BREAKING NEWS: Grammy and Emmy winning plus Tony nominated entertainer Harry Connick Jr is heading back to the Great White Way this season with an all new Broadway residency concert. This time, the iconic Jazz Crooner will perform an all new show paying tribute to one of the most iconic Great American Songbook composers of all time…. the legendary Cole Porter. This show goes along with the release of his upcoming new Cole Porter themed album TRUE LOVE (expecting to be released this October).
The show entitled HARRY CONNICK JR – CELEBRATING COLE PORTER will have a 2 night world premiere concert Durham Performing Arts Center in North Carolina from September 1st – 2nd, 2019. From there, the show will make its way to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre (currently the home of Pretty Woman: The Musical now through August 18th, 2019). The concert will be a strictly limited engagement on the Great White Way before Connick Jr embarks on a World Tour. No official dates of the run has been announced.
Connick Jr is no stranger to appearing on the Great White Way. He previously played Broadway concert residencies back in 1990 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre for only 10 performances and then back in 2010 for 15 performances at the Neil Simon Theatre. He also acted in musicals on Broadway twice. In 2006, he starred as "Sid Sorokin" in the Roundabout Theatre Company's Tony winning revival of THE PAJAMA GAME (which earned him a Tony nomination that same year for Best Leading Actor in a Musical) and then again in 2011 as "Dr. Mark Bruckner" in the short-lived revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. He also composed and wrote several musicals including 2001's short-lived THOU SHALL NOT (which he received a Tony nomination in 2002 for Best Score). His most recent new musical THE STING just had its premiere at New Jersey's Papermill Playhouse and is still in talks of heading to Broadway.
The holidays are about to get merrier for fans of Harry Connick Jr. and Cole Porter. The living half of that duo will begin a limited engagement at Broadway?s Nederlander Theatre this Decembe?
GO, GO, GO, JOSEPH!!! Manhattan Concert Productions (MCP) has just announced that they will be producing a one night only full scale 50th Anniversary concert production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's legendary musical masterpiece Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The concert is set for February 17th, 2020 at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. Annoucement for the cast and full creative team will be announced soon but its expecting to feature the score performed live by the New York City Chamber Orchestra and a 200 piece choir of talents from all over the country.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a retelling of the legendary biblical son of Jacob's favorite son and his "Coat of Many Colors". The show features some of the most beloved songs written for the stage that have become pop standards including ANY DREAM WILL DO, COAT OF MANY COLORS, CLOSE EVERY DOOR TO ME, and more. It was Andrew Lloyd Webber's debut musical.
As previously announced, Trevor Nunn and John Caird's legendary original London production of the iconic Les Miserables – Musical will be ending its historical long run after almost 35 years in London's West End this Summer. Following it's final performance on July 13th, 2019, the first and last standing original production (yup, known for the famous onstage turntable) that played to packed houses in London since 1985 will have played over 15,000 performances.
However, LES MISERABLES is not exactly leaving London just yet. The musical's London home at the Queen's Theatre (where it played there since 2004 transferring from London's Palace Theatre) will be going through a 4 month renovation. The renovation of the Queen's Theatre will consist of the redoing the lobby (including more bathrooms), backstage and of course the auditorium. The biggest part of the project will be the restoring the original box seats, and loges (designed by architect W.G. Sprague). The initial design was destroyed by a bomb back in 1940 which caused the Queen's Theatre to be shut down for 20 years. Following the renovation, the show will reopen at the Queen's Theatre on December 18th, 2019 but with Cameron Mackintosh Ltd's acclaimed new production that was initially created for LES MIZ's 25th Anniversary (directed by Laurence Connor) that is still playing all around the world. This new production features an incredible mix of old and new elements including a little bit of some familiar costumes, new staging, and a full new set inspired by the paintings of the original novel's author himself… Victor Hugo all projected on a LED screen. It will also include a new cast plus reworked orchestrations.
Meanwhile during the interim of the original production's closing and the new production revival's opening while the Queen's Theatre is being renovated, LES MISERABLES will be performed as a staged concert production in the West End for a strictly limited 16 week engagement beginning August 10th, 2019. This concert presentation will be performed at London's Gielgud Theatre (right next door to the Queen's Theatre) featuring a full cast and an onstage 65 piece orchestra. The cast will include an exciting all-star lineup of talents who are no strangers to being a part of the iconic musical consisting of….
International tenor Alfie Boe reprising his legendary performance of PRISONOR 24601 himself "Jean Vailjean" (a role that made him a worldwide star from his performance in the musical's 25th Anniversary concert at London's The O2 Arena. He went on to play the role in the original production at the Queen's Theatre and the 2014 Broadway revival),
Olivier Award winner and iconic West End star Michael Ball OBE (who originated the role of "Marius" in the original 1985 production and played the same for the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall) this time taking on the role of the cruel "Inspector Javert",
West End favorite Carrie Hope Fletcher (who began her career with the musical playing "Little Eponine" at the Palace Theatre and then "Adult Eponine" at the Queen's Theatre for the show's 30th Anniversary and most recently the new production during a tour stop in Dubai) this time take on the role of the impoverished factory worker dealing with hell herself "Fantine",
British Stage and Screen comedic star Matt Lucas reprising his scene stealing performance as the sleazy MASTER OF THE HOUSE himself "Thernadier" (a role he played in the 25th Anniversary concert at London's The O2 as well as the Queen's Theatre),
Katy Secombe reprising her performance of "Madame Thernadier" (a role she's been playing on and off at the Queen's Theatre since 2012),
Rob Houchen reprising the role of the heartthrob and romantic revolutionary student "Marius" (a role he played at the Queen's Theatre back in 2013),
and Bradley Jaden reprising the role of revolutionary leader "Enjolras" (a role he's played at the Queen's Theatre back in 2015).
In West End star and the musical's longest star himself John Owen-Jones will severe as the alternate "Jean Vailjean" playing the role 3 times a week. For Jones, he remains as the youngest actor in the show?s history to have played the iconic role at age 26 on the stages of both the Palace Theatre and the Queen's Theatre. He also was the first to play the role in the newly staged version of the show for its 25th Anniversary tour in 2010 and can be heard as "Jean Valjean" on the Les Mis?rables Live! album. In addition, he played the role twice on Broadway… both the 1st revival (the remounting of the original staging) at the Broadhurst Theatre and the 2nd and recent revival (the new 25th Anniversary production) for the closing cast at the Imperial Theatre
TUNE IN TONIGHT!! She’s Broadway ultimate blonde bombshell Barbie wowing the worlds of the stage and screen. Now get ready to discover Tony Award nominee Megan Hilty like never before with her first major TV concert for the 3rd and final week of Season 2 of the STARS IN CONCERT series (part of PBS…
