brendaneugent Archive
The Most Coveted Roles on Broadway
September 4, 2015
There’s nothing that incites an actor’s creative spirit more than roles that allow them to shape-shift like a chameleon, stretching their own personas through pure transformation. On Broadway right now, there are myriad roles that allow actors to undergo just such a metamorphosis, and these are the parts that actors long for when they’re compiling
Auditioning for Broadway: Everything You Need to Know But Were Afraid to Ask
August 26, 2015
The long-running Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” – featuring music by Marvin Hamlisch – is at its heart an honest portrayal of the Great White Way, beginning with the nerve-wracking process that is the audition. For every Broadway star that makes it there are hundreds of hopefuls, each silently singing “I Hope I Get It”
Celebrities Who Got Their Start on Broadway
July 6, 2015
Most actors would say that live theater – while offering the reward of immediate feedback that television and movies can’t – is the tougher medium, given the need to portray the same character night after night while still keeping their performances fresh and live. While that daunting challenge might scare many less accomplished actors away
Why Cole Porter and “Anything Goes” Are Still Cool
June 25, 2015
“Anything Goes” first graced the stage in 1934, the same year Alcatraz opened, John Dillinger was shot but survived while robbing Chicago’s First National Bank, Bonnie and Clyde killed two police officers and Shirley Temple starred in her first movie. In 2011, it won a Tony for Best Musical Revival, for very good reason. The
The Top-Grossing Shows Currently on Broadway
June 21, 2015
Bette Davis once said, “The only reason anyone goes to Broadway is because they can’t get work in the movies,” but make no doubt about it, Broadway is big business, and many of the highest-grossing Great White Way shows top myriad movies coming out of Hollywood these days. (Consider the 2014 Liev Schreiber-Jean Tripplehorn bomb
TV Shows and Movies that Could Have Been on Broadway
May 5, 2015
Broadway is jam-packed with shows that started off as movies, including “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” from Disney, as well as “Kinky Boots” and “Honeymoon in Vegas,” but there are still plenty of big-screen movies and small-screen TV shows that would have been perfectly suited for the Great White Way. The farce that was ‘Frasier’
The Mulifaceted Life of Sam Shepard
May 4, 2015
Given his diverse career background, Sam Shepard clearly shuns predictability. Born on an Army base in Illinois, Shepard originally planned to become a vet, and was studying at Mount San Antonio Junior College when a touring theater company, the Bishop’s Company Repertory Players, came through town. When it left, so did he, and a year
How to Impress a Broadway Casting Director and Nail the Job
April 24, 2015
Anyone who had been on Broadway will tell you it’s a tough gig. There will always be someone in the audition room who is thinner than you, sexier than you, taller than you, prettier than you or has spent WAY more time in the gym than you. The process can be intimidating and demoralizing, but
Your Guide to Seeing New York City in a Weekend
April 17, 2015
If you’re planning to spend a weekend in the Big Apple, you probably want to squeeze in as much as possible in a short span of time, but have no idea where to get started. As far as New Yorkers are concerned, there are a few things that should be a must on your list,
The Prince of Broadway: Hal Prince Will Leave a Legacy that Transformed Theater
April 6, 2015
Born in the shadow of Broadway, it seems unlikely that Harold – “Hal” to his friends – Prince would choose any other destiny than the Great White Way. His start, however, was not as illustrious as his resume – which includes 21 Tony Awards, more than anyone else on Broadway, would suggest. His works include