Annie announces the Orphans!

May 15, 2012

EMILY ROSENFELD is ‘Molly’ * TYRAH SKYE ODOMS is ‘Kate’ * JUNAH JANG is ‘Tessie’ *
GEORGI JAMES is ‘Pepper’  * MADI RAE DIPIETRO is ‘July’ * TAYLOR RICHARDSON is ‘Duffy’

and also featuring JAIDYN YOUNG

ANNIE to open in Fall, 2012 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced

Production to be directed by three-time Tony Award-winner JAMES LAPINE

Tony Award-winner ANDY BLANKENBUEHLER to choreograph

After more than 5,000 auditions in a coast-to-coast search, ANNIE is pleased to announce casting for the orphans for the new production of the classic Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.  ANNIE will open on Broadway in Fall 2012 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced.  The production will be directed by three-time Tony Award winner James Lapine and choreographed by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler.

Casting for the orphans features Emily Rosenfeld as Molly, the littlest orphan; Tyrah Skye Odoms as Kate, the next-to-littlest orphan; Junah Jang as Tessie, the cry-baby orphan; Georgi James as Pepper, the toughest orphan; Madi Rae DiPietro as July, the quietest orphan and Taylor Richardson as Duffy, the biggest orphan.  Jaidyn Young will be the standby for the roles of Annie, Pepper, Duffy and July.  Richardson will understudy the role of Annie.

Junah Jang, Taylor Richardson and Emily Rosenfeld were all discovered at one of the production’s open casting calls.

As previously announced, 11-year-old Lilla Crawford (Billy Elliot) will star in the title role of ANNIE.  Additional casting will be announced in coming weeks.

“We saw so many wonderful young girls for these roles,” commented producer Arielle Tepper Madover.  “I wish we could have cast them all!   The orphans are always a highlight of ANNIE and we think we have an amazing, unbelievably talented group with Emily, Tyrah, Junah, Georgi, Madi Rae and Taylor.  I think audiences will fall in love with each and every one of them.  We also are incredibly fortunate to have Jaidyn Young as our standby for the roles of Annie and several of the orphans.   She’s enormously talented and we’re lucky to have her with us.”

Emily Rosenfeld (Molly) is thrilled to be making her Broadway debut as Molly in this production of ANNIE. She is an eight-year-old singer, actor and dancer who hails from Westchester, NY. Emily’s love affair with the theater began when she stepped on the Star Kidz stage at the age of three. She continued performing at Random Farms Kids’ Theater; favorite roles include: Gretl in The Sound of Music, Dickon in The Secret Garden, Michael Darling in Peter Pan and Big Jule in Guys and Dolls. Emily recently appeared as Hendrika in the Off-Broadway Actor’s Fund benefit reading of Miracle on 34th Street, The Musical.  She also sings with the Broadway Youth Ensemble and enjoys creating works of art and writing original plays and music in her spare time. Emily is grateful to Amelia DeMayo, Gulnara Mitzanova, Renae Baker, Janine Molinari, Gail Pennington Crutchfield, her agent – David Doan at Generation TV and most importantly, her supportive and loving friends and family. This is truly a dream come true! Learn more about Emily at www.emilyrosenfeld.net.

Tyrah Skye Odoms (Kate) is thrilled to be making her Broadway debut playing Kate in ANNIE.  The seven-year-old New Jersey native has performed with the Maple Shade Community Alliance Summer Theatre Program, the MSHS Performing Arts Department and the Bridge Players Theatre.  Tyrah has even had the privilege of opening up for Diverse Pop Group!  In addition to her stage experience, Tyrah has been featured in several print campaigns and runway shows, such as New York Fashion Week.  She has previously studied ballet and jazz with the Marcia Hyland Dance Company.  Tyrah would like to send her love and thanks to Mom, Dad, Tyree and the rest of her family and friends.  Special thanks also go to the following people who have helped support Tyrah’s ambitions: Gina Amato, John Demchak, Katie McBurnie, Rose Young, Telsey & Company, Sabina (KRS) and Barry Kolker (Carson Org.).  Tyrah cannot wait to work with Tony Award-winning director James Lapine, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and the entire Broadway cast of ANNIE!

Junah Jang (Tessie) is thrilled to make her Broadway debut at age nine.  She has performed at youth theaters: Seussical The Musical (Jojo), Annie (Molly), The Sound of Music (Gretl), Schoolhouse Rock Live! (Shulie). Thanks to Jill, Bob, Trent, Melissa and friends for support. Special thanks and love to Mom, Dad, Minoo, and family.

