The Broadway Musical Blog – Musical theater news and gossip from the Great White Way
Dishing out daily (or almost daily) Broadway musical news and gossip. The companion site to The Broadway Musical Home (broadwaymusicalhome.com), a directory of Broadway musicals with the story, songs, merchandise, video clips, lyrics, tickets, rights & awards for almost 200 shows.Archive for Bernadette Peters
And the Nominees Are… The 2013 Drama League Award Nominations
Patina Miller and Michael Urie announced the nominees for this year’s Drama League Awards today at Sardi’s and it’s a big list! Only three Broadway musicals got a distinguished production nod this year, with Off-Broadway musicals bumping many others out of the picture! Who’s going to win?! Is the anticipation killing you yet? David Hyde Pierce will host the 79th Annual Drama League Awards ceremony, held May 17 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, and like it or not, you’ll just have to wait until then…
Check out our full awards coverage here.
Here are the 2013 Drama League Award Nominees:
DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Dogfight
Here Lies Love
Kinky Boots
Matilda The Musical
Motown: The Musical
Murder Ballad
Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Annie
Marry Me a Little
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Passion
Pippin
Cinderella
DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
The Assembled Parties
I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers
Lucky Guy
The Nance
Old Hats
The Testament of Mary
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
The Whale
DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A PLAY
As You Like It
Golden Boy
Macbeth
The Piano Lesson
The Trip to Bountiful
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD
Alec Baldwin, Orphans
Danny Burstein, Talley’s Folly
Bobby Cannavale, The Big Knife and Glengarry Glen Ross
Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Tracee Chimo, Bad Jews
Lilla Crawford, Annie
Alan Cumming, Macbeth
Brandon J. Dirden, The Piano Lesson
Brandon Victor Dixon, Motown: The Musical
Jesse Eisenberg, The Revisionist
Edie Falco, The Madrid
America Ferrera, Bethany
Jake Gyllenhaal, If There is I Haven’t Found it Yet
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Jessica Hecht, The Assembled Parties and Harvey
Shuler Hensley, The Whale
Bill Irwin, Old Hats
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Brian d’Arcy James, Giant
Scarlett Johansson, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Judy Kuhn, Passion
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Valisia LeKae, Motown: The Musical
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Constantine Maroulis, Jekyll and Hyde
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Lindsay Mendez, Dogfight
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Bette Midler, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers
Patina Miller, Pippin
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Donna Murphy, Into the Woods
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Jim Norton, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Seth Numrich, Golden Boy
Laura Osnes, Cinderella
Tina Packer, Women of Will
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Lily Rabe, As You Like It
Vanessa Redgrave, The Revisionist
Chita Rivera, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Paul Rudd, Grace
Roslyn Ruff, The Piano Lesson
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Michael Shannon, Grace
Fiona Shaw, The Testament of Mary
Ryan Silverman, Passion
Phillipa Soo, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Tom Sturridge, Orphans
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
Michael Urie, Buyer and Cellar
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy
Anthony Warlow, Annie
Stephen Tyrone Williams, My Children! My Africa!
Vanessa Williams, The Trip to Bountiful
DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL THEATRE AWARD
Bernadette Peters
FOUNDERS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTING
Jerry Mitchell
UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION TO THE THEATRE AWARD
Madison Square Garden Entertainment and The Rockettes
PREVIOUS DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE WINNERS
Norbet Leo Butz, Dead Accounts
Kathleen Chalfant, Red Dog Howls
Stockard Channing, The Exonerated
Patti LuPone, The Anarchist
Bebe Neuwirth, Golden Age
Francis Sternhagen, The Madrid
The 2013 Broadway Award Season Calendar
April means award season is nearly upon us – nominations will start coming in this month and pretty trophies handed out in the next couple months. Bookmark this page and check back – we’ll update it as more information comes in…
67TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS
Nominations: April 30, 8:30am EST
Announcers: TBA
Ceremony: June 9, 8pm EST at Radio City Music Hall
Broadcast: Live on CBS
Host: TBA
Special Awards: Bernard Gersten, Ming Cho Lee and Paul Libin (Lifetime Achievement)
58TH ANNUAL DRAMA DESK AWARDS
Nominations: April 26, 11am EST at 54 Below
Announcers: John Lloyd Young and Jan Maxwell
Ceremony: May 19, 8pm EST at The Town Hall
Broadcast: Webcast Live on TheaterMania.com
Host: TBA
79TH ANNUAL DRAMA LEAGUE AWARDS
Nominations: April 23, 11am EST at Sardi’s
Announcers: TBA
Ceremony: May 17, 12pm at Marriott Marquis
Host: David Hyde Pierce
Special Awards: Bernadette Peters, Jerry Mitchell and Madison Square Garden Entertainment and The Rockettes
63RD ANNUAL OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS
Nominations: April 22, 11am EST at Friars Club
Announcers: Robert Cuccioli and Laila Robins
Winner Announcement: May 13
Ceremony: May 23, 4pm at Sardi’s
Host: TBA
69TH ANNUAL THEATRE WORLD AWARDS
Ceremony: TBA
Host: TBA
2013 PULITZER PRIZE FOR DRAMA
Announcement: April 15, 3pm
DAILY DEAL ALERT: Get the 2003 Gypsy Cast Album for $9.50
Every day, we scour the web to find the best musical theatre deals on cast albums, videos, sheetmusic, tickets, merchandise and more, but many items are available at these great prices for a limited time only, so grab them while you can…
2003 Gypsy Cast Album
Now $9.50 on Amazon
