As the big night quickly approaches, Sofitel New York, the Official Hotel Partner for the 72nd annual Tony Awards, invites guests and its Broadway neighbors to celebrate the people and stories that bring Broadway theater to life. The stylish Midtown hotel with a decidedly French accent will transport guests to the early days of theater with a show stopping Tony Awards Suite and will grant access and entry to the most lauded Tony Awards events with a larger-than-life $100K Tony Awards Package to benefit the Broadway League & The American Theatre Wing.
Situated in a luxury Terrace Suite with breathtaking views of Manhattan’s skyline, the Tony Awards Suite boasts memorabilia and Tony-themed amenities that spotlight the evolution of Broadway and the character it has brought to New York City. Amenities include a Tony song book, award-winning scripts, opening number photography, programs, invitations, Playbills from 1960 and beyond, and more. The suite is available for booking through July 15, 2018. Rates start at $2,000 per night.
Guests who book the $100K Tony Awards Package will spend seven nights, June 4-11, 2018, in the exclusive Tony Awards Suite. Upon booking, Sofitel New York will make a $50,000 donation to the Broadway League & The American Theatre Wing. The package also includes:
· Two tickets to the Tony Awards Honors Cocktail on June 4, 2018 at Sofitel New York
· Two VIP tickets to the 2018 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 10, 2018
· Styling by the renowned Christian Siriano for a red carpet debut
· Hair and makeup by Nomi Beauty
· Two tickets to the Official Tony Awards Gala and After Party
· Two House Seats for three 2018 Tony-nominated performances of your choosing
The $100K Tony Awards Package is valid for booking through May 25, 2018. Reservations can be made Monday-Friday by calling 212-782-3013 or by emailing Daniel.Harpaz@sofitel.com.
Le Club AccorHotels members are also privy to Elite Tony Awards packages and experiences. From 20,000 rewards points, members can book any of the following packages with the option of adding a night in a Superior Room and breakfast at Gaby Brasserie:
The Ultimate Broadway Experience, including two tickets to the Tony Honors Cocktail at Sofitel New York on June 4, 2018 and two tickets to see Hello Dolly at the Shubert Theater.
The 72nd Annual Tony Awards Ceremony & Gala Experience, including a welcome cocktail, professional hair and makeup to ready for a walk on the red carpet, and two VIP tickets to the Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall and Gala event at the Plaza Hotel with roundtrip limousine service.
“We are excited to be able to share moments and pieces of Tony Awards history with our partners, Sofitel New York; and to give fans from around the globe the opportunity to join us on Broadway’s biggest night!,” said Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League.
The 72nd Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will air live on CBS on Sunday, June 10, 2018. The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. For more information on the Tony Awards, please visit www.TonyAwards.com.
Sofitel New York is the Official Hotel Partner of the 2018 Tony Awards.
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Tony Award Productions and Broadway Records have announced the second annual Tony Award® Season compilation album to be released on CD and digitally at most major music retailers including Barnes & Noble and iTunes on June 8, 2018. The CD is now available for pre-order at www.BroadwayRecords.com, www.TonyAwards.com and Amazon.com.
Each musical from the 2017-2018 season, including the 2018 Tony nominated musicals, have been invited to contribute a song to this new compilation album. There will also be bonus tracks to represent this year’s Tony lifetime achievement honorees, Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber. A portion of the proceeds from the album will go to the American Theatre Wing and Broadway League’s arts educations initiatives.
“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with the Tony Awards in this second edition. We believe the compilation album is the perfect way for the fans to experience a taste of all of the incredible new musicals and revivals Broadway has unveiled this season,” said Van Dean, President of Broadway Records.
“It is so exciting to be able to bring together the music that celebrates an incredible season on Broadway!,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President The Broadway League and Heather Hitchens, President the American Theatre Wing. “And to be able to share that celebration with theatre fans everywhere is really something special.”
Tony Awards Productions and Broadway Records are giving fans the opportunity, once again, to help select the songs that will appear on the compilation album from a selection of the participating shows. Once On This Island, The Band’s Visit, Frozen, My Fair Lady, Escape to Margaritaville, and SpongBob Squarepants: the Musical, have each narrowed down their song selection to 3 songs each to allow fans to choose the final song selections. Please go to www.TonyAwards.com to help select the songs for the album. All submissions must be received by 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.
As with last year, the cover art features a specially commissioned Tony season illustration by Justin “Squigs” Robertson. The packaging will include an essay by noted musical theatre historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper as well as details about each show.
