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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: musical

musical stories: 31 news summaries

1 - 20 of 31 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Lloyd Webber Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer

Disease in early stage; expects to be back at work before end of year

Oct 25, 09 9:05 AM CDT
(AP) - British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a spokeswoman said today in a statement that said "the condition is in its very early stages. Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year." More »

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prostate cancer • Broadway • composer • musical • Andrew Lloyd Webber • Phantom Of The Opera

MOVIE REVIEW

 New Fame Ain't Gonna Last 

Slick remake of 1980 musical lacks the original's heart

Sep 25, 09 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fame, the new remake of the classic 1980 musical about students at New York's High School for the Performing Arts, will be entertaining enough for tweeners, say critics, but its sanitized feel and lightweight characters make it a forgettable inferior to the gritty original.
  • "As a demo reel
... More »

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movie review • High School Musical • musical • Kelsey Grammer

 Green Day's Rock  
 Opera Hits the Stage 

Multiplatinum American Idiot a coming-of-age story

Sep 2, 09 11:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Green Day’s multiplatinum album American Idiot is taking the stage as a 75-minute rock opera that will “challenge the very definitions of punk, theater, and musical,” writes David Downs in the East Bay Express. A 19-member cast will showcase a “Fight Club-esque story of self-discovery through... More »

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theater • musical theater • Berkeley • musical • rock opera • Jay-ZTV • Green Day • Billie Joe Armstrong

 Bye, Bye Birdie 
 Scene Too Risque 
 for Broadway 

Revival will be even more PC than high school productions

Aug 24, 09 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - High school drama clubs have been putting on Bye Bye Birdie for nearly 50 years—apparently they didn’t realize they've been staging a certain scene so risque it makes Broadway blush. The upcoming Broadway revival will cut a dance sequence featuring Rose cavorting on and around a table... More »

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entertainment • Broadway • musical theater • musical • revival • Gina Gershon • Bye Bye Birdie



 'Hermione' 
 to Star With 
 Marilyn Manson 

She's going from the pal of a boy wizard to a Goth rocker

Jul 14, 09 9:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - When Emma Watson said she was ready to leave Harry Potter behind, she meant it. The actor—whose only major role so far has been Hermione in the Potter films—is reportedly teaming up with shock rocker Marilyn Manson for her next project, playing a princess in a musical Goth... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • celebrity • Cinderella • musical • Marilyn Manson • Emma Watson

 Hitler Sells Again in Germany 


May 31, 09 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Broadway hit musical comedy The Producers finally opened in Berlin to boffo box office receipts—but not before in intense sales push to break through German reluctance to see an ersatz Hitler hamming it up on stage, reports the Los Angeles Times. "If you put it on most... More »

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Germany • Berlin • Broadway • Adolf Hitler • Mel Brooks • The Producers • musical • Springtime for Hitler

Theater review

 Decades Later, Hair Still Swings 

Critics love 'exuberant' revival

Apr 1, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bursting with energy, the Broadway revival of Hair, recently moved indoors from Central Park, has wowed critics—though there are a few gripes. What they had to say:
  • “Hair, for all its references to hippies, Vietnam, free love and the revolution, feels utterly of the moment in its
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
theater • Broadway • reviews • musical • Hair • Diane Paulus

Theater review


 New Bilingual 
 West Side Story 
 Tender, Uneven  

Production can be uneven, but still enjoyable

Mar 20, 09 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - The highly anticipated revival of West Side Story on Broadway opened last night to solid reviews, with critics applauding an unusually tender interpretation in which the women rule. Highlights:
  • “Even when they’re flashing switchblades and kicking people in the ribs, the teenage hoodlums who maraud through Arthur
... More »

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theater • Broadway • musical theater • musical • West Side Story • revival • theater reviews • Stephen Sondheim

China Prepares for Das Kapital:
The Musical

Marx's treatise gets some much-needed singing and dancing

Mar 17, 09 10:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Karl Marx's Das Kapital offers hundreds of pages of dense German prose on class struggle and modes of production—so why not add some singing and dancing? That's the idea of several Chinese producers who are mounting a Das Kapital musical, which promises a live band and Vegas-style theatrics to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • theater • Marxism • musical theater • Karl Marx • musical • Das Kapital

(Newser) - The high-school comedy/murder cult film Heathers is set to be reborn—as a Broadway musical, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Readings have already happened with the likes of Kristen Bell, and much of the original production team is on board. “‘I love my dead gay son,’” the... More »

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film • Broadway producers • musical • movies • Christian Slater • Heathers • Winona Ryder • Kristen Bell

(Newser) - The long-running Broadway musical Rent has been edited for the school stage, but the truncated version retains themes of drugs, AIDS, and homosexuality that have some administrators running scared, the New York Times reports. High school productions around the country have met with administrative and parental resistance, forcing organizers to... More »

