Playbill: Mirvish Books Little House, Joseph, Young Frankenstein, Priscilla, August and More...

Mirvish Books Little House, Joseph, Young Frankenstein, Priscilla, August and More for Toronto

By Kenneth Jones
February 17, 2009

Producer David Mirvish will present nine productions on four Toronto stages for the 2009-10 season, with seven on the Mirvish Theatre Subscription.

The slate includes locally produced shows (Cloud 9, Stuff Happens) and touring productions (such as August: Osage County, Fiddler on the Roof), plus the North American premieres of the Australian musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Perry Henzell's reggae-infused The Harder They Come, the West End musical with songs by Jimmy Cliff.

Also planned are the Canadian premieres of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County and the new musical Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert. A resident Toronto production of David Hare's Stuff Happens, the play about the Bush administration's rush to war, will also be staged (by the Canadian troupe Studio 180).

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Playbill: Tony Winner Faith Prince to Join Broadway's Little Mermaid

Tony Winner Faith Prince to Join Broadway's Little Mermaid

By Andrew Gans
February 17, 2009

Tony Award winner Faith Prince, most recently on Broadway in A Catered Affair, will return to The Great White Way in April in Disney's The Little Mermaid.

According to the Associated Press, Prince will begin performances as the evil Ursula, the role currently being played by Heidi Blickenstaff, April 7 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

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Playbill: Next to Normal, with Entire Arena Cast, to Play Broadway's Longacre

Next to Normal, with Entire Arena Cast, to Play Broadway's Longacre

By Andrew Gans
February 17, 2009

Next to Normal, the acclaimed new musical seen Off-Broadway at Second Stage and more recently at Arlington's Arena Stage, will arrive on Broadway March 27 at the Longacre Theatre, most recently the home of the Tony-winning revival of Boeing-Boeing.

Opening night is April 15.

Michael Grief, who directed both the Off-Broadway and Arena Stage productions, will direct on Broadway as well. The Broadway production will also boast the entire Arena Stage cast: Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer, Aaron Tveit, Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat and Louis Hobson. (Ripley, Tveit, Damiano and Chanler-Berat were also in the Second Stage Theatre production.)

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