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Everyone's favorite time of the week!

Confess your unpopular theater opinions and other relevant ~secrets~! Do you ~know things~? Be a weasel and share with us! Try to play nice with other members, though! ;]

Don't forget to check the anonymous comment box! IP logging is disabled, so you'll be just about as anonymous as possible!

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I'm on my iPod touch so no gif :( nooooo

HAIR Throws A 'Snow Day' For NYC Students 2/10



The Tony Award-winning Broadway production of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical will celebrate the citywide closings of New York City public and private schools tomorrow, Wednesday, February 10, by offering $40 tickets to students for both the 2:00 P.M. matinee and the 8:00 P.M. evening performances. Theatergoers can take advantage of this unprecedented offer by presenting valid student I.D. in person at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre box office (302 West 45th Street, NYC). Each student may purchase up to four discounted tickets, subject to availability. This is offer is not valid for previously purchased tickets.


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Sounds pretty fun! If you decide to take advantage, please be safe, bwaydailyers! The mayor has advised against driving and double check all train schedules before heading out the door.

Starstudded cast assembled for 'Valley of the Dolls' reading 

A starry cast has been assembled for the Actors Fund's upcoming reading of "Valley of the Dolls," which will be presented March 15 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College in Manhattan.

Carl Andress will direct the reading, which begins at 7:30 PM. The evening will feature a stage adaptation of Helen Deutsch's screenplay penned by Bob Hess and Doug Miller. Jacqueline Susann wrote the original novel.

The cast will boast Charles Busch as Helen Lawson, Heidi Blickenstaff as Neely O’Hara, Tovah Feldshuh as Miriam Polar, Cheyenne Jackson as Tony Polar, Martha Plimpton as Anne Welles and Christopher Sieber as Ted Casablanca. Additional casting will be announced soon.

"Valley of the Dolls," according to press notes, "follows the lives of three women – naive New Englander Anne Welles, aspiring singer Neely O'Hara, and buxom beauty Jennifer North – as they attempt to achieve fame and fortune in show business. "As this legendary story unfolds, each starlet discovers that Hollywood is full of pitfalls and heartbreak. Instead of the happiness they seek, the trio descends into a dark world of sex, alcoholism, suicide and a chemical dependence on a variety of prescription 'dolls.'"

Tickets are $75, $100 and $150 and are now available by visiting www.actorsfund.org or by calling (212) 221-7300 ext. 133. Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College is located at 899 Tenth Avenue.

www.playbill.com/news/article/136741-Valley-of-the-Dolls-Reading-to-Feature-Busch-Feldshuh-Jackson-Plimpton-and-More

Romano Will Join Scolari in Off-Broadway's White's Lies




Christy Carlson Romano, who has been seen on Broadway in Parade, Beauty and the Beast and Avenue Q, has joined the cast of the new Off-Broadway comedy White's Lies, which begins previews at New World Stages March 22.

As previously reported, stage and screen star Peter Scolari will head the cast of the production, which officially opens April 12. Producers of the Ben Andron play are Aaron Grant and Jana Robbins; Bob Cline directs.

Romano's TV credits include Disney’s “Even Stevens,” “Cadet Kelly” and the voice of Kim Possible in the series of the same name, for which she was nominated for an Emmy in 2004. She has also appeared in “Family Guy,” “Joan of Arcadia” and “Summerland."

"Joe White's got it all," according to White's Lies press notes. "He's handsome, he's charming, he's got a great career & a killer smile that manages to land him a different girl every night. But all that changes when his mother drops a bombshell on him: she’s got cancer & her dying wish is to have a grandchild. With his bachelorhood threatened, Joe is faced with a choice. He could give up his womanizing ways and find a nice girl to settle down and have kids with... OR... he could convince his bitter, angry ex-girlfriend from college – who just happens to have a daughter in her early twenties - to pretend that her daughter is his daughter. As their tangled web of lies unravels, Joe and company find themselves on a hilarious journey full of unexpected twists and turns that will have you looking at cancer and commitment in a whole new way!"


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Nick Jonas Eyes Broadway After a Decade Absence




Before claiming the hearts of teenage girls everywhere with his brothers, this Jonas brother claimed parts of a different kind on the Broadway stage. The pop music star had roles in Beauty and the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun, and Les Miserables ten years ago when he was just seven years old.

