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While plenty of incredible fantasy films have come out in recent years — as well as a whole slew of great fantasy movies set to release in 2025 – the genre is also full of incredible classics from years past that every fan must see at some point. Some of these make great fantasy movies for beginners; others are more nuanced takes on the art form because of their age or subject matter, or are the launching points of massive film franchises.

These classic movies make for some of the most endearing stories in history, with some surprising similarities. Many are adapted from children's books or use storytelling as a framing device, which is appropriate given fantasy's roots in fairy tales and mythology. Many were also critical failures or fantasy box office flops. Yet all have endured for one reason or another, many becoming genuine slow-burn cult classic films because, at their heart,...

This week, Elton John’s “Tammy Faye” musical closed on Broadway after only 24 previews and 29 regular performances. Although the show, about the rise and fall of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, concluded its run on Dec. 8 as the Rocket Man’s worst-performing musical in New York following blockbuster successes “The Lion King,” “Billy Elliot: The Musical,” and “Aida,” “Tammy Faye” is hardly the only original musical with a religious theme to shutter unceremoniously in the past decade-plus. With the notable exception of “The Book of Mormon,” with its nine Tony Awards and 5,000 performances and counting, audiences have been singing from a different hymn sheet than these faith-based offerings.

In 2010, John’s fellow Egot champion Alan Menken brought a musical adaptation of the Steve Martin film “Leap of Faith” to Broadway with Tony nominee Raúl Esparza as the show’s conman who poses as a pastor to swindle Kansas townspeople. Despite the...

30 years ago Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Sunset Boulevard” opened on Broadway, capping off a tumultuous journey from the West End which included the unceremonious replacement of its lead Patti LuPone with Glenn Close. The bumps along the way paid off, if not financially, then certainly in terms of awards, as it received an impressive 11 Tony Award nominations at the 1995 ceremony, winning seven. It didn’t hurt that there was only one other original musical, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” and two musical revivals in contention that year.

Now three decades later a radically new version of “Sunset Boulevard,” abbreviated to “Sunset Blvd,” has opened on Broadway starring Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond, the silent film star yearning to make a comeback in the age of talkies. Gone is the impressive, massive set of Norma’s mansion at 10086 Sunset Boulevard, as well as her iconic turban and shimmering kaftan. Director Jamie Lloyd...

Jeremy Strong is known for his serious, in-depth approach to playing characters, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun with his role as notorious lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn in the upcoming film The Apprentice, which focuses on Cohn’s mentorship of a young Donald Trump (played by Sebastian Stan).

The Succession alum, appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Tuesday night, revealed that in one scene that didn’t make the final cut of the Ali Abbasi film out Oct. 11, he took Cohn’s interest in frogs to new heights.

Cohn, Strong said, had a “room of stuffed frogs and frog figurines,” describing the adviser to Sen. Joseph McCarthy as a “conundrum” who was both “one of the worst humans of the 20th century” and a “demonic Peter Pan who never grew up.”

“So, we did shoot a scene,” Strong recalled. “I...

Has there ever been a less predictable Tony Awards?

Just a few weeks ago there were doubts that a televised ceremony would even happen, due to the ongoing WGA strike. That problem proved to be just a speed bump: The guild agreed not to picket the show, but the show will include no scripts, no pre-written introductions or podium banter. There will be the usual musical numbers from the nominated shows — the heart of the ceremony — as well as some additional performances, tributes to John Kander and Joel Grey, the traditional In Memoriam segment and, well, we’ll all just have to wait and see for the rest.

Related: Tony Award Nominations – The Complete List

But the usual Will Wins/Should Wins are predictions of a different sort, and no strike or toxic-looking orange sky over New York City can stop those speculations. So here we go. Deadline’s 2023 Tony Awards Predictions,...

NatGeo’s widely acclaimed new limited series “A Small Light” chronicles the heroism of Miep Gies and several other brave Amsterdam residents who hid Anne Frank and her family, as well as four other people from the Nazis in a hidden attic apartment in Otto Frank’s office building. After the eight Jewish residents were arrested and sent to concentration camps in 1944, it was Gies who saved Anne’s diary and kept it in her desk drawer. Otto Frank, who was the only member of the immediate family who survived the camps — Anne died of typhus in March 1945 at Bergen-Belson — returned to Amsterdam, Gies gave him Anne’s diary. And in 1947 “The Diary of a Young Girl” was published in Europe. Five years later, “Diary” made its way to America. It has been translated into over 67 languages.

Anne had received a red checkered autograph book for her 13th birthday on...

