Broadway

CHICAGO – Idina Menzel is an icon of the Great White Way and is appropriately nicknamed “Queen of Broadway.” She and her sister Cara have released their new children’s book “Proud Mouse,” a veiled story of their sisterhood. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com got Exclusive Portraits of both at a recent book signing.

CHICAGO – Lila Neugebauer has made her transition complete. The well-known stage director morphed into a behind-the-camera director, beginning with TV and culminating in her recent Apple TV+ film debut “Causeway,” featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry in a film of hope and redemption.

CHICAGO – Lila Neugebauer has made the transition complete. The well-known stage director morphed into a behind the camera director, beginning with TV and culminating in her recent Apple TV+ film debut “Causeway,” featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry in a film of hope and redemption.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Better Nate Than Ever – a new live action film from Walt Disney Studios, – an adaptation by writer/director Tim Federle from his own 2013 novel, streaming on Disney+ beginning Friday, April 1st.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 9th, 2021, reviewing the new film “Come From Away” – a staged version of the Broadway musical hit – streaming on AppleTV+ beginning September 10th, 2021.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 10th, 2020, reviewing the new film “The Prom,” streaming on Netflix starting December 11th.

CHICAGO – In 1973, director Norman Jewison fashioned a radical film version of the rock opera/Broadway show “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and the cinematic innovations plus stellar cast equaled a timeless movie musical classic. Josh Mostel portrayed King Herod and Barry Dennen was Pontius Pilate in the iconic film.

CHICAGO – How does one man rediscover and revive an art form? This question is answered in the magnificent “Bathtubs Over Broadway,” a 2018 documentary about the quest of comedy writer Steve Young, as he saves the legacy of the “industrial musical,” a form of American corporate entertainment from the 1950s through the ‘70s. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com will host a screening of the film on Monday, May 13th, 2019 (7:30pm), and facilitate a discussion afterward, at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove, Ill. To purchase tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – Carol Channing was always, seemingly, full of sunshine. With her unique voice and “back row” Broadway singing chops, the eternal ingenue sparkled through a remarkable seven decade show business career. Ms. Channing died on January 15th, 2019, at the age of 97, at her home in Rancho Mirage, California.

CHICAGO – There are cultural heroes, and then there is comedy writer Steve Young. Through sheer happenstance, he began a journey that ended up with a rediscovery of an art form that without Young’s intervention would have died. The U.S. corporation Broadway-style “industrial musical,” which highlighted products or sales meetings in a song and dance presentation, were at its peak popularity from the 1950s through the ‘70s. “Bathtubs Over Broadway” is Young’s documentary of appreciation for those shows and and his intervention to revive them.