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.

When Daniel Reichard says goodbye to the role of Bob Gaudio in the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys, Sebastian Arcelus will take over. Starting on January 10, 2008 Arcelus will be playing the role of Bob Gaudio, one of the members of the musical group The Four Season.

Arcelus is currently staring in the smash hit Broadway musical Wicked as Fiyero and has also appeared on stage in Rent, Good Vibrations, The Full Monty, Aida and Floyd Collins.

The following productions are affected by the current and will be closed until at least Saturday November 17, 2007

August:Osage County, Avenue Q, A Bronx Tale, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Curtains, Cyrano de Bergerac, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Farnsworth Invention, Grease, Hairspray, Is He Dead?, Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde, Les Miserables, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia!, Monty Pythons Spamalot, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Seafarer, The Color Purple, Spring Awakenings, Wicked 

There are still some really great shows that are currently running for all regularly schedule performances 

Young Frankenstein, The Ritz, Xanadu, Mauritius, Cymbeline, Pygmalion, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Mary Poppins

The Local One strike which is crippling the theater industry in New York has now gone into day 3 of the strike. Although Monday is a particularly quiet day on Broadway with few shows having Monday performances normally things are getting even quieter as the strike continues.

Local One which is the Broadway Stagehands union has been working since July 31^st without a contract. This is the first strike in the union’s 121-year history, though this is not the first strike to happen on Broadway. Broadway went dark in 2003 when the musicians strike but this ended after four days.

Below is a list of shows that are currently on strike as well as shows that are still running during the strike since those productions are either presented by Broadway’s nonprofit sector or are housed in theatres whose contracts with Local One are separate.

Productions effected by the strike and will be closed until further notice-

August: Osage County

Avenue Q

ABronx Tale

A Chorus Line

Chicago

Curtains

Cyrano de Bergerac

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Drowsy Chaperone

Duran Duran

The Farnsworth Invention

Grease

Hairspray

Is He Dead?

Jersey Boys

Legally Blonde

Les Miserables

The Lion King

The Little Mermaid

Mamma Mia!

Monty Pythons Spamalot

Phantom of the Opera

Rent

Rock ‘n’ Roll

The Seafarer

The Color Purple

Spring Awakenings

Wicked

Productions currently running during the strike-

Young Frankenstein

The Ritz

Xanadu 

Mauritius

Cymbeline

Pygmalion

The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Mary Poppins

The touring production of the hit musical Wicked has two new ladies taking on the lead roles of the two witches and their first performance was on November 6^th in Boston, MA.

Kathie Rose Clarke will be taking on the role of Glinda and Carmen Cusack will be putting on that green paint in the role of Elphba. The touring production will next be seen at the Bushnell Theatre inHartford, CT from November 14^th until December 9^th. (For a list of all tour cities and dates please see below)

The touring cast also includes Barbara Tirrell as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as the Wizard, Tom Flynn as Dr. Dillamond, Cliffton Hall as Fiyero, Deedee Mango Hall as Nessarose and Brad Weinstock as Boq.

Wicked will be coming to the following cities in 2007 and 2008…

Cincinnati, OH (Aronoff Center) – Jan. 9- Feb. 3

Charlotte, NC (North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center) – April 9- April 20

Kansas City, MO (Kansas CityMusic Hall) – May 6- May 25

Rochester, NY (Rochester Auditorium) – May 28- June 15

East Lansing, MI (MSU Wharton Center for the Performing Arts) – July 16- Aug. 8

Des Moines, IA (Des Moines Civic Center) – specific dates not set yet – 2008-2009 season

The original cast recording of the hit Broadway show Wicked reclaimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Cast Album chart this week. For the past six weeks Jersey Boys held the top spot.  

Rounding out the top 5 is Legally Blonde (Ghostlight) at No. 3, Mamma Mia! (Decca) at No. 4 and The Lion King (Disney) at No. 5.

It has been announced that Rosie O’Donnell will serve as the National Ambassador for this year’s Kids’ Night on Broadway. The event which is sponsored by The New York Times and Madame Tussaud’s New York gives young people, ages 6-18, the chance to see Broadway and Off-Broadway shows for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. The event will be held February 5, 6, 12 and 13.

So far there are some amazing shows that will be participating in this event: Young Frankenstein, Xanadu, Wicked, Stomp, Spring Awakenings, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Mary Poppins, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Mamma Mia!, The Little Mermaid, Legally Blonde The Musical, The Lion King, Is He Dead?, Hairspray, Grease, The Farmsworth Invention, The Fantasticks, Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone, Come Back Little Sheba, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Chicago, Avenue Q, and Altar Boyz.

In addition to giving away free tickets to these Broadway and Off-Broadway show, the event also contains an educational component and some pre-theatre events. The entire event kicks off with a party at Madame Tussaud’s at 3:00PM on February 5, 2008.

The world famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will feature several current Broadway Musicals and stars.

The Macy’s Day Parade which is televised on NBC beginning at 9AM on Thanksgiving Day (November 22^nd) will feature cast members from Legally Blonde, Mary Poppins and Spring Awakenings. According to a Macy’s spokesperson cast members from Mary Poppins will sing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and the cast from Legally Blonde will be performing “What You Want”. 

 Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, two of the stars from the hit musical Spring Awakening’s, will be singing “Give My Regards to Broadway” as they stand on top of the M&M’s Chocolate Candies on Broadway Float. This particular float will be a theatre inspired and will feature the M&M characters taking on the roles of characters from famous Broadway productions. The Green M&M will be Elphba from Wicked, the Orange and Yellow M&M’s star in A Chorus Line, Blue will be the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and Red is King Arthur from Spamalot. 

