Wilson Theatre Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Macbeth,” Debra Messing in “Birthday Candles” and husband-and-wife team of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick (their old-fashioned “Plaza Suite” is printing money, but was sneered at by the out-of-touch New York Times) were all told “we’re just not that into you” by the nominating committee. If I were SJP, I’d add an evening performance on Sunday, June 12 — and livestream it.No luck for the People’s Princess, either.

Ramin Karimloo, the male lead of Broadway’s Funny Girl, will be out of the show temporarily after testing positive for Covid just four day’s after the musical revival’s opening night.

Jonah Hill is one proud brother!

NEW YORK -- When Broadway's revival of “Funny Girl” begins, star Beanie Feldstein sits in a Broadway dressing room, getting ready to go on. She wonders nervously to her assistant: "You ever feel like there’s someone watching from the shadows?"The line takes an extra jolt of meaning because Feldstein is stepping into hallowed ground.

Frank Rizzo “You ever feel like there’s someone watching from the shadows?” asks Beanie Feldstein’s Fanny Brice, as haunting apparitions from the Ziegfeld star’s past waft in and out in a kind of “Fanny’s ‘Follies’.”The problem with this uninspired revival of “Funny Girl” — which opened at the August Wilson Theatre on Sunday, marking the show’s Broadway return after nearly 60 years — is not simply the singular ghost of she who shall not be named. (Alright: It’s Barbra Steisand.) Rather, the issue here is the production’s inability to live up to its star-making potential that would have made us once again forgive the simplistic, sentimental and sanitized original book credited to Isobel Lennart.

Smartly sidestepping the obvious comparison from the start – the line-reading of “Hello gorgeous” sounds more conversational, less sing-songy than the one etched in our brains for all these decades – Broadway’s new Funny Girl revival doesn’t so much make a grand play for replacement as a peaceful offering for coexistence: The show that made Barbra Streisand a musical theater icon likely won’t do the same for its latest star, but neither is it cause for grumbling how-dare-shes.

Broadway’s spring season kicked into higher gear last week, with the arrival of seven previewing productions (with more to come over the next few weeks). Business overall remained robust, with the 31 shows grossing a total of $28,818,836. The figure marks a 7% increase over the previous week, a jump due in no small part to the stellar performances of such recent arrivals as Funny Girl, Mr. Saturday Night, Plaza Suite and, of course, The Music Man.

Funny Girl arrived on Broadway to a full house last week, selling out its first preview at the August Wilson Theatre.

NEW YORK -- The Shubert Organization's Cort Theatre on Broadway will be renamed after James Earl Jones, fulfilling a promise by the theater giant to honor a Black artist in such a way.The James Earl Jones Theatre renaming is “in recognition of Mr. Jones’ lifetime of immense contributions to Broadway and the entire artistic community,” according to a statement by the Shuberts.The move comes less than a year after a wide Broadway coalition of theater owners, producers, union leaders, creators and casting directors hammered out a series of reforms and commitments for the theater industry to ensure equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.One requirement of the New Deal for Broadway is that the Shubert, Nederlander and Jujamcyn chains have at least one of their theaters named after a Black artist.

After separating nearly five years ago, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have rekindled their marriage. The actor, 56, recently confirmed to Esquire that he and the actress got back together. It all started during the early days of the pandemic when he decided it would be best to move back in with the 50-year-old and their two children, as it would be the only way he’d be able to see them during the lockdown.

Margaret Styne, the widow of Broadway composer Jule Styne who oversaw an estate and legacy that includes the much anticipated upcoming revival of Funny Girl, has died.

Slave Play is back on Broadway and Meryl Streep was in the crowd to welcome the show back to the New York stage.

Jane Lynch, Ramin Karimloo and Jared Grimes will join the previously announced Beanie Feldstein  in the upcoming Broadway revival of Funny Girl, the Michael Mayer-directed production set to begin previews at the August Wilson Theatre this spring.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWhen Namir Smallwood took the stage for the first preview of his first show on Broadway, the audience gave him and his “Pass Over” co-star Jon Michael Hill a thunderous standing ovation.

This summer’s big New York City performances have lugged considerable metaphorical baggage, from the giddy, vaxxed-but-maskless return of the Springsteen on concert during the pre-Delta shine of June, the resurgent Covid delays of Shakespeare in the Park and finally last night’s aborted, starry concert in Central Park, when the sky itself seemed to tell pop’s mightiest stalwarts, eh, not quite yet.

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s award-winning play Pass Over will begin performances August 4 at the August Wilson Theatre, making it first Broadway show in line to hit the stage since the industry’s Covid shutdown in 2020.

fetch happen.Tony-nominated musical “Mean Girls” — based on Tina Fey’s 2004 movie — has officially shut down and will not return to the August Wilson Theatre after the coronavirus pandemic winds down and venues reopen. “Thank you to the brilliant creative team, cast and crew that brought ‘Mean Girls‘ to life from our first reading to final performance,” producer and “Saturday Night Live” show honcho Lorne Michaels said in a statement Thursday, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterWhen the lights go up on Broadway, “Mean Girls” won’t be returning to the stage.Producers announced Thursday that the musical, based on Tina Fey’s modern cult classic, will not reopen when theaters come back because of the pandemic.The show will close having played its final performance on March 11, the day before Broadway went dark.

Sabrina Carpenter hits the stage during the curtain call after her first performance in the Broadway musical Mean Girls on Tuesday (March 10) at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.