Broadway: King Charles III would make Shakespeare Proud

If you have scheduled a destination corporate meeting in New York City over the next 11 weeks, you might want us to help you check out King Charles III on Broadway. 

The play will take your attendees to the not-to-distant future where Charles, Prince of Wales, finally becomes King of England. He's an idealist, but is surrounded by vultures: a treacherous family, sneaky politicians, and a disloyal court.

What begins as a satire on the royal family and the English transforms into a production with the royals behaving much as their public personae. But the plot deepens into something Shakespearean in its intensity. In fact, there are many Shakespearean allusions, including an unexpected ghost who is one of the forces against Charles. Then there is the Duchess of Cambridge, played by Lydia Wilson, who has learned her trade at Lady Macbeth's knee, and children you would swear were King Lear's.

King Charles III is a fantastic, mature play with a limited engagement.

Shackman Associates New York provides destination corporate meeting, association convention, and incentive travel groups with unique Broadway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Bruce Willis Heads to Broadway via Stephen King

Action star Bruce Willis will make his Broadway debut this this fall in a stage version of Stephen King's "Misery."

Willis will play the role of hostage-author Paul Sheldon (played in the 1990 movie by James Caan), and Elizabeth Marvel will play Annie Wilkes, Sheldon's self-proclaimed biggest fan who captures him after he's in a car accident and forces him to rewrite his new book so it's more to her liking. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance as Annie in the original movie.

Shackman Associates provides destination corporate meeting, association convention and incentive travel program attendees with unique Broadway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

A Big Bang for "God" on Broadway

Jim Parson, the most popular science nerd on TV, is taking on a more heavenly role as the voice of God on Broadway. 

The 41-year-old "The Big Bang Theory" star is the lead in "An Act of God",which began previews yesterday and opens at the end of this month. The comedy production is based on the critically acclaimed book written by "God" and transcribed by "The Daily Show's" David Javerbaum.  While Parson may be best known for his role on TV, he told "Today" that Broadway is really is home. His last performance was in the 2012 revival of Harvey.

Shackman Associates New York provides destination corporate meeting, association convention and incentive travel program attendees with unique Broadway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Broadway: Watch the Magic of Penn and Teller

Penn and Teller might be the world's most famous magicians, and they have been bringing their radical brand of legerdemain to audiences for years. From July 7 to Aug. 16, they will be on Broadway with a limited engagement at the Marquis Theatre. 

Shackman Associates New York provides destination corporate meeting, association convention, and incentive travel program attendees with unique Broadway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Dr. Zhivago Opens on Broadway

The wait is over! Doctor Zhivago, based on Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize-winning 20th-century epic Russian masterpiece, opens on Tuesday, April 21.

The production stars Tam Mutu (Donmar Warehouse’s City of Angels), who is making his Broadway debut as the passionate Doctor and poet Yurii Zhivago, Kelli Barrett (Wicked) as the alluring Lara Guishar, Tony Award nominee Tom Hewitt (Rocky Horror Show) as the cynical bourgeois magistrate Viktor Komarovsky, Paul Alexander Nolan (Jesus Chris Superstar) as political radical Pasha Antipov, and Lora Lee Gayer as Tonia Gromeko, Zhivago’s devoted wife.

Doctor Zhivago will be directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), with a book by Academy Award nominee Michael Weller (Ragtime), music by two-time Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Lucy Simon (The Secret Garden), lyrics by Tony Award nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens) and Emmy Award nominee Amy Powers (Ella Enchanted), and choreography by Tony Award nominee Kelly Devine (Rocky).

Doctor Zhivago, an epic romance, is based on the search for love during the final days of Czarist Russia, the First World War and the Russian revolution. Despite his aristocratic background, Zhivago is a political idealist whose life is influenced by the history around him. He is torn between a life with his devoted wife, Tonia, and the passionate and mysterious Lara Guishar. However, Lara is being pursued by many others as well. For Zhivago, he cannot live without her! 

Shackman Associates provides destination corporate meeting, association convention and incentive travel program groups with unique Boradway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World on Broadway

The hit show "Mad Men" is ending soon, and Elizabeth Moss, its biggest star outside of "Don Draper" is headed to Broadway to star in the  revival of Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Heidi Chronicles.”

The production also features Jason Biggs (“Orange is the New Black,” “American Pie”) and Bryce Pinkham, the Tony-nominated co-star of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” and Off Broadway regular Tracee Chimo (“Bad Jews,” “Orange is the New Black”). Pam MacKinnon, who won a Tony for her direction of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is the director.

"Heidi Chronicles" is one of the best-known plays written by the late Wasserstein and follows the title character from her 1960s high school days through her career as an art historian. It hasn’t appeared on Broadway since the initial 1989 transfer of the Off-Broadway staging at Playwrights Horizons.