The American Theatre Wing’s 72nd Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will air live from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS Television Network on Sunday, June 10, 2017 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT). The Tony Awards, which honors theatre professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, has been broadcast on CBS since 1978. The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
For more information on the Tony Awards, visit TonyAwards.com and Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards and follow @TheTonyAwards on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Join the conversation using the hashtags #TonyAwards2017 and #TheatreInspires.
The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At The Broadway League, Thomas Schumacher is Chairman and Charlotte St. Martin is President. At the American Theatre Wing, David Henry Hwang is Chair and Heather A. Hitchens is President & CEO. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment are the Executive Producers of the 2018 Tony Awards. Mr. Weiss will also serve as Director of the 2018 Tony Awards.
Broadway Records (Van Dean, President) is the Grammy® winning record label dedicated to preserving musical theatre and theatre vocalists. Recent releases include the Grammy® and Tony Award-winning The Color Purple (2015 revival), the Grammy® nominated Matilda The Musical and Fiddler on the Roof (2015 revival), Anastasia, Bandstand, Once On This Island, My Fair Lady, Groundhog Day, The Lightning Thief and NBC’s television events, “The Wiz Live!” and “Peter Pan Live!”. The label’s critically-acclaimed “Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below” series features top Broadway stars including Patti LuPone, Aaron Tveit, Annaleigh Ashford, Norbert Leo Butz, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley, Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp, Micky Dolenz and many others. Broadway Records launched the Broadway for Orlando initiative (in partnership with creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley) culminating in the all-star benefit single, “What the World Needs Now is Love,” which leaped to #1 on iTunes with no radio airplay. Broadway Records philanthropic endeavors also include the From Broadway With Love benefit concerts for Sandy Hook, Orlando (Emmy Award for Sound) and Parkland. To learn more, visit BroadwayRecords.com.
I went with T2C’s editor to A Dolls House, which inspired this caricature. You can read Suzanna’s review of the show here.
Saturday, March 25, 2023
A Statement From Andrew Lloyd Webber
I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital. His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft.
Thank you for all your thoughts during this difficult time.
The 75-year-old Oscar-winning composer son Nicholas followed in his father’s footsteps and was a successful composer in his own right, having written Fat Friends The Musical. He was married to musician Polly Wiltshire, who appeared on the soundtrack of his father’s 2019 movie Cats.
During his career, Nicholas also scored music for an adaption of The Little Prince as well as composing numerous TV and film scores, including for the BBC1 drama Loves, Lies, and Records.
Nicholas previously spoke about making his own way in the theatre world away from his famous family name in a 2011 unearthed interview.
He said he wanted to be ‘judged on his own merits’ so dropped his surname when working to see what the reaction would be.
Our hearts and prayers go out to his family.
Also on Saturday Lea Michele updated her fans on the status of her two-year-old’s health via her Instagram after he was hospitalized earlier this week. Her son Ever was in the hospital, but is now out due to a ‘scary health issue. She posted a picture backstage in her dressing room ahead of her Broadway performance in Funny Girl. Lea had been out to focus on her family.
“I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for just so much love and support this week. I really really appreciated it”.
Micaela Diamond and Ben Platt Photo by Joan Marcus
I have always loved Jason Robert Brown’s score for Parade. “You Don’t Know This Man,” “This Is Not Over Yet” and the wonderfully romantic “All the Wasted Time” are just the tip of the iceberg for music that stirs your soul and tells a tale of heartbreak. There is a reason this score won the Tony Award in 1999.
Ben Platt Photo By Joan Marcus
The musical now playing on Broadway dramatizes the 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank (Ben Platt), who was accused and convicted of raping and murdering a thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan (Erin Rose Doyle). The trial was sensationalized by the media, newspaper reporter Britt Craig (Jay Armstrong Johnson) and Tom Watson (Manoel Feliciano), an extremist right-wing newspaper aroused antisemitic tensions in Atlanta and the U.S. state of Georgia. When Frank’s death sentence is commuted to life in prison thanks to his wife Lucille (Micaela Diamond), Leo was transferred to a prison in Milledgeville, Georgia, where a lynching party seized and kidnapped him. Frank was taken to Phagan’s hometown of Marietta, Georgia, and he was hanged from an oak tree.