This year’s Tonys will be held on June 11, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing its lifetime achievement award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should take home this prestigious trophy, which honors an individual’s body of work? It has gone to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers, and designers. In some years we get multiple recipients.

Last year legendary five-time competitive Tony winner Angela Lansbury received this honor about four months before her death on October 11 at the age of 96. The following living performers have also already received this award and thus won’t be chosen again: Tommy Tune, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, and Rosemary Harris.

Here are the 10 possibilities featured in our poll below, all performers over the age of 65. Vote to let us know who you’d like to see honored.

SEEBrian d’Arcy James (‘Into the...

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Descriptors like “Broadway royalty” tend to get tossed around all too freely. But there’s no disputing the claim to that title of Angela Lansbury, who died Tuesday, just five days before her 97th birthday. She was a grande dame of the theater of a kind that has largely gone the way of the dinosaur. It’s tempting to imagine a reverent hush passing over New York’s most hallowed stages tonight, along with those of London, as they welcome another fabulous ghost.

Lansbury was a class act, the rare public figure whose elegant sophistication was matched by her approachability. When she wasn’t on the actual stage, performing tirelessly in plays and musicals through her eighth decade, I saw her many times at the theater as a regular attendee.

Usually dressed in a chic pantsuit with unflashy gold jewelry, her patrician posture...

BroadwayHD is heading into November with a stellar lineup, lead by knock-out performances of theater classics. The all-female production of Donmar Warehouse's Julius Caesar makes its way to the platform on November 7, giving subscribers a stunning twist on a classic play. Dan Goggin's internationally acclaimed musical anthology series, Nunsense and its 6 sequels will be making its exclusive digital streaming premiere on BroadwayHD beginning November 14. Just in time for the 20th Anniversary of its debut on Broadway, Putting It Together starring Tony and Emmy Award winners Carol Burnett and George Hearn as well as Emmy Award nominee Bronson Pinchot brings a heavy dose of humor to the library on November 21. In addition to all of this, the holidays arrive early when beautiful productions of A Christmas Carol, MeshugaNutcracker and The Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker debut on BroadwayHD on November 26.

BroadwayHD kicks off the month of October with a binge-worthy lineup of performances Leading the charge is the eerie classic Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Tony Award winners Angela Lansbury and George Hearn as Mrs. Lovett and the vengeful Sweeney Todd. On October 17th, Jekyll and Hyde, starring David Hasselhoff in his Broadway debut, will make its way to the platform. As part of BroadwayHD's partnership with Stratford Festival, subscribers will have access to the critically-acclaimed Stratford Stage's 2017 production of Macbeth on October 24th, starring Ian Lake and Krystin Pellerin. Finally, on October 31st, Hugh Grant and Elizabeth McGovern star in a dramatic tale of love and loss in The Changeling.

Angela Lansbury, 2018 Emmy contender for Masterpiece Theater’s adaptation of “Little Women,” has one of the most unique awards histories of any performer. In her over 75-year career she has managed to amass a significant number of nominations for all three of the major acting awards: three Oscar noms, 18 Emmy bids and seven Tony citations. While she has sailed through the Tony Awards winning five times, the other awards have been more elusive.

Her Oscar nominations all came early in her career and she came up empty handed all three times (the Academy did remedy that with an honorary Oscar in 2013). Lansbury’s Emmy history has been downright infuriating for her fans since she has lost a staggering 18 times. That streak may come to an end this year if Lansbury is able to achieve the award for her work in PBS’s “Little Women.”

SEEEmmys 2018 exclusive: PBS ‘Masterpiece’ categories for ‘Little Women,...

The award for Individual Performance in a Variety Program was once a staple of the Emmy telecast. Over the years the award recognized some of the greats of the comedy and music world, including Robin Williams and Whitney Houston. However, in the ever-changing Emmy landscape, this category was eliminated 10 years ago. Do You think this award should be reestablished? Let us know your thoughts by voting in our poll below.

Why the TV academy eliminated this category is a mystery, but it may be because the award started to become a bit redundant in its later years. The last few years the award was handed out, the nominees often started to mirror the Best Talk Show category with people like David Letterman, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert receiving the bulk of the bids in addition to their shows being nominated.

SEEEmmys 2018: Al Pacino (‘Paterno’) is looking for trophy #3 thanks...

Clifford Stevens, an influential agent on Broadway and a founding partner at Paradigm, died over the weekend in New York City, the talent agency announced. He was 82.

