Monday, January 25, 2016

17 Broadway Shows Getting Ready To Open in Spring 2016

Dear Friends,

Broadway Shows are busier than ever.
I have compiled a list of Broadway Shows that will start previews in the next few months so that they can open to critics reviews and become eligible to receive nominations and possibly receive Tony Awards to be given out in June 2016. The list was taken from the latest update from Playbill and should be accurate.

Should you need assistance with obtaining advice or to purchase tickets (many shows are offering discounted tickets for their first few months), kindly consider a call to my company Applause Tickets at 212-307-7050 or 800-451-9930. Or you can have a look at our new website at www.applause-tickets.com. We have every show scheduled to open and all the shows currently running on Broadway and in London and would love an opportunity to be of service to you when your plans include live theatre. We are open 24/7 to assist. Cheers.

Rich Gladstone
Applause Theatre & Entertainment Service Inc.
723 7th Avenue, suite 902
NY NY 10019
phone 212-307-7050
phone 800-451-9930
email: rich@applause-tickets.com


THE HUMANS
  • Theatre: Helen Hayes
  • Previews Begin: Jan. 23, 2016
  • Opening: Feb. 18, 2016
  • Written by Stephen Karam
  • Director: Joe Mantello
  • Cast: Cassie Beck, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein, Arian Moayed and Sarah Steele
  • After a sleepless night, Mr. Blake has brought his family from Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's new apartment. As darkness falls outside the crumbling pre-war duplex, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point.
  • Premiered Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre with the same cast.

HUGHIE

  • Theatre: Booth
  • First Preview: Feb. 8, 2016
  • Opening: Feb. 25, 2016
  • Written by Eugene O'Neill
  • Director: Michael Grandage
  • Cast: Forest Whitaker and Frank Wood
  • The Oscar-winning actor makes his Broadway debut in this O'Neill two-hander.


ECLIPSED

  • Theatre: Golden
  • Previews Begin: February 23, 2016
  • Opening: March 6, 2016
  • Written by Danai Gurira
  • Director: Liesl Tommy
  • Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Saycon Sengbloh, Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah
  • A group of women are held captive in Liberia.
  • Premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater with the same cast.


DISASTER!

  • Theatre: Nederlander
  • First Preview: Feb. 9, 2016
  • Opening: March 8, 2016
  • Written by Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick
  • Director: Jack Plotnick
  • Cast: Roger Bart, Kerry Butler, Kevin Chamberlin, Adam Pascal, Faith Prince, Rachel York, Jennifer Simard, Max Crumm, Lacretta Nicole and Seth Rudetsky
  • Musical spoof of 1970's disaster movies, done previously Off-Broadway.


BLACKBIRD

  • Theatre: Belasco
  • Previews Begin: February 5, 2016
  • Opening: March 10, 2016
  • Written by David Harrower
  • Director: Joe Mantello
  • Cast: Jeff Daniels, Michelle Williams
  • A woman tracks down and confronts the man who had a relationship with her when she was 12.
  • Premiered Off-Broadway with Daniels and Mantello.


SHE LOVES ME

  • Theatre: Studio 54
  • First Preview: February 19, 2016
  • Opening: March 17, 2016
  • Written by Jerry Bock (music), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) and Joe Masteroff (book)
  • Director: Scott Ellis
  • Cast: Zachary Levi, Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski
  • Georg (Levi) and Amalia (Benanti) are two parfumerie clerks who aren’t quite the best of friends. Constantly bumping heads while on the job, the sparring coworkers can’t seem to find common ground. But little do they know, the anonymous romantic pen pals they have both been falling for happen to be each other.


BRIGHT STAR

  • Theatre: Cort
  • Previews Begin: February 25, 2016
  • Opening: March 24, 2016
  • Written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell (music), Edie Brickell (lyrics), Steve Martin (book)
  • Director: Walter Bobbie
  • Cast: Carmen Cusack
  • In the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina between 1923 and 1945, Billy Cane, a young soldier just home from World War II, meets Alice Murphy, the brilliant editor of a southern literary journal. Together they discover a powerful secret that alters their lives.
  • Premiered at San Diego's Old Globe in fall 2014. The musical was being presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington Dec. 2, 2015-Jan. 10, 2016.


