HADESTOWN takes us WAY DOWN to GOOD MORNING AMERICA for performance in celebration of Broadway return!!

by | Sep 18, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows

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ALL ABOARD!!! What an exciting couple of days this has been as we celebrate the return of Broadway after a rough Intermission of 18 1/2 months. These last few days, some of our favorite musicals have made their way for Live TV performances. Yesterday, the cast of the Tony and Grammy Award winning smash hit Hadestown took center stage out in Times Square performing live on Good Morning America.
Here is…..
André De Shields in his Tony winning legendary performance as “Hermes”,
Tony nominee Amber Gray as “Persephone”,
Broadway favorite Reeve Carney as “Orpheus”,
Tony, Olivier, and Jimmy Award nominee Eva Noblezada as “Eurydice”,
Tony nominee Tom Hewitt as “Hades”,
and
the full Ensemble cast….
taking the audience on the ultimate journey singing the showstopping WAY DOWN HADESTOWN.
HADESTOWN was one of the first few musicals to reopen on Broadway since the shutdown. It’s currently playing to packed houses at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
The North American Tour is set to debut in a city near you this Fall as well.
How amazing was that performance?!!

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE prepares to become a Global Phenomenon following early rave reviews of new film!!

by | Sep 18, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows

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Critics have been raving the film adaptation of the Olivier Award nominated smash hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie out now on Amazon Prime. The success of the film is now set to bring the stage version to even more International acclaim coming up. There are various productions already in the works including Japan, Australia, and will finally be debuting here in the United States.
Get a look below at the current London company of EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE in action from the stage of its inaugural home at London’s Apollo Theatre.
For those who don’t know or need a little reminder, EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE is a coming of age musical based on a true story that was captured in a 2011 BBC Three documentary JAMIE: A DRAG QUEEN AT 16. It tells the inspirational story of “Jamie New”, a 16 year old underdog misfit from Sheffield, England with big aspirations and dreams of becoming a drag queen. Along the way, he overcomes prejudice, takes a stand against the bullies, and makes his dreams come true. It features a score and book by Tom MacRae and Dan Gillespie-Sells. Notable songs include AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT, THE WALL IN MY HEAD, WORK OF ART, OVER THE TOP, the title song itself EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE, HE’S MY BOY, and OUT OF THE DARKNESS.
The show had its world premiere at The Crucible Theatre Sheffield in 2017 for a small stint. With the show being a huge success, it transferred to London’s West End at the Apollo Theatre where it continues to play to packed houses every night. The show went on to receive rave reviews and a huge following from fans in the UK and all over the world begging for productions everywhere. Under the direction of Jonathan Butterell and choreographed by Kate Prince, the cast features…
Olivier Award nominee John McCrea (later Layton Williams and Noah Thomas) as “Jamie New”,
Olivier Award nominee Josie Walker (later Rebecca McKinnis and Melissa Jacques) as “Margret New”,
Lucie Shorthouse (later and Hiba Elchikhe) as “Pritti”,
Tamsin Carroll (later Michelle Visage, Hayley Tamaddon, Faye Tozer, Rita Simons, Preeya Kalidas, and Katy Brand) as “Miss Hedge”,
Phil Nichol (later Lee Ross, Roy Haylock, Bill Ward, and Rufus Hound) as “Hugo” / “Loco Chanelle”,
Mina Anwar (later Shobna Gulati and Sejal Keshwala) as “Ray,
Luke Baker (later and currently Jordan Ricketts) as “Dean Paxton”,
Ken Christiansen (later and currently Marlon G. Day) as “Jamie’s Dad”,
and more.
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE was nominated for 5 Olivier Awards in 2018 including BEST NEW MUSICAL. However, it lost all the categories.
The show was one of the many productions that got abruptly shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s currently back in London’s West End playing for a limited engagement at the Apollo Theatre through September 26th, 2021. However, it’s not a full farewell. The show will be taking a brief leave of absence but is scheduled to return to the West End in 2022. At the same, the show is currently on a UK / Ireland Tour.
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’s American debut is set for this upcoming year of 2022 in Los Angeles. It will play the Ahmanson Theatre for a strictly limited engagement from January 16th-February 20th, 2022. With the original creative team, the cast will be led by the show’s 2 former London cast members themselves….
Layton Williams as the titular role of “Jamie New”
and
Roy Haylock (known as Bianca Del Rio) as “Hugo” / “Loco Chanelle”.
Additional casting will be revealed later.
Early talks have also been made of the production also possibly heading for Broadway.
The current film adaptation of EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE originally scheduled to be released in Theaters next month from 20th Century Studios. It would be delayed twice before a decision was made that the film instead would go directly to Amazon Prime. Under the direction of Jonathan Butterell, the cast is led by….
Newcomer Max Harwood as “Jamie New”,
Olivier nominee Sarah Lancashire as “Margret New”,
Lauren Patel as “Pritti”,
Emmy nominee Sharon Horgan as “Miss Hedge”,
Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Richard E Grant as “Hugo” / “Loco Chanelle”,
Shobna Gulati reprising her performance from the stage production as “Ray,
Samuel Bottomley as “Dean Paxton”,
Ralph Ineson as “Jamie’s Dad”,
and more.
How powerful is this musical?!!!