Stevens shepherded the careers of such actors as Colleen Dewhurst, James Earl Jones, Lauren Bacall, Andy Garcia, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Robards, Kenneth Branagh, Campbell Scott, Michael Gambon, Glenn Close, George Hearn, Len Cariou, Brian Bedford and George Grizzard and designers like Santo Loquasto and Desmond Heeley.

"Clifford will always be known as one of the great gentleman agents," Paradigm chairman and CEO Sam Gores said in a statement. "He brought insight, humor,...

Ron Moody in Mel Brooks' 'The Twelve Chairs.' The 'Doctor Who' that never was. Ron Moody: 'Doctor Who' was biggest professional regret (See previous post: "Ron Moody: From Charles Dickens to Walt Disney – But No Harry Potter.") Ron Moody was featured in about 50 television productions, both in the U.K. and the U.S., from the late 1950s to 2012. These included guest roles in the series The Avengers, Gunsmoke, Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart, and Murder She Wrote, in addition to leads in the short-lived U.S. sitcom Nobody's Perfect (1980), starring Moody as a Scotland Yard detective transferred to the San Francisco Police Department, and in the British fantasy Into the Labyrinth (1981), with Moody as the noble sorcerer Rothgo. Throughout the decades, he could also be spotted in several TV movies, among them:[1] David Copperfield (1969). As Uriah Heep in this disappointing all-star showcase distributed theatrically in some countries.

I spent my Halloween attending the tale of Sweeney Todd. Though I did go out later (I’m not a total shut-in), most of my day consisted of watching four versions of the Stephen Sondheim’s razor sharp musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street back to back to back to back. (There was a fifth version I’d planned to watch, but it was taken offline before I had the chance.) After watching three different stage adaptations (a 1982 recording of the 1979 original production with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn, a 2000 concert version with Patti LuPone and George Hearn, and a bootleg recording of the 2005 revival directed by John Doyle with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris), I arrived at my final stop: Tim Burton’s film adaptation from 2007. Having seen it, and thoroughly adored it, for several years, my revisiting of the film was, to say the least,...

Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

Jake Coyle, Associated Press

New York (AP) - Elaine Stritch, the brash theater performer whose gravelly, gin-laced voice and impeccable comic timing made her a Broadway legend, has died. She was 89.

Joseph Rosenthal, Stritch's longtime attorney, said the actress died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Birmingham, Michigan.

Although Stritch appeared in movies and on television, garnering three Emmys and finding new fans as Alec Baldwin's unforgiving mother on "30 Rock," she was best known for her stage work, particularly in her candid one-woman memoir, "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty," and in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Company."

A tart-tongued monument to New York show business endurance, Stritch worked well into her late 80s, most recently as Madame Armfeldt in a revival of Sondheim's musical "A Little Night Music." She replaced Angela Lansbury in 2010 to critical acclaim.

In 2013, Stritch - whose signature "no pants" style...

Kathie Lee Gifford, the librettist, lyricist and driving force behind the new Broadway show, Scandalous The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, visits Theater Talk with three of shows stars Carolee Carmello, George Hearn and Roz Ryan to discuss McPherson, the charismatic evangelist who captured Americas attention in the 1920s. They also talk about life, Hota Kotb and the different forces that brought the talented quartet together to create this new American musical.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Mario Cantone, George Hearn, and more were on hand to honor beloved music director Paul Gemignani at the 21st annual Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala, benefitting the York Theatre Company, at the Edison Ballroom on Monday night. "He's part of you when you perform," said Lonny Price, who directed the evening's presentation. "He breathes with you." Gemignani is the first music director to receive the Hammerstein Award and has worked on 39 Broadway shows, including every one of Stephen Sondheim's musicals. Sondheim provided a special video message at the event. "I love how he can make an actor feel like a singer," Sondheim said. Gemignani's son Alexander hosted the evening, and a veritable smorgasbord of A-list Broadway talent performed for their friend and colleague. Jenn Colella sang "I Know Things Now" from "Into the Woods," and later joined Alex Gemignani for "Move On" from "Sunday in the Park With George.

Tony Award-winner George Hearn La Cage Aux Folles, Scandoulous joins the The York Theatre Company James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director, to honor legendary Broadway Music Director and Conductor Paul Gemignani with the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 21st Annual Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala to be held next Monday, November 19, 2012 at The Edison Ballroom 240 West 47th Street.

