Theater: Last News

This girl is on Broadway! Alicia Keys has announced a new musical titled Hell's Kitchen, which will be loosely based on her own life story. The show will feature Keys' music, and centers on a 17 year-old Ali living in a cramped Times Square Apartment and discovering the piano.

Hill Rag in 1984, as a wide-eyed novice to the local performing arts scene, I remember thinking, “How much theater could there be to fill a weekly column?” A lot, it turned out.I still mourn the loss of the companies I once frequented, among them Leslie Jacobson’s Horizons and Bart Whiteman’s Source, where the work was always challenging, insightful, and fueled by passion and purpose.By the same token, I marveled at the slow but steady growth of companies like Woolly Mammoth, who went from performing in a church on G Street to operating their own gorgeous downtown space.And I was frequently left in awe by the soaring works of legendary directors like Joy Zinoman, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Michael Kahn.There was even a point in my reviewing career that I was at the Kennedy Center so often — back in the days when Peter Sellars turned the nation’s performing arts center into a mind-warping experimental playground — I used to joke it was my second home.In 40 years, I’ve watched the D.C. theater landscape evolve and only get bigger and more consequential.

Metro Weekly will be on the aisle to offer adulation, admonishment, or a combination of both.The Roommate — Playwright Neil Simon perfected the scenario of two entirely different personalities sharing one domestic space with his enduring comedy, The Odd Couple. Jen Writer Silverman updates the story with a feminine twist, this time with two heavy hitters of stage and screen: Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow. To nobody’s surprise, LuPone plays a Bronx bad ass while Farrow is a sheltered innocent from the Midwest.

Hamilton, oldest sister Angelica sings, “I’m a girl in which, my only job is to marry rich.” None of them would live long enough to experience the painstaking efforts assumed by their female successors for a woman’s right to vote.Fortunately, their descendants and current audiences are hearing a completely different song just a few blocks away in New York’s theater district, thanks largely to Shaina Taub.An Obie Award-winning singer/songwriter, Taub has written the book, a winning score, and lyrics for the completely original, historically based Suffs, which tracks the decades-long struggle for fair and equal treatment of women to be treated as equally as men. The show educates, inspires, and persuades — all while being incredibly entertaining.Taub also stars in the show as Alice Paul, an activist considered one of the major architects of the twentieth-century suffragist movement.

barring a transgender student from playing a male role in his high school’s production of Oklahoma! has reversed course, allowing the original casting decisions to stand.On November 13, the Sherman Independent School District board voted to reinstate the original script and cast for the musical after local community members flooded the board’s regularly scheduled meeting to defend the casting of Max Hightower, a transgender male, as the peddler Ali Hakim.According to Dallas-area ABC affiliate WFAA, more than 60 people spoke in support of Hightower and slammed the board’s decision to prohibit not only Hightower but all students from playing roles that don’t match their assigned sex at birth.Administrators had interceded after several students were cast in cross-gender roles, citing a nonexistent district policy as justification for recasting the musical.Sherman High School administrators also insisted that the musical contained “mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content,” and the production would have to be postponed for a month while the musical was rewritten to create a more “age-appropriate version.”But local community members weren’t buying the administrators’ explanation, with speaker after speaker denouncing the recasting decision and the decision to rewrite the musical.Speakers criticized the board for caving to perceived political and social pressure to enforce rigid gender roles in school productions.“I’ve played male roles in the past and it was no big deal — and guess what, that’s theater!” one actress told the board.“Reinstate the real version of Oklahoma! and let the students sing!” said another commenter.Following the public comment section of the meeting, the board went into a private,

Burlesque. Now, after all that time, it seems the musical will have a new life, but fans shouldn’t expect a sequel.According to an exclusive report from Entertainment Weekly, Aguilera is planning on set bringing Burlesque to the stage. At present, it appears the Grammy winner is only serving as an executive producer, bringing her star power to the production.

