Noticias

Going into this year’s Grammys, each of the six nominees for Best Musical Theater Album has its own distinct advantages, from involvement of previous nominees/winners to encouraging statistics. So let’s consider the possibilities.

The frontrunner to win based on the official Gold Derby odds is Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a jukebox musical mining the song catalog of Alicia Keys, who also wrote a few original tunes for the show. Jukebox musicals in general tend to be catnip for voters in this category as they contain material voters are familiar with. Previous champs include Jersey Boys, which used the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons; American Idiot, an adaptation of Green Day‘s eponymous 2004 concept album; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which featured Carole King‘s song catalog; and Jagged Little Pill, an adaptation of Alanis Morissette‘s 1995 album.

Keys has plenty of bona fides.

Casting was announced for Broadway’s upcoming Just in Time starring Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darin, with the Merrily We Roll Along Tony winner to be joined on stage in the new musical by Joe Barbara (A Bronx Tale The Musical), Michele Pawk (Wicked), Lance Roberts (The Music Man), Caesar Samayoa (Come From Away), Christine Cornish, Julia Grondin (Funny Girl), Valeria Yamin (Moulin Rouge!), John Treacy Egan (My Fair Lady), Tari Kelly (Mr. Saturday Night), Matt Magnusson, Khori Michelle Petinaud (Lempicka), and Larkin Reilly (Bad Cinderella).

Producers Tom Kirdahy, Robert Ahrens and John Frost announced the casting today. With a book by Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver, music supervision and arrangements by Andrew Resnick, choreography by Shannon Lewis and based on an original concept by Ted Chapin, Just In Time, developed and directed by Alex Timbers, will open Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre,...

Because “The Sixth Sense, but with the guy from City Slickers” might be a tough sell for a lot of TV viewers, Billy Crystal has been making the promotional rounds in support of his upcoming AppleTV+ horror series Before. So far, critics have been calling the show everything from “brilliant” to “goofy” to “disappointing.”

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Last week, Crystal took his Before hype tour to Today, where he chatted about the new show, as well as his thoughts on his portrayal in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, and also how he may have thoughtlessly given away a piece of priceless movie memorabilia.

Crystal discussed how he’s stolen collected some movie props over the years that are “particularly important” to him, including Miracle Max’s hat from The Princess Bride, his City Slickers chaps and, from Throw Momma From the Train, he kept Danny DeVito (hold for laughter). “I keep him...

Billy Crystal is going darker than audiences have ever seen him before in “Before,” a new Apple TV+ psychological thriller premiering on Friday. But it was not a role that the actor and comedian expected to take on.

Crystal, who is best known for light-hearted roles in “When Harry Met Sally,” “City Slickers” and “Monsters Inc.,” plays child psychiatrist Eli, who encounters a troubled young boy named Noah (Jacobi Jupe) after recently losing his wife, Lynn (Judith Light). As Eli attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens, sparking haunting memories and unearthing unsettling secrets from the past.

He told TheWrap that the series, which he executive produced and developed in partnership with Eric Roth, went through many twists and turns to get to where it is today.

Billy Crystal and Jacobi Jupe in “Before” (Apple TV+)

“[Eric] and I were working on a show, along with Sam Sprecker and Howie Miller,...

Plot: Eli is a child psychiatrist who, after recently losing his wife, Lynn, encounters a troubled young boy, Noah, who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past. As Eli attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens, sparking haunting memories and unearthing unsettling secrets about the past.

Review: Billy Crystal is not known for his dramatic performances. To be fair, the legendary comedic actor has delivered performances that blend humor with serious moments, notably in projects like When Harry Met Sally, Throw Mama From The Train, and Mr. Saturday Night. Crystal has not headlined a fully dramatic project in his fifty-year career, making Before something of a surprise. A psychological thriller with elements of horror and mystery Before is a challenge for any performer, let alone a seventy-six-year-old like Billy Crystal. With an interesting premise and many twists and turns, Before is another unique offering from Apple...

Iconic comedian Billy Crystal is making his debut in the spooky sphere with supernatural limited series “Before.”

Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Crystal executive produces and leads the upcoming Apple TV+ show that centers on a grieving child psychiatrist who becomes haunted by a new patient. The psychological thriller series is billed as a “supernatural mystery” and will unravel its multi-layered storyline across ten episodes.

The official synopsis reads: “‘Before’ stars Crystal as Eli, a child psychiatrist who, after recently losing his wife, Lynn (Judith Light), encounters a troubled young boy, Noah (Jacobi Jupe), who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past. As Eli attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens.”

Rosie Perez, Maria Dizzia, and Ava Lalezarzadeh also star.

Sarah Thorp created the Paramount Television Studios series. Thorp serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer, along with Crystal and “Killers Of The Flower Moon” and “Dune” co-writer Eric Roth.

