‘Glee’ Star Darren Criss Eyed To Succeed Daniel Radcliffe In ‘How To Succeed’ On Broadway For 3-Week Stint
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday July 21, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: The news is brimming with symbolism – the young actor who portrayed Harry Potter in viral online videos to step in for the actor who played the boy wizard on the big screen. I hear that Darren Criss, breakout star of Fox’s hit dramedy Glee, is poised to make his Broadway debut, succeeding Daniel Radcliffe as the lead in the Broadway musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Negotiations between Criss and the musical’s producers, Craig Zadan & Neil Meron and Broadway Across America, are expected to begin shortly after Glee co-creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy and the series’ producing studio 20th Century Fox TV gave Criss their blessing for the stint. (I hear Murphy even encouraged the actor, who made his processional stage debut at age 10, to fulfill his Broadway dream).

If a deal is made, Criss will replace Radcliffe when the Harry Potter star finishes his run on January to return to movies. Criss will do a 3-week stint, from Jan. 3 through Jan. 22, in addition to 2 weeks of rehearsals in December, missing a total of an episode and a half of Glee. Additionally, I hear that Criss may make his feature debut opposite Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening in Imogene for American Splendor helmers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini as the Glee producers have agreed to accommodate him for that too the same way they have let other cast members do movies during Glee production, including Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Dianna Agron. This caps a remarkable 8-month rise for Criss from a YouTube celebrity as the star of A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel to a bona fide TV star with Glee and now – a Broadway leading man. How To Succeed has already been doing very well at the boxoffice, grossing over a $1 million every week, with its ticket sales going through the roof since the recent opening of the final Harry Potter movie starring Radcliffe. With his huge following, Criss’ turn could rival that. Criss emerged as the star of this year’s Glee summer tour, with his performances getting huge ovations and screams from female fans. Along with other Glee castmates, Criss is headed to Comic-Con for a panel moderated by my colleague Michael Ausiello this weekend where the upcoming 3D Glee concert movie will be showcased by clips of some of Criss’ performances. As for How to Succeed, the search continues for a permanent replacement of Radcliffe as well as an actor to succeed fellow star John Larroquette.

Hollywood Reporter

The Lifetime show’s season opener featured guest stars LeAnn Rimes, Paula Abdul, Mario Lopez and Wendy Williams.

Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva got off to a good start with its third-season premiere.
Sunday night’s episode was the show’s most-watched season opener among the network’s key demos of adults 25-54 (1.6 million viewers in the demo), adults 18-49 (1.3 million), women 25-54 (1.2 million) and women 18-49 (998,000).
Among adults 25-54, the Season 3 premiere was up 7 percent compared to Season 2 in 2010 and up 18 percent compared to the series debut in 2009. Among adults 18-49, it was up 3 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
The 9 p.m. episode also was show’s the second-most-watched telecast ever among adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and women 25-54.
Overall, the premiere pulled in 2.9 million total viewers.
Drop Dead Diva, which stars Brooke Elliott and Margaret Cho, centers on a shallow wannabe model who dies in a sudden accident only to find her soul resurfacing in the body of a brilliant, plus-size and recently deceased attorney.
The Season 3 premiere featured a slew of guest stars, including LeAnn Rimes, Paula Abdul, Mario Lopez and Wendy Williams.
Other guest stars slated to appear this season include Kathy Griffin, Wanda Sykes, Clay Aikenand Lance Bass.

NBC Unveils 2011-2012 Primetime Schedule
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday May 15, 2011

NBC is introducing 12 new series next season — six dramas, including acquisition The Firm, and six new comedies. As we predicted, the network is planning a splash in midseason by holding one of its biggest new shows, Smash, to launch in January with freshman hit The Voice. NBC has put six new series — dramas The Playboy Club, Prime Suspect and Grimm and comedies Up All Night, Free Agents and Whitney — on the fall schedule and has slots reserved for Smash and The Firm in midseason. Drama Awake and comedies Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea; Bent and BFF have yet to be scheduled. For analysis of the schedule, including NBC chief Bob Greenblatt talking the rational behind some key scheduling decisions and the reasons to renew Chuck and cancel Law & Order: Los Angeles, read Analysis Of NBC Schedule: Bob Greenblatt On Renewing ‘Chuck’ & Canceling ‘LOLA’. You can see previews of all new series here.

