All About Musicals

Rentheads’ (a.k.a. diehard Rent fans)  voices have been heard: the hit Broadway musical has been granted an extension, and will close September 7, 2008. This is an extension of approximately 3 months. (Previously a closing date of June 1 had been reported.) No doubt ticket demand had some influence in this case.

If you’ve already bought tickets for up to the June 1 date, you now have the option of attending a later performance. The final performance is now 6:30 PM on September 7, and, according to Ticketmaster.com, tickets are on sale to the public until Sept. 4.

The producers commented: “In consideration of the Rent fans who have purchased tickets for the currently-announced final week, ticket holders wishing to exchange tickets purchased for performances from Monday, May 26, 2008 through Sunday, June 1, 2008 for performances during the extension period are welcome to do so subject to availability.”

According to the official Rent website, here is the Rent extension ticket exchange policy:

Rent Extension Ticket Exchange Policy

Any ticket holders wishing to exchange tickets purchased for performances from Monday, May 26, 2008 through Sunday, June 1, 2008 into performances in this extension period are welcome to do so subject to availability.

Ticket holders wishing to exchange can do so in either of the two (2) ways:

They can take their tickets to the Nederlander Theatre box office (208 West 41st Street, New York City) during regular box office hours (Monday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8: 30 p.m.; Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.). Tickets must be in hand.

They can call the box office mail room at 212-921-8000 and arrange the exchange over the phone. Tickets being exchanged must be mailed or brought to the box office by May 11, 2008 to complete the exchange.

Anyone who purchased tickets prior to March 15, 2008 for the previously announced final performance (Sunday evening, June 1, 2008) may exchange into the final performance on Sunday, September 7, 2008 only with verifiable proof of purchase: Ticketmaster account information or credit card receipt or statement. The hard copy of proof of purchase must be brought or mailed to box office along with tickets to affect the exchange. This will be checked. Please note that September 7th tickets may not necessarily be in the same locations as those purchased for June 1st.

Patrons will be reminded that new tickets will be exchanged only for face value of the old tickets.

All changes are SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY.

Rent is the seventh longest running show in Broadway history, and its book, music, and lyrics were written by the late Jonathan Larson. It will celebrate 12 years on Broadway on April 29.

Rent officially opened on Broadway on April 29, 1996, after an extended limited (and sold-out) engagement at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop. This breakthrough musical, based loosely on Puccini’s opera La Boheme, has gone on to win every major “best musical award,” including the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, as well as being one of only seven musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is directed by Director Michael Greif.

Image details: Joey Fatone takes Rent curtain call served by picapp.com

Sources: Official Rent Website, Playbill

Cheyenne Jackson, star of Broadway’s surprise hit musical Xanadu, will be starring in the new film “Shifting the Canvas,” directed by Chuck Griffith. Don’t worry, Xanadu fans — the filming will not interfere with his Xanadu performances.

Press notes describe the movie, saying it “tells the story about a group of artists living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who struggle to maintain a rather dysfunctional family of friends in a post-9/11 world challenged by gentrification, deception and sterilization.”

Cheyenne will play a “straight Ivy League type who works on Wall Street with Denton, a young gay character that recently relocated to New York from the South, who is trying to reconcile his newfound sexuality and relationship with everybody around him.”

Director Chuck Griffith had nothing but good things to say about Cheyenne: “Cheyenne is the caliber of actor that a director looks for in commanding a scene. I am both humbled and excited to work with this gifted actor of stage and screen.”

The film will also star a blast from the past — Gedde Watanabe (remember him from the Molly Ringwald film “Sixteen Candles”?) — as well as Scott Thompson, John Paul Pitoc, and Matthew Montgomery.

Cheyenne Jackson has also appeared in the movies “United 93″ (based on the story of one of the planes that was hijacked on September 11, 2001) and “Curiosity.” His Broadway credits include Xanadu, All Shook Up, Aida, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as the premiere cast of the off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz. His regional credits include West Side Story, The Most Happy Fella, Children of Eden, Hair, Carousel, Damn Yankees, and Kismet.

Visit the official Shifting the Canvas movie site.

Image details: The 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards - Arrivals served by picapp.com

The Los Angeles non-touring production of Wicked, now playing at the Pantages Theatre, will play its final performance on Jan. 11, 2009.

Producer Marc Platt said,

“Wicked has been one of the biggest hits in Los Angeles theatre history and we are thrilled that theatergoers here have embraced the musical and welcomed us so heartily. Our run at the Pantages has been a joy for the entire company and will place Wicked alongside only two other shows in recent memory that have successfully called Los Angeles home for an extended stay - The Lion King and The Phantom of the Opera.”

James M. Nederlander, Chairman of the Nederlander Organization, also spoke,

“Wicked is by far the most successful musical that we have hosted in the 100-year history of the Nederlander Organization. It has been playing to sold-out houses since it opened four and a half years ago at our Gershwin Theatre in New York, as well as for the past two and a half years at our Oriental Theatre in Chicago, where it recently became the longest running show in Chicago theatre history.

