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  • RYAN: Welcome to THE BROADWAY.COM SHOW, filmed in New York's historic Brill Building. I'm

  • Ryan Lee Gilbert. IMOGEN: And I'm Imogen Lloyd Webber. This

  • week, we chat with the winners at this year's Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards, sit down

  • with ANGELS IN AMERICA's Tony-nominated director and designers and more.

  • RYAN: And later, we talk to the five Tony-nominated cast members of Broadway's new production

  • of CAROUSEL. But first, let's get started with the news. What's the buzz, Imogen?

  • IMOGEN : It's the most wonderful time of year…The Tony Awards are almost upon us!

  • Some of the biggest stars from stage and screen will be appearing at the 72nd annual ceremony,

  • including current BOYS IN THE BAND players Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and

  • Andrew Rannells, HAMILTON Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr., two-time Emmy winner and Broadway

  • vet Uzo Aduba, STRAIGHT WHITE MEN's Armie Hammer, MARY PAGE MARLOWE's Tatiana Mas-lany

  • and stage alum Claire Danes. Hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, the Tonys will

  • air live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall on June 10th.

  • RYAN : NBC has tapped the 1960s musical HAIR as its next live TV broadcast. The show, which

  • features music by Galt MacDermot and a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado,

  • is set for a spring 2019 airing, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. HAIR, which

  • follows a tribe of young, free-spirited hippies in New York, who resist authority and the

  • looming Vietnam War through a Be-In and draft card burning, premiered in 1967 at off-Broadway's

  • Public Theater before a Broadway transfer the following year. The 2009 revival, which

  • starred Gavin Creel, Will Swenson and Caissie Levy, went on to win the Tony Award for Best

  • Revival of a Musical. A long-planned BYE BYE BIRDIE LIVE! with Jennifer Lopez, initially

  • scheduled for 2017—as well as live version of A FEW GOOD MEN—have been delayed. Cast

  • and creative teams for HAIR LIVE! will be announced in the coming months.

  • IMOGEN: When you think of HAIR, Ryan, what comes to mind.

  • RYAN: Um. Nudity, drugs and free love. IMOGEN: Perfect for network TV.

  • IMOGEN : EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE, the buzzy new West End musical, is being adapted

  • into a major motion picture via Warp Films. Based on a true story, the Olivier-nominated

  • tuner follows the title character who, after receiving pushback when he announces he will

  • wear a dress to prom, overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness

  • and into the spotlight. Featuring a book and lyrics by Tom MacRae and music by Dan Gillespie

  • Sells, the stage version's director, Jonathan Butterell will helm the movie, while MacRae

  • is penning the script. Filming is expected to commence in spring 2019, with a release

  • date to be announced. Meanwhile, the show has just extended through April 2019 at London's

  • Apollo Theatre.

  • RYAN : ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE, the new musical featuring the songs of Jimmy Buffett, has

  • set the date for its last performance on Broadway. The cast will take their final bows at the

  • Marquis Theatre on July 1. Shortly after closing on the Main Stem, the cast, including Paul

  • Alexander Nolan, Alison Luff, Lisa Howard and Eric Petersen, will travel to Washington,.

  • D.C., to perform on PBS' A CAPITOL FOURTH on July 4. Directed by Christopher Ashley

  • and featuring a book by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley, an ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE tour

  • will launch in October 2019 in Providence, RI. Meanwhile, David Yazbek and Itamar Moses'

  • new musical THE BAND'S VISIT will launch its first North American tour also in Providence,

  • in June 2019. Directed by David Cromer, THE BAND'S VISIT officially opened at Broadway's

  • Ethel Barrymore Theatre in November 2017, and was recently nominated for 11 Tony Awards,

  • including Best Musical. Exact dates, casting and additional cities for both tours will

  • be announced at a later time.

  • IMOGEN : Katharine McPhee is taking on a second shift at WAITRESS. After concluding her current

  • run on June 17th, McPhee will don Jenna's apron once more from July 5th through August

  • 19th. As previously reported, the SMASH alum is set to have a leading man switcheroo from

  • June 5th, when Erich Bergen replaces Drew Gehling as Dr. Pomatter. Other company members

  • currently cooking up a storm at the at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre include Caitlin Houlahan

  • as Dawn, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Becky, Steve Vino-vitch as Joe, Benne Elledge as

  • Cal, Ben Thompson as Earl and Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie.

  • RYAN: Do you think Katharine McPhee was inspired to stay in the role longer because she won

  • the Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Replacement?

  • IMOGEN: Sure. And she's a smash. RYAN: I see what you did there.

  • IMOGEN: Yes, everyone did.

  • RYAN : Donna Murphy will once star as Dolly Gallagher Levi at select performances of HELLO,

  • DOLLY!. During Bette Midler's upcoming return to the Tony-winning revival, Murphy will take

  • the Shubert Theatre stage at certain performances. Midler steps back into the production on July

  • 17, replacing her replacement Bernadette Peters. She'll play a six-week engagement before

  • HELLO, DOLLY! ends its run on August 25. PARKS AND RECREATION actor Paul Schneider has completed

  • the cast of Young Jean Lee's STRAIGHT WHITE MEN on Broadway. Schneider joins the previously

  • announced Josh Charles, Armie Hammer, Tom Skerritt and more in the play, which follows

  • a father and his three adult sons as they ring in Christmas by contemplating the value

  • of straight white men in a society driven by conversations of identity and privilege.

  • Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, STRAIGHT WHITE MEN will begin performances at the Helen Hayes

  • Theater on June 29. And Jason Tam will appear in the off-Broadway premiere of BE MORE CHILL,

  • taking on the role of the SQUIP. As previously reported, the coming-of-age musical, which

  • features a score by Joe Iconis, will begin performances July 26 at the Pershing Square

  • Signature Center.

  • IMOGEN : When we come back, we sit down with MY FAIR LADY's loverly design team, get

  • a sneak preview at the new musical HALF TIME and more.

  • PAUL: This week on Broadway.com, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS Tony nominee Ethan Slater talks

  • about making the role his own on SHOW PEOPLE, THE BOYS IN THE BAND's Charlie Carver turns

  • on the charm and more.

  • it's Broadway's most nominated new musical with 12 Tony nominations in

  • Best Director yes choreography the school and best musical of the year

  • Spongebob Squarepants the Broadway musical get your tickets now

  • --Hi, I'm

  • Ethan Slater and you're watching the Broadway.com show.

  • --IMOGEN: Welcome back. Since

  • 2000, Broadway.com has asked our readers to pick their favorites of the season in our

  • annual Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards. This year MEAN GIRLS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS,

  • ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and ANGELS IN AMERICA came out on top. We hit the red carpet at

  • a private reception for the winners and chatted with them about why this award given by the

  • fans is truly special.

  • --It is exhilarating to

  • be in a room filled with people who are fans of theater, and also who were voted

  • on by fans of theater. It's pretty special. --It makes you realize how

  • incredible this community is. I come into the room and I see collaborators that I

  • know, and collaborators that I respect and love, so I feel like you know it just

  • brings people together in another way, and we get to celebrate each other's

  • work.

  • --When it comes to award season, it's the people in the business, it's the

  • people who have been doing this for years. So to have an event to have an

  • award where it's it's about the fans, and the people who come and see the show,

  • it's really cool.

  • --Every day, every night every performance, you're trying to

  • deliver the play and make it a worthwhile experience for you know this

  • this audience that's you know it's it's a big thing to go to a Broadway play. And

  • they're discerning. It's just really thrilling to know that people actually

  • really enjoyed it and and and remembered it

  • --I don't know if I'm gonna get to

  • experience this again where before we've even set foot on stage, people are

  • cheering and they're excited to see what's gonna happen. And then to know

  • that what we've done after that, they've enjoyed and that they voted and are

  • supportive of the show that's really wonderful. --It just feels really nice for

  • people who are taking the time out of their lives and taking money out of

  • their own pockets to come see the show and supporting you and so I'm honored to

  • be here.

  • --IMOGEN V.O.: Here's what the stars had to

  • say directly to their fans.

  • --Oh my god

  • Oh my acceptance speech. Thank you all thank you to everyone who voted for this

  • it's so cool it makes me so happy thank you

  • --Thank you so much

  • fans and do not throw away your shot and we love you from the Ham fam

  • --Thank you

  • so much. We will treasure this and you know it's a it's a it's a glorious honor

  • for us at Cursed Child

  • --It really brings us so much joy to know that you like the

  • show and that you like the songs and thank you! You are the best.

  • --Thank you to everybody who voted for femal breakthrough artist. I love you

  • all! Thanks for coming to see the show you guys Rock you are so grool, stay grool.

  • --There are too many people to thank because it takes a village to make a

  • show and it takes a village to make a role, so thank you to everyone!

  • --Hey, we

  • love you, and thank you, and how cool is this, and come see us through the show

  • and act like idiots?

  • --Broadway.com friends fans theater goers we love you keep

  • coming to the theater! --IMOGEN V.O.: We asked this year's winners

  • what they're going to do with their new trophies.

  • --I'm going to treasure

  • it in my house.

  • --You know I'm actually moving very soon and so I'm picking out

  • like shelves that it might go on. I think it would look nice on something with

  • sort of like a blond finish or a beige finish, so I'll be taking this to Ikea

  • next weekend to see what it looks best on. --I'm going to snuggle this award right

  • next to my other two awards that I got a couple years ago for Hamilton, so thank

  • you audience for choosing me again! --Well Tina Fey puts her award on on her toilet,

  • well one of her awards she has many. so maybe I'll do that too!

  • --I think Jeff put

  • one in there as a joke and it's kind of stayed when the cast is coming over, but

  • I wouldn't say what kind cuz --It's a heavy one and it works well in the

  • bathroom. And and you have several of them! --Well

  • --And it's but it's not an

  • Emmy. So Taylor Louderman will never be invited back to our home again

  • --Put them in a

  • very special place. They go on a special shelf so I can look at

  • them and be reminded that art isn't about myself, it's about putting

  • something out for people to identify with, and

  • hopefully that helps them through their life.

  • --BETH: The sweeping revival of MY FAIR

  • LADY reunites the Tony-winning creative team of director Bartlett Sher, costume designer

  • Catherine Zuber and set designer Michael Yeargan. The trio has earned awards and acclaim for

  • their past collaborations, including THE KING AND I, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, THE BRIDGES OF

  • MADISON COUNTY, SOUTH PACIFIC and more. We spoke with this dream team about the Lincoln

  • Center Theater revival of MY FAIR LADY and why they work so well together.

  • --Our collaboration the collaboration between Bart Sher and Catherine Zuber

  • Don Holder has been a dream come true, and it didn't come easy. I mean we we sort of