NBC FALL 2011-12 SCHEDULE (New programs in UPPER CASE)
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – The Sing-Off
10-11 p.m. – THE PLAYBOY CLUB

TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. – The Biggest Loser
10-11 p.m. – Parenthood

WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – UP ALL NIGHT
8:30-9 p.m. – FREE AGENTS
9-10 p.m. — Harry’s Law
10-11 p.m. — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – Community
8:30-9 p.m. — Parks and Recreation
9-9:30 p.m. – The Office
9:30-10 p.m. – WHITNEY
10-11 p.m. – PRIME SUSPECT

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – Chuck
9-10 p.m. – GRIMM
10-11 p.m. – Dateline NBC

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7- 8:15 p.m. — Football Night in America
8:15-11:30 p.m. — NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC 2012 MID-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. – Dateline NBC
8-10 p.m. – The Celebrity Apprentice
10-11 p.m. – THE FIRM

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – The Voice
10-11 p.m. – SMASH

Tony Nominations

DEADLINE
By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday May 3, 2011

The nominations for the 2011 Tony Awards are out. The musical The Book of Mormon got the most nominations with 14. The Scottsboro Boys got 12, Anything Goes received nine and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying received eight. The awards show is June 12 at the Beacon Theatre, aired by CBS.

Ellen DeGeneres Wants To ‘Sing You Home’
By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday March 22, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Ellen DeGeneres is teaming with Storyline partners Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to produce Sing You Home, a feature film based on the bestselling novel by Jodi Picoult. DeGeneres will be involved solely as producer on this, and I’m told it’s a passion project for her. She optioned it with her own money and enlisted Zadan and Meron. They will develop it themselves.

The novel is about a woman who spends 10 years before finally getting pregnant. Seven months in, the child is stillborn, her distraught husband can’t take anymore and leaves her. She throws herself into her career as a music therapist and unexpectedly develops a romantic relationship with a female guidance counselor. This newfound happiness makes her reconsider having a family again, and she remembers that she and her husband left behind several frozen embryos. Unfortunately, her ex has become involved with an evangelical church, run by a charismatic pastor who has pledged to fight the “homosexual agenda” he feels is endangering traditional family values. The ex-husband and pastor take issue with his ex-wife’s desire to use the embryos. Much the way that Picoult’s novel My Sister’s Keeper found an emotional way into the controversial topic of genetic planning (that book was turned into a movie directed by Nick Cassavetes), Picoult’s Sing You Home takes on the issues of in vitro fertilization and gay rights, arguments that end up in the courtroom.

Zadan and Meron take on the project with DeGeneres as they prepare for Sunday’s Broadway opening of How to Succeed At Business Without Really Trying. The revival, anchored by the Broadway stage musical debut of Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe, heads into its opening after selling out its preview performances. Zadan and Meron just completed the remake of Footloose for an Oct. 14 release through Paramount. They are also shooting Smash, the pilot they are producing with Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks and NBC starring Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston. ICM reps DeGeneres.

Variety

Newly appointed NBC Entertainment boss Robert Greenblatt has picked up his first Peacock pilots.

One is a tuner that he had developed during his tenure at Showtime with Steven Spielberg, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. The other is a laffer from scribe Jhoni Marchinko.

“Smash,” from Universal Media Studios and DreamWorks, is a show-within-a-show vehicle about a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical. Greenblatt put the project in development last year at Showtime, where he was entertainment prexy.

Theresa Rebeck has penned the pilot script and will exec produce with Spielberg, DreamWorks TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, and tuner specialists Zadan and Meron. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are also on board to pen the tunes. NBC and U are in talks with Michael Mayer to direct.

