Tag: Stage Casting (1-10 of 12)

Apr 29 2013 03:55 PM ET

Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner head to stage as mother and daughter

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Image Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

The theatricality of Glee must have made Sarah Jessica Parker want to return to the theater. Producers announced today that Parker, currently singing and dancing on the Fox dramedy, and Tony winner Blythe Danner will return to the New York City stage this fall in a new play, The Commons of Pensacola.

The show, written by actress Amanda Peet, centers on a woman (Danner) “forced to leave her life behind when husband’s Wall Street scam became headline news. When her daughter Becca (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Becca’s filmmaker boyfriend pay Judith a visit to the one bedroom condo Judith now occupies in Pensacola, Florida, everyone’s motives are called into question. How will past and present circumstances inform how this family moves into the future?” READ FULL STORY »

Nov 23 2012 09:00 AM ET

This Week on Stage: 'Elf' and 'A Christmas Story' kick up their leg lamps on Broadway

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Image Credit: Carol Rosegg

The best way to spread holiday cheer, Will Ferrell instructed us in the 2003 movie Elf, is singing loud for all to hear. And what better place to sing than on Broadway? Now the stage musical version of Elf is back on Broadway after a one-year hiatus. And it’s joined by a new stage version of the 1983 yuletide movie fave A Christmas Story (pictured above) — that naturally features a leg-lamp kickline and a tap-dancing fantasy number called “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out.” Both shows opened this week for limited runs, and here are excerpts of our reviews (as well as those of other new productions):

A Christmas Story: The Musical EW’s Tanner Stransky writes that “the stage adaptation plays like a heart-tugging, best-of version of the movie, with a saccharine score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Joseph Robinette that desperately panders for laughs.” Still, he writes, “the musical’s pleasures are far and wide.” EW grade: B+

Elf The musical version of the 2003 Will Ferrell movie returns to Broadway two years after its debut with a new opening number and new leads, including Jordan Gelber as a “softer, more childlike” Buddy the elf. “Elf won’t change your life,” Tanner Stransky writes, “but it will brighten your holiday season a little bit.”  EW grade: B+ READ FULL STORY »

Oct 10 2012 12:41 PM ET

'Game of Thrones' Khaleesi to star in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' on Broadway

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Image Credit: Christian Augustin/Getty Images

Talk about range: Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke is traveling from the imaginary deserts of Essos to the rough streets of Manhattan in the 1940s.

The classically-trained actress, best known for playing proud princess Daenerys on HBO’s fantasy series, will trade in her bleached-blonde wig for an elegant updo when she makes her Broadway debut as Holly Golightly in a new stage adaptation of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Richard Greenberg, the Tony Award-winning writer of Take Me Out, has penned the script; Sean Mathias (Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart) will direct. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 20 2012 12:29 PM ET

'Seinfeld' star Wayne Knight will play Santa in musical 'Elf'

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Image credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Wayne Knight, who played Jerry Seinfeld’s nemesis Newman on Seinfeld, will have some big, red pants to fill this November when he steps in as Santa in the Broadway musical Elf. The Exes star will assume the role originally played by George Wendt in the 2010 production based on Will Ferrell’s 2003 movie. Tony award winner Beth Leavel, Mark Jacoby, Valerie Wright, and Adam Heller will reprise their roles as Emily, Walter, Deb, and Mr. Greenway, respectively, and Casey Nicholaw returns to direct and choreograph.

The title character Buddy hasn’t been cast yet. May we suggest Michael Richards? If he could play a “Communist” mall Santa on Seinfeld, he can certainly pull off an elf. He may be too old for the role, but come on, we’re begg’n ya!

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 20 2012 12:23 PM ET

Scarlett Johansson will be a 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' on Broadway

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Image Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

Scarlett Johansson is heading back to Broadway.

The movie star received rave reviews — and a Tony award — for her performance in Broadway’s 2010 revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. Now the Avenger is officially set to star in a new revival of another classic American play: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams’ 1955 tale of greed, family, and sexual repression in the South. Cat was last seen on Broadway four years ago, in an all-black revival starring Anika Noni Rose as Maggie and Terrence Howard as Brick.

Johansson will be stepping into Rose’s shoes, playing the determined sexpot whose nickname appears in the play’s title. Before casting was official, rumors speculated that she’d be joined by another A-list movie star — possibly even her fellow Avenger Jeremy Renner. Instead, the production has selected Broadway vet Benjamin Walker, best known for playing the title role in 2010′s Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, to play opposite Johansson as Maggie’s depressed husband Brick.

Irish character actor Ciarán Hinds and Tony winner Debra Monk will round out the main cast as Big Daddy and Big Mama, respectively.

The production begins preview performances this December at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. It opens officially on January 17, 2013.

