Barbra Streisand Returning to Musical Movies With Gypsy Remake

Barbra Streisand is in negotiations to star in a remake of 1962 burlesque movie musical Gypsy.

The singer/actress has stayed away from starring roles since her turn in 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces, only appearing on the big screen in a supporting role in 2004's Meet The Fockers and current release Little Fockers.

But she is eyeing a return to leading roles and is in talks with Warner Bros. bosses to play Rose Hovick, the pushy mother of real-life burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee.

According to reports, Streisand has also met with the original stage show's lyricist Stephen Sondheim to discuss the role.

Rosalind Russell played the character in the movie, while Ethel Merman took on the original role on Broadway.

Rent to Be Revived Off-Broadway

Rent, the groundbreaking 1994 musical by Jonathan Larson, will be revived off-Broadway in June with a cast of unknown actors.

According to the New York Post, original director Michael Greif will stage the show at the New World Stages after the Tony Awards.

The original Rent launched the careers of stars including Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal. It won four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, closing in 2008 after 5,124 performances.

'Jersey Boys' Heading to the Big Screen

GK Films, the new production company from producer Graham King (The Departed, The Town), has nabbed the feature film rights to the Tony award winning mega-hit musical Jersey Boys, according to Deadline New York.

About the seemingly overnight success of the Four Seasons (i.e. Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi) in the 1960s, the film will include the group’s hit songs, like “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Oh What a Night.”

The screenplay will be written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who wrote the book of the show. Vallie and Gaudio will executive produce.

No word yet on when it will be released.

Adam Shankman Gets Ready to 'Rock'

"Hairspray" helmer Adam Shankman is signing on to direct and choreograph the screen version of the Broadway musical "Rock of Ages" for New Line Cinema.

The film will begin production by next summer and be released by Warner Bros. in 2011.

The musical's creator, Chris D'Arienzo, scripted the movie adaptation. Carl Levin, Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Gibgot will produce. Janet Billig and Hillary Weaver are executive producers.

"I had the best time of my life making 'Hairspray' and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched 'Rock of Ages,' I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs," Shankman told Daily Variety. "What an extraordinary opportunity to open the genre to an audience that otherwise wouldn't go see a musical."

The tuner tells of two people who meet at the Sunset Strip club Rock of Ages, fall in love and try to stay together amid'80s rock anthems made popular by Journey, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar and other groups. New Line is clearing music rights to the tunes.

Since its move to Broadway, "Rock of Ages" fills most of its 1,000 seats at Brooks Atkinson Theater, helped by five Tony nominations. The show will begin a worldwide rollout over the next several years.

Shankman said he hopes to shoot the picture in its proper setting, which means lensing in Los Angeles. Shankman said, "I'm thinking big, and absolutely am going to attempt to cast with movie stars. Now that musicals are working again, actors are much more open to it."

Broadway Summer 2009 Preview

Going to New York early on this summer? Want to catch a show? Here's a taste of what you won't want to miss!

Last summer The Public Theater's Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rick Musical was the show to see. So much so in fact that you can still get your "Summer of Love" fix on Broadway this year at the Al Hirschfeld Theater.

This summer, Shakespeare in the Park is going to knock it out of the ballpark again. Daniel Sullivan is presenting a star-studded production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night featuring Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald, Raúl Esparza, Stark Sands, and Julie White. Performances run from June 10th - July 12th at the beautiful Delacorte Theater in Central Park and tickets are free. Be sure to wake up early and get a spot in line.

On Broadway there is also plenty to see. Dolly Parton fans, look no further... 9 to 5 has finally arrived! Allison Janney teams up with Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty to cause all kinds of trouble, much to our collective delight. Meanwhile, the men in the show are hot! Mark Kudish, Andy Karl, and cutie-pie Van Hughes will steal your hearts away with their singing, dancing and masculine wiles.

If you're looking for a revival, run to the electric production of West Side Story, playing at the historic Palace Theatre on Broadway. Arthur Laurents directs a stellar cast including pretty boy Matt Cavenaugh, the stunning Josefina Scaglione, and memorable Karen Olivo.

On the other side of Broadway, Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, and Jeff Daniels tear up the stage in God of Carnage, a comedy of manners...without the manners.

And if you're flocking to Times Square between now and early June, you can still catch Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon, and Lauren Ambrose, and Andrea Martin in Eugene Ionesco's comedy, Exit the King at the Barrymore.

Off Broadway, the talk of the town is Leslie Ayvazian's latest play, Make Me, opening May 31st at The Atlantic Theater Company. If you don't know Ayvazian you're in for a real treat. She is one of the coolest women working on the New York theater scene. Her play, Nine Armenians, ran at the Manhattan Theatre Club and won the John Gassner Outer Critics Award for Best New Play. The smart director Christian Parker leads a cast that includes New York favorites: Jessica Hecht and Candy Buckley.

In this latest naughty comic adventure, six pent-up Americans have reached the end of their ropes and the rules all change. What length will they go to be seen, heard, and obeyed? Avyazian challenges our assumptions about what makes love work and who's really in charge.

