Elton John Joins Next Fall Team
We’ve been seeing a lot of celebrities on Broadway over the last several months. That trend continues now with the announcement that Elton John, along with his partner, David Furnish, will be lending their talents to the producing team for the upcoming production of Next Fall. The show, which portrays the ups and downs of a gay couple’s five year relationship, is scheduled to begin previews at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre on February 16th, with opening night set for March 11th. Watch our website for tickets very soon.
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis on Broadway?
He’s 84 years old, but he may soon be Broadway bound! Reports are that legendary comedian and charity fundraiser Jerry Lewis may be bringing his musical adaptation of The Nutty Professor to The Great White Way as soon as this Fall. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lewis would direct the show, which features music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Rupert Holmes. The paper quotes Lewis as saying the production could be on Broadway as soon as October or November of this year, though no theatre has been named. You can bet that the ShowBus Blog will have updates on this story as they develop.
A Streetcar Named Desire
The classic Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire may be returning to Broadway in the Spring of 2011. That’s the word from Stephen C. Byrd who controls the rights to the show. Byrd, you may remember, produced the 2008 revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, which featured an all black cast including Phylicia Rashad, James Earl Jones and Terrence Howard. This proposed revival of Streetcar will have a multiracial cast yet to be announced.
New Shows!
We’ve added a couple of new shows to the ShowBus website this week. Tickets are now available for The Miracle Worker and for A Behanding In Spokane, the latter starring Christopher Walken. To book your tour, simply click the show names here or visit our website.
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.
Denzel Coming To Broadway It’s official. Two time Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington is headed for The Great White Way this spring. Washington will co-star with Viola Davis in the upcoming revival of August Wilson’s Fences.
Set in the 1950s, Fences is the sixth in Wilson’s ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle. Like all of the Pittsburgh plays, this one explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes. The play earned Wilson the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for Best Actor for James Earl Jones.
The Fences revival will be a 13-week limited engagement at Broadway’s Cort Theatre. Previews are set for April 14th with opening night planned for April 26th. You can be sure that ShowBus Tours will have your tickets!
Michelle Williams Joins Chicago Songstress Michelle Williams will be assuming the role of Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago. Music fans know Williams as part of the female musical trio, Destiny’s Child, that also included Beyonce. Theatre fans will remember Williams for playing the title role in the Broadway production of Aida.
Williams steps in to replace Ashley Simpson who took over the Hart role in early December 2009. She’ll be on the stage for a limited engagement from February 8th through March 28th. And if you’d like to catch her performance, you can book your tour with us by clicking here.
Good News from Andrew Lloyd Webber
You may recall that last year we brought you the sobering news that famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. In an article for London’s Daily Mail last week, Webber says he underwent surgery to remove the prostate and now considers himself “fighting fit,” assuring concerned fans that the cancer had not spread beyond his prostate. While regular check-ups will certainly be in the 61 year old’s future, he describes the result of his surgery as “the best possible outcome.”
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.
Wicked Long Run!
The giant theatre hit, Wicked, made history on December 15th when it entered the list of the 20 longest running shows in Broadway history. The 15th marked its 2,535th performance at the Gershwin Theatre, surpassing Avenue Q which previously held down the 20th spot on the list of long running productions. Wicked opened on October 30th, 2003 and since that time it has garnered a Grammy award and three Tony awards.
Here’s a little behind-the-scenes look at why Wicked has had such tremendous success:
If you haven’t seen Wicked yet, what are you waiting for? See it with us by clicking here.
LaPaglia and Shalhoub Broadway Bound
Veteran actors Anthony LaPaglia and Tony Shalhoub are coming to Broadway this Spring to star in Ken Ludwig’s upcoming revival of the comedy Lend Me A Tenor. The show is is a farce about an Italian opera star who goes missing while in Cleveland making his debut with the local opera company. The opera’s presenter must juggle irate fans, the tenor’s wife and more as opening night approaches.
LaPaglia is a Tony and Emmy award winner actor who starred in CBS TV’s Without A Trace. Shalhoub, a Lebanese American who has done several stints on The Great White Way, is best known for his work on USA Network’s Monk.
Lend Me A Tenor originally debuted on Broadway in 1989 when it earned seven Tony nominations, including one for best play. This revival is scheduled to begin previews on March 11th with opening night set for April 4th at the Music Box Theatre.
So Long Old Friends
December 2009 and early January 2010 mark the closing of several popular Broadway shows that will be making room for new productions. Among the shows recently closed, or closing this month, are Hamlet, Burn The Floor, Bye Bye Birdie, Shrek The Musical, Superior Donuts, The 39 Steps and Finian’s Rainbow.
If you missed any of these – and wish you hadn’t – why not visit our site today and make plans to see one or more of Broadway’s current crop of hits. Traveling in the comfort of a deluxe ShowBus motorcoach makes your trip to the Big Apple comfortable, relaxed and hassle free!
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.
