Fresh and Funny

New York is buzzing with lots of young actors who are full of talent. Godspell has many actors and swings (or "Wunderstudies") who are up and coming and full of talent. Cast members of Godspell has been featured in many concerts recently, including Broadway Sings Adele, Broadway Remembers Whitney, and Godspell Sings Schwartz. Julia Mattison is a "Wunderstudy" at Godspell and has created two concerts featuring her original music. The first concert was titled A Violent Holiday Extravaganza!, featuring Christmas music, and the second was A Sexy Valentine's Day Massacre!


Watch Brr... It's Cold Out... There featuring Hunter Parrish

Even the Theatre World is Full of Drama

Holy 1990's, Batman!

For a community that seems so tight-knit and always happy-go-lucky, there's quite a bit of ridiculous drama that could even get a laugh or two. This drama isn't current, but it is a great story known by many theatre fans.

Back in 1993, Patti LuPone played the role of Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of the film Sunset Boulevard. While starring in the original London production, Webber said she would star in the Los Angeles transfer and subsequent Broadway production. This didn't quite happen... LuPone found that in a tabloid paper, Webber hired Glenn Close to play Norma Desmond and LuPone was fired. LuPone filed a lawsuit against Webber with a settlement reported to be worth $1 million dollars. LuPone won the case and built a pool using Webber's money; she has since named the pool the "Andrew Lloyd Webber memorial pool."

LuPone talks to CNN about her Sunset scandal (1995)

Megan Hilty

The star of NBC's Smash recently starred in the Encores! production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Playing the part of Lorelei, Hilty stepped in the shoes of a part once played by the character she sometimes portrays on Smash, Marilyn Monroe.

Hilty is no stranger to the New York stage. She made her Broadway debut in Wicked in 2005, then went on to star in 9 to 5 in 2009 with Stephanie J. Block and Allison Janney.

Watch Hilty sing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"

What do you think of Hilty? Do you think she resembles Marilyn Monroe?

Shakespeare in the Park

Every summer, the Public Theater runs a program called Shakespeare in the Park.  The organization puts on productions of various Shakespeare plays to audiences at the Delacorte theatre in Central Park. The admission may be free, but you have to pay a price to get your ticket. Many audience members camp out all day to reserve a spot in Central Park just to see a show. Braving it through the heat and other weather conditions takes a lot, but in the end audience members get to enjoy high quality productions of excellent shows in a beautiful atmosphere.

This year's Shakespeare in the Park lineup features As You Like It by Shakespeare himself, and a reinvented production of Sondheim's Into the Woods starring Amy Adams as the Baker's Wife and Donna Murphy as the Witch.

Shakespeare in the Park's Mission Statement

Do you think it's worth it to camp out for a whole day for something you really want to see?

Ben Brantley's Opinon on the Standing Ovation

Recently, Ben Brantley attended a performance of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at City Centers' Encores! staged concert series. Brantley, a well known theatre critic for the New York Times commended the show's seasoned audience for not applauding after a great performance of the show. Brantley basically said that he believes the standing ovation is becoming an epidemic, and because people today feel the need to stand at the end of every performance the meaning has been lost in a standing ovation. Standing ovations are supposed to be given at the end of a performance by people who think the piece was truly fantastic, or for an actor/actress who was incredible. Today, audiences stand up at the end of performances out of kindness, even if they truly did not enjoy the show.

Theater Talkback: Against Ovation Inflation

What is your opinion on this? Does every show deserve a standing ovation or should standing ovations only be reserved for stellar performances?

The Power of Two

In Hollywood, there are the famous sets of siblings. The Deschanels, Olsen twins are just a few. However, Broadway features some great sets of siblings with major star power. Meet the Keenan-Bolgers and the Fosters.

Celia and Andrew Keenan-Bolger were born and raised in Michigan. Andrew was the first Keenan-Bolger to land a role on Broadway, playing Chip in Beauty and the Beast in the 1990's. Andrew is currently starring as Crutchie in the cult hit Newsies.Celia made her Broadway debut in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which she earned her first Tony Award nomination. She is currently starrring as Molly in Peter and the Starcatcher, and she has earned her second Tony nomination.