Georgi James (Pepper) 11 years old, played the role of Debbie in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot and was also seen on Broadway in A Tale of Two Cities.  She played Olive Hoover in the premiere of James Lapine and William Finn’s Little Miss Sunshine at La Jolla Playhouse. Recently, Georgi has been a proud part of the development of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s Fun Home, a musical based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. She was also part of the award-winning ensemble cast who performed Horton Foote’s nine-act play The Orphans’ Home Cycle at both Hartford Stage and Signature Theatre Company.  Georgi currently plays bass guitar at The School of Rock where she performs with their house band, playing Jersey Shore venues including the legendary Stone Pony. She is grateful to everyone at Telsey and Co., James Lapine, Mark Schneider, Arielle Tepper Madover and the entire creative team for this amazing opportunity. She sends love and thanks to her teachers Devin Ilaw, Steven Silverstein, Amelia DeMayo, ADA and Dance Molinari.  Love and a big thank you to her family and agent Barry Kolker for always supporting her. Georgi’s mom played an orphan 30 years ago in Broadway’s National touring company of Annie and is so proud to be following in her footsteps.

Madi Rae DiPietro (July) is thrilled to be making her Broadway debut as July in ANNIE.  Born and raised in San Diego, California, 12-year-old Madi Rae made her musical theater debut at the La Jolla Playhouse as a pageant girl in Little Miss Sunshine.  She has also appeared in the Lyceum Theatre’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre in their holiday production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  An accomplished dancer, Madi Rae has trained in ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical dance as well as in musical theatre and choreography.  She made her television debut in the NBC soap opera “Days of Our Lives” when she was six.  Since then, she has been featured in numerous commercials for Disney Resorts, Legoland, Walmart and Hasbro Toys.  When not performing, Madi Rae enjoys golf, swimming and skiing and is an aspiring artist.  She is excited to be living in New York City and to be a part of this amazing cast.

Taylor Richardson (Duffy, u/s Annie ) is excited to make her Broadway debut in ANNIE.   She is from Richmond, VA where she loves to read and write stories. Her most recent regional credit is as “Susan Waverly” in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.  Taylor has been dancing since age 3 with Ann Catherine Cross School of Dance and has won multiple dance titles and awards across the region.   She takes voice lessons with Cathy Motley-Fitch and plays piano and accordion.  She would like to thank her mom, dad, and little brother Sawyer for making the move to NYC and helping make her dream come true!

Jaidyn Young (Standby for Annie, Pepper, Duffy, July) age 11, is ecstatic to be living a dream come true, making her Broadway debut in her very favorite show!  Regional: Annie in Annie (Performance Riverside), Marta in The Sound of Music (3D Theatricals), Child Soloist at age 7 for Glory of Christmas (Crystal Cathedral), also in the National Merit film Voice in Silence as the lead role Abby. Thanks to all who have inspired and believed in me: Jodie Bowman at KSR, Telsey Casting, Jason Wooten, TJ Dawson, Roger Castellanos, Patrick Hediger, Tracy Berry, my friends and incredible family! Especially mom, dad, and my sister. www.JaidynStarYoung.com

Group tickets for ANNIE are now on sale.  Contact Nederlander Sales & Patron Services at 212-840-3890/800-714-8452 or email nygroups@nederlander.com for details.

ANNIE features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and book by Thomas Meehan, based on the newspaper character “Little Orphan Annie” by Harold Gray.

The original production of ANNIE opened April 21, 1977 at the Alvin Theatre and went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album and seven Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, Best Book (Thomas Meehan) and Best Score (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin).  The show was one of the biggest Broadway musical hits of the 1970s, running for almost six years and playing 2,377 performances.

The score for ANNIE includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You” and the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow”.

The creative team includes scenic design by Drama Desk Award-winner David Korins, costume design by Tony Award-winner Susan Hilferty, lighting design by two-time Tony Award-winner Donald Holder and sound design by Tony Award-winner Brian Ronan.  Music director is Todd Ellison. Hair and wig design is by Tom Watson.  Casting is by Telsey + Company.  Animal training is by Tony Award-winner William Berloni.

ANNIE will be produced on Broadway by Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger Horchow, Sally Horchow, Roger Berlind, Roy Furman, Debbie Bisno, Stacey Mindich, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Jane Bergère/Daryl Roth and Eva Price/Christina Papagjika.

# # # #

www.AnnieTheMusical.com

Follow ANNIE on Twitter: @AnnieOnBroadway and on Facebook.

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MAMMA MIA! Announces New Broadway Principal Casting

May 15, 2012

Aaron Lazar

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! will welcome new principals Christy Altomare, Lauren Cohn, Daniel Cooney, Felicia Finley, Aaron Lazar, Graham Rowat and Zak Resnick who will join Judy McLane as “Donna Sheridan” at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) on Monday, June 4, 2012.

As previously announced, after playing the role of “Tanya” for the past seven years, Broadway favorite Judy McLane (Chess, Kiss of the Spiderwoman) will assume the starring role of “Donna Sheridan,” the independent single mother whose carefree past catches up with her on the eve of her daughter’s wedding

Felicia Finley (The Wedding Singer, The Life) and Lauren Cohn (The Drowsy Chaperone tour) will star as “Tanya” and “Rosie,” Donna’s best friends and former back-up band known as “Donna and the Dynamos” who reunite on a Greek island for the wedding of Donna’s daughter, Sophie.

Broadway veterans Aaron Lazar (A Little Night Music, Les Misérables), Daniel Cooney (9 to 5, Bonnie & Clyde) and Graham Rowat (Guys and Dolls, The Blue Flower) will star as “Sam Carmichael,” “Bill Austin” and “Harry Bright,” the trio of men from Donna’s past who are Sophie’s three possible dads.

Christy Altomare and Zak Resnick will both make their Broadway debuts opposite each other as bride-to-be “Sophie Sheridan” and her fiancé “Sky.”

Jacob Pinion continues as Sky’s sidekick “Pepper.” MAMMA MIA! also features Halle Morse as “Lisa” and Traci Victoria as “Ali,” Sophie’s best friends, and Andrew Chappelle as “Eddie.”

Now celebrating 10 smash hit years on Broadway, MAMMA MIA! is one of the most successful musicals of all time anywhere in the world and is now 10th longest running show in Broadway history.

Seen by over 50 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA!, is celebrating over 4,300 performances at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre and remains among Broadway’s top  selling musicals. The current North American Tour has played over 3,700 performances in over 150 cities with 145 repeat visits. The original West End production of MAMMA MIA! is now in its thirteenth year and has celebrated over 5,000 performances in London and the international tour has visited more than 74 foreign cities in 25 countries and been seen by over 4.3 million people. The blockbuster feature film adaptation of MAMMA MIA!, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, is the most successful movie musical of all time grossing $600 million worldwide.

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The Afternoon Report, Monday, May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012


Brought to you by Boneau/Bryan-Brown
Monday, May 14, 2012

Today’s Tweets from BBB
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/BBBway
Click on any hyperlinked  item for more information:

Boneau/Bryan-Brown Congratulates Our 2011-2012 Outer Critics Circle Award Winners! • • • Watch MAMMA MIA!‘s Broadway super moms CBS2 Mother’s Day segment • • • Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens to make Broadway debut in THE HEIRESS opposite Jessica Chastain and David Strathairn. • • • Everyone needs to watch the @ANYTHINGGOESRTC cast doing “What Makes You Beautiful” by @onedirection #videooftheweek • • • INTERVIEW: Jason Butler Harner Is Ready For a COCK Fight @cockfightplay via @sharethis • • •

YouTube’s Video Views Are Falling – By Design
AdAge.com/Digital – by MICHAEL LEARMONTH

YouTube is getting smaller in a metric that used to mean everything: views.

Since December, views on YouTube have dropped 28%, and March views are only slightly above what they were a year ago, startling for a site accustomed to breakneck growth.

It’s an intended consequence of the Google-owned site’s shift from a video search engine filled with snack-size content to a full-fledged, couch-potato-optimized entertainment destination. At YouTube, the “view” is out and “engagement” is in.

After investing $100 million to create content channels, YouTube’s focus has shifted from directing viewers to videos of skateboarding dogs to enticing them into longer, more engaging videos—the kind that are, not incidentally, more appealing to advertisers.

On March 15, YouTube altered its recommendation system to make the time spent with a video or channel a stronger indicator than a click in determining which videos to surface to a user.

“Our goal is we want users to watch more and click less,” said Cristos Goodrow, a former Google search executive who joined YouTube as director of engineering a year ago. “This is better for users because it takes less clicking to get to the video you want to watch.”

Like Google, YouTube is an empire built on clicks, and it has used them above all else as a proxy for popularity and — in a sense — quality. Over the years the site has gotten very good at using data about which videos were getting clicks, or views, to serve up recommendations and get users to click on another video.