Apple TV+ is releasing what looks to be a chilling new series, just in time for Halloween. According to the streamer, Before is an “an atmospheric, character-driven psychological thriller” about a child psychiatrist and widower who encounters a small boy with a “haunting connection” to his past. Naturally, the lead role is played by the “you look mah-velous” guy.

Yup, Billy Crystal is the star of this dramatic, seemingly creepy show that, judging from the description, seems not so dissimilar from The Sixth Sense, another story of a child psychologist who befriends a child with whom he shares a mysterious connection. But imagine the Bruce Willis part played by someone who seems like he might break into a medley of humorous show tunes at any moment.

Before also stars the great Judith Light, and one of the executive producers is Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth, who recently penned the script for...

Singer-actor Nick Jonas and Tony Award-winning Tina actor Adrienne Warren will star in the first-ever Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years, a show that’s built a devoted following since its New York debut Off Broadway in 2002.

Opening in spring 2025, the musical will be directed by Whitney White, the Tony-nominated director of 2024 Best Play nominee Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.

Venue, opening night and additional creative team members will be announced at a later date. Producers Seaview, Ambassador Theatre Group and The Season described the project as “a bold, brand-new production.”

“The Last Five Years is one of the greatest original American musicals in the canon,” White said in a statement. “I could not be more excited to bring it to Broadway for the first time with Nick and Adrienne, two powerhouse performers and lovers of theatre. I fell in love with this musical...

Of all the masters of horror that helped to reshape the genre as we know it in the ’70s and ’80s, none were more successful in branching out and achieving commercial success within the studio system than Sam Raimi. His Spider-Man trilogy laid the groundwork for the influx of comic book movies that would follow, but he was eager to return to his roots following the third installment’s turbulent production.

Armed with $30 million and complete creative control, Raimi dusted off a story he wrote with elder brother and frequent collaborator Ivan Raimi back in the ’90s to make his triumphant return to horror with Drag Me to Hell in 2009. The Raimi broters seemingly drew inspiration from 1957’s Night of the Demon but injected it with a heavy dose of Evil Dead DNA, most closely evoking Evil Dead 2‘s cartoonish blend of over-the-top splatter and tongue-in-cheek humor.

If the use...

The acclaimed Off Broadway cast of the Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen will make the move to Broadway when the show begins previews next month, producers announced today.

Starring in the Broadway staging will be Shoshana Bean (Mr. Saturday Night), Brandon Victor Dixon (Hamilton), Kecia Lewis (Ain’t Misbehavin’) and, in their Broadway debuts, Chris Lee and Maleah Joi Moon.

The casting was announced today by producer Akw Productions. Previews begin at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre on Thursday, March 28, with an opening night set for Saturday, April 20.

Hell’s Kitchen features music and lyrics by Keys and book by Kristoffer Diaz. Michael Greif directs, with choreography by Camille A. Brown.

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

The musical made its world premiere last fall in a sold-out engagement at The Public Theater. The official synopsis: “There’s a place where the rhythm of the city is music,...

Dionne Warwick, Billy Crystal, Queen Latifah, Barry Gibb and Renée Fleming have been set as the five arts figures due to be celebrated at the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors, with a ceremony taking place Dec. 3 in Washington, D.C.

The ceremony will take place Dec. 3 and be filmed for later broadcast airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

Four of the five honorees hail from the world of music, although Queen Latifah has shifted her focus toward acting in recent years. The ratio is not an uncommon one for the Kennedy Center Honors: Last year’s ceremony honored U2, Amy Grant, Tania León and Gladys Knight, leaving George Clooney the odd acting man out.

No date was announced for the broadcast, but the 2022 ceremony also took place in the first week of December and was broadcast during the last week of that month. The show will be produced by...

Chris Stapleton took home the coveted Academy of Country Music entertainer of the year honors, while Lainey Wilson was named female artist of the year and Morgan Wallen was male artist of the year at tonight’s 58th annual ACM Awards.

Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks hosted the show, held in Texas this year and streamed via Amazon.

The list of nominees, with the winners in bold:

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean Luke Combs Miranda Lambert Chris Stapleton Carrie Underwood Kane Brown Morgan Wallen

Female Artist of the Year

Miranda Lambert Ashley McBryde Lainey Wilson Carly Pearce Kelsea Ballerini

Male Artist of the Year

Luke Combs Chris Stapleton Kane Brown Jordan Davis Morgan Wallen

Album of the Year

Ashley McBryde – “Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville” Lainey Wilson – “Bell Bottom Country” Luke Combs – “Growin’ Up” Miranda Lambert – “Palomino” Jon Pardi – “Mr. Saturday Night”

Single of the Year

“Heart Like a Truck...

The biggest names in country music are coming together to celebrate the best and brightest stars of the genre on Thursday at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards!

Hardy leads the pack with seven nominations this year, including Song of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year, sharing three of those noms with collaborator Lainey Wilson for their song, “wait in the truck.” For her part, Wilson received six nods — the most for a female artist this year — including Female Artist of the Year.