Watch Celia perform Kerrigan and Lowdermilk's 'My Party Dress'

Hunter Foster is the eldest of the two Fosters, who appear to be the powerhouse sibling duo in the theatre. Both Foster siblings made their Broadway debut in the 1994 revival of Grease, but never played any roles opposite each other in the show. Hunter understudied the role of Danny and younger sister Sutton understudied the role of Sandy starting in 1996. Hunter got his big break as Bobby Strong in Urinetown in 2001, and Sutton got her big break and first Tony Award in 2002 for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Currently, Hunter is starring in Hands on a Hardbody at La Jolla playhouse in California, and Sutton will star in the new ABC Family series "Bunheads."  

Watch a preview of Sutton Foster in "Bunheads"

Tours, Tours, and More Tours

Over the past few weeks, it was announced that many Broadway productions would begin national tours in 2012 and 2013. Shows that announced tours include Peter and the Starcatcher, Once, and Nice Work If You Can Get It. Shows that will be touring this year that have previously been announced include Anything Goes, and The Book of Mormon. Tracie Bennett will also bring her biographical Judy Garland show End of the Rainbow across the country next year, after receiving critical acclaim on Broadway and the West End in London. This is a great opportunity for theatre fans around the coutnry to see what's the hot ticket in New York.

Variety: 'Once' will hit the road

The Obsession with What Makes You Beautiful

The obsession over the over-played One Direction song continues as a Broadway company creates their own video for the pop hit. The cast of Anything Goes recently joined together to film a music video with most cast members in costume (the cast is costumed to be in the mid-1930s) and stage makeup, lip syncing to the catchy tune. The legendary Joel Grey even has a few solos of his own in the video, as well as leading lady Stephanie J. Block, who plays Reno Sweeney. As of now, the video has over 100,000 views and it was posted on May 13. Pictured above is Kiira Schmidt, who is in the ensemble.

Watch the video here!

Bring it On: The Musical

(Yes, I'm serious.)

It was announced yesterday that the touring production of Bring it On: The Musical will make a stop this summer at the St. James theatre. Tony Award winners Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) wrote the music for the show, and lyrics were written by Amanda Green and Miranda. The show is based off of the original 2000 movie, and the show uses professional cheerleaders as well as actors to perform stunts and tumbling routines in the show. Previews will begin on July 12 and an opening night is set for August 1. The show will close on October 7 and the national tour will continue on.

Highlights from Bring it On

What do you think of the show from the clip? Would you see it?

Theatre Stars to Appear on NBC This Fall

Go On, Do No Harm, 1600 Penn, and The New Normal have all been picked up by NBC for their fall lineup of television shows. Starring in these shows are actors who are well known in theatre community. Laura Benanti stars in Go On alongside Matthew Perry of Friends. Benanti also starred in the ill-fated NBC drama, The Playboy Club, which was cut short in 2011. Steven Pasquale, husband of Laura Benanti will also star in the medical drama Do No Harm Stars of The Book of Mormon, Josh Gad and Andrew Rannels will be starring in NBC shows, too, with Rannels in Ryan Murphy's The New Normal and Gad in 1600 Penn.

Watch a Preview from Go On.

What are your thoughts on this show? Are you excited to see it or any of the others?

Appreciating the Under Appreciated

Once any show closes after a very small number of performances, they are usually long forgotten by many. This is not the case for the creators of the award-winning concert series titled "If It Only Even Runs A Minute." Jennifer Ashley Tepper, Kevin Michael Murphy, and Caleb Hoyer all joined forces to create this annual concert series that lets audience members learn about flop musicals, no matter how ridiculous they may be. The lengthy title of the show comes from a lyric of a song in Merrily We Roll Along, one of Tepper's favorite musicals. At the concerts, Tepper and Murphy give a brief synopsis of a show and how it came to be a flop, and then a performer sings a song from said show. If audience members are lucky enough, there are even times when original cast members of shows come to the concerts, tell personal stories about working on the show, and perform a song.

A glimpse of a "...Runs A Minute" segment.
(And yes, the Jason Alexander mentioned in the clip is George Costanza from Seinfeld!)

Are there any movies, tv shows or other things that you love and are generally under appreciated by many people?

Hard Fall

At the 2009 Tony Awards, the show opened up with a medley of songs from the new shows and revivals that opened in the season. Rock of Ages had the band Poison perform in the opening number, and lead singer Brett Michaels was the star of the two-minute stint they had. When Michaels was walking upstage, a set piece was descending and hit Michaels straight in the head, giving him a broken nose and a split lip. Michaels filed a lawsuit in 2011 against the Tony Awards over the incident, claiming that the accident triggered a brain hemmorhage he suffered in 2010. A settlement has been agreed upon between Michaels and the Tony Awards, but the verdict was not revealed to the public.

Michaels' fall- is it funny or do you feel bad for him?

Hollywood Stars Jump to the Stage

It was anounced late last week that three film and television stars would make their Broadway debuts within the next year. Tom Hanks is in talks to star in the play Lucky Guy, which is about Daily News columnist Mike McAlary and it is written by Nora Ephron. Zooey Deschanel is also in talks to star as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter, an autobiographical musical about the country star Lynn. Downton Abbey fans will also get their fill from across the pond, as Dan Stevens is slated to star in the revival of The Heiress.

ArtsBeat: Zooey Deschanel to Star in 'Coal Miner's Daughter' on Broadway

Off-Broadway Hits

Two frontrunners in this year's Tony Awards are unexpected off-Broadway transfers from the New York Theatre Workshop. Peter and the Starcatcher picked up nine Tony nominations and Once picked up a whopping eleven. Both shows opened to glowing reviews, and box office grosses keep improving week after week. It was also just announced that Once would launch a national tour in 2013. Audience members seeing Starcatcher may see a familiar face--Christian Borle of NBC's Smash plays the comedic role of Black Stache, and was also nominated for a Tony Award for the role.

Peter and the Starcatcher Preview

It's a Hit! ...And It's a Flop.

The 2011-2012 theatre season was filled with highs and lows. Eight-time Oscar winning composer Alan Menken experienced these highs and lows first-hand. Newsies, based on the 1992 box office failure, played at Millburn, New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse in September-October 2011, and was very well recieved. The show gained a Broadway transfer and even extended its limited run to close on August 19. To top it off, the show garnerned an outstanding eight Tony Award nominations.

On the other hand, Leap of Faith opened to very harsh reviews and an extremely negative word of mouth. The show had previously played in Los Angeles and starred Brooke Shields, hoping for a Broadway transfer. The show was tweaked and an opening for fall 2012 looked promising. After On a Clear Day... closed this past December, producers announced Leap of Faith would open in April 2012 starring Raúl Esparza and Jessica Phillips, Phillips replacing the role Shields formerly played. Leap of Faith will close on May 13 after playing only 24 preveiws and 20 regular performances.

ArtsBeat: 'Leap of Faith' to Close on Sunday

How to Succeed in Stunt Casting

After 473 performances and three different leading men, the 2011 revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" will play its final performance on May 20, 2012. Daniel Radcliffe, Darren Criss and Nick Jonas have all respectively played the role of J. Pierrepont Finch in the revival that received mixed-to-positive reviews, and the show recouped its $9 million investment back in December 2011.

Ben Brantley's review of the show for The New York Times.

Welcome to the Blog

On this blog, you will see what’s going on in New York’s theatre scene. New York doesn’t only offer lavish Broadway productions of shows, but the city also offers intimate pieces of theatre that are highly praised off, or off-off-Broadway. You’ll see posts about the highs and lows of this past 2011-2012 season, as well as updates on long running shows. Actors will also be featured from time to time, covering any new theatre, TV, or film work they are doing. Hope you enjoy!