By Lauren Vladyka, Communications Intern, Playhouse Square
Introducing The Broadway Bulletin. Consider this a razzle dazzle run down of some of our favorite stage stories from the Big Apple and beyond, to keep you up to date with all the buzz in the world of Broadway.
BROADWAY
SWEENEY TODD casting news
Photo credit: Matthew Murphy
Watch out, there’s a new gruesome twosome coming to Fleet Street! Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, who were nominated for Tony Awards for their respective portrayals of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, will be departing the company of smash hit Broadway revival of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET this January. But not to fret! Their successors, Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster (pictured above), who join the cast in February, are veterans of the Great White Way and are sure to continue to thrill us all in this Sondheim classic.
Read on at Playbill
SLEEP NO MORE to close after 5,000th performance
Photo Credit: Yaniv Schulman, Punchdrunk.com
The immersive Macbeth experience will be closing after 5000 performances. Opening Off-Broadway in 2011, many credit this production with helping "alter and expand the landscape of immersive theater." New York Times. To quote Shakespeare, “What's done cannot be undone." And it appears SLEEP NO MORE is officially 'done' come January 28. What's next for this revolutionary show?
Read on at nytimes.com.
Steve Carell to lead UNCLE VANYA
Photo Credit: THE OFFICE, NBC
Our favorite Regional Manager is coming to Broadway in 2024! Steve Carell, movie megastar, comedy legend and beloved world-wide for his portrayal of Michael Scott in THE OFFICE, will be making his Broadway debut at Lincoln Center as the titular role in the Chekov classic UNCLE VANYA. He will be playing opposite renowned Broadway actress Allison Pill.
Read on at Playbill.
Tammy Faye comes to Broadway
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner
Oh, we are blessed! The Olivier-nominated TAMMY FAYE: A NEW MUSICAL gets its Broadway transfer Spring 2024. The show based on the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Messner, features music by Elton John and lyrics by The Scissor Sisters! How's that for an iconic duo!?
Read on at Deadline.
HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO opens on Broadway
Photo Credit: Marc J. Franklin
Based on the 2015 award-winning documentary of the same name by Alexandra Shiva, HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO is a coming-of-age story of seven autistic young adults preparing for a formal dance, and, for the first time on a Broadway stage, autistic actors lead the production. With a cast and creative team dedicated to telling an authentic story, this musical is an important milestone for the theater community in the pursuit of equal representation in the arts. The show officially opened on December 10th in Broadway’s Belasco Theatre.
Read on at Broadway World
BEYOND BROADWAY
Welcome to BURLESQUE
Photo Credit: Stephen Vaughan, Screen Gems
"It’s a passion, an emotion, it's a fashion, it’s Burlesque!!" The stage version of the 2010 cult classic movie starring Cher and Christina Aguilera - BURLESQUE - will have its world premiere in the UK at Manchester Opera House in 2024. With Aguilera herself at the helm as an executive producer, we're sure this new musical will have theatergoers dancing the Wagon Wheel Watusi in delight.
Read on at Playbill.
Photo Credit: The Crown, NETFLIX
Say HELLO DOLLY to Imelda Staunton
Staunton will trade in her crown and scepter for feathers and glitter as she takes on the legendary role of Dolly Levi in HELLO, DOLLY! at London's Palladium Theatre. With predecessors to the role including Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler, Staunton will indeed have a tough act to follow, but we are sure she will bring her own fabulous take on this Broadway classic. Director Domonic Cooke spoke on how far this particular production has come since its infancy in 2019 and said that Staunton “deserves her season at the Palladium”.
Read more at Deadline
At Home
Baldwin Wallace University: RIDE THE CYCLONE
Coming to town February 9 - 25, the talented students of Balwin Wallace University will be performing RIDE THE CYCLONE: THE MUSICAL. In this spooky, hilariously outlandish show, the lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a roller coaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to tell a story to win a prize like no other — the chance to return to life. Boasting a fabulous mix of songs RIDE THE CYCLONE: THE MUSICAL, promises a funny and moving look at what makes a life well-lived.
For tickets visit beckcenter.com