To read this article in its entirety, please click the link below
http://adage.com/article/digital/youtube-s-video-views-falling-design/234735/

That said, here’s a link to our video of the week – The cast of ANYTHING GOES’ backstage video of “What Makes You Beautiful”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_PX_LCotTc – click and be engaged.

Link to Broadway Grosses for the week ending May 13, 2012: Continue reading →

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Don’t Dress for Dinner’s Spencer Kayden in NY Times Arts & Leisure

May 14, 2012

The New York Times

Arts & Leisure

Snapshot | Spencer Kayden

Still Recognizable Without Pigtails

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

May 13, 2012

A DECADE ago Spencer Kayden stole New Yorkers’ black, black hearts as Little Sally in the dystopian musical “Urinetown.” But shortly after making her big Broadway splash she disappeared from the East Coast altogether. Now Ms. Kayden is back in New York, and more important, back on Broadway.

She recently snagged her second Tony nomination — her first was for “Urinetown” — for her current role in Marc Camoletti’s sex farce “Don’t Dress for Dinner.” Alternately deadpan and frenetic, Ms. Kayden, 43, plays a French cook caught up in the madcap shenanigans of two British couples who rely on her improvisational skills to hide their own extramarital dalliances. In a review in The New York Times, Charles Isherwood wrote, “Employing a pinched, nasal French accent of stage stereotype, Ms. Kayden is very funny in her sniffing acceptance of the absurd behavior of her employers.”

Ms. Kayden met with Catherine Rampell for lunch last week to talk about her two Broadway appearances, her background in sketch comedy and balancing family life with her career. These are edited excerpts from their conversation.

Q. Welcome back to New York. No doubt lots of theatergoers probably have fond memories of you as that subversive sweetheart Little Sally.

A. Yeah, I can’t wear pigtails anymore. That hairstyle is just completely ruined for me, because if I do it, I just feel like I’m trying to be Little Sally again, like I’m walking around begging for people to recognize me.

Q. So what have you been up to in the 10 years since “Urinetown?”

A. My standard response is that I was in a women’s correctional facility. Actually I went to L.A. traipsing after my now-husband [the actor Mark Harelik]. I thought I was just going for three months, so I sublet my apartment, and then I just didn’t come back. Soon I was married and pregnant. I realized that I had moved to L.A. when I hadn’t really meant to.

A lot of my friends there are also New York actresses who have wound up in L.A., not working, and we kind of look at each other like, “Who are we now?” Some of them have said to me, “I feel like I’ve been nominated for a Tony.”

Q. Your husband, your mother and your brother have all worked in entertainment too. Do you think your son, Haskell, 6, will become a performer someday?

A. Well, he’s a total goofball, and he’s a gymnast. I have aspirations that he’ll go to clown college because it will probably be cheaper.

Click here to read the full feature and view the original portrait:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/theater/theaterspecial/spencer-kayden-discusses-her-return-to-broadway.html?_r=1

Don't Dress for Dinner, ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY   |   Leave a comment   |   Bookmark or Share

Boneau/Bryan-Brown Congratulates Our 2011-2012 Outer Critics Circle Award Winners

May 14, 2012

The Outer Critics Circle Award winners were announced today.

The awards ceremony will take place on May 24, 2012.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN has won Outstanding Revival of a Play.

DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER has won Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Spencer Kayden).

FOLLIES has won Outstanding Revival of a Musical and Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Danny Burstein).

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT has won Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael McGrath) and Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Judy Kaye).

ONCE has won Outstanding New Broadway Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical (John Tiffany), and Outstanding Book of a Musical (Enda Walsh).

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS has won Outstanding New Broadway Play, Outstanding Director of a Play (Nicholas Hytner), and Outstanding Actor in a Play (James Corden).

SONS OF THE PROPHET has won Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

TO READ THE COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS, PLEASE VISIT: http://tinyurl.com/7v2jw7k

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Watch CBS 2 Mother’s Day Segment with MAMMA MIA! Super Moms Jennifer Perry & Monica Kapoor

May 14, 2012

CBS 2 entertainment reporter Katie McGee visited MAMMA MIA! ‘super mom’ Broadway cast members Jennifer Perry and Monica Kapoor at home and the theater to discuss raising their families while performing eight shows a week for a special segment that aired yesterday on Mother’s Day.

Now watch the complete television segment online.

Now celebrating 10 smash hit years on Broadway, MAMMA MIA! is one of the most successful musicals of all time anywhere in the world and is now 10th longest running show in Broadway history.

