The Temptations

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Temptations Musical Heads To Washington, D.C.

"Ain't Too Proud — The Life And Times Of The Temptations" heads to the Kennedy Center on its way to Broadway in New York

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Dec 13, 2017 - 11:22 am

No, it's not just your imagination. The Temptations musical, "Ain't Too Proud — The Life And Times Of The Temptations" is moving closer to a Broadway run in New York.

The bio-musical tracks the career of the famed Motown singers from the streets of Detroit to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame status, and includes some of their most famous crowd-pleasing tunes such as "My Girl," "Just My Imagination," and their GRAMMY-winning hit "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone."

"Ain't Too Proud …" opened at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California this past fall and was so successful, it notched the honor of being the venue's highest-grossing production ever, according to Billboard.

Now it's moving to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for a five-week run from June 19–July 22 in the Center's Eisenhower Theater. Producers hope the musical will then be on track to hit Broadway in fall 2018.

Directed by Des McAnuff and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, the show's book was written by Detroit-native Dominique Morisseau. Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman are on board as producers.

Tina Turner: New Autobiography To Celebrate 60th Anniversary In Music

"Hair" in 1968

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"Hair" Will Be A TV Musical In Spring 2019

Get out your tie-dye and bandanas — the '60s counterculture musical phenomenon is coming to a TV screen near you

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

May 25, 2018 - 12:13 pm

Get ready, because "Hair" is coming to a TV set near you in spring 2019.

Hot off the heels of the popular live TV production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar," which starred John Legend and Brandon Victor Dixon, NBC announced that their next live on-screen musical extravaganza will be "Hair," written by Gerome Ragni, James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot.

"Hair," a now-classic rock musical, follows a group of New York hippie protestor types as they rail against the draft and the Vietnam war, capturing the rebellious counterculture spirit of the 1960s. It first ran off Broadway in 1967, and started its Broadway run in New York in 1968. With hit tracks such as "Aquarius" and "Good Morning Starshine," it became a musical symbol of the times that spawned it.

The original soundtrack album earned a win at the 11th GRAMMY Awards for Best Score From An Original Cast Show Album. A later Actors' Fund Of American Benefit Recording of the music earned Best Musical Show Album at the 48th GRAMMYs, and the 2009 Broadway revival cast album earned the GRAMMY in the same category at the 52nd GRAMMY Awards.

NBC's 2019 live version of the popular musical will be executive produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Other live musicals are still on the slate for the network, including a staging of "Bye Bye Birdie," which will feature Jennifer Lopez, and Aaron Sorkin's "A Few Good Men."

Keep an eye open for "Hair" casting announcements in the upcoming months, and while it may be awhile in the future, there's no harm in marking your calendars for spring 2019 now.

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Idina Menzel

Photo: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

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Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald Set For 2018 Concert For America

Concert will benefit organizations working to reunite and support families at the border

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Jun 25, 2018 - 2:50 pm

On June 30 the 2018 installment of Concert For America will take place at The Cooper Union's Great Hall in New York. This year's focus will be raising funds for organizations that "protect the human and civil rights of families at our southern border."

This year's lineup will unite Broadway stars Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald, Mandy Gonzalez, Jeremy Jordan, Olga Merediz, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Andrew Rannells, and Chita Rivera, violinist Jorge Ávila, comedian Tina Fey, and more. The evening will be hosted by SiriusXM's Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley.

All proceeds raised from the live event and in conjunction with the Facebook livestream will benefit four organizations working at the U.S. border: Al Otro Lado, Texas Civil Rights Project, the ACLU Foundation of Texas, and the Florence Project.

Artists have historically used their platform to advocate for others and speak out against injustices. In today's political climate, we can't afford to be silent on continued human rights abuses, discrimination and oppression, especially when they're happening within our own country and organizations.

Bear witness. Keep fighting. Keep making noise.
This isn't over by a long shot.https://t.co/EK9BufBsZL

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 21, 2018

"While some are inclined to dismiss or ridicule musicians when they speak out regarding anything other than music ('Shut up and just entertain us!'), the fact is, musicians often serve as our society's conscience," writes activist/author/speaker Dr. John Gerdy on his blog. "And in times of social and political strife a musician's role in this regard becomes particularly important."

