Japan actor Watanabe returns to Broadway after cancer surgery

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Hollywood star Ken Watanabe left Tokyo Saturday following successful treatment for cancer to return to New York where he is starring in the Broadway musical "The King and I".

Watanabe, star of "Last Samurai" -- for which he received an Academy Award nomination -- "Inception" and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima", underwent endoscopic surgery for stomach cancer last month and has since recovered well.

"I was in hospital only for four days and have begun working out," a smiling Watanabe told reporters at Tokyo's Narita airport ahead of his departure.

"I caused a lot of worries but now I can move forward and get down to new work and acting," the Oscar-nominated actor said.

"I want to start over by remotivating myself," he added.

The 56-year-old said he would resume his role in "The King and I" on March 17.

Last year, he became the first Japanese actor to be nominated for a Tony Award following his run in the musical.

The actor survived two bouts of leukemia in 1989 and 1994.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Wicked' to hit Manila stage in January 2014

MANILA - It's official: the popular Broadway musical "Wicked" is coming to Manila next year.

Months after providing teasers to its Filipino fans online, producers Lunchbox Theatrical Productions and Concertus Manila announced in a press launch on Wednesday that "Wicked" will be staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater starting January 22, 2014.

This after another musical, "Dirty Dancing," was cancelled "due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances."



Tickets to "Wicked" will be sold at TicketWorld starting Thursday, August 15, at 10 a.m., with ticket prices ranging from P1,750 to P7,000.

James Cundall, Lunchbox's chief executive officer, expects the Manila tour of “Wicked” to be even bigger than “The Phantom of the Opera,” which was seen by an estimated 100,000 people during its extended run.

“I thought ‘Phantom’ was big until I saw ‘Wicked.’ It’s the mother of all shows,” he said.

In an interview with ABS-CBNnews.com shortly after the press launch, Cundall noted how a lot of Filipinos have already watched “Wicked” in other countries, saying that this is what motivated them to bring the show to Manila.

“It’s amazing how many Filipinos have seen the show before, in Singapore or in Broadway,” he said. “It’s thanks to these people who’ve seen it [as this] gave us the impetus to bring it here.”

Cundall said “Wicked” may run for three to four weeks in Manila. “Then, we’ll see how it sells,” he said.

Fans of the musical, a prequel of sorts to "The Wizard of Oz," started a petition on Facebook early this year so "Wicked" will be staged in Manila.

Dream roles

Some of the cast members of "Wicked" are in town to promote the musical, which they described as one of the “new mega-musicals of our generation.”

Suzie Mathers, who plays Glinda, the “good” witch, said she is thankful to have been given the chance to portray “such an extraordinary role.”

“They’re dream roles,” she said of her role and that of Jemma Rix, who plays the green "wicked" witch Elphaba. “If you want to be in the musical theater industry, these are the two roles you want to play. And for us to play them is a gift. It’s amazing.”

Rix agreed, saying, “She (Elphaba) is a beautiful human being who fights for what she believes in. She has such a heart… The songs [in ‘Wicked’] are so wonderful. We get to have so much fun together.”

The two lead stars of “Wicked” went on to give some advice to aspiring theater actors. For Rix, it is all about exerting extra effort.

“If you really love what you’re doing, you have to work really, really hard. Very, very hard,” she said.

Mathers, on the other hand, stressed the importance of improving one’s craft through education and training.

“I went to drama school. I studied musical theater for three years… you just have to work on your craft,” she said.

For his part, “Wicked” assistant music director David Young said: “Take lessons. Take dance classes, singing classes, acting classes… Because it’s a tough world, a tough industry.”

"Wicked," which premiered on Broadway in 2003, has won 50 major awards, including a Grammy, three Tony Awards and six Helpmann Awards.

The musical, which is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," is known for the songs "Defying Gravity," "Popular" and "For Good," among others.