Kimberly Akimbo, which walked away with five prestigious Tony Awards. The production secured accolades such as Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre. Close on the heels of Kimberly Akimbo were Some Like It Hot and Leopoldstadt, as both showed earned four wins each.

As the region’s major theaters rebound from the dark nights of the pandemic, it’s nothing short of miraculous that its fringe scene — under-recognized and under-funded at the best of times — has found a way to keep the curtains rising. Operating on a wing and a prayer, these tiny theater troupes may be labors of semi-volunteer love, but they are, without doubt, the crazy, tinkling bells that keep a city’s culture alive, vibrant and just a whole lot more fun to explore.

one of the producers of the musical adaptation of, Mariah Carey is a first-time Tony Award nominee now that the production is up for Best Musical. Like Jennifer Hudson did last year when won Best Play, Carey could earn her first Tony ever if the show wins the top prize during the 76th annual Tony Awards. Citing her love for Marilyn Monroe, who was one of the stars of the original 1959 film, Carey signed on to 's production team ahead of its official opening last fall.  «I first became familiar with this story through the timeless film starring Marilyn Monroe.

Audra McDonald earned a historic 10th acting Tony Award nomination for her performance in. The latest nod ties her with Chita Rivera and Julie Harris as the most nominated individual performers ever in the 76-year history of the Broadway awards. McDonald was nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her turn as writer and alum Suzanne Alexander, who recounts her traumatic experiences while attending OSU. Prior to the 76th annual Tony Awards, McDonald had garnered two previous nominations in the same category for in 2020 and in 2014. She has also been nominated in the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical category three times, for in 2012, in 2007 and in 2000. Her other acting nods include two for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play, for in 2004 and in 1996.

Lea Michele and Myles Frost presented the nominees for the 76th annual Tony Awards live on before finishing the list from the heart of Broadway at the Sofitel New York. Recognizing the best in live theater, the Tony Awards cap off a strong year for Broadway, which bounced back during the 2022-2023 season with a number of acclaimed and groundbreaking productions. In total, there were 38 eligible shows, including 17 original plays and nine new musicals as well as six play revivals and six musical revivals.Earning the most of any production, came out on top, with a total of 13 nominations. The most nominated play, meanwhile, is, which garnered six.

Aaron Sorkin had a major health scare, revealing that he had a stroke in November 2022 while working on the Broadway revival of. The revelation comes while speaking to the and agreeing to go on the record about what happened to him. Just months before rehearsals for the show, which was rewritten by Sorkin and is set to open at New York City's Vivian Beaumont Theatre on April 13, the 61-year-old creator learned that he had suffered a stroke.

Ben Platt and the producers of are speaking out after the first performance of the Broadway revival about the true story of a Jewish man named Leo Frank who was lynched in 1915 was met with antisemitic protesters outside the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York City.Starring Platt and Micaela Diamond as Leo and Lucille Frank, dramatizes the 1913 rape and murder trial of 13-year-old Mary Phagan.

Britney Spears Broadway musical,. The alum-turned-Broadway performer will be joined by star Briga Heelan and Aisha Jackson as Cinderella and Snow White, respectively, when the show opens at the Marquis Theatre in New York City. All three performers are reprising their roles in the fractured fairytale set to Spears' music after first originating them on stage during a run in Washington, D.C.

For the first musical version of Madeleine L’Engle’s acclaimed novel, her granddaughter and the director of her literary estate, Charlotte Jones Voiklis, has helped pick the creative team that includes music and lyrics by composer Heather Christian, a story by Lauren Yee and direction by Lee Sunday Evans. Diana DiMenna and Aaron Glick are also producers.“Knowing my grandmother’s love of and devotion to theater, I had long envisioned a musical adaptation of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ that could transport audiences to a different dimension in a way only music can,” said Voiklis in a statement released Thursday.