Through events such as Concert For America, their own music and the organizations they support, artists are using their platforms to speak out in powerful ways that can have a major impact. Here's one chance to join them to make a difference. Tickets for Concert For America are available via Eventbrite, and additional details will be announced in the coming days.

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Sara Bareilles

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Sara Bareilles, Josh Groban Slated To Host 2018 Tony Awards

The GRAMMY nominees will lend their star power to the annual theater awards show

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Apr 18, 2018 - 10:26 am

The annual Tony Awards serve as a kind of Super Bowl for theater aficionados worldwide, celebrating the best in theater over the past year. Though nominations are still two weeks away, today Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban were announced as hosts of the annual theater celebration.

Though they started their careers in the music industry, Bareilles and Groban are multitalented GRAMMY nominees who have each had successful runs on the Broadway stage.

Bareilles wrote the GRAMMY-nominated musical "Waitress" in addition to serving in the production's lead role on two occasions, which Variety reports marked a sales bump for the show. She also played Mary Magdalene in the recent NBC broadcast of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

For his part, Groban spent several weeks in a lead role in "Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812," helping the show bring in more than $1 million per week during the times he starred in the show.

I AM SO HAPPY I COULD CRY BUT ITS MIDNIGHT IN JAPAN SO I WILL SLEEP BUT ‼‼‼‼ #TonyAwards2018 pic.twitter.com/NLss47K63t

— josh groban (@joshgroban) April 18, 2018

While the Tony Awards typically engage a single host for the evening, this isn't the first time they've opted for a duo. In 2015 Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming tag teamed the evening. The 2018 show will mark Groban and Bareilles' first turn at hosting.

The eligibility period for 2018 Tony Awards consideration ends April 27. Nominations will be announced on May 1. The awards will air live from Radio City Music Hall in New York on CBS — home of the GRAMMY Awards — on June 10.

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Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

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"Dear Evan Hansen" Producers On Winning A GRAMMY In New York

The creatives behind the hit musical detail their path from the idea stage to Broadway to Music's Biggest Night

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Feb 2, 2018 - 12:00 pm

If you haven't seen "Dear Evan Hansen," given the show's win at the 60th GRAMMY Awards in New York, now is the perfect time to look into checking out the hit Broadway musical.

"Dear Evan Hansen" One-On-One: 2018 GRAMMYs

Written by composers/lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and produced by orchestrater Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Pasek, and Paul, "Dear Evan Hansen" explores the struggle of social anxiety.

"It's about a young man who feels incredibly isolated and alone in his world," producer Pasek explained backstage at the 60th GRAMMYs. "And through a series of events he is believed to have been the best friend of a kid who just passed away and he basically [helps] a grieving family make them think that he was actually best friends with their son who has recently been deceased. His whole life changes as a result and the question is whether or not he should come clean and how his life changes because of this lie."

"Dear Evan Hansen" opened on Broadway in 2016 following a premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2015. For the creators of the show, getting the musical from the conceptual stage all the way to Broadway was a collaborative process.

"The songs are created along with the rest of the show, so we really worked in tandem with our book writer Steven Levenson on this project. We developed these characters and this storyline all together. Then Michael Greif our director," said Paul. "We sit in a room for a long time and come up with it all together. We bring in our music team, Alex Lacamorie and the rest of them. It's an amazing sort of journey where you keep picking up more incredible, wonderful people all along the way as you create this show from scratch and then get it up, workshopped, up on its feet and finally, eventually, thankfully on Broadway."

"Dear Evan Hansen" has earned critical acclaim since its opening. The show took home six Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 2017, and Ben Platt's role as the lead garnered him a Best Performance by an Actor Tony Award. Now the creators and Platt have added a GRAMMY to the list of the musical's accolades, having earned the GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album this year.

Pasek and Paul couldn't wait to share their GRAMMY success with the rest of the cast and crew of the show, especially because Music's Biggest Night was celebrated right in the musical's hometown.

"It is really cool that our show is playing just up the street and then we get to celebrate this with our whole cast," Pasek said. "They're just finishing a matinee performance right now so I think they're going to come down and find out they're all GRAMMY winners at the end of it, which is a very, very cool thing. And to have it be in New York and to celebrate that energy that Broadway's so vital in, it's a very exciting thing for us."