The Hollywood Reporter

Bryan Singer is going from mutants and giants to the life of one of the great choreographer-directors of the 20th Century.
HBO Films has optioned Bye, Bye Life: The Loves and Deaths of Bob Fosse, a forthcoming biography from Sam Wasson. Singer (X-Men, Jack the Giant Killer) is attached to direct the adaptation, which is to be a feature-length film with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, the duo behind movies such as Hairspray and Chicago and the upcoming remake of Footloose, exec producing. Singer will also exec produce.
The project, which is currently untitled and in early development, will be a co-production with Sony Television. No writer is on board.
Actor, dancer, choreographer and stage and screen director, Fosse himself presented a version of his life in his autobiographical 1979 feature film All That Jazz. That Oscar-winning film starredRoy Scheider as a hard-living choreographer/director determined to push the envelope.
After several early film appearances in movies like Kiss Me Kate, Fosse moved to Broadway, where he choreographed shows like The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees — on Yankees, he met his future wife, dancer Gwen Verdon.
Fosse created his own, immediately-recognized jazz dance style, full of bowler hats, jazz hands, angular hip thrusts and shrugging shoulders.
On Broadway, he went on to direct and choreograph such shows as Redhead, Sweet Charity,Pippin and Chicago.
He made his film debut as a director with the 1969 movie version of Sweet Charity, starring Shirley MacLaine. His second feature Cabaret won eight Oscars, including best director and best picture. In addition to All That Jazz, his other feature credits include Lenny, which starred Dustin Hoffman as comedian Lenny Bruce, and Star 80, in which Mariel Hemingway played murdered Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratten.
Wasson is a movie historian and wrote A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards as well as Fifth Avenue, 5AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Dawn of the Modern Woman.
Singer, repped by WME and attorney David Feldman, is in pre-production on his latest tentpole, New Line’s Jack the Giant Killer, and is narrowing the list of young actors for movie’s lead after conducting screen tests in December. He is also producing X-Men: First Class along with Lauren Shuler Donner. First Class opens June 3.

For Immediate Release

50TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION OF
FRANK LOESSER’S TONY AWARD AND
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING MUSICAL COMEDY

“HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING”

STARRING
DANIEL RADCLIFFE

DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY
TONY AND EMMY AWARD-WINNER
ROB ASHFORD

OPENS AT BROADWAY’S AL HIRSCHFELD THEATRE
SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2011
PREVIEWS BEGIN SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2011

TICKETS ON SALE EXCLUSIVELY TO
AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDHOLDERS JULY 13, 2010
TICKETS ON SALE TO GENERAL PUBLIC JULY 31, 2010

Daniel Radcliffe will make his Broadway musical debut as J. Pierrepont Finch in a new production of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical comedy HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opening at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) Sunday, March 27, 2011, at 5pm. Radcliffe has just completed his decade-long, critically-acclaimed performance starring as Harry Potter in the largest grossing franchise in motion picture history. Directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award-winner Rob Ashford, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING has a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead’s satirical self-help book of the same name and music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. Further casting will be announced shortly. The 50th Anniversary production of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING begins previews Saturday, February 26, 2011, at 8pm, and is produced by Broadway Across America (John Gore, Thomas B. McGrath, Beth Williams), Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Joseph Smith, Michael McCabe, and Candy Spelling.

Tickets for HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING go on sale exclusively to American Express cardholders Tuesday, July 13, at 12:01am, at Telecharge.com (212-239-6200) with preferred seating available to American Express Gold Card, Platinum Card and Centurion members. Tickets go on sale to the general public Saturday, July 31, at 12:01am. Tickets for HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING range from $52 – $132, and the playing schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm. Please note that during previews Tuesday performances are at 8pm.

Following the advice of a book entitled “How to Succeed in Business” a young window-cleaner, J. Pierrepont Finch, begins a meteoric rise from the mail-room to Vice President of Advertising at the World-Wide Wicket Company. Finch’s unorthodox and morally-questionable business practices jeopardize not only his career but also his romance with secretary Rosemary Pilkington. With a beloved score by Frank Loesser, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING is packed with hit standards such as “I Believe in You,” “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm,” “The Company Way,” “Been a Long Day,” “Rosemary,” and “Brotherhood of Man.”