Meanwhile, Miranda Lambert was breaking records before the telecast even kicked off. The “If I Was a Cowboy” singer received her 17th Female Artist of the Year nomination, passing the record 16 nominations previously held by Reba McEntire. Lambert had five nominations total this year and the opportunity to shatter even more records as the trophies are doled out.

So who actually walked away with the night’s coveted trophies?...

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards announced their winners on Thursday, May 11. Hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, the event streamed live exclusively on Amazon Prime Video from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Scroll down for the complete list of winners.

A couple of relative newcomers led this year’s nominations. Hardy was the top contender with seven nominations: Song of the Year, Song of the Year again (as songwriter for “Sand in My Boots”), Visual Media of the Year (“Wait in the Truck”), Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year (as artist and producer for “Wait in the Truck”).

Lainey Wilson followed with six: Song of the Year, Visual Media of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for “Wait in the Truck,” Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (“Bell Bottom Country”), and Single of the...

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards streamed live from Frisco, Texas, on Prime Video on Thursday, awarding trophies to nominees like Hardy, Brothers Osborne, and the night’s big winner, Lainey Wilson, who took home the award for Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country. Chris Stapleton won the top prize of Entertainer of the Year. Here’s the complete list of winners at the 2023 ACM Awards.

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean

Kane Brown

Luke Combs

Miranda Lambert

Chris Stapleton – Winner

Carrie Underwood

Morgan Wallen

Female Artist...

The Academy of Country Music Award for Album of the Year in 2023 is a rematch. Luke Combs (“Growin’ Up”) is competing against Miranda Lambert (“Palomino”). The last time they faced off was in 2020, when Combs’s “What You See Is What You Get” overtook Lambert’s “Wildcard” to earn him his first prize in the category. Can he do it again, or will Lambert resume her record-breaking run?

Seeacm Awards predictions: Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde and Cody Johnson tussle in Single of the Year rematch

Combs is the favorite to win again, based on the combined predictions of Gold Derby users as of this writing. He gets leading odds of 11/2 with support from 17 of the Top 24 Users who got the highest scores predicting last year’s ACM winners and 18 of the All-Star Top 24 who had the best scores when you combine the last two years’ ACM predictions. It helps that...

Hardy scored seven nominations and tops the list of the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards nominees. Lainey Wilson picked up six nominations, followed by Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, and Cole Swindell with five.

Dolly Parton is returning as ACM Awards host for the second straight year. She’ll be joined by Garth Brooks who’ll be making his Academy of Country Music Awards hosting debut.

This year’s awards show will take place at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The ACM Awards will air live on Prime Video on Thursday, May 11th.

58th Academy of Country Music Awards Nominees:

Entertainer Of The Year

• Jason Aldean

• Kane Brown

• Luke Combs

• Miranda Lambert

• Chris Stapleton

• Carrie Underwood

• Morgan Wallen

Female Artist Of The Year

• Kelsea Ballerini

• Miranda Lambert

• Ashley McBryde

• Carly Pearce

• Lainey Wilson

Male Artist Of The Year

• Kane Brown

• Luke Combs

• Jordan Davis...

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards announced their nominations on Thursday, April 13, in advance of the awards that will take place on Thursday, May 11. Hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, the event will stream live exclusively on Amazon Prime Video at 8:00pm Eastern/5:00pm Pacific from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Scroll down for the complete list of contenders.

A couple of relative newcomers lead this year’s lineup. Hardy is the top contender with seven nominations: Song of the Year, Song of the Year again (as songwriter for “Sand in My Boots”), Visual Media of the Year (“Wait in the Truck”), Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year (as artist and producer for “Wait in the Truck”). Perhaps surprisingly given that impressive haul, Hardy missed the cut for Male Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year.

The Academy of Country Music has unveiled its roster of 2023 ACM Awards nominees, with Hardy and Lainey Wilson leading the way.

Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks will host “Country Music’s Party of the Year,” which is set to stream live on Prime Video on Thursday, May 11 at 8 p.m. Edt/7 p.m. Cdt/5 p.m. Pdt from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Hardy scored seven nominations this year, including Song of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year, sharing three of those noms with collaborator Wilson for their song, “wait in the truck.” For her part, Wilson received six nods — the most for a female artist this year — including Female Artist of the Year.

Meanwhile, Miranda Lambert is breaking records before the telecast even kicks off. The “If I Was a Cowboy” singer received her 17th Female Artist of the Year nomination, passing the record...

Lainey Wilson and Hardy were the most nominated country artists when the nominees for the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards were announced Thursday morning. The pair are nominated together for their collab “Wait in the Truck” for Song of the Year, Visual Media of the Year, and Music Event of the Year.

Wilson, the year’s breakout female country star, is also up for Album of the Year for her LP Bell Bottom Country, Single of the Year for “Heart Like a Truck,” and Female Artist of the Year.