Another week of Scandalous rehearsals and previews. A lot of changes planned for this week. So far, I'm really proud of our creative team. They have managed to cut over 15 minutes off the show, tightened its focus and its storytelling, and been very brave with the cuts. Last week we even cut a song, Demon In A Dress, which was sung by two-time Tony winner George Hearn he was so gracious about it - a fine example of professionalism. We all worship and adore him. But by the end of last week, we were all pretty worn out. The combination of an already nearly impossible schedule during previews, and then the stress of hurricane Sandy and its transportation challenges was a lot for even the hardiest of theatre folk...

Featuring book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, Scandalous begins performances at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre 250 W. 52nd St. on Saturday, October 13, 2012. Scandalous is led by two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello Sister Act, Mamma Mia, Parade as Aimee Semple McPherson, two-time Tony Award winner George Hearn Sunset Blvd., La Cage aux Folles, Sweeney Todd as James Kennedy and Brother Bob. In this edition, Richard chats with the Broadway-bound duo about bringing the story to Broadway, some of their favorite past roles, and so much more Click below to watch the full interview.

This fall, Carolee Carmello and George Hearn will star in the new Broadway musical Scandalous The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson. With book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, Scandalous begins performances at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre 250 W. 52nd St. on Saturday, October 13, 2012. Opening Night is set for Thursday, November 15.

This fall, Carolee Carmello and George Hearn will star in the new Broadway musical Scandalous The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson. With book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, Scandalous begins performances at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre 250 W. 52nd St. on Saturday, October 13, 2012. Opening Night is set for Thursday, November 15.

The producers behind off-Broadway play Dracula have been accused of sucking the blood out of show designers by failing to settle a $100,000 (£66,700) bill.

Costume designer Willa Kim, set creator Dana Kenn and fight expert Rick Sordelet, allege they have yet to be paid for their work on the $1 million (£666,700) production.

Director and co-producer Paul Alexander has assured the group Dracula bosses are dealing with the discrepancy, telling the New York Post, "All of the designers did a wonderful job on the show, and it was a pleasure to work with them. I realise they have some concerns, but we are doing all we can to resolve the situation. Everyone will be paid."

But the designers fear they will lose out altogether as the show faces closure following a disastrous opening night on Wednesday, when it was panned by critics.

One reviewer described the performance as "horribly anaemic", while a New York Daily News writer dismissed the production as "elaborately tacky, unintentionally hilarious and totally bloodless".

Kenn tells the Post, "We're unwitting investors in a flop."

Dracula bosses are expected to cut their losses and close the show as early as this weekend (08-09Jan11).

The stage adaptation of Bram Stoker's horror classic has been troubled for some weeks - actress Thora Birch was fired from the cast in December, days before the first preview performance, after the director fell out with the star's father, Jack.

Emily Bridges replaced Birch as the love interest of Dracula, played by Italian actor Michel Altieri, while Tony Award winner George Hearn starred as his nemesis, Dr. Van Helsing.

Jake Silbermann

Although it’s only been three months since CBS pulled the plug on As the World Turns after an astonishing 54-year run, for many gay fans, it feels like an eternity. As any AfterElton.com reader knows, the teen supercouple formerly known as Nuke, played with uncommon depth and finesse by Jake Silbermann (Noah) and Van Hansis (Luke), made history with the first-ever dude-on-dude kiss on daytime TV, setting off a media frenzy and a veritable blizzard in the blogosphere.

Their unfolding relationship polarized fans — the gays cheered, but later, some complained the story line was sporadic and sluggish. Remember our Liplock Clock that counted how long it took between kisses? (It was 211 agonizing days between the first and second smooch.) Meanwhile, right-wingers wanted the duo to disappear altogether.

When the producers finally portrayed the guys having sex, they skipped the actual sex scene and merely showed the before and after.

I feel that before I start my review, I need to give a brief overview of Stephen Sondheim and his influence on musical theater. Sadly, I know that just by saying “musical theater,” many people have already tuned out and moved on with their lives. They should be paying attention, though. His work broke down barriers in American entertainment and made audiences rethink love, relationships, and the traditional idea of heroes and villains. If you care about film, television, comics, or any other art form, you should care about Stephen Sondheim, and Sondheim! The Birthday Concert shows just how much he has changed songwriting and storytelling.

For those who do not know Stephen Sondheim by name, it is likely that you recognize some of his work. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story. He wrote the oft sung and parodied “Send in the Clowns” as well as “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,...

Actress Thora Birch is in a "state of shock" after producers fired her from the Off-Broadway revival of Dracula - four days before the show's first performance.

