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Good Wednesday morning! This is it: the final Briefing of 2015!
2015 Broadway Showperson of the Year: Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Broadway Briefing has named Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda 2015 Broadway Showperson of the Year. Broadway Showperson of the Year is awarded to “the person or persons who most influenced Broadway this year.”
2015 is the year that Lin-Manuel Miranda brought Hamilton to The Public, followed by the start of a Broadway run now certain to last for many years to come. The musical was immediately acclaimed for both the content of the story as well as the innovative style in which the story was delivered. Lin-Manuel not only crafted the eloquent words and music, but also delivers them to a grateful audience with equal elegance. Hamilton became a huge hit by any measurement—in ticket sales, reviews, or pop culture references, from New Yorker magazine features to SNL Weekend Update shoutouts. This unprecedented awareness, reminiscent of the phenom status of Rent or Hair, was in part due to Lin-Manuel’s social media savvy—often as masterful as the work itself. Selecting Lin-Manuel for this honor was an easy choice. For adding a new classic to the musical theater canon, for pushing the boundaries of the Broadway landscape, and for bringing awareness to Broadway that the entirety of the industry will continue to benefit from, Lin-Manuel Miranda is Broadway Briefing’s 2015 Broadway Showperson of the Year.
BROADWAY BRIEFING EXCLUSIVE
2015: In The Room with Lin-Manuel.
by Leslie Odom, Jr.
Lin-Manuel is on another level.
The thing that I admire most about him, and I admire many things about him, is that he has no desire to exist there all by himself.
This year I watched as the world turned upside down for his Hamilton but before all that Lin chased the calling down for six years. Readings, rewrites, one year on the opening number alone.
We danced for our heroes this year. We took lots of pictures. In one audience downtown: Busta, Patinkin, Rushdie.
We gave all we had then came back the next night or just a few hours later and tried to do it all again...But before all that there was the room, the space in which Lin-Manuel's words, melodies, and great passion set a group of artists completely free.
The spirit of generosity at the core of Lin-Manuel's work comes directly and unsurprisingly from the heart of the man. We all felt it when we first encountered the material. That spirit of generosity became our ethos as we went about discovering how Hamilton was to move, look, feel. It permeated those first rehearsal rooms. And it wasn't long before you'd see the joyous, half-crazed light of recognition in the eyes of the person to your left or to your right. It was the look of someone who, even for a brief moment, had just been flying.
Everyone in that room had witnessed someone take flight at some point. For many of us, witnessing someone else's moment in the sky is what brought us to the Theater. Since then, some of us have never had a ceiling that was high enough or weather conditions conducive enough to take to the air ourselves. You can wait a lifetime for the right conditions. Some of us never knew of the dormant superpower because superpower is so rarely asked of us and there are other skills you develop in its place. But Lin-Manuel gave us Hamilton and Hamilton demanded the air.
Lin wants us to know we can fly. He wants us to know it so bad that he spent 6 years writing an instruction manual. Lin knows he can fly. But it's that quality that I admire so much (again) that urges him forward: he doesn't want to fly alone.
He wanted to give us the optimum conditions. He assembled a team of experts. They told us not to be afraid. They told us, "First just stand there, breathe, take a moment to see where you are...now start to run, now run as fast as you can, make sure your eyes are open (Thanks, Lin) and then leap...and then...you'll know what to do."
It's a heady prescription for a room full of Black and Brown citizens of these United States at this particular time. The work feels pressing. It feels necessary.
What I am most grateful for is the unlimited possibility the man unleashed. Every single night Hamilton is performed, an opportunity awaits for the ideal. I learned that I could fly here. Many others will pick up the instruction manual after us and learn that they too are capable of the super and that they too posses the power. And it won't come easy or cheaply but it is possible. And they'll have mostly their own openness and humanity and the imagination, perseverance, and generosity of Lin-Manuel Miranda to thank for it. That's a real legacy.
Lin-Manuel Miranda surprised the Hamilton company with a private Star Wars screening.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote and performed the music for the cantina scene in the new Star Wars film, gave the Broadway musical's cast and crew an amazing New Year's gift yesterday: a private screening of The Force Awakens. At the screening, Lin-Manuel tweeted: "Surprised the Hamilton cast and crew with a private screening of Star Wars. Highlight of the year. And what a year."