Seen by over 50 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA!, is celebrating over 4,300 performances at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre and remains among Broadway’s top selling musicals.

Tags:  ,   |   MAMMA MIA, MAMMA MIA LAS VEGAS, MAMMA MIA MOVIE, MAMMA MIA PRAGUE, MAMMA MIA! AUSTRALIA, MAMMA MIA! LONDON   |   Leave a comment   |   Bookmark or Share

Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens to make Broadway debut in THE HEIRESS

May 14, 2012

Dan Stevens, star of the Golden Globe-winning series “Downton Abbey,” will play the role of “Morris Townsend” opposite Academy Award® nominee Jessica Chastain (Catherine Sloper) and Academy Award® nominee and Emmy® Award winner David Strathairn (Dr. Austin Sloper) in the Tony Award®-winning play The Heiress.  Written by Ruth Goetz & Augustus Goetz, The Heiress will be directed by Tony Award® nominated playwright and director Moisés Kaufman.  Performances will begin October 2012 at a theatre to be announced.

The Heiress   |   1 Comment   |   Bookmark or Share

Video of the Week: ANYTHING GOES “What Makes You Beautiful”

May 14, 2012

It’s a bit early in the week for our Video of the Week, but this video of the cast of ANYTHING GOES doing One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” is too cute not to share.

Congrats to the entire cast, video director/editor Raymond J. Lee and video choreographers Brandon Bieber & Brandon Rubendall.

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The Afternoon Report, Friday, May 11, 2012

May 11, 2012


Brought to you by Boneau/Bryan-Brown
Friday, May 11, 2012

Today’s Tweets:
click on hyperlinked items for more information

[RT TheTonyAwards] And this year, Jan Maxwell is now the 4th performer to be @TheTonyAwards-nom’d in 4 different acting categories. Bravo! @FOLLIESBroadway • • • MAMMA MIA! supermom Monica Kapoor WAMC “The Roundtable” radio feature • • • Tune in to see JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR lyricist Tim Rice on NY-1 “On Stage” this weekend @superstarbway • • •

Bing and Facebook Team Up to Take on Google in Social Search
New Bing Social ‘Sidebar’ Will Pull In Facebook Friend Information
AdAge.com/Digital – by  COTTON DELO

In what’s shaping up to be a drawn-out battle to develop a social-search engine that consumers love, Bing has unsheathed a critical weapon: Facebook.

Microsoft’s search engine unveiled today what it’s calling the first major update since Bing launched three years ago. While the update includes tweaks to the search algorithm and the inclusion of “entity” search results — like a photo, map and rate notification in a hotel search — the most noteworthy addition is a social “sidebar” on the right side of the screen that will pull in relevant posts from a user’s Facebook friends to complement a search.

For example, a search for “Seattle restaurants” might pull up Facebook friends who have “liked” dining establishments in the metro area under a header that reads “Friends Who Might Know.” Bing users can also post comments or queries in the sidebar interface that will automatically be published to their Facebook page (provided they’re signed into Facebook) and could hypothetically flag their Seattle-based friends in posts seeking advice on where to go for dinner.

This deep integration with Facebook isn’t the first time the two have collaborated, and Bing has been adding social recommendations powered by Facebook to its search results for the past year. But it’s a sure sign that Microsoft — which bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook for $240 million in 2007 — will lean on a company it’s heavily invested in to improve on the social-search product Google introduced in January. “Search Plus Your World” pulls up Google+ content deemed relevant to signed-in Google users and has gotten a tepid reception.

To read this article in its entirety, click the link below
http://adage.com/article/digital/bing-facebook-team-google-social-search/234698/

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Mamma Mia!’s Monica Kapoor on WAMC Radio’s “The Roundtable” – Now listen to segment online

May 11, 2012

CLICK TO LISTEN TO COMPLETE INTERVIEW

MAMMA MIA! Broadway cast member Monica Kapoor was featured on WAMC radio’s “The Roundtable” this morning for a special Mother’s Day segment with host Sarah LaDuke where she discussed raising a family while performing eight shows a week at the Winter Garden Theatre.

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Now celebrating 10 smash hit years on Broadway, MAMMA MIA! is one of the most successful musicals of all time anywhere in the world and is now 10th longest running show in Broadway history.

Tags:  ,   |   MAMMA MIA, MAMMA MIA LAS VEGAS, MAMMA MIA MOVIE, MAMMA MIA PRAGUE, MAMMA MIA! AUSTRALIA, MAMMA MIA! LONDON   |   Leave a comment   |   Bookmark or Share