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The Baddest Man on the Planet is dreaming about Broadway. Before his one-man show has even opened in Las Vegas, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is already looking to take it to New York, according to TMZ. He will perform "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth -- Live on Stage" at MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre in Las Vegas from April 13-18, and is waiting to see how ticket sales go before planning a tour. If a tour does go ahead, the Big Apple would be the main stop. According to the report, Tyson has "always wanted to do a show on Broadway,...

Entertainment Weekly: 'South Park' skewers Broadway: Too late or right on the money? Los Angeles Times: 'South Park' recap: A profane love letter to Broadway musicals The Washington Post: Stephen Sondheim, Elton John featured in ‘South Park’ love letter to Broadway

Randy has a new appreciation for Broadway musicals in an all-new "South Park"on Wednesday, October 26 at 10:00 P.M. on Comedy Central Randy's co-workers show him what's great about Broadway Musicals in an all-new episode of "South Park" titled "Broadway Bro Down" premiering on Wednesday, October 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central. Sharon is thrilled that Randy is making an effort to do more things that she enjoys. But, after he takes her to see a hit musical in Denver, Randy becomes Broadway's biggest fan. Sharon is whisked away to New York and treated to every musical on...

Peggy Craven Lloyd, a prominent Broadway actress who was married to actor Norman Lloyd, died Aug 30 at age 98. The Lloyds, who appeared together in the theater starting in the 1930s, had been married for 75 years.

NEW YORK (AP) -- President Barack Obama turned to the bright lights of Broadway and celebrity backers Thursday night to raise money for his re-election bid. The presidential motorcade crisscrossed Manhattan as Obama worked his way through three events that raised money for the Democratic Party and his 2012 campaign. Key Obama fundraisers have been asked to raise $60 million for that effort by the end of June. The fundraisers included an event on a Broadway stage, where Obama spoke to supporters who bought tickets, starting at $100, to watch a performance of the musical "Sister Act." The fundraisers were...

The profane and hysterical "The Book of Mormon" took home nine Tony Awards on Sunday including the prize for best musical, a considerable achievement for a pair of first-time Broadway playwrights known more for their raunchy cartoons featuring potty-mouthed kids. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the Emmy Award-winning "South Park," found a kindred soul in Robert Lopez, who co-wrote the Tony-winning "Avenue Q," and all three found themselves with plenty of awards when they collaborated to gently mock Mormons and send-up Broadway itself. Collecting the best musical prize, a subdued Parker, who tied Josh Logan of "South Pacific"...

Moments after the curtain dropped at a matinee performance of "Anything Goes," actors called up Capt. Zubah Koweh and his girlfriend, Ensign Amy Sullivan, under the guise of honoring them for Fleet Week. Instead, Koweh grabbed the microphone and professed his love to his stunned gal pal.

Daniel Radcliffe, John Larroquette and the cast of "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" perform on the CBS Late Show last Thursday. ""Brotherhood of Man." Now, you may join the Elks, my friend, And I may join the Shriners; And other men may carry cards As members of the Diners. Still others wear a golden key Or small Greek letter pin; But I have learned there's one great club That all of us are in. There is a Brotherhood of Man, A Benevolent Brotherhood of Man, A noble tie that binds All human hearts and minds Into one...

Broadway Flop IN MY LIFE's Oscar-winning Composer Brooks Commits Suicide Sunday, May 22, 2011; Posted: 02:05 PM - by BWW News Desk Oscar-winning songwriter Joseph Brooks, famous for writing "You Light Up My Life," who has been awaiting trial on sex assault charges for two rapes, a sodomy case and two sexual assaults has committed suicide, reports the Associated Press. The wire service reports that he was found in his Manhattan apartment and that "Police say Brooks was found Sunday with a plastic dry-cleaning bag around his head and a towel wrapped around his neck. There also was a helium...

Everyone seems to be taking a stab at reviewing Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, and it ain't pretty. The theater critics seems to have had it with the production, which has postponed the opening of the musical several times, and they are lashing out their reviews today basically slamming the show. We are no experts in the musical theater field, but we have seen the show (twice) and we disagree with the opinions of the much hailed theater connoisseurs. We loved the show, and here is why we think people will see it: • Flying is awesome. There are aerial...

