Ricky Martin as Che in Evita

Produced by  Hal Luftig and Scott Sanders, the classic musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber will star world renowned music artist Ricky Martin as Che, Olivier Award-winning Argentinean actress Elena Roger as Eva Perón and Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris as Juan Perón.

Michael Grandage will direct the show, joined by  Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford who will choreograph the musical. Grandage will shortly step down as artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and returns to Evita after directing an acclaimed production in London in 2006, also starring Elena Roger.

VIDEO

Evita on Broadway – promotional video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clyNhSVVFOk

PHOTOS

LINKS

Evita website

Ghost the Musical has a new original score by Grammy Award winners Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, as well as featuring the iconic song Unchained Melody.  Bruce Joel Rubin has adapted his Academy Award winning original screenplay for the stage.  Set and costume designs are by Rob Howell, choreography is by Ashley Wallen with musical supervision and arrangements by Christopher Nightingale, illusions by Paul Kieve, lighting by Hugh Vanstone and projection design by Jon Driscoll.

A timeless story about the power of love, Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with his girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic in the hope of saving her from his murderer. Ghost, based on the Oscar® winning Paramount pictures film.

Ghost, the highest grossing film in the UK in 1990, starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg and was directed by Jerry Zucker. Winning two Academy Awards®, Bruce Joel Rubin’s script won the Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay and Whoopi Goldberg won the Oscar® for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.  The film’s iconic love scene at a potter’s wheel was famously performed to The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody.

Ghost The Musical will be produced on Broadway by Colin Ingram Productions Limited and Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Adam Silberman, Land Line Productions, Donovan Mannato, Michael Edwards & Carole Winter in association with Paramount Pictures Corporation and ATG/Robert G. Bartner.

Release issued by: Premier PR

LINKS

Book tickets to Ghost The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre in London

The video, starring Spider-Man star Reeve Carney, also features Bono & The Edge from U2. The video also features some spectacular on stage and behind-the-scenes action from the Broadway show.

VIDEO

Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark – New video for Rise Above Pt. 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PomErClAIFk

LINKS

Book tickets to Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark at the Foxwoods Theatre in New York

WINNERS

Best Play
War Horse
Author: Nick Stafford

Best Musical
The Book of Mormon

Best Book of a Musical
The Book of Mormon
Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Book of Mormon
Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

Best Revival of a Play
The Normal Heart

Best Revival of a Musical
Anything Goes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Mark Rylance
Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Frances McDormand
Good People

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz
Catch Me If You Can

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sutton Foster
Anything Goes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
John Benjamin Hickey
The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Ellen Barkin
The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
John Larroquette
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Nikki M. James
The Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris
War Horse

Best Direction of a Musical
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker
The Book of Mormon

Best Choreography
Kathleen Marshall
Anything Goes

Best Orchestrations
Larry Hochman & Stephen Oremus
The Book of Mormon

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Rae Smith
War Horse

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Scott Pask
The Book of Mormon

Best Costume Design of a Play
Desmond Heeley
The Importance of Being Earnest

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner
Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable
War Horse

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Brian MacDevitt
The Book of Mormon

Best Sound Design of a Play
Christopher Shutt
War Horse

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Brian Ronan
The Book of Mormon

Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Athol Fugard
Philip J. Smith

Regional Theatre Tony Award®
Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Ill.)

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Eve Ensler

Special Tony Award
Handspring Puppet Company

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
William Berloni
The Drama Book Shop
Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts

IN NUMBERS

The Book of Mormon – 9 including Best Musical
War Horse – 5 including Best Play
Anything Goes – 3 including Best Revival of a Musical
The Normal Heart – 3 including Best Revival of a Play
One each for Catch Me If You Can, Good People, How to Succeed…, The Importance of Being Earnest, Jerusalem, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert

LINKS

Tony Awards nominations 2011

The show, which cost around $70 million – the most expensive Broadway musical ever staged, reopened on Thursday (12 May 2011) after closing for a revamp on 19 April. It has been previewing since November 2010.

