News

Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Members & More Set for Arthur Miller Foundation Virtual Gala

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 20 2020 @ 11:00 am

Rise up! The annual Arthur Miller Foundation Honors, celebrating the power of public school arts education, are going virtual. Presented by Broadway.com, this year’s third annual gala celebration is set to stream on November 16 on our YouTube channel.

The event will be hosted by Hamilton original Broadway cast member and Arthur Miller Foundation (AMF) Master Artist Council member Sasha Hutchings, who is co-producing alongside AMF Executive Director, Jaime Hastings. Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg have signed on as event co-chairs alongside Rebecca Miller, Sandi Farkas and Janine and Michael Smith. Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek will direct.

The celebration will raise funds for the Foundation’s theater education programs. This year, the Foundation will honor Tony-nominated writer Dominique Morisseau (Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations) with the AMF Legacy Award. The Foundation will also recognize NYC public school theater teacher Lisanne Shaffer with the AMF Excellence in Arts Education Award.

The virtual gala will include performances from several Hamilton alums and their talented loved ones, including Tony winner and former vlogger Leslie Odom, Jr. and his wife Nicolette Robinson, Phillipa Soo and her husband Steven Pasquale, Javier Muñoz and Mandy Gonzalez. The evening will also …

'He Was My Baby!' Viola Davis on Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Co-Star Chadwick Boseman; Watch the Trailer

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 20 2020 @ 10:14 am

Ahead of the December 18 release of the film adaptation of master dramatist August Wilson's first play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Netflix offered a press sneak peek. Starring Oscar and Tony winner Viola Davis as the "mother of blues" Ma Rainey with the late Chadwick Boseman as ambitious trumpeter Levee, the starry movie is directed by Tony winner George C. Wolfe and adapted by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Tony nominee Colman Domingo, Broadway regular Michael Potts and Emmy winner Glynn Turman are also featured in the cast.

At the virtual preview, Wolfe introduced five clips, presented some of its toe-tapping music from Branford Marsalis and engaged in a lively conversation with Davis, moderated by Nelson George. Wolfe called Wilson's 1984 play a "brilliant piece of writing with wonderful, complicated characters." He also noted that the piece is an anomaly in the playwright's Century Cycle, in which Wilson chronicled the African-American experience in the 20th century: It's the only work not set in Wilson's hometown of Pittsburgh and the only one featuring a famous person.

The film shows Ma Rainey in her exalted status in her hometown of Barnesville, Georgia and her treatment in Chicago as she travels there for a …

Broadway Songs that are Power Ballads

Source: BroadwayDirect.com | Posted: October 20 2020 @ 2:33 am

Broadway power ballads are the songs in shows that hold so much emotion, and can fill the theatre with amazing energy, bringing the audience together in eager applause. Now, we’ve created a playlist full of these strong melodic songs. From “On My Own” in Les Miserables to “She Used to Be Mine” in Waitress, here…

The post Broadway Songs that are Power Ballads appeared first on Broadway Direct.

Shutdown Spotlight: Adrienne Warren on Transforming Into Tina Turner

Source: BroadwayDirect.com | Posted: October 20 2020 @ 12:47 am

When Broadway shut down on March 12, it closed the chapter on a truly remarkable season. In this series, we’re taking a look back at the shows that were thriving and thrilling audiences when the shutdown began. Like you, we can’t wait to see them back on the boards. After all, it’s #onlyintermission. When the…

The post Shutdown Spotlight: Adrienne Warren on Transforming Into Tina Turner appeared first on Broadway Direct.

Lynn Nottage on Finding Inspiration and the Future of Theater

Source: BroadwayDirect.com | Posted: October 20 2020 @ 12:42 am

Lynn Nottage is optimistic about theater and what it will look like post-pandemic. The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright interviewed with me two days before the Broadway League announced that Broadway closures would extend to June 2021. “We may be underwater a year from now,” Nottage said of her precariousness in the current state of theatre.…

The post Lynn Nottage on Finding Inspiration and the Future of Theater appeared first on Broadway Direct.