Broadway
Theatre News: Zoe Caldwell, To Kill A Mockingbird, Tony News, Stephanie J. Block, Kathleen Chalfant, The Hello Girls and Harriet Harris
Zoe Caldwell on Charlie Rose
Four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Zoe Caldwell, died peacefully from Parkinson’s at 86 on February 16th. The grand dame of theatre began her career as an original member of the company at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Her Broadway debut in 1965 in The Devils led to her 1966 by her Tony Award-winning performance in Slapstick Tragedy. She Tony Awards followed for her performances in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968), Medea (1982), and Master Class (1995).
Miss Caldwell was born September 14th in Melbourne, Australia. At the age of nine she appeared in a production of Peter Pan at the Melbourne’s Union Theatre Repertory Company and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company. She moved to London to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959.
Ms. Caldwell was married the noted theatre producer and director Robert Whitehead in 1968. They were together until his death in 2002. She is survived by two sons, Sam and Charlie Whitehead; and 2 grandchildren Ross and Ward Whitehead.
The company of the Broadway play To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Bartlett Sher, and based on Harper Lee’s classic novel, will discuss its historic performance at the legendary Madison Square Garden. Four-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner Ed Harris stars at Atticus Finch and leads the cast of characters that also includes Atticus’s daughter Scout (Nina Grollman), her brother Jem (Nick Robinson), their housekeeper and caretaker, Calpurnia (LisaGay Hamilton), their visiting friend Dill (Taylor Trensch) and a mysterious neighbor, the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley (Russell Harvard). The other indelible residents of Maycomb, Alabama are brought to life on stage by Neal Huff (as Bob Ewell), Kyle Scatliffe (playing Tom Robinson), Manoel Felciano (as prosecutor Horace Gilmer), Dakin Matthews (playing Judge Taylor),and Eliza Scanlen (as Mayella Ewell).
To Kill a Mockingbird, Aaron Sorkin’s new play, directed by Bartlett Sher, and based on Harper Lee’s classic novel, will become the first-ever Broadway play to perform at The World’s Most Famous Arena, New York’s Madison Square Garden, on February 26, 2020, in front of approximately 18,000 New York City public school students. With the extraordinary support of James L. Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company, this unprecedented, single-performance event will be entirely free to students of New York City Department of Education public middle and high schools from all five boroughs.
This special performance will feature the entire Broadway cast, led by Ed Harris as Atticus Finch.
All tickets are provided free and exclusively to New York City public middle and high schools through the New York City Department of Education.
Check out our coverage later in the day.
The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards announced the calendar for the 2019-2020 season. The Tony Awards, 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.
Thursday, April 23rd
Official cut-off for 2019-2020 Tony Eligibility
Tuesday, April 28th
The 2020 TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCEMENT. For more information on the 2020 Tony Awards Nominees please visit: www.TonyAwards.com.
Thursday, April 30th
The annual MEET THE NOMINEES PRESS RECEPTION will take place at Sofitel New York, the Official Hotel Sponsor and host of the event.
Tuesday, May 19th
The invitation-only TONY NOMINEES’ LUNCHEON is a chance for the nominees to celebrate each other’s achievements and receive their nomination certificates. The luncheon will be held at New York City’s iconic landmark, Rainbow Room, the Official Sponsor of the event.
Monday, June 1st
THE TONY HONORS RECEPTION will be a presentation of the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. The evening will also toast the 2020 Creative Arts Nominees and Special Award recipients. The event will take place at Sofitel New York.
Sunday, June 7th
THE 74th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS will take place at Radio City Music Hall. The three-hour ceremony will be broadcast live (ET/PT time delay) on the CBS Television Network from 8:00 – 11:00 PM and will be available to stream live and on-demand across platforms with CBS All Access.
The awards will be followed by the official TONY GALA at The Plaza.