Shackman Associates New York provides corporate meeting, association convention, and destination incentive travel program groups with unique Broadway and Off-Broadway experiences that frequently include backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

One-night Theater a Huge Entertainment Trend in Manhattan

While Broadway has increasingly added limited-run shows where ticket-demand is high, what would you do if a great show was running for only one night?

We recently caught a production in this category and it was amazing. It was directed by one of the actors from the HBO hit series "The Sopranos" and fellow cast-members were in attendance. Based on Marlon Brando, it's the kind of show that could make a serious run on Broadway, but it didn't, and that's ok.

Sometimes less is more valuable and rewarding.

Shackman Associates New York provides destination corporate meeting, association convention, and incentive travel program groups with unique Broadway and Off-Broadway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Hugh Jackman Planning a One-Man Show for Broadway Return

When Hugh Jackman wraps up a Broadway run like he did last month with "The River", we are always left wanting more. And as usual, Jackson is already planning a return with a one-man show that is focused on dance. He is working again with Warren Carlysle, who staged "Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway."

The idea around the production is also intriguing, even if it didn't include Jackman. But the actor's fingerprints are all over it, because his upcoming production is based on his 1998 role in "Oklahoma," a London revival where he and Carslyle worked together. There is one scene where a chorus boy did a solo that ended in a split. On the production's final night, Jackson did the split himself!

It should be noted that Jackman is also one of Broadway top philanthropy draws. The shirts worn by him  during performances have been auctioned off for as much as $5,000 each, which in-turn helped bring in $550,000 of the $5.2 million raised for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.

Shackman Associates New York provides destination corporate meeting, association convention, and incentive travel program groups with unique Broadway experiences that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Alexander Hamilton Becomes a Hip-Hop Mogul on Broadway

With Presidents Day in the U.S. only 6 days away, the Founding Father that is the talk of New York is Alexander Hamilton. And he wasn't a President!

But Hamilton is a hot ticket for the Off-Broadway production named after him. Based on the biography by Ron Chernow, the production has one very unusual the twist. It's hip-hop! And if you think some of the most recognizable names on Broadway would thumb their noses at "Hamilton", think again. Andrew Lloyd Weber, who himself transformed Broadway's look and sound, tweeted: "Just seen #Hamilton, it raises & changes the bar for musical. Brilliant lyrics, staging, cast. Creator/les @Lin_Manuel is special. ALW."

Shackman Associates New Yok provides unique Broadway experiences to corporate meeting, association convention, and destination incentive attendees that have included backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

The Mind Behind "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiam" Opens on Broadway

While "American Sniper" is setting new box office records, Broadway has something very similar going on the "Fish in the Dark" by Larry David. The creator and star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will make his Broadway debut as an actor and playwright at the Cort Theater in 2015.

How hot is this ticket? It has already blown past the Nathan Lane-Matthew Broderick production of "It's Only a Play" in ticket sales and previews don't even start until February 2!
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"Fish in the Dark" is directed by Anna Shapiro, who won a 2008 Tony Award for her direction of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "August: Osage County", and Scott Rudin in the producer.

Inspired by the death of a friend's father, David's play features approximately 15 characters.We are hearing that David, co-creator and head writer of "Seinfeld, might even play himself, but maybe under a different name. It sounds kind of crazy, which is probably exactly the way David likes it! 

Shackman Associates New York provides corporate meeting, association convention and destination incentive groups with unique Broadway experiences that have included  backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Glenn Close and John Lithgow break records on Broadway

The Scott Rudin revival production of "A Delicate Balance" has broken the house sales record at the Shubert-owned Golden Theatre previously set by "Driving Miss Daisy" in 2010. It is staged by Pamela MacKinnon and stars 3-time Tony Award-winner Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Lindsay Duncan, Bob Balaban, Clare Higgins and Martha Plimpton.

Close and Lithgow play empty nesters so controlled you might think they were OCD. Well, they can throw their carefully scripted life out the window when their alcoholic sister, spoiled daughter fresh off a breakup of her fourth marriage, and a few "threatened" friends arrive for a weekend of chaos!

Shackman Associates New York provides corporate meeting, association convention and destination incentive groups with unique Broadway experiences that regularly include backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Off-Broadway Production Pays a Unique Tribute to John Lennon

If you are a fan of the Beatles, then you'll love one of the most unique tributes to the band's heart and soul, John Lennon.  Having just opened at the Union Square Theater, the Off-Broadway production "Lennon: Through a Glass Onion," features 31 songs including "Imagine," "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds."

Starring actor and musician John Waters, the show also treats its audience to spoken word at different stages in Lennon's career to collect an unsugarcoated essence of the ironic obscurity of someone so famous.

If your destination meeting group loves the Beatles, Shackman Associates New York can help you plan an entire block of time that highlights their experience here.  From the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park to recording studios and other venues they frequented, the UK's most famous band was a huge player in the Big Apple.