News

Katharine McPhee & David Foster Are Expecting Their First Child Together

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 8 2020 @ 3:49 pm

Everything changes! Smash star and Broadway alum Katharine McPhee is expecting her first child with husband David Foster, People reports. No word yet on a due date.

After winning fans on American Idol and Smash, McPhee made her Broadway debut as the lead role of Jenna in Waitress in April 2018. She also played the role in the West End production. Foster has a whopping 16 Grammy Awards and served as the chairman of Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.

This will be McPhee's first child. Foster has five daughters and seven grandchildren. McPhee and Foster tied the knot on June 28, 2019.

Watch the Star-Packed Benefit Event The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 8 2020 @ 1:53 pm

The great work begins—tonight! As previously reported, a benefit reading of scenes from Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic Angels in America will take place tonight, October 8, at 8:30PM ET to benefit amfAR's Fund to Fight COVID-19. The free 60-minute livestream The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America will be exclusively available on Broadway.com's YouTube channel. Playwright Kushner and director Ellie Heyman have assembled an all-star cast for the event, including Glenn Close, Paul Dano, Linda Emond, Jeremy O. Harris, Brian Tyree Henry, Nikki M. James, Laura Linney, Vella Lovell, Patti LuPone, S. Epatha Merkerson, Larry Owens, Andrew Rannells, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Lois Smith and Brandon Uranowitz. There will also be interstitial appearances from Alan Cumming, Whoopi Goldberg and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The free virtual event will be followed by a live conversation moderated by Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek. The conversation will feature Kushner, Heyman, amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost and several of the performers. They will discuss the play, as well as activism and COVID-19 research. The conversation will offer viewers who make a donation of $100 or more an exclusive opportunity to hear directly from the …

Werk! Watch Hamilton's Mandy Gonzalez Open Up About Her Breast Cancer Journey and More on Broadway Profiles

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 8 2020 @ 1:41 pm

The October episode of the series Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal, which is airing throughout the country this month, includes a catch-up with Broadway's Mandy Gonzalez. Hosted by PIX11's Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal and powered by Broadway.com, the latest episode includes an interview with Hamilton star, who opened up about her cancer diagnosis and balancing treatment with performing eight times a week as Angelica Schuyler in the hit musical. "I really look at cancer as not a 'me' disease," she said. "It's really a 'we' disease because it affects so many people around you. As you're going through it, they're feeling it too." Now cancer free, Gonzalez has channeled her energy into "putting some good into the world" in the form of a young adult novel called Fearless. Learn more about Gonzalez and her book in the segment below, and be on the lookout for Broadway Profiles, the only nationally syndicated theater news program, on your local TV station.

2020 Tony Awards Nominations Will Be Announced on October 15

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 8 2020 @ 11:15 am

Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart is set to announce nominations for the 74th Annual Tony Awards. The news will be announced live on the Tony Awards YouTube Channel on Thursday, October 15 at 12:00PM ET.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize Broadway’s magnificent work of during the 2019-2020 season,” said Heather Hitchens, President & CEO of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League in a joint statement. “Our Broadway community has been incredibly resilient during this difficult time, and we look forward to paying tribute to the performers and artists.” The Tony Awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.

The Tony Awards Nominating Committee will meet to vote on this year’s nominations on Tuesday, October 13. As previously announced, this year's Tony Awards are set to take place digitally this fall, with exact dates to be announced.

A Tony winner for his turn as Genie in Aladdin, Iglehart's impressive Broadway resume includes Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme, Memphis, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Jack Thorne's Adaptation of A Christmas Carol Will Be Performed and Streamed from London's Old Vic

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: October 8 2020 @ 10:46 am

Even Scrooge would admit this is good news! For the fourth year in a row, Jack Thorne's adaptation of A Christmas Carol will play at London's Old Vic Theatre. This year it's part of the Old Vic: In Camera initiative; it will play a live, full-scale production to an empty theater from December 12-24 and be streamed online.

There will be 80,000 tickets available for the two-week run of A Christmas Carol, with prices ranging from £10–£65. While all "seats" will offer the same view on screen, the Old Vic is asking audiences to give what they can to help support the theater.

"The Old Vic: In Camera Zoomed plays streamed live from the empty Old Vic stage has proved extremely effective as a way of bringing a version of the live theatre experience to enthusiastic viewers around the world," said artistic director Matthew Warchus in a statement. "It has also provided a modest but meaningful income for the performers and creatives and for the theatre itself which is fighting for its survival."

This version of A Christmas Carol made its Broadway debut in 2019 at the Lyceum Theatre. Casting for the Old Vic: In Camera production to be announced at a later …