DAILY DEAL ALERT: Get the Legends of Broadway CD Bundle for $31.48
Every day, we scour the web to find the best musical theatre deals on cast albums, videos, sheetmusic, tickets, merchandise and more, but many items are available at these great prices for a limited time only, so grab them while you can…
Legends of Broadway CD Bundle – Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Angela Lansbury and Barbara Cook
Only $31.48 with coupon, plus free shipping from Masterworks Broadway
Use code popmarket2011 at checkout
2012 Tony Award Nominees
BEST MUSICAL
Leap of Faith
Newsies
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Once
BEST PLAY
Clybourne Park
Other Desert Cities
Peter and the Starcatcher
Venus in Fur
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Lysistrata Jones, Douglas Carter Beane
Newsies, Harvey Fierstein
Nice Work If You Can Get It, Joe DiPietro
Once, Enda Walsh
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
Bonnie & Clyde, Frank Wildhorn and Don Black
Newsies, Alan Menken and Jack Feldman
One Man, Two Guvnors, Grant Olding
Peter and the Starcatcher, Wayne Barker and Rick Elice
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Master Class
Wit
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Evita
Follies The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Jesus Christ Superstar
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
James Earl Jones, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Frank Langella, Man and Boy
John Lithgow, The Columnist
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur
Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow
Stockard Channing, Other Desert Cities
Linda Lavin, The Lyons
Cynthia Nixon, Wit
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Danny Burstein, Follies
Jeremy Jordan, Newsies
Steve Kazee, Once
Norm Lewis, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Ron Raines, Follies
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Jan Maxwell, Follies
Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Cristin Milioti, Once
Kelli O’Hara, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Laura Osnes, Bonnie & Clyde
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher
Michael Cumpsty, End of the Rainbow
Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors
Andrew Garfield, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Linda Emond, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Spencer Kayden, Don’t Dress for Dinner
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher
Judith Light, Other Desert Cities
Condola Rashad, Stick Fly
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Michael Cerveris, Evita
David Alan Grier, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Josh Young, Jesus Christ Superstar
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Elizabeth A. Davis, Once
Jayne Houdyshell, Follies
Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Jessie Mueller, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors
Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park
Mike Nichols, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Jeff Calhoun, Newsies
Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Diane Paulus, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
John Tiffany, Once
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Rob Ashford, Evita
Christopher Gattelli, Newsies
Steven Hoggett, Once
Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Bill Elliott, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Martin Lowe, Once
Danny Troob, Newsies
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
John Lee Beatty, Other Desert Cities
Daniel Ostling, Clybourne Park
Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors
Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Bob Crowley, Once
Rob Howell and Jon Driscoll, Ghost the Musical
Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel, Newsies
George Tsypin, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
William Ivey Long, Don’t Dress for Dinner
Paul Tazewell, A Streetcar Named Desire
Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors
Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Gregg Barnes, Follies
ESosa, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Eiko Ishioka, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark
Martin Pakledinaz, Nice Work If You Can Get It
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Jeff Croiter, Peter and the Starcatcher
Peter Kaczorowski, The Road to Mecca
Brian MacDevitt, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Kenneth Posner, Other Desert Cities
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Christopher Akerlind, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Natasha Katz, Follies
Natasha Katz, Once
Hugh Vanstone, Ghost the Musical
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Paul Arditti, One Man, Two Guvnors
Scott Lehrer, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Gareth Owen, End of the Rainbow
Darron L. West, Peter and the Starcatcher
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Acme Sound Partners, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Clive Goodwin, Once
Kai Harada, Follies
Brian Ronan, Nice Work If You Can Get It
SPECIAL TONY AWARD® FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE
Emanuel Azenberg
REGIONAL THEATRE AWARD
The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.
ISABELLE STEVENSON AWARD
Bernadette Peters
SPECIAL TONY AWARD
Actors’ Equity Association, Hugh Jackman
TONY HONORS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE THEATRE
Freddie Gershon
Artie Siccardi
TDF Open Doors
Opening, Closing, Cast Changes and Albums: A Summer News Roundup
Summers are generally fairly slow on Broadway, with many recovering or reveling in the Tony Award results, hot weather and summer tourists; there’s still plenty going on, but not much in the way of news. There have been a couple exciting announcements, which are well worth sharing (thus this entry). If you want to get more frequent updates, follow us on Facebook or Twitter; I’ll post the juicy bits there and do another roundup here before the summer is out.