For more information on the Tony Awards Season, visit TonyAwards.com and Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards and follow @TheTonyAwards on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
Royal Family Productions, will remount its acclaimed production of Women on Fire: Stories from the Frontlines written, curated, and co-directed by Royal Family artistic director Chris Henry from stories told to her by a group of anonymous women, with choreography and co-direction from Lorna Ventura. The show was originally produced in May and June of 2018 by Royal Family Productions and has since been presented as a benefit at The Quick Center for the Performing Arts by Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld. The rotating cast features stars of stage and screen including Gina Naomi Baez (She’s Gotta Have It, Triple Threat, Hunchback of Notre Dame, “Orange is the New Black”), Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show, Falsettos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Boy from Oz), Kathy Brier (Hairspray, “One Life to Live”), Andréa Burns (On Your Feet, In the Heights, The Nance) Kathleen Chalfant (“House of Cards,” “Law & Order,” “The Affair,” Angels in America, Wit), Maddie Corman (Accidentally Brave, Some Kind of Wonderful, When We Rise, Next Fall), Rosa Curry (The Rocky Horror Show, Steel Pier), Paige Gilbert (The Rose Tattoo, Late Night), Judy Gold (“The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” The Judy Show: My Life as a Sitcom), Julie Halston (Tootsie, You Can’t Take It With You, The Divine Sister), Simone Harrison (Love/Sick), Cady Huffman (The Producers, The Nance, “The Good Wife,”) Steffanie Leigh (War Paint, Mary Poppins), Cynthia Mace (“The OA,” “Mindhunter,” Safe Home) Gargi Mukherjee (The Namesake, Karma Calling), Rebecca Nelson (Trust, Henry Fool), Olivia Oguma (Mamma Mia, Les Miserables), Connie Ray (Thank You For Smoking, Stuart Little), Alysia Reiner (“Orange is the New Black,” Better Things, How to Get Away with Murder, Egg, “The Deuce”), Laila Robins (“Murder in the First,” “Deception,” Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Heartbreak House, Frozen), Debra Jo Rupp (“That 70’s Show,” “Friends”) Constance Shulman (“Orange is the New Black,” “Doug,” The Broken Ones, The Rose Tattoo), and Lianah Sta. Ana (Miss Saigon), Desi Waters (“The Blacklist”), and Ashley Williams (“The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “How I Met Your Mother”) and with a dance ensemble of Samantha Butts, Emily Anne Davis, Erica Misilo, Mariah Reives, and Samantha Warner.From Feb 21st – March 16, 2020, at Royal Family Performing Arts Space (145 West 46th Street, 3rd Floor). Tickets are $30-$250 and can be purchased by clicking www.RoyalFamilyProductions.org
Two-time Tony winner Joe DiPietro’s newest play Conscience is set to open March 6th at George Street Playhouse’s new home at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, 11 Livingston Avenue. Conscience will star Broadway favorite and Tony winner Harriet Harris as Margaret Chase Smith, the influential senator who said no to Joseph McCarthy. Acting boldly against party lines, Senator Margaret Chase Smith becomes one of the first to stand up against Joseph McCarthy in an extraordinary tale inspired by real events. On June 1, 1950, the senator stood on the Senate floor and delivered her “Declaration of Conscience” in a historic moment of political courage. This sharply written new play takes you behind the scenes of 1950s Washington to give you an intimate glimpse of all the power plays, both political and personal, in the days leading up to and following the singular speech that shook up Congress, the Red Scare and the nation itself.
Playwright/lyricist Joe DiPietro has won two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. His musicals and plays have received thousands of productions across the country and around the world. Broadway: The upcoming Diana, Memphis (Tony Award-winning Best Musical), Nice Work If You Can Get It starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara, All Shook Up. Off-Broadway: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (second longest-running musical in Off-Broadway history),Over the River and Through the Woods, The Toxic Avenger, The Thing About Men, Clever Little Lies starring Marlo Thomas.
Harriet Harris has appeared on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award), Cinderella, It Shoulda Been You, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Present Laughter, and Cry-Baby. Her numerous Off-Broadway credits include Jeffrey, and Me and My Girland Little Me at Encores! Film & TV includes Memento, “American Horror Story,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Frasier,” Phantom Thread, and Addams Family Values.
