Issue #190: April 1, 2007

• Former America Idol Fantasia Barrino takes on Broadway this month when she joins the company of The Color Purple as Celie on April 10 at the Broadway Theater.

• Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer, which was on stage at the National Theatre in London last year, opens on Broadway this fall.

• Blair Brown returns to the stage in Playwrights Horizons A Feminine Ending, which opens in September.

• After five years and 2,300 performances at the Mandalay Bay and Casino in Las Vegas, the producers of Mamma Mia! will close the show in late summer 2008. Unlike like other Broadway shows like Avenue Q and Hairspray, which both closed prematurely, Mamma Mia! has enjoyed quite a successful run.

• Speaking of Vegas….look for Monty Python’s Spamalot to move into the Wynn Hotel later this year and a production of The Producers starring David Hasselhoff to open at the Paris Las Vegas on January 31.

• Former Destiny’s Child alum Michelle Williams will take on the role of Shug in the national tour of The Color Purple when it opens in Chicago on April 17.

• A new player in the Toronto theatre market has emerged. Aubrey Dan of DanCap Productions has thrown his hat into the ring with the news he has the Canadian rights to the hit musical Jersey Boys, which is a tribute to sixties group the Four Seasons. Now the one hitch is he doesn’t have a confirmed venue for the proposed six month run. Stay tuned.

• Two British theatre icons are currently in a battle for the London rights for the Tony award winner Jersey Boys. Lord Lloyd Webber and Sir Cameron Mackintosh are battling it out to bring the 2005 hit to the West End in March 2008. I’ll keep you posted on who wins this competition.

• We had the team from Camp Broadway in Toronto the last week of March and they are thrilled with the Distillery District spaces we have on hold for camp week July 9 to 13. All you musical theatre lovers from 10 – 17…there is still space for our inaugural camp so check out the page on this site and get your application in.