Hardy and Lainey Wilson lead the nominees for the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Hardy is the top contender with seven nominations, while Wilson is up for seven awards. Their collaboration, “wait in the trunk,” will compete for song of the year, visual media of the year and music event of the year.

The ACM Awards, to be hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, will air live on Amazon’s Prime Video on May 11 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Hardy is also nominated for artist-songwriter of the year and is a triple nominee for song of the year: He’s nominated as a performer and co-writer of “wait in the truck” and as a co-writer of Morgan Wallen’s double platinum hit, “Sand In My Boots.” Hardy is a double nominee for musical event of the year since he co-produced “wait in the truck,...

Longtime “Simpsons” voice Hank Azaria, Broadway superstar Sutton Foster, Darren Criss, Danny Strong, Sean Gunn and David Paymer will be featured as guest stars on the fifth and final season of the Prime Video hit “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” an Emmy juggernaut that raises the curtain on its last act with a three-episode premiere on April 14. The show will then roll out new episodes each Friday until the series finale on May 26, airing nine episodes in total.

Azaria has supplied the voice of more than 100 characters as part of the “Simpsons” vocal cast, also starring on the series “Brockmire” and “Huff” and poised to co-star on the new limited series “Hello Tomorrow!” opposite Billy Crudup. He’s a six-time Emmy winner. Foster is a Broadway stage dynamo who won Tony Awards for lead actress in a musical for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in 2002 and the revival of “Anything Goes” in 2011. She...

20 March 2023 – ACM and CMA Award-winning Singer/Songwriter/Producer Jon Pardi today announced his first official headlining run across the globe, the 2023 Mr. Saturday Night World Tour, produced by Live Nation. Named after his latest critically acclaimed album, Mr. Saturday Night, the tour kicks off in Belfast on Aug. 25 followed by multiple dates across the U.K. plus stops in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Oslo, and Stockholm. Pardi then returns for the North American leg of the Mr. Saturday Night World Tour, and rolls through Knoxville, Savannah, St. Louis, Fort Worth, Las Vegas, and more including dates in Ontario and B.C. Opening acts include Midland, Jackson Dean, Randall King, Ella Langley, and DJ Highmax on select dates.

Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale beginning on Tuesday, March 21 and additional presales throughout the week (details below). The general onsale for the tour begins Friday, March 24 at 10 Am Local Time on LiveNation.

Happy 75th birthday to comedian and actor Billy Crystal! What better gift to celebrate than an honorary Oscar? The academy board of governors will meet later in the spring to decide the 2023 honorary recipients. We are hoping that acting governors Whoopi Goldberg, Marlee Matlin and Rita Wilson will put forth Crystal’s name.

Crystal has hosted the Oscars ceremony nine times from 1990 through 2012. He was spectacular in those appearances with an opening musical number each time and sheer joy throughout each show. He really set the standard for what an all-encompassing comedy and musical job can be done for a big awards ceremony. Who can forget his Hannibal Lecter impression with Anthony Hopkins, riding in on a horse to salute “Dances with Wolves,” honoring the elderly movie pioneer Hal Roach or his Jack Palance jokes, just to name a few? He was nominated 11 times at the Emmys for his work on the Oscars,...

Exclusive: Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, John Berendt’s 1994 bestselling book and Pulitzer Prize finalist is being developed into a new musical by playwright Taylor Mac, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, choreography by Tanya Birl and Sarah O’Gleby and direction by Rob Ashford.

An invitation only industry reading will take place May 12 and 13 in New York.

Mac is the MacArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony Nominee perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed Off Broadway production of A 24-Decade History of Popular Music.

Ashford is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning director and choreographer whose Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Frozen, How To Succeed In Business, Promises, Promises, Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek, John Water’s Cry Baby, Curtains, and The Wedding Singer.

Cardi B, Olivia Rodrigo, and Shania Twain lead the presenters lineup for the 2023 Grammy Awards, which take place this Sunday, Feb. 5 at the Cyrpto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Trevor Noah will host for the third time.

Jill Biden, James Corden, Billy Crystal, Viola Davis, and Dwayne Johnson will also make appearances as presenters. While Cardi B, Rodrigo, and Twain are all Grammy Award winners already, the stakes are high for Davis, who could complete the Egot trophy quartet if she wins Best Spoken Word Album for Finding Me.

Corden...

Several famous faces have been tapped to present at Sunday’s 65th annual Grammy Awards, including Viola Davis, first lady Jill Biden and Dwayne Johnson.

Also presenting will be Cardi B, James Corden, Billy Crystal, Olivia Rodrigo and Shania Twain.

Davis and Crystal not only are presenters but also nominees this year. Davis is vying for best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for her memoir, Finding Me; if she wins, she’ll achieve Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status. Crystal is nominated for best musical theater album for Mr. Saturday Night.

The Grammys are set to take place Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air live from 8 -11:30 p.m. Et/5-8:30 p.m. Pt on CBS and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

As previously announced, Trevor Noah will host the show, with performers including Bad Bunny,...

