William Statham

🏳️‍🌈   WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S BROADWAY! 🏳️‍🌈 🌈 Three ways to describe me: Broadway, Golden Girls, and involuntary Trevor Noah doppelgänger. 🌈 

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[williamstatham]

Playwrights get a new stage: Audible announces 15 writers for audio theater project

Audible has announced the first class of emerging playwrights to receive support from a $5 million fund for new one- and two-person audio plays.

#audible #playwrights #grant #writers #audiotheatreproject #supportartists 

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'The Secret Garden' musical revival coming to Broadway

The gates of Broadway will soon open again for The Secret Garden. Producers announced Monday that the first-ever Broadway revival…

#secret garden #broadway #warren carlyle #daisy egan #winters on the wing #lilys eyes 

[williamstatham]

The 10 Greatest Broadway Musicals of Hal Prince’s Influential Career, Ranked

A list of the best shows that the legendary director-producer worked on can seem like a list of the best shows, period. That’s how influential he is.

Vulture’s Top Ten List of Hal Prince Musicals! 

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'Dear Evan Hansen' Tony-Winner Ben Platt Signs With Atlantic Records: Exclusive

Platt is adding another accolade to that already impressive resume: he's signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records.

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Bernadette Peters to Replace Bette Midler in ‘Hello, Dolly!’

Victor Garber will join Ms. Peters, playing the man she fancies, Horace Vandergelder. They will begin performances on Jan. 20.

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‘Dear Evan Hansen’: Noah Galvin, Taylor Trensch to Replace Ben Platt in Title Role

Ben Platt is waving goodbye to “Dear Evan Hansen” (presumably through a window). His temporary replacement beginning Nov. 21 is Noah Galvin, who previously starred on the ABC sitcom &#8…

http://variety.com/2017/legit/news/dear-evan-hansen-noah-galvin-taylor-trensch-ben-platt-1202536055/

[williamstatham]

NOW I get why Lin-Manuel Miranda was saying 8.11.17 was gonna be a big day for a few reasons; well two.

1.) The launch of the #hamiltonapp where you can enter the lottery for $10 tix

2.) The L.A. Opening Night for the Hamilton: An American Musical Tour at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

*Happy Opening Night Amber Iman! I made ya a lil sumthin' sumthin' in the comments below...👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽😉*

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“Mama’s got the stuff!” Julia Murney as Mama Rose in Gypsy at Cape Playhouse...

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LI’s ‘Dolly’ finds musical’s plot parallels her life

Memories of her Hauppauge childhood flood back to actress Donna Murphy in a flash. Morning walks to Forest Brook Elementary School. The nearby Carvel. And,

I just LOVE me some Donna Murphy. Great article here from her Long Island origins via @newsday

[williamstatham]

Rodney Hicks Is A Real Life Hero ...onstage and off...

Rodney Hicks (Come From Away) is my hero today. I had recently heard of Rodney's condition on my friend Keith Price's podcast, Keith Price's Curtain Call. Rodney was incredibly open and honest about a condition that he has that I had no IDEA even existed, let alone that he suffered from so tremendously over the years. As actors, we have both the most gratifying and (conversely) bewildering career out there. When we book the right show on stage or role in movie or film and the timing is right and all the elements come together, we are praised and the sky is the limit. If we are a part of something where the timing is right or the stars aren't aligned in the Universe, we are forced to wear this badge of shame, as if we committed some grave offense for (God forbid) bringing "art & culture" In the world. In an audition, we have to stand emotionally naked in front of a group of strangers, pretending to be someone else and putting our entire souls on the lines pretending to be someone else and judged accordingly. And that's just the first step. So when an actor, and not just any actor, but an OPENLY GAY, TALENTED, PROFESSIONAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN WORKING BROADWAY ACTOR, steps forward with such courage and honesty about this affliction he lives with and has to confront daily;  when he has to not only leave a show he's worked on for years and a family of lifelong friends behind to do what he KNOWS is right for HIS health, future, partner and loved ones, I SOB (and I mean, the tears are streaming right now) with such LOVE and PRIDE.  You know why? Because YOU can do the same in YOUR life. And I can do the same in MY life. And the stranger you pass walking down the street can do the same in THEIR life. I wish Rodney the best of luck in all his future endeavors. It will help and reach so many people I truly believe.

http://www.playbill.com/article/actor-rodney-hicks-opens-up-about-come-from-away-departure

[williamstatham]

NTLive’s “Angels in America; Part One...” Soars To The Heavens

I was fortunate enough to catch NT Live's broadcast of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Par One: Millennium Approaches this past weekend. With the exception of one rather unfortunate miscasting (in my opinion), it was a pretty powerful production. 