The American Beauty star was preparing to make her New York stage debut as central female character, Lucy Seward, the love interest of Count Dracula, in a preview performance at the Little Shubert Theater on Tuesday.

But producers have decided to unveil the show without her, reports the New York Times.

Director Paul Alexander said Birch was fired because her manager/father, Jack, had threatened another actor during a rehearsal last Thursday night, prompting her dismissal on Friday.

He has denied making any threat.

Meanwhile the actress admits she has been "blindsighted" by her dismissal.

She tells the newspaper, "For three weeks I was just doing my thing, and everything I hear was positive, that the work I was doing was wonderful. Maybe it's some kind of misunderstanding. I mean, there had been no tensions, everything was going wonderfully. Then Friday they just asked me to leave the building.

"I'm totally in a state of shock over this, I still can't believe it."

Birch has been replaced by her understudy, Emily Bridges, the daughter of actor Beau Bridges.

Dracula is scheduled for a 13-week run, starring George Hearn as vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.

You are no doubt wondering why ComicMix is reviewing Sondheim! The Birthday Celebration, the DVD edition of the 80th birthday celebration that aired this past week on PBS. Believe it or not, we believe in covering significant events in popular culture, not just the fads and the celebrities, but people who have made contributions that have proved influential to today’s creators. Stephen Sondheim, for over fifty years, has been elevating the musical theater art form, and his music and lyrics have found their way into books, film, and yes, comic books.

Musical theater in America came into its own in 1927 with Showboat, co-written by Jerome Kern with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Its next evolutionary step came with Oklahoma in 1943, from Hammerstein and Richard Rogers. Living down the hall from the lyricist was a young boy named Stephen Sondheim. Their relationship helped Sondheim develop his ear for music and lyrics,...

A stage version of the "Dracula" story is coming back from the dead - the bloodsucking vampire is swooping into a New York theater for the first time in 33 years. Italian actor Michel Altieri will play the title role in the show, opposite "Sweeney Todd" star George Hearn as vampire-hunter Van Helsing and "American Beauty"'s Thora Birch, who plays Dracula's victim, Lucy.

The show is set to launch at the Off-Broadway Little Shubert Theatre next month, according to Variety.

The Dracula stage play last ran on Broadway in 1977. The Count was portrayed by Frank Langella, who, like Bela Lugosi before him, would go on to perform the role on the big screen. That production was a hit, running for a total of 930 performances and winning a Tony Award for costume designer Edward Gorey and another one for "most innovative production of a revival".

Here is something we don't get to report on every day: horror on Broadway.  Or rather, horror off-Broadway.  For the first time in over 30 years, Dracula takes to the stage in a major production.  Hit the jump for more. Italian actor Michel Altieri will play Dracula, while Thora Birch (Ghost World) will play Lucy.  George Hearn, who appeared on Broadway in Sweeny Todd will play Van Helsing. Preview runs will begin in New York December 14th, with the official run starting at the beginning of the year. Source: Variety...

A stage version of the Dracula story is coming back from the dead - the bloodsucking vampire is swooping into a New York theatre for the first time in 33 years.

Italian actor Michel Altieri will play the title role in the show, opposite Sweeney Todd star George Hearn as vampire-hunter Van Helsing and American Beauty's Thora Birch, who plays Dracula's victim, Lucy.

The show is set to launch at the Off-Broadway Little Shubert Theatre next month, according to Variety.

The Dracula stage play last ran on Broadway in 1977.

On August 13, Ravinia opened its three-day run of Irving Berlin's hit-filled Broadway classic Annie Get Your Gun. Taking on her third Merman role, Patti LuPone stars as the sharp-shooter opposite Patrick Cassidy as Frank Butler and George Hearn as Buffalo Bill Cody. The production is directed by Lonny Price with Paul Gemignani leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The shows, Aug. 13 through 15, begin at 7:30 p.m.

Most Tony Awards pundits believe that Douglas Hodge ("La Cage aux Folles") is a cinch to win best actor in a musical. He claimed Britain's equivalent of the Tony, the Olivier Award, for his performance of Albin — a fading cabaret drag star — at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London, a production so successful that Hodge was hauled across the Atlantic to do it again. The New York Times hailed his arrival as "a bravura Broadway debut." The role is such a magnificent camp confection that it's irresistible to award voters. George Hearn won best actor for the original production of "La Cage" (which also nabbed best musical of 1984), beating his costar Gene...