It is an unlikely piece of modern stagecraft. Contemporary drama strives to be not so much dramatic as to be shocking, not to present the truth but to wallow in clichéd, politically-correct truisms. “Lombardi: A New American Play,” at New York’s Circle in the Square Theater, breaks the mold of permanently adolescent modernity to narrate a tale of mature sensibilities superficially disguised in a story that might conceivably lack any sensibilities whatsoever: a narrative of a long-dead middle-aged football coach in a nondescript Midwestern city a time zone removed from Broadway. The play, however, is aided by the fact that...

NEW YORK (AP) — An audience at "Fela!" on Broadway this week got an extra thrill when an unannounced guest arrived — the first lady. Michelle Obama joined six girlfriends at Thursday evening's performance of the Tony Award-winning musical about Fela Kuti, the Afrobeat artist and Nigerian political activist.....

HH: It’s Thursday. We’re so happy to have back not quite in America, Columnist to the World, Mark Steyn. Mark Steyn, welcome back, it’s great to talk to you. MS: (laughing) You’re breaking out the West Side Story. You must be in a party mood. HH: Well, there’s so much important to talk about, but I have to begin, I’ve been thinking about you since last Saturday night, because I took the Fetching Mrs. Hewitt to see West Side Story in New York when I was back there. And imagine my surprise when I sat down and I heard this...

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Television actor Tom Bosley has died of heart failure at his Palm Springs, Calif., home, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 83. Bosley had been battling lung cancer, his agent Sheryl Abrams told TVGuide.com. The Chicago native is best known for his work on "Happy Days," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Father Dowling Mysteries," as well as in the Broadway production of "Beauty & the Beast.""We were a make-believe family for 10 years, and like a real family for over 30. He will be so, so missed," Bosley's former "Happy Days" co-star Henry Winkler told...

During the administration of President George W. Bush, news that Tony was to be heavily represented at a fete in the East Room of the White House would have suggested a British theme to the evening, with emissaries of then-Prime Minister Blair in attendance. Times have changed. On Monday, the dignitaries hosted by President and Mrs. Obama will bring their regards from Broadway, not 10 Downing Street, while sharing talents that collectively have won them 11 Tony Awards. --snip-- Presumably, critics who slammed the president and first lady last year for wasting taxpayer money when they flew to New York...

Lynn Redgrave, an introspective and independent player in her family's acting dynasty who became a 1960s sensation as the freethinking title character of "Georgy Girl" and later dramatized her troubled past in such one-woman stage performances, has died. She was 67.

Heroic cops stopped a car bomb from blowing up in the heart of Times Square Saturday night, officials told the Daily News. Two female cops patrolling the area noticed a man fumbling with something in the back of a Nissan SUV parked on the southwest corner of 45th St. and Broadway about 7 p.m. The man saw the officers looking and took off running. The two cops went to the car and saw smoke, clusters of canisters and heard something fizzing, a source said. The quick-acting cops called for backup, and the bomb squad was on the way as the...

NEW YORK (AP) - The creators of the cheeky animated TV series "South Park" are taking aim at Broadway. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have written a musical comedy called "The Book of Mormon" that will open on Broadway in March 2011. The two wrote the show's book, music and lyrics, along with Robert Lopez, one of the creators of the Tony-winning "Avenue Q." The musical will be directed by Parker and Jason Moore, who directed "Avenue Q."

Michael Musto in The Village Voice reports that June Havoc, the real-life inspiration for "Baby June" in GYPSY passed away this morning at age 96.

This story on the First Lady taking the kids to a Broadway show in New York has an interesting element: a warning by the Secret Service that anyone taking their picture would have their cameras confiscated. Perhaps the Secret Service General Counsel could point us to where in the Constitution and federal law the Secret Service has the authority to ban photographs by the public and the confiscation of cellphones and pictures to enforce the ban. Michelle Obama – with Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11, and about a dozen other people in tow – attended the matinee performance of “Memphis”...