oooooon!“Titanique,” the hilarious off-Broadway musical parody of the 1997 film “Titanic” that’s cleverly told through the songs of Celine Dion, will voyage to the Daryl Roth Theater on Union Square East starting Sunday, November 20. The show, which The Post called “by a nautical mile, the funniest musical in town,” plans to wrap up its successful run at the Asylum Theatre in Chelsea — beneath a shut-down Gristedes — on November 13, and then play a limited engagement at the Daryl Roth through February 19, 2023.Tickets are now on sale. Co-creators Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli never expected their cruise aboard “Titanique,” which is produced by Eva Price, to last this long, let alone transfer theaters.“We really all thought that this was going to be a very fun summer run, and we did not think that this would actually be a massive hit that would take us into the winter time,” Mindelle, who is also a smash playing Celine Dion, told The Post.

appeared on a recent episode of “The Graham Norton Show,” said that the NSFW incident took place when her character was alone on stage.“There’s a moment in ‘The Cherry Orchard’ where my character was on their own onstage for a short time,” recounted Manville. “Judi Dench is in the wings trying to make me laugh and she’s … how can I put this? She’s pretending that she’s being pleasured by somebody from behind.”The 66-year-old actress said that she remembers “desperately trying not to laugh,” but eventually gave in but not before wetting herself in front of the audience.

New Victory Theater, where productions from across the country and around the world play out in a family-friendly space at family-friendly prices.Not for nothing has the New Victory been called the gold standard in children’s theater, the best first stop on the way to taking your kids to see “Wicked” and everything else Broadway has to offer.This season opens with a bang and a clang in “Cookin’,” a loud, slap-happy import from South Korea. Expect nonstop percussive action as four chefs frantically prepare for a wedding feast, using every utensil they can find, including the kitchen sink.You’ll see martial arts, hear authentic Korean samulnori drumming and watch as some of the real food onstage goes flying into the first few rows of the orchestra.

Lea Michele is giving fans a look at her take on the beloved character Fanny Brice.The singer and alum took to her Instagram story on Sunday to share a behind-the-scenes snapshot showing her and the cast belting out «Don’t Rain On My Parade» while rehearsing for her forthcoming run on the Broadway revival of “The incredible @ephieaardema got a photo of me singing Don’t Rain On My Parade on a Broadway stage for the first time ever today," Michele captioned the post, and tagging understudy Ephie Aardema. “@ephieaardema you are amazing I [love] you!!!«Lea Michele shares a photo of herself singing “Don’t Rain On My Parade” for the very first time on the Broadway stage of 'Funny Girl.' pic.twitter.com/6cbgyMGSXPIt was announced in July that Lea Michele has been cast to take over for Beanie Feldstein, who left the Broadway revival of  two months early.Michele, who previously starred in the original cast of , is expected to formally take over the role starting Sept.

Lea Michele is giving fans a look at her take on the beloved character Fanny Brice.The singer and alum took to her Instagram story on Sunday to share a behind-the-scenes snapshot showing her and the cast belting out «Don’t Rain On My Parade» while rehearsing for her forthcoming run on the Broadway revival of “The incredible @ephieaardema got a photo of me singing Don’t Rain On My Parade on a Broadway stage for the first time ever today," Michele captioned the post, and tagging understudy Ephie Aardema. “@ephieaardema you are amazing I [love] you!!!«Lea Michele shares a photo of herself singing “Don’t Rain On My Parade” for the very first time on the Broadway stage of 'Funny Girl.' pic.twitter.com/6cbgyMGSXPIt was announced in July that Lea Michele has been cast to take over for Beanie Feldstein, who left the Broadway revival of  two months early.Michele, who previously starred in the original cast of , is expected to formally take over the role starting Sept.

Angelica Ross is about to make history with her Broadway debut. Ross will become the first openly transgender woman to play a leading role on Broadway when she takes over as Roxie Hart in the long-running starting in September. Ross will step into the iconic role for a limited, eight-week engagement through November while also following in the footsteps of notable film and TV stars to take on Roxie, including Pamela Anderson, Mel B, Christie Brinkley, Erika Jayne, Brandy Norwood, Melanie Griffith, Robin Givens and many, many more. As Roxie, Ross will continue to break down barriers for the transgender community on stage.