaid), Julia Murney (Wicked), Lindsay Mendez (Godspell), Seth Numrich (Golden Boy), and The Glee Project‘s Ali Stroker.  Broadway songwriters Tom Kitt (Next To Normal) and Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family) will also take part, while Mary-Mitchell Campbell will serve as music director.

While enjoying music and refreshments, attendees will also be able to take part in a silent auction (there will be bidding opportunities for backstage tours and Broadway tickets).  A special NYC Christmas album will also be available at the cabaret.  All of the proceeds from the evening will go to Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP), an organization that puts performing and visual artists in touch with America’s underserved youth in order to help them use imagination and critical thinking to break out of the poverty cycle.

“Backstage for Christmas: A Holiday Cabaret” begins at 6:30pm tonight, December 17.  Tickets are $75-$100 and can be purchased here.

Bring It On To Close End of December

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Bright It On: The Musical has just announced its intention to close on Broadway on December 30.  The competitive cheerleading musical, based loosely on the 2000 movie of the same title, started performances at the St. James Theatre on July 12, with an official opening on August 1.  Originally Bring It On was only scheduled to play on Broadway until October 7, but good ticket sales and positive audience reaction encouraged the production to extend its run through January 20, 2013.

“We are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic audiences who have cheered on this extraordinary cast and that we’ve been afforded 12 additional performance weeks past our original end date,” said Universal Pictures Stage Productions spokesman Glenn Ross in a statement.  “We’ve decided to forego the historically slow month of January and play our final performance on December 30, at the height of the holiday season, as we celebrate the remarkable achievement of our creative team and all of the talented people who made Bring It On a one-of-a-kind Broadway experience.”

Bring It On: The Musical, which includes the participation of some real-life competitive cheerleaders to help create the show’s high-flying stunts, has a score by Tom Kitt (Next To Normal), Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights), and Amanda Green.  Avenue Q scribe Jeff Whitty penned the musical’s book.  Although Bring It On will be closing on Broadway at the end of the year, the show’s producers are discussing the possibility of touring it around the country in 2013.

Bring It On: The Musical Broadway Show Review

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Bring It On

Bring It On, now playing at the St. James Theatre, didn’t come to Broadway with much fanfare.  Loosely based on the 2000 movie of the same name, Bring It On: The Musical began by playing touring engagements on the road, then sneaked onto Broadway in the middle of the summer (usually a dead time for Broadway), scheduled for only a limited engagement.  Given its somewhat sheepish approach onto Broadway, most people didn’t expect much for this competitive cheerleading-themed musical.  However, Bring It On has managed to be a pleasant surprise, kicking off the 2012-2013 Broadway season with flair.

The thing that first catches your eye in Bring It On: The Musical is the acrobatics.  Many real-life competitive cheerleaders are in the show’s cast, and they pull off some incredible moves onstage, flipping, somersaulting, and being flung far up into the air.  Bring It On has more going for it, though, than the “special effects” provided by these talented young people.  It also has a smart, silly, and often hilarious book by Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), who creates a cast of well-drawn characters that each have their individual quirks (kudos also to the youthful cast, who bring these colorful characters to life).

One of Bring It On‘s innovations is employing two songwriting teams.  The show centers on two very different high schools that ultimately compete against each other, so it seems appropriate to have multiple songwriters.  In the Heights‘ Lin-Manuel Miranda, along with Tom Kitt (Next To Normal) and Amanda Green, provide the songs, utilizing very different styles to highlight the differences between the worlds of these two schools.  A few songs are a bit bland, but on the whole it is a strong score.  (The incredibly catchy number “Do Your Own Thing” deserves to be a Top 40 radio hit right now.)

Originally scheduled to play into October, enthusiastic audience reaction and ticket sales has already encouraged Bring It On: The Musical to extend through January 20, so you have plenty of time to catch this high-flying cheerleading crowd-pleaser.