 Watch the "Wicked" Manila preview of "Defying Gravity" here

 Watch the "Wicked" Manila preview of "Popular" here

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Kinky Boots' wins six Tony awards

"Kinky Boots" won six Tony awards on Sunday including the top award of best musical and a prize for its composer, pop queen Cyndi Lauper, as Broadway presented its top honors.

Lauper won best score for her first Broadway musical, "Kinky Boots," an adaptation of a British film about a struggling shoe factory reinventing itself by making boots for drag queens.

The hit musical topped the nominations with 13 and also won best actor in a musical for Billy Porter, best choreography, orchestrations and sound design.

A tearful Lauper said "I can't say I wasn't practicing in front of the shower curtain for the past couple of days," and went on to "thank Broadway, for welcoming me."

Porter, who as the strong, proud drag queen is at the show's heart, said he first watched the Tony telecast at home at age 11, and recalled a performance from the musical "Dreamgirls" by saying, "That moment has changed my life."

The best play Tony was won by "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," a crowd-pleasing comic riff on Anton Chekhov's work by veteran playwright Christopher Durang that stars Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce.

Winning his first-ever Tony award, Durang noted that he had written his first play in the second grade in the 1950s, adding "It's been a long road."

In an unexpected win, Tracy Letts, who is also an award- winning playwright ("August: Osage County"), was named best actor in a play for his strongly praised performance in the revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," which was widely predicted to go to Tom Hanks making his Broadway debut in the late Nora Ephron's journalism drama, "Lucky Guy."

The Edward Albee classic also won the Tony for best revival of a play.

Cicely Tyson won best actress in a play for her moving portrayal of an elderly woman returning to her former home in the revival of "The Trip to Bountiful," marking her return to Broadway after some 30 years.

Speaking with deliberation and poise, Tyson, 79, noted she had a "burning desire" to do just one more play and remarked a teleprompter was saying "Please wrap it up. Well, that's exactly what you did to me," she continued. "You wrapped me up in your arms after 30 years and now, I can go home with a Tony."

"Matilda the Musical," an Olivier award-winning production based on a story by Roald Dahl about a precocious little girl that received ecstatic reviews and 12 nominations, came away with four awards, including best book of a musical and best featured actor in a musical for Gabriel Ebert.

Veteran television, film and theater actress Andrea Martin won best featured actress in a musical for an acclaimed circus-themed revival of the 1970s hit "Pippin," which won four Tonys including best revival of a musical, best actress in a musical Patina Miller and best director for Diane Paulus.

Women won both the directing honors with Pam MacKinnon taking home the Tony for play direction for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Judith Light, known to television audiences for the sitcom "Who's the Boss" but also an acclaimed stage actress, won her second consecutive Tony, for "The Assembled Parties."

She paid tribute to her fellow nominees, saying "you have made this a celebration, not a competition." Light won the same award last year for "Other Desert Cities."

Courtney B. Vance won best featured actor in a play for "Lucky Guy," saying backstage as his gazed at his award, "It's nice to meet you fella'."

The show at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS featured appearances by the casts of "Kinky Boots, "Matilda" and "Pippin." It opened with host Neil Patrick Harris leading a lavish, satirical production featuring the casts of those shows as well as "Cinderella," "Spiderman" and even Mike Tyson, who did a one-man show this season and dueted with Harris.

Presenters included Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Cuba Gooding Jr, Jesse Eisenberg, Jon Cryer, Liam Neeson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Zachary Quinto, Sally Field, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Matthew Broderick.

Other highlights included a special tribute to the musical "Phantom of the Opera," Broadway's longest-running show which is still going strong after opening in 1988.

Following are winners for Broadway's highest honors, which were awarded at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Best musical: "Kinky Boots"

Best play: "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" by Christopher Durang

Best revival of a play: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Best revival of a musical: "Pippin"

Best performance by an actor in leading role in a play: Tracy Letts, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play: Cicely Tyson, "The Trip to Bountiful"

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical: Billy Porter, "Kinky Boots"

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical: Patina Miller, "Pippin"

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com