President Obama's family had its own prescription for any pre-health-care vote tension: a foot-stomping Broadway show. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia took in a performance of the musical "Memphis," a story about a white radio disc jockey and a black singer whose love of music -- and each other -- transcends race lines and airwaves. They were joined by the first lady's mother, Marian Robinson. Read more: http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/st_family_enjoys_drama_here_TU72qlNLgYz2UXsgCrYZXL#ixzz0iv31biSt

David Brown, an urbane New Yorker whose publishing background was the foundation of a producing career in Hollywood, with films like “The Sting,” “Jaws,” and “The Verdict,” and on Broadway, died Monday at home in Manhattan. He was 93.

CNN) – The seats Barack and Michelle Obama sat in while watching a Broadway play during a "date" in New York City are now on the auction block for charity. The money will go to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. According to their Web site, Broadway Cares is "the nation's leading industry-based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization." The seats – K101 and K102 – belonged to the Belasco Theater, the second oldest house on Broadway that is currently being renovated. The Obamas saw the show "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" in late May as part of a...

Bono and The Edge have described their forthcoming Spider-Man musical as "dizzy" and "not a straight take on the myth". Turn Off The Dark, the production the Dublin band has written music and lyrics for, is set to open on Broadway in New York in 2010. They also confirmed American actress Evan Rachel Wood would play the part of MJ and revealed more about the other characters. ...Bono said: "We've got a new villain, it's a girl. It's a very extraordinary role. We've taken it to a much more dizzy place than you'd expect. We've got big tunes. We're very...

Just what kind of play did our dear leader go to see this weekend on Broadway anyway? With what manner of entertainment does our "cultured," "nuanced," and "sophisticated" president choose to invest his time and our money? Why, on a race-centered play drawing from antebellum legends of slave mistreatement, of course. No better way to focus on the future, huh? EC does some investigating and tells you what's up with Joe Turner's Come and Gone

A Broadway show and dinner for two in a swank Manhattan eatery - About $500. A series of private helicopter and plane trips and the security to make sure you don't get attacked on the trip - $75,000. The knowledge that you've just soaked the taxpayers while hypocritically talking about responsibility? Priceless.......

What's the perfect New York date for President Obama and Michelle? What they chose is perfect - what could be more New York than a Broadway show? A ride on the Staten Island Ferry on a beautiful summer night. A stroll on the boardwalk and hot dogs at Coney Island. A Yankees or a Mets home game is the way to enjoy the real New York. Isn't there anything to do in Washington D.C.?

em>I thought we had a serious financial crisis that required everyone to sacrifice?Yes friends, President Obama and First Lady Michelle had another of their famous "date nights" Saturday. Instead of clogging traffic in Washington, D.C. to visit a restaurant, they hopped on the Marine One helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base, jumped on Air Force One (a Gulfstream 500, not the 747) then flew up to New York City followed by TWO OTHER PLANES for staff and press (the 747 would have been cheaper). Upon landing in New York several more helicopters, limos, vans, police, military and other staff were...

Two martinis, a swank restaurant, a Broadway show President Obama really knows how to treat a First Lady. "I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished," the president said yesterday after touching down at JFK for an intimate night on the town. The first couple left their girls, Sasha and Malia, behind at the White House yesterday afternoon, taking two helicopters and a small Air Force jet to make their way to Manhattan. The Obamas were dressed to...

Remember that little speech the President made in Elkhart Indiana in February. The one where he said: But, you know, you are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you pay taxpayers back. You can’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime. There’s got to be some accountability and some responsibility, and that’s something that I intend to impose as president of the United States. This afternoon that same President took his wife on the "Corporate" Jet (Airforce One)...

For all of the people sprawled out on those lawn chairs along shuttered Broadway in Times Square, take note: A certain famous family plans to be awfully close by on Saturday evening. President Obama and his wife, Michelle, plan to visit New York City on Saturday and take in a Broadway show, the August Wilson play “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” at the Belasco Theater on West 44th Street, according to three theater executives who have been informed of the First Family’s plans. The theater executives spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the president’s...

