Tag Archives: Broadway

Theater Mania recaps: The company of Broadway’s Hamilton took top presentation honors at this week’s 30th annual Easter Bonnet Competition, an event that serves as the culmination of six weeks of spring fundraising efforts for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Watch the cast perform a transformed version of their opening number “Alexander Hamilton,” featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda as the Demon Barber Sweeney …

Via press release from NBC/Universal: Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG and Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson and multiple Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein will headline the cast of NBC’s “Hairspray Live!,” the network’s next live Broadway musical holiday event following the phenomenal success of “The Wiz Live!” Also joining the creative team will be acclaimed television director Alex Rudzinski, who received extraordinary reviews …

As JMG reader Danimal puts it, Jennifer Hudson took the audience to church. What’s On Stage recaps: Cynthia Erivo and Jennifer Hudson led an onstage tribute at The Color Purple on Broadway last night, following the news that pop legend Prince had passed away at the age of 57. In a video shared on the show’s official Facebook account Hudson …

NBC News reports: The tributes for music icon Prince poured in from across the world on the day of his death, but one went viral swiftly on Thursday night. The cast of Hamilton sang and danced to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” on stage following their Thursday night performance. The hottest Broadway musical in the world has much of its success …

Playbill reports: Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the story of “ten-dollar Founding Father without a father” Alexander Hamilton, was today named winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. It joins an exclusive club of just eight other musicals that have won the prestigious award since it was founded nearly a century ago. The Pulitzer, which is …

The New York Times reports: The producers of “Hamilton,” a show that could well make hundreds of millions of dollars, on Friday bowed to pressure and said they would share some of the musical’s profits with original cast members. The deal, which was announced by a lawyer representing more than two dozen actors and dancers who were part of the …

Cubicle warning: Much nearly nekkid beefcake ahead. Via press release: “Must see TV” never looked like this. Watch what happens when the immensely popular Broadway Bares tackles the boob tube in an unrivaled evening of sexy striptease production numbers, produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Come on down Sunday, June 19, for Broadway Bares: On Demand (#BroadwayBares) where …

Variety reports: It’s hard to imagine a more simpatico creative pairing than Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein. Lauper, the award-winning (Grammy, Emmy and Tony) pop icon whose rainbow-colored hair and anthemic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” single made her a hero among fiery female teens in the 1980s, has long established herself as a staunch humanitarian and leading advocate for …

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has posted some of the full performances from this year’s installment of Broadway Backwards, where men perform show tunes written for women and vice versa. Watch as Tony-winning legend Chita Rivera (she’s 83!) takes on All I Think About Is Love, from Chicago. Other highlights below include Jay Johnson’s Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend, from …

Via Entertainment Weekly: It’s getting harder for Stephen Colbert to repress his inner musical urges. After recently dueting with Anna Kendrick and Tom Hiddleston, the Late Show host got another huge opportunity to show off his pipes when Crazy Ex-Girlfriend co-creator and star Rachel Bloom stopped by Tuesday’s show. Colbert began by asking Bloom, in his standard interview style, about …

Last night I had the pleasure of once again attending Broadway’s greatest and gayest night, the 11th annual Broadway Backwards, a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the NYC LGBT Center in which show tunes written for women are sung by men and vice versa. Watch this year’s highlight reel below and see a cavalcade of Broadway royalty including …

Coolest president ever. CNN reports: It’s not every day the President of the United States plays back up to someone else — let alone tells someone to “drop the beat” — but that’s just what happened in a video the White House posted on Monday evening. President Barack Obama flipped through cue cards as Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Broadway …

Metro reports: Get ready to channel your inner Regina George once again – because Mean Girls is all set to make a comeback as a musical. Rumours that the 2004 movie that inspired us to wear pink on Wednesdays is being given a stage makeover have been circulating for some time now – but its creator Tina Fey has finally …

Reuters reports: The United States turned to cultural diplomacy on Tuesday to push gay rights at the United Nations by taking 15 U.N. ambassadors, including those from Russia, Gabon and Namibia, to see an award-winning lesbian musical on Broadway. Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said the “Fun Home” coming-of-age production “brings home the challenges that LGBTI …

Quite a production. Clip recap: At the 2015 Oscars, Lady Gaga performed a medley of songs from The Sound of Music to mark the 50th Anniversary of the classic movie. In return, the cast of The Sound of Music pay their thanks to the ‘Mother Monster’ by performing their take on some of Lady Gaga’s hits. (Via Towleroad)

Many are calling Hamilton the most sought-after ticket on Broadway since the 2001 launch of The Producers, but with that wild demand inevitably comes the scammers. Via Playbill: The producer of the Broadway phenomenon Hamilton put a new block of legitimate tickets on sale today, and accompanied it with a caveat emptor to those tempted to buy from scalpers. Previously …

Now and forever and again and again. Playbill reports: Grizabella is headed for the Heaviside layer once more! Broadway’s The Shubert Organization and Nederlander Organization are teaming up to produce the long-rumored revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/T.S. Eliot musical Cats this summer. The onetime longest-running show in Broadway history has booked the Neil Simon Theatre, with previews beginning July …

Playbill has the news: Stage and screen star Bette Midler has announced that she will play Dolly Gallagher Levi in a Broadway revival of the blockbuster 1964 musical, Hello, Dolly! Four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks will direct, and Tony winner Warren Carlyle will choreograph the production, which will begin Broadway previews March 13, 2017, and open April 20 at …

The stars of several hit Broadway shows have done a music video for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. They write: It’s our first live music video, featuring cast of familiar Broadway faces. The video is a representation of the Broadway community sharing their “thanks” to all of our supporters. Andrew Keenan-Bolger was our director, cinematographer and editor; Ted Arthur our music …

NBC really ramped up the gay for The Wiz Live last night, serving Emerald City realness complete with voguing Munchkins who chant “Slay! Fierce!” and characters who accuse each other of throwing shade. The A. V. Club raves: And that’s how you put on a show! The Wiz Live! may be NBC’s third attempt at staging a live musical, but …