You may recall that A Little Night Music originally opened in November of 2009 featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. When the two stars departed, the show closed on June 20th of this year. But in an unusual move, barely three weeks later, the show re-opened with Peters and Stritch taking over the starring roles.

And while A Little Night Music may be closing, the good news is that there’s still time to see it with us! We’ve got tours scheduled well before closing night on January 9th, and joining us to see the show is as easy as clicking here.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. We’ll be back later this week with our next blog update. Please join us then.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Elaine Stritch & Bernadette Peters

Barely a month ago we reported that A Little Night Music, starring Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones, would be closing on June 20th. And close it did this past Sunday night. Now comes word that it will re-open on July 13th with new stars Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters in the roles previously held by Lansbury and Zeta-Jones.

Ms. Stritch is a Tony Award winner for her memoir Elaine Stritch at Liberty. She also garnered an Emmy Award for the television production of At Liberty. Her film credits include A Farewell To Arms, Cocoon, Autumn In New York and Monster-In-Law, among others.

Ms. Peters is a two-time Tony winner, once for Song and Dance and also for Annie Get Your Gun. She has been nominated for several other Tonys in her career, including nods for her roles in Gypsy, Sunday In The Park With George, On The Town and The Goodbye Girl. TV fans will know her as Jodie Papadakis in ABC’s Ugly Betty series.

This new incarnation of A Little Night Music will remain at the Walter Kerr Theatre at 219 West 48th Street. Tickets are available now by clicking here.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. We’ll be back later this week with our next blog update. Please join us then.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

While Lansbury and Zeta-Jones were always scheduled for a limited engagement, there had been rumors of new stars taking over after their departure. But box office number during the two current stars’ vacation weeks were disappointing and word is that played a part in the decision to close the show on the 20th. On that date, A Little Night Music will have played 20 previews and 217 regular performances.

The good news is that there’s still time to see the show with us! Simply click here to book your tour to see A Little Night Music before this musical masterpiece comes to an end. As always, we’ve got great seats!

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. We’ll be back early next week with our next blog update. Please join us then.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

• Wicked
• Billy Elliot
• Jersey Boys
• The Lion King
• A Little Night Music

Also worth noting is a show that, while not in the top 5, packed fans in at more than 99% of theatre capacity. That show is A View From The Bridge.

To see any of these popular productions, just click on the name to book your tour with us.

Fantasia’s Back
American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino is on the comeback trail after a difficult stint on Broadway in the role of Celie in The Color Purple. The songstress held down that role from April 2007 until January 2008. And while she received rave reviews for her performance, Barrino missed some 60 performances during her run. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month, Fantasia blamed tumors on her vocal cord for her frequent absences. Some say that those missed shows played a role in the shows eventual closing.

On the comeback trail now, Barrino has her own reality show on VH1 – Fantasia: For Real. She has also released a new single, Even Angels, which she performed during her appearance with Oprah.

Red Sox Tickets!
For those Broadway enthusiasts who are also Sox fans, here’s good news! Regular season Red Sox tickets will be going on sale this Saturday morning, February 20th, at 9 a.m. sharp – online only at our website. The annual Red Sox Big Sale will run from Saturday morning at 9 through Sunday afternoon the 21st at 5 p.m. These tickets go very quickly! For the best selection of games and dates, be there early on Saturday morning.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

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.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Playwright Neil Simon

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.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Vanessa Williams Returns to Broadway
Veteran TV and movie actress and Grammy award winning vocalist Vanessa Williams is coming to Broadway this Spring to star along with Barbara Cook, Michael Arden and Leslie Kritzer in Sondheim on Sondheim. The show takes a look at living legend Steven Sondheim through his music and through film and videotape interviews with the famed composer. This marks a return to Broadway for Williams, who originally hit The Great White Way back in 1994 when she appeared in Kiss of the Spider Woman. She was also nominated for a Tony award in 2002 for her performance in Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Previews for this limited engagement at Studio 54 are set to begin on March 12, 2010, with opening night planned for April 22nd.