Producers of the much-troubled musical parted company with the show’s original director, co-writer and visionary Julie Taymor in March, to be replaced by playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, director Philip William McKinley and choreographer Chase Brock. The new team has cleaned up the story, added more flying sequences, and Bono and The Edge have also reworked a number of the songs.

Reeve Carney stars as Peter Parker in the show. He told CBS News that the changes had been “reinvigorating” and that, “there’s an energy in the company because of having a clear direction, knowing where we’re headed and knowing that it’s going to be to a greater place.”

VIDEO

Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark – New TV Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDGNimK0TUk

LINKS

Book tickets to Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark at the Foxwoods Theatre in New York

Awards to be announced: 12 June 2011

NOMINATIONS

Best Play

Good People

Author: David Lindsay-Abaire
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

Jerusalem

Author: Jez Butterworth
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Royal Court Theatre Productions, Beverly Bartner/Alice Tulchin, Dede Harris/Rupert Gavin, Broadway Across America, Jon B. Platt, 1001 Nights/Stephanie P. McClelland, Carole L. Haber/Richard Willis, Jacki Barlia Florin/Adam Blanshay

The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis
Producers: Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Public Theater Productions, Oskar Eustis, Joey Parnes, Labyrinth Theater Company, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O’Donnell, Yul Vázquez, Danny Feldman, Fabula Media Partners LLC, Jean Doumanian, Ruth Hendel, Carl Moellenberg, Jon B. Platt, Tulchin Bartner/Jamie deRoy

War Horse

Author: Nick Stafford
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, National Theatre of Great Britain, Nicholas Hytner, Nick Starr, Bob Boyett, War Horse LP

Best Musical

The Book of Mormon

Producers: Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Important Musicals LLC, Stephanie P. McClelland, Kevin Morris, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson

Catch Me If You Can

Producers: Margo Lion, Hal Luftig, Stacey Mindich, Yasuhiro Kawana, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, The Rialto Group, The Araca Group, Michael Watt, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Pittsburgh CLO, Elizabeth Williams, Johnny Roscoe Productions/Van Dean, Fakston Productions/Solshay Productions, Patty Baker/Richard Winkler, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Warren Trepp, Remmel T. Dickinson, Paula Herold/Kate Lear, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jamie deRoy, Barry Feirstein, Rainerio J. Reyes, Rodney Rigby, Loraine Boyle, Amuse Inc., Joseph & Matthew Deitch/Cathy Chernoff, Joan Stein/Jon Murray, The 5th Avenue Theatre

The Scottsboro Boys

Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler, Jacki Barlia Florin, Janet Pailet/Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Nederlander Presentations, Inc./The Shubert Organization, Beechwood Entertainment, Broadway Across America, Mark Zimmerman, Adam Blanshay/R2D2 Productions, Rick Danzansky/Barry Tatelman, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Allen Spivak/Jerry Frankel, Bard Theatricals/Probo Productions/Randy Donaldson, Catherine Schreiber/Michael Palitz/Patti Laskawy, Vineyard Theatre

Sister Act

Producers: Whoopi Goldberg & Stage Entertainment, The Shubert Organization and Disney Theatrical Productions

Best Book of a Musical

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Alex Timbers

The Book of Mormon

Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

The Scottsboro Boys

David Thompson

Sister Act

Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

The Book of Mormon

Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

The Scottsboro Boys

Music & Lyrics: John Kander and Fred Ebb

Sister Act

Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Glenn Slater

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek

Best Revival of a Play

Arcadia

Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Roger Berlind, Stephanie P. McClelland, Scott M. Delman, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Disney Theatrical Group, Robert G. Bartner, Olympus Theatricals, Douglas Smith, Janine Safer Whitney

The Importance of Being Earnest

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

The Merchant of Venice

Producers: The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Andrew D. Hamingson, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Debbie Bisno & Eva Price, Amy Nederlander, Jonathan First, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Merritt Forrest Baer, The Araca Group, Broadway Across America, Joseph & Matthew Deitch, JK Productions, Terry Allen Kramer, Cathy Chernoff/Jay & Cindy Gutterman, Mallory Factor/Cheryl Lachowicz, Joey Parnes, The Shubert Organization

