Theater

Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall

© Andrew H. Walker

Fans of Drew Barrymore's turn as "Cinderella" will be pleased to hear that Ever After is being turned into a stage musical headed for Broadway.

Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, Nice Work If you Can Get It), will helm this production as both director and choreographer. Ever After's music is by Zina Goldrich and book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler with music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell. Ever After is being produced on Broadway by Scott Landis and Philip Morgaman.

Based on the 20th Century Fox Film, Ever After follows "Danielle de Barbarac," the daughter of a 16th century French nobleman, who embarks on a series of adventures involving her scheming stepmother, artist Leonardo DaVinci, and finding her own Prince Charming.

Ever After will open on Broadway in the 2013-2014 season following a pre-Broadway engagemet.

Annie, 2012 Broadway Revival

© Annie

After the extended online and in person auditions for the upcoming Broadway revival of Annie, the winner of the title role was announced with a flourish. Now, the producers are giving the "Orphans" their due entrée to Broadway society as well.

The cast of orphans features Emily Rosenfeld as "Molly," Tyrah Skye Odoms as "Kate," Junah Jang as "Tessie," Georgi James as "Pepper," Madi Rae DiPietro as "July," and Taylor Richardson as "Duffy."

Producer Arielle Tepper Madover commented on finding the right girls for the show:

"We saw so many wonderful young girls for these roles. I wish we could have cast them all! The orphans are always a highlight of Annie, and we think we have an amazing, unbelievably talented group with Emily, Tyrah, Junah, Georgi, Madi Rae, and Taylor. I think audiences will fall in love with each and every one of them. We also are incredibly fortunate to have Jaidyn Young as our standby for the roles of 'Annie and several of the orphans."

The Broadway revival of the Tony Award-winning Annie will open at a Nederlander Theatre to be announced Fall 2012.

Outer Critics Circle Awards

© OuterCritics.org

The first tale-tell sign of how the award season will go has been set in motion with the announcement of the 2012 Outer Critics Circle Awards, yesterday, May 14, 2012. Covering Broadway as well as Off-Broadway, some of the announced winners shook up the predictions, meaning anything can happen the rest of the season with the Drama Desk, Drama League Awards, and the Superbowl of theatre, the Tony Awards.

The Outer Critics Circle is comprised reviewers covering New York theatre for publications outside of the New York City area as well as other media including radio, television stations, and online news organizations.

For a complete list of nominees and winners, visit the 2012 Outer Critics Circle Awards page. The Awards will be presented May 24, 2012, at the legendary restaurant, Sardi's.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

© Nice Work If You Can Get It

Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall seems to have a way with the retro-musicals. Her latest Broadway dance-tacular, Nice Work If You Can Get It, has not only been nominated for 10 Tony Awards, but the producers have announced a national tour.

Casting has not been announced, but the hoofers who will take to the road in 2013 are sure to be amazing since they must fill the triple-threat shoes of current stars Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara.

Nice Work is the most nominated Broadway show of the season, honored with 10 Tony Award nominations, 9 Drama Desk Awards noms, 9 Outer Critics Circle Awards noms, and 3 Drama League Awards nominations.

For more information on tickets to the current Broadway production of Nice Work playing at the Imperial Theatre, or to learn more about the upcoming tour, visit the show's website.

Evita on Broadway

line-height:1em;" zT="1/1UH">© Evita

Don't cry for Evita, Argentina. She's doing just fine, and taking her show on the road!

Announced today, Evita, the acclaimed Broadway revival of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's classic Tony-winning musical theatre work, will launch a national tour in the Fall of 2013. Though casting is yet to be announced, the national tour of Evita will open at Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The Broadway revival opened March 12, 2012 at the Marquis Theatre in Times Square. Though the show is named Evita, pop star and Broadway familiar Ricky Martin, as "Che," has received top billing over the first Argentinian ever to play "Evita" on Broadway, Elena Roger. All three lead performers -- Martin, Roger, and Michael Cerveris as "Juan Peron," are nominated for 2012 Tony Awards.

Evita is also multi-nominated for Drama Desk Awards and Drama League Awards.

Other shows that recently announced national tours include Once the Musical and Nice Work If You Can Get It.

For tickets to the Broadway show of Evita as well as information on the national tour, visit the show's website.

How to Succeed... Broadway Revival

© How to Succeed...

