'Hadestown' jumps ahead of pack to welcome Broadway patrons
“Hadestown,” the brooding musical about the underworld, has set its Broadway reopening date on Sept. 2, jumping ahead of such megahits as “Hamilton” and “Wicked” to position itself as the first show to welcome audiences on Broadway since the pandemic.
Patti Smith returns to singing live with Brooklyn concert
CORRECTS DAY OF CONCERT - FILE - Patti Smith attends a special screening of "Pavarotti" at the iPic Theater in New York on May 28, 2019. Smith performed six songs as well as read poetry and excerpts from her book “Just Kids” in the Beaux-Arts Court at the museum, her voice bouncing off the skylight 60 feet above. It was a concert to also honor museum workers and drew just under 50 people, all socially distanced in widely spaced chairs. The Smith concert came on the same day in 1989 that Mapplethorpe died at age 42. It also marked the one-year anniversary of when Smith last performed live, at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
Sidelined 'Mean Girls' musical won't reopen on Broadway
FILE - The cast of "Mean Girls" performs at the 72nd annual Tony Awards on June 10, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – Producers of the Broadway musical “Mean Girls” have decided not to restart when authorities allow theaters to reopen in New York City, the second and likely not last established show to be a casualty of COVID-19 on the Great White Way. “We remain excited to bring this musical to the big screen, relaunch the tour and prepare for a London production,” said “Saturday Night Live” and “Mean Girls” producer Lorne Michaels in a statement. Broadway theaters abruptly closed on March 12, knocking out all shows, including 16 that were still scheduled to open. Late May is the earliest Broadway will reopen, according to the Broadway League.
Tony Award nominations to be announced Oct. 15
NEW YORK – Nominations for this year's Tony Awards have been set for Oct. 15, pitting 18 eligible shows in competition for 26 competitive categories in a coronavirus-shortened season. James Monroe Iglehart will announce the nominations on the Tony Awards' YouTube Channel at noon ET. The Tony Awards Nominating Committee will meet Tuesday to vote on this year’s nominations. That left the following productions eligible for 2020 Tony Award nominations:“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” “Moulin Rouge! Producers, citing health and city authorities, have three times extended the Broadway shutdown, currently until at least early January.
Online fall Broadway play revivals attract starry casts
NEW YORK – Broadway theaters may be dark, but there will be plenty of new online productions of some of classic plays this fall with some starry self-isolating actors, including Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Patti LuPone, Laura Linney and David Alan Grier. Producer Jeffrey Richards on Wednesday unveiled a weekly play run of livestreamed works to benefit The Actors Fund. They will stream on Broadway’s Best Shows and ticket buyers can access the events through TodayTix starting at $5. David Mamet’s ”Race" is up on Oct. 29, starring David Alan Grier and Ed O’Neill. Mamet’s “Boston Marriage” is slated for Nov. 12 with Patti LuPone and Rebecca Pidgeon.
Black soldiers monument faces scrutiny amid racial reckoning
Workers inspect the top cornice stone as it is lifted from the Shaw 54th Regiment memorial opposite the Statehouse, Friday, July 17, 2020, in Boston. Amid the national reckoning on racism, the memorial to the first Black regiment of the Union Army, the Civil War unit popularized in the movie "Glory, is facing scrutiny. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Black soldiers monument faces scrutiny amid racial reckoning
Amid the national reckoning on racism, the memorial to the first Black regiment of the Union Army, the Civil War unit popularized in the movie "Glory, is facing scrutiny. White commander out front; Black soldiers in the background. It’s the first thing you see.”Amid the national reckoning on racism, the Shaw memorial is the latest and, perhaps, one of the more curious to receive scrutiny. Unlike other felled monuments, the work by American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens isn’t a paean to the Confederacy. Saint-Gaudens spent 14 years creating a richly detailed bas relief, using Black men of different ages as models for his realistic soldiers.
'SNL' has Vice President Mike Pence freaking out over impeachment
"Saturday Night Live" usually mocks President Trump in its cold opens, but this week the NBC variety show focused on Vice President Mike Pence. (NBC/Broadway Video)(CNN) - "Saturday Night Live" usually mocks President Trump in its cold opens, but this week the NBC variety show focused on Vice President Mike Pence. Rudy Giuliani, played by Kate McKinnon, told Bennett's Pence that the impeachment news has been tough on his schedule. Attorney General William Barr, who was played by Aidy Bryant, asked Bennett's Pence where President Trump was. Then McKinnon's Giuliani and Bennett's Pence said the show's signature phrase together, "Live from New York ...