Jake Gyllenhaal Will Make Musical Debut in Encores! LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

I am super excited that Jake Gyllenhaal and Chuck Cooper will be joining us in the production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ at City Center in July!

 

Photo by BroadwayWorld.com

by BWW News Desk

Jake Gyllenhaal, Chuck Cooper and Taran Killam will join the previously announced Ellen Greene in the Encores! Off-Center concert production ofHoward Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors, running July 1-2, 2015. NOTE: A third performance has been added at 2pm on Thursday, July 2 in order to meet ticket demand. The production will be directed by Dick Scanlan, with choreography by Patricia Wilcox. Jeanine Tesori is the Artistic Director of Encores! Off-Center, and Chris Fenwick is Music Director. The show will mark the musical theater debuts of both Gyllenhaal and Killam.

Little Shop of Horrors is a sci-fi musical about Seymour Krelborn (Jake Gyllenhaal), a hapless florist shop worker who pursues a doomed romance with his ditzy, lovable co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene) by acquiring an R&B-singing plant (Chuck Cooper) that feeds on human blood. The production also stars Taran Killam as Audrey’s sadistic dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello. An R&B girl group, The Urchins, provides commentary on the action and will feature Tracy Nicole Chapman, Marva Hicks and Ramona Keller. Little Shop is based on Roger Corman’s 1960 black comedyfilm by the same name. With book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, the show premiered Off-Off-Broadway in 1982 before moving Off-Broadway to the Orpheum Theatre, where it played 2,209 performances, winning the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Musical. It was revived on Broadway in 2003, playing 372 performances at the Virginia Theatre.

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Ramona Keller and More to Celebrate Dionne Warwick

What’s It All About Miss Dionne? The music of Burt Bacharach & Dionne Warwick

What's It All About Miss Dionne?

Spend a night with these Broadway and recording divas as they celebrate why there’s always something there to remind us of the voice and career of living legend Dionne Warwick. Join Brian Whitted as he welcomes to the stage Tony Award winner Adriane Lenox, Tony Award winner La Chanze, recording artist Alyson Williams, and Broadway’s Marva Hicks, Ramona Keller, Soara-Joye Ross, Amber Iman, and Darlesia Cearcy. You’ll hear your favorite Burt Bacharach tunes from Alfie, to Promises, Promises, and There’s Always Something There to Remind Me. Josette Marchak, Romona Dunlap, and Kristina Nicole Miller will back this fabulous group of ladies in an evening you don’t want to miss.

Monday, February 2, at 9:30pm                                                                 Metropolitan Room – 34 W 22nd St, New York, New York 10010

Tickets Available metropolitanroom.com

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Broadway.com features ‘BKLYN’ in Wayback Wednesday Series

Wayback Wednesday! Vintage Videos ofHairspray, Brooklyn & More From the Broadway.com Vaults

For 14 years, Broadway.com has been on the scene for some of the most important events in theater history: We’ve seen Broadway hopefuls become legends, unknown musicals become Tony-winning smash hits and so much more. Every Wednesday in January, we’re opening the Broadway.com vaults to take a little trip down memory lane.

Brooklyn Rehearsal, 2004
Once upon a time, before a one-bedroom in Williamsburg was $1,700 a month, there was a musical called Brooklyn, where Broadway divas had belt-offs in dresses made of trash bags and bubble wrap. See fierce favorites Eden Espinosa, Karen Olivo and Ramona Keller make fireworks in an early rehearsal

 

‘The Radio’ to join Ellen Greene in Little Shop for 1 Nite Only!

‘The Radio’ to join Ellen Greene

 In Little Shop 

 

for 1 Nite Only!

 

‘The Radio’ to join Ellen Greene in Little Shop for 1 Nite Only!

Ellen Greene to Re-create Her Audreyin Encores! Off-Center'sLittle Shop of Horrors                                                                                                       
By David Gordon • TheaterMania.com

Ellen Greene as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors.

 

 

Ellen Greene will reprise her legendary performance as Audrey when Little Shop of Horrors (musical) returns for a one-night-only concert as part of the 2015 Encores! Off-Center season at New York City Center.

Directed by Dick Scanlan, the July 1 show will also star Caroline, or Change‘s Tracy Nicole Chapman, Marva Hicks and Ramona Keller as the Urchins. Full casting for the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman musical, which tells the story of a lowly florist who acquires an alien plant that feeds on human blood, will be announced in the coming months.

‘The Radio’ reunite for the Dramatists Guild Gala

 ‘THE RADIO’  REUNITE
 
FOR THE DRAMATISTS GUILD GALA
 

 

Dramatists Guild hosted their annual gala ‘Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars’ on October 27 at The Edison Ballroom. The evening paid tribute to legendary writers and recognizes their significant contributions to American theater.

The original ‘Radio’ from Caroline or Change reunited to sing ‘Salty Tear Drops’ at the 2014 Dramatist Guild fund Gala for Jeanine Tesori.

radio

Ramona Keller,Marva Hicks, and Tracy Nicole Chapman

Jeanine and the Radio

Various playwrights,lyricists and composers like,  Jeanine Tesori (Caroline or Change and Violet),introduced the stars who brought their work to life on stage.

Jeanine Tesori

(photos by Broadwayworld.com)

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Guest Appearance at the Metropolitan Room 4/21/14

GUEST APPEARANCE AT METROPOLITAN ROOM 4/21/14

 

 

On this coming Monday, April 21, 2014, I’ll be joining my friend Darryl Jovan Williams for a guest appearance at the Metropolitan Room. He is a very talented singer and always gives a stellar performance. Hope to see you there!

  • Where: Metropolitan Room                                                                                  34 WEST 22ND ST., NEW YORK, NY 10010 PHONE: 212.206.0440
  • When : Monday, Apr 21, 2014 9:30 PM (Doors open at 9:00 PM )
  • Ticket Price : $20.00 – $115.00
  • Door Time: 9:00 PM
  • Restrictions: 2 Beverage Minimum