While you were trying to get tickets to the all-star "Guys and Dolls” Carnegie Hall concert, here’s what was happening this week In the Wings.
Carole King surprised the cast of Broadway’s “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” with a curtain call-performance. The Grammy Award-winning icon watched the April 3 performance from the audience and took the stage afterwards to great the company and perform her hit song “You’ve Got a Friend.” It was also the first time King had seen the show; she previously stated she would not attend the musical due to the personal natures of the show, but later released a statement saying “It was so joyous to be there. I couldn't be more proud." This on top of what was alrady a big week for “Beautiful” -- their cast-recording debuted this week as the #1 cast-recording on iTunes as well. Watch King’s sweet appearance below:
A new North American tour of “Jesus Christ, Superstar” will launch this June with an all-star cast. The hit Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice-musical will stop in 50 cities this summer, starring Destiny Child’s Michelle Williams as Mary Magdalene, *NSYNC’s JC Chasez as Pontius Pilate, Incubus’s Brandon Boyd as Judas Iscariot and Sex Pistols’s John (Rotton) Little as King Herod. Ben Foster (“Orphans”) will lead this group of musical heavyweights, playing Jesus Christ. [More info]
Nominations for the 2014 Lucille Lortel Awards were announced. “Here Lies Love” and “Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” earned a record-breaking 11 nominations each. Other notable nominees include “Fun Home” (9 nominations), “Good Person of Szechwan” (5 nominations) and “Bad Jews,” “Hand to God,” “The Open House” and “What’s It All About,” which each got four nominations. Awards will be handed out May 4 in a ceremony hosted by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, both appearing in the upcoming Off Broadway opener “Annapurna.” [More info]
Jesse Tyler Ferguson will host the 80th Annual Drama League Awards. The Emmy-nominated star of “Modern Family” and Broadway veteran will lead the dais of nominated stars, all competing for the coveted “Distinguished Performance” award. The 80th Annual Drama League Awards will be held May 16 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. [More info]
The Atlantic Theater Company’s production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera” has extended by one week. The musical, adapted into English by Marc Blitztein and directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke, will open April 7 at the Linda Gross Theater and play through May 11. F. Murray Abraham, Mary Beth Peil, Laura Osnes, and Michael Park are among some of its stars. [More info]
Broadway
New York State Legislature passed a theater production tax credit. New York is now the fourth jurisdiction in America to offer financial incentives to investors who originate live productions within New York State. The credit is effective for tax years commencing January 1, 2015. A program offering a 25% tax credit to producers who tech their shows in New York’s facilities is also included in the budget for the 2014-15 Fiscal Year. [More info]