Of particular note was Denise Gough as "Harper". I hesitate to use overly praise an actor of her caliber. Sufficed to say, I think the best compliment to give is that she was so uniquely and genuinely "Harper", that the actor herself disappeared. I know that may sound rather cliché or obvious, but I very much have Mary-Louise Parker's "Harper" in my brain from the HBO  incarnation of the play (directed by the late, genius Mike Nichols); so to not even have Parker's "Harper" (say that three times fast) playing over and over in a virtual split screen in my mind's eye was quite a relief. 

I must also compliment Russell Tovey. I did not have the pleasure of seeing him in Ivo van Hove's production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge last season. I only truly knew him from his brief appearances on the canned HBO series Looking, starring Jonathan Groff. That being said, it was again a relief to see an actor make such solid, definitive choices. At one point during a very confrontational scene with "Harper" (Denise Gough) in the first act, Tovey shocked the hell out of me and I was left stunned and slightly terrified. Do not be deceived;  a truly gritty actor lies beneath the surface of boyishly good looks and charm. 

As for Nathan Lane, he's always fantastic. This may be his best work since Douglas Carter Beane's "The Nance" from a few seasons back on Broadway. I must admit that I was initially a bit surprised at the casting of Lane in the role of Roy Cohn; a truly detestable (and rightfully so) and virtually unlikeable character. But Nathan was fiery and stern. A scene in the first act involving Tovey's character, "Joe," was especially intense. You could practically feel the steamy heat emanating from Lane's "Cohn." Unfortunately, (perhaps not so "unfortunate" depending on your take of Nathan Lane's acting in general) I have always felt that it's hard for me to separate Nathan Lane from any of his characters. At some point, they all bleed together a bit. In a way, this only highlights his talent and genius as an actor. If that truly is the case and one character is as indiscernible as the next for Lane, then he's doing pretty damn well because I've never seen the man give less than a Tony Award-worthy performance in any production. In other words, Lane's worst would be any other actor's dream of technique and how to craft and inhabit a true character. James McArdle was also quite good. It was interesting to see his "Louis." He was much more likable and snide than I imagined "Louis" to be; at least in my mind. "Louis" is endlessly smart and witty, but McArdle was able to convey a certain charm and humor that I think has laid dormant in the role over many productions. It also became much clearer through his interpretation of "Louis" just how "stuck" he is between caring for his lover, "Prior" (in and out of the hospital and dying a painful death due to AIDS) and abandoning "Prior" in the middle of literally fighting for his life. To many people who have never had the challenge of tending to or taking on the full responsibility of taking care of loved one or family member, it is very easy for many people to take the high road and simply say, "Easy! Of course I would drop whatever I was doing in my life and run to that persons side." Not so. As they say, until you walk a hundred miles in someone else's shoes, you cannot truly identify with their struggles. McArdle portrayed this duality of responsibility and guilt quite delicately and tenderly. Amanda Lawrence ("Sister Ella Chapter"), Susan Brown ("Hannah," mother to "Joe"), and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett ("Belize") were equally splendid in their supporting roles. In particular, Lawrence was simply masterful every time she appeared onstage; whether as an overnight nurse tending to "Prior" or a supposed "friend" to the mother of "Joe" (Tovey), "Hannah" (Brown). More will be seen of these roles and actors in "Perestroika," but you definitely get a sampling of their abilities in "Millennium Approaches."

At this time, I won't speak for one of the remaining leads. 

[williamstatham]

Happiest of Birthdays to Tony Award-winner KRISTIN CHENOWETH ! 🍰🎂🎉🎁🎈🍰 

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Rachel Bay Jones in ‘Evan Hansen’: ‘You wake up some mornings, and your chest hurts’

The Tony winner has let the role of the title character’s mom seep deep into her bones.

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Hugh Panaro Will Be Next Demon Barber in SWEENEY TODD; New Cast Announced!

Producers of the Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are pleased to announce that Hugh Panaro (as Sweeney Todd) with Jake Boyd (as Anthony), Eryn LeCroy (as Johanna), Michael James Leslie (as Judge Turpin) and John Rapson (as The Beadle) will join the cast.

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Jennifer Lawrence barfs at Broadway show

A source told Page Six, “Several people saw her getting sick in the lobby. The ushers were very helpful and courteous in helping her out.”

In reality, she came 3 minutes late, unfortunately had the flu and had to leave about a third of the way into the performance...so.................yeah.

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First Look: New Theater Inspired By Kansas City’s Willis Wood Theater To Debut at Walt Disney World Resort

A new venue for world-class entertainment is coming to Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom Park in Florida. And a first look at the new theater was just unveiled minutes ago at D23 Expo 2017. If the image of the theater looks familiar, that’s