Elegant star of Us TV series from the 1950s onwards

For any regular television viewer in the 1960s and 70s, the elegant actor Gene Barry, who has died aged 90, was inescapable. Most prominent was his portrayal of the Los Angeles police captain Amos Burke in 81 episodes of Burke's Law (1963-66). No ordinary cop, Burke was an immaculately dressed, jet-setting millionaire bachelor who left his Beverly Hills mansion in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce to investigate a murder. Barry as Burke, a wisecracking, sophisticated ladies' man, was the nearest thing on TV to Cary Grant.

Each episode – bursting with Hollywood guest stars, one of whom was revealed as a murderer – allowed Burke to deliver an aphorism such as "never drink martinis with beautiful suspects: Burke's Law", or "never ask a question unless you already know the answer. Burke's Law".

Before playing Burke, Barry had triumphed in the western TV series Bat Masterson (1958-...

Long Beach, CA—Musical Theatre West opens its 57th season with Meet Me In St. Louis, the stage adaptation of the beloved Judy Garland classic. Previews of this production begin on October 30th and opens October 31, 2009 and runs through November 15, 2009 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

Meet Me In St. Louis is a rare treasure in musical theatre and is based on the heartwarming 1944 MGM film starring Judy Garland. This show harkens back to a simpler, sepia-tinted time as the story follows the Smith family at the 1904 World's Fair. We see how their love and respect for each other is tempered with the genuine humor that can only be generated by such a close family. According to Mtw producers, Meet Me In St. Louis is "perfect for the entire family!" This production with lavish costumes and Victorian sets also includes classic musical numbers, "The Boy Next Door,...

On July 31, 2010, Ravinia Festival will honor great American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim on the occasion of his 80th birthday, with an all-star cast of soloists who have been featured in Ravinia's musical initiative. The evening reunites the on-stage and behind-the-scenes talents that created Ravinia Festival's acclaimed productions of the Sondheim shows A Little Night Music, Passion, Sunday in the Park with George, Anyone Can Whistle, Sweeney Todd and Gypsy, among others. Highlights of these musicals will be presented by Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris and George Hearn, under the baton of Paul Gemignani and the direction of Lonny Price.

Conductor Erich Kunzel, affectionately known worldwide as the "Prince of Pops," has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and his medical treatments will prevent him from conducting Ravinia Festival's June 5th opening night concert as scheduled. Stepping in for Kunzel is celebrated Broadway conductor Paul Gemignani, who will lead the concert production of Camelot starring Sylvia McNair, George Hearn and Rod Gilfrey.

The Olivier Awards -- London's equivalent to the Tony Awards -- were dominated by home-grown winners when the 33rd edition of the kudos unwrapped Sunday night in an event hosted by James Nesbitt at Grosvenor House.

Only one of the top awards went to an American production, as the 2006 Tony best musical champ "Jersey Boys" took the tuner prize. The show, which recounts the story of the Four Seasons using their songs, prevailed against only one other contender -- "Zorro," a telling of the old tale set to the music of the Gipsy Kings.

The 2008 Tony-winning best play "August: Osage County" was bested by Gregory Burke's drama "Black Watch," while its leading lady -- the Tony-winning Deanna Dunagan -- lost to Margaret Tyzack for a revival of "The Chalk Garden." That production of the 1955 Enid Bagnold psychological drama, which also won lighting design, originated at the Donmar Warehouse. That...

Hairspray continues to spread its sheen over the Broadway theater awards season. The campy musical based on the John Waters film has added 13 Tony Award nominations to its award-bedecked coiffure. That's the most for any show this year. The show has already won best musical from the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League and received 14 nominations from the Drama Desk. Among the Hairspray Tony noms are best musical, actor in a musical (Harvey Fierstein), actress in a musical Marissa Jaret Winokur), featured actor in a musical (Dick Latessa, Corey Reynolds) and score, book, and choreography. Incidentally, Fierstein, who plays Edna Turnblad, is the first Tony nominee so honored for portraying a member of the opposite sex. Previous drag nominees George Hearn (La Cage Aux Folles), B.D. Wong (M. Butterfly), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Rent) and Fierstein in his own play Torch Song Trilogy played cross-dressers. The awards will be presented June 8 at Radio City Music Hall in a three-hour ceremony to be broadcast in its entirety by CBS. Movin' Out, the Billy Joel-Twyla Tharp dance musical, came in second in the nomination derby with 10 mentions. The revival of Nine, starring Antonio Banderas, is third with eight noms. Among plays, the all-star production of Long Day's Journey Into Night won the race with seven nominations, including noms for its each of its principal players (Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Dennehy, Robert Sean Leonard and Philip Seymour Hoffman).