Producers have been saying for years that large Broadway orchestras are not financially feasible. In fact, the issue led to a strike 20 years ago. So why are some shows bringing them back?
"We don't gender other people's professions," says actor Alex Newell. "You say ... I'm going to my dentist and I need to hire a plumber." But Broadway's highest honors have male/female distinctions.
"A work realized this way needed to be able to come home to Atlanta," noted Leatrice Ellzy Wright, a Sr. Director of Programming at the Apollo Theater who also still calls South Fulton home.
What started as a stripped-down production with a limited run became a Grammy award-winning Broadway musical with six Tony nominations. Bareilles plays the Baker's Wife: "I'm so glad that I said yes."
Back in 2001, Monsoon Wedding was an indie darling turned international success. Now, the stage adaptation is an ambitious experiment in bridging Indian musical styles with a Broadway-style songbook.
J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) and Alex Newell (Shucked) are the first nonbinary actors to be nominated for Tonys, and today's announcement also highlighted three plays which have won Pulitzers.
GPB's Peter Biello spoke with Ed Roland of Collective Soul and event host Kevn Kinney of Drivin N Cryin to find out more about the May 13 concert which also includes Peter Buck of R.E.M., David Ryan Harris, Lenny Kaye, Mother’s Finest and Jet Black Roses.
The Tony Award-winning comedian was internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, a condescending snob whose evolving character delighted audiences over seven decades.
In Chita: A Memoir, Rivera recounts her career originating roles in major Broadway shows. Now 90, Rivera remembers West Side Story from the beginning: "I was there at the first flicker of the skirt!"
Thursday on GPB-TV, the annual ArtsBridge Foundation’s Shuler Awards, for high school theater, will be livestreamed. This recognizes and celebrates high school theater programs across Georgia for their 2022-23 school year productions.
On Sunday night the curtain will fall on the longest-running show in Broadway history: Andrew Lloyd Webber's mega hit ran for more than 35 years. "I got the gig of a lifetime," says one cast member.
Josh Groban, Michael Cerveris, Norm Lewis and Len Cariou all agree: It's exhausting playing a murderous sociopath, while dealing with stage blood, a mechanical barber chair and singing complex music.
Kristina Wong is a Los Angeles-based satirical artist with a history of taking on surprising leadership positions in real life and on stage. Her latest solo show is Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.
