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Broadway Latest: Jason Mraz, Once on This Island, and Mean Girls the Musical!

POP STAR JASON MRAZ JOINS THE CAST OF WAITRESS

waitress jason mraz betsy wolfe

Making a 10-week detour from concerts and recording sessions, two-time Grammy Award winner Jason Mraz is making his Broadway debut in the hit musical Waitress. The multi-platinum recording artist will be be playing Dr. Pomatter, aka OBGYN/love interest to Jenna, a small town expectant, pie-making virtuoso/waitress, who’s treading water in an abusive marriage buoyed by her fellow servers and oddball regulars.

For the record, Mranz is no stranger to the Tony and Grammy-nominated Waitress score, having recorded “Bad Idea” and “You Matter To Me” with show composer/singer Sara Bareilles on her Top 10 album “What’s Inside: Songs From Waitress.”

As for time frame, Mranzwho broke pop-music records with his song “I’m Yours” and boasts all kinds of U.S. and international platinum or multi-platinum recording credwill begin his run at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre opposite Betsy Wolfe (Falsettos; Bullets Over Broadway) beginning Friday, November 3rd.

Waitressthemusical.com

P.S. On October 30th, Waitress will be featuring a special Monday performance (7pm curtain) with Cast Album Karaoke.


MEAN GIRLS PREVIEW DAY: “SO FETCH!”

cheese fries mean girls preview tina fey

Photo: Jenny Anderson

Opening night on Broadway for the new musical adaptation of Mean Girls, based on the filmthe 2004 teen cult comedy starring Lindsay Lohanmay not be giggling its way onto Broadway until March 12th, but it already managed to make a debut of sorts on October 3rd when “Mean Girls Day” kicked off early ticket sales.

Die-hard fans of the flick arrived at the August Wilson Theatre for the explosively pink preview event serving up cheese fries, swag bags, and a surprise celebrity appearance by screenplay and musical writer, nine-time Emmy winner Tina Fey (30 Rock). 

Pre-Broadway, the showstarring up-and-comers Erika Henningsen as Cady Heron, Taylor Louderman as Regina George, Ashley Park as Gretchen Wieners, Kate Rockwell as Karen Smith, Barrett Wilbert Weed as Janis Sarkisian, and Grey Henson as Damian Hubbardwill make its world premiere at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. (10/31 to 12/3).

As for Mean Girls on Broadway, to ensure your totally must-have tickets, visit meangirlsonbroadway.com.


ONCE ON THIS ISLAND: OPTIMISM IN THE HEART OF DESTRUCTION 

once on this island salonga boykin

Once on This Island, with its storm-ravaged Caribbean village, will cut deep for theatregoers as they draw parallels to this year’s horrific hurricane season and its painful ongoing aftermath. Yet in the end, this Romeo and Juliet musical revival laced with fantasy offers music, dances, and a message of hopequalities that make this production a potential standout in the season’s formidable cluster of new musicals.

The cast is made up of several prized Broadway performers, including Tony winner Lea Salonga, who originated the role of Kim in the original production of Miss Saigon to rave reviews and standing ovations, and Tony nominee Phillip Boykin, whose striking performance as Crown in Porgy and Bess opposite Audra McDonald still haunts me. As for the storyline, it juxtaposes star-crossed lovers with powerful island godsincluding Erzulie, played by Salongaand “the timeless power of theatre to bring us together, move our hearts, and help us conquer life’s storms.”

Previews for Once on This Island begin November 9th; for tickets visit onceonthisisland.com.

About the Author

City Guide Theatre Editor Griffin Miller moved to New York to pursue an acting/writing career in the 1980s after graduating magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, she has written for The New York Times, For the Bride, Hotels, and a number of other publications, mostly in the areas of travel and performance arts. An active member of The New York Travel Writers Association, she is also a playwright and award-winning collage artist. In addition, she sits on the board of The Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Griffin is married to Richard Sandomir, a reporter for The New York Times.

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