TV broadcasts of Broadway musicals ‘Wicked’ and ‘Come From Away’ coming soon

The latest hits from the Broadway stage to be featured on the TV screen for at-home viewers are coming soon, to mark the long-awaited return of live in-person theater and to commemorate the 20th year since the 9/11 attacks.

On Sunday, August 29, beginning at 9:00 pm, PBS will present Wicked In Concert: A Musical Celebration of the Iconic Broadway Score on the PBS channel, website, and video app. The special event, co-hosted by Wicked‘s original Tony Award-winning stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, will feature new musical arrangements of the show’s famous numbers by composer Stephen Schwartz, created just for the broadcast and performed by a luminary line-up of artists from the stage, TV, the movies, and pop music.

Directed by Baayork Lee (A Chorus Line), the roster includes Tony nominee Mario Cantone (Laugh Whore; Sex and the City), Tony and Olivier Award-winning actor Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!); Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose (Hamilton; Summer: The Donna Summer Musical); two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award-winner Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple); Stephanie Hsu (Be More Chill; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel); EGOT winner Rita Moreno (West Side Story); multiple Grammy-winning country artist Jennifer Nettles; Grammy nominee Alex Newell (Once on This Island; Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist); Grammy  nominee Isaac Powell (West Side Story); Olivier Award-winner and Grammy Award nominee Amber Riley (Glee); Gabrielle Ruiz (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend); and Tony Award-winner Ali Stroker (Oklahoma!).

Filmed in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, NYC, and other locations, the star-studded concert includes such favorites as “The Wizard and I,” “Defying Gravity,” “Popular, Wonderful,” “No Good Deed,” “For Good” and “As Long As You’re Mine,” with lighting design by Zach Blane, musical direction and arrangements by Luke Frazier, and members of the American Pops Orchestra. Following the PBS broadcast, the musical, inspired by The Wizard of Oz, makes its return to Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre on September 14.

And the screen version of a live performance of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Come From Away – filmed by RadicalMedia at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in May, before a live audience that included 9/11 survivors and front-line workers – will make its global debut on Friday, September 10, on Apple TV+.

The musical, with book, music, and lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award nominees and Olivier Award winners Irene Sankoff and David Hein, tells the story of 7,000 people stranded in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, and graciously welcomed by the locals there, after all flights into the US were grounded on September 11, 2001.

Christopher Ashley, Tony Award-winning director of the premiere Broadway production, reunites with original cast members Petrina Bromley, Jenn Colella, Joel Hatch, Caesar Samayoa, Q. Smith, Astrid Van Wieren, and Sharon Wheatley, along with De’lon Grant, Tony LePage, Emily Walton, Jim Walton, and Paul Whitty. The production was choreographed by Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner Kelly Devine, with music supervision by Olivier Award winner and Grammy Award nominee Ian Eisendrath. Come From Away is scheduled to resume its Broadway performances at the Schoenfeld on Tuesday, September 21.

SEE ALSO:
Ford’s to present free ‘Come From Away’ concert at the Lincoln Memorial

The event September 10, 2021, commemorates the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

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