THE CRUCIBLE

  • Theatre: Walter Kerr
  • First Preview: February 29, 2016
  • Opening: April 7, 2016
  • Written by Arthur Miller
  • Director: Ivo van Hove
  • Cast: Ben Whishaw, Saoirse Ronan, Ciaran Hinds. Sophie Okonedo.
  • Arthur Miller's political allegory framed as a story about a man falsely charged with witchcraft in colonial, Salem, MA.


THE FATHER

  • Theatre: Samuel J. Friedman
  • First Preview: March 22, 2016
  • Opening: April 12, 2016
  • Written by Florian Zeller
  • Director: Doug Hughes
  • Cast: Frank Langella
  • A look inside the mind of Andre (Langella), a retired dancer living with his adult daughter Anne and her husband. Or is he a retired engineer receiving a visit from Anne who has moved away with her boyfriend? Why do strangers keep turning up in his room? And where has he left his watch?
  • Produced previously in Paris and London.


AMERICAN PSYCHO

  • Theatre: Gerald Schoenfeld
  • First Preview: March 24, 2016
  • Opening: April 20, 2016
  • Written by Duncan Sheik (music & lyrics), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (book)
  • Director: Rupert Goold
  • Cast: Benjamin Walker, Alice Ripley, Jennifer Damiano
  • "Direct from a highly acclaimed, sold-out run in London, American Psycho brings its designer brand of style, sex and synthesizers to Broadway. Set in the excess of 1980s Manhattan, American Psycho tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a young and handsome Wall Street banker who pursues his darkest American dreams. Patrick and his elite group of friends spend their days in exclusive restaurants, hot clubs and luxury labels. But at night, Patrick takes part in a more sinful indulgence, and his mask of sanity is starting to slip...."
  • Made its world premiere in London at the Almeida Theatre January 2014, starring Matt Smith. Act 4 is partnering with Jeffrey Richards to bring the show to Broadway.


NERDS

  • Theatre: Longacre
  • First Preview: March 31, 2016
  • Opening: April 21, 2016
  • Written by Hal Goldberg (music), Jordan Allen-Dutton and Erik Weiner (book and lyrics)
  • Director: Casey Hushion
  • Cast: TBA
  • "Before Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were the undisputed titans of technology, they were Nerds. Join America’s favorite garage inventors on a hilarious musical journey from the floppy disc era to the iPhone phenomenon, and the epic competition in between, that would revolutionize modern culture as we know it."
  • First presented by the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2007. Then played a limited engagement at North Carolina Theatre in 2013. A concert was presented at 54 Below in June 2014.


WAITRESS

  • Theatre: Brooks Atkinson
  • First Preview: March 25, 2016
  • Opening: April 24, 2016
  • Written by Sara Bareilles (music & lyrics), Jessie Nelson (book), Adrienne Shelly (original screenplay)
  • Director: Diane Paulus
  • Cast: Jessie Mueller
  • Based on the 2007 film of the same name, which follows a pregnant waitress named Jenna who is unhappily married in the Deep South. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.
  • In development since June 2013 with producers Barry and Fran Weissler, director Diane Paulus and songwriter Sara Bareilles. The show had its first full production at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA in summer 2015.


FULLY COMMITTED

  • Theatre: Lyceum
  • First Preview: April 2, 2016
  • Opening: April 25, 2016
  • Written by Becky Mode
  • Director: Jason Moore
  • Cast: Jesse Tyler Ferguson
  • Broadway premiere of the hit 1999 comedy about a harried reservations clerk at a hot restaurant with a mob of crazy guests...all played by one actor.


