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A contemporary anime film has broken new ground for the medium by landing a spot on The New York Times' "100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" list. The work in question is none other than Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar Award-winning hit, Spirited Away.

The New York Times' official cinematic ranking includes films released since January 1, 2000. Among a voting pool consisting of more than "500 influential directors, actors and other notable names in Hollywood," Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away was selected as the ninth-best film of the past century. Initially released in 2001, the film is a poignant coming-of-age story set in an imaginative world inspired by Japanese mythology. While lovingly describing Spirited Away as the "Alice in Wonderland" of our age, The New York Times also praises it for intricate themes such as "loss of innocence" and "man's corruption of nature," which are famously woven throughout the narrative.

Severance Star Praises Studio...

At last year’s Tony Awards, Danya Taymor took Broadway’s biggest night by surprise with her victory for directing Best Musical winner The Outsiders. Only 18 Gold Derby users were predicting her to prevail, favoring instead Maria Friedman for Best Musical Revival winner Merrily We Roll Along and Michael Greif, a theater veteran looking for his first-ever Tony for musical Hell’s Kitchen.

Now on her second Tony nomination in as many years, Taymor looks to pull off another unexpected victory, this time for new play John Proctor Is the Villain. Even though Oh, Mary! helmer Sam Pinkleton is out front in Gold Derby’s odds, our users are not underestimating Taymor again, as she ranks second in the category with a contingent of backers. If she wins again this year, she would make Tony Awards history.

Watch our interview with Tony nominee Sadie Sink, ‘John Proctor is the Villain...

The American Theatre Wing will soon be announcing the Tonys' Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. It traditionally goes to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers, and designers. In some years there are multiple honorees. Last year's recipients were directors Jack O'Brien and George C. Wolfe.

Several living male Broadway vets have already received this award: Paul Gemignani, Alan Ayckbourn, Athol Fugard, Tommy Tune, Marshall W. Mason, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Harold Wheeler, Joel Grey, and John Kander. Here are 10 possibilities, all accomplished men over the age of 65. Vote in our poll below to let us know who you’d like to see honored.

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John Caird

Two-time Tony-winning director for The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982) and Les Misérables (1987). Additional nominations for helming Stanley (1997) and cowriting Jane Eyre the Musical (2001).

Tim Curry

Three-time Tony-nominated actor for Amadeus (1981), My Favorite Year...

Hayao Miyazaki fans are uniting online in condemnation of AI-generated animations that seemingly attempt to recreate the visual style of Studio Ghibli's works. The new clips, created by a professional special effects artist, have prompted many animation enthusiasts to protest on behalf of Ghibli's famed co-founder.

Recently, "Tsuka" of Catsuka highlighted a series of AI-generated clips that feature striