ROUNDABOUT WILL TRANSPLANT 'THE HEART'

by Philip Boroff: The Heart is scheduled to open Off-Broadway at the nonprofit company’s Laura Pels Theatre at the end of October, according to a person familiar with the production. If the tryout on West 46th Street is well-received, the next stop is Broadway, where it would be among the first Broadway musicals dominated by electronic dance music (EDM).

London's Matilda to Welcome More Than 20 Young Actors

Playbill: The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Matilda the Musical, which has played more than 5,000 performances in the West End, will welcome several new young cast members later this month. Beginning March 17 Sithuni Gamage, Bonnie Harper, and Carla Lopez-Corpas will join Emilia Shefford in the title role.

Paddington Bear costume designer ‘overwhelmed’ by response to musical’s puppet

Yahoo News Canada: Costume and creature effects designer Tahra Zafar has worked on a number of productions and national events, including the 2012 London Olympics where she met the late Queen to design a replica wig for a stunt double for a James Bond sketch.

Bernadette, The Musical Isn't Just the Story of a Saint; It's the Story of a Girl

Playbill: From a theatrical poster stylized to evoke a watercolor painting, a young girl gazes pensively at the viewer, her portrait awash in soft tones of blue, white, and red. While the design may nod to the iconic artwork for Les Misérables, it’s actually promoting another melodic show set in 19th-century France: Bernadette, The Musical which tells the story of an impoverished teenager from Lourdes who saw a series of apparitions believed to be the Virgin Mary.

What I discovered at rehearsals for TIFT’s world premiere musical All the Cows Are Dead

Intermission Magazine: On the first day of rehearsals for Ben Page’s All the Cows Are Dead, the idiosyncratic new musical premiering at Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT) in Barrie, director Will Dao offered a playful instruction: “Everyone in the room should feel like a detective,” he told the cast and creative team, implying it requires focused collaboration to solve the mystery of staging a show.

Tommy Tune's Archives Will Be Housed at the University of Houston

Playbill: The personal archives of ten-time Tony Award honoree Tommy Tune are going to the University of Houston, where the Nine and Grand Hotel director earned a Master's of Fine Arts in 1964. The collection includes more than 50,000 costumes, scripts, design sketches, choreography notes, photos, and personal letters covering Tune's long career as an actor, artist, director, choreographer, and writer. The collection is coming to the Texas university as a gift from Tune and his sister, Gracey Tune.

Step Inside Freaky Friday Musical's U.K. Stage Premiere

Playbill: Freaky Friday, based on the novel and films of the same name, made its U.K. stage premiere beginning November 27 at HOME Manchester, and Playbill has an up-close-and-personal look at the production, both onstage and in rehearsals.

‘Vape! The Grease Parody’ Features The Humor And Harms Of E-Cigarettes

www.forbes.com: When I first saw Grease on the big screen decades ago, little did I know that I would one day be watching an off-Broadway parody with vaping as the backdrop. Even less expected—that I would find key medical lessons throughout the musical, particularly involving the use of e-cigarettes or vaping, which is a growing public health concern.

BEGIN AGAIN Musical Will Premiere in San Diego in 2026 Ahead of Broadway Run

www.broadwayworld.com: The new musical Begin Again, inspired by the Academy Award nominated film written and directed by John Carney, will have its pre-Broadway engagement next year. With an original score by Pat Monahan of the Grammy Award-winning band TRAIN, BEGIN AGAIN will make its world premiere at The Old Globe in San Diego as part of its 2026 season with performances from September 6-October 11, 2026.

Paddington: The Musical review – they’ve looked after this bear quite splendiferously

Musicals | The Guardian: Here is the Peruvian bear as we have never seen him before – or so we are led to believe from the marketing of this musical, which is based on the beloved 2014 film, based on Michael Bond’s beloved books.

Can't Hardly Wait Stage Musical Will Get Industry Reading in Los Angeles

Playbill: The in-development stage musical adaptation of cult-favorite film Can't Hardly Wait will get an invitation-only industry reading in Los Angeles November 21 at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Kate Sullivan will direct.

Stereophonic: this play about an ailing rock band is a must-see masterpiece

theconversation.com: For legal reasons, David Adjmi and Will Butler’s play is absolutely not about the recording of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours. But like that famous album, it is a dizzying amalgamation of influences, mercurial talents and creativity that sits among the defining achievements of its generation. And like Fleetwood Mac, too, it is hard to pinpoint precisely what witchy alchemy makes Stereophonic work so well.

Lake District theatre to be renamed after Victoria Wood and unveil new musical of her songs

Theatre | The Guardian: A theatre in the Lake District is to be renamed for the comedian and playwright Victoria Wood and will stage a new musical using her songs to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.

Review: “As You Like It” at Writers Theatre

www.newcitystage.com: The musical version of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” now playing at Writers Theatre, is a lot of fun, with foot-tapping tunes and a charismatic cast. But it could have used more Shakespeare.

New musical in development inspired by the life of ballroom icon José Xtravaganza

www.broadwaynews.com: Producers Isabel Kallman, Laura Mayes, Craig Kallman and Kurt Deutsch are shepherding a new musical based on the life of José Xtravaganza, an icon of the NYC ballroom scene. Tony Award nominee Stevie Walker-Webb is serving as director of the musical, titled “Xtravaganza,” which will receive an invited workshop presentation in association with Baltimore Center Stage at a date to be announced.

After 83 Years and 2 Abandoned Attempts, Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth Is Finally a Musical

Playbill: Fast forward to now, 2025, as The Seat of Our Pants, the third attempt at a Skin of Our Teeth musical, is running at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater (where healthy ticket sales and positive reviews have extended it through December 7). And in a miraculous turn, Tappan loves it, raving: “I’m blown away. Through his inspired music and a gifted cast, Ethan Lipton has made my uncle's Skin accessible for all of us in today’s (ever crazy) world. A long overdue and exciting window to the past and the future has been opened. I see this show as a timely, and timeless, realized dream come true.””

Review: Kokandy's "Jekyll & Hyde" at Chopin Theatre

www.newcitystage.com: You know it’s about to happen. The music heaves and pounds, the green and red lights pop, and the actors lift their faces to give the audience that look. “Jekyll & Hyde” is a camp-romp-melodrama of a musical featuring a score packed with power ballads and soaring duets. It thrives on intensity, and if your performers are cut out for it, Frank Wildhorn’s “Jekyll & Hyde” can stun.

‘BOOP! The Musical’ sets 50-week North American tour

www.broadwaynews.com: “BOOP! The Musical” is heading out on a North American tour. The hit Broadway show will launch in fall 2026, opening at the West Herr Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, New York to kick off its 50-week run.

Strike a Pose: Get an Expanded Look at The Devil Wears Prada Musical in London's West End

Playbill: The production opened December 5, 2024, and is currently selling tickets through September 26, 2026. See what critics had to say of the musical, directed and choreographed by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell, here. A cast album was released in September.

Review: Dynamic 'Hell's Kitchen' Is on Fire at Benedum Center

onstagepittsburgh.com: Extraordinary voices vying for best in show and a vibrant, pulsating production touched down at the Benedum Center this week, as Hell’s Kitchen made Pittsburgh the second stop in the musical’s first national tour. Featuring more than 20 songs from the catalog of 18-time Grammy-winner Alicia Keys (including best musical theater album), the gritty coming-of-age story, with mother-daughter dynamics front and center, is woven with autobiographical elements of Keys’ own experiences.