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BROADWAY NEWS
ShowBus Tours
is bringing you the latest news on the Broadway front with several exciting new
shows making their way to theatres in the coming months and plenty of others in
development. You know where to find the best tickets to these shows and
all of Broadways current hit shows - right here!
XANADU
Whoopi Goldberg joined the cast of Broadway's
Xanadu on July 29. The co-host of ABC's The View takes the role of
Caliope through September 7 while original star Jackie Hoffman is on leave.
Hoffman will be releasing her new CD Jackie Hoffman Live from Joe's Pub and
will return on September 9.
Goldberg, who
won an Oscar for Ghost, last appeared on Broadway in her solo show Whoopi,
which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event in
2005. She made her much acclaimed Broadway debut in the one-woman show
Whoopi Goldberg, which opened at the Lyceum Theatre in 1984
GREASE
As of July 22nd, Ashley Spencer and Derek Keeling, finalists in NBC-TV's
casting series You're the One That I Want, are taking their turn in the
spotlight as Sandy and Danny in
Grease. Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, who won the competition and opened
the Broadway revival last summer, played their final shows on July 20.
Spencer
placed second in the TV competition. She arrives at
Grease directly from playing Amber von Tussle in Broadway's production
of
Hairspray.
Keeling
placed third in You're the One That I Want. Most recently he appeared in the
pre-Broadway production of A Tale of Two Cities. He also starred as Danny in
a national tour of Grease opposite Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
FOR COLORED GIRLS
Singer/songwriter India.Arie, a two-time Grammy Award winner, will make her
Broadway debut in a revival of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have
Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Described as a "new,
re-envisioned" production of the 1976 hit show, For Colored Girls will be
produced by Whoopi Goldberg, directed by Shirley Jo Finney and choreographed
by Hinton Battle. Previews begin on August 19 at Circle in the Square,
For Colored
Girls is a series of prose, poems and stories illuminating the identity of
black women in America, as they reveal themselves, their lives, triumphs,
hardships and ultimately their discovery of inner strength and love.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
Craig Bierko and Jan Maxwell, Tony nominees both, will head the cast of
Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere Broadway production of Nick Whitby's
To Be or Not to Be. Based on the 1942 movie comedy of the same name, the
play will begin previews at the Biltmore Theatre on September 11th with
opening night set for October 2nd. To Be or Not To Be will be directed by
Casey Nicholaw.
ALL MY SONS
John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson and Katie Holmes will star in the
upcoming Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. The play begins
previews on September 18th at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and opens on
October 16th. The revival is being produced by Eric Falkenstein and directed
by Simon McBurney, and will be playing a limited engagement through January
11, 2009.
Miller's
first successful play, All My Sons was inspired by the true story of a
successful businessman who knowingly sold the government defective airplane
parts during World War II - with tragic consequences. The truth comes out
and his life unravels when his son prepares to marry his business partner's
daughter. The original production of All My Sons on Broadway won a Tony
Award in 1947.
DIVIDING THE ESTATE
Lincoln Center Theater's forthcoming Broadway production of Dividing the
Estate will begin previews on October 23rd at the Booth Theatre and open on
November 20. Michael Wilson, who directed the play at Primary Stages last
fall, will stage the Broadway production with his entire original cast,
headed by Elizabeth Ashley, Hallie Foote and Gerald McRaney.
The family
comedy by Horton Foote is set in fictional Harrison, Texas (a stand-in for
Foote's real-life hometown of Wharton), in 1987. Dividing the Estate tells
the hilarious story of an extended family in conflict over what should be
done with its extensive property holdings.
SPEED-THE-PLOW
Raśl Esparza and Jeremy Piven team up in the upcoming Broadway revival of
David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow which will begin performances on October 3 at
Broadway's Belasco Theatre.
Speed-the-Plow focuses on two big-time Hollywood executives, Charlie Fox
(Esparza) and Bobby Gould (Piven), who have come up the ranks together.
Charlie brings Bobby a surefire hit featuring a major star. Bobby seems
certain to give the green light, until his beautiful new secretary gets
involved.
The original
Broadway production of the play opened in May of 1988 at the Royale (now
Jacobs) Theatre and starred Ron Silver, Joe Mantegna and Madonna. That show
ran for some 279 performances.
WEST SIDE STORY
It's official. The Broadway revival of West Side Story is confirmed for the
coming season, directed by its 90-year-old librettist, Arthur Laurents.
Previews for the musical will begin on February 23 at a Nederlander theater
to be announced, with an opening in March. The original Jerome Robbins
choreography will be restaged by Joey McKneely.
9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL
Broadway's Marquis Theatre will be home to the musical adaptation of 9 to 5.
After a run at L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre, the new show, which features music
and lyrics by Dolly Parton, who starred in the 1980 hit film, will begin
previews on March 24, 2009. Opening night is scheduled for April 23rd. 9 to
5: The Musical will be directed by Joe Mantello and choreographed by Andy
Blankenbuehler. Stars include Allison Janney as Violet (the role created by
Lily Tomlin), Stephanie J. Block as Judy (created by Jane Fonda), Megan
Hilty in the Parton role of Dorelee and Marc Kudisch as their evil boss,
Franklin Hart (originally played by Dabney Coleman).
ACCENT ON YOUTH
Fresh off his recent role in Curtains, Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce
will star in the Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway revival of Accent on
Youth. Directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan, Accent on Youth will
feature Pierce as Stephen Gaye, a successful playwright who gets inspired by
his young secretary, only to learn to his dismay that the young leading man
of his Broadway-bound new work has gotten inspired by her, too. Accent On
Youth will being previews at the Biltmore Theatre in April 2009
GOING, GOING...
A CHORUS LINE
After nearly 800 performances, the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line will be
closing on August 17th. But there's still time to catch the show. To book
your tickets before this classic closes,
click here.
RENT
After 12 years of delighting Broadway audiences, Rent has announced that the
production will close on September 7th. But there's still time to see the
show that Rolling Stone proclaimed, "A raw and riveting milestone in musical
theatre!"
Click here to book Rent now.
GONE...
A CATERED AFFAIR
A Catered Affair closed on July 27 after its run at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
At the time of its closing, the musical by Harvey Fierstein and John
Bucchino had played 27 previews and 116 regular performances on Broadway.
PASSING STRANGE
Passing Strange closed on July 20th after a successful run at Broadway's
Belasco Theatre. The show was honored with a 2008 Tony Award for Best Book
of a Musical.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
The star-studded limited engagement of Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin
Roof closed on June 22nd after an acclaimed run at Broadway's Broadhurst
Theatre.
Visit this
page often for all the latest news from Broadway! To see our current list of
Broadway shows,
click here. For other tours,
click here. |