Jonas tells Teen Vogue "Broadway has a big part in my realizing that I wanted to make music a career. I'd love to go back - if the timing was right." He is interested in doing a song and dance musical.

The Jonas Brothers - comprised of Kevin, Joe and Nick - got their start on The Disney Channel's Camp Rock and have since released four albums: It's About Time, Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, and Lines, Vines and Trying Times. In 2008, the group was nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 51st Grammy Awards and won the award for Breakthrough Artist at the American Music Awards. As of May 2009, before the release of Lines, Vines and Trying Times, they have sold over eight million albums worldwide. In addition to Nick's impressive Broadway credits, Joe has appeared on Broadway in La Boheme.


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I think I saw him in Annie Get Your Gun, but my Playbill has gone the way of the dinosaurs. =(

Susan Blackwell Goes Side by Side by Andrea Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Will Swenson




Susan Blackwell is back, getting up close and personal with Broadway’s most lickable and lovable stars! In the eagerly-anticipated third episode of her Broadway.com original series, Side by Side by Susan Blackwell, she gets up bright and early for a Pilates adventure with Hair hottie Will Swenson, rubs awards on her butt at the home of In the Heights genius Lin-Manuel Miranda and goes on a manhunt with comedy legend Andrea Martin.

( Video under the cut! )

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Weekly Mini-Review/Discussion Post



What did you see this week? What are you going to see? THIS IS NOT JUST BROADWAY! Did you see a regional show? Touring cast? How was it? Who was awesome in it? Who sucked? Review it! Brag about it! Bitch about it! Tell us to go see it or run far away! Did you stagedoor? Do you have pics?

• Spring Awakening, Enron, and Red Scare lead the pack of Olivier Award nominees.
• Nominations for the 55th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced May 3 at 8:30 AM ET at the New York Friars Club in Manhattan, with the ceremony being held May 23rd.
• Nominees for the 60th annual Outer Critics Circle Awards — which honor the best in Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre — will be announced April 26 at 11 AM in the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street. Winners will be revealed May 17th.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

• Stephen Kunken, best known for his role in Frost/Nixon, will join Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz in the upcoming Enron.
• Olivier award winner Michael Ball will return to the role of Edna Turnblad in the UK tour of Hairspray.
• Tony winner and OBC member Michael Rupert will join the national tour of Legally Blonde in Denver on February 10th.
• Tony winner Lea Salonga joins the lineup of this year's Broadway Backwards February 22nd at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

My Broadway Valentine



In honor of Valentine’s Day, Broadway.com decided to ask some of the most romantic people we know—Broadway stars—to share their thoughts on the season of love, and the shows that make them swoon.


KERRY BUTLER (Sherrie in Rock of Ages)( ... )



CHAD KIMBALL (Huey Calhoun in Memphis)( ... )



LAURA OSNES (Nellie Forbush in South Pacific)( ... )



JOANNA GLEASON (Love, Loss and What I Wore)( ... )


Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

Tony Winner Laura Benanti to Hit the Books in New CBS TV Pilot




Tony Award winner Laura Benanti is headed for the small screen again. According to EW.com, the actress, who ended her starring run in Broadway’s In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play on January 10, has nabbed the lead role in the CBS comedy pilot Open Books. No other casting for the show has been announced at this time.

Written by former Will & Grace scribe Gail Lerner, the proposed series reportedly revolves around a book editor (Benanti) and her circle of friends. The sitcom is inspired by Lerner’s own experiences as a temp at a book publishing company.

Open Books will mark a return to television for Benanti. The actress previously starred on the support group comedy Starved and had guest arcs both Eli Stone and Life on Mars. In addition to In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, Benanti has been seen on Broadway in The Sound of Music, Swing!, Into the Woods, Nine, The Wedding Singer and Gypsy, which earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.



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Time Stands Still Gets One-Week Extension on Broadway



Time Stands Still, Donald Margulies' well-reviewed play at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway, will get an extra week of performances, now to March 27.

To accommodate the added shows, MTC will bump Collected Stories (also by Margulies) to a start date of April 9 rather than April 6. Opening night for Collected Stories at the Friedman will remain April 28.

Time Stands Still, directed by Daniel Sullivan, opened Jan. 28 to positive reviews.