Even with a Covid-shortened performance schedule, Lea Michele’s star turn in Funny Girl was serious business last week, with box office for the musical revival more than doubling from the previous week.

For the week ending September 11 — Michele’s first week as Fanny Brice — Funny Girl grossed 1,639,212, a dramatic upturn from the previous week’s 659,874 and a significant improvement over even the 1.3 million high averages of original star Beanie Feldstein’s early weeks last spring.

‘Funny Girl’: Lea Michele Gets Four Standing Ovations – By Intermission; Jonathan Groff, Ryan Murphy Among The Gleeful Crowd

Next week’s grosses report should provide yet another facet to Michele’s box office impact: She’s out of the production this week due to a positive Covid test. Deadline hears there were a significant number of ticket exchange requests last weekend.

Still, even with Michele’s curtailed performance schedule, Funny Girl filled 96 of its seats for the week, compared to the 70-80ish percentages of recent weeks.

In fact, Funny Girl was one of few Broadway shows that didn’t take a big, post-Labor Day Holiday hit last week. Total grosses for the 19 shows on the boards totaled 20,638,554, a 19 drop from the previous tourist-heavy week. The drop in receipts also reflects a slightly slimmer roster: 19 shows compared with the previous week’s 21 – and one of the missing was the mega-bucks earner The Music Man, on a scheduled hiatus while star Hugh Jackman makes the film festival rounds with Florian Zeller’s The Son. (The other now-gone show was Billy Crystal’s Mr. Saturday Night.)

Producers for The Music Man announced today that the show will close this January 1 with Jackman’s departure.

Other shows that did well last week were a couple of about-to-close productions: Come From Away, which closes October 2, filled 99 of its seats for a 781,173 take, while Dear Evan Hansen, closing September 18, was a sellout, grossing 1,050,167.

Other top earners in the 1M+ range were Aladdin, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Mj, Moulin Rouge, Six, The Lion King and Wicked. Into the Woods, now with a stellar replacement cast, grossed 1,044,801, a noticeable drop from the previous week’s 1.8M.

Coming weeks will see significant activity on the roster: September alone will see previews begin for Cost of Living, Leopoldstadt, 1776, Death of a Salesman, The Piano Lesson and Topdog/Underdog, with more to come later this fall.

Season to date, Broadway has grossed 449,823,161, with total attendance of 3,501,670 at about 86 of capacity.

The 19 productions reporting figures on Broadway last week were Aladdin, Beetlejuice, The Book of Mormon, Chicago, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Funny Girl, Hadestown, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into the Woods, The Kite Runner, The Lion King, Mj, Moulin Rouge!, The Phantom of the Opera, Six, A Strange Loop and Wicked.

All figures courtesy of the Broadway League.

On his 2019 album Heartache Medication, Jon Pardi evoked the ghosts of the past in “Call Me Country,” professing his love for singing songs “about freight trains and prisons/Heartaches and honky-tonks/Cowboys and outlaws.” It wasn’t a posture — since debuting in 2012, Pardi has been a torchbearer for those classic country sounds and songs, injecting them with youthful energy and often sounding at odds with radio contemporaries like Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line. In doing so, he cleared a path for likeminded artists Luke Combs, Midland, and (like it or not) Morgan Wallen.

Broadway gave Billy Crystal a fine send-off last week, with the star’s Mr. Saturday Night musical grossing more than 1 million during its final week of performances. That number – 1,014,614, to be precise – is a big jump over the show’s weekly box office takes in recent months. About 98 of seats at the Nederlander Theatre were filled for Crystal’s goodbye week.

Overall, Broadway box office for 21 shows was up about 8 for the week ending Sept. 4, likely due to Labor Day Holiday tourists and some last-chancers hoping to see shows like Mr. Saturday Night before the onslaught of new fall arrivals.

In all, the 21 productions grossed a total of 25,329,740, with attendance of 194,473 reflecting a 5 bump over the previous week.

Another especially impressive performer was Mj, with the Michael Jackson musical breaking its own house record (for the fifth time) at the Neil Simon Theatre by grossing 1,762,559. The musical filled all of its seats.

Most of the 21 Broadway productions on the boards last week showed some signs of summer doldrums, with 17 shows reporting drops in box office over the previous week. Still, with The Music Man back on the roster after a week’s hiatus, the overall total box office take of 23,513,592 was up about 6.

Total attendance for the week ending Aug. 28 was 186,077, about 2 more than the previous week.

Returning from its scheduled, weeklong hiatus, The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, grossed a big 2,716,507, filling 94 of its seats.

Other top earners for the week – each scoring at least 1 million in box office receipts – were Hamilton, The Lion King, Mj, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Wicked, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Aladdin, Dear Evan Hansen and Six. Into The Woods pulled in 1,616,557, a drop of about 22 from the previous week due to it being the first week of the production’s extension...

