As Rent approaches its final show on Broadway on September 7th, original cast members Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen) and Adam Pascal(Roger Davis) are preparing for their 2009 Rent tour across America. Tour dates for the shows were originally announced in April, but this past week, some scheduling conflicts were resolved resulting in some cities being left out of the mix.

According to Anthony Rapp’s blog, the dates for the tour’s showings in Chicago have been altered, as well as those for their back-to-back stints in Boston. The unfortunate side effect of these scheduling changes is that the previously-planned shows in Toronto and Atlanta are no longer on the schedule.

Rent may be the greatest of all American musicals and if you have never had the chance to see the show on stage, now is the time to get your Broadway tickets online. If you live outside of the New York area, check out the 2009 Rent tour and take the opportunity to see one of the last performances with two of the original cast members.

The media is buzzing with gossip over Katie Holmes’ debut on Broadway. Holmes is appearing (fully clothed) in the Broadway play All My Sons on October 16th. This is measured by advance ticket sales. So far less than a million tickets have been sold to the show. Kidman sold $4 million tickets.

Also, prices are not as high. Tickets to see Holmes are getting about $300 a ticket while Kidman’s show got as much as $700 a ticket for The Blue Room which opened in 1998. Rather than blue, Holmes is probably seeing red right now. The leading ladies share something in common though. Holmes is, of course Tom Cruise’s current wife, and Kidman his former.

Also, times were different when Kidman was married to Cruise. His popularity was higher then. They were also starring together in the controversial film Eyes Wide Shut which featured some risque scenes between real life husband and wife. Those were good times. Also consider that a tickets to a Broadway play just aren’t drawing the type of prices they used to.

It’s brave for Holmes to step into this territory at this point. Some blame Cruise for dooming this opening night before it even begins. And as we can see, the media is not going to be easy on either one of them.

Throughout the week of June 30th Joan Rivers will guest host a show on Sirius Radio entitled “Can We Talk… About Broadway.” The show will be an hour at noon ET, with an encore broadcast at 6 pm ET. It will run from Monday through Friday, July 4th. The entire show will also be rerun on Sunday, July 6th at 9 am and 9 pm.

The show will feature Rivers’ outrageous sense of humor and love for Broadway. She will introduce show tunes, play songs, and offer special commentary on her favorite Broadway shows. She will also feature rarely heard excerpts from the “Ed Sullivan Show” from the 60’s.

This marks a great opportunity for Broadway fans to hear entertaining discussion about their favorite topic. It’s also a great chance for those who haven’t been exposed to Broadway and all of its glory to become familiar with the world of theater. Anything that promotes this often-overlooked art form is a good thing for the theater. Hopefully it will inspire more people to purchase Broadway tickets.

Sirius Radio delivers more than 130 channels. All broadcasting is commercial free, in satellite radio. There are 69 music channels. There are 65 channels with sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data. It’s the future of radio. It’s nice to see Broadway getting it’s due with such a great media form.

Whoopie Goldberg and DreamTeam Entertainment Group have given acclaimed singer and songwriter, India.Arie, a chance on Broadway. They will be producing a re-envisioned production of “For Color Girls who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.”

The play with a very long title was first featured Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in May 1976. It then made its move to Broadway on September 10, 1976. It played for 876 performances. It also toured the U.S. for two years.

It was written by Ntozake Shange, a performer, poet, playwright, and novelist. The new revision will feature new and updated material from Shange.

India.Arie is one of the most acclaimed singers and songwriters of the neo-soul movement. She is known for her acoustic sound and thoughtful lyrics. She’s won two Grammy Awards and has received 16 nominations.

The new play will be directed by Jo Finney, a newcomer to Broadway, but acclaimed theater director nonetheless. She has been honored with an NAACP Image Award and an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for her production of “Yellow Man” at the Fountain Theatre on the West Coast.

Choreography will be by Hinton Battle, a three-time Tony winner. Musical Direction will be offered by Harold Wheeler, recipient of seven Tony nominations.

Be watching for Broadway tickets online for this exciting show.

Everyone in the entertainment industry knows that Harvey and Bob Weinstein have been two of the most successful producers in Hollywood for the last 30 years. They created Miramax, a production company that represented the highest artistic quality, producing arthouse films that tended to also have strong box office draw and won many awards.

Both Harvey and Bob left Miramax in 2005, creating another company called The Weinstein Company.

These two producers are now following an industry trend of converting movies into Broadway musicals. They will be developing musicals of their hit films: “Finding Neverland,” “The Wall,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Chocolat,” “Cinema Paradiso,” and “Shall We Dance.”

They have had a growing interest in the theater over the last few years, having co-produced the recent Tony winning “August: Osage County” and “Boeing-Boeing.”

This trend toward reworking films into stage plays is an understandable evolution. If the material worked on the big screen, you have a ready-made brand, with instant recognition to potential audiences.

This trend also broadens the appeal of the stage to the masses. You gotta’ know that a lot of people who never considered paying money for Broadway tickets will be lining up with their kids to see “Shrek” next year.

In the case of the Weinsteins, they own numerous properties that lend themselves to a musical format. They also have strong connections with Hollywood stars. They hope to lure such big screen stars as Juliette Binoche and Gwyneth Paltrow to Broadway to reprise their famous roles.