TUCK EVERLASTING

  • Theatre: Broadhurst
  • First Preview: March 31, 2016
  • Opening: April 26, 2016
  • Written by Nathan Tysen (lyrics), Chris Miller (music), Claudia Shear and Tim Federle (book)
  • Director: Casey Nicholaw
  • Cast: Sarah Charles Lewis, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Carolee Carmello, Michael Park, Terrence Mann
  • Good girl Winnie Foster’s world has been safely contained behind the picket fence that surrounds the house she shares with her mother and grandmother. Yearning to break free, Winnie runs deep into the woods behind their house where she discovers the Tuck family and the secret they’ve been keeping.


LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

  • Theatre: American Airlines
  • First Preview: March 31, 2016
  • Opening: April 27, 2016
  • Written by Eugene O'Neill
  • Director: Jonathan Kent
  • Cast: Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, John Gallagher Jr., Michael Shannon
  • O'Neill's tale of an ordinary summer’s day with extraordinary consequences. Roundabout revives the story of the Tyrone family and their battle to unearth — and conceal — a lifetime of secrets.


SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED

  • Theatre: Music Box
  • First Preview: March 15, 2016
  • Opening: April 28, 2016
  • Written by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle (music), George C. Wolfe (book)
  • Director: George C. Wolfe
  • Choreographer: Savion Glover
  • Cast: Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Joshua Henry
  • A backstage musical about the events that led to the creation of the groundbreaking Eubie Blake-Noble Sissle musical Shuffle Along.


PARAMOUR

  • Theatre: Lyric
  • First Preview: April 16, 2016
  • Opening: May 25, 2016
  • Written by "Bob & Bill" (Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard).
  • Director: Philippe DecouflĂ©
  • Cast: Ruby Lewis
  • New musical that will represent the first Cirque du Soleil show assembled expressly for Broadway. Although it is scheduled to open in the 2015-16 season, it won't be eligible for the Tony Awards until 2017.


We hope you'll consider working with the local Broadway and London ticket experts at Applause-Tickets when you are looking for advice or to purchase show tickets, Concerts or Sporting Events.

Take care
Rich








The King and I Tickets on Broadway- A Very Special Night at the Theater


I had a chance to see Tony winner Kelli O'Hara perform in the Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic The King and I.  With an extremely talented, nearly 50 person cast along with gorgeous scenery and set design, I highly recommend seeing this show if you get the chance.

The King and I tells the story of English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens (Kelli O'Hara), a widower who in 1862 takes a job as the private tutor to the King of Siam's (played brilliantly by Hoon Lee) many wives and children. There are several challenges along the way in this high spirited musical as we clearly get to witness the clash of "East meets West".  This leads to Anna and the King to becoming at odds often, yet slowly but surely the two manage to develop a deep friendship respectful of their differences.  Ana falls in love with the royal children of Siam and at times is torn between trying to convince the King to adapt more modern ways.  Could we be witnessing an unfulfilled romance between the two?  Will Anna have no choice but to leave Siam and return home?  The King and I is a great example of people from two completely different backgrounds that manage to get along with one another mostly just accepting these differences although at times growing more understanding of one another's different customs.

The King and I has beautiful music containing some of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's most memorable tunes like 'I Whistle a Happy Tune,' 'Hello, Young Lovers' and 'Shall We Dance.  They are really quite wonderful indeed.


The King and I is the winner of 4 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical in 2015.  
Some Acknowledgement from two respected newspapers from April 2015 are

"Something wonderful indeed. Breathtaking. Exquisite. Remarkable". The New York Times
"I doubt I'll ever see a better production in my lifetime". The Wall Street Journal

The King and I plays at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center and is directed by Bartlett Sher.  The show runs about 3 hours including a 15 minute intermission.  The King and I will begin a National Tour sometime in November 2016.

If you would like advice on how to obtain great seating and reasonably priced The King and I tickets in New York City, you can place a call to Applause-Tickets at our office in New York City at 212-307-7050 or 800-451-9930.  We are open 24/7 to assist.