A new musical written by Anna Deavere Smith and featuring music from the Ella Fitzgerald songbook is currently in development. Ella: An American Miracle will receive an Aug. 25-Sept. 21 work session, with Tony-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater and Charity Angél Dawson portraying the iconic singer at different points in her life.

The work session will conclude with a private industry presentation. A production timeline was not disclosed.

“Composers wanted Ella Fitzgerald to sing their songs because listening to her, they knew how their songs were supposed to be sung,” said Smith in a statement. “A jazz singer, a scat singer, she also famously both sang and defined the American song book. To say she had humble beginnings is a profound understatement. She sang America through some of its most discordant times. She was America’s love song. She was an American miracle.”

Bridgewater, a Tony winner for 1975’s The Wiz, will...

What do “Some Like It Hot,” “High Noon,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Almost Famous” have in common? These popular and beloved films are making their long and winding road to the stage.

Since Disney asked Julie Taymor to find a way to bring Simba to Broadway, virtually every studio has been going through its archives to see what might transfer from screen to stage. (The opposite had been the traditional course of events.) Disney’s catalog of animated hits, alongside franchise spinoffs like “Wicked” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” attract a built-in family crowd. But the scorecard on many recent adaptations has been mixed: “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Tootsie,” “Pretty Woman” and even Billy Crystal’s “Mr. Saturday Night” — which closes Sept. 4 after a five-month run — are a few that came and went.

This fall will see musicals based on Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous,” with music by Tom Kitt,...

Broadway box office drooped in the final, sun-baked weeks before the Fall arrivals of new shows, with the roster of productions down to 20 last week and total box office slipping 19 from the previous week to 22,232,527.

Attendance was down about 15 to 181,785, roughly commensurate with the lesser number of productions (down from 23 the week prior). Also contributing to the drop: The Music Man was on a scheduled hiatus and played no performances during the week ending Aug. 21. (Potus and Tina – The Tina Turner Musical had closed on Aug. 14).

Still, the sturdiest of the shows remained at peak performance, with Hamilton, Into The Woods, Mj, The Lion King and Dear Evan Hansen filling all their seats.

Coming close to sell-out, with 90 or more seats filled, were Aladdin, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge!

Broadway’s heavy hitters withstood New York’s heatwave last week, with Mj, Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton selling out and Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into The Woods, Moulin Rouge!, Six, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King and The Music Man coming very close.

In all, the 23 Broadway productions took in 27,682,655 during the week ending August 7, down about 6 from the previous week’s 24-show roster. Attendance of 212,341 was down about 5 from the previous week.

Among the sell-outs, Mj set another house record at the Neil Simon Theatre – the show’s fourth – with a gross of 1,746,901. Dear Evan Hansen took in 915,655, and Hamilton grossed 2,219,057.

Filling at least 90 of their seats were Aladdin, Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into The Woods (at 99 of capacity), Moulin Rouge!, Six (also at 99), The Book of Mormon, The Lion King, The Music Man and Wicked.

Update, June 8 Beanie Feldstein will be out of Funny Girl at least through the end of this week. In a tweet late last night, her “Fanny Brice” standby Julie Benko, wrote, “Hi all! I’m confirmed to be on for Fanny through the end of this week (Sunday 6/11). See you at the August Wilson, gorgeous… and feel better Beanie!”

Earlier this week, Feldstein posted an Instagram video announcing that she’d tested positive for Covid and would be quarantined, missing an undetermined number of performances.

Hi all! I’m confirmed to be on for Fanny through the end of this week (Sunday 6/11). See you at the August Wilson, gorgeous… and feel better Beanie! https://t.co/nGBZum9S4S

— Julie Benko (@JujujulieBee) June 8, 2022

Previous, June 7 No word yet on when Broadway’s Funny Girl star Beanie Feldstein will return to the show after testing positive for Covid.

Feldstein announced on...

Broadway took a pre-Tony Awards early-summer dip at the box office last week, slipping 11 from the previous week to gross a total 29,555,352 for 31 productions. Attendance was off about 10 to 230,894.

While most of the shows reported drops, the overall figure also reflects four fewer productions than the previous week’s roster, with Birthday Candles, Mrs. Doubtfire and The Skin of Our Teeth having closed and Mr. Saturday Night, starring Billy Crystal, on a planned hiatus for the week.

Overall, attendance was at about 81 of capacity. Shows that filled more than 90 of their seats were Aladdin, Hadestown, Hamilton, Mj, Chicago, Moulin Rouge!, Plaza Suite, Six, Take Me Out, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King, The Music Man and Wicked. A Strange Loop came close at 89.

Productions dropping below the 70 capacity mark were Beetlejuice, Come From Away, Company, Girl From The North Country, The Minutes and Paradise Square, among others, with...

