David Alan Grier and the Cast of ‘Porgy and Bess’ Perform on ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’

In the second night of Broadway Week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, David Alan Grier and the cast of Porgy and Bess came on and rocked ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So.’

This is what I was wanting from Monday’s show with Nick Jonas. Having him stand behind a mike and sing didn’t show anyone what the show was about. By the way, ticket sales have fallen 40% since he joined the cast. He looks like the part, I just wish I saw him perform it.

Anyway, check out Porgy and Bess below!  Read more

New York Asian-American Actors Look to Increase Their Presence in Theater

While we’ve certainly come a long way from white actors like John Wayne and Mickey Rooney portraying Asian characters in so-called “yellowface” makeup, roles for Asian-American actors on the Broadway stage are few in number, even as New York City’s media is dominated by its newest sports sensation, Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin.

Sadly, the number of Asian-American actors in Broadway shows has actually declined since five years ago, the only minority group that has seen a decline. 

Why aren’t there more roles for Asian-American actors on Broadway?  Read more

Margaret Colin and Boyd Gaines Join John Lithgow in MTC’s ‘The Columnist’

Margaret Colin (Gossip Girl, MTC’s Defiance, Arcadia) and four time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Gypsy, Contact) will join Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow in the cast of the world premiere of The Columnist.

Written by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn and directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, the show follows columnist Joseph Alsop (Lithgow). Joe is beloved, feared and courted in equal measure by the Washington political world at whose center he sits. But as the ’60s dawn and America undergoes dizzying change, the intense political drama Joe is embroiled in becomes deeply personal as well. Read more

Hugh Dancy and Nick Jonas Start Off Broadway Week on ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’

Hugh Dancy, currently starring in Venus in Fur with Nina Arianda, and Nick Jonas, starring in How To Succeed, helped kick off Broadway Week on last night’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

In this first clip, Dancy talks to Jimmy about auditioning for one particular “dick” casting director and the time he was hurt on the set of Black Hawk Down but was taken care of by Modern Family‘s Ty Burrell. Read more

Deaf Actor Russell Harvard Discusses Starring in the Off-Broadway Show, ‘Tribes’

In the off-Broadway show Tribes, a young deaf man, Billy, struggles with his relationship with his hearing parents who have difficulty accepting Billy’s disability. 

The actor playing Billy comes with the kind of experience that most actors couldn’t replicate: Russell Harvard really is deaf.  Best known for his performance as the adult HW in There Will Be Blood, Harvard talks about his preparation for the difficult role with The Wall Street Journal.

Since the play takes place in England, Billy had to learn to speak with a British accent.  Of course, this was challenging for Harvard, yet he had no issue confronting the challenge, pointing out, “My friends told me that I seem to have a Texas accent, so I really have to try and practice this British accent. They have a dialect coach that works with the cast and works with me. Speaking is not my first language, right?”

It was also difficult for Billy to “speak” in American Sign Language while speaking with a British accent.  He explains, “It’s like if you were trying to speak English and Spanish at the very same time. There are not so many times that I actually have to speak and sign at the very same time in this show, and that’s good. There are a few places where I have to do it. To me, that’s a big challenge.” Read more

Broadway Week on ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ Starts Tonight

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon kicks off its annual Broadway week tonight with Nick Jonas and the cast of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

The rest of the week is as follows:

Tuesday: David Alan Grier from The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Wednesday: The cast of Ghost The Musical
Thursday: My ex-girlfriend Sutton Foster from Anything Goes
Friday: The cast of Sister Act

The show airs on NBC at 12:35am. I can’t stay up that late so I’ll definitely be Tivo’ing it. I’ll also post each number as it becomes available online. Read more

‘Spider-Man’ Broadway Show Producers Settle One Lawsuit with Former Director Julie Taymor

While the musical itself cost a reported record $75 million, Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark has been a massive hit on Broadway, taking home on average $1.3 million per week.  But there is one key member of the production who hasn’t been reaping any of those rewards: original director Julie Taymor. 

Taymor was rather famously booted from the production in March 2011 after the incomplete show was seemingly stuck in previews indefinitely with numerous injuries piling up for the main cast, which the producers blamed on Taymor’s dangerous choreography.

Though the show was since extensively rewritten, Taymor and the show’s producers filed lawsuits against each other — with Taymor claiming she wasn’t being compensated for her contributions and the producers claiming that Taymor would not be reasonable about making changes to the show. Read more

Full Casting Announced for the New Broadway Production of ‘Harvey’

The casting details have been finalized for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s new Broadway production of Harvey.

As has been previously announced, Jim Parsons will star as Elwood P. Dowd alongside Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons) and Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.).

New additions are Larry Bryggman (Judge Omar Gaffney), Carol Kane (Betty Chumley), Peter Benson (E.J. Lofgren), Tracee Chimo (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Holley Fain (Ruth Kelly, R.N.), Angela Paton (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet), Rich Sommer (Duane Wilson) and Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, M.D.).

I played Sommer’s part – Duane Wilson – in my Elementary School’s production of Harvey. I was brilliant! A 12 year old playing the part of a 35-year-old male orderly. Acting! Read more

Jeff Goldblum Replacing Alan Rickman in ‘Seminar’

Two-time Tony Award nominee Alan Rickman will play his final performance on Sunday, April 1 in Seminar.

Rickman, who was wonderful in the role, will hand thepart over to Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum will make his return to Broadway when on Tuesday, April 3 for 8 weeks only.

The entire original cast –  including Tony Award nominee Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, Jerry O’Connell and Hettienne Park – will continue through Sunday, April 1 with Rickman. There’s no word if they (or any) will continue in the show.

A celebrated actor in Theater, Film and Television, Goldblum last appeared on Broadway in The Pillowman in 2005. More recently, he’s been acclaimed for starring in two productions at The Old Vic in London, Speed-the-Plow (2008) and The Prisoner of Second Avenue (2010), both opposite Kevin Spacey. His diverse film credits include some of the highest-grossing films of all-time, include Jurassic Park and Independence Day, as well as such classics as Nashville, Death Wish, The Big Chill, Annie Hall, The Life Aquatic, Igby Goes Down and The Fly. On television, he most recently starred as Detective Zach Nichols on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He earned an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on Will & Grace and tonight guest stars on the hit series Glee.   Read more

Randy Jackson Tweets to Betty Buckley About Idol Singer’s Sounding ‘Too Broadway’: “I have the upmost respect for all broadway actors and singers”

American Idol judge Randy Jackson has released his response to an upset singer and actress Betty Buckley, who was coined “The Voice of Broadway” by New York Magazine. 

The sixty-four year old Buckley, as fans will remember, became upset when Jackson told a performer on the reality series that their performance was ”too Broadway”.  Shortly thereafter Buckley had words with Idol’s Nigel Lythgoe.  She also took to Twitter to bash Jackson, per Broadway World, and state that the contestants on the show did not exude the characteristics and qualities of a theatrical singer, who “encompasses every kind of sound, voice & style.”

After all of this it seems both Buckley and Jackson are burying the hatchet, with the help of Randy’s respectable, classy and diplomatic response to the enraged Buckley. “Just for the record; @bettybuckley I love you, I also love broadway, I am a huge broadway fan. There are tons of broadway stars that are dear friends of mine. I have the upmost respect for all broadway actors and singers. To me the greatest thing in life is a true thespian. One who can be a great actor, singer, and great dancer. The all around performer.”  Read more

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