by Mike Haber | Aug 17, 2021 | Blog, Broadway, Casting, News, Shows
Pascal (known his Tony nominated portrayal of “Roger” in the original cast and film versions of
Jonathan Larson‘s
Rent along with appearing in
Aida,
Cabaret,
Chicago,
Memphis,
Disaster, and
Something Rotten) will take on the role of womanizing business man “Edward Lewis which he previously played temporary for a brief stint in the Broadway production
Valli (previously seen as “Elphaba” in the National Tour of
WICKED and last seen Off Broadway in
Jersey Boys about the life of her real-life Grandfather
Frankie Valli) will play the role of the beautiful free spirited Hollywood prostitute “Vivian Ward”.
Additional casting will be announced in the next few weeks.
PRETTY WOMAN’s National Tour is set to kick off October 9th. 2021 in Providence, RI before traveling to the following cities across North America….
Cincinnati, OH,
Detroit, MI
St. Louis, MO,
Buffalo, NY,
Rochester, NY,
Chicago, IL,
Washington D.C.,
Philedelphia. PA.
Cleveland, OH,
Hartford, CT,
Boston, MA,
Baltimore, MD,
Los Angeles, CA,
Tucson, AZ
San Diego, CA,
Denver, CO,
and
so much more.
Check out the official tour dates on line.
In case anyone may not know,
Pretty Woman. is a musical based on the iconic 1990 film of the same name with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. It tells the story of a on down-on-her-luck Hollywood hooker who gets hired by a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him. The musical features a score by legendary singer-songwriter
Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. It also includes a book by the original film’s writers J. F. Lawton and the late
Garry Marshall. Notable songs include WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD, ANYWHERE BUT HERE, LOOK AT ME NOW, FREEDOM, YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL, NEVER GIVE UP ON A DREAM, I CAN’T GO BACK, and LONG WAY HOME. Later on the iconic titular song OH, PRETTY WOMAN by Roy Orbison was added as the Finale number of the show.
PRETTY WOMAN was originally developed for the stage following the legendary success of the iconic 1990 film back in 2014. Garry Marshall and J.F. Lawton had secured the rights and began expanding more from what they’ve done in the film and including it on stage. At the same time, Bryan Adams was hired to co-write the songs giving it that early 80’s / 90’s vibe. However when Garry Marshall (who also directed the original film died in 2016), the show’s head producer Paula Wagner said the show will continue to go on. After several years of early development readings and workshops. It was ready to go.
The show originally had its world premiere out-of-town tryout in Chicago, IL playing The James M. Nederlander Theatre (formerly the Oriental Theatre) in the Spring of 2018. It would then make its way to the Big Apple in the Summer of that same year playing (IRONICALLY) Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre for 27 previews and 420 regular performances. Under the direction and choreography by
Jerry Mitchell, the cast was led by….
Eric Anderson as “Mr. Thompson”,
The musical earned mixed to negative reviews. Critics praised the cast but expressed the disappointment of the show’s writing. At the same time, the show went through a rough set of disappointing low ticket sales.
Despite the production being a disappointment on Broadway, PRETTY WOMAN still went on to become successful overseas. The first production after Broadway opened in Hamburg, Germany with the entire score and book translated into German.
At the same time, the show is continuing to play to packed houses in London’s West End. Originally the show opened in February 2020 at the Piccadilly Theatre but was abruptly shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When it reopened recently, it’s now playing at London’s Savoy Theatre. With the same creative team, this London cast stars….
Bob Harms as “Mr. Thompson”,
We are so excited to see this powerful show back in America set to wow audiences everywhere once again.
by Mike Haber | Aug 17, 2021 | Blog, Broadway, News
BREAKING NEWS: Tony Award winner
Ben Platt released a brand new music video for the song I WANNA LOVE YOU BUT I DON’T out now. This song is the 3rd single off on the
Dear Evan Hansen star’s new sophomore solo album REVERIE out now from
Atlantic Records.
REVERIE has been getting so much buzz from fans and critics following the success of Platt’s debut album SING TO ME INSTEAD. Earlier last week, the versatile stage and screen favorite also announced dates for an upcoming North American concert tour in support of the album set to kick off February 2022.
How amazing is this song?!!!
by Mike Haber | Aug 17, 2021 | Antoinette (Tony) Awards, Blog, Broadway, News, Shows
WHAT’S UP BROADWAY FANS?!! Things are about to get hot as we are celebrating the return of Live Theater and Broadway’s biggest night!!! The 74th Annual
Tony Awards are just 40 DAYS AWAY!!! We at New York Broadway Tours are continuing to get our groove going again each morning playing you our favorite performances from previous telecasts on our TOP 50 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN!!! Are you ready for more toe-tapping performances?
At # 40 on our countdown is a show that is truly a celebration of something we can all relate to…. The feeling of wanting to have that strong connection with someone and fall in love. This is CONTACT. Created and conceived by Susan Stroman, this is NOT your traditional Broadway Musical. This show is mainly told as a “Dance Play” with all the music pre-recorded in 3 one-acts consisting of….
