More than two years after opening on Broadway, Moulin Rouge! won 10 Tony Awards and became the first big-budget best musical winner since 2009. The pandemic-delayed ceremony celebrated the return of the industry and explored its uneven efforts to diversify and become more inclusive.Continue Reading
RUDIN ANGLES TO RETAIN ‘MORMON’ PROFITS AS LAWSUITS FLOURISH (EXCLUSIVE)
Five months after announcing that he would “step back from active participation” on his Broadway shows, producer Scott Rudin is still negotiating the terms of his exit from his biggest hit, The Book of Mormon, a person familiar with the situation told Broadway Journal.
Rudin is battling his former partners, the South Park creative team of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who with their business associate Anne Garefino are the remaining lead producers of The Book of Mormon. (London-based producer Sonia Friedman is also heavily involved in the U.K edition of the musical, which Parker and Stone wrote with composer-lyricist Bobby Lopez.) Continue Reading
‘PASS OVER’ IS TENSE, TAUT DRAMA: REVIEW
Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s one-act drama, Pass Over, Broadway’s first play in 18 months, is a bleak yet funny and poignant mash-up of Waiting for Godot and the Book of Exodus. Two poor young black men, mired in a hell-scape of deep-seated racism and gratuitous violence, dream of a better future. So many in their neighborhood have been killed that they can’t remember all of their names.Continue Reading
SONIA FRIEDMAN CONFIRMS BEANIE FELDSTEIN FOR ‘FUNNY GIRL’
The producers of the first Broadway revival of Funny Girl, planned for the spring of 2022, confirmed that Beanie Feldstein has been cast to play Fanny Brice, the role that made Barbra Streisand famous. Continue Reading
A ‘MERRY’ RETURN OF SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: REVIEW
“It’s been a long, hard year,” John Falstaff (Jacob Ming-Trent) complains in Merry Wives, Jocelyn Bioh’s update of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Delacorte Theatre. “Been stuck in the house just eating snacks. Watching Netflix. Bored outta my Got-damned mind!” So when it comes to his somewhat clumsy attempts to seduce his neighbors’ wives, Falstaff finishes with a flourish, “Can you blame me for tryna get with Madam Page and Madam Ford?”Continue Reading
WILL ‘FUNNY GIRL’ REIGN OVER BROADWAY’S REVIVAL PARADE?
Broadway producers are people who need people — especially courageous people willing to congregate indoors during a pandemic. And maybe even get excited about a new take on a classic musical.
Four new musical revivals are expected on Broadway over the next eight months. The latest to throw its hat in the ring is Funny Girl, scheduled to begin performances on April 2, 2022, per a recent casting notice. It will star Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart), according to industry sources.Continue Reading
BROADWAY LEAGUE SAYS AUDIENCES MUST BE VACCINATED
Because the night belongs to the vaccinated.
Following the lead of Springsteen on Broadway, which is halfway through its summer run at the Walter Kerr, the Broadway League said it’s requiring audiences to show proof of vaccination at the district’s 41 theaters.Continue Reading
ACTORS’ EQUITY, BROADWAY LEAGUE REQUIRE VACCINATIONS FOR EMPLOYEES, NOT AUDIENCES
Actors’ Equity Association and the Broadway League mandated that actors and other employees at Broadway theaters be fully vaccinated — with a few exceptions — while unvaccinated audience members will be admitted and asked to wear a mask.Continue Reading
‘WEST SIDE STORY,’ ‘HANGMEN’ GET SBA FUNDS TO RESUME PERFORMANCES; ‘HAMILTON’ SECURES $50 MILLION
Ivo van Hove’s video-heavy revival of West Side Story, which was originally produced by Scott Rudin and opened a month before Broadway was shuttered, has scored a $10 million Small Business Administration grant to reopen.
A person familiar with the production said it will imminently announce when it will resume, along with who will oversee it. Following multiple reports alleging that Rudin abused his staff, the producer has said that he’s stepping back from the entertainment business. There’d been industry speculation that the musical, which was capitalized at $16 million and received mixed reviews, would not return. Continue Reading
‘WAITRESS’ SCORES $10 MILLION TIP FROM FEDS
Broadway is usually a risky business — but the remount of Waitress looks like an excellent bet.
Pop star Sara Bareilles, who wrote the musical’s acclaimed score, will return to the lead role for the first six weeks of the four-month engagement, scheduled to begin Sept. 2 at the Barrymore Theatre. And the U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded the production $10 million as part of its disaster relief program for the live entertainment industry.Continue Reading
