Regis & Kelly Spotlight Broadway Shows

In the lead-up to the Tony Awards, Live with Regis and Kelly is having a "Broadway Week," featuring performances from Broadway musicals through June 8. The Color Purple (now starring Fantasia), Spring Awakening, Curtains, Grey Gardens, and Mary Poppins are among the shows that will be featured. Be sure to tune in -- Regis and Kelly airs at 9AM on weekdays.

Tony Award Presenters Announced

In between musical numbers performed by the casts of nominated Broadway shows Curtains, Grey Gardens, Mary Poppins, Spring Awakening, 110 in the Shade, Company, and A Chorus Line, a starry line-up of actors and entertainers will be presenting this year's Tony Awards on June 10. The list includes Harry Connick, Jr., Claire Danes, Brian Dennehy, Neil Patrick Harris, Anne Heche, Marg Helgenberger, Felicity Huffman, Eddie Izzard, Jane Krakowski, Angela Lansbury, Robert Sean Leonard, John Mahoney, Audra McDonald, Cynthia Nixon, Bernadette Peters, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Plummer, Kevin Spacey, Usher, Sam Waterston, Vanessa Williams, Rainn Wilson, and more! There will also be a special performance by Fantasia, the former American Idol who is now starring in The Color Purple on Broadway.

Frost/Nixon is Entertainment Weekly Pick

Check out the new issue of Entertainment Weekly (June 1, 2007) to see the latest installment of the magazine's quarterly "Stage" section. In it, they review several Broadway shows, including Legally Blonde, Deuce, and Radio Golf, but it's the British play Frost/Nixon that gets their special "EW Pick" seal of approval.

In the Heights to Transfer to Broadway

The new musical In the Heights, an Off-Broadway favorite this year, will be transferring to Broadway in the coming season. Featuring a hybrid of hip hop and Latin rhythms, In the Heights tells the story of several inhabitants of the Manhattan neighborhood Washington Heights. The current Off-Broadway production at 37 Arts will close on July 15 so that authors Lin-Manuel Miranda (music/lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) can revise the show for a Broadway bow in the 2007-2008 season.

Addams Family To Become Broadway Musical

They're creepy and they're kooky, and soon they'll be on Broadway! Charles Addams' spooky cartoon family are going to become the subject of their own musical, which will have a book by Jersey Boys scribes Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and a score by Andrew Lippa. Although Lippa wrote a few songs for another cartoon musical (the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), none of them seem like obvious choices. But no doubt director/designers Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, the masterminds behind the super eerie Shockheaded Peter, will provide the darkly comic sensibility that the Addams Family requires. Currently the show is expected to arrive on Broadway during the 2009-2010 season.

Not One, but TWO Ties at the Drama Desks!

Last night at the Drama Desk Awards, which celebrate everything from Broadway to Off-Off Broadway, it was no surprise when The Coast of Utopia took Best Play and Spring Awakening took Best Musical. Nor did anyone raise any eyebrow when Journey's End and Company snagged Best Play and Musical Revival, respectively. What was unusual was the fact that there were two ties: Beloved Broadway divas Audra McDonald (110 in the Shade) and Donna Murphy (LoveMusik) shared the Best Actress in a Musical award. Even more interesting, Company revival orchestrator Mary-Mitchell Campbell shared the award with the man who wrote the orchestrations for the original Broadway production of that show, Jonathan Tunick (he won for LoveMusik).

The Drama Desk Awards

The Drama Desk Awards will be handed out this Sunday, May 20 at the LaGuardia Concert Hall in New York City. Unlike the Tonys, the Drama Desk doesn't only honor Broadway shows, but also includes Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. We'll be sure to highlight the major winners here, but if you'd like to see the ceremony (which will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth), NYC's PBS station will be broadcasting it on May 27 at 12:30pm.

Rock 'n' Roll on Broadway

Shortly after Tom Stoppard's trilogy The Coast of Utopia secured 10 Tony nominations comes the news that his latest play, Rock 'n' Roll, will open on Broadway on November 4. The cast of the London production, which includes Brian Cox, Rufus Sewell, and Sinead Cusack, will reprise their roles on Broadway. Rock 'n' Roll will begin preview performances on October 19 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater.

Journey's End Coming to a Close

Sadly, the excellent Broadway revival of R.C. Sherriff's WWI drama Journey's End has just announced it will be closing on June 10. The acclaimed production, starring Hugh Dancy and Boyd Gaines, received critical accolades and several Tony nominations, but it just couldn't find an audience.

The Tony Nominations - Who got the honor, and who got the cold shoulder

The Tony nominations came out today, and it's no surprise that the shows receiving top recognition were the epic Tom Stoppard play The Coast of Utopia and the hot new musical Spring Awakening, which have a total of 10 and 11 nominations, respectively. The real shock was what -- and who -- didn't manage to make the cut this year. Legally Blonde failed to land a Best Musical nom (despite the fact that it got nominations for Book and Score), and both The Pirate Queen and the Les Miserables revival were completely shut out. Broadway darling Kristin Chenoweth did not snag an acting nom for her performance in The Apple Tree, and Oscar winner Kevin Spacey's turn in A Moon for the Misbegotten was snubbed. Among those triumphant were Christopher Plummer (Inherit the Wind), Liev Schreiber (Talk Radio), Vanessa Redgrave (The Year of Magical Thinking), Angela Lansbury (Deuce), Audra McDonald (110 in the Shade), and David Hyde Pierce (Curtains). To see these heavy hitters, and many others, duking it out for the big prizes, tune into the Tony Awards on CBS on June 10.

Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare in the Park

The Public Theater has just announced full casting for its first Shakespeare in the Park offering, and it looks like this year won't be the star-studded affair of past years (see: Meryl Streep in Mother Courage and Her Children last summer). The biggest names in Romeo and Juliet, which begins performances on June 5, are Lauren Ambrose and Camryn Manheim, who will play Juliet and her Nurse in Shakespeare's iconic love story. Having a more low profile cast is likely a blessing in disguise, since it means we'll get to enjoy the Bard's beautiful text being performed by trained professionals rather than struggling movie stars (obviously I'm not referring to Ms. Streep, who was a knockout). It also means that ticket demand won't be as high, so you'll have a better chance of snagging tickets. For the uninitiated, Shakespare in the Park tickets are absolutely free, and they're distributed at 1PM on the day of the performance in front of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and also in front of the Public Theater downtown. Demand varies, but it's usually a good idea to join the line by 8 or 9 in the morning (when Meryl was doing the show, people often camped out the night before!)