There were three big winners on Sunday night at the 2008 Tony Awards, giving Broadway ticket buyers an understanding of which plays we must see this year. The first was “In the Heights” which won best musical. The second was “August: Osage County” which won best play. And the third was “South Pacific” which won best revival and the most Tony’s of the night.

“In the Heights” is a depiction of Latino life in upper Manhattan. Lin-Manuel Miranda made an unusual acceptance speech choice for winning best score. He rapped his speech. It won three Tony’s including best musical, best original score, best choreography, and best orchestration.

“August: Osage County” tells the story of a family returning to their rural home in Oklahoma when the father of the family disappears. It won five awards including best play, best performance by a leading actress in a play, best performance by a featured actress in a play, best direction of a play, and best scenic design of a play.

South Pacific tells two romantic stories in the South Pacific during World War II. It won 7 Tony Awards Sunday, including best revival of a musical, best performance by a leading actor in a musical, best direction of a musical, best scenic design of a musical, best costume design of a musical, best lighting design of a musical, best sound design of a musical.

Acclaimed stage and screen director, Sam Mendes, made a recommendation to DreamWorks Exec, Jeffrey Katzenberg, several years ago—Turn their multi-million dollar “Shrek” film franchise into a Broadway play. DreamWorks is following the advice and the example of rival production company Disney, turning an animated film into a musical on the big New York stage.

Tickets for Pre-Broadway engagement of “Shrek the Musical” will go on sale this Friday, June 13, at 9:30 a.m. The production will appear at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington. The Northwest production will go from August 14-September 21 before heading to its Broadway debut in December

The first 100 people in line will receive their very own Shrek ears. They will also be served green tea and green Top Pot Doughnuts. It’s sure to be a fun outing for you and the kids, both getting the tickets, and going to show.

The show will star Tony Award nominee Brian d’Arcy James as Shrek, Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona, Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad, and Chester Gregory II as Donkey.

The new musical is a reinvention of the story created by William Steig’s book, “Shrek” and the DreamWorks Animation film, “Shrek” which became one of the most successful animated film franchises in history. Be watching online for Broadway tickets in New York.

If you’re a fan of Broadway musicals, you’ll be excited to know that five of the Tony-nominated musicals will be showcased on television this week. “Live with Regis and Kelly” which is calling this week Broadway Week 2008.

Each featured show has been nominated for one of more of the Antoinette Perry Awards, otherwise known as the “Tony” awards.

Monday starts with Sierra Bogges from Disney’s exciting Broadway recreation of their hit animated film, “The Little Mermaid. Bogges will perform “Part of Your World,” a song well known by children and adults alike.

Tuesday brings Alli Mauzey from “Cry-Baby The Musical,” also an adaptation from a motion picture. Harvey Fierstein will be presenting “Coney Island” on Wednesday from the new musical “A Catered Affair.” On Thursday it’s another motion picture turned Broadway hit—“Xanadu.”

American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks, who along with the cast members of the revival of “Grease” will be performing “Beauty School Dropout”, will finish off the week.

Although the choices for show are definitely high profile in that the majority of the musicals featured are also movies, it will be a good plug for the wonderful theater options in New York these days. For tickets to these and other wonderful plays click on the link.

One of the most exciting plays on Broadway, Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” is getting a new leading man. Sam Robards will be replacing Charles Edwards who originated the role in the London production. Robards will step into the part on July 8th at the Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street.

Sam Robards is the son of acting royalty, Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall. He’s the godson of Katharine Hepburn. Needless to say, he’s known and probably been taught by some of the best actors of the past century. He’s famous for saying, “My parents made certain I had no illusion about acting. To them it was always just a job.”

“The 39 Steps” is inspired by Hitchcock’s thriller masterpiece, with a lot of broad comedy humor. It’s adapted for the stage from the famous 1935 film and the 1915 novel written by John Buchanan.

It tells the story of Richard Hannay, seeking a casual night at the theatre, who’s seduced into an espionage plot by a mysterious woman. After she’s found dead in his apartment, Hannay flees London with the authorities in hot pursuit.

This play is considered by critics and fans to be unbelievably entertaining. With the loss of Edwards, the production knew that they had to get someone with real credentials to meet the high expectation of Broadway ticket buyers. Robards is sure to deliver.

Pop star and Broadway star, Clay Aiken is going to be a father. The mother of the child is his best friend and producer, Jaymes Foster. The 50-year-old woman was artificially inseminated.

A report at TMZ.com suggest that he’ll be very active in the child’s life. Foster was divorced several years ago. Since that time, she and Aiken have become extremely close. He lives in her home whenever he’s in Los Angeles.

Fans of the singer can see him perform by buying Broadway tickets for the New York production of Spamalot. He’s been a part of the production since January of this year, playing the part of Sir Robin.

He’s the third most successful contestant from American Idol, right behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. He’s the most successful male contestant. And he’s the most successful contestant to win second place.

I was glad to see Aiken finding a place on the stage in New York. Although I think he’s got a great voice, he doesn’t have the typical persona of a pop star. Judging by a performance I saw of his on “Scrubs,” I think he’s got talent as a character actor. I see a bright future for him acting and singing, and there’s no better place for that than Broadway.