Latest news with #AudraMcDonald
UPI
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Audra McDonald's 'Gypsy' revival to close Aug. 17 on Broadway
1 of 3 | Audra Mcdonald's "Gypsy" is closing on Aug. 17. File Photo by Serena Xu-Ning/UPI | License Photo July 17 (UPI) -- Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald's revival of the Broadway musical, Gypsy, is set to close on Aug. 17. Co-starring Danny Burstein and Joy Woods, the show will have played 28 previews and 269 regular performances by the time its final curtain drops. The show features a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. GYPSY will play its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2025. Only 4 more weeks to see "The greatest Broadway musical of all time" (@nytimes). Gypsy on Broadway (@gypsybway) July 17, 2025 "[Director] George C. Wolfe's exquisite production of Gypsy managed to both capture the full integrity of the original, without changing a word, and at the same time brought a historic new level of depth with his casting the magnificent Audra McDonald," David Saint, representative for the Laurents Estate, said in a statement Wednesday. "He shed a complex light of racial awareness on this quintessential American story, one that would make Arthur, the lifelong advocate for social justice, extremely proud." Audra McDonald performs "Rose's Turn" on The Tony Awards® Gypsy on Broadway (@gypsybway) June 9, 2025
Straits Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Broadway's Gypsy revival, starring Audra McDonald, will close
NEW YORK – A boundary-breaking Broadway revival of Gypsy starring American actress Audra McDonald will end its run on Aug 17, much earlier than its producers had hoped. The run was originally open-ended, meaning that no closing date had been set, and tickets were on sale through Oct 5. But on July 16, the production announced the new closing date; at the time of its final performance, it will have played 28 preview and 269 regular performances at the Majestic Theatre in New York. The show is the sixth musical to announce a closing date since the Tony Awards in June (following Boop!, Cabaret, Dead Outlaw, Real Women Have Curves and Smash), reflecting Broadway's difficult financial dynamics (non-musical plays have been faring much better). Gypsy was nominated for five Tony Awards, including as Best Musical Revival and for McDonald's performance, but won none. The revival, directed by George C. Wolfe, was highly anticipated because McDonald, with six Tony Awards, is Broadway's most-honoured contemporary performer, and the 55-year-old is the first black actress to play on Broadway the lead role of Rose, the ur-stage mother whose daughter becomes a stripper. The musical, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was inspired by the memoirs of striptease artiste Gypsy Rose Lee; it first opened in 1959 and is generally considered one of Broadway's best golden age musicals. When the revival opened in December 2024, it received overwhelmingly positive reviews. In The New York Times, chief theatre critic Jesse Green named the show a critic's pick and wrote of McDonald, 'doing a psychological striptease, showing more of the character's rage than her predecessors, she is stupendously affecting'. At the box office, the show seemed to be selling well for much of its run, grossing well over US$1 million (S$1.3 million) most weeks in its early months and peaking at US$1.9 million during a week in mid-January. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Fatal abuse of Myanmar maid in Bishan: Traffic Police officer sentenced to 10 years' jail Singapore Care model to improve trauma outcome in central S'pore fashioned after 'bicycle wheel' Singapore HSA launches anti-vaping checks near 5 institutes of higher learning Singapore Kpod vapes, zombie kids: Why it's time to raise the alarm Life 11 new entries on Singapore's Bib Gourmand list, including three re-entries at Old Airport Road Singapore 15 under police probe for sharing Singpass credentials used in scams Singapore NEA monitoring E. coli at Sentosa beaches after elevated bacteria levels delay World Aquatics events Life First look at the new Singapore Oceanarium at Resorts World Sentosa But the show is costly to run, thanks to a large orchestra and sizable cast that includes children, who can be costly to employ because they require supervisors who need to be hired by the production. Gypsy also lost a substantial amount of potential revenue over the normally lucrative Christmas holidays when illnesses forced the cancellation of seven performances. Its weekly grosses have been heading in a troubling direction – last week, the show sold only 61 per cent of its seats and grossed US$816,086. And musicals have been fetching much lower ticket prices than starry plays. For example, during the week that ended June 1, when all three shows were running, the average ticket price at an Othello revival starring American actors Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal was US$425, and at Good Night, And Good Luck, starring Hollywood star George Clooney, it was US$339. The average ticket price for Gypsy was US$114. NYTIMES
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Gypsy' Starring Audra McDonald Latest To Set Broadway Closing Date Post-Tony Awards
Gypsy, the high-profile Broadway musical revival starring Audra McDonald, will play its final performance August 17, producers said Wednesday. The news comes after the show scored five Tony Awards nominations including for McDonald for playing Rose and for Best Musical revival but missed out on Tony night. At closing, the show, which had an open-ended run, will have played 28 previews and 269 regular performances at Broadway's Majestic Theatre. More from Deadline 'Gypsy' Broadway Review: Audra McDonald Takes Her Turn At Momma Rose 'John Proctor Is The Villain' Surges In Sadie Sink's Final Week, While 'Call Me Izzy' Plummets Without Jean Smart – Broadway Box Office 'Merrily We Roll Along' Broadway Live Capture Gets December Theatrical Release Date Danny Burstein and Joy Woods were also Tony-nominated for the George C. Wolfe-directed revival of the classic musical that features a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Style, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and choreography by Camille A. Brown, who earned the show's fifth Tony nom. It did win Drama Desk Awards this year for McDonald and Best Revival. Last week, Gypsy, with McDonald back from a vacation, saw a $522,183 jump in box office over the previous week to $816,086; attendance marked 61% of the Majestic's capacity. But now it joins other Broadway productions taking their final bows after the Tonys, after announcements by Boop! The Musical, Smash, Real Women Have Curves, Dead Outlaw among others, to announce an early close after coming up empty at the Tonys. Gypsy featured scenic design by Santo Loquasto, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, sound design by Scott Lehrer, hair and wig design Mia Neal and makeup design by Michael Clifton. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Stranger Things' Season 5 So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