The countdown is on and the winners of the 2022/2023 season will be announced in a live televised ceremony on Sunday, June 11.
Here is who we think will win and who should.
Best Scenic Design of a Play
The Nominees
Miriam Buether, Prima Facie
Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi
Rachel Hauck, Good Night, Oscar
Richard Hudson, Leopoldstadt
Dane Laffrey & Lucy Mackinnon, A Christmas Carol
Most if the technical awards will and should go to this amazing visual production
Will win: Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding
Should win: Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
The Nominees
Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York
Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Michael Yeargan & 59 Productions, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Scott Pask, Shucked
Scott Pask, Some Like It Hot
The theatre community is going to want to honor New York, New York in some way, but it is Sweeney Todd that has our vote.
Will win: Beowulf Boritt
Should win:Mimi Lien
Cast of Broadway’s ‘Ain’t No Mo’ Photo by Joan Marcus
Best Costume Design of a Play
The Nominees
Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi
Dominique Fawn Hill, Fat Ham
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leopoldstadt
Emilio Sosa, Ain’t No Mo’
Emilio Sosa, Good Night, Oscar
Emilio Sosa is up for two nominations but will win for Ain’t No Mo’ in order to honor this show.
Will win: Emilio Sosa
Should win:Emilio Sosa
Best Costume Design of a Musical
The Nominees
Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot
Susan Hilferty, Parade
Jennifer Moeller, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Clint Ramos & Sophia Choi, KPOP
Paloma Young, & Juliet
Donna Zakowska, New York, New York
Hands down this is Gregg Barnes. His costumes are spectacular and make you want to go shopping on that set.
Will win: Gregg Barnes
Should win:Gregg Barnes
Best Lighting Design of a Play
The Nominees
Neil Austin, Leopoldstadt
Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie
Jon Clark, A Doll’s House
Bradley King, Fat Ham
Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi
Jen Schriever, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Ben Stanton, A Christmas Carol
Most if the technical awards will and should go to this amazing visual production
Will win: Tim Lutkin
Should win: Tim Lutkin
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
The Nominees
Ken Billington, New York, New York
Lap Chi Chu, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Heather Gilbert, Parade
Howard Hudson, & Juliet
Natasha Katz, Some Like It Hot
Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Natasha Katz is up for two nominations but will win for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in order to honor this show.
Will win: Natasha Katz
Should win:Natasha Katz
photo credit achristmascarollive.com
Best Sound Design of a Play
The Nominees
Jonathan Deans & Taylor Williams, Ain’t No Mo’
Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi
Joshua D. Reid, A Christmas Carol
Ben & Max Ringham, A Doll’s House
Ben & Max Ringham, Prima Facie
The sound design in this show by Joshua D. Reid was spectacular and made the show.
Will win: Joshua D. Reid
Should win: Joshua D. Reid
Joshua Henry, Gavin Creel Into the Woods Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Best Sound Design of a Musical
The Nominees
Kai Harada, New York, New York
John Shivers, Shucked
Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann, Into the Woods
Gareth Owen, & Juliet
Nevin Steinberg, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Will win: Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann
Should win:Nevin Steinberg
Broadway
Countdown to The Tony Awards: Who Will and Who Should Win Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography and More
The countdown is on and the winners of the 2022/2023 season will be announced in a live televised ceremony on Sunday, June 11.
Here is who we think will win and who should.
Michael Arden
Direction of a Musical
The Nominees
Michael Arden, Parade
Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Jack O’Brien, Shucked
Jessica Stone, Kimberly Akimbo
Parade is another of the theatre communities darlings and it is well deserved. Arden is Tony nominated and never won. Nicholaw has been nominated 6 times as a director, won for Book of Mormon. As much as I think he deserves this award, I just don’t see it happening,
Will win: Michael Arden
Should win: Casey Nicholaw
Casey Nicholaw Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions
Best Choreography
The Nominees
Steven Hoggett, Sweeney Todd
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Susan Stroman, New York, New York
Jennifer Weber, & Juliet
Jennifer Weber, KPOP
There really is no beating Casey Nicholaw’s choreography in this show. It is powerful, joyous, in perfect harmony as they dance and move as one.