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education • high school • children • Broadway • parents • musical • Rent • high school students

Jerry Springer Joins Chicago Cast in London

Talk show host to perform in West End musical

Feb 18, 09 2:35 PM CST
(Newser) - Jerry Springer will test his singing, dancing, and acting chops in a production of Chicago in London’s prestigious West End, the Times of London reports. Springer, a former lawyer, will play the role of lawyer Billy Flynn. The talk show host acknowledged that musical theater would have its challenges:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
London • talk show • musical • Jerry Springer • West End theater

 Phantom of the Xbox: 
 Lloyd Webber Tries Gaming 

You'll soon be able to play along with your faves from Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar

Jan 14, 09 5:22 PM CST
(Newser) - Andrew Lloyd Webber, the man behind musical hits such as Phantom of the Opera and Cats, is getting into the video-game business, paidContent reports. The burgeoning female gaming audience and the popularity of music-themed hits encouraged Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group to begin developing games based on Phantom, Evita... More »

MORE ABOUT:
BBC • gaming • musical • Andrew Lloyd Webber • Evita • video games • Phantom Of The Opera • Cats


 Get Ready 
 for Mariah: 
 the Musical 

Pop diva's life to be Broadway musical

Dec 31, 08 3:37 PM CST
(Newser) - Mariah Carey: The Musical may be hitting Broadway in 2009. The singer is in talks to bring her life story to the stage, confirmed a spokesman. The pop diva has certainly led a dramatic life, reports the Mirror, from her marriage to Tommy Mottola to her 2001 breakdown. The biggest... More »

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Broadway • Eva Longoria • celebrity • Vanessa Hudgens • musical • Mariah Carey • Leona Lewis

 Cruise: I'd Do a Musical  

Actor does a mean Elvis impersonation

Dec 12, 08 9:44 AM CST
(Newser) - Tom Cruise in a musical? After prodding from Jay Leno last night, the star says he wouldn't mind following wife Katie onto the stage, Broadway World reports. "Yes, I do movies and everything, but I wouldn't say no to Broadway," said Cruise. Turns out, he got his start... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Tom Cruise • Broadway • celebrity • Jay Leno • musical • actor

Snarky Stars Wage Protest in Prop 8 Musical

Jack Black is Jesus in 3-min. online rip on gay-marriage ban

Dec 4, 08 11:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Hollywood found a new way to protest California’s passage of anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8: song and dance, the AP reports. Prop 8: The Musical, posted on FunnyOrDie, features Jack Black as Jesus reminding the religious right that shrimp cocktail is also a Biblical “abomination.” The hero of... More »

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California • Hollywood • gay marriage • celebrity • Maya Rudolph • Jack Black • John C. Reilly • musical • FunnyOrDie.com • homosexual rights • Election 2008 • Neil Patrick Harris • Proposition 8 • Margaret Cho • Marc Shaiman

South Park Duo to Skewer Mormons—on Broadway

Trey Parker and Matt Stone set their comedic sights on Utah religion

Nov 18, 08 4:15 PM CST
(Newser) - Canadians can rest easy. The creators of South Park are ready to offend an entirely new population—Mormons, reports the New York Post. This time, though, they will do so not on the big screen or the small screen but on Broadway. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are bringing the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
religion • Broadway • comedy • cartoon • Mormon • South Park • Trey Parker • Matt Stone • musical

What's Italian for 'Over-the-Top Method Acting'?

On film set, Day-Lewis gets into character
—and stays there

Nov 17, 08 11:11 AM CST
(Newser) - Daniel-Day Lewis is trapped in the persona of his latest character again. The Irish actor, who plays womanizing director Guido Contini in the big-screen musical Nine, has taken to conversing with colleagues and barking out orders with an Italian accent. “He’s always waving his arms and telling the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
film • musical • character • Daniel Day-Lewis • Nine

THEATER REVIEW

 Billy Elliot Dazzles in Debut 

Musical includes exciting choreography, Elton John music

Nov 14, 08 1:38 PM CST
(Newser) - The Broadway opening of Billy Elliot has critics dancing in the aisles—or at least wishing they could. The "smashingly realized" show "traffics in a particularly British brand of bitter treacle, wallowing in the glory of the bravely defeated and the pathos of small, trapped lives," writes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Elton John • Broadway • dance • musical • Billy Elliot

 Parton Kicks Off 9 to 5 Premiere 

Parton offers mini concert at debut show

Sep 11, 08 1:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tuesday's premiere of 9 to 5: The Musical came with an unexpected treat when Dolly Parton leaped on stage and performed songs to cover up a technical glitch, says the Los Angeles Times Music Blog. She roused the audience into singing along to the "9 to 5" theme,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
celebrity • musical theater • Dolly Parton • musical • 9 to 5: The Musical • Ahmanson Theatre

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