Million Dollar Quartet Announces Opening Dates We’ve told you previously here about the upcoming Broadway show, Million Dollar Quartet. The fifties musical is based on the famous 1956 recording session that brought together four of rock ‘n’ roll’s all time greatest artists, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. The show recreates that legendary session, bringing to the Broadway stage such early rock mega-hits as Blue Suede Shoes, Great Balls of Fire, I Walk The Line, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, Folsom Prison Blues and many more.
Now producers have firmed up dates for the show, announcing that previews will begin on March 13th, with opening night set for April 11th at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre. You can be sure that ShowBus will have tickets as soon as they are available.
Valerie Harper Coming to Broadway Television’s Emmy award winning Rhoda is headed to the stage in 2010. Valerie Harper will star as force-of-nature celebrity Tallulah Bankhead in the new comedy Looped. Harper will play Bankhead near the end of her career when she is called in to loop a line of dialogue for what would ultimately be her last movie.
Previews for Looped will begin on February 19th with opening night scheduled for March 14th at the Lyceum Theatre.
Godspell Broadway Bound – Again The plan was for the revival of Godspell to make its way to Broadway in September of 2008. That plan fell through, but producer Ken Davenport now says that the musical is back on track for a return to The Great White Way during the 2010-2011 season. This will be the first Godspell revival since its original Broadway debut more than 30 years ago. That production played more than 500 performances and won critical acclaim. We’ll keep you posted as firmer dates become available for Godspell.
Show Closings
Despite record holiday season box office numbers for Broadway in general, a number of shows have recently closed or are set to close as the new year begins. Already dark are A Steady Rain, Hamlet and The Royal Family. Closing on January 3rd are Tracy Letts’ Superior Donuts and Shrek The Musical. Burn The Floor, which had previously announced an extension to February 14th has now returned to its original closing date of January 10th. And finally, January 24th will mark the closing of Bye Bye Birdie which was panned by critics.
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.
Just a quick mini-update to let you know that Ashlee Simpson (now Ashley Simpson- Wentz) has taken over the role of Roxie Hart in the long running Broadway musical, Chicago.
The 25 year old music and reality TV star joined the cast on November 29th to reprise the role she played to favorable reviews in London’s West End back in 2006. Simpson, who was recently released from the cast of television’s Melrose Place, is scheduled to be with Chicago through February 7th, 2010.
If you’d like to see Ashlee Simpson in Chicago with us, simply click here.
Good Grammar Coming To Broadway Five time Emmy award winning television megastar Kelsey Grammar is coming to Broadway. After weeks of speculation, the tube star has made it official. He will make his Broadway musical debut in the upcoming revival of La Cage aux Folles. Grammar will take the role of Georges, the owner and emcee of the St. Tropez nightclub where his partner, Albin (to be played by Douglas Hodge), stars as the drag queen headliner, Zaza.
La Cage aux Folles is set to begin previews on April 6, with opening night scheduled for April 18, 2010, at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre.
The Floor’s Still Burning
It was supposed to be a limited 12-week engagement which began last August. But the massive popularity of the Broadway musical Burn The Floor has led to yet another, and now final, extension of its run. Closing night is now scheduled for February 14th at the Longacre Theatre (future home of La Cage aux Folles).
The show has announced some new cast members for its final month. So You Think You Can Dance judge Mary Murphy and Dancing with the Stars’ Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo are set to join the cast on January 12th where they will remain until the show goes dark on the 14th.
Here’s a video clip from Burn The Floor. I think you can see why this one has become so popular on Broadway.
If you’d like to see Burn The Floor with us, click here.
Wicked Popular! Finally, just a little Broadway history made recently. During the week of Thanksgiving, Wicked became the first production ever to gross $2,000,000 in a single week! Looks like people still love this show! And if you’d like to see it with us, simply click here to book your tickets now.
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.
Good news! As of this morning we’ve just added tickets to ShowBus Tours to see Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, which begins previews tonight at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre.
Based on Ingmar Bergman’s film, Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music is a witty and urbane musical set in waltz time. The action takes place in a weekend country house in turn-of-the-century Sweden, where surprising liaisons, long-simmering passions and a taste of love’s endless possibilities are all brought to light.
Take a look at this video featuring the cast of A Little Night Music, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and the legendary Angela Lansbury:
This show is sure to draw crowds! Lock your tickets in now at ShowBus Tours.
Vince Lombardi Story May Be Broadway Bound Based on the book Pride Still Matters by David Maraniss, a new Broadway play may be on the way about the life of legendary Green Bay Packers football coach, Vince Lombardi. The production, if it makes its way to The Great White Way, will be produced by Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser of Hair fame.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lombardi coached the Packers from 1959 to 1967, racking up 5 league championships and two Superbowl wins during his tenure. His name has become synonymous with the NFL and he is widely known for his motivational skills on and off the field.
Look for a possible Fall 2010 debut for Lombardi on Broadway.
Million Dollar Quartet Set for Nederlander Theatre After a year long run in the Windy City, Million Dollar Quartet has announced that will make it’s Broadway debut next Spring at West 41st Street’s Nederlander Theatre.
