My Broadway Review

Destan Owens has made his return to Broadway through the Broadway play “Rent” that has started it showing from the 11^th of August. Owens has taken over the role of Collins in the play and is expected top be part of the play till the 7^th of September. He is called in as a stop gap arrangement to fill the shoes of Michael McElroy who will be away till September 7^th.

Owens has already been a popular Broadway artist as he has performed his roles to perfection in plays like Smokey Joe’s Café and Chicago. Tickets to the Broadway play is currently on sale.

The Town Hall in New York will play host to the fourth annual Broadway Cabaret festival that features all the Broadway stars and musicians on the 17th to the 19th of October 2008. The New York Broadway fans are longing to see the musical festival and it will feature classic songs to latest songs. The festival will kick start on the 17th of October at 8 pm and the tickets to the entire concert on all the three days are priced at $150. The individual; ticket rates for each show is priced at $55. The tickets to this Cabaret concert will be available at the venue or through various online ticketing websites.

“Title of Show” is a musical play that is to hit the Broadway theaters with its preview shows from July 5 at Lyceum Theater. The musical play will go on air at the Broadway come July 17 and the tickets to the show will be on offer from June 18. Tipped to be a musical hit by the various reviews that this new play has garnered, Broadway fans are waiting with full enthusiasm for the shows to open. The play is about two friends named Hunter and Jeff who want to write an original music play that features them and their girl friends. It talks about the hardships they face in their journey of making this play a musical Broadway hit.

The Broadway in Chicago Concert in the Park conducted as part of the Taste of Chicago festival, scheduled for 30 June, will feature some of the popular shows from Broadway. The venue for the concert is the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. This event is co-hosted by Janet Davies of ABC-7 and Gene Weygand of the Wicked. The concert will have performances by the casts of Jersey Boys, Grease, Wicked, Shout, Dirty dancing, A Chorus Line, Legally Blonde and many more.  The tickets for these Broadway productions will be available at the Chicago Box offices. The celebrated shows of the Broadway and the pleasing venue will make this concert memorable for any visitor.

The ever elusive Cubby Bernstein is to make a rare appearance at the Helen Hayes Theatre this coming Wednesday, May 24. The eloquent Tony Campaign Manager will also deliver a speech on site. Along with the cast of XANADU, Bernstein will also be selling cupcakes, and all funds will go to the Broadway Cares and Equity Fights Aids foundations. XANADU celebtrates its inaugural year on Broadway and it is commendable that they have garnered the Best Book, Best Choreography, Best Actress as well as the much sought after Best Musical award in recent Tony nominations.

The director of “South Pacific” and the Tony award nominee Barlett Sher will direct the musical, Bruce Lee: Journey to the West, produced by Elephant Eye Theatrical. Tony award winner David Henry Hwang will write the script and David Yazbek will write the lyrics for the musical and will also score the music for the play. “Bruce Lee” will contain the biography of the martial arts star. The choreography for this musical is the responsibility of Dou Dou Huang, the art director. Bruce Lee will target Broadway in 2010. The show will combine diverse martial arts, Chinese Opera, pop music and modern dance forms.

 The Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet’s new political comedy November is a can’t miss experience. The play features the mega star of Broadway Nathan Lee as President Charles H.P Smith and Laurie Metcalf as Clarice Bernstein the presidential aide. Dylan Baker plays the role of Archer Brown, the presidential advisor.  Joe Mantello is the director of the play and he has portrayed the effort of an unpopular president to get through the re-election with the help of comedy. Dylan Baker with his instinctive comic sense has made the role of Chief of staff memorable. According to reviews, this play has all the essential mixes for a roaring success at the Broadway.

David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez the past winners of the Tony award announced this year’s nominations. “In the Heights” created by Lin- Manuel Miranda and “South Pacific”, the music revival, lead the list of nominations with thirteen and eleven nominations respectively. Lin- Manuel is nominated for best leading actor as well as for his scores in the sentimental drama. “Gypsy” and “Passing Strange” which are autobiographical plays got seven nominations each whereas “Sunday in the Park with George” received nine nominations. Tracy Lett’s August: Osage County received seven nominations including the one for Best Play category. The other major contender for Best Play is “The 39 Steps” adapted from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie.

May 17 will be the night when the various bands comprising of Broadway and off Broadway actors, musicians and writers will battle it out during the second annual Broadway Battle of the Bands competition that is conducted by the New York Musical Theater Festival. The show will kick start at 10 pm at the Zipper Factory in Manhattan and the tickets to this one off concert can purchased for 20$ a person.

The band competition produced by Amy Birnbaurn will feature artists of various genres like jazz, pop, rock, R& B, funk etc and the likes of The Fabulous Entourage (featuring actors Perry Silver, Libby Winters, Jimmy Owens and director Chamberlin), Kacie Shiek, Groovelily (Gene Lewin, Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda), Anthony Rapp and his band (Dan Weiss, Pete Asirisi, David Matos and Paul Gil) and many more. The Broadway Battle of Bands is a program formulated to bring out the extraordinary talents of the Broadway artists to the general public and is an event that has received good reviews from the Broadway audience.

Alvin Colt, world famous costume designer for countless Broadway productions have passed away at the age of 92 last Sunday. Official sources said that he perished due to old age surrounded by family and close friends at the exclusive Roosevelt Hospital.

Fellow designer Bob Mackie expressed his condolences and added that Colt was an iconic designed in the world of Broadway and has immense respect for his unrivalled talent. Colt won numerous Tony awards for his contributions throughout more than 60 years of experience in clothing Broadway stars. Colt made his debut with a 1944 musical titled “On the Town” and went on to contribute his talents on shows like “Guys and Dolls” (1950), “Destry Rides Again” (1959) and “Here’s Love” (1963).