Rialto Chatter - Page 3

Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and 10-time Grammy Award winner John Legend has been cast as Jesus Christ in NBC's special event JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE IN CONCERT to be aired Easter Sunday, April 1.

Karen Cartwright may have already made it to Broadway, but Katharine McPhee has plans to make her debut in 2018. McPhee recently revealed on Instagram that she'll appear in a Broadway show in just matter of weeks.

Best known on Broadway for his Tony Award-winning turn as Lyndon B. Johnson in the political drama, All the Way, actor Bryan Cranston is currently getting mad as hell and winning raves for his portrayal of news anchor, Howard Beale, in the stage adaptation of the classic film Network.

Michael Riedel is now reporting that the revival, which stars Broadway favorites Laura Osnes and Tony Yazbeck, as well as TV stars, Rachel Dratch and Rachel Bloom, is currently eyeing potential Broadway houses for a fall 2018 opening.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that a a revised version of Hadestown, which ran off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop last year, will get a New York City Workshop later this week. The cast will be led by Reeve Carney, Gizel Jimenez, Patrick Page, Amber Gray, and Andre De Shields with James Brown III, Marcus Choi, LuLu Fall, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Adam Perry, and Rocky Vega.

Will he move from NYC to Agrabah? BroadwayWorld has just exclusively learned that Telly Leung is rumored to take over the title role in Broadway's Aladdin. Disney Theatrical declined to comment, and an official start date has not yet been announced.

Producer Scott Rudin announced today that, beginning Tuesday, June 13, two-time Tony Award®-winner and one of Broadway's most treasured stars, Donna Murphy, will step into the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi for Tuesday evening performances of the upcoming Broadway revival of Michael Stewart's (book) and Jerry Herman's (music and lyrics) Hello, Dolly!, starring the legendary Bette Midler.  (Ms. Murphy will also take over the role during Ms. Midler's vacations.)

While there is no official announcement, Michael Riedel writes that she is in talks to bring David Henry Hwang's Tony-winning play back to Broadway.

With a boost in the box office and the final days of an extension dwindling, Minneapolis' Children's Theatre Company's world premiere of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID is preparing for its next move.

Now rumors are circulating that British singer Leona Lewis might take on the role instead. A source told the Daily Star that Lewis is Lloyd Webber's first choice to replace Scherzinger.

Could the recently reworked version of Meredith Willson musical THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN soon land on Broadway?

Julie Taymor could be in the midst of plotting her big Broadway comeback.

Actor and comedian Carl Reiner just revealed that he might have a broadway show in the works! He wrote today on Twitter:

It's usually around this time of year that the Hollywood Bowl announces their summer musical, and this year we haven't heard yet, officially... so we sent out our spies in Los Angeles to see what we could find out. It didn't take long to zero in on what we suspect will be announced very shortly. So, what musical would they choose after LES MISERABLES, GUYS & DOLLS, THE PRODUCERS, RENT, HAIR and last summer's SPAMALOT? Drumroll please... we believe that the Hollywood Bowl Musical will be A CHORUS LINE.

UPDATE: Bette Midler has announced on Twitter that she will indeed be making her return to Broadway next year in Jerry Herman & Michael Stewart's Tony-winning musical HELLO DOLLY!

Now according to the Wrap, Harvey Weinstein has plans to bring the production to Broadway following its run in Paris, which is set to conclude on January 17.

Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Stephen Karam's The Humans featuring Cassie Beck ,Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein, Arian Moayed and Sarah Steele, just opened earlier this week, and according to the Hollywood Reporter, the show might have a life after off Broadway. David Rooney writes that producer Scott Rudin will transfer the production (full cast included) to Broadway in 2016.

Just last night PBS aired a new episode of its 66TH AND BROADWAY series, this time featuring the work of composer Frank Wildhorn, and on the show, he revealed scoops on the status of two of his projects.

First announced back in 2009, BroadwayWorld.com broke news earlier this year about the long gestating BAT OUT OF HELL Musical - revealing exclusively that musician and producer Todd Rundgren joined the team and that the show was hoping to make a 2016 world premiere in Toronto. Producers Michael Cohl and David Sonenberg have joined the project as co-producers, alongside the previously announced Elva Corrie.

According to an email sent to a ticket buyer and alerted to BroadwayWorld.com, plans are underway for the BBC to film the London production during the first week of October for potential broadcast and release. At this time no official announcement of either has been made, and the Savoy Theatre's Twitter account has long denied filming being planned, but stay tuned to BroadwayWorld.com for the latest.