In life, the playwright August Wilson had an all-but-official rule: No white directors for major productions of his work, which was one reason that a film was never made from his 10 plays about African-American life in the 20th century. “Fences,” one of the two awarded the Pulitzer Prize, foundered in Hollywood because of his insistence on a black director. Yet in the years since Wilson died in 2005, an increasing number of white directors have staged his plays, and last week came a milestone: “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” which opened on April 16, is the first Broadway revival...

SOMEBODY at the Sundance Channel must have something against Jane Fonda. Before Saturday's preview of "33 Variations," her first Broadway performance in 46 years, Vietnam War vets picketed the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, still riled up about her 1972 visit to North Vietnam, where she straddled an anti-aircraft gun and gave her support to the enemy. *snip* "FTA" stands for "[Bleep] the Army."

NEW YORK — It's been decades, but Jane Fonda still can't shake her "Hanoi Jane" image from the Vietnam War. About a dozen Vietnam veterans and other protesters on Saturday picketed the theater where the 71-year-old actress is starring in the Broadway play "33 Variations," telling passers-by that she had once visited their communist enemy in Hanoi.

It seems that New York Times writer Patrick Healy has a big fascination with the word "penis." He uses it over and over and over again in his article about how actor Will Ferrell exposes a projected penis on stage in his play, "You're Welcome, America. A Final Night With George W. Bush." The New York Times must be really desperate if they have to resort to "penis" overuse to get their circulation numbers up. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Healy's story conference with the Theater section editors resembled a certain scene from the movie, "Porky's." When reading...

So far six audience members have stormed out midperformance of the Broadway show “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush,” the comedian Will Ferrell’s lampooning of the 43rd president, according to those keeping count at the Cort Theater. But they haven’t been leaving after a particular Ferrell quip. They’ve been standing up, instead, after the projection of a supersize photo on the backdrop of the stage. A photo of a penis. Specifically, as Mr. Ferrell (who plays President Bush) leads the audience to believe, the president’s penis. Except that’s not quite right. “It’s an anonymous but age-appropriate...

So far six audience members have stormed out midperformance of the Broadway show “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush,” the comedian Will Ferrell’s lampooning of the 43rd president, according to those keeping count at the Cort Theater. But they haven’t been leaving after a particular Ferrell quip. They’ve been standing up, instead, after the projection of a supersize photo on the backdrop of the stage. A photo of a penis. Specifically, as Mr. Ferrell (who plays President Bush) leads the audience to believe, the president’s penis. Except that’s not quite right. “It’s an anonymous but age-appropriate...

“Skippyjip,” who says he is not a huge fan of Will Ferrell’s, calls a rehearsal version of Ferrell’s upcoming stage show about George W. Bush “well-crafted,” “smart” and “very, very funny.” Co-written by Ferrell and his “SNL”/“Anchorman” collaborator Adam McKay, it opens Jan. 20 and closes March 15. HBO will telecast it live, likely on or near closing night. I love that they’ve already got a guy throwing shoes from the audience! Hey Harry, Long time reader, but this is my first scoop/review. I just saw a staged reading of an early version of Will Ferrell’s new one man Broadway...

America's economic woes have taken a heavy toll on Broadway, where the final curtain is coming down on 15 shows in the next six weeks. Even some of New York’s most feted productions, such as the Equus revival starring Daniel Radcliffe, have been playing to half-filled houses while other shows have survived no more than weeks. In one of many worrying statistics for the US' theatre capital, only two Broadway productions made money this season – a revival of The Seagull starring Kristin Scott-Thomas and another of Arthur Miller's All My Sons, starring Katie Holmes – and they were both...

More than 50 years after the musical “West Side Story” had its original Broadway premiere, it is set to return in February in a darker, grittier, bilingual revival, the show’s producers said on Wednesday. In an element that its director, Arthur Laurents, said would heighten the passion and authenticity of the show, much of the dialogue — both spoken and sung — will be in Spanish. “They will speak Spanish where they would naturally,” Mr. Laurents said in a telephone interview from his home in Quogue, N.Y., adding that supertitles would be used to aid the audience. “The scenes with...

