News

Watch Broadway Favorites Perform BC/EFA Anthem 'Help Is On The Way'

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 2 2020 @ 11:03 am

Help is on the way—and it comes in the form of a slew of Broadway faves belting out this David Friedman anthem. Because Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS did not have the opportunity to present the 2020 edition of the Easter Bonnet Competition due to the coronavirus crisis, a bunch of stage stars united to perform "Help Is On The Way," which has ended the show since 1995. Songwriter Friedman gathered stars who have performed the Bonnet finale (which has since become the official BC/EFA anthem) in the past and an army of other voices, including Hailey Kilgore, Andréa Burns, Kerry Butler, Norm Lewis, Hugh Panero, Anika Noni Rose, L. Steven Taylor, Rachel York and more. Enjoy the performance below, and contribute here.

Denzel Washington Wants Samuel L. Jackson to Star in Film of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 2 2020 @ 10:23 am

Fresh off the premiere date news and vibrant first look at the film adaptation of August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Denzel Washington has shared that The Piano Lesson is the next Wilson work he hopes to bring to the screen. According to The New York Times, Washington is looking to enlist director Barry Jenkins for the project as well as his son John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson: “The greatest part of what’s left of my career is making sure that August is taken care of,” Washington said.

August Wilson (Photo: David Cooper)

Washington has long wanted to executive produce all 10 of the Pulitzer-winning playwrights Century Cycle, something he discussed publicly in back in 2015. In addition to Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson, Wilson’s cycle consists of Radio Golf, King Hedley II, Jitney, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Gem of the Ocean.

Washington was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance on the big screen in Fences alongside Ma Rainey's Black Bottom star Viola Davis, who took home both the Tony and the Oscar for her performance on Broadway and film. 

Britain’s National Theatre Has Been Closed For Six Months, But What’s Left Of Its Staff Has Been Working Hard

Source: ArtsJournal.com | Posted: October 2 2020 @ 10:03 am

“Rufus Norris, the theater’s artistic director, has been spending his time lobbying Britain’s government for extra funding and putting together a reopening plan. Its digital team has been running NT at Home, a streaming service of recorded plays from the theater’s archive, some of which have been viewed millions of times. Other staff members have […]

Watch Now: “All I Really Want” Democracy Remix from Jagged Little Pill

Source: BroadwayDirect.com | Posted: October 1 2020 @ 4:46 pm

All we really want is some justice. Donate today to the Center for Popular Democracy to help create real and lasting change for immigrants, working families, and communities of color.

From Academy Award-winning writer Diablo Cody (Juno) comes an “urgent, wildly entertaining, and wickedly funny” (The Boston Globe) original story of suburban subversion inspired by Alanis Morissette’s Grammy Award-winning album.

Featuring Morissette’s iconic songs including “Ironic,” “You Oughta Know,” and “Hand in My Pocket,” as well as newly written material, this “big-hearted musical that breaks the mold” (The New York Times) is directed by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin), with music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and movement direction and choreography by Olivier Award winner and frequent Beyoncé collaborator Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

The post Watch Now: “All I Really Want” Democracy Remix from Jagged Little Pill appeared first on Broadway Direct.

Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Ariana DeBose, Aaron Tveit & More Broadway Stars Board New Music Comedy Series

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 1 2020 @ 4:43 pm

Stage stars galore have signed on to join Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key in a new Apple TV+ musical comedy series from Saturday Night Live and Mean Girls producer Lorne Michaels.

The musical will feature Tony winners Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth and Jane Krakowski along with Aaron Tveit, Ariana DeBose, Ann Harada, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil and Dove Cameron.

The new program follows a couple Melissa (Strong) and Josh (Key) on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship when they discover a magical town in which everyone acts as if they're in a musical from the 1940s. They then discover that they can’t leave until they find "true love."

Look for Cumming to play Mayor Menlove, the welcoming town leader who harbors a secret (and a song) in his heart with Harada as Florence, his oblivious, dutiful wife. Armisen is set as Reverend Layton, the mild-mannered religious leader of the town with Chenoweth as Mildred, his morally superior busybody wife. Tveit is taking on the role of Danny Bailey, the town bad boy who sets his sights on Melissa. Cameron portrays Betsy, the farmer’s daughter who falls for Josh. DeBose plays Emma Tate, a more modern …