JAGGED LITTLE PILL experiences backlash and controversy over change of main featured character’s identity; Producers open up

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YOU OUGHTA KNOW! Since the 15 time Tony Award nominated and Grammy winning smash hit Jagged Little Pill opened on Broadway, the show has been experiencing some controversy. All of it is surrounded on the musical’s featured standout character of “Jo” (played by Tony nominated powerhouse Lauren Patten).
During the show’s original World Premiere out-of-town tryout at the American Repertory Theater in 2018, the role of “Jo” was originally portrayed as non-binary.
However, the creative team scrapped and changed the entire storyline as it was preparing for Broadway. Today, the character is portrayed as cisgender.
The discussion has been a huge debate and receiving tons of backlash from the theatre community via social media. The switch was considered as an example of the underrepresentation of trans and nonbinary people on Broadway.
Today, the show’s producers released a statement on social media regarding the backlash and everyone’s reaction.
JAGGED LITTLE PILL is set to reopen at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre starting October 21st, 2021.
Thoughts?

Linda Eder vlogs first night of new updated concert tour; Billy Stritch to take over as Musical Director

Linda Eder- A New Beginning - Back on the stage at MPAC
EACH DAY’S A BRIGHT NEW LIFE!! Celebrated powerhouse vocalist Linda Eder has been getting back into the swing of things relaunching her ongoing concert tour. Last night, Jekyll & Hyde‘s original leading lady brought her unbelievable voice to Morristown, NJ playing the Mayo Performing Arts Center.
Along with sharing her spectacular voice, Eder continues to present a series of Vlogs on her YouTube channel giving fans a VIP pass into the experience being on the road with her.
For this episode, you will not only see Eder traveling to Jersey, doing soundcheck, and being back on stage, fans will also get to meet her new touring Musical Director…… celebrated composer, arranger, and musician Billy Stritch (best known for serving as longtime MD for Liza Minnelli). He takes over from Eder’s longtime touring musical director Grammy Award Billy Jay Stein (however will continue to serve as producers on her solo albums).
Eder is set to make her way to the following cities…..
Stokie, IL,
Vienna, VA,
Ridgefield, CT,
Englewood, NJ,
Aventura, FL,
Del Ray, FL,
Palm Beach, FL,
Irvine, CA,
Palm Spring, CA,
Venice, FL,
and
her ongoing residency at New York’s very own Feinstein’s/54 Below.
Eder’s concert are rotating shows accompanied by either a small band or some of the world’s greatest Symphony Orchestras.
As you can see in this vlog, Eder changed her setlist full out. Her upcoming set of concerts is all new. It will feature mainly a setlist of songs of her paying tribute to the legendary and iconic Judy Garland along with still including hits from her previous works. Yes, she still will sing SOMEONE LIKE YOU, VIENNA, MAN OF LA MANCHA, and all of them.
Welcome Billy Stritch!!!
Welcome back to the road Linda Eder!!
How amazing is that?!!!

FIRST LISTEN: Jeremy Jordan as “Seymour” in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Off Broadway revival singing GROW FOR ME

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FEED ME!!! This Tuesday night, more of our New York Theater scenes hottest shows are making their triumphant comeback to the Big Apple. One of those shows is the Award winning Off Broadway revival of the screamingly funny musical classic Little Shop of Horrors.
When it reopens, the Michael Mayer directed production will be led by Tony Award nominee and Broadway heartthrob Jeremy Jordan taking on the role of the awkward, unlucky, and nerdy “Seymour Krelborn”. To get us in the moon, here he is performing one of the musical’s beloved songs GROW FOR ME.
Jordan (known for his work both on stage and screen in Bonnie & Clyde, Newsies, Waitress, Smash, Joyful Noise, and Supergirl) originally was scheduled to join the cast for a limited engagement initially on March 17th, 2020 replacing Tony nominee Gideon Glick (who was playing the role at the time). However, the production was abruptly shutdown early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When he joins, he will share the stage with the production’s ongoing original cast members….
Tony nominee and Emmy winner Tammy Blanchard as the beautiful blonde love interest “Audrey”,
2 time Tony winner and Broadway favorite Christian Borle as the meanest dentist of them all “Orin Scrivello, D.D.S”,
Broadway favorite Tom Alan Robbins as the grumpy flower shop boss “Mr. Mushnik”,
Ari Groover, Salome Smith, and Joy Woods as “The Urchins”,
and
a Full Ensemble.
New to the cast will include….
Aaron Arnell Harrington who replaces Kingsley Leggs as the voice of that mad eating killer plant himself “Audrey II”
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS returns to Off Broadway’s Westside Theatre beginning September 21st, 2021.
How amazing is Jeremy’s rendition of “Seymour”?
Who is excited?!!

WICKED flies over to THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON for a THRILLIFYING performance!!

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Broadway is UNLIMITED!!! Last night, WICKED‘s current Broadway witches themselves took center stage at Studio 6B for a SWANKIFIED performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In case you missed it, get ready to experience it…. FOR GOOD.
Here is Ginna Claire Mason as “Glinda” and Lindsay Pearce as “Elphaba” performing a medley of 2 of the WITCHES notable Stephen Schwartz anthems from the show….. POPULAR and THE WIZARD AND I.
WICKED is back and DEFYING GRAVITY once again 8 times a week at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre. It’s also wowing audiences once again on tour across America, in London’s West End, and soon to be more companies around the world. The show celebrates its 18TH BEWITCHING ANNIVESARY next month.
How THRILLIFYING was that?!!

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

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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!!

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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?!!!