Broadway Archives

The Office star Melora Hardin, aka Jan Levinson, will be making her Broadway debut as nightclub dancer Roxie Hart in December, sources confirm to JustJared.com.

”I’m thrilled. I’m so excited,” the 41-year-old actress said in a telephone interview with AP. ”I have been dancing all my life, since I was 5. … In a way, I was made for musicals. But I have been working so much in film and television that I never really had a chance to do them.”

Melora will play a seven-week limited engagement (Monday, December 29, 2008 to Thursday, February 12, 2009) at Broadway’’s Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.). For tickets, visit ChicagoTheMusical.com.

Other stars to play Roxie include Brooke Shields, Lisa Rinner, Ashlee Simpson and Melanie Griffith.

Melora will next star in the film 17 Again, opposite Zac Efron. She also plays the love-interest to Billy Ray Cyrus in Miley Cyrus’s upcoming Hannah Montana: The Movie. Both films hit theaters April 2009.

Clay Aiken poses with the cast of Spring Awakening — including Weeds star Hunter Parrish — backstage at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York City on Monday.

The 29-year-old former American Idol finalist is currently back on Broadway reprising the role of Sir Robin in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot through January 4, 2009.

Parrish joined the cast of Spring Awakening this past August, taking the lead role of Melchior Gabor and winning rave reviews from critics.

Shrek The Musical is based on the 2001 DreamWorks film of the same name. It is scheduled to start previews on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre next month with an official Broadway opening on December 14..

You can download one of the songs from the musical called “I Know It’s Today” as performed by Leah Greenhaus, Marissa O’Donnell and Sutton Foster.

To download the free MP3 of “I Know It’s Today”, visit ShrekTheMusical.com.

Britney Spears gets up close and personal with In The Heights creator/actor Lin-Manuel Miranda backstage after taking in a showing of the Broadway hit at the Richard Rogers Theatre in New York City on Tuesday night.

Audience members tell OK! that Brit was ushered to her seat once the lights were dimmed for the opening number. As the musical’s cast began to take their curtain calls at the end of the show, Britney was rushed backstage.

In the Heights star Doreen Montalvo says, “She was so sweet and generous. She took pictures with the cast and musicians.”
More Here! »

Check out the first cast photo of Katie Holmes in her upcoming Broadway play, All My Sons, via ET.

Joining the 29-year-old actress in the Arthur Miller play are Dianne Wiest (not pictured), Patrick Wilson and John Lithgow.

The play depicts the tragedy of a man who knowingly sold defective plane parts to the government during World War II, and has to face the truth when his son wants to propose to his business partner’s daughter. Katie play Ann Deever, a woman who visits the family of her former lover, a missing pilot.

Previews begin on September 18, 2008 at NY’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, and the play will open on October 16 and run through January 11, 2009.

Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony sandwich In The Heights creator/actor Lin-Manuel Miranda backstage at the Richard Rogers Theatre in New York City on Thursday night.

Marc, 39, took Jennifer to see the Tony award-winning musical to celebrate her 39th birthday.

“We had such a blast last night,” Anthony told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS radio show Friday. “It’s almost like every day is her birthday … so last night we just wanted it to be quiet and, you know, have a nice quiet evening together.”

In The Heights was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical last month. For more pictures and a preview of the Broadway production, visit InTheHeightsTheMusical.com.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNIFER!
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In the Heights creator Lin-Manuel Miranda joins host Whoopi Goldberg at the 2008 Tony Awards held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday in New York City.

In the Heights garnered a total of four awards for the night — Best Musical, Best Orchestration, Best Choreography and Best Original Score. (The show carries the distinction of being the first “Latino show written by a Latino.”) Watch their performance from the Tonys below!

Check out the full list of winners here. For more info on the musical, check out InTheHeightsTheMusical.com.

20+ pictures inside of the cast of In The Heights…. More Here! »

ABC’s hit drama Ugly Betty may be turning into a Broadway musical production soon!

Michael Urie, aka Wilhemina’s assistant Marc, told British radio station Heart, “They do want to do an Ugly Betty musical, a full-on Broadway musical, but it’s all hush-hush. I think it would be great, and they should use the cast from the show. I think we would all do it, although we maybe don’t dance and sing as well as professional singers and dancers. I think it would be fun for us to do it for a while, and then they could get real people in. They definitely want to do an episode that is a musical one, but then they want to do a full stage show. I think it’s a great idea. It would definitely work.”

WOULD YOU BUY tickets to see Ugly Betty on Broadway?