Posts Tagged ‘Broadway’

Daniel Craig & Hugh Jackman Head to Broadway

July 9th, 2009 / Author: Mary Beth Quirk

Daniel Craig & Hugh JackmanLadies, just try to control yourselves: Daniel Craig, aka the newest James Bond, and Hugh Jackman, aka Australia’s hottest export, are teaming up to star in a Broadway play this fall.

Daniel and Hugh will appear for 12 weeks in A Steady Rain, with previews starting Sept. 10 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Opening night will be Sept. 29.

The play, by Keith Huff, revolves around two Chicago policemen, and received rave reviews in that city two years ago. Hugh already won a Tony for his work in The Boy From Oz, but this will be Daniel’s first time acting on the Great White Way.

Samantha Harris’ Triple Duty

June 12th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

Dancing With The Stars’ sexy host Samantha Harris says it won’t be easy going from interviewing stage performers to taking on the big stage in Broadway’s Chicago as Roxie Hart next month.

“There’s going to be a lot of frequent flier miles racked up!” says Samantha, who will be balancing life as a Broadway star on top of being a wife and mother to 1-and-a-half-year-old daughter Josselyn, and serving doing double duty as a host for the Insider.

“I have dreamed of being on Broadway since I was a kid!” Samantha tells OK!. “To be honest, I didn’t necessarily know that would be an option for me just being that I stepped away from my musical theater background to focus on hosting.”

Samantha, 35, will take on the role Roxie Hart – which in the past has been played by celebrities including Brooke Shields, Ashlee Simpson and Melanie Griffith, for six weeks from July 7 through August 16 at the Ambassador Theatre in NYC.

The brunette bombshell was surprised it was her DWTS hosting gig that helped to thrust her into the Broadway spotlight.

“I’m so glad and grateful that Dancing With The Stars has given me an audience who sees me maybe in that light,” Samantha says. “Even though I’m just asking the questions and not dancing the dance!”

By Laura Lane

Beyoncé Fine with Jay-Z’s Playboy Past

April 24th, 2009

Before he hooked up with wife Beyoncé, hip-hop impresario Jay-Z was famous for boasting on his hit "Girls, Girls, Girls," that he’d had "girls all over the world." And while you’d think that Jay’s past might rub his significant other the wrong way, she tells OK! that’s not the case.

"I don’t really get jealous," Beyoncé explained to OK! at Thursday’s Cinema Society screening of her new movie, Obsessed, in NYC. "I try my best to not be that way because I don’t really think it’s attractive."

But there’s trying not to be that way, and then there’s succeeding. So how does she manage to keep her envy in check?

"I think I’m pretty good," she told OK! at the party sponsored by Grey Goose vodka. "I think naturally I’m not a jealous person — I don’t think that way."

But if Beyoncé’s not hung-up with her man’s fidelity, what is she obsessed with? "What is my obsession in life? It’s probably working on my legacy, my happiness."

PICS FROM THE OBSESSED SCREENING:

Speaking of her legacy, the multitalented star is looking to add yet another item to her resumé, declaring her interest in acting on Broadway.

"It’s my ideal job," the singer/actress told Reuters. "I’ll be able to go to the theater every day and drop my kids off and maybe make some food — maybe I’ll know how to cook by then — and then go do what I love and have some normalcy and have a regular schedule… I definitely want to do Broadway."

Reporting by Oliver Coleman

We’re Obsessed with Beyoncé!

April 23rd, 2009

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No Deal for Jeremy Piven & Broadway Producers

February 26th, 2009

Jeremy Piven attended a union hearing earlier today with Speed-the-Plow’s producers to discuss his sudden exit from the Broadway show. Piven, who said he quit because he had toxic levels of mercury in his system, angered the show’s cast and backers who allegedly thought his excuse less than believable.

According to Jossip.com, Thursday’s hearing ended in a stalemate. The two sides released a joint statement:

"A grievance hearing was held today in accordance with the Equity-League Production Contract regarding the matter of Jeremy Piven and Speed-the-Plow. Following the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, a panel of five League representatives and five Equity representatives met and heard the positions of the parties. The League and Equity representatives were unable to reach a unanimous decision. The Producers have the right, as a next step, to proceed to arbitration."