“Although Wicked could continue to run for some time in Los Angeles, the Pantages Theatre is also home to Broadway L.A. and its subscription series. And, while we’ve been happy to send our subscribers to other venues during Wicked’s run, we felt it was time to bring them back to the Pantages for our upcoming productions. So it is with reluctance, but great pride with both the success of Wicked and the strength of our subscription base, that Wicked will conclude its run in January 2009.”

At closing the Los Angeles production will have played 791 performances, not counting 12 previews before opening to the public. The Los Angeles production of Wicked began previews on Feb. 10, 2007 and officially opened on Feb. 21, 2007. The original cast included Eden Espinosa as Elphaba and Megan Hilty as Glinda, and currently features Caissie Levy as Elphaba and Megan Hilty as Glinda.

Press notes describe the musical:

Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, which turned every Oz myth inside out, Wicked explores the early life of the witches of Oz: Glinda and Elphaba. The two main characters meet at Shiz, a school where both hope to take up sorcery. Glinda is madly popular and Elphaba is, well, green. By a misunderstanding, they wind up roommates and, after an initial period of mutual loathing, begin to learn something about each other. Their life paths continue to intersect through a shared love, entry into the Emerald City and interaction with the Wizard himself. Eventually, their choices and convictions take them on widely different paths.

You can purchase tickets in the following ways:

1. Visit the Ticketmaster website: www.ticketmaster.com/wicked
2. Call (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-7878
3. Visit the Pantages Theatre box office (opens daily at 10 AM), at 6233 Hollywood Blvd.

Official website: WickedtheMusical.com.

Image details: Broadway Reopens After 19 Day Strike served by picapp.com

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical South Pacific opened on April 3 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont theatre. (Previews began March 1.) It garnered nine Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize when it debuted more than 50 years ago. This is the musical’s first Broadway revival since its 1949 stage debut.

Tony nominee Kelli O’Hara (last seen in The Light in the Piazza) and baritone Paulo Szot play the two lovers (Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque) who meet “some enchanted evening.” Matthew Morrison, who was O’Hara’s love interest in Piazza, stars as Lt. Cable.

This production of South Pacific features a 30-piece orchestra conducted by Tony Award winner Ted Sperling. Thanks to Tony Award-winning designer Michael Yeargan, the set is massive and features a 1940’s bomber plane, not to mention palm trees and lush beaches.

According to Playbill, “the new Lincoln Center staging includes the song ‘My Girl Back Home.’ A duet between Lt. Cable and Nellie Forbush, the song was cut from the original Broadway production but reinstated for the 1958 film adaptation. The current production, which marks South Pacific’s first Broadway revival since its 1949 stage debut, utilizes that song’s original orchestrations.”

Press notes describe South Pacific:

Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories “Tales of the South Pacific,” the musical focuses on French plantation owner Emile de Becque and his love interest, Nellie Forbush, a naïve young nurse from Arkansas. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, South Pacific offers a lushly romantic score while challenging audiences with themes of racial intolerance and bigotry.

[source: Playbill]

I learned of this from a health site that I work with, WEGO Health, and just had to post it here, as it fits the musical theatre spectrum.

Tune in to HBO this evening, March 25, at 8 p.m. to see the premiere of this incredible award-winning documentary-musical. (Check your local listings for time zone information.)

If you don’t have cable, you can also view the musical in its entirety on HBO.com from Wednesday, March 26 - Sunday, March 30.

In 1980, autism was a relatively rare disorder, diagnosed in one in 10,000 children in the United States. Now it is one in 150.

AUTISM: THE MUSICAL counters todays bleak statistics with one womans optimistic pledge to lead a group of autistic children in defying diagnosed expectations by writing, rehearsing and performing their own full-length musical.

Following five Los Angeles children over the course of six months, director Tricia Regan captures the struggles and triumphs of their family lives and observes how this musical production gives these performers a comfort zone in which they can explore their creative sides.

Both on and off stage, AUTISM: THE MUSICAL is a call - to - arms, bringing attention to a modern-day epidemic, all the while celebrating the way the human spirit can overcome any challenge.

Click here to visit the official Autism: The Musical website!

Click here for the link to the HBO site based on the musical.

Listen to the podcast interview with Elaine Hall (Autism: The Musical Inspiration) and Karen Simmons (Founder of Autism Today). Click here and look for the link to the podcast, or right-click here and save as.

Technorati Tags: Autism: The Musical, Joey Travolta, Elaine Hall, Karen Simmons, Autism Today, Autism

Megan Mullally, who currently stars on Broadway in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, will be appearing on Live with Regis & Kelly tomorrow morning, March 26.

Mullally, who starred as Karen on Will & Grace plays the role of Elizabeth, created by Madeline Kahn in the 1974 film.

Check your local listings to find out when the show airs by you!

I have every intention of getting this blog back up and running with lots of new posts. The last few months have been crazy for various reasons, and in January my father died very suddenly and unexpectedly. I’ve slowly been working my way back into my daily work, but this site has been on the back burner. Now, I think I’m ready to begin again!

So, look for new posts in the next few days!