Million Dollar Quartet captures the excitement and the sounds of the night when music legends Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley all came together for a one-night jam session at Sun Records’ storefront studio in Memphis. Featuring songs like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” Memphis is a treasure trove of the greatest rock, rockabilly, gospel, R&B and country standards of the 1950s.
Here’s a quick video clip from Million Dollar Quartet which is scheduled to begin previews on March 13th, with opening night set for April 2010 at the Nederlander.
More Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, has announced that it will extend it’s run at Broadway’s Studio 54. Originally scheduled to go dark on January 3rd, the limited engagement will now add two more weeks of performances, with January 17th now set as its final night.
The daughter of Hollywood legends Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Fisher’s show is a tell-all about her life as the child of Hollywood royalty. Tales of her parents’ divorce, her own divorces, her various romantic involvements, and even her experience after starring in Star Wars are all part of this honest and often humorous look at the star’s life.
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back here often because we’ll be back with more news from Broadway very soon.
Call it a sign of the times – the tough economic times, that is. After opening on Broadway barely a week ago, the new revival of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs is already history. According to the New York Times, the show, which opened on October 25th, played its final performance last night.
Brighton Beach Memoirs was supposed to run in rep at the Nederlander Theatre with a revival of Simon’s Broadway Bound, which was scheduled to open later this year. Now the former is dark and the latter has been canceled.
Both plays were huge hits on The Great White Way back in the 1980s, yielding Tony awards for Matthew Broderick in Brighton Beach Memoirs, and for Linda Lavin (of TV’s Alice fame) in Broadway Bound.
Scarlett Johansson Planning Broadway Debut Golden Globe winning actress Scarlett Johansson is set to make her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge. Johansson will co-star with Tony award winner Liev Schreiber who will play Eddie Carbone, a New York longshoreman obsessed with his 17 year old niece Catherine, played by Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant, Eddie’s jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world.
The production will play a 14-week limited engagement at Broadway’s Cort Theatre, with previews scheduled for December 28th and opening night set for January 24th.
Andrew Lloyd Webber Diagnosed With Cancer Just a couple of weeks after announcing plans for a sequel to Phantom of the Opera, 61 year old legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has made a more grim announcement. He has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The good news, according to Webber’s publicist, is that the cancer was discovered in its early stages and a full recovery is expected. “Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year,” the statement said.
You may recall that we told you about the upcoming opening of Webber’s Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies, which is set to debut in London in March, with a Broadway opening planned for next November. At this time, Webber does not expect that this unfortunate news will affect that schedule.
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back here often because we’ll be back with more news from Broadway very soon.
FELA!
After a rousing off-Broadway reception in 2008, the new musical Fela! is now Broadway bound. Fela! uses stirring Afrobeat music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), to tell the story of Fela Anikupalo Kuti’s controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. Here’s a little sneak preview of what Broadway audiences can expect from Fela! o
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Fela! begins previews at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on October 19th, with opening night set for November 23rd. o
Love Never Dies
Last week at his global launch party in London, famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber made it official. The sequel to Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies will debut on Broadway next November 11th after performances at London’s Adelphi Theatre. Love Never Dies continues the story of the Phantom, who has moved across the Atlantic from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, where Christine is now living. Set 10 years after his mysterious disappearance from Paris, producers describe this as a roller-coaster ride of obsession and intrigue, in which music and memory can play cruel tricks. No theatre has yet been set for the November 2010 debut of Love Never Dies.
Here’s a look at the song, “Till I Hear You Sing” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies: o
Is Harry Potter Broadway Bound?
While it’s a bit prelimary, word is that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe may be heading to Broadway in a possible upcoming revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. We say preliminary because at this point, he is simply scheduled to star in an upcoming reading of the show this December. That reading could eventually lead to the revival and Radcliffe could be the star.
The original Broadway production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying opened in 1961 and went on to win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. In 1995, a Broadway revival won a Best Actor Tony Award for star Matthew Broderick.
You can be sure that we’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available about whether Harry Potter will be coming to The Great White Way.
And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back here often because we’ll be back with more news from Broadway very soon.
Based on the book Pride Still Matters by David Maraniss, a new Broadway play may be on the way about the life of legendary Green Bay Packers football coach, Vince Lombardi. The production, if it makes its way to The Great White Way, will be produced by Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser of Hair fame.
After a year long run in the Windy City, Million Dollar Quartet has announced that will make it’s Broadway debut next Spring at West 41st Street’s Nederlander Theatre.
Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, has announced that it will extend it’s run at Broadway’s Studio 54. Originally scheduled to go dark on January 3rd, the limited engagement will now add two more weeks of performances, with January 17th now set as its final night.
Golden Globe winning actress Scarlett Johansson is set to make her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge. Johansson will co-star with Tony award winner Liev Schreiber who will play Eddie Carbone, a New York longshoreman obsessed with his 17 year old niece Catherine, played by Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant, Eddie’s jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world.
Just a couple of weeks after announcing plans for a sequel to Phantom of the Opera, 61 year old legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has made a more grim announcement. He has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The good news, according to Webber’s publicist, is that the cancer was discovered in its early stages and a full recovery is expected. “Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year,” the statement said.