TMZ has video of Jeremy arriving at the arbitration.

Becki Newton’s new gig?

February 19th, 2009

Last season on Ugly Betty, we got to hear fashion-obsessed Amanda Tannen’s melodic prowess when she sang for her faux dad Gene Simmons.

While Amanda may not be Broadway-bound, her portrayer, Becki Netwon, wouldn’t mind taking the professional plunge.

The actress recently serenaded fans again with her killer pipes in a one-off charity performance of the classic show tune, "Getting Married," with Betty costar Michael Urie.

She then revealed to our roving reporter, OK!’s Oliver Coleman, that she originally moved to New York to pursue her dreams of starring in musicals, but the Great White Way wasn’t in the cards for her.

“I grew up doing musicals in high school, and I came to New York to do musicals,” she told OK! at a tasting of Martini and Rossi’s new sparkling rosé at a W Hotel in Manhattan.

“I didn’t really make sense to a lot of people because I have a very high voice, and I love doing character parts. Those two things don’t really go together,” she admitted.

“I also can’t dance. I can barely walk and sing without falling.”

There’s hope yet!

Becki thinks that the exposure she’s had on Betty might have moved her a step closer to achieving the dreams she had back in high school.

“I think now I’d maybe have more access to more parts,” she said.

Ugly Betty is taking a hiatus beginning March 26. Are you listening, Broadway producers?

Catch Ugly Betty Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Thriller Director Sues Michael Jackson

January 28th, 2009

John Landis, the man who directed Michael Jackson’s infamous "Thriller" music video, has filed a lawsuit against the former king of pop claiming Jackson had no right to negotiate a deal to make a Broadway musical of "Thriller" without his consent.

TMZ is reporting that Landis is asking a L.A. County Superior Court Judge for a declaration that Jackson can’t make the deal without his ‘ok.’

Landis wrote and directd the "Thriller" video and documentary back in 1983. Reports surfaced recently that Jacko cut a deal with the Nederlander Organization in which the singer made a deal in excess of $400,000 for the musical.

 

Earlier this month the company that hired Landis to write and direct the video claims it hasn’t received its 50% cut in "Thriller" profits for more than four years.

Michael Jackson’s Thriller Bound For Broadway

January 26th, 2009

When it came out Michael Jackson’s Thriller was the most ambitious, spectacular and expensive music video there had ever been. It was pretty mind-blowing.

Now someone’s taking on the massive — and kind of risky — task of translating the 14-minutes horror movie into a Broadway musical.

According to NYTimes.com, Broadway mogul James L. Nederlander has acquired the rights for a stage version of the 1983 promo for the single from the album of the same name.

 

He’s said to be putting together a show that will include songs from Thriller and the previous Jackson album album Off the Wall.

”The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so let the music begin,” Jackson’s rep, Tohme Tohme, said in a statement, according to the site.

”I love the idea of making Thriller a musical.

 

"Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what?," said Nederlander, head of the company that owns nine Broadway theaters.

Michael himself hasn’t commented yet, and so far they haven’t announced who will write, direct or choreograph it.

This production is not to be confused with Thriller - Live, a musical about Jacko’s career that has been playing in London’s West End since 2006.

Sienna Miller to Make Broadway Debut

January 23rd, 2009

Is it just us or is Broadway rapidly replacing getting pregnant as Hollywood’s latest career move?

Following on the heels of another celeb, a.k.a.– Ms. Katie Holmes, Sienna Miller   plans to make her Broadway debut this fall in the Roundabout Theater Company’s production of After Miss Julie.

Based on playwright Patrick Marber’s 19th century Stringberg classic, the story focuses on sex, class and power. Miller, 27, will play the title character, Julie, a wealthy young woman involved with a family manservant.

No word on whether the actress’s boyfriend, Balthezar Getty, will join her in NYC for the length of the show.

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