The Normal Heart

Producers: Daryl Roth, Paul Boskind, Martian Entertainment, Gregory Rae, Jayne Baron Sherman/Alexander Fraser

Best Revival of a Musical

Anything Goes

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Producers: Broadway Across America, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Joseph Smith, Michael McCabe, Candy Spelling, Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand, Hilary A. Williams, Jen Namoff/Fakston Productions, Two Left Feet Productions/Power Arts, Hop Theatricals, LLC/Paul Chau/Daniel Frishwasser/Michael Jackowitz, Michael Speyer-Bernie Abrams/Jacki Barlia Florin-Adam Blanshay/Arlene Scanlan/TBS Service

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest
Bobby Cannavale, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Frances McDormand, Good People
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy
Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Joshua Henry, The Scottsboro Boys
Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Beth Leavel, Baby It’s You!
Patina Miller, Sister Act
Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem
Billy Crudup, Arcadia
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart
Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Yul Vázquez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves
Judith Light, Lombardi
Joanna Lumley, La Bête
Elizabeth Rodriguez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Adam Godley, Anything Goes
John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Forrest McClendon, The Scottsboro Boys
Rory O’Malley, The Book of Mormon

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Tammy Blanchard, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Victoria Clark, Sister Act
Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon
Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Todd Rosenthal, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Rae Smith, War Horse
Ultz, Jerusalem
Mark Wendland, The Merchant of Venice

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Beowulf Boritt, The Scottsboro Boys
Derek McLane, Anything Goes
Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon
Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Best Costume Design of a Play

Jess Goldstein, The Merchant of Venice
Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest
Mark Thompson, La Bête
Catherine Zuber, Born Yesterday

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Martin Pakledinaz, Anything Goes
Ann Roth, The Book of Mormon
Catherine Zuber, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Paule Constable, War Horse
David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Kenneth Posner, The Merchant of Venice
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Jerusalem

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington, The Scottsboro Boys
Howell Binkley, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Peter Kaczorowski, Anything Goes
Brian MacDevitt, The Book of Mormon

Best Sound Design of a Play

Acme Sound Partners & Cricket S. Myers, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Simon Baker, Brief Encounter
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Jerusalem
Christopher Shutt, War Horse

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Peter Hylenski, The Scottsboro Boys
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Catch Me If You Can
Brian Ronan, Anything Goes
Brian Ronan, The Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play

Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse
Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart
Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Daniel Sullivan, The Merchant of Venice

Best Direction of a Musical

Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Best Orchestrations

Doug Besterman, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Larry Hochman, The Scottsboro Boys
Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon
Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank, Catch Me If You Can

* * *

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Athol Fugard

Philip J. Smith

Regional Theatre Tony Award

Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Ill.)

Isabelle Stevenson Award

Eve Ensler

Special Tony Award

Handspring Puppet Company

Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre

William Berloni

The Drama Book Shop

Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts

* * *

Tony Nominations by Production

The Book of Mormon – 14

The Scottsboro Boys – 12

Anything Goes – 9

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – 8

The Merchant of Venice – 7

Jerusalem – 6

The Motherf**ker with the Hat – 6

The Normal Heart – 5

Sister Act – 5

War Horse – 5

Catch Me If You Can – 4

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo – 3

The Importance of Being Earnest – 3

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – 3

Arcadia – 2

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson – 2

Born Yesterday – 2

Brief Encounter – 2

Good People – 2

La Bête – 2

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – 2

Baby It’s You! – 1

Driving Miss Daisy – 1

The House of Blue Leaves – 1

Lombardi – 1

The People in the Picture – 1

Thea Sharrock’s award-winning production of Terence Rattigan’s drama After The Dance at the National Theatre may be Broadway-bound.
And its star – Benedict Cumberbatch, who is currently wowing audiences at the National Theatre in Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein, may be heading with it.

The success of Sherlock in the US, which the New York Times dubbed as “highly entertaining” and having “a brio that sets it apart” when it premiered on PBS last year, means that his profile has been raised Stateside, which would be good timing for his Broadway debut. Plus his starring roles in forthcoming Spielberg movie War Horse and in a new version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will aid the move.

