BroadwayCon Adds Avenue Q and Rodgers and Hammerstein Events
(© David Gordon)
Original members of Avenue Q's Broadway cast and creative team of will reunite this weekend on the BroadwayCon Mainstage for a special Q&A panel, celebrating the musical's 15-year run.
The show's Tony-winning composer, Robert Lopez, along with former cast members Carmen Ruby Floyd, Howie Michael Smith, Erin Quill, Tony nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo, and Ann Harada, are confirmed to attend. BroadwayCon moderators Ben Cameron and Danny Jordan will host the event scheduled to take place from 4:40pm-5:30pm at the Ziegfeld Ballroom on Saturday, January 12.
Avenue Q is the winner of three 2004 Tony Awards including Best Musical and is currently running at New World Stages, with its final performance scheduled for April 28. Upon closing, the show will have played 6,537 performances.
BroadwayCon has additionally added two special events, presented by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. The first event, scheduled for Friday, January 11, from 6:35pm-7:30pm on the Mainstage is a cabaret titled R&H Goes Pop!, featuring Broadway stars performing contemporary takes on classic Rodgers & Hammerstein songs.
The concert will be hosted by two-time Tony nominee Laura Osnes (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella), who will also perform. Other performers include Jelani Alladin (Frozen), Boyfriend, Lilli Cooper (Spongebob Squarepants), Damon Daunno (Oklahoma!), Matt Doyle (Sweeney Todd), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Oklahoma!), Derek Klena (Anastasia), Anthony Rapp (If/Then), and Ali Stroker (Oklahoma!). The concert will culminate in a special on-site announcement and sneak preview of a new YouTube series that R&H will be sharing on their social channels on Monday, January 14. Musical direction is by Benjamin Rauhala.
The second event of the weekend will be a panel conversation titled Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Then and Now: Celebrating 75 Years, scheduled for Sunday, January 13, at 1:45pm in the Trianon Ballroom. The panel will celebrate the legacy and continued life of the show, covering the history of the first American musical, which revolutionized the art form, and the modern interpretations of the show that continue to be so relevant today.
Participants in the conversation will include Ted Chapin (chief creative officer, the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization), Damon Daunno (Curly in the Oklahoma! revival at St. Ann's Warehouse), Eva Price (producer of the upcoming Oklahoma! revival at the Circle in the Square), Todd S. Purdum (author of Something Wonderful), and Tatiana Wechsler (Curly in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Oklahoma!). The panel will be led by guest moderator Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, and board member of the American Theatre Wing and Lincoln Center.
BroadwayCon is theater's answer to Comic Con, tailor-made for fans. BroadwayCon 2019 will feature panels, performances, interviews, workshops, sing-alongs, and more, all packed into an epic three-day weekend. It will take place January 11-13 at the New York Hilton Midtown.