U2 has two big projects for the coming year — a new album and a Broadway musical of "Spider-Man" directed by "The Lion King" guru Julie Taymor. At last week’s Broadway premiere of "Young Frankenstein," sharp-eyed observers noticed U2’s own guru, manager Paul McGuiness, scoping out the Hilton Theater on 42nd Street with an eye toward putting "Spider-Man" in there. The show requires a very high ceiling stage for all the flying that will go on. Alas, McGuiness is said to have commented, "I guess we’re out of luck" when he saw how successful "Young Frankenstein" is going to be.

NEW YORK - Stagehands will go on strike Saturday, a move expected to darken most of the plays and musicals on Broadway, according to a person close to contract negotiations. The strike was to begin at 11 a.m., shuttering an early matinee of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical," said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday night because the person was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Both the union, Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and the League of American Theatres and Producers held two days of...

George Grizzard, a versatile actor who achieved his greatest renown on the stage, playing everything from Shakespeare to Shaw, from Neil Simon to Edward Albee, died yesterday in Manhattan. He was 79 and lived in Manhattan... Mr. Grizzard’s career began in the 1950s and lasted more than 50 years. He had roles in movies and was a familiar face on television...

An introduction by Silly appears in the first post. This article may make more sense if you read that first. While Assassins might seem like an attractive piece for a theatre to consider at first glance - the Sondheim name, minimal scenery, smallish cast, gripping subject matter - it is much more of an undertaking than it would first appear. To begin with, you have the outraged chorus of everyone from the board to the neighbors - "A MUSICAL? About Assassins? I just can't imagine what kind of musical numbers you could do. Aren't you trivializing the subject? Aren't you...

April 1, 2007 -- BROADWAY has taken notice of an anti-war student play that was banned from being performed at a Connecticut school - but it's unlikely local audiences will get to see it, either. "Voices in Courage," a drama about the Iraq war based on interviews and letters from veterans, got the ax from Timothy Canty, principal of Wilton HS, who claimed it was too one-sided.

The Third Annual "What's the Most Romantic Broadway Love Song Ever?" If you told us three years ago that we would have had some of the biggest stars and leaders in the industry telling us what their favorite love song from a Broadway musical is, even WE wouldn't have believed you. In our third year, we've gotten more responses than ever, to add to the first two years of great names that we have already assembled, for one of BroadwayWorld.com's most popular features. Welcome to the 2007 edition of "What's the Most Romantic Broadway Love Song Ever?" compiled by Editor-in-Chief...

Evil Dead the Musical will come alive at New World Stages on Monday, October 2 for an unlimited Off-Broadway run. The official opening is set for Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 PM. "A 'dis-arm-ingly' riotous musical comedy based on Sam Raimi's 80s cult-classic horror films, Evil Dead the Musical unearths the old familiar story: boy and friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, "camp" takes on a whole...

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, offered the following comments today on the popularity of Catholic-bashing plays: “The Helen Hayes Theatre in New York must be experiencing hard times these days, otherwise it wouldn’t be home to ‘Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway.’  According to Variety, the play claims that the Catholic Church is run by the Nazis and that ‘the devil really does wear Prada’; the devil is the pope.  To show how timely they are, the play’s producers manage to squeeze in a smack at Mel Gibson, dropping the line ‘now he wants the Jews to treat him...

Since May, we've had a lot of fun examining Rev. Al Sharpton's would-be, could-be talk radio career. Because announced plans never seem to pan out, it's mostly involved a lot of head-scratching. With a new deal now reportedly signed, the Sharpton saga takes an especially puzzling turn: he's apparently a talk radio two-timer! That's right, with the Boston Globe's Clea Simon revealing his new agreement, he's got a bit of a mess on his hands:

Just returned from attending Rush on Broadway. Vintage performance by El Rushbo, but nothing terribly new, if you are a regular listener. Sean Hannity (who looked VERY young) handled the introduction with skill. The actual highlight was seeing THE GREAT ONE, Mark Levin ensconced in the Emperor's box, with David Limbaugh. "Hold On Now" was greated with wild applause upon several occasions.