It is unclear whether fellow After The Dance performers Nancy Carroll and Adrian Scarborough would join him. Both won Olivier Awards for their performances in the play, although Carroll is heavily pregnant and Adrian Scarborough is in previews for Cameron Mackintosh’s new show Betty Blue Eyes at the Novello Theatre – and is rumoured to be putting in an award-worthy performance as Inspector Wormold.

RUMOUR CHECK-LIST

• Show: After The Dance
• Director: Thea Sharrock
• Broadway Theatre: TBC
• Producer: Stuart Thompson
• Casting: Benedict Cumberbatch
• London Dates: TBC

Source: Daily Mail (25/03/11)

Benedict Cumberbatch

Rumours are buzzing that Daniel Radcliffe may bring his starring role in Broadway’s How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying to London.

The show is currently in previews at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in New York, opening on 27 March, and is attracting lots of attention, not least for Radcliffe’s song and dance star-turn as J. Pierrepont Finch, who climbs the corporate ladder from window cleaner to chairman of the board!

If it’s a Broadway smash then Radcliffe’s reinvention post Harry Potter would be complete before the last Potter movie is even released. London would be an obvious transfer destination for the show, especially given that US producers include British theatre producer heavyweights John Gore, Wicked’s Michael McCabe and the Old Vic’s Joseph Smith.

Radcliffe’s new movie based on The Woman in Black is also set for release later this year.

LINKS

Book tickets to How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at Al Hirschfeld Theatre in New York

SEARCH: More news on Daniel Radcliffe

RUMOUR CHECK-LIST

• Show: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
• Director: Rob Ashford
• Casting: Daniel Radcliffe, John Larroquette, Rose Hemingway
• London Dates: ?

Source: Various

Daniel Radcliffe, star of Broadway's How To Succeed...

The all-star cast of That Championship Season

Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe is making his Broadway musical debut at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre this month, in Tony award-winning director and choreographer Rob Ashford’s new production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Other stars on the Great White Way include Frances McDormand, who has just opened in Good People at the Manhattan Theatre Club; Brian Cox, Chris Noth, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland are starring in That Championship Season at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre; Billy Crudup opens in Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 17 March, Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger In The Baghdad Zoo at the Richard Rodgers Theatre from 11 March, Chris Rock in Motherf**Ker With The Hat at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre from 15 March, Kathleen Turner in High at the Booth Theatre from 25 March, Edie Falco, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Jason Leigh in The House of Blue Leaves at the Walter Kerr Theatre from 25 April, and Tyne Daly and Sierra Boggess in Master Class at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre from 24 May. Phew!

LINKS

Book Broadway tickets

Patina Miller rehearses for Sister Act on Broadway

Four big West End shows are opening on Broadway in the coming weeks. Priscilla Queen of the Desert is currently in previews at the Palace Theatre on Broadway (and the Palace Theatre, London!), starring Will Swenson as Tick. Swenson appeared in the recent Broadway and London productions of Hair, and is joined in Priscilla by Tony Sheldon, who revisits the role of Bernadette after wowing audiences in Australia and London, and Nick Adams (La Cage Aux Folles) as Adam.

Over at the Broadway Theatre previews start on 24 March for Sister Act, which wings its way to America following a decent run at the London Palladium. The star of the London show, Patina Miller, will reprise her role as nightclub singer Deloris Van Cartier, joined by Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza) as Mother Superior.

Also transferring to Broadway, the National Theatre’s production of War Horse will start previews at the Lincoln Center in New York from 15 March, and the Royal Court’s smash-hit production of Jez Butterworth’s play Jerusalem will play the Music Box theatre from 2 April. The play will feature its Olivier Award-winning London star Mark Rylance, who is sure become a major Tony Awards contender for his tour de force performance as Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron.

Book tickets to Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre, New York

Book tickets to Sister Act at the Broadway Theatre, New York

Book tickets to War Horse at the Lincoln Center in New York

Book tickets to Jerusalem at the Music Box theatre, New York