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There’s no need to “convince yourself” of any “delusion” — drag superstar Jinkx Monsoon is really performing at Carnegie Hall! On Wednesday (Feb. 7), Carnegie Hall officially announced their 2024-25 concert season. Among the many new shows coming to the legendary New York City venue, one in particular stood out to Drag Race; on Valentine’s […]
As more and more artists from the pop world add writing a Broadway musical to their career-goal lists, Sara Bareilles stands out as one of the brightest success stories from that group.
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Waitress — the musical adaptation of Adrienne Shelly’s beloved independent film, featuring music and lyrics by Bareilles — was an unequivocal Broadway hit, running for nearly four years after an opening in April 2016.
That year, Bareilles’ score earned her two Tony nominations (out of a total four for the show), and she went on to perform the lead role of Jenna for three different stints. The production played London’s West End as well as internationally, garnered a Grammy nomination for its original Broadway cast recording, and yielded both a standalone Bareilles album (What’s Inside: Songs From Waitress, released on Epic Records between the show’s off-Broadway and Broadway runs) and a film of the stage show (which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023).
Sara Bareilles performs during the curtain call for Broadway’s “Waitress” at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 31, 2017 in New York City.
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Now, Bareilles — who’s been warmly embraced by the wider theater community, and racked up another Tony nomination last year for her portrayal of The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods — is making her return to Broadway.
She’s writing the music and lyrics for The Interestings, an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel by Meg Wolitzer with a book by Pulitzer- and Tony-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl.
The plot of Wolitzer’s novel revolves around character Jules Jacobson and her friends from an exclusive childhood arts camp (the titular Interestings, as they call themselves) who grow up to find varying degrees of success and satisfaction or disillusionment with where a creative life has led them.
When it came out in 2013, the Times called it “warm, all-American, and acutely perceptive about the motivations of its characters,” likening it to modern Great American Novels and praising Wolitzer’s “inclusive vision and generous sweep.” With its complex, layered female protagonist and diverse cast of characters, as well as the knotty themes it explores — ranging from what qualifies as success to whether being extraordinary is the only path to it — the book seems rich material for musical adaptation, and it’s easy to see why it appealed to Bareilles, whose Waitress balanced the buoyant with the bittersweet.
The Interestings is being produced by Matt Ross, and is currently in development; additional creative team and production details will be announced in the coming months.
With West End sensation Rob Madge heading to the Great White Way to perform their show My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?), it makes sense that they would partner with Mother Monster herself to spread their message as far as they can. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
A U.S. District Court judge blocked JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines this week, and got a little musical in the process. At one point in his 109-page ruling, Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts quoted lyrics of “Master of the House” from Les Misérables […]
Shucked is headed to the big screen. After the Broadway musical’s closing night at New York City’s Nederlander Theater on Sunday (Jan. 14), producer Mike Bosner announced that the show is being adapted into a feature film. “We’re all a little sad to say goodbye to this. But there’s some good news: We don’t have […]
Baby, he’s still a star! Nearly 40 years after Prince unleashed the original Purple Rain film and soundtrack album, the era-defining story is headed to the stage — and possibly The Great White Way.
A stage adaptation of Purple Rain is under development, with a world premiere in the works, as per The Hollywood Reporter on Monday (Jan. 8). The adaptation is set to feature a score by the late Prince, with a book by Pulitzer Prize-finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who is currently enjoying the Broadway run of his acclaimed drama Appropriate. Jacobs-Jenkins’ book will be based on the original Purple Rain screenplay, which was written by Albert Magnoli (who also directed the original film) and William Blinn. Lileana Blain-Cruz — who picked up a Tony nomination in 2022 for best direction of a play (The Skin of Our Teeth) — is set to direct, with Tony winner Orin Wolf on production duties.
The film version of Purple Rain arrived in 1984, starring Prince as The Kid, a burgeoning Minneapolis rock musician who trudges his way through rival bands, fleeting romances, and a gritty home life. To date, the film has grossed nearly $70 million worldwide, and, in 1984, it won the Academy Award for best original song score.
The accompanying soundtrack of the same name was a blockbuster success, spending 24 weeks atop the Billboard 200. The set spawned several Billboard Hot 100 hits, including “When Doves Cry” (No. 1, five weeks), “Let’s Go Crazy” (No. 1, two weeks), “Take Me With U” (No. 25), “I Would Die 4 U” (No. 8) and “Purple Rain” (No. 2). Purple Rain currently boasts a 13x platinum certification from the RIAA in recognition of over 13 million copies shipped in the U.S. alone. In addition, the soundtrack won a Grammy for bet rock performance by a duo or group with vocal and best score soundtrack for visual media.
“We can’t think of a more fitting tribute than to honor Prince and the Purple Rain legacy with this stage adaptation of the beloved story,” said L. Londell McMillan, chairman of The NorthStar Group, and Larry Mestel, founder and CEO of Primary Wave Music. “We are thrilled with our Broadway partners and creative team, who are bringing a theatricality to the film’s original fictional story. We can’t wait for a new generation to discover Purple Rain and for lovers of the original film and album to experience its power once again, this time live.”