The 39 Steps Closing
After nearly two years on Broadway, producers of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps have announced that the show will close on January 10, 2010. The production originally opened in January of 2008 at the American Airlines Theatre. But during it’s two year run, it actually moved twice – once to the Cort Theatre in April of 2008, then to the Helen Hayes Theatre in January of this year. That is where it will play it’s final performance. And while the show had a relatively low profile compared to some others, when it closes it will have played 771 performances. And that makes it the longest running play on Broadway in the last 7 years.

There’s still time to see The 39 Steps with us. Book your tickets by clicking here.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back here often because we’ll be back with more news from Broadway very soon.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Zeta-Jones Broadway Bound?
You won’t hear it from her lips (yet), but according to her husband, Michael Douglas, during an appearance on Live! With Regis & Kelly, Catherine Zeta-Jones is eying her Broadway debut in the upcoming revival of Steven Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Zeta-Jones will reportedly play the role of Desiree, starring opposite Angela Lansbury who holds down the role of Madame Armfeldt.

The original production of A Little Night Music hit The Great White Way back in 1973 at the Shubert Theatre, later moving to the Majestic. During it’s run, the show won 5 Tony awards. Watch for this revival – reportedly with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the spotlight – at the Walter Kerr Theatre on a date yet to be announced.

Phantom Sequel?
Word is that Andrew Lloyd Webber is busy at work on the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, entitled Love Never Dies. Webber has been releasing information about the new show in drips and drabs. But a new website features a letter from The Phantom promising a big announcement on October 8th. What do we know about the show thus far? Only the information that appears on Webber’s new site: “Graced with stunning designs, passionate lyrics and a magnificent score, this brand-new musical is a roller coaster ride of obsession and intrigue… in which music and memory can play cruel tricks… and The Phantom sets out to prove that, indeed, Love Never Dies.” Rest assured that we’ll keep you posted as new details about this Phantom sequel are released.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back here often because we’ll be back with more news from Broadway very soon.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

A Little Night Music
The rumor mill is abuzz with unconfirmed word that five time Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury will play Madame Armfeldt in the Trevor Nunn-directed production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music.

Just this year, Ms. Lansbury earned a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Blithe Spirit. Previous Tonys came her way for roles in Sweeney Todd, Gypsy and Mame. And of course the prolific actress is well known for her roles on the big and small screens, including the long running television hit, Murder She Wrote.

Lansbury’s stint in Blithe Spirit comes to a close on July 19th when that production’s limited run ends. Her fans are hoping that she will be in the lineup for A Little Night Music when the show opens in December of this year.

Jackman & Craig Broadway Bound

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig are coming to Broadway! The two have been lured to star in the two-man play A Steady Rain by Keith Huff.The pair plays a couple of Chicago cops whose lifelong friendship is put to the test when they become involved in a domestic dispute in a poor neighborhood.

A Steady Rain is scheduled for a 12-week limited engagement at the Gerald Schoenfeld theatre where previews are set to begin on September 10th with opening night planned for September 29th.

That’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Watch for our next edition very soon.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Wishful Drinking
Carrie Fisher, well known for her role as Princess Leia in the first Star Wars trilogy, is set to bring her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, to Broadway’s Studio 54 this Fall. Fisher, the daughter of showbiz legends Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, tells the not-so-idyllic tale of growing up in Hollywood. Watch for previews to begin on September 22nd, with opening night set for October 4th.

A Little Night Music
Variety magazine reports that Trevor Nunn’s production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music is headed for Broadway late this year. The show, which follows three lovestruck couples as they lose, and find, each other during a long midsummer night on a country estate, originally hit Broadway in 1973. No casting has been announced for this revival, which is eying a December opening.

Going, Going…
Despite its star-studded cast of Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen and Marsha Mason, Broadway’s Impressionism is set to play it’s final performance at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Sunday, May 10th. The limited run production, which opened on March 24th, was originally scheduled to end on July 5th. But after 23 previews and 56 regular performances, the show will now go dark one week from this Sunday.

That’s today’s news. Be sure to check back here every week for the latest Broadway Buzz!

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400