My Publicist Note Book

It was only a matter of time before we’d see “Michael Jackson: The Musical.”  Michael Jackson is Broadway-bound. The pop singer’s  estate , along with Columbia Live Stage, said Tuesday that it had agreed to develop a stage musical about his life, aiming for Broadway in 2020. The musical, reflecting Jackson’s stature, features an unusually acclaimed creative team. The book is to be written by Lynn Nottage, a playwright who has won two Pulitzers, for “Ruined” and “Sweat.” And the show is to be directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, the artistic associate of the Royal Ballet in London, who won a Tony Award for “An American in Paris.” Jackson has been the subject of many previous entertainment ventures, including a staged concert, “Thriller Live” that has been running for nearly a decade in London.  The estate’s executors have collaborated with several projects, including “Michael Jackson ONE,” a Cirque du Soleil show running for the l...

Motown the Musical is a timeless Broadway masterpiece. Home to over 50 classic and beloved hits from the Motown catalogue, the show is an up-beat, movin' and groovin' celebration of all the greats of the era. It  was one of the most  influential  and revered record companies of all time.  The musical, which serves as a nostalgic sort of homecoming for the legends who defined the Motown era, is taking the theatrical world by storm. The show is based off of Berry Gordy's autobiography, "To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown". The show features more than 40 Motown hits and truly documents Gordy's story from featherweight boxer to a man who changed the music industry forever.  It is hard to imagine a world without Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, and all the other superstars that Gordy discovered and shared with the world. Many have never stopped to think about the man behind these legendary musicians, so t...

Former La Jolla Playhouse  publicist takes stage in NYC Josh Ellis in "Call My Publicist!"  — Chris Johnson Tonight in New York, a onetime behind-the-scenes player in San Diego theater (and on Broadway before that) steps into the spotlight with his own show. And it's a piece that saw its earliest incarnation here in town. Josh Ellis, who was publicity director at La Jolla Playhouse for about a decade before leaving in 2004, is performing a one-night encore engagement of " Call My Publicist! The Starry Education of a Broadway Press Agent ." The solo show, which Ellis wrote and Gretchen Cryer is directing, is being staged by the York Theatre Co. at St. Peter's in midtown Manhattan. (The 7:30 p.m. reading is open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5, in case you happen to be in NYC this evening.) The York hosted a well-received reading of the piece earlier this year. But "Call My Publicist!" actually got its...

York Theatre Company to Host Reading of Joshua Ellis' CALL MY PUBLICIST! Next Month The York Theatre Company, as part of its acclaimed Developmental Readings Series, presents Call My Publicist ! -  The Starry Education of a Broadway Press Agent, written and performed by Joshua Ellis. This premiere reading, directed by Gretchen Cryer will be presented for one-performance only on Wednesday evening, April 8, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (Entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue) . The reading is open to the public with a suggested donation of $5.00. In Call My Publicist! - The Starry Education of a Broadway Press Agent,  Joshua Ellis , who was one of the theater's top press agents, gives an insider's  view  of the glamorous and sometimes maddening world of The Great White Way from a vantage point the public rarely sees. With his very personal, first-hand stories, we hear...

The New Disney Blockbuster [Aladdin] has arrived on Broadway, and audiences and critics agree: this show's a hit!  The producers of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Newsies have brought the beloved story of Aladdin to thrilling theatrical life in this bold new musical comedy that The Huffington Post calls, "One of the most delirious things of its kind in years!" Filled with daring adventure, classic comedy and timeless romance, ALADDIN is "fabulous" and "extravagant," says The New York Times. ALADDIN features all your favorite songs from the film as well as new music written by Tony and Academy Award winner Alan Menken with lyrics penned by the legendary Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast), and Tony Award winner Tim Rice (The Lion King, Aida).  The Disney musical  Aladdin , which currently plays Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre, makes three national television appearances on the ABC network April 15. Following a firs...