In Time Stands Still, "Sarah and James, a photographer and a journalist (Laura Linney and Brian d'Arcy James), have been together for years and share a passion for documenting the realities of war. But when circumstances compel them to return home to New York and their circle of friends (Eric Bogosian and Alicia Silverstone) the adventurous couple confronts the prospect of a more conventional life."



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It's Brian d'Arcy James Time! Catching Up with a Broadway Fave



With apologies to Annie Oakley, anything you can do, Brian d’Arcy James can do better. Baddies? See The Wild Party, Sweet Smell of Success and The Good Thief. Heartthrobs? Titanic and The Apple Tree. Sad sacks? Port Authority. Comedy? Shrek and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Solid citizens? Next to Normal (original off-Broadway version) and his current role as a wartime journalist longing for stability in Manhattan Theatre Club’s Broadway production of Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still. A week after collecting a stack of admiring reviews for playing Laura Linney’s lover, James chatted about juggling plays and musicals and how he really feels about having spent a year as Shrek rather than rolling the dice on a Broadway transfer of Next to Normal.

Congratulations on your great reviews in Time Stands Still! Did you read them? ( ... )

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Time Stands Still Star Alicia Silverstone Is Taking Your Questions!




Movie fans fondly remember Alicia Silverstone’s effortlessly funny performance as Cher Horowitz in Clueless, the Valley Girl version of Emma. In the 15 years since then, she’s juggled TV (Miss Match), movies (Beauty Shop) and vegan advocacy (penning the best-selling The Kind Diet) and made her Broadway debut in The Graduate. Luckily for Broadway theatergoers, Silverstone is spending the winter on the Great White Way giving a performance that blends her comic gifts with strength and honesty in Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still. As a down-to-earth party planner in love with a much older editor (Eric Bogosian), Silverstone more than holds her own in a four-person cast led by Laura Linney and Brian d’Arcy James. We just know you’ve got a question for this multitalented star—and now’s your chance to ask it!


Submit your questions here!

Jim Norton Becomes a "Grandpa"




Weep no more for Finian McLonergan. The luck of the Irish doth prevail.

“People have been calling me up, asking, ‘Are you okay? Are you alright?’” said Jim Norton, who played the title role in all 92 performances of the much-too-short-lived Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow. “It was a heart-breaker,” he allowed. He appreciates the sympathy but can’t milk it: Something has indeed turned up.

Come November, Norton said he will return to Broadway as Grandpa Vanderhof, patriarch of an exceedingly eccentric New York clan, in the fifth Broadway revival of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s classic, You Can’t Take It With You. It won a double whammy: the Pulitzer Prize in ‘37 and the Best Picture Oscar in ‘38.

This version will be directed by Anna D. Shapiro, the Tony-winning director of the also-Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County, and the producer has produced eight Tony-winning top plays: Liz McCann. Talk about great expectations!



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Photo Coverage: FINIAN'S RAINBOW Cast Celebrates Cast Recording Release



The PS Classics cast recording of the Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow was released in stores Tuesday, February 2. To celebrate the CD release, Finian's Rainbow stars Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson, Christopher Fitzgerald, Jim Norton, Brian Reddy, Terri White and Guy Davis hosted a CD signing for fans.  The event featured special, encore performances by Cheyenne Jackson, Kate Baldwin, and Christopher Fitzgerald.

PHOTOS AT THE SOURCE.

The acclaimed Sydney Theatre Company production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, will not transfer to Broadway, according to the New York Times.

Producer Stephen C. Byrd, who holds the rights to the property and also produced the 2008 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring James Earl Jones, has opted to present a multi-racial production of the drama in spring 2011.

Byrd had previously discussed his concept for the Streetcar revival in an interview with the Times during the 2008 run of A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which later transferred to the West End.

According to a representative for the producer, Byrd is now in talks with prospective directors and cast members for Streetcar. Byrd, who initially expressed interest in a Broadway transfer of the Australian production, also noted that Blanchett and director Liv Ullman did not seem to make a Broadway transfer of Streetcar a priority.

The Sydney Theatre Company production of A Streetcar Named Desire sold out its entire U.S. engagement at the Kennedy Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music prior to the start of performances. Critical response was enthusiastic. Blanchett had stated that she would only consider a Broadway transfer if the entire STC cast remained intact.

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