Wicked will have a new leading man! David Burnham will be taking on the role of Fiyero in the hit Broadway musical Wicked on January 8. The role was played by Sebastian Arcelus who recently left to play Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys. In the interim Derrick Williams will be playing the role.

Burnham’s stage credits include The Light in the Piazza, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstore and On the 20^th Century.

The current cast of Wicked also stars Stephanie J. Block, Annaleigh Ashford, Carole Shelly, Lenny Wolpe, Cristy Candler, Logan Lipton and Steve Skybell.

The first trailer for the film version of the hit Broadway musical Mamma Mia!, has been unveiled by Universal Pictures. The movie will be released in the Summer of 2008. The film also uses the hit music of the mega group ABBA and is directed by the same director of the stage version, Phyllida Lloyd.

The film will star Meryl Streep, Pierce Bronsnan, Colin Fifth, Christine Baranski, Julia Walters, Stellan Skarsgard, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper.Honestly after watching it I’m sort of excited for the movie it look really fun just like the show is… I hope I’m not let down like I so often am by these musicals turned movies. We will just have to wait and see…

Numerous cast members from the original Broadway production of West Side Story including Chita Rivera and Carol Lawrence will be reuniting at the annual Gypsy of the Year competition.

This event will take place on December 17 at 4:30PM and December 18 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. The event will be hosted by Mary Testa, Bob Saget and Jackie Hoffman.

The show’s opening number, which recreates the original choreography for West Side Story (Jerome Robbins), is being staged and directed by Joshua Bergasse with musical direction by Ben Cohn.

Tickets to the event range from $20-$350 and all proceeds go to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. You can order tickets by calling 212-840-0770.

The hit Broadway musical Rent will be offering a special December discount to help increase sales after the show had been closed for almost three weeks due to the stagehands strike. They announced their “Welcome Back to Broadway” ticket sale that puts the top ticket price at $65.00

All tickets except for Saturday nights are discounted through December 23. When customers go to purchase tickets they must mention a special code at that time (RENTON).

Rent which opened in 1996, making it the 7^th longest running show in Broadway history plays at The Nederlander Theatre.

On Sunday November 25 there will be a free run-through of the upcoming revival of the Broadway show The Homecoming will take place at the New World Stage located on 340 West 50^th Street. The show is free but they will be accepting donations at the conclusion of the performance for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The production of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming is schedule to open on December 13 at the Cort Theater. The show will be directed by Daniel Sullivan and has a cast that includes Ian McShane, Eve Best, Raul Esparza, Michael McKean, James Frain, and Gareth Saxe.

The Homecoming is set in North London at a family gathering. Teddy (James Frain) has brought his wife, Ruth (Eve Best) home to meet her in-laws. The Homecoming won the Tony Award for Best Play during its premiere in 1967.

According to the New York Times, The Nederlander Organization has filed a lawsuit against Local One, the stagehands union. The Nederlander Organization owns 9 of the 27 Broadway theatres that are currently closed due to the Local One strike.

Producers of 7 shows that are closed due to the strike have joined the suit (Richard Rodgers, Palace, Neil Simon, Nederlander, Minskoff, Marquis, Lunt-Fontanne, Gershwin and Brooks Atkinson), which claims the union has been striking the Nederlander houses only to pressure the League of American Theatres and Producers to make a settlement with the union and this makes the strike “an unlawful secondary boycott.”

The Nederlander organization is a member of the League, but the company has its own, expired, contract with the union. The Nederlander and the union had agreed that they would pretty much abide by whatever contract the League and the union eventually agreed upon. Due to this agreement, the Nederlanders did not begin implementing rules from the rejected contract on the union last month when the other theatre owners did.

A letter was sent by the Nederlanders to the union prior to strike authorization vote. The Vice Preseident of Labor Relations for the Nederlander Oraganization, Hershel Waxman, sent a hand-delivered letter to James Claffey Jr., Local One’s President, which read, “Should Local One engage in a strike against the League, it would be in Nederlander’s best interest to lock out the Local One bargaining unit so that the entire theatre industry achieves the best possible terms in any new agreement with Local One.” In the end the union was not locked out by Nederlanders and continues to strike the 9 Nederlander

As the strike presses on in NYC shutting down 27 Broadway productions one show decided to do something about it.

According to NY1, Supreme Court judge Helen E. Freedman granted an injunction filed by the producers of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas that will allow the musical to reopen at the St. James Theatre.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which has been closed since November 10 along with 26 other Broadway productions, will reopen just in time for the busy holiday weekend on November 23.

According to David Waggett, the general manager for Grinch, the picket lines have moved from the St. James Theatre and the stagehands union has agreed to work this show. After making this major stride they still needed to gain approval from Jujamcyn Theaters which was not granted. That is when they decided to go to court to get the injunction that would require Jujamcyn to reopen its doors. James Sanna, the producer of the show filed the injunction on November 20 and the ruling to reopen the theater was announced today, November 21.

This should bring joy and happiness to many people this holiday season. Unlike most of the shows that are affected by the strike Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is running for a limited engagement which concludes its run on January 6, 2008.

For a list of Broadway shows affected by the current strike click here.

The stagehand strike hits again.

The Little Mermaid was originally schedule to open officially at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on December 6 but due to the current strike that has temporarily shut down most of Broadway the opening has been delayed. No new opening date has been announced at this time.

The show will resume previews, which started on November 3, when the strike is over and then will announce a new date for opening night.

The show starts Sierra Boggess as Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Eddie Korbich as Scuttle, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, Derrik Baskin as Jetsam, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Cody Hanford and J.J. Singleton as Flounder and Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula.

It as has been announced that due to the ongoing stagehand strike, that has shut down must of Broadway until further notice, August: Osage County will extend its limited engagement run by 3 weeks, now closing on March 9.

The show is about a missing patriarch and the reunion of the Weston clan to their three-story home in rural Oklahoma.

The cast includes, Ian Braford, Francis Guinan, Mariann Mayberry, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy, Jeff Perry, and Rondi Reed. The show is directed by Anna D. Shapiro and had original music by David Singer, costumes by Ana Kuzmanic and sets done by Todd Rosenthal.

Although the production opened for previews on October 30 it has been dark since the strike began on November 10.

The 27 shows that are currently dark due to the Local One strike will continue to be closed for the rest of the Thanksgiving week and possibly longer. This is not only affecting the shows that aren’t running their usual weekly performances but also the entire Time Square area.

It is estimated by the city comptroller’s office that lost revenue from ticket sales, dining, and shopping is costing the city roughly $2 million a day. This will continue to go up if the strike were to continue on through the busy holiday season when the city is inundated with visitors.

After the negotiations on Saturday no additional talks have been scheduled at this point. For a full list of shows affected click here.