Read more:
Roman Polanski directing film version of erotic play ‘Venus in Fur’ — with a French twist
‘Law & Order’ alum Jesse L. Martin joins ‘Smash’
‘Carrie’ musical gets cast recording, behind-the-scenes video for ‘In’ – EXCLUSIVE

Jun 13 2012 05:04 PM ET

John Stamos, Cybill Shepherd, Kristin Davis join Broadway's 'Best Man'

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Image Credit: Andrew Evans/PR Photos

Broadway is about to get a little more of Uncle Jesse, Maddie, and Charlotte when John Stamos, Cybill Shepherd, and Kristin Davis join the cast of the twice-extended revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man.

The newcomers to the show will step into the roles currently played by Eric McCormack, Candice Bergen and Kerry Butler, respectively, when the trio departs on July 8. Elizabeth Ashley will also step into the play, replacing Angela Lansbury beginning on July 24.

Although The Best Man failed to take home a trophy at this year’s Tony Awards, the politically-charged play–about two mudslinging presidential candidates vying for endorsements at their party’s national convention–has seen steady grosses and an average 85-percent house capacity since its opening in April. The production has extended its limited engagement twice already, but is scheduled to end its run on September 9.

Current stars John Larroquette, James Earl Jones, and Jefferson Mays are set to remain with the production until it closes.

Read more:
Review: Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Inside the Tony Award Nominees: Best Revival of a Play
Tony Awards 2012: 10 Moments We Loved

Jun 5 2012 08:30 AM ET

Broadway's 'Annie' casts its Daddy Warbucks

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Image Credit: Patrick Riviere/Getty Images

The upcoming Broadway revival of Annie has found its Daddy Warbucks. Australian actor Anthony Warlow makes his Broadway debut alongside Katie Finneran and Lilla Crawford when Annie bows on November 8 at the Palace Theater.

Warlow’s more than familiar with the famously cue-balled role: he’s currently playing Warbucks in a regional production in Melbourne, and his take on classic Warbucks songs like “NYC” and “I Don’t Need Anything But You” can be heard on the Aussie cast recording released earlier this year.

The new production of Annie features direction by James Lapine (Into The Woods, Passion) and choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler (In The Heights). Casting for Rooster, Lily and Grace — the three remaining principal roles — has not yet been announced.

Read more:
Tony-winner Katie Finneran to play Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’
‘Annie’ on Broadway: Meet the orphans! — EXCLUSIVE
Broadway’s new ‘Annie’ Lilla Crawford talks landing the role of a lifetime

May 30 2012 08:48 PM ET

'The Producers' returns to Hollywood Bowl with 'Modern Family' and 'Spin City' star power

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Bialystock and Bloom are back. Yes, The Producers returns to the spotlight, this time for a three-night engagement at the Hollywood Bowl, with two sitcom kings playing the scheming Broadway showmen. Richard Kind (Spin City) is set to play Max Bialystock, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) takes on the role of Leo Bloom.

No Nathan Lane or Matthew Broderick for this production, but there will be familiar faces from past incarnations of the peek-behind-the-curtain musical. Stage veterans Gary Beach and Roger Bart, who were in both the latest film and the 2001 Broadway run, will reprise their roles as Roger De Bris and Carmen Ghia, respectively. Susan Stroman, who directed and choreographed the 2005 film adaptation, will fill those roles again for the Hollywood Bowl show. READ FULL STORY »

May 25 2012 06:06 PM ET

Amy Adams on 'Into the Woods' and a possible Broadway debut

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Image Credit: Andrew Evans/PR Photos

Since Into the Woods cast three-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams, who carved out space in a packed film schedule to play the Baker’s Wife, rumors have been swirling that it might live happily ever after on Broadway. It’s an obvious move: Stephen Sondheim’s musical is a longtime theater favorite that hasn’t been in NYC since 2000, and Timothy Sheader’s 2010 production, which the Public Theater is adapting for Shakespeare in the Park, has already won over critics in the U.K., where it picked up an Olivier Award for Best Revival.

Adams has at least four projects in the can right now, including Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master and an untitled Spike Jonze film. So what are the odds she’ll stick with the show if it moves to Broadway? “I’d definitely consider it,” says Adams, who is featured this week in EW’s Best of Summer issue. “I just try to take it one day at a time. I literally have to take it hour-by-hour right now, I’m so busy. But yeah, I would definitely consider it. That would be amazing.”

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May 18 2012 03:50 PM ET

Brooke Shields to play the mother in stage version of 'The Exorcist'

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There are two surprises in that headline, and I’ll guess that the bigger shock is that The Exorcist — the 1973 horror classic that wrought hellish nightmares on a generation — will take the stage in a new adaptation (of the original novel) at L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse. And yes, Brooke Shields will be playing the mother.

The play will frighten audiences courtesy of Tony Award-winning director John Doyle, the Tim Burton of the theater community, well-known for his genre-challenging productions (like his everybody-plays-their-own-instrument mountings of Sweeney Todd and Company). In Doyle’s wicked world premiere, stage and screen vet Shields joins a cast that includes Richard Chamberlain as Father Merrin, Manoel Felciano as Father Joe, Stephen Bogardus as Dr. Strong and young Emily Yetter as the possessed Regan. Shields is set to play Chris MacNeil, the renowned actress who struggles to understand her daughter’s demonic behavior (Bieber fever, perhaps?).

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