News

How Theatres In Belarus Got Politically Active

Source: ArtsJournal.com | Posted: August 24 2020 @ 5:28 pm

Belarusian theatres, almost all of them state-owned since Soviet times, have officially remained outside of politics for 26 years. Everyone in management positions was appointed by the Ministry of Culture, and any political activity by employees was punished severely. But this August, it seems, even the Belarusian state theatres awoke from their slumber. – American […]

Michael Riedel's Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway to Be Released November 10

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: August 24 2020 @ 3:55 pm

Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway, Michael Riedel’s follow-up to his acclaimed bestseller Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway, is set for release. The Simon and Schuster book will arrive on November 10.

A sweeping history of Broadway in the 1970s and 1980s, Razzle Dazzle was released in 2016 to great fanfare. In this new book, journalist Riedel focuses on the 1990s on Broadway, specifically from 1994 debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard through Disney’s The Lion King opening night in 1997, with attention paid to the creation of hits like Rent and The Producers.

Riedel has been the theater columnist for the New York Post since 1998. He currently cohosts Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning on WOR, New York’s oldest and highest-rated radio station. In 2015, Razzle Dazzle won the Marfield Prize for arts writing.

James Lapine to Release Book About the Making of Sunday in the Park with George

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: August 24 2020 @ 3:26 pm

Three-time Tony winner James Lapine is releasing a book about his creative process on one of his most beloved musicals: Sunday in the Park with George! Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created 'Sunday in the Park with George' will take readers inside the two-year process of turning Georges Seurat’s masterwork Sunday on the Island of La Grand Jatte into a Broadway musical. The book will officially come out on April 13, 2021.

Stephen Sondheim, Mandy Patinkin & Bernadette Peters (Photo: Martha Swope)

Putting It Together will include conversations between Lapine, Sondheim and the original cast and crew of the production, personal photographs, sketches, script notes and sheet music from the making of the show.

Sunday in the Park with George bowed on Broadway in 1984 at the Booth Theatre; Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters originated the now-iconic musical theater roles of George and Dot. The production garnered a whopping 10 Tony nominations and went on to receive the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Patinkin and Peters reprised their roles on Broadway in 1994 for a tenth anniversary concert performance to benefit Friends In Deed.

Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2017 revival of "Sunday in the Park with …

Watch Jeff Daniels Face Off with Brendan Gleeson's Donald Trump in the Trailer for The Comey Rule

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: August 24 2020 @ 1:47 pm

Get ready, Jeff Daniels fans and political junkies! Daniels and Brendan Gleeson will star as former FBI Director James Comey and President Donald J. Trump, respectively, in Showtime's two-part event series The Comey Rule. The show, which is based on Comey's memoir A Higher Loyalty, will also star Jennifer Ehle as Patrice Comey and Steven Pasquale as former FBI agent Peter Strzok. Check out the action-packed trailer below, and be sure to watch the premiere on September 27 9PM ET.

Spike Lee-Directed HBO Film of American Utopia Releases Airdate and Trailer

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: August 24 2020 @ 1:40 pm

Broadway may still be shutdown, but fans will be able to feel like they're back at the at theater when the filmed version of David Byrne's American Utopia is released on October 17. As previously announced, Oscar winner and legendary filmmaker Spike Lee directs the special event which was filmed during the theatrical concert's run at Broadway's Hudson Theatre. David Byrne's American Utopia will be available to stream on HBO and HBO Max.

American Utopia, which features Byrne sharing the spotlight with a diverse ensemble of 11 musical artists from around the globe, first arrived on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on October 20, 2019. The show consistently sold out the 961-seat Hudson Theatre, recouping its $4 million investment after only 10 weeks and broke the theater’s box-office record in February. It received multiple extensions and concluded its run on February 16, 2020.

“David Byrne's American Utopia is a uniquely transformative experience and a perfect example of how entertainment can bring us together during these challenging times,” Nina Rosenstein, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming said in a statement. “Spike’s brilliant direction adds a level of intimacy to this powerful performance, and we’re so thrilled to share this …