All Tony Awards After-Parties cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 protocols!

by | Sep 18, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows

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BREAKING NEWS: Broadway’s Biggest Night will still be happening. However on one condition. Due to on going COVID-19 safety protocols, there will NOT be any of the popular posts-ceremony after parties following this year’s Tony Awards.
All ticketholders attending the Tony this year were given a message from both The Broadway League and American Theatre Wing. Both these organizations that present the annual event celebrating the best of the Broadway season were told that the city of New York did NOT grant them a permit to host the party that is held immediately after the ceremony where all nominees, winners, and the community comes together to celebrate. It will only be the full 4 hour extravaganza.
The Tonys after-party is usually held every year in various restaurants and bars all throughout New York City. It’s most popular spaces for celebrating are usually held in The Plaza Hotel, Sardi’s Restaurant, and an annual party hosted by Rick Miramontez held at the Carlyle Hotel.
The 74th Annual Tony Awards will be coming to you this year from Broadway’s legendary Winter Garden Theatre. It will be done in 2 parts. The first 2 hours beginning at 7pm on Paramount+ will be the actual ceremony presenting all the major Awards hosted by 6 time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald. From there at 9pm EST, the celebration will continue on the Tonys traditional live airing station of CBS with a full 2 hour concert special entitled BROADWAY’S BACK. Hosted by Leslie Odom Jr., it will feature Live Performances from the 3 shows nominated for BEST MUSICAL (consisting of Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge, and Tina). This edition will also present the 3 winning TOP PRIZE shows for BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY, BEST PLAY, and of course BEST MUSICAL.
Thoughts?!

NYBT TOP 50 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN: # 8 – THE BOOK OF MORMON