For the adventurous theatergoer, Fuerza Bruta: Look Up is a must. The sexy show offers a monthly "Boys Night" where ripped performers slip and slide in a giant pool that hovers inches above the audience. Upcoming "Boys Nights" at Fuerza Bruta are happening on Saturday May 30th and Saturday, June 27th at 10:00 pm.

Elsewhere, the Midtown International Theatre Festival is teaming up with the Fresh Fruit Festival to present an inclusive, multidiscipline International Festival of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Cultural & Arts Festival under the direction of artistic director Carol Polcovar. The program has yet to be announced, but will feature at least eight plays from July 13th - August 2nd at various venues.

Meanwhile, this year's New York International Fringe Festival is running from August 14th - 30th all over Manhattan. With over 200 shows, 4,500 artists, and over 75,000 tickets this year's festival will surely offer a variety of colorful and queer options. Recent success stories from the FringeNYC include: Confessions of a Mormon Boy, Debbie Does Dallas, Dixie's Tupperware Party, Urinetown: The Musical, and Matt&Ben.

Christina Aguilera Going "Burlesque"

Christina Aguilera will make her screen debut for Screen Gems in "Burlesque," a contemporary musical that Steven Antin will direct. Antin wrote a script that was revised by "Erin Brockovich" scribe Susannah Grant.

Aguilera will play an ambitious smalltown girl with a big voice who finds love, family and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club that appears to be right out of Bob Fosse's "Cabaret."

Donald De Line will produce rhe picture which will shoot later this year.

While Aguilera has won four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy and has sold more than 25 million albums, she has never starred in a film, though she lent her voice to the animated "Shark Tale."

"I couldn't be more excited, as this was a project written with her in mind," Screen Gems topper Clint Culpepper said.

Deal comes on the heels of Screen Gems benefiting from the star power of another songstress, Beyonce Knowles, who toplined thriller hit "Obsessed."

Hugh Jackman Plans "Carousel" Trip with Oscars Partner, Anne Hathaway

Hugh Jackman is trying to persuade his Oscars dancing partner Anne Hathaway to join him on the Carousel.

The Aussie star has developed a script for the beloved Stephen Sondheim musical and he wants Hathaway to play Julie Jordan opposite his Billy Bigelow.

He says, "I've been looking to do a musical film for some time and after things like Moulin Rouge!, Chicago and Hairspray, I think there's a real opportunity there."

And he's clear only Hathaway will do as his leading lady: "I've been filling up her answering machine with messages about Carousel."

Hathaway, who joined Jackman for a song and dance at the Oscars, is about to embark on her own musical journey - she will star in a new theatre and film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz star Judy Garland's life.

Michael Jackson's Thriller to Become a Musical

Michael Jackson will help develop his ground-breaking "Thriller" video into a musical theater production, producers said on Monday.

Jackson's 1982 "Thriller" album is the world's biggest selling album and the theater production will recreate the tale of the 14-minute horror film spoof based on the title song. In the video, a young couple are on a date when the boy -- played by Jackson in the video -- becomes a werewolf.

"This musical will be the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of 'Thriller' and Jackson will participate in every aspect of the creative process," said the Nederland Organization, which has acquired the rights to the musical.

"Thriller The Musical" will include songs from "Thriller" and Jackson's 1979 album "Off The Wall."

The "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies and horror film star Vincent Price, was first aired in 1983 and became a staple of MTV. It was directed by filmmaker John Landis, who said it cost $500,000 -- about 10 times the cost of the standard music video of the time.

Jackson's spokesman, Dr. Tohme Tohme, said in the Nederland Organization statement: "The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so let the music begin."

Jackson, 50, is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time and began his musical career with his siblings in the Motown group the Jackson 5 before starting a solo career.

But the singer has been dogged since the 1990s by scandal and revelations about his eccentric lifestyle. He was tried and acquitted of child sex abuse charges in 2005.

Jackson also has been plagued with financial troubles in the past few years and narrowly averted a foreclosure sale of his Neverland Ranch in May. In November, he handed over the title of Neverland to a company made up of himself and the firm that holds the $24 million loan on the property.

Elton John to Write AIDS Musical

Pop star Elton John has announced that he will be writing a new musical film about AIDS for actor and director Ben Stiller.

The singer wrote the scores for the stage adaption of Billy Elliot in 2005, and Broadway version of The Lion King, and is now branching out into more controversial material.

John told GQMen.Style that the musical is "about a guy on Broadway who is gay, has HIV and AIDS, and has to go back and face his wife and kids that he left.

"It's very funny. The premise doesn't sound funny, but it is. Alright?"

When asked about his attitude towards musicals generally, John said that he was not usually a fan of the genre. He said:

"I like some of the classic ones.

"'West Side Story,' for me, is the greatest musical ever written. But I don’t like forced fun.

"I’m more drawn to tragedy than 'Let’s all have a great time,' and I’m not keen on the music in musicals sometimes.

"I’m quite fussy about it. I don’t really like them unless I’m involved in them, for some reason."

(Article from Pink News)