Enjoy The King and I on Broadway or any of the more than 30 fabulous shows we have playing in New York City.  We look forward to helping you when your plans including some excellent theatre in New York City or any city around the world.

Rich Gladstone
President
Applause-Tickets.com
723 7th Avenue, Suite 901
NY, NY 10019
www.applause-tickets.com 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Disney's Aladdin To Open In The West End This Spring

Aladdin TicketsExciting news theatre fans. One of Broadway's most popular show's is heading across the pond. Aladdin, which continues to play to packed houses eight times a week on the Great White Way, will make it's London debut this Spring. Previews are set to begin at the Prince Edward Theatre on May 27, with opening night scheduled for June 15.

Featuring a score by Tony winner Alan Menken, and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw, Aladdin is one of the most entertaining shows to hit the stage in years. Here's hoping that London audiences feel the same way.

By the way for those of you that want tickets to see Aladdin you are in luck. We sell it. In fact we sell tickets to every musical and play in London. Who knew? Get your tickets to see Aladdin in London at the Prince Edward Theatre. You will love it. Until next time theatre fans.

JWB
Applause Theatre and Entertainment Service, Inc.
723 7th Avenue 
Suite 902
New York, NY 10019
212-307-7050
or 1-800-451-9930

http://www.applause-tickets.com/
Facebook:Applause Theater and Entertainment Service

Friday, January 08, 2016

New Musical Waitress To Open On Broadway This Spring

Now for those of you who have read any of my previous blogs, you know that I am not a big fan of movie to musical transfers. However when it comes to this one, I am totally on board. Why you ask? Well for starters the movie version of Waitress is one of my favorite films. Plus Sara Bareilles, who is making her Broadway debut as a composer, is one of my favorite singers. Oh and did I mention that the show is starring Tony winner Jesse Mueller (Beautiful), and is being directed by fellow Tony winner Diane Paulus (Pippin).

Now do you see why I am so excited? By the way for those of you who have never seen the movie, I have included the film's trailer to give you a little more insight. Oh sure, I guess I could give you a brief synopsis instead. But then you wouldn't get to see the charming and talented Kerri Russell in the title role. Previews for Waitress are set to begin at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 25, with opening night scheduled for April 24.

Now for those of you who have never been in the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, it is one of Broadway's smallest venues. That means that there is not a bad seat in the house. Tickets for the show went on sale last month. Not only that but we sell them. In fact we sell every show both on and Off-Broadway. Get your tickets to see Waitress on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. I can't wait. Until next time theatre fans.

JWB
Applause Theatre and Entertainment Service, Inc.
723 7th Avenue 
Suite 902
New York, NY 10019
212-307-7050
or 1-800-451-9930

http://www.applause-tickets.com/
Facebook:Applause Theater and Entertainment Service

Monday, January 04, 2016

Academy Award Winner Forest Whitaker To Star In Eugene O'Neill's Hughie

So let me get this straight. One of Hollywood's most acclaimed actor's, is making his Broadway debut in a play by one of the theatre's most celebrated playwright's. Sounds about right to me. Forest Whitaker, who won an Academy Award in 2007 for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, will star in Eugene O'Neill's Hughie at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. Previews for the sixty-five minute drama are set to begin at the Booth Theatre on February 5, with opening night scheduled for February 25.

The show, which takes place at a run down Manhattan hotel, tells the story of small time hustler Erie Smith (Whitaker), who is mourning the recent death of his friend and former hotel clerk Hughie. Tickets for the show are now on sale. Not only that but if you call right now we can get you tickets to see Hughie at prices that can't be beat. Be advised that while this "Special Offer" is good thru March 20, it is for select seats, and as always subject to availability. Get your tickets to see Forest Whitaker in Hughie at the Booth Theatre. Until next time theatre fans.


JWB
Applause Theatre and Entertainment Service, Inc.
723 7th Avenue 
Suite 902
New York, NY 10019
212-307-7050
or 1-800-451-9930

http://www.applause-tickets.com/
Facebook:Applause Theater and Entertainment Service