Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More!

By: Jun. 20, 2019
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Good morning, BroadwayWorld!

Todrick Hall is headed to the diner, as Ogie in Waitress! He will join the Broadway company beginning August 20th, and star alongside previously announced Colleen Ballinger, as Dawn, for a limited engagement through September 15th.

Missing the title track when you saw Pretty Woman the Musical? Now you don't have to! In honor of the song's 55th anniversary, Roy Orbison's song 'Oh, Pretty Woman' has been added to the musical!

The film adaptation of Tick, Tick...Boom! is coming to Netflix! Lin-Manuel Miranda is set to direct the film, and Andrew Garfield is in talks to star.

Read more about these and other top stories below! Want our morning reports delivered via email? Subscribe here!

Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More!
1) Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More! Todrick Hall to Join the Cast of WAITRESS as Ogie

Waitress announced today that Todrick Hall (Kinky Boots, Chicago) will join the Broadway cast as Ogie on August 20th. He will perform opposite the previously announced Colleen Ballinger for a special limited engagement through September 15th.. (more...)

2) Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More! VIDEO: PRETTY WOMAN Adds 'Oh, Pretty Woman' to Show, Announces West End Transfer, German Casting

The second international production of PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL will open in 2020 on London's West End. The hit musical PRETTY WOMAN will pay homage to legendary recording artist Roy Orbison by bringing the world-renowned masterpiece 'Oh, Pretty Woman', penned by Roy Orbison & Bill Dees, into the show in celebration of the 55th Anniversary of the venerable track.. (more...)

3) Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More! BWW Exclusive: Joe Iconis- Broadway's New Pied Piper- Talks BE MORE CHILL, BROADWAY BOUNTY HUNTER, More
by Harry Haun

It's three in the afternoon, and the chairs at The Laurie Beechman Theater, the basement cabaret of the West Bank Cafe, are stacked atop tables awaiting rearrangement by the night staff. But that doesn't stop the proprietor of the place, Steve Olsen, from offering the use of the hall--plus two chairs--so Joe Iconis can get a roots-level interview on his blossoming career.. (more...)

4) Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More! BWW Interview: Lea Salonga Talks Touring the UK
by Louis Train

Lea Salonga sang the soundtrack to my childhood. As the voices of Princess Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin and the title character of Mulan, Lea lent her talents to two of the most iconic animated characters of the Nineties. She also debuted the role of Kim in Miss Saigon on the West End, and has portrayed both Eponine and Fantine on Broadway. Lea returns to the UK this July for a six-stop concert tour. We caught up with her to ask for some teasers, get her take on the new Aladdin movie, and find out what she thinks of English weather and food.. (more...)

5) Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More! Netflix Acquires Film Adaptation of TICK, TICK...BOOM! with Lin-Manuel Directing, Andrew Garfield in Talks to Star
by TV News Desk

Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Imagine Entertainment's film adaptation of Tick, Tick...Boom! . (more...)

Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More!
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Today's Call Sheet:

Roundabout's Toni Stone officially opens tonight!

April Matthis leads the world-premiere of Toni Stone. Toni Stone by Lydia R. Diamond is directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon. Toni Stone will also feature Eric Berryman(Elzie), Harvy Blanks (Alberga), Phillip James Brannon (King Tut), Daniel J. Bryant (Spec), Jonathan Burke (Stretch), Toney Goins (Jimmy), Kenn E. Head (Millie), Ezra Knight (Woody).

This will be a limited engagement through August 11, 2019.

Set Your DVR...

Audra McDonald will appear on LIVE WITH KELLY AND RYAN today!

What we're geeking out over: Beyonce Meets THE LION KING on Broadway's Nala, Sydnee Winters

Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More!
Photo Credit: Mason Poole for Parkwood Entertainment

Beyoncé, who will play Nala in the upcoming remake of the classic The Lion King, and Syndee Winters, who plays Nala in Broadway's The Lion King, recently met at WACO Theater Center's Lion King-themed Wearable Art Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 1st.

Winters and cast members from the Broadway production of The Lion King sang Nala's moving "Shadowland" for an audience that also included Jay Z, Blue Ivy, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, Tiffany Haddish, Tyler Perry, Anthony Anderson, and Magic Johnson.

What we're watching: Lin-Manuel Miranda Plays 'Wheel of Freestyle' on THE TONIGHT SHOW

Lin-Manuel Miranda returns to THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING Jimmy Fallon to face off against The Roots' Tarik Trotter in 'The Wheel of Freestyle." In the competition, each is given three random words they've never seen before, like "Daenerys Targaryen" and "Pikachu," and they must work them all into a freestyle rap. Plus, Lin-Manuel Miranda makes a major announcement about his return to Broadway.

What we're listening to: Hillary Clinton Speaks Up About the Arts on the Latest Episode of THE FABULOUS INVALID???????

The Broadway podcast The Fabulous Invalid has announced the guest of its first season's final episode, former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, presidential candidate, and Broadway's biggest fan Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Season One finale episode is available now on iTunes and Spotify, and everywhere one downloads podcasts. Plus, you can check out the full episode here!

And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Jason Robert Brown, who turns 49 today!

Wake Up With BWW 6/20: Todrick Hall in WAITRESS, and More!

Jason Robert Brown has been heard all over the world, whether in one of the hundreds of productions of his musicals every year or in his own incendiary live performances. Jason is the composer and lyricist of the musical, "The Last Five Years," which was cited as one of Time Magazine's 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics. Jason won a 1999 Tony Award for his score to "Parade", a musical written with Alfred Uhry and directed by Harold Prince, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theatre in December 1998, and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Musical. "Parade" was also presented on a national tour in 2000, which Jason conducted. Jason's first musical, "Songs for a New World," a theatrical song cycle directed by Daisy Prince, played Off-Broadway at The WPA Theatre in the fall of 1995, and has since been seen in more than two hundred productions around the world. Jason's newest musical, "13," written with Dan Elish and directed by Todd Graff, premiered this January to rave reviews at Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum, and opens on Broadway in the spring of 2008. Jason is the winner of the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre. Jason's songs, including the cabaret standard "Stars and the Moon," have been performed and recorded by Audra McDonald, Betty Buckley, Karen Akers, Renee Fleming, Philip Quast, Jon Hendricks and many others.

See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!



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