The Tonys have been told by Radio City Music Hall that the 6,200-seat theatre will not be available for the annual shindig next year. The news comes a day after Radio City announced plans to move its New York Spectacular from spring to summer, with performances scheduled to begin June 15, 2016. Thatβs just a week after the Tonys, which are planned for early June.
This isn't the first time the Tonys were forced to vacate Radio City. A scheduling conflict with Cirque de Soleil led to the ceremony being switched to the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side in 2011 and 2012, after which Radio City became available once again. And the Beacon is where the show will go again this year.
The Beacon has less than half the seats β� 2,900 β� of Radio City. Thatβs bad news for ticket sales. But many thought the shows that were staged at the Beacon benefited from the more intimate space.
The Tonys were held in Broadway theatres until the late 1990s when they switched to Radio City for the first time. And, of course, before that, the ceremony was a fairly small affair held in hotel lobbies and such.
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, who had a new show headed to New York this season in , now has his follow-up ready to go.
The composerβs sequel to his most successful show, , called Love Never Dies, will launch a North American tour in 2017, °λ΅ΊΜεΣύ.com learned this week. The tour will reflect not the London premiere in 2010, but the overhauled 2011 Australian production that was staged by .
The newish musical is now titled Love Never Dies β� The Phantom Returns (just in case folks donβt know its a sequel to that spooky opera show with the chandelier). The story continues ten years after the conclusion of The Phantom of the Opera. That would make it 1907. It follows soprano Christine DaaΓ© to New York's Coney Island, where she is invited to perform for the mysterious Mr. Y. After Christine, her now-husband Raoul and their young son Gustav arrive in New York City, familiar characters begin to emerge, including one with whom Christine shares a dark secret. And it's a safe bet the secret isn't the recipe to Nathan's Famous hot dogs.
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Playwright sure likes his French-flavored musicals these days.
Lucas, who had a critical success with the stage adaptation of , currently on Broadway, has since written the book to ΄‘³Ύ±πΜ±τΎ±±π. The show is musical adaptation of the popular 2001 French film of the same name, .
The show β� which features music by Daniel MesseΜ with lyrics by Nathan Tysen and MesseΜ and stars Samantha Barks in the title role β� has extended its world-premiere run at the for a second time. The new musical officially opened Sept. 11, and performances will now continue through Oct. 18.
New York might be the show's next stop. The New York Post recently reported that producers are currently exploring potential theatres for a spring Broadway arrival for the musical. The show is directed by Tony Award winner , who has plenty of Broadway experience.
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It wasn't too long ago when was not any New York producerβs idea of a commercial sure shot. The British playwrightβs oblique, menacing works were always respected, but hardly bankable properties.
The last few years, however, Pinterβs given and a run for their money as the most produced late dramatist on Broadway. 2013 saw revivals of both and No Manβs Land. (The former was a monster commercial hit, thanks largely to its star .)
Like most of Broadwayβs Pinter revivals, , in this case actor , who is making his Broadway debut, and , the leading British stage actress who also starred in The Homecoming. , who is better known as an actor (), directs the production.
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British playwright and actress have both had their share of successes in New York. But one show they collaborated on, The Lady in the Van, a hit in London, never made it to Gotham, deemed by Yankee producers as just too British in nature.
Bennett and Smith, poor things, will have to settle of the silver screen. "The Lady in the Van," the film adaptation of the West End hit, will arrive on screens Dec. 4 in New York and Los Angeles. The film, which made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, will then open in limited release Jan. 15, 2016.
Smith reprises her stage role as an eccentric homeless woman who parks her van on playwright Bennettβs property and then refuses to leave β� for 15 years. (The story is partly autobiographical and features Bennett as a character.) The Sony Pictures Classics film features direction by .
This is Hytner's first film since "The History Boys" (also by Bennett) in 2006.