The parade which will be celebrating its 81^st year will start at 77^th Street and Central Park West and then make its way down Broadway through Times Square. The parade ends at Herald Square- 7^th Ave and 34^th St.

So I don’t normally watch Ugly Betty but I did last night. On last nights show (which was titled “Something Wicked This Way Comes” the cast of Ugly Betty went to go see the Broadway show Wicked (I was so jealous). The episode featured guest appearances by the stars of the LA production of Wicked Megan Hilty as Glinda, Eden Espinosa as Elphba and Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero.

It was so amazing to even get to see a little snippet of the show; you got to see parts of the songs “Popular”, “I’m not that Girl” and “Defying Gravity”. I enjoyed it so much I will probably go to ABC.com and watch it a few more times. I am also looking into to tickets to go see it a 6^th time… I know quite disturbing.

If you missed the show you can go to ABC.com and watch the full episode.

Enjoy Wicked Fans!!!

Can you guess the longest running shows in Broadway history… guess a few and then see if you were right. Some might surprise you.

1. The Phantom of the Opera- 8,221 performances (currently running)
2. Cats- 7,485 performances
3. Les Miserables- 6,680 performances
4. A Chorus Line- 6,137
5. Oh! Calcutta! (1976 Revival)- 5,959
6. Beauty and the Beast- 5,520 performances
7. Rent- 4,785 performances (currently running)
8. Chicago (Revival)- 4,538 performances (currently running)
9. The Lion King- 4,170 performances (currently running)
10. Miss Saigon-  4,097 performances
11. 42^nd Street- 3, 486 performances
12. Grease- 3,388 performances
13. Fiddler on the Roof- 3, 242 performances
14. Life With Father- 3,224 performances
15. Tobacco Road- 3,182 performances
16. Hello, Dolly!- 2,844 performances
17. My Fair Lady- 2,717 performances
18. Mamma Mia!- 2,508 performances (currently running)
19. The Producers- 2,502 performance
20. Cabaret (Revival)- 2,378 performances
21. Annie- 2,377 performances
22. Man of La Mancha- 2,328 performances
23. Abie’s Irish Rose- 2,327 performances
24. Hairspray- 2,144 performances (currently running)
25. Oklahoma!- 2,212 performances
26. Smokey Joe’s Café- 2,036 performances
27. Pippin- 1,944 performances
28. South Pacific- 1,925 performances
29. The Magic Show- 1,920 performances
30. Aida- 1,852 performances
31. Gemini- 1,819 performances
32. Deathtrap- 1,793 performances
33. Harvey- 1,775 performances
34. Dancin’- 1,774 performances
35. La Cage Aux Folles- 1,761 performances
36. Avenue Q- 1,756 performances
37. Hair- 1,750 performances
38. The Wiz- 1,672 performances
39. Wicked- 1,652 performances (currently running)
40. Born Yesterday- 1,642 performances
41. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas- 1,639 performances
42. Crazy for You- 1,622 performances
43. Ain’t Misbehavin- 1,604 performances
44. Mary, Mary- 1,572 performances
45. Evita- 1,567 performances
46. The Voice of the Turtle- 1,557 performances
47. Jekyll & Hyde- 1,543 performances
48. Barefoot in the Park- 1,530 performances
49. Brighton Beach Memoirs- 1,530 performances
50. 42nd Street (Revival)- 1,524 performances
51. Dreamgirls- 1,522 performances
52. Mame- 1,508 performances
53. Grease! (Revival)- 1,501 performances
54. Same Time, Next Year- 1,453 performances
55. Arsenic and Old Lace- 1,444 performances
56. The Sound of Music- 1,443 performances
57. Me and My Girl- 1,420 performances
58. How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying- 1,417 performances
59. Hellzapoppin- 1,404 performances
60. The Music Man- 1,375 performances
61. Funny Girl- 1,348 performances
62. Mummenschanz- 1,326 performances
63. Oh! Calcutta!- 1,314 performances
64. Movin’ Out- 1,303 performances
65. Angel Street- 1,295 performances
66. Lightnin’- 1,291 performances
67. Promises, Promises- 1,281 performances
68. The King and I- 1,246 performances
69. Cactus Flower- 1,234 performances
70. Sleuth- 1,222 performances
71. Torch Song Trilogy- 1,222 performances
72. 1776- 1,217 performances
73. Equus- 1,209 performances
74. Sugar Babies- 1,208 performances
75. Guys and Dolls- 1,200 performances
76. Amadeus- 1,181 performances
77. Cabaret- 1,165 performances
78. Mister Roberts- 1,157 performances
79. Annie Get Your Gun- 1,147 performances
80. Guys and Dolls (Revival)- 1,144 performances
81. The Seven Year Itch- 1,141 performances
82. Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk- 1,130 performances
83. Butterflies Are Free- 1,128 performances
84. Pins and Needles- 1,108 performances
85. Fosse- 1,100 performances
86. Plaza Suite- 1,097 performances
87. They’re Playing Our Song- 1,082 performances
88. Monty Python’s Spamalot- 1,077 performances
89. Grand Hotel- 1,077 performances
90. Kiss Me, Kate- 1,070 performances
91. Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope- 1,065 performances
92. Shenandoah- 1,050 performances
93. Annie Get Your Gun (Revival) 1,046 performances
94. The Teahouse of the August Moon- 1,027 performances
95. 25^th Annual Putnam
    County Spelling Bee- 1,024 perf.
96. Damn Yankees- 1,019 performances
97. Contact- 1,010 performances
98. Never Too late- 1,007 performances
99. Big River- 1,005 performances
100. The Will Rogers Follies- 983 performances