Erin Rose Doyle, Photo by Joan Marcus
The telling of this horrid true tale begins with the lush ode to the South in “The Old Red Hills of Home.” Leo has just moved from Brooklyn to in Marietta, where his wife is from and he has been given the job as as a manager at the National Pencil Co. He feels out of place as he sings “I thought that Jews were Jews, but I was wrong!” On Confederate Memorial Day as Lucille plans a picnic, Leo goes to work. In the meantime Mary goes to collect her pay from the pencil factory. The next day Leo is arrested on suspicion of killing Mary, whose body is found in the building. The police also suspect Newt Lee (Eddie Cooper), the African-American night watchman who discovered the body, but he inadvertently directs Starnes’ suspicion to Leo.
Across town, reporter Britt Craig see this story as (“Big News”). Mary’s suitor Frankie Epps (Jake Pederson), swears revenge on Mary’s killer, as does the reporter Watson. Governor John Slaton (Sean Allan Krill) pressures the local prosecutor Hugh Dorsey (the terrific smarmy Paul Alexander Nolan) to get to the bottom of the whole affair. Dorsey, an ambitious politician sees Leo as he ticket to being the Governor and though there are other suspects, he willfully ignores them and goes after Leo.
Sophia Manicone, Emily Rose DeMartino, Ashlyn Maddox Photo By Joan Marcus
The trial of Leo Frank is presided over by Judge Roan (Howard McMillan). A series of witnesses, give trumped up evidence which was clearly is fed to them by Dorsey. Frankie testifies, falsely, that Mary said Leo “looks at her funny.” Her three teenage co-workers, Lola, Essie and Monteen (Sophia Manicone, Emily Rose DeMartino, Ashlyn Maddox), collaborate hauntingly as they harmonize their testimony (“The Factory Girls”). In a fantasy sequence, Leo becomes the lecherous seducer (“Come Up to My Office”). Testimony is heard from Mary’s mother (Kelli Barrett ) (“My Child Will Forgive Me”) and Minnie McKnight (Danielle Lee Greaves)before the prosecution’s star witness, Jim Conley (Alex Joseph Grayson ), takes the stand. He claims that he witnessed the murder and helped Leo conceal the crime (“That’s What He Said”). Leo is given the opportunity to deliver a statement (“It’s Hard to Speak My Heart”), but it is not enough. He is found guilty and sentenced to hang. The crowd breaks out into a jubilant circus.
Alex Joseph Grayson Photo by Joan Marcus
Act 1, is not as strong as it should have been. I have attended three different incarnations, the last being with Jeremy Jordan as Leo and Joshua Henry as Jim in 2015. Part of the problem is Michael Arden’s direction. Instead of allowing his performers to act, he has them pantomime, as the solo goes forth. “Come Up to My Office” was not as haunting as in past productions. The same can be said of “That’s What He Said”. Who’s stands out in the first act is Jake Pederson as Frankie and Charlie Webb as the Young Soldier who sings “The Old Red Hills of Home.”
Micaela Diamond and Ben Platt Photo by Joan Marcus
In Act 2, Lucille finds Governor Slaton at a party (the hypnotic “Pretty Music” sung wonderfully by Krill) and advocates for Leo. Watson approaches Dorsey and tells him he will support his bid for governor, as Judge Roan also offers his support. The governor agrees to re-open the case, as Leo and Lucille find hope. Slaton realizes what we all knew that the witnesses were coerced and lied and that Dorsey is at the helm. He agrees to commute Leo’s sentence to life in prison in Milledgeville, Georgia, which ends his political career. The citizens of Marietta, led by Dorsey and Watson, are enraged and riot. Leo is transferred to a prison work-farm. Lucille visits, and he realizes his deep love for his wife and how much he has underestimated her (“All the Wasted Time”). With hope in full blaze Lucille leaves as a party masked men kidnap Leo and take him to Marietta. They demand he confess and hang him from an oak tree.
Paul Alexander Nolan, Howard McMillan Photo By Joan Marcus
In Act Two Parade comes together with heart and soul. Diamond, who shines brightly through out the piece is radiant, and her duets with Platt are romantic and devastating. Platt comes into his own and his huge following is thrilled to be seeing him live. Alex Joseph Grayson’s also nails his Second Act songs.
Dane Laffrey’s set works well with the lighting by Heather Gilbert.
Frank’s case was reopened in 2019 and is still ongoing.
Parade has multiple messages and the question is will audiences absorb it. I am so glad this show is on Broadway, making us think and see. This is a must see.
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Parade: Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W 45th Street.