Opening Soon
Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster will officially open on Broadway on April 7th at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall, this old-fashioned dance-heavy musical has the Broadway community buzzing. The revival will feature a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.
The other big news item is that How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying will open on Broadway on March 27. The show will star Daniel Radcliffe, who, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know as Harry Potter, and if you’ve been living in a theatre as that kid who got naked last season in Equus. The movie version of this show, starring Robert Morse, continues to be one of my favorites in the genre. Can’t wait to see what Mr. Radcliffe does with the role of Finch.
And then we’ve got the Off-Broadway transfers: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson announced that it will hit Broadway on September 21 and The Scottsboro Boys that it will open on October 31. We can only hope they enjoy as much success on Broadway as they did off.
Big Casting Changes
Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch have taken over the lead roles in A Little Night Music and everyone is raving about their performances. Check out Peters’ performance of “Send in the Clowns”:
Two others, Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, have also stepped into some big shoes – the real life married couple are now playing Diana and Dan Goodman in Next to Normal on Broadway. Yes, they’re big shoes, but if Twitter buzz counts for anything, it sounds as though the show is in more than capable hands.
Closing Soon
In sadder news, Come Fly Away has announced that its final performance will be on September 5. This production, though short-lived on Broadway, does have plans to tour the US, so if you didn’t have the chance to see it on the Great White Way, you’ll have other opportunities.
Cast Albums
The revival cast of La Cage Aux Folles will be recording their work for their fans. The album will be released sometime in September. Pre-order it on amazon.com now.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m loving the newly released albums for Everyday Rapture and Promises, Promises, available online here and here. Trust me – these are albums you won’t regret buying.
Post-Tony Broadway News Recap
Whew … still recovering from the Tony Awards. Everyone thought Sean Hayes did a wonderful job as host (some ranking him higher than NPH), but overall found the ceremony to be a bit soul-less and not as much about Broadway as about celebrity (Hunter Foster has even created a Facebook group called GIVE THE TONYS BACK TO BROADWAY).
And word is out that next year the awards will be booted from the Radio City Music Hall, which they’ve called home for the past 13 years. Back when the Tony Awards were first televised in 1967 (and on through 1996) they were held in actual Broadway houses, rotating through to a different one each year. I’d personally love to see the Tonys return to this system, and the much less elaborate stagings of the musical numbers. Perhaps being kicked to the curb is a good thing and will require producers to rethink the whole event.
The Tonys did feature appearances by a number of the headliners who’ll appear in musicals slated to open next season, including Daniel Radcliff who’ll be starring as Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Ricky Martin who’ll play Che in the West-End transfer of Evita and Antonio Bandares in the title role in Zorba. Here’s the full list of the musicals on the docket to open soon:
- The Scottsboro Boys – October 31
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – November 4
- Unchain My Heart – November 7
- The Pee-Wee Herman Show – November 11
- Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark – November 2011
- Elf – November 2011
- Zorba – Fall 2011
- Anything Goes – February 2011
- The Book of Mormon – March 2011
- Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – March 2011
- Phantom: Love Never Dies – April 2011
- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Spring 2011
- Catch Me If You Can – Spring 2011
- Sister Act – Spring 2011
- Annie – Fall 2012
- Evita – Spring 2012
- Yank! – TBA
- Funny Girl – TBA
- Godspell – TBA
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – TBA
Meanwhile, Hair and Sondheim on Sondheim both closed their doors on June 27th. Everyday Rapture will be bowing out on July 11 and South Pacific on August 22. Surprisingly no shows have announced closings after suffering losses at the Tonys. Promises, Promises, which was trashed by the critics, got an unexpected boost from Sean’s emceeing and the big on-screen kiss with costar Kristin Chenoweth on the Tony Awards. And Addams Family, which didn’t even get to perform a number at the awards, is also doing very well in the box office. Seems the Tony Awards are no longer the predictor of audiences they used to be…
A number of big casting changes will be taking place next month. The biggest excitement is over the replacements for CZJ and Angela Lansbury in A Little Night Music. Rather than petering out after the stars’ departures, many are now predicting an increase in ticket sales, as their successors will be Broadway favorites Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Also exciting is that the real life married couple of Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley will take over the roles of Diana Goodman and Dan in Broadway’s Next to Normal when Alice Ripley departs to join the show on its US Tour and Brian D’Arcy James to perform in Time Stands Still and a new HBO series. Kristin Chenoweth will be leaving Promises, Promises this September (don’t worry, they made sure to record a cast album first). Her replacement has not yet been announced.