by | Sep 18, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows

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HELLO BROADWAY FANS. It’s almost here. Broadway’s Biggest night is almost here and 8 DAYS AWAY. You are once again waking up to some of the best performances from the past 74 years of the Tony Awards on our TOP 50 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN. What an incredible way to be celebrating the return of Broadway with the 74th Annual Tony Awards. Here comes another showstopper!!
At # 8 on our countdown is another one of Broadway’s current long running hits which this one gets people laughing. It tells the crazy adventures of 2 unlikely missionaries who team up, travel to Uganda to try to share their scriptures with the residents there. However, hell breaks loose for them!! We of course are talking about…. The Book of Mormon. With a score and book by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, it’s inspired by an episode of South Park.
From the 2011 telecast, Tony nominee Andrew Rannells as “Elder Price” along with members of the cast perform the powerhouse anthem I BELIEVE.
THE BOOK OF MORMON was first conceived in the Summer of 2003. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were already becoming household names for their creation of the smash hit TV series South Park and were developing the marionette comedy film Team America: World Police. To get inspiration, Rudin encouraged Parker and Stone to see Avenue Q. After seeing it, Parker and Stone met Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (the composers of Avenue Q and super South Park fans) and went out for drinks. While talking, the 2 groups all shared something in common…. They wanted to write a comedy involving the story of Joseph Smith and the first Mormons. To learn more about Smith, they decided to take a trip to Salt Lake City interviewing missionaries. The timing was accommodated with Parker and Stone’s schedule with South Park. They continued working on the show and being inspired from a previous South Park episode about missionaries. In 2006 while still working on the piece, Trey Parker and Jeff Marx got into a little disagreement that caused Marx to drop from the production. From there, the show continued to be worked on with Lopez, Parker, and Stone. With Jeff Marx directing and then later dropped out, replaced by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw (a Tony nominee this year), the show went through numerous years of readings and workshops.
The show did not have a traditional out of town tryout heading straight to Broadway opening at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 2011. The critics and audiences went crazy crying their eyes out for how hilarious it was. The show continues to sell out and it is still hard to get a ticket. It’s grossed over $500 million dollars since opening and has played over 3,000 performances. Under the direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw, the cast consisted of…
Tony nominee Andrew Rannells (later Nic Rouleau, Matt Doyle, Gavin Creel, Kyle Selig, David Thomas Brown, and Kevin Clay) as “Elder Price”,
Tony nominee Josh Gad (later Jared Gertner, Cale Krise, Jon Bass, Cody Jamison Strad, Ben Platt, Christopher John O’Neill, and Brian Sears) as “Elder Cunningnam”,
Tony winner Nikki M. James (later Asmeret Ghebremichael, Nikki Renee Daniels, and Kimberly Exum) as “Nabulungi”,
Michael Potts (later Stanley Wayne Mathis, Daniel Breaker, Billy Eugene Jones, and Sterling Jarvis) as “Mafala”,
Tony nominee Rory O’Malley (later Matt Loehr, Grey Henson, and Stephen Ashfield) as “Elder McKinley”,
And more.
The show was nominated for 14 Tony Awards in 2011 winning 9 including Best Musical. It also won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater album and the Olivier Award for Best New Musical.
The show (now celebrating 10 years) was playing to packed houses all around the world. Along with NYC, it was being performed in London’s West End (where it won the Olivier for BEST NEW MUSICAL), on tour across America, in Australia, and on tour across the UK. However, they all were abruptly shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they’re all set to return this Fall.
The Broadway company of The Book of Mormon will make audience BELIEVE that TOMORROW IS A LATTER DAY once again beginning November 5th, 2021 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Other productions of the show set to reopen will also include its London company and UK/ Ireland Touring productions. More companies will be going out as well.
When the show does return, there will be some tweaks and updates to the script made. All of this has come following last year’s events of the Black Lives Matter protests. During that time, the show itself received so much backlash with its portrayal of Africans (since about 85% of the musical takes place in Uganda). Work will be made to the show’s score and book by its creators (Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez) to make it less offensive. These changes will go also to all future companies as well.
In addition, it returns without its main head producer Scott Rudin. Earlier this year, the producer had dropped from all his Broadway projects following recent reports of his horrific, arrogant, abusive, monstrous, ugly, and tyrannical behaviors towards people in the work place.
Doesn’t this show make you want to BELIEVE?

NYBT TOP 50 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN: # 9 – WAITRESS

by | Sep 17, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows

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GOOD MORNING BROADWAY FANS!! We are celebrating the best of the Great Bright Way returning to the Big Apple. Broadway’s biggest night is just 9 DAYS from now….. The 74th Annual Tony Awards. We at New York Broadway Tours are keeping you entertained each morning playing you our favorite performances on our TOP 50 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN.
At # 9 on our countdown, things are about to get very delicious. We make our way over to a local diner somewhere in the south where a pregnant pie maker is trying to escape her abusive husband and start her life over. This is Waitress. Based on the 2007 film of the same name by Adrienne Shelly, the show was written by Grammy nominated superstar Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson (Shelly’s wife).
From the 2016 telecast, Tony winner Jessie Mueller, Tony nominee Keala Settle as “Becky”, Kimiko Glenn as “Dawn” and the original Broadway cast plus a special appearance by Sara Bareilles sing a medley of 2 of the beloved songs from the show….. OPENING UP and the 11:00 heartbreaking emotional anthem SHE USED TO BE MINE.
WAITRESS was first conceived around early 2012 by husband and wife Broadway producing duo Barry and Fran Weissler who secured the rights early to the 2014 film of the same name. It went through numerous years of readings and workshops before officially having its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA in the Summer of 2015.
With the triumphant success of its Cambridge run, the show officially transferred to Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre where it ran for 33 previews and 1,544 regular performances. By the time it closed, the show held the record of being the Brooks Atkinson Theatre’s longest running show. Under the direction of Diane Paulus, the cast is led by….
Jessie Mueller (later Stephanie Torns, Sara Bareilles, Betsy Wolfe, Nicolette Robinson, Shoshana Bean, Allison Luff, Jordin Sparks, and Katherine McPhee) as “Jenna”,
Drew Gehling (later Chris Diamantopoulos, Jason Mraz, Erich Bergen, Joey McIntyre, Jeremy Jordan, and Mark Evans) as “Dr. Pomatter”,
Keala Settle (later Charity Angél Dawson, Maia Nkenge Wilson, and Natasha Yvette Williams) as “Becky”,
Kimiko Glenn (later Jenna Ushkowitz , Caitlin Houlahan, Katie Lowes, Lenne Klingaman, and Colleen Ballinger) as “Dawn”,
the late Tony nominee Nick Cordero (later William Popp, Will Swenson, Joe Tippett, Matt DeAngelis, and Ben Thompson) as “Earl”,
Christopher Fitzgerald (later Adam Shapiro, Alex Wyse, Eddie Jemison, Noah Galvin, and Todrick Hall) as “Ogie”,
and so much more.
WAITRESS was nominated for Tony Awards in 2016 including BEST MUSICAL but lost all the categories. The cast album was also nominated for a Grammy for BEST MUSICAL THEATRE ALBUM.
With the success of the Broadway company, Waitress went on to launch numerous tasty companies all around the world. Several productions including 2 North American National Tours (set to return with a Non-Equity company this Fall) and more.
Some of its productions including the Non-Equity North American Tour and London’s West End were abruptly shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, it’s on a UK National Tour.
In addition most recently, WAITRESS has returned to Broadway as part of the community’s triumphant comeback after an 18 1/2 month long intermission. It’s currently back on the Great Bright Way for a strictly limited engagement at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre which will continue to run till January 9th, 2022. With the same creative team led by Diane Paulus, the cast is led by….
Sara Bareilles reprising her portrayal of “Jenna”,
Drew Gehling reprising his original performance of “Dr. Pomatter”,
Charity Angél Dawson reprising her portrayal as “Becky”,
Bareilles’ real life BF Joe Tippett reprising his portrayal as “Earl”,
Christopher Fitzgerald reprising his Tony nominated performance as “Ogie”,
and more.
WAITRESS is truly one of the most powerful and delicious pieces of Musical Theatre ever written.
How tasty was that?!!!

Tony nominee Adrienne Warren of TINA performs live on THE TONIGHT SHOW

by | Sep 16, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows

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A Performance from Tina - The Tina Turner Musical: Private Dancer | The Tonight Show
BROADWAY’S BACK and things are about to get NICE & ROUGH!!!! The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is continuing to celebrate Broadway’s Comeback week with more promising showstopping performances. This past Tuesday, Tony & Olivier Award nominee Adrienne Warren took center stage at STUDIO 6B 30 Rockefeller Plaza to perform a selection from Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.
Here she is performing the showstopping PRIVATE DANCER.
TINA reopens at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre starting October 8th, 2021. For Warren, she will be staying for a limited 1 FINAL MONTH ENGAGEMENT. Her final show as the QUEEN OF ROCK N’ ROLL herself will be on Halloween…. October 31st, 2021.
How amazing was that?!!!