Update, with revised figures for Birthday Candles, Mrs. Doubtfire Broadway box office held steady last week, the first week of the new 2022-23 season, with the 35 productions grossing a total of 33,347,304, with attendance at 257,210. Both figures for the week ending May 29 indicate a less-than-1 change from the previous week.

Overall, the productions played to about 83 of capacity, pretty much in keeping with recent trends. Average ticket price was 129.94.

Three shows played their final performances: Birthday Candles starring Debra Messing took in 328,372, a boost of 57,735 over the previous week, with attendance at 81 of capacity during the last week of its limited engagement. Mrs. Doubtfire, which resumed performances in April following a winterlong Covid-prompted hiatus, closed out its shortened engagement with a 725,700, a 215,725 jump, and attendance at 95 of capacity.

The Skin of Our Teeth, Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of the Thornton Wilder classic, played all eight of its scheduled performance after...

The Broadway production of Mr. Saturday Night has cancelled performances for today, May 28th, 2022, as Billy Crystal has tested positive for Covid-19. In an Instagram post announcement, the show's team writes, 'Todays performances at 2Pm and 8Pm are canceled. Billy Crystal tested positive for Covid-19 prior to todays performance of Mr. Saturday Night, despite strict adherence to health and safety protocols. A second test has confirmed this diagnosis.'...

Broadway’s 2021-22 season – 10 weeks shorter than usual, plagued by Covid and the cancelations it caused, not to mention the tourists who didn’t show up – took a beating at the box office, with season-end numbers no less stark for being expected: The industry took in a total of 845,354,915 at the box office, down about 54 from the the historic high of 1.829 billion set by the 2018-19 Broadway season (the last full season prior to the 2020 pandemic shutdown).

Figures compiled by the Broadway League released today indicate that total attendance for the season was 6,729,143, also down 54 from the 2019 record high of 14,768,254. Despite the year-to-year downturn, the percentage of available seats that were filled during the 2021-22 season was a solid 82.

Some major caveats in a year-to-year analysis: The start of the season that came to a close on May 22 was delayed by 10 weeks due to the Covid shutdown, meaning the season...

Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, creators of the new Showtime series The Man Who Fell to Earth, talk to hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante about the movies that inspired them.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

Amistad (1997)

Love Actually (2003)

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)

Blazing Saddles (1974) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s Blazing Saddles Thanksgiving

Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Bad News Bears (1976) – Jessica Bendinger’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Airplane! (1980) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Bambi (1942)

Singin’ In The Rain (1952) – John Landis trailer commentary

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Boy Friend (1971) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Yellow Submarine (1968) – George Hickenlooper...

Winners of the 88th Annual Drama League Awards were announced on Friday, May 20 2022 at a ceremony hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Frank Dilella at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. The Drama League Awards honor both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions from the 2021-2022 theater season.

Tony Awards frontrunners mostly dominated the production categories. Best Musical went to “A Strange Loop,” Best Play went to “The Lehman Trilogy,” and Best Revival of a Musical was handed to “Company.” The Second Stage Theater production of “Take Me Out” prevailed in the hotly competitive Best Revival of a Play category.

The winners of the Drama League’s inaugural categories for direction of a musical and play went to Marianne Elliott (“Company”) and Kate Whoriskey (“Clyde’s”), respectively. Elliott sits far out front in the corresponding Tony race, though Whoriskey’s triumph comes as a surprise. This frequent collaborator of Lynn Nottage failed to earn a Tony nomination,...

As Hollywood events return to full force in New York and Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic, here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings, including red carpets for Stranger Things, Conversations With Friends, Pistol and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

Stranger Things season four world premiere

After a three-year hiatus since the last season, Stranger Things returned in a big way on Saturday, with a star-studded premiere event in Brooklyn featuring Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton.

Downton Abbey: A New Era NY premiere

The Metropolitan Opera House hosted the New York premiere of Downton Abbey: A New Era on Sunday, welcoming back its stars Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Raquel Cassidy, Hugh Dancy, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern and creator Julian Fellowes.

Last week’s Tony Award nominations translated into box office sales for at least some of the contenders, with A Strange Loop seeing the biggest boost. The musical, which topped the Tony list with 11 nominations, saw a 213,871 increase in its weekly grosses, taking in 690,668 for the week ending May 15.

Overall, the 35 Broadway productions grossed 30,349,653, a slight 3 dip from the previous week’s 31,199,660, a decline largely attributable to the 1,054,792 drop in box office at Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which canceled four of its usual eight performances due to Covid cases among the cast. Moulin, with Broadway favorite Derek Klena now leading the cast, took in 537,705 for four performances, filling 91 of available seats.

Also losing ground was Lincoln Center Theater’s The Skin of Our Teeth, which canceled three performances due to Covid, dropping 58,736 from the previous week to 115,745 for its five performances.

Total attendance for the 35 productions was 246,003, down about 1 from...

Out of all the nominees spread across the 26 categories at the 2022 Tony Awards, a number of them stand out as particularly noteworthy. Check out the complete list of nominees here.

