TheatreScene: July 4 - 10

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THE CURRENT POLL TO YOUR RIGHT!
LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?  BECOME A "FOLLOWER"!
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK:

• July 4: Born on the 4th of July
• July 5: REVIEW: next to normal (National Tour)
• July 6: Drawing Broadway 3: Justin "Squigs" Robertson
• July 7: BROADWAY BLOG: Day By Day: The Godspell Blog
• July 8: Broadway Games: Logic Puzzle #2
• July 9: Eating in NYC: Virgil's BBQ

 

TOPS AND BOTTOMS (June 27 - July 3)

• Top Gross: Wicked ($1.8M)
• Top Attendance: The Book of Mormon (102.4%)
• Bottom Gross: Master Class ($239K)
• Bottom Attendance: RAIN: The Beatles Experience on Broadway (63.2%)
• $1M Club: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Wicked, Mary Poppins
• SRO Club: War Horse, The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Anything Goes

NOW PREVIEWING ON BROADWAY:

• Hair: Previews: July 5; Opening: July 13; Closes: September 10

 

COMINGS AND GOINGS:
Shows:

• Hair returned to Broadway for its "Summer of Love" at the St. James Theatre, with the start of previews July 5th. 
• Master Class extended its run at the Manhattan Theatre Club by a week, through August 21.

Casting:

 

Adam Kantor and Nikka Graff Lanzarone with Charlotte d'Amboise

• Will Chase plays his final performance in Billy Elliot today, July 10, at the Imperial Theatre.
• Adam Kantor (Mark in the final cast of Broadway's RENT) joined the cast of off-Broadway's Avenue Q as Princeton/Rod on July 9.  The new revival of RENT begins performances just down the hall at New World Stages later this week.
• Nikki Graff Lanzarone began performances as Velma Kelly in Chicago on July 5th.
• Jane Houdyshell (Well, Wicked) and Mary Beth Peil (TV's The Good Wife, Women on the Verge) will be joining the cast of Follies when it opens this summer at the Marquis Theatre.

Milestones:

• Ghetto Klown closes today at the Lyceum Theatre, following 25 previews and 95 performances.
• The Normal Heart closes this evening at the Golden Theatre, following 10 previews and 85 performances.
• Broadway Barks 13 was held in Shubert Alley on July 9, featuring a who's who of Broadway stars, including founders Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore.

• How to Succed in Business Without Really Trying took a small break this week, cancelling the July 7, 8 and 9 (matinee only) performances to accomodate Daniel Radcliffe's promotional schedule for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part II.
• Catch Me If You Can had its 100th performance on July 5.
• Anything Goes had its 100th performance on July 6.

BROADWAY VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

 

Broadway in Bryant Park, the annual series of summer concerts put on by the casts of current Broadway and off-Broadway shows, got started July 7th with the casts of Sister Act and Baby It's You! getting things started.  Here is "Take Me to Heaven" lead by Patina Miller's understudy Rashidra Scott and featuring the ensemble of nuns from Sister Act.  She has an AMAZING voice!

 

 

 

 

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Jeff
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