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING opened to critical acclaim at the 46TH Street Theatre (Richard Rodgers) on Broadway in October 1961, running for 1,417 performances. The cast starred Robert Morse as Finch, Bonnie Scott as Rosemary, Charles Nelson Reilly as Bud Frump, and Rudy Vallee as the President of the World-Wide Wicket Company. The show won seven Tony Awards including best musical and best book, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best musical, a Grammy for best original cast show album, and is one of only eight musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1967, a film based on the musical was released by United Artists, with Morse and Vallee recreating their Broadway roles and Michele Lee as Rosemary. The 1995 Broadway revival stared Matthew Broderick as Finch and Megan Mullally as Rosemary.

BIOGRAPHIES

Daniel Radcliffe (J. Pierrepont Finch) has played the title role in the largest grossing franchise in motion picture history, based on J.K. Rowling’s bestselling “Harry Potter” books, with the first half of the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, being released November 19, 2010, and the final film being released in July 2011. Having made his Broadway debut as Alan Strang in Peter Shaffer’s play Equus, Radcliffe received both Drama League and Drama Desk nominations for his performance. Radcliffe had first played the role of Alan in 2007 to critical acclaim in London, which marked his West End Debut. Radcliffe’s other credits include the Australian independent feature December Boys, and the role of Jack Kipling in the telefilm “My Boy Jack,” which told the story of Rudyard Kipling’s 17-year-old son, Jack, who died in World War I, and the devastating effect this had on his family. Radcliffe has also made a guest appearance as himself in the award-winning BBC/HBO series “Extras,” starring Ricky Gervais. He first appeared on screen as the young David Copperfield in the BBC/PBS presentation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel.

Rob Ashford (Direction and Choreography) is director and choreographer (Tony nomination) of the current Broadway revival of Promises, Promises. Other Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002 Tony Award, Best Choreography), Cry-Baby (Tony nomination), Curtains (Tony nomination), The Wedding Singer (Tony nomination). In London, A Streetcar Named Desire starring Rachel Weisz at the Donmar Warehouse (Olivier nomination, Best Revival), Parade at the Donmar Warehouse (Olivier nominations for Direction and Choreography), Evita (Olivier nomination), Guys and Dolls (Olivier nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Olivier nomination), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Once in a Lifetime (National Theatre). Other credits include Parade (Mark Taper Forum), Candide (English National Opera, La Scala, Milan, Chatelet, Paris), Tenderloin, Bloomer Girl, A Connecticut Yankee, and Pardon My English (Encores!). He provided choreography for the film Beyond the Sea directed by and starring Kevin Spacey, and received a 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for his work on the 81st Annual Academy Awards. He is on the Executive Committee of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographer, on the Board of Trustees of the Joyce Theatre, and an Associate Director at the Donmar Warehouse.

Broadway Across America (Producer) is owned and operated by British theatre producer John Gore (CEO) and entertainment industry veteran Thomas B. McGrath (Chairman). Broadway Across America presents first-class touring Broadway musicals and plays, family productions and other live events throughout a network of 40 North American cities. Under the supervision of Beth Williams (COO & Head of Production), Broadway Across America is also dedicated to the development and production of new and diverse live theatre for productions on Broadway, across America and throughout the world. Recent Broadway productions include Promises, Promises; Million Dollar Quartet; La Cage aux Folles; Lend Me A Tenor; A View From The Bridge; West Side Story; Hair; and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Touring productions include Dreamgirls and Nickelodeon’s Storytime Live! featuring Dora the Explorer. For more information on Broadway Across America please visit them online at BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Producers) began their careers at the Public Theater working for Joseph Papp. Prior to that, Zadan wrote the acclaimed book, Sondheim & Co. Zadan and Meron are currently represented on Broadway with Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. Their movies have garnered six Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, eleven Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. Their feature films include: Chicago (6 Oscars including Best Picture), Hairspray, The Bucket List, and Footloose. Their television projects, (69 Emmy nominations), include: Gypsy, Cinderella, Annie, The Music Man, Life With Judy Garland, Martin & Lewis, Serving In Silence, The Beach Boys, Brian’s Song, The Three Stooges, The Reagans, A Raisin In The Sun , plus the hit TV series Drop Dead Diva. Upcoming projects include a new movie musical of Damn Yankees with Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal, and a new scripted TV series they are producing with Steven Spielberg, about the behind-the-scenes creation of a Broadway musical.