CLOSING NOTICE: ‘Queen of the Night’ Will Play Last Performance on New Year’s Eve - “Queen of the Night,” the sensually interactive dinner theater spectacle, will close two years after its first performance at the Paramount Hotel. The show’s final performance, at the Diamond Horseshoe club in the hotel’s basement, will include a decadent black-tie party on New Year’s Eve, with tickets going for $450. “Queen of the Night” was originally scheduled for a six-week run beginning New Year’s Eve in 2013. The show’s run was extended multiple times, eventually netting more than $30 million in ticket sales. - by NY Times’ Joshua Barone http://nyti.ms/1QYJ0q7
STEPPING OUT: Tonya Pinkins to Depart From ‘Mother Courage’ Off Broadway - Tonya Pinkins, who plays the title role in Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children” at Classic Stage Company, will leave the production on Jan. 5, a publicist for the theater said on Tuesday. The Jan. 7 opening will be postponed while a replacement is sought. In an email, she wrote that she had drafted a statement detailing her reasons for leaving the show, but that her lawyer had discouraged her from sharing it. “I’m not even sure I want to tell it,” she wrote. - by NY Times’ Alexis Soloski http://nyti.ms/22xMNyB
STARS ON TV; Second Season of "Mozart in the Jungle," Starring Bernadette Peters, Arrives Today - The 10-episode season is available for streaming on Amazon Prime in the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Austria. Guest stars who appear in the second season include Gretchen Mol, Dermot Mulroney, Esai Morales, Gustavo Dudamel, Lang Lang, Emanuel Ax and more. - by Playbill's Joe Gambino http://bit.ly/22yj9cu
POSTPONED: Chita Rivera Postpones Club Engagement After Injury - The Broadway diva Chita Rivera has postponed her January residency at Café Carlyle after suffering an injury over the Christmas holiday. “Following a fall, it was discovered that she has a pelvic stress fracture,” the venue said in a statement Monday. The show, titled “An Evening of My Favorite Songs,” was scheduled for Jan. 12-23; it will now be held April 19-30, with performances running Tuesday through Saturday. - by NY Times’ Joe Coscarelli http://nyti.ms/1YRLhCY
OFF BROADWAY: Chinese Classic A Dream of Red Pavilions Gets Stage Adaptation - "A Dream of Red Pavilions," the epic 18th century Chinese novel about the rise and fall of an aristocratic family as reflected in a romance between two cousins, will get its world-premiere production in January by Off-Broadway's Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. Jeremy Tiang has written the script, based on the classic novel by Cao Xueqin, which will be directed by Tisa Chang and Lu Yu. The production is scheduled to begin previews Jan. 23, 2016, open Jan. 28 and run through Feb. 14 at the Clurman Theatre. - by Playbill’s Robert Viagas http://bit.ly/1OrUmwi
IN DEVELOPMENT
Burning Desire, a new play written by and starring Tony nominee Lou Diamond Phillips, will make its world premiere in February 2016 at Connecticut's Seven Angels Theatre.
Performances are scheduled for Feb. 18-March 13. Additional casting and creative team members will be announced. - by Playbill’s Andrew Gans http://bit.ly/1mPX09e
Goodman Theatre has announced plans to present the world premiere of Another Word for Beauty, written by Oscar nominee José Rivera, from January 16-February 21 in the Albert Theatre. A co-commission between the Goodman and Steve Cosson's New York-based theater company, the Civilians, the production will be directed by Cosson and feature seven original songs by Grammy Award winner Héctor Buitrago. - by TheaterMania’s Bethany Rickwald http://bit.ly/1ICLqbt
ARTS BEAT: Bailiwick Artistic Director Lili-Anne Brown to Step Down - Bailiwick Chicago has announced that artistic director Lili-Anne Brown will step down from her post at the end of this year. The company is undergoing a restructuring phase, and will announce further plans at the end of January. Brown has served as the artistic director since 2012. - by American Theatre http://bit.ly/22ucmRh
HONORS: Off-Broadway's Vineyard Will Honor Veteran Actress and Press Agent - The Vineyard Theatre — which is under the leadership of artistic directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and executive producer Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell — will honor Vineyard Board President and award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant and New York theatrical press agent Sam Rudy at the 2016 Vineyard Gala. - by Playbill’s Andrew Gans http://bit.ly/1mp4LT9
NEW YEAR'S WEEKEND PLANNER
TODAY:
8:00 PM [TV] Kristin Chenoweth appears on celebrity prank show "I Get That a Lot" on CBS
NEW YEAR'S EVE:
7:00 PM [SPECIAL EVENT] The King & I plays a special performance @ Vivian Beaumont Theatre
SUNDAY:
2:00 PM [CLOSING] Thérèse Raquin plays its final performance @ Roundabout Theatre Company’s Studio 54
2:00 PM [CLOSING] The Humans plays its final Off-Broadway performance @ Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre
3:00 PM [CLOSING] CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce plays its final performance @ Pearl Theatre Company
3:00 PM [CLOSING] The Illusionists plays its final performance @ The Neil Simon Theatre
3:00 PM [CLOSING] Dames at Sea plays its final performance @ The Helen Hayes Theatre
7:00 PM [CLOSING] Sylvia plays its final performance @ The Cort Theatre
7:30 PM [CLOSING] Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games plays its final performance @ The Lyric Theatre
BROADWAY BIRTHDAYS
TODAY: Ethan Popp, Daniel Sunjata, Sheryl Lee Ralph
THURSDAY: Micah Stock, Adam Chanler-Berat, Joey McIntyre, Bebe Neuwirth, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins
FRIDAY: Frank Langella
SATURDAY: Karina Smirnoff, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Taye Diggs, Beth Malone, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vicki Frederick, Christopher Durang
SUNDAY: Justin Paul, Telly Leung
ENCORE: Sneak into the rehearsal room for Grease Live! for a first listen. http://bit.ly/1OwUHnO
THANK YOU for an incredible 2015! See you on Monday!
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