Prince has earned 20 top 10 entries on the Billboard 200, including the chart-toppers Around the World In A Day (1985, three weeks), Batman (1989, six weeks), The Very Best of Prince (2001, one week), 3121 (2006, one week), and, of course, Purple Rain. On the Hot 100, the legendary musician has collected five No. 1 singles from 19 top 10 entries, including “Cream” (two weeks), “Kiss” (two weeks) and “Batdance” (one week).
Nicole Scherzinger is ready for her close-up again. The Masked Singer panelist will reprise her title role as Norma Desmond in an upcoming Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard musical. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The news of director Jamie Lloyd’s new production of […]
Maurice Hines, who appeared alongside his younger brother, Gregory Hines, in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, has died. He was 80.
The Broadway dancer, choreographer and actor passed away on Friday (Dec. 29) of natural causes at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., according to his cousin and representative, Richard Nurse, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Hines received a Tony Award nomination in 1986 for best actor in a musical for a musical for Uptown… It’s Hot and was featured again on Broadway in 2006’s Hot Feet. Both productions were conceived, directed and choreographed by Maurice.
Born on Dec. 13, 1943, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, Hines studied tap with Henry LeTang in NYC and was fascinated by the acrobatics of the Nicholas Brothers. He made his professional debut at around 6 years old alongside brother Gregory as the tap-dancing Hines Kids on Broadway in 1954, according to THR.
They later became known as the Hines Brothers and then Hines, Hines & Dad after their father, Maurice Sr., joined in 1963. The trio became regulars at New York’s Apollo Theater, and also performed in clubs across the U.S. and Europe.
After Gregory went solo in the early 1970s, Maurice joined the national tour of Guys and Dolls and reunited with his brother for Eubie! on Broadway in 1979. In 1982, Maurice stepped in for Gregory in the Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies and he also appeared in the national tour of Jelly’s Last Jam.
The siblings later joined forces as the feuding Williams Brothers in Coppola’s 1984 crime drama The Cotton Brothers, which also starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane.
The 2019 documentary Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back highlights a falling out between the Hines brothers, who didn’t speak for 10 years “for reasons that Maurice refuses to discuss to this day. He provides no explanation in the film, but instead takes every opportunity to praise Gregory and say how much he loved him,” according to a THR review of the film.
“Nonetheless, the lingering emotional pain of their rift is deeply evident in such moments as Maurice sadly remembering that they didn’t even speak to each at their mother’s wedding, to her great distress. The film includes footage of Gregory’s Tony Award acceptance speech [in 1992] in which he pointedly thanks everyone in his family except his brother. He even takes pains, when mentioning his father, to add ‘Sr.’ so nobody misunderstands.”
The brothers made up before Gregory died of cancer at age 57 in 2003, according to THR.
Maurice is survived by his nephew, Zach, and niece, Daria.
Since its Broadway premiere in 1981, Stephen Sondheim‘s Merrily We Roll Along has been struggling to, well, get back to Broadway. The musical about 20 years of friendship between composer Franklin Shepard, lyricist Charley Kringas and writer Mary Flynn — which unfolds onstage in reverse chronological order, starting when that friendship has dissolved and all […]
The new Broadway cast recording of Merrily We Roll Along debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart (dated Nov. 25). The show stars Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez – all of whom have been a part of at least one top 10-charting Cast Album previously. (Groff, notably, performs on both the Nos. 1 and 2 titles on the latest Cast Albums chart – as Merrily We Roll Along bumps Hamilton: An American Musical from the top slot down to No. 2.)
Billboard’s Top Cast Albums chart ranks the top-selling musical cast recordings of the week in the U.S., based on traditional album sales, as tracked by Luminate. The new Cast Albums chart dated Nov. 25 reflects the sales week ending Nov. 16.
Merrily We Roll Along has music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim, with a book by George Furth, based on the play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1981 for a brief run, and the 2023 production is its first revival on Broadway. It’s slated to run through March 24, 2024.
The new iteration began off-Broadway in 2022 at the New York Theatre Workshop, with the same leading cast, and played through Jan. 22, 2023. It then began previews on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on Sept. 19, and officially opened on Oct. 10.
Groff has now been a part of three No. 1s on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart: Merrily We Roll Along, and the original Broadway cast recordings of Hamilton: An American Musical (2015) and Spring Awakening (released in 2006, peaked at No. 1 in 2007). He’s also been a part of the top 10-charting albums A New Brain (2015 New York cast recording; No. 3 in 2016), Little Shop of Horrors (the new cast recording; No. 7, 2021). Groff won a Grammy Award for best musical theater album for Hamilton, and garnered a second nomination for the same category for Little Shop of Horrors.
Radcliffe starred in the 2011 Broadway revival of How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, which saw its cast recording reach No. 2 that same year. He also scored a Grammy nomination for best musical theater album for the project.
As for Mendez, she’s appeared on five top 10-charting sets on Cast Albums: Grease (the new 2007 Broadway cast recording, No. 4), Everyday Rapture (original Broadway cast recording; No. 8, 2010), Dogfight (original cast recording; No. 2, 2013), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel (2018 Broadway cast recording; No. 2, 2013), Godspell (the new 2012 Broadway cast recording; No. 1) and now Merrily We Roll Along. Mendez also scored a Grammy nom for best musical theater album, for Carousel.