The 2011 Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has set its closing date.

On the heels of another Broadway show's closing, How to Succeed..., currently starring pop sensation Nick Jonas, will play its last performance on May 20, 2012.

The show was nominated in for several 2011 Tony Awards under the star power of Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette, who won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. But H2$ lost the Tony for Best Revival to Kathleen Marshall's acclaimed production of Anything Goes.

After Radcliffe's depature, "Glee" alum Darren Criss took over the lead role of corporate ladder climber "J. Pierrepont Finch," who was succeeded by Jonas.

When it closes, How to Succeed... will have played 30 preview and 473 regular performances at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre located at 302 West 45th Street.

For tickets to the last few performances, visit the show's website.

Once the Musical on Broadway

© Once the Musical

The "little show that could" has "once" and for all proved its worth.

The Academy Award-winning film-turned-stage-musical, Once, has not only swept the 2012 Tony Award nominations, but the producers have now announced a national tour to start in the summer of 2013.

No details yet on cities or theatres, but clearly the producers are expecting great things from the Tony Awards June 10th on CBS. Once is nominated for multiple awards: 11 Tony Awards, 7 Outer Critics Circle Awards, plus several Drama League Awards and Drama Desk Awards.

Tickets for the Broadway production are available on the show's website.

Leap of Faith

© Leap of Faith

The Tonys weren't kind to Alan Menken's other show on Broadway, Leap of Faith, which has announced it will close.

The Alan Menken and Glen Slater tuner based on a Steve Martin film has not done as well as had been hoped. Though it was nominated for a 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical, not even Raul Esparza could help the show to Tony glory -- and Esparza has the distinct honor of being one of a few actors ever to be nominated in all four male actor categories for the Tony Awards. Even Ghost the Musical got more acting noms than Leap of Faith did.

Menken probably isn't too upset because his other musical, Newsies, is doing quite well both in box office receipts and awards nominations, thank you very much. In fact, the limited run of Newsies has extended through August 19, 2012.

Leap of Faith will close this Sunday at the conclusion of its matinee performance, May 13, 2012.

Drama Desk Awards

© Drama Desk Awards

Over the weekend, the theatre community rose up in protest over the Drama Desk's elimination of the Orchestrations' category from this years contenders. Broadway and musical theatre-lovers spoke up on social media sites and signed a petition on Change.org to get a reversal of the decision.

Today, the Drama Desk Board issued the following statement:

"After hearing the outpouring of concern and support for the category, the Drama Desk Executive Board will reinstate the category for this year's awards show on June 3 at The Town Hall."

According to Isa Goldberg, Drama Desk President, "The Drama Desk prides itself on celebrating New York's rich theatrical community. Our Executive Board appreciates the forthright and passionate response to our nominations announcement and have taken your comments to heart. The Executive Board is very happy to reinstate the Outstanding Orchestrations category and honor the dedication and hard work of this season's talented orchestrators."

Here are the nominees for the 2012 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Orchestrations.

Annie, 2012 Broadway Revival

© Annie

After nine months of searching for the perfect precocious showtune-belting star-in-the-making, the producers of the upcoming 2012 Broadway revival of the Tony Award-winning musical Annie announced their new star.

Producers held auditions in cities around the U.S. as well as held online auditions, looking for the perfect singing orphan. After viewing over 5,000 auditions, the new "Annie" has been found.

Eleven-year-old Lilla Crawford, originally of Los Angeles, CA, has been cast to play the title role in the 2012 revival production of the Tony Award-winning musical. The show is set to open this Fall at a Nederlander theatre that will be announced soon. This production will be directed by three-time Tony Award winning Book writer James Lapine and choreographed by Tony Award winning Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler.

On hearing the news, Crawford exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh, it happened! My heart just stopped. I thought it would be so cool just to be a part of Annie, but to actually be playing Annie is a dream come true!"

"We fell in love with Lilla from the moment we saw her," said producer Arielle Tepper Madover. "When she is in the room you can't take your eyes off her. She has a gorgeous voice, is a terrific actress, wonderful dancer and a sweet girl. She is everything that we could have ever hoped for in an 'Annie.' "

Crawford made her Broadway debut playing "Debbie" in the closing cast of the Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot on Broadway. She has also performed in 14 shows with the Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, CA.