Week in Review 8.7.15

New York City Ballet Season On Sale
Individual tickets for New York City Ballet's 2015-2016 season are now on sale. The season includes seven world premiere ballets, including two from the Company's resident choreographer and soloist, Justin Peck (Everywhere We Go, Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes). There will also be a new Christopher Wheeldon (After the Rain, An American in Paris) ballet, as well as another collaboration between choreographers and fashion designers. (Read this Week in Review from June for more about that.) In addition, the promotional artwork for the season (like the NY Export: Opus Jazz drawing at right) marks a collaboration between NYCB and artist Jamie Lee Reardin. The trailer below shows the art in motion. Visit nycballet.com for more information and to purchase tickets.


PBS Fall Arts Festival
This fall, PBS will broadcast several recorded shows, concerts and other specials as part of its annual Fall Arts Festival. Highlights include the October 16 Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of Show Boat in Concert with the New York Philharmonic, featuring the talents of Norm Lewis, Vanessa Williams and Julian Ovenden, among others. On Halloween Eve, you'll be able to see a Live from Lincoln Center concert: Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton, which was part of this summer's Lincoln Center Festival. On November 6, Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' to Do will air, part of the Great Performances series. That will be followed on November 13 with the broadcast of the fantastic Act One, James Lapine's play inspired by Moss Hart's memoir. You'll recall that it starred Tony Shalhoub, Santino Fontana and Andrea Martin. Next, on November 20, is First You Dream-The Music of Kander and Ebb, a tribute to the songwriting team. The concert was just filmed in Chicago, and boasts Heidi Blickenstaff and Kate Baldwin among its performers. The Fall Arts Festival will conclude on November 27 with a Great Performances broadcast of the Andrea Bocelli Cinema concert. Playbill has the full lineup.

Georgina Pazcoguin Goes On the Town
Georgina Pazcoguin, the NYCB soloist who stuns in West Side Story Suite and NY Export: Opus Jazz, among other ballets, will take on the role of Ivy Smith in On the Town from August 11 through August 23. (Pazcoguin has appeared in Fancy Free at NYCB. Fancy Free is, of course, the ballet that begat On the Town.) Her fellow NYCB dancer, Megan Fairchild, who originated the role in this revival, will play her last performance August 9. Pazcoguin was part of the On the Town company for a couple of weeks earlier this summer, but in a different role. Broadway.com has more about her casting. As previously reported, ABT principal, Misty Copeland, is set to play select performances August 25-September 6, and, it was just announced, that September 6 will mark the conclusion of this revival's run. Theater Mania has more about that.

The Father on Broadway
The Manhattan Theatre Club will present the American premiere of The Father, a new play by Florian Zeller, with translation by Christopher Hampton. Directed by Dough Hughes, the play will star stage and screen favorite Frank Langella. (Have you watched him in the classic Mel Brooks film, The Twelve Chairs, yet? It's a must see.) The play enjoyed runs overseas, and will transfer to the West End this fall. It will arrive on Broadway, for a limited engagement, on March 22, 2016, with opening night set for April 12. Broadway.com has more.

Hamilton News
Hamilton opened on Broadway on August 6. Herein, all things Hamilton.
  • My review

  • Opening night photos from Broadway Style Guide; Playbill; Theater Mania; Broadway.com; and Broadwayworld.com: red carpet, bows and afterparty, plus videos from Theater Mania: one and two

  • The Hamilton two-disc cast album is now available for pre-order. Playbill lists the release date as September 25, but that seems to be the digital release date; Amazon, which sells the physical CD, lists the release date as October 16. "Wait for it" a little longer; this is something you'll want to hold in your hands.

  • The Washington Post spoke to director Tommy Kail (prior to opening night).

  • The Hamilton "cabinet," Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kail, musical director Alex Lacamoire and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, spoke to USA Today (prior to opening night).

  • Jennifer Lopez, Larry Wilmore, Krysta Rodriguez, Donna Murphy and others visited Hamilton leading up to its opening night. Broadway.com has photos.

  • Daveed Diggs (Lafayette/Jefferson) spoke to Gotham magazine about his favorite New York moment and the journey of Hamilton (prior to opening night), and to .MIC about Hamilton's hip-hop connections.

