Kevin Kline, Ramin Karimloo, Tony Awards 2017 and More

Since our last Broadway Round-Up here on LondonTheatre.co.uk, the 2016-2017 Broaway season has really kicked off over in New York with a handful of productions beginning previews. These include the star-studded revival of the 1928 comedy The Front Page (which boasts Nathan Lane, John Goodman, John Slattery and Holland Taylor, among others), the Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway transfer of two-hander drama Heisenberg (starring Mary-Louise Parker and Denis Arndt), Simon McBurney's 3D audio presentation of The Encounter (which has already wowed audiences in Edinburgh and at London's Barbican), the Broadway debut of Nick Kroll & John Mulaney's alter egos Gil Faizon & George St. Geegland (as seen on "Comedy Central") with Oh, Hello on Broadway and finally, a much-anticipated Broadway revival of James Lapine and William Finn's cult musical Falsettos (starring Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells and Stephanie J. Block). With even more high-calibre shows opening over the next few weeks, New York City is certainly the place to be right now!

It was announced that Kevin Kline - one of Broadway's favourite actors - will return to the stage next year and star as Garry Essendine in Noël Coward's classic comedy Present Laughter. This will mark the two-time Tony Award-winning actor's first NY stage outing in over a decade and will surely be a hot ticket when Present Laughter officially opens at Broadway's St. James Theatre on 5th April 2017. Kline famously won an Oscar for his role in "A Fish Called Wanda" in 1989. His Tony-winning performances in  'On the Twentieth Century' (1978) and 'The Pirates of Penzance' (1981) established him as a Broadway megastar early on in his illustrious career.

Good news for one of the West End's favourite leading men! Ramin Karimloo (who can currently be seen in Murder Ballad at the Arts Theatre) will be returning to the Great White Way! After wowing Broadway audiences and critics alike with his turn as Jean Valjean in Cameron Mackintosh's recent revival of Les Misérables at Broadway's Imperial Theatre and picking up a Tony nomination in 2014, Karimloo will head back to New York and take on the role of Gleb in the Broadway premiere of the stage adaptation of Anastasia, based on the 1997 animated musical feature film. Previews begin at the Broadhurst Theatre on 23 March 2017, before an official opening on 24 April. Having already staged a successful out-of-town tryout at the Hartford Stage in Connecticut in May of this year, the tuner is looking like one-to-watch in the race to next year's Tony Awards!

Speaking of the Tonys, it's time to mark your 2017 calendars, theatre afficionados because the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing have officially announced those important dates for next year... The 71st Annual Tony Awards will be held on Sunday, 11th June 2017. The venue and host of the ceremony will be announced at a later date. This year Radio City Music Hall was unavailable and so the Awards were moved to the Beacon Theatre, with our very own James Corden as host. Who would your dream host be next year? Due to his phenomenal job this year, we've already heard rumblings that Mr. Corden (a Tony winner himself for One Man, Two Guvnors) is in the running to return in 2017. The Tony nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 2nd May 2017 and all shows wishing to be considered must have officially opened on or before the eligibility cut-off date of Thursday, 27th April 2017.

In casting news, it was confirmed that Broadway favourite Mamie Parris will take on the iconic role of Grizabella in Cats, following X Factor winner Leona Lewis' departure on 9th October. Ms. Parris will be switching from one Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to another, as she can currently be seen starring as Patty in School of Rock - The Musical at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre. Rachel Ann Go will reprise her West End role as Gigi in the Broadway transfer of Cameron Mackintosh's revival of Miss Saigon next Spring, whilst Devin Ilaw reprises his role as Thuy from the Toronto production. They join the previously announced West End stars Eva Noblezada (as Kim) and Olivier Award nominee Jon Jon Briones (as The Engineer). Finally, the eternal revolving cast door of Chicago will also welcome Veronica Dunne (from the Disney Channel's "K.C. Undercover"), who will make her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart for a six-week limited engagement from 17 October through to 26 November 2016. Will Veronica be the name on everybody's lips, we wonder...

Finally we would like to offer our Congratulations to British director extraordinaire Michael Grandage and his longtime collaborator Christopher Oram, who (after much speculation) have now been officially announced as director and scenic & costume designer, respectively, for Disney Theatrical's upcoming stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning 2013 animated classic Frozen. We can't wait to see how Mr. Grandage and Mr. Oram reimagine the icy kingdom of Arendelle for the Broadway stage, but patience will have to remain a virtue until the Broadway opening in Spring 2018.

That's it for this edition of the Broadway Round-Up but be sure to check out NewYorkTheatreGuide.com for all the latest Broadway and off-Broadway news as it happens!