News

A Theatre Student Researches How Theatre Has Coped With Lockdown. Here’s What She Found

Source: ArtsJournal.com | Posted: November 16 2020 @ 5:10 pm

It became evident to me that companies that had a strong relationship with their audience base before the pandemic had seen continued support. Theatres like Cape Fear Regional Theatre, which specializes in “edutainment” (a combination of performance and education), received an outpouring of verbal support from parents who were overjoyed that their child could go […]

Manhattan Theatre Club Announces Plans for Return to Stage

Source: BroadwayDirect.com | Posted: November 16 2020 @ 3:42 pm

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce plans for four Manhattan Theatre Club productions in the 2021-2022 season. Lynne Meadow said, “With hopes high that we will be able to return to live theatre, we have created a season of diverse and exciting Broadway and off-Broadway premieres and we are honored to be…

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MTC Plans Broadway Premiere for Ruben Santiago-Hudson's Lackawanna Blues; Updates Announced

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: November 16 2020 @ 3:30 pm

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced some new plans for the 2021-2022 season.

"With hopes high that we will be able to return to live theater, we have created a season of diverse and exciting Broadway and off-Broadway premieres and we are honored to be working with the very best of New York's brilliant artistic community," MTC Artistic Director Lynn Meadow said in a statement. "Our colleagues are anticipating with joy being back in our rehearsal rooms and back on our stages, playing to houses filled with devoted theatergoers. We all miss each other!”

In the fall of 2021, MTC plans to present the Broadway premiere of Lackawanna Blues, written, performed and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. The Tony winner's solo play celebrates the strong, big-hearted woman who raised him: Miss Rachel. In a 1950s boarding house outside Buffalo, Nanny, as she was affectionately called, opened her doors to anyone and everyone in need of kindness, hope, compassion and care. With original music by Bill Sims Jr, the production stars Santiago-Hudson as he embodies more than 20 vibrant characters. The 2001 play was adapted into a film version, directed by George C. Wolfe, in 2005.

The world premiere of Morning Sun by 2020 …

Watch Now: “Tonight Belongs to You” Lyric Video from The Prom Movie

Source: BroadwayDirect.com | Posted: November 16 2020 @ 1:24 pm

'Tonight Belongs to You' from the Netflix Film The Prom features vocalists: Jo Ellen Pellman, James Corden, Kerry Washington, Logan Riley, Sofia Deler, and the incredible ensemble.

The Prom follows Dee Dee Allen (three-time Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (Tony Award-winner James Corden) are New York City stage stars with a crisis on their hands: their expensive new Broadway show is a major flop that has suddenly flatlined their careers. Meanwhile, in small-town Indiana, high school student Emma Nolan (newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman) is experiencing a very different kind of heartbreak: despite the support of the high school principal (Keegan-Michael Key), the head of the PTA (Kerry Washington) has banned her from attending the prom with her girlfriend, Alyssa (Ariana DeBose). When Dee Dee and Barry decide that Emma's predicament is the perfect cause to help resurrect their public images, they hit the road with Angie (Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannells), another pair of cynical actors looking for a professional lift. But when their self-absorbed celebrity activism unexpectedly backfires, the foursome find their own lives upended as they rally to give Emma a night where she can truly celebrate who she is.

Directed by Ryan Murphy, The Prom is the spectacular, big-hearted film adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical. Screenplay by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin.

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Phillipa Soo, Leslie Uggams & Will Swenson Join COVID-Centric Drama Series The Second Wave

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: November 16 2020 @ 1:08 pm

A fresh group of Broadway stars have joined the cast of the forthcoming six-episode pandemic-themed drama The Second Wave from The Good Fight creators Robert and Michelle King. Deadline reports that Phillipa Soo, Leslie Uggams and Will Swenson have been tapped for the series, which, as previously announced, stars Audra McDonald, Steven Pasquale and Orange Is the New Black's Taylor Schilling. 

McDonald and Schilling will star as neighbors Rachel and Lily, who are navigating life in quarantine during a second wave of COVID-19 in New York City. Pasquale will play McDonald's character's husband, Dr. Zach, a top official at the CDC. Soo will play Cydni Estereo, the White House liaison to the CDC, while Uggams will play Dr. Hester Boutella, a Nobel Prize-winning immunologist and McDonald’s character's mother. Swenson will play photojournalist Brian Ritter, who is stuck sheltering in place in New York.

Soo, who is married to Pasquale, was last seen on Broadway in The Parisian Woman. Homebound audiences can watch her in Hamilton on Disney+. She earned a 2016 Tony nomination for her performance in the blockbuster musical. Uggams won a 1968 Tony Award for Hallelujah, Baby!  Her additional Broadway credits include Her First …