All stories by Michael Gioia on BroadwayStars

Monday, December 7, 2015

Hamilton and Fun Home Cast Albums Among Grammy Award Nominees by Michael Gioia

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton and the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home are among the nominees for the Best Musical Theater Album Grammy Award. Nominations were announced Dec. …

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:13AM

Rock On! School of Rock Will Hit the West End and Tour the U.S. by Michael Gioia

Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock – The Musical, which opened Dec. 7 at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre to critical acclaim, will have its London premiere in t…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:31AM

New Stars Announced to Succeed Idina Menzel, LaChanze and James Snyder in If/Then Tour by Adam Hetrick and Michael Gioia

Jackie Burns, who stood by for Idina Menzel in the Broadway production of If/Then, will step into the show's leading role for the remainder of the tour, beginning this January in Dallas,…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:14AM
Friday, December 4, 2015

Every Good Girl Deserves Fun Explores the Hardships of Early Onset Alzheimer’s by Michael Gioia

Every Good Girl Deserves Fun — And Other Misremembered Things, a new dark comedy written by Heidi Armbruster about prolonged adolescence running into early onset Alzheimer's, p…

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:07AM
Thursday, December 3, 2015

Jenna Ushkowitz, Dan DeLuca, Jackie Burns Share Very Funny (and Adorable) Holiday Pictures with Sant by Michael Gioia

Jenna Ushkowitz, Dan DeLuca and Jackie Burns are among the performers who will celebrate the holidays this weekend at Feinstein's/54 Below with A Very Funny Broadway Holiday. They share …

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

The Wiz Live! Eases Onto National Television Tonight in Anticipated NBC Event by Michael Gioia

NBC presents its third annual live television event Dec. 3, when Dorothy and her pals travel the Yellow Brick Road to Oz in The Wiz Live! The Tony Award-winning musical by Charlie Smalls…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

A Life-Altering Journey The Trip to Uganda That Birthed a Love Affair and a Groundbreaking Musical by Michael Gioia

Ten years ago, Griffin Matthews set upon a trip to Uganda that would change his life forever. His real-life experiences take shape Off-Broadway, where the Invisible Thread that links…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Wednesday, December 2, 2015

And, She Is Telling You! Amber Riley Dishes on Her Wiz Audition and Broadway Dream Role by Michael Gioia

Though Amber Riley has performed numerous Broadway hits on national television (as Mercedes Jones on Fox's "Glee") and will soon ease on down the road in the live broadcast of …

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:55AM
Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Exclusive! How Performers from Hamilton, On Your Feet and Paris Spent Thanksgiving (and What They At by Michael Gioia

The holidays can be tricky when working on a Broadway schedule — instead of going home to see family, most performers spend time with their "show families." Cast members …

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:14PM
Monday, November 30, 2015

Annoying Actor Friend Releases Second Book, “#GRATEFUL,” a Choose-Your-Own Showbiz Destiny by Michael Gioia

Annoying Actor Friend's "#GRATEFUL: Everything Happens for a Reason," a choose-your-own show-business destiny book (and the sequel to "#SOBLESSED: the Annoying…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

If It Weren’t For Her Mother, Stephanie Mills May Have Never Been The Wiz’s Dorothy by Michael Gioia

Mamma knows best, after all. Forty years after originating her now-iconic performance as Dorothy in the Broadway bow of The Wiz, Stephanie Mills confesses that auditioning is crippling a…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Sunday, November 29, 2015

The Wiz Live!  What’s Different, What’s New and What’s Going to Broadway by Michael Gioia

It's been 40 years since The Wiz bowed on Broadway, and the creative team over at NBC decided it was time for some renovations on the Yellow Brick Road. As Dorothy and her pals prepare t…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:18AM

New Album by Jonathan Reid Gealt, With Laura Osnes, Joshua Henry and Lindsay Mendez, Released Today by Michael Gioia

Laura Osnes, Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Natalie Weiss, Alysha Umphress, Alex Brightman, Lindsay Mendez and Lilli Cooper are among the singers featured on songwriter Jonathan Reid Gealt'…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:18AM

“Frozen Fever” Makes Disney Channel Debut Tonight by Andrew Gans and Michael Gioia

Walt Disney Animation Studios' short film "Frozen Fever," which welcomes the characters of Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf back to the screen, makes its Disney Channel debut Nov.…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:18AM
Thursday, November 26, 2015

What Was It Like to Perform on the Macy’s Parade? Over 20 Broadway Actors Remember a Dream Come True by Michael Gioia

As Broadway casts and characters make their way through Herald Square for this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we look back at years past — with exclusive memories f…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Thanksgiving for a Broadway Body! How to Stay Hot and Healthy This Holiday by Michael Gioia