Will win: Casey Nicholaw
Should win: Casey Nicholaw
Outstanding Book of a Musical David Lindsay-Abaire, Kimberly Akimbo
Best Book of a Musical
The Nominees
David West Read, & Juliet
David Lindsay-Abaire, Kimberly Akimbo
David Thompson and Sharon Washington, New York, New York
Robert Horn, Shucked
Matthew López & Amber Ruffin, Some Like It Hot
The theater community loves Kimberly Akimbo and they love David Lindsay-Abaire. Robert Horn won for Tootsie and now with Shucked, you laugh at his pure and corny entertainment, but this is a tough category this year and even Matthew López & Amber Ruffin for Some Like It Hot deserve the prize.
Will win: David Lindsay-Abaire
Should win: Robert Horn
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Nominees
Tom Kitt (music & lyrics) and Cameron Crowe (lyrics), Almost Famous
Jeanine Tesori (music) and David Lindsay-Abaire (lyrics), Kimberly Akimbo
Helen Park and Max Vernon, KPOP
Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Shucked
Marc Shaiman (music & lyrics) and Scott Wittman (lyrics), Some Like It Hot
Shaiman and Wittman’s score knocks you over with a feather, while you wish to be bad. They will ride out the storm and kick out those darker shades of blue to Zee Bap to take it up a step!
Will win: Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Should win: Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Best Orchestrations
The Nominees
Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet
John Clancy, Kimberly Akimbo
Jason Howland, Shucked
Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter, Some Like It Hot
Daryl Waters & Sam Davis, New York, New York
These two make Shaiman and Wittman’s score sound hotter than hot.
Will win: Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter
Should win: Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter
Broadway
Theatre News: Doubt: A Parable, Here Lies Love, Prayer for the French Republic, Eisenhower and Hell’s Kitchen
Tyne Daly and Liev Schreiber will star in a revival of Doubt: A Parable on Broadway. The production is to begin performances next February at the American Airlines Theater.
The new production is produced by the Roundabout Theater Company, and will be directed by Scott Ellis, who has been serving as the nonprofit’s interim artistic director since the death of artistic director Todd Haimes in April.
The play, by John Patrick Shanley, is about a nun who suspects a priest has sexually abused a student at a Catholic school. In 2005, the year it first opened on Broadway, it won both the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for best play; it was later adapted into a film and an opera.
Daly, who will play the nun who serves as the school principal, and Schreiber, who will play the parish priest, are both Tony winners. Daly, is known for her role in “Cagney & Lacey”. She won the 1990 Tony Award for her portrayal as Mama Rose in the revival of Gypsy. Schreiber, is the star of Showtime’s “Ray Donovan.” He won a Tony Award in 2005 for a revival of Glengarry Glen Ross.
Doubt is one of three plays to be staged by Roundabout this coming season. The others are I Need That, a new play by Theresa Rebek starring Danny DeVito alongside his daughter, Lucy, and Home, a 1979 revival, directed by Kenny Leon, by Samm-Art Williams.
David Byrne, Fatboy Slim and Here Lies Love are causing controversy with their July Broadway debut. The show’s extensive use of prerecorded music has the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 802, up in arms. The Local’s Broadway musical contract stipulate that productions employ 19 live musicians.
In response to the union’s concerns, Byrne and the show’s PR team released a statement on Instagram to lay out the production’s revolutionary format and genre-bending originality. Here Lies Love is not a traditional Broadway musical. The music is drawn outside of the traditional music genre. The performance of the live vocals to pre-recorded, artificial tracks is paramount to its artistic concept. Production has ripped out the seats in the theater and built a dance floor. There is no longer a proscenium stage. The Broadway Theater has been transformed into a nightclub, with every theatergoer immersed in the experience.
Here Lies Love is on Broadway because Broadway must support boundary-pushing creative work. Broadway is also the venue for a well conceived, high-quality show that highlights the valued traditions of specific cultures whose stories have never been on its stages. Here Lies Love does not believe in artistic gatekeepers. Here Lies Love believes in a Broadway for everyone, where new creative forms push the medium and create new traditions and audiences.
