All stories by Ryan McPhee on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

The Daily Distraction: Let's Play 'Count the Lifts' With Shoshana Bean by Ryan McPhee

The Broadway favorite serves riffs and whistle tones in this delightfully chaotic Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat montage.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:08PM

Drama Desk Awards to Present Late Harold Prince With Inaugural Namesake Lifetime Achievement Honor by Ryan McPhee

The 65th annual ceremony will take place remotely May 31.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:52AM

Alanis Morissette, Cast and Creatives of Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill Headline Actors Fund Benefit May 19 by Ryan McPhee

Proceeds from the musical’s live stream will go to the organization’s COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:03AM
Monday, May 18, 2020

Metropolitan Opera's Manon With Anna Netrebko, Don Giovanni With Joan Sutherland, More Head Online This Week by Ryan McPhee

The company enters its 10th week of its Nightly Met Streams series.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:46PM

The Daily Distraction: Tina Fey and Jonathan Groff Are 2 Lovers in the Amish Night by Ryan McPhee

Fey (who celebrates her birthday today) and Groff returned to their Pennsylvania roots for Ars Nova's Nova Ball 2019.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:24PM
Sunday, May 17, 2020

New Streaming Service Broadway on Demand Launches May 17 by Ryan McPhee

The slate of programming includes Allegiance, series from Tiler Peck and Frankie James Grande, and more.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:01AM
Friday, May 15, 2020

Some Like It Hot Musical to Go Straight to Broadway, Scraps Chicago Premiere by Ryan McPhee

The new stage adaptation of the 1959 comedy features a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and a book by Matthew Lopez.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:59AM

Disney Theatrical Productions Reveals Next Steps for Hercules and The Jungle Book Musicals, Aida Revival, More by Ryan McPhee

The slate arrives on the heels of the announcement that Frozen would not return to Broadway following the coronavirus shutdown.

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:53AM
Thursday, May 14, 2020

The Good Fight to End 4th Season Early, But Will Return for a 5th by Ryan McPhee

The CBS All Access series, featuring a slew of Broadway veterans, will wrap up its current season sooner than scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: Playbill at 05:10PM

The Daily Distraction: Lena Hall Trades Rocker Pipes for Coloratura Soprano, Sings The Magic Flute by Ryan McPhee

Move over, Hedwig, another German badass is stepping up to the mic.

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:31PM
Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Alanis Morissette, Cast and Creatives of Broadway's Jagged Little Pill to Headline Actors Fund Benefit by Ryan McPhee

Proceeds from the musical's May 19 live stream will go to the organization's COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:42PM

The Daily Distraction: Cynthia Erivo Singing 'The Miller's Son' Ought to Be Celebrated by Ryan McPhee

The Tony winner sang the A Little Night Music number at a 2019 Signature Theatre gala honoring Audra McDonald.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:27PM

Michael Jackson Musical MJ Now Eyeing 2021 Broadway Bow by Ryan McPhee

Prior to the coronavirus shutdown, previews were to begin this summer at the Neil Simon Theatre.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:43AM

Lin-Manuel Miranda Among Co-Chairs of NYC & Company's Hospitality and Tourism Recovery Coalition by Ryan McPhee

The group will work alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio's newly formed Arts, Culture & Tourism Sector Advisory Council.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:13AM
Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Daily Distraction, Pray, or Betty Buckley Will Belt at You! by Ryan McPhee

Commemorate the anniversary of Carrie's infamous Broadway bow with this iconic Carnegie Hall performance.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:15PM

Broadway Shutdown Extended Through the Summer Due to Ongoing Coronavirus Crisis by Ryan McPhee

Shows will remain dark as New York City grapples with the pandemic.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:33AM

Renée Fleming Will Continue to Explore Music and Mind in Live Streamed Series by Ryan McPhee

The soprano will speak with various medical professionals about the intersection of music and neuroscience.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:09AM
Monday, May 11, 2020

Huntington's Sweat, Indecent, The Purists, A.R.T.'s Moby-Dick, Six Among 2020 Elliot Norton Award Winners by Ryan McPhee

The virtual ceremony from the Boston Theater Critics Association took place May 11.

SOURCE: Playbill at 07:59PM

This Week (Online) at the Met: Jessye Norman as Ariadne, Joan Sutherland as Lucia by Ryan McPhee

The Metropolitan Opera continues its Nightly Met Streams series beyond what would have been the end of the 2019–2020 season.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:42PM

The Daily Distraction: Drag Race's Nina West Channels Carole Baskin, Kristin Chenoweth in Her Own Tiger King Music Video by Ryan McPhee

Andrew Lippa's musical parody of the Netflix sensation gets a drag twist.

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:14PM

Broadway League's Charlotte St. Martin, Roundabout and Lincoln Center Heads, More on Advisory Council to Reopen NYC's Culture Sector by Ryan McPhee

The Arts, Culture and Tourism Sector is one of four advisory councils newly formed by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:15AM
Sunday, May 10, 2020

The Daily Distraction: Audra McDonald Goes 'Beyond the Moon' in Far-Out Hello Again Music Video by Ryan McPhee

We might be confirmed to our apartments, but Sally is ready to head into the outer space.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:59AM
Saturday, May 9, 2020

The Daily Distraction: The Original Nine Commercials Were Sexy, Mysterious, and Chaotic by Ryan McPhee

Anita Morris isn't allowed to show what she's selling on TV.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:59AM
Friday, May 8, 2020

The Daily Distraction: A Funny Thing Happened to Whoopi Goldberg on the Way to Broadway by Ryan McPhee

Revisit the EGOT winner's turn as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with this interview that's something familiar, something peculiar.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:07PM

What Did Jeremy O. Harris Think of The Good Fight's Slave Play-Inspired Episode? by Ryan McPhee

The playwright and his buzzy Broadway show sparked a plot point on the CBS All Access series this week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:16AM
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Daily Distraction: A Pre-Broadway Adrienne Warren Belts Out in Her High School Production of Aida by Ryan McPhee

Before she shook a tailfeather as Tina Turner, she did the Dance of the Robe in Virginia.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:23PM

Catch Audra McDonald (and Playbill!) in Clip From This Week's The Good Fight by Ryan McPhee

The partners find that a buzzy new play hits a little too close to home.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:42AM
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Monday, May 4, 2020

Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop Wins 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Ryan McPhee

The musical premiered at Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons last year.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:18PM

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