Joseph Smith and Michael McCabe (Producers). UK based McCabe/Smith are currently Associate Producers of the Tony award-winning Promises, Promises, starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth, at the Broadway Theatre, and UK Consulting Producers for the Tony award-winning Million Dollar Quartet, at the Nederlander Theatre (which they will present in the West End in 2011). In 2009 they were UK Producers of Spring Awakening, winner of the 2010 Critics’ Circle Award for ‘Best Musical’ and four 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards including ‘Best Musical’. Joseph is the Executive Producer for Old Vic Productions, a producer of Billy Elliot The Musical worldwide. Michael is Executive Producer of Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre, London). www.mccabesmith.com

Candy Spelling (Producer) made her Broadway debut as a producer of Promises, Promises, having long been a supporter of the arts. Ms. Spelling is the author of the recent bestseller Stories From Candyland. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post, momlogic.com and other media outlets, writes a column for the Los Angeles Confidential, provides entertainment news reports for BBC radio, and is working on a new series for E! Entertainment Network. This year she was named “Ambassador For Tourism” for Los Angeles, and was invited to join the Board of Directors for L.A. INC., the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is currently a Commissioner for the Board of Recreation and Parks for the City of Los Angeles and was instrumental in creating the first non-profit Parks Foundation in L.A. She is also a member of the L.A. Coliseum Commission and she is an active board member of L.A.’s Best, the after-school enrichment program that serves children in need throughout the city, in partnership with the L.A. Unified School District, the City of Los Angeles and the private sector.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

‘Smallville’ duo to write ‘Monster High’ film
Universal project is based on a new Mattel property

By Borys Kit

June 15, 2010, 11:00 PM ET
Updated: June 16, 2010, 01:38 PM ET

Writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are switching their milieu from superheroes and the male demo to monsters, musicals and tween girls.

The duo, best known for bringing “Smallville” to television and for the movies “Shanghai Noon” and “Spider-Man 2,” are coming aboard to script Universal’s “Monster High,” based on a new Mattel property. The monster musical is set at “frighteningly fashionable” Monster High and features the spawn of famous monsters including Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman undergoing the trials and tribulations of high school.

After years of making toys based on other companies’ properties or movies, Mattel this summer is launching its first in-house brand created from scratch, pushing “Monster” through a combination of books, webisodes, animation as well as toys, apparel and accessories. And no entertainment line today can be complete without the all-but-inevitable live-action movie.

Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are producing with Tim Kilpin and Barry Waldo for Mattel. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are in talks to write and compose the music for the pic which is taking a musical approach that will be part “Beetlejuice” and part “The Addams Family.”

Bringing this scenario to script will be the job of Gough and Millar. On the surface, the duo seem an odd choice for the material. They broke into the film business with “Lethal Weapon 4,” the 1998 installment of the Mel Gibson franchise, establishing themselves as writers of action with a comedic flair. In addition to acting as showrunners on “Smallville,” they wrote “Shanghai Noon,” “Shanghai Knights,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and “I Am Number Four,” an adaptation of James Frey and Jobie Hughes’ young-adult novel that is in preproduction at DreamWorks.

But the CAA-repped writers recently have been more in touch with their feminine side. They produced last year’s “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” which sang its way to almost $80 million at the domestic boxoffice, and are developing and writing a tele¬vision pilot for a revamp of “Charlie’s Angels.”