New York Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Broadway's ‘Gypsy' Revival, Starring Audra McDonald, Will Close
A boundary-breaking Broadway revival of 'Gypsy' starring Audra McDonald will end its run on Aug. 17, much earlier than its producers had hoped. The run was originally open-ended, meaning that no closing date had been set, and tickets were on sale through Oct. 5. But on Wednesday night, the production announced the new closing date; at the time of its final performance, it will have played 28 preview and 269 regular performances at the Majestic Theater. The show is the sixth musical to announce a closing date since last month's Tony Awards (following 'Boop!' 'Cabaret,' 'Dead Outlaw,' 'Real Women Have Curves' and 'Smash'), reflecting Broadway's difficult financial dynamics (nonmusical plays have been faring much better). 'Gypsy' was nominated for five Tony Awards, including as best musical revival and for McDonald's performance, but won none. The revival, directed by George C. Wolfe, was highly anticipated because McDonald, with six Tony Awards, is Broadway's most-honored contemporary performer, and she is the first Black actress to play on Broadway the lead role of Rose, the ur-stage mother whose daughter becomes a stripper. The musical, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was inspired by the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee; it first opened in 1959 and is generally considered one of Broadway's best golden age musicals. When the revival opened in December, it received overwhelmingly positive reviews. In The New York Times, chief theater critic Jesse Green named the show a critic's pick and wrote of McDonald, 'Doing a psychological striptease, showing more of the character's rage than her predecessors, she is stupendously affecting.' At the box office, the show seemed to be selling well for much of its run, grossing well over $1 million most weeks in its early months, and peaking at $1.9 million during a week in mid-January. But the show is costly to run, thanks to a large orchestra and sizable cast that includes children, who can be costly to employ because they require supervisors who need to be hired by the production. 'Gypsy' also lost a substantial amount of potential revenue over the normally lucrative Christmas holidays when illnesses forced the cancellation of seven performances. Its weekly grosses have been heading in a troubling direction — last week the show sold only 61 percent of its seats and grossed $816,086. And musicals have been fetching much lower ticket prices than starry plays. For example, during the week that ended June 1, when all three shows were running, the average ticket price at an 'Othello' revival starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal was $425, and at 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' starring George Clooney, it was $339. The average ticket price for 'Gypsy' was $114.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Phylicia Rashad lands role in HBO's ‘The Gilded Age'
The post Phylicia Rashad lands role in HBO's 'The Gilded Age' appeared first on ClutchPoints. Legendary actress Phylicia Rashad joins season 3 of HBO's 'The Gilded Age.' Black elitism is the new focus of season 3 of the American historical drama series. Rashad joins Tony Award-nominated actress Audra McDonald and others in the upcoming season. 'We just got more and more interested in the history of the Black bourgeois community at the end of the 19th century,' the show's creator, Julian Fellowes, told Entertainment Weekly. 'People are not really taught it. They're taught one vision of that society, and the Black bourgeois community has been left out of it, largely. The more we learned, the more we wanted to put it into the show.' Actors Denée Benton as Peggy Scott and Audra McDonald as Dorothy Scott were already part of 'The Gilded Age.' Now, Broadway sensation Jordan Donica will play Benton's new love interest, Dr. William Kirkland, along with his parents, Phylicia Rashad and Brian Stokes Mitchell. 'I feel like people love our show because of the beautiful, camp drama. And I do think they come to learn something,' Benton said, per The Wrap. 'Exploring the nuances of the Black communities in that time, Black wealth, and the white supremacy that still found its way into those dynamics is really interesting meat to get into.' Fans are happy to see Rashad return to acting after she stepped down as the dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at her alma mater, Howard University, last year. In 1970, Rashad earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Howard. She then began her acting career, and her most well-known part was that of Clair Huxtable on the renowned comedy The Cosby Show. In May 2021, she began working at Howard as the dean of the College of Fine Arts. Rashad led important developments at the Howard University Fine Arts Department while serving as its dean. The Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship, which provides new theater students with a four-year scholarship paying the entire cost of university tuition, was established thanks in large part to her negotiating a $5.4 million grant from Netflix. She was also in charge of hiring several of the department's esteemed faculty members. Viewers can watch 'The Gilded Age' every Sunday at 9 P.M. ET on HBO. Related: 'Orange Is the New Black' star Danielle Brooks becomes member of Delta Sigma Theta Related: Ken Griffey Jr. calls for more recognition of HBCU athletes