SEEJennifer Hudson may Egot at the Tonys: ‘Strange Loop’ producer already has an Oscar, Emmy, and 2 Grammys

1. The following productions nominated this year were originally scheduled to open in the 2019-20 Broadway season before performances shut down due to Covid-19: “American Buffalo,” “Caroline, or Change,” “Company,” “Diana,” “Flying Over Sunset,” “Hangmen,” “How I Learned to Drive,” “The Lehman Trilogy,” “The Minutes,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Plaza Suite,” “Six,” and “Take Me Out.” While “Girl From the North County” did actually open just the week before Broadway shutdown, it was too late for that show to be eligible for the 74th Tony Awards as not enough voters were even able to see it then.

2. The following shows that only received one Tony nomination are: “Diana,...

With nearly all 36 productions settling into full schedules last week, the Broadway box office tally climbed a modest 7 from the previous week, totaling 31,199,660, with attendance of 249,219 showing a 3 bump.

The attendance figure represents about 76 of available seats, indicating that the recently crowded line-up could be spreading the audience pool a bit thin. Only eight productions approached sell-out status during the week ending May 8 – the week, notably, before Tony Award nominations were announced – including the usual roster of hits: The Music Man, The Lion King, Six, Plaza Suite, Moulin Rouge!, Macbeth, Hadestown and Funny Girl. Hamilton, Aladdin, Mj and The Book of Mormon did well, filling at least 90 of their seats.

A wide swath of the productions, even some of the best-reviewed shows of the spring, were playing to more than a few empty seats: In the 60-70 of capacity ranges were A Strange Loop, American Buffalo, Beetlejuice, Birthday Candles, Come From Away,...

With 34 productions eligible for this year’s Tony Awards, there were plenty of names missing when nominations were announced on Monday morning. Among the most surprising 2022 Tony Awards nominations snubs was Katrina Lenk, who plays Bobbie in Marianne Elliott’s reimagining of the late Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.” The production merited nine nominations, including Best Musical Revival, Best Director, Best Featured Actor (Matt Doyle), and Best Featured Actress. Lenk previously won a Tony Award for her performance in Best Musical-winner “The Band’s Visit.”

See the complete list of 2022 Tony Awards nominees

Original musical “Flying Over Sunset” also underperformed. Even though the shuttered production scored four nominations, including Best Actress (Carmen Cusack) and Best Score, it missed out on the top category of Best Musical and Best Book for librettist James Lapine.

The star-studded revival of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” also missed out on a number of key nominations. Director Sam Gold...

In a Broadway season so crowded with exceptional productions – 34 musicals, plays, and revivals opened during the 2021-2022 eligibility window – it is no surprise that the 29 Tony Awards nominators caught theatre enthusiasts off guard with some of their choices. Below we catalog the biggest 2022 Tony Awards nominations surprises.

Among the plays, the biggest jaw-dropper was the sheer number of contenders in the Best Actor category. The extraordinarily tight race was slated to have only five nominees, but razor thin margins between the top vote-getters led to that race being expanded to a lucky seven fellows: Simon Russell Beal, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester who comprise the entire main cast of “The Lehman Trilogy,” David Morse from “How I Learned to Drive,” Sam Rockwell from “American Buffalo,” Ruben Santiago-Hudson for his one-man show “Lackawanna Blues,” and David Threlfall from “Hangmen.”

See the complete list of 2022 Tony Awards nominees

The late-breaking new comedy “Potus: Or,...

The nominations are in for the upcoming 75th Tony Awards, and several film and television stars are among this year’s crop of contenders, including Hugh Jackman, Uzo Aduba, Billy Crystal, and Ruth Negga. Jackman, who plays con man Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man, and Crystal, who portrays Buddy Young Jr in Mr. Saturday Night, are both nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. In 2004, Jackman won a Tony for his performance in the jukebox musical The Boy from Oz. Meanwhile, Orange Is the New Black actress Aduba is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her role in Clyde’s, and Passing star Negga is up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her villainous turn in Macbeth. The meta-musical A Strange Loop leads the pack with 11 nominations,...

With the announcement of the Tony Awards nominations on May 9, we now know the shows and performers in contention for the 75th annual ceremony. The 29 members of the Tony nominating committee recognized 29 of the 34 eligible productions across 25 competitive categories.

See the complete list of 2022 Tony Awards nominees

The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “A Strange Loop” with score and book by Michael R. Jackson leads with 11 nominations, including Best Musical and for three of its cast members. Two other new musicals — “Mj The Musical” and “Paradise Square” — are right behind with 10 bids apiece. Both took slots in the top category of Best Musical and performed exceedingly well in the design categories. From the four eligible musical revivals, the late Stephen Sondheim‘s “Company” leads with nine nominations.

All 13 eligible musicals and musical revivals earned at least one nomination. Smash success “Six: The Musical” reaped eight bids, but as our users predicted, none...