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.

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.

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.

Have you ever dreamed of switching from a Broadway ticket buyer to a Broadway performer? Well, now is your chance.

Universal CityWalk is partnering with the musical “Wicked” for the program appropriately titled, “Wannabe Wicked.” It’s all part of the “Summer Block Party” entertainment series.

Now this isn’t for some tone deaf American Idol wannabe. This is for someone who really has some performing chops. Contestants must turn in a video performance of one of five songs: “Popular,” “Defying Gravity,” “Dancing Through Life,” “For Good” or “The Wizard and I.”

These online auditions will be judged every week by a series of professional judges. They will rate the performances based on vocal quality, performance delivery, vocal accuracy, and overall performance. They will narrow the performers down to ten finalists.

The next phase of the contest will entail live performing. Each of the finalists will sing in front of a live Universal CityWalk audience starting on July 2nd, running at various times through August.

The winner of the contest will be chosen on August 20th. They will then receive an opportunity to be a walk-on in “Wicked” as their prize.

Anyone is free to try-out. There is a $10 processing fee to submit your online performance audition. You must submit your audition by June 5th.

So if you’ve dreamed of being on the big stage in NY, now is your chance. Grab your video camera, do some vocal exercises, and show the world what you’ve got.

Tony Award winners, Sara Ramirez and David Hyde Pierce, announced the nominees for the 2007-2008 Tony Awards yesterday morning.

“In the Heights” earned the most nominations with 13. This play started off Broadway and made the transition to the Richard Rodgers Theatre earlier this year. One of the nominations was for Best Musical.

The revival for South Pacific also performed strong, with 11 nominations. Sondheim and Lapine’s revival of “Sunday in the Park with George” followed up with 9 nominations. A few productions got 7 nominations, including “August: Osage County,” the revival of “Gypsy,” and “Passing Strange.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda got two nominations for his performance and score for “In the Heights.” Pop artist Stew earned four Tony nominations for “Passing Strange.”

Steven Sondheim will be recipient of a Lifetime Achievement in the Theater.

The Tony Awards started in 1947. They were named after Antoinette Perry, an actress, director, and producer. It started as a dinner. It now is presented on television. This year’s show will be presented on Sunday, June 15th, on CBS, 8/7c.

To see all of the nominees, go to the official Tony Awards website here. To purchase tickets for any of these acclaimed shows, you will want to purchase Broadway tickets online.

I don’t know about you, but I love a good battle of the bands. The format, of course, provides for a show that gets progressively better as the better bands play more and more frequently. And there’s usually a couple of bands that everyone enjoys that you get to hear battle it out at the end.

I also like Broadway shows. I like the big dramatic musical with all of it’s over the top pop glory. There’s nothing like live Broadway Theater and in recent years, the world of rock has been merging onto the stage, like two well suited lovers.

So you can imagine my interest when I heard about a Battle of the Broadway Bands. Apparently, many Broadway performers also have side bands. And I’m just guessing that they’re probably pretty good. For example, take Albinokid, the band by Rent star Anthony Rapp. This talented singer, actor, and performer takes his Broadway experience, and tries to translate it into a rock show.

Rapp, with other well-known Broadway performers will bring their talents to The Zipper Factory, 336 West 37th Street in Manhattan, on May 17th for what may prove to be one of the best Battle of the Bands you’ve ever seen. You can order tickets at www.nymf.org. Then, if you’re interested in seeing these rockers show off their stuff in Broadway musical form, click on this link for Broadway tickets online.

You gotta’ love New York for providing amazing entertainment.

I’m not really sure how they’re going to make this good, but I guess “Brigadoon” is returning to Broadway in a big revival. My lack of enthusiasm is born of the fact that I couldn’t get more than about 45 minutes through the old movie based on the original play.

The play’s music was written by the great song writing team, Lerner and Lowe. It was directed by Robert Lewis and choreographed by Agnes de Mille. It was a big hit on Broadway and was adapted to the screen in 1954, starring Gene Kelly.

The story tells about two Americans on vacation in Scotland who stumble upon the magical village, which comes to life every 100 years.

The new play will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner, Rob Ashford. He won a Tony for his choreography for “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” He was also nominated for “The Wedding Singer,” and “Curtains.” He also choreographed the recent production of “Cry Baby.”

It also brings the talent of Tony Award-winner, John Guare. Famous for his Tony Award winning book for the musical “Two Gentleman of Verona.” He’s also been nominated for “The House of Blue Leaves,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” and “Four Baboons Adoring the Sun.”

So with all that talent, maybe the re-imagining will bring new life to a classic that has clearly aged. When it opens we’ll have to check for tickets online to see for ourselves how it fares.

2007 marked the full return of the musical to the silver screen. Ever since the late 60’s, the traditional musical has been dead on screen. If you wanted to see people sing while telling a story, you had to look to the stage. Even buying Broadway tickets online was about as convenient as one could hope for in seeing a good old-fashioned musical.

But now, it seems that the trend has ended. We have a new dawn for musicals on film. 2007 brought us some real hits. It brought us a traditional modern Sondheim musical in “Sweeney Todd.” It brought us “Hairspray,” a movie which got remade as a Broadway show which then got remade back into a musical film. It also brought us the musical in the form of the Indie film shot on video in the exceptional “Once.”

We’re also seeing musicals invading the world of television, with the startling success of “High School Musical” and “High School Musical 2.”

We’re also seeing a return to the animated Disney musicals made popular in the early nineties with “The Little Mermaid.” This year the subgenre returned as a spoof of itself in the silly but fun “Enchanted.”

My hope is that with the popularization of the musical on film again we’ll also generate growth in stage productions of musicals as well.

I have a prediction. After seeing the new Disney animated princess spoof, “Enchanted,” I think it’s going to go to Broadway. With the huge success of “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” and now “The Little Mermaid,” I’m sure that they’re looking for the next big stage conversion. And I think “Enchanted” screams with possibilities.

I’m imagining a large screen that comes in front of the stage for the animated segment. And then, when she enters the real world the screen lifts up and she’s on a stage. In fact, I think that the transition between the two will be even more profound in the theater setting.

I’m also imagining that Amy Adams does her Broadway debut, reprising her role, because let’s face it. She sort of owns this part.

I’m not quite sure how they’ll recreate her squirrel side kick. But I’m sure that they can figure that out.

My only complaint about the movie was I wanted more music from Alan Menkin. So the new show will have to be packed full of exciting, new, fun numbers.

Well, I think it’s inevitable. When it happens, you can tell me how right I was. Until then we’ll have to be content with “The Little Mermaid,” ordering our Broadway tickets online.

I find it hard to believe that one of the most American of books and movies, “Gone With the Wind,” will be adapted to the stage for the first time as a musical, but not on Broadway but in England, in the New London Theater. I guess when you figure that Vivian Leigh was British, it’s not such a terrible crime.

The new production opens in April of this year. It is directed by Sir Trevor Nunn. It will star Jill Paice as Scarlett O’Hara and Darius Danesh as Rhett Butler. I’ve read rumors that Hugh Jackman is being considered for the role when it finally comes to Broadway. If the play is any good, I think it’s a given.

The new play is being documented on Turner Classic Movies channel which will follow the behind the scene moments of the production right up to the opening.

The new play is said to be more heavily based on the book, emphasizing the story through the slaves eyes. Apparently, the entire production will be much darker, especially in it’s portrayal of Rhett Butler. And I’ve yet to read whether they will be including the famous last line of the movie.

If you want to see the new show when it opens you’ll have to go to England. But when it finally comes out in New York, you’ll want to get your Broadway tickets online.