I saw Here Lies Love at The Public and not sure what kind of fast talking this is, but this statement rings false and full of how can we cut the costs while sticking it to the audience.
Photo by Murphymade
Prayer for the French Republic, by Joshua Harmon is coming to Broadway this season.This award-winning Off Broadway production played to rave reviews at The Manhattan Theatre Club. The production was the winner of the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. Broadway performances will begin previews on Tuesday, December 19, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, with an official opening night on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. David Cromer directs.
Off Broadway: Tony winner John Rubinstein starts previews June 13 at St. Clement’s in one-man show Eisenhower.
Alicia Keys’ musical Hell’s Kitchen will run at The Public Theater from October 24 – December 10, starring Shoshana Bean. Inspired by Keys’ own life, the new musical features an original score by the 15-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, with a book by Kristoffer Diaz. Hell’s Kitchen will be directed by Michael Greif and choreographed by Camille A. Brown.
Leading the cast will be Maleah Joi Moon as Ali, opposite Bean as Ali’s mother Jersey, with Brandon Victor Dixon as Ali’s father Davis, Chad Carstarphen as Ray, Vanessa Ferguson as Tiny, Crystal Monee Hall as Crystal, Chris Lee as Knuck, Jackie Leon as Jessica, Kecia Lewis as Ali’s piano teacher Miss Liza Jane, Mariand Torres as Maria, and Lamont Walker II as Riq.
Completing the cast are Reid Clarke, Chloe Davis, Nico DeJesus, Timothy L. Edwards, Raechelle Manalo, Sarah Parker, and Niki Saludez, with understudies Badia Farha, Gianna Harris, Onyxx Noel, William Roberson, and Donna Vivino.
The musical is described as a coming-of-age story set in a cramped apartment in the neighborhood of the title near Times Square, where 17-year-old Ali is desperate to get her piece of the New York dream. Ali’s mother is just as determined to protect her daughter from the same mistakes she made. When Ali falls for a talented young drummer, both mother and daughter must face hard truths about race, defiance, and growing up.
The production has set design by Robert Brill, costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by Natasha Katz, sound by Gareth Owens, and projection design by Peter Nigrini.
The countdown is on and the winners of the 2022/2023 season will be announced in a live televised ceremony on Sunday, June 11.
Here is who we think will win and who should.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
The Nominees
Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sara Bareilles, Into the Woods
Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo
Lorna Courtney, & Juliet
Micaela Diamond, Parade
This to us is a no brainer … Victoria Clark performance has stood out since she brought Kimberly Akimbo to life off-Broadway in 2021. Though Annaleigh is a terrific performer this is Victoria’s year.
Will Win: Victoria Clark
Should Win: Victoria Clark
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
The Nominees
Christian Borle, Some Like It Hot
J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot
Josh Groban, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Brian d’Arcy James, Into the Woods
Ben Platt, Parade
Colton Ryan, New York, New York
This is another no brainer J. Harrison Ghee gives a textured layered performance. Ben Platt and Josh Groban cancel each other out, though both are riveting performances.
Will win: J. Harrison Ghee
Should win: J. Harrison Ghee
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
The Nominees
Julia Lester, Into the Woods
Ruthie Ann Miles, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
NaTasha Yvette Williams, Some Like It Hot
Betsy Wolfe, & Juliet
Bonnie Milligan took the theatre community by storm in Head Over Heels, but it was not her time. This year Milligan commands the stage and you definitely remember her performance.
Will win: Bonnie Milligan
Should win: Bonnie Milligan
Alex Newell photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
The Nominees
Kevin Cahoon, Shucked
Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo
Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like It Hot
Jordan Donica, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Alex Newell, Shucked
Many think Alex Newell was snubbed in 2018 for his performance in Once on This Island. Newell gets standing ovations over at Shucked for “Independently Owned” and they are well deserved. Kevin Del Aguila to me was a breath of fresh air and made me love his performance not once, but twice.
Will win: Alex Newell
Should win:Kevin Del Aguila
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