Brian d'Arcy James To Join Next To Normal on Broadway

Brian d'Arcy James will be rejoining the Tony Award winning musical Next To Normal, this time on Broadway. James originated the role of Dan Goodman in the Off-Broadway premiere of Next To Normal at Second Stage Theatre, but was unavailable when the show eventually went on to its Broadway production at the Booth Theatre. Now that he's no longer playing the title role in Shrek, and his limited run engagement in Time Stands Still has ended, Brian d'Arcy James is now free to succeed J. Robert Spencer (Jersey Boys) when he exits the show on May 16. James will start his run in the show the following day, May 17.

Time Stands Still At Broadway's Friedman Theatre Tonight

Time Stands Still, the new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Marguilies (Dinner With Friends), begins performances at the Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre tonight. The drama stars Laura Linney (most recently on Broadway in Roundabout Theatre Company's Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and Brian d'Arcy James (the original man behind the big green costume in Shrek on Broadway) as a couple, a photographer and a journalist, who have been covering war-torn lands. But, ironically, their lives are turned upside down when an injury means that they have to settle down into a more conventional lifestyle at home in New York City. Time Stands Still, which is directed by Daniel Sullivan, also stars Alicia Silverstone (Clueless, The Graduate on Broadway) and playwright/performer Eric Bogosian (Law & Order: Criminal Intent). The limited-run production will have its official Broadway opening on January 28 and has an expected closing date of March 21.

Shrek Starts Broadway Performances

The new stage musical version of Shrek starts performances on Broadway today. Brian d'Arcy James, who has been on Broadway in many shows including Titanic and Sweet Smell of Success, stars as Shrek himself, and Sutton Foster (most recently seen on Broadway in Young Frankenstein) plays Princess Fiona. The big green musical will have its official opening at the Broadway Theatre on December 14.

Casting For Broadway Shrek Announced

At last, after a long casting process, Broadway has its Shrek. Broadway and New York theater regular Brian d'Arcy James (Titanic, Sweet Smell of Success) will play the big green ogre -- presumably with some sort of fat suit and make-up, as James is neither large, nor green. Chester Gregory II (Cry-Baby, Tarzan, Hairspray) will play Donkey, the character voiced memorably by Eddie Murphy in the Shrek films. And John Tartaglia, best known for playing puppets Princeton and Rod in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway companies of Avenue Q, will be Pinocchio. As previously announced, Sutton Foster (currently on Broadway in Young Frankenstein) will play Princess Fiona.

Off-Broadway Musical Next To Normal Opens

The new Off-Broadway musical Next To Normal, written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, opens tonight at Second Stage Theatre in New York City. Alice Ripley and Brian d'Arcy James, both Broadway regulars, star in the production, which is directed by Michael Greif (most famous for helming Broadway's Rent). Composer Tom Kitt's most recent New York show was High Fidelity, which had a very short run on Broadway's Great White Way.