Thanksgiving is almost here — complete with platefuls of turkey, stuffing, gravy and pies — and (#thankfully) we have you covered! Before sitting down at the dinner table…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Monday, November 16, 2015

Prince of Broadway Cast Shares All What They’re Singing and How They Got “Lucky” by Michael Gioia

Prince of Broadway, the new production that features words and music from Harold Prince's many shows, plays through Nov. 22 at Japan's Tokyu Theatre Orb. Before heading out of the co…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Sunday, November 15, 2015

Daisy Eagan Gets Shaken (Not Stirred!) at Tonight’s Cabaret Show Celebrating James Bond by Michael Gioia

Daisy and Jordan: Rejected Bond Girls, a show celebrating Tony Award winner Daisy Eagan and her comedy partner Jordan Kai Burnett's love of James Bond, hits Feinstein's/54 Below Nov.…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, November 13, 2015

Alfie Boe Will Depart Broadway’s Les Misrables in February by Andrew Gans and Michael Gioia

Alfie Boe, who currently plays Jean Valjean in the Broadway production of Les Misérables, will play his final performance Feb. 28, 2016, according to a production spokesperson.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:25AM
Thursday, November 12, 2015

Broadway’s “Hunkiest” Men Will Surround Ann Harada in Concert This Holiday Season by Michael Gioia

It doesn't suck to be Ann Harada! The actress, who originated Avenue Q's inappropriate therapist Christmas Eve, will celebrate the holidays with Christmas Eve's Holiday Hunkfest …

SOURCE: Playbill at 05:48PM

Get Baptized By Broadway With Stars of “Glee,” Something Rotten! and Kinky Boots by Michael Gioia

Nick Rashad Burroughs (Kinky Boots) and Marisha Wallace (Something Rotten!) will join forces Nov. 16 at Feinstein's/54 Below for Baptized By Broadway.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:09PM
Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Award-Winning Playwrights Reveal Their Last Day Jobs and How They Left to Create New Theatre by Michael Gioia

Steinberg Playwright Award winners are presented with $50,000 upfront to work on and develop pieces of new theatre. We talk with a few of the winners (some of whom went on to win Pulitzers a…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Jersey Boys Stars Talk Booking the Job, Getting the Girl and a Few Onstage Mishaps Along the Way by Michael Gioia

Oh, what a night it was! Jersey Boys, the musical biography of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, celebrated its tenth anniversary on Broadway Nov. 6, and we were on hand to chat with the b…

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:20PM

“We Did It!”  Alex Brightman On His Unlikely Casting, Gaining Weight and Being Andrew Lloyd Webber’s by Michael Gioia

School is now in session, and Alex Brightman is the man in charge! Get to know School of Rock's teacher and why it felt victorious for a tried-and-true musical theatre performer …

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Monday, November 9, 2015

Tituss Burgess Will “Fall in Love” on “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Season Two by Michael Gioia

Tituss Burgess, who plays the loud-mouthed but loveable Titus Andromedon on "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," revealed that his character will fall in love in the upcoming second se…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:06PM

Exclusive! Mary J. Blige Talks The Wiz and the Hope of Getting Her Life Story to Broadway by Michael Gioia

Mary J. Blige, the Queen of hip-hop and R&B, crosses over and gets wicked in the live NBC musical event of the year. As The Wiz Live! approaches, she talks about hip-hop, hit…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Sunday, November 8, 2015

Over 675 Performances Later, This Superfan Still Can’t Take Her Eyes Off Jersey Boys by Michael Gioia

Jersey Boys celebrated its 10th Broadway anniversary Nov. 6, and Jo-Ann Wordley has been there for more than 675 performances of the musical that chronicles the showbiz story of The Four…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:02PM
Saturday, November 7, 2015

Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell Will Not Go On in Fool for Love Tonight by Michael Gioia

Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell, who co-star in the Broadway premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, will not go on for the Nov. 7 evening performance o…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:34PM

Jimmy Fallon Challenges Lin-Manuel Miranda to a Freestyle Rap on “The Tonight Show” (Video) by Michael Gioia

Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer and star of the acclaimed new hip-hop Broadway musical Hamilton, sat down on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" Nov. 6. Watch as he is chal…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:22PM
Friday, November 6, 2015

Over 60 Broadway Child Actors Will Volunteer Their Time for Families in Need This Thanksgiving by Michael Gioia

Over 60 Broadway child performers from nine different shows will volunteer their time and creativity this weekend by decorating Thanksgiving bags for God's Love We Deliver, a meal delive…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:48PM

Meet the Jersey Boys Superfan Who Sees the Show for Her 675th Time Tonight! by Michael Gioia

As Jersey Boys gets ready to celebrate its 10th anniversary tonight, Jo-Ann Wordley is preparing for her 675th time at the show. Get to know the superfan, who is celebrating her favorite…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:14PM