  • Broadway.com presented a condensed history of the show, from Alexander Hamilton's birth to Hamilton's Broadway bow (prior to opening night), while the (patient) folks at Theater Mania put together a Hamilton Twitter timeline, replete with Miranda's most memorable Hamilton-related tweets.

  • Leslie Odom, Jr. (Burr) took Vanity Fair to the spot of Hamilton and Burr's famous duel, and spoke to the Wall Street Journal about this incredible moment in his life.

  • Miranda gave an in-depth interview to Rolling Stone about the show and its hip-hop and political connections, and also spoke to Fox News Latino about how the show's journey parallels that of A Chorus Line. 
Refinishing Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim's music has inspired countless artists, and pianist Anthony de Mare has gathered many of them for a three-CD set of re-arranged Sondheim songs. Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano will be released on September 25, and feature re-imagined covers by composers such as Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County, The Last Five Years); Wynton Marsalis; Nico Mulhy; Duncan Sheik and more. De Mare says he created the project "to show Sondheim's influence on composers of many different genres." Playbill has more.

Casting News
  • 18-year-old Shanice Williams will make her professional acting debut when she stars as Dorothy in the upcoming NBC live broadcast of The Wiz. In addition to the previously announced Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, and Stephanie Mills, Williams will be joined by David Alan Grier (Porgy and Bess), who'll play the Lion; Uzo Aduba (Godspell, Orange is the New Black), who'll play Glinda; and Amber Riley (Glee), who'll play Glinda's sister, Addaperle. The broadcast is set for December 3. Theater Mania has more about Williams and Grier, and Broadway.com has more about Aduba and Riley.

  • Casting for First Daughter Suite, the new Michael John LaChiusa musical debuting at the Public this fall, has been announced, and it's a great one. The cast features: Caissie Levy (Hair, Murder Ballad, Les Mis); Rachel Bay Jones (Pippin); Mary Testa; and Barbara Walsh, among others. Previews begin October 6, with opening night set for October 21. The limited engagement is scheduled to conclude November 15. Broadwayworld.com has more.

  • Max von Sydow and Ian McShane will appear in brief but crucial roles in the upcoming season of Game of Thrones. Entertainment Weekly has more.

  • Marin Ireland (The Big Knife, Maple and Vine) will lead the cast of the world premiere play, Kill Floor, by Abe Koogler. The Lincoln Center Theatre limited engagement production will begin previews October 3, with opening night set for October 19, and conclude November 15. Broadway.com has more.

  • The Fiddler on the Roof company will add Melanie Moore (Finding Neverland), Adam Dannheisser and Karl Kenzler, among others, to its roster. Broadway.com has the full cast list.

  • Casting for two Playwrights Horizons plays, Taylor Mac's Hir and Jordan Harrison's Marjorie Prime, has been announced. The companies will include Kristine Nielsen (Vanya..., You Can't Take...) in Hir, and Lisa Emery (Casa Valentina), Stephen Root and Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime. Visit Theater Mania for each play's full cast list.

  • Principal casting for the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible has been announced. The company includes Tony winner Sophie Okonedo, Ben Wishaw, Jason Butler Harner (Cock) and Ciaran Hinds (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Game of Thrones). Previews begin February 29, 2016, with opening night set for April 7. The limited engagement will conclude July 17. Theater Mania has more.
Dig This
  • Alex Timbers wrote a beautiful tribute to the late, great Roger Rees, with whom Timbers worked on Peter and the Starcatcher.

  • Former Daily Show correspondents Larry Wilmore, John Oliver, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry, as well as exec Doug Herzog, talked to The Hollywood Reporter (prior to Stewart's final show) about working with Jon Stewart.

  • The Cut (part of New York magazine) has a great video of creatives, including Annie Baker, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bartlett Sher, Robin Wright and others,  being photographed for intimate portraits.

  • Mindy Kaling lends her delightful wit to the New Yorker for a look at what's Coming This Fall to a TV near you.

  • A new movie musical, created by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), is in the works. La La Land boast the talents of Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Ides of March), Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Emma Stone (Crazy Stupid Love) and Oscar winner John Legend. Legend will be contributing as both a performer and a songwriter. Showbiz 411 has more.

  • Check out the trailer for Vinyl, a new HBO series from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter, and starring stage and screen favorite, Bobby Cannavale. The series will debut in winter 2016.

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