Act 1 is entitled SWINGING – It’s a contact improvisational dance inspired by Fragonard’s painting THE SWING. Set in an 18th-century French forest clearing, it follows a servant and his master wanting to win the heart of the young lady on the swing. Much of the action takes place on a moving swing. Its themed music features a beautiful rendition of
Rodgers & Hart‘s MY HEART STOOD STILL played by Stéphane Grappelli.
Act 2 is entitled DID YOU MOVE – Set in Queens, New York at an Italian Restaurant in the year 1954, the story follows a “not-happy” marriage of a small-time gangster and his wife. There, the wife dreams of the day wanting to escape her abusive husband through dance. It’s themed music features Edvard Greig’s ANITRA’S DANCE, Tchaikovsky’s WALTZ FROM EUGENE ONEGIN, and Bitzet’s FARANDOLE….. all recorded by the
New York Philharmonic and conducted by one of Broadway’s very own
Leonard Bernstein.
Act 3 is the show’s official title CONTACT – Set in Manhattan in the present day, it follows the lives of 2 Manhattan apartment dwellers at a crossroads. At a bar, one of the men is smitten by a beautiful woman in a yellow dress. In order to win her heart, the man learns to gain the confidence in making contact with another human being. It’s themed music features a lot of contemporary popular pop/rock hits along with Jazz standards including Squirrel Nut Zippers’s PUT A LID ON IT,
Dion DiMucci‘s legendary RUNAROUND SUE, Prima’s SING, SING, SING, and so much more.
From the 2000 telecast, here is the company performing one of the musical’s big dance showstoppers. From that 3rd act, this is cast dancing it out to Robert Palmer’s signature 1988 song SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE.
CONTACT was first conceived in the mid 90’s by Susan Stroman and her late husband
Mike Ockrent. It was loosely inspired by an event that Stroman experienced at a dance club in the Meat Market district. There, she noticed a woman in a yellow dress believing “She’s gonna change someone’s life tonight”. Inspired by that one event, it gave the duo the idea of creating a show told through dance of the feeling’s people have when being in contact with other people.
Following a brief early development lab, the show officially arrived in our New York Theater scene at
Lincoln Center Theater in the Fall of 1999. It first started downstairs at LCT’s OFF-Broadway home at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. It would later move upstairs LCT’s bigger ON-Broadway house at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in the Spring of 2000 running for a complete total of 1,041 performances. Under the direction and choreography of Susan Stroman, the cast featured….
Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (later Alan Campbell and John Bolton),
Tony Award nominee Deborah Yates (later Colleen Dunn),
The show was an instant smash hit earning critical acclaim and taking home glory at Awards season. The show was nominated for 7 Tony Awards in 2000 winning 4 including BEST MUSICAL.
FUN FACT: Despite the show taking home BEST MUSICAL category in all its Awards (the Tonys, the
Drama Desk, and the
Outer Circle Critics), controversy sparked over the win. The reason is because this musical used PRE-RECORDED MUSIC & NO LIVE SINGING. The Tonys committee would go on to create a brand new category…. BEST SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENT. That nomination category would be presented for only 10 years and retired in 2009.
With the success of the Broadway production, CONTACT would later dance its way with several companies around the world including London’s West End. Hungary, Poland, China, and Korea. It later launched several Regional productions in North America.
CONTACT was also captured on film in the Fall of 2002. The Broadway production’s legendary final performance was recorded for
PBS‘ Award winning series Live From Lincoln Center winning a Primetime Emmy Award for OUTSTANDING CLASSICAL MUSIC-DANCE PROGRAM.
How high energetic was that performance?!!!!
(1) “Contact” Musical by Susan Stroman at 2000 Tony Awards – YouTube
by Mike Haber | Aug 16, 2021 | Blog, Broadway, Casting, News, Shows
BREAKING NEWS: So much anticipation in the air celebrating the return of Live Theater in the Big Apple. We are so happy to announce that early casting has been revealed for the upcoming 2021-2022 season of
New York City Center‘s legendary famed ENCORES series. This promises to be an unbelievable all-star lineup of familiar Broadway faces bringing classic musicals back to life like never before.
For anyone who may not be familiar first, ENCORES was created by New York City Center in 1994. It’s a series of staged concert presentations of popular but rarely ever produced Broadway Musicals. We are talking about classic shows that has NOT been seen on the New York stage within over 20+ years. They’re usually rehearsed for about a week and a half in a private rehearsal studio before heading into City Center’s main stage to tech and then run for only 5 SHOWS. All productions feature a full 35 piece orchestra (a.k.a THE ENCORES ORCHESTRA) on stage accompanying a full all-star Broadway cast and Ensemble (carrying scripts along with some stage blocking and choreography).
Many of its productions have later went on to have successful transfers to Broadway including the ongoing long running revival of
Chicago, Wonderful Town, The Apple Tree, Gypsy, Violet, and so much more.
This year’s lineup of shows and casting will consist as follows…..
The season kicks off February 2nd – 6th, 2022 with a production of Henry Krieger, Robert Lorick, and Charles Blackwell’s Tony winning musical THE TAP DANCE KID. This production will be directed by Tony winner
Kenny Leon and featuring choreography by Jared Grimes. It tells the story of an upper middle class African-American family and a 10 year old boy’s dream of becoming a professional dancer but faces opposition from his father, a lawyer. It originally debuted at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre in 1983 running for 669 performances, Notable songs include ANOTHER DAY, CLASS ACT, MAN IN THE MOON, LIKE HIM, SOMEDAY, and DANCE IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY.
Headlining the cast of THE TAP DANCE KID will star….
Emmy Award winner
Dulé Hill who appeared in the musical’s original production on Broadway as the understudy for the lead role of “Willie”. This time he returns to play the role of “Uncle Dipsey”.
The 2nd show of the season running March 16th – 20th, 2022 will be Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman, and David Newman’s Award winning smash musical THE LIFE. This new production will be BOTH adapted and directed by Tony and Emmy winner
Billy Porter. In case anyone may not be familiar, THE LIFE tells the story of life in Times Square’s 42nd Street in the 1980’s during the crazy era long before the “Disneyfication” which was inhabited by pimps, prostitutes, druggies and dealers, runaways and the homeless. It originally debuted in 1990 OFF Broadway at the Westbeth Theatre. It later moved ON Broadway in 1997 playing the Ethel Barrymore Theatre where it ran for 21 previews and 466 regular performances. Notable songs include CHECK IT OUT, MY BODY, YOU CAN’T GO TO HEAVEN, I’M LEAVING YOU, WE HAD A DREAM, and WE GOTTA GO,
Headlining THE LIFE cast will star….
Chuck Cooper who won a Tony for playing the role of “Memphis” in the musical’s origin al production…. this time playing the role of “Old Jojo”,
Grammy Award-winner
Ledisi (who previously appeared on Broadway in the original production of
Caroline, Or Change) in the role of “Sonja”,
Finally, CHILDREN WILL LISTEN to the final production set to run for a 2 week engagement from May 4th – 15th, 2022….. a brand new production of
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s thrilling fairy tale adventure…….
Into The Woods. Directed by Lear deBessonet, this new semi-staged production will take audiences on the ultimate journey. The story of course combines some of the world’s greatest fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault all tied together in one story. It centers on a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family (the original beginning of The Grimm Brothers’ “Rapunzel”), their interaction with an evil “witch” who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other notable characters on their own adventures like “Cinderella”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and more. The musical originally debuted on Broadway in 1987 winning several Tony Awards including BEST SCORE and has had several revivals since there. It’s also a popular show performed in schools, community, and regional theaters everywhere. Notable songs include INTO THE WOODS, GIANTS IN THE SKY, I KNOW THINGS NOW, AGONY, ON THE STEPS OF THE PALACE, YOUR FAULT, ANY MOMENT, NO ONE IS ALONE, and the beautiful CHILDREN WILL LISTEN.
This magical fairy tale cast will include….
What an unforgettable lineup welcoming ENCROES and City Center back!!!
by Mike Haber | Aug 16, 2021 | Blog, Broadway, News
BREAKING NEWS: A brand new museum on the history of our very own Broadway scene is coming!!! We are so excited to announce that
Museum of Broadway is set to open Summer 2022 on West 45th Street in Times Square (right next door to the Lyceum Theatre).
Created by 4 time Tony nominated producer Julie Boardman (currently behind the upcoming revival of
Company) and Rubik Marketing, the museum will be an unforgettable interactive experience discovering the legacy of the Great Bright Way. You will discover its history from the beginning up to now, the behind the process that goes into making your favorite musical & plays, and more. Plenty of Treasures to experience from drafts of scripts and scores. set pieces, archival performance footage from the
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at
Lincoln Center, costume pieces, etc.
Originally this museum was planning to open in 2022. However, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this exciting timing of the world heading back to normal slowly but surely, this museum will be a celebration of the community all love.
The Museum of Broadway was founded in collaboration with Playbill, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Al Hirschfeld Foundation, Concord Theatricals and Goodspeed Musicals. Tickets are expected to go on sale next year.
by Mike Haber | Aug 16, 2021 | Blog, Broadway, Gilbert and Sullivan to Hamilton Tour (Downtown), Inspiration of Rent Tour, News, Shows
BREAKING NEWS: An official release date has been revealed for
Netflix‘s upcoming highly anticipated film adaptation of TICK, TICK, BOOM.
Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s film directorial debut adaptation of
Jonathan Larson‘s cult smash hit musical is set to be released on November 19th, 2021.
Prior before its release, TICK, TICK… BOOM will be premiered at the
AFI FEST as the official Opening Night film on November 10th, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA at the
TCL Chinese Theatres.
As previously announced, TICK, TICK, BOOM will be led by an unforgettable all-star cast of the best of Broadway, Film, and TV. The lineup consists of….
Tony nominee Robin De Jesus as “Michael”,
Tony & Emmy winner Judith Light as “Rosa Stevens”,
Discover the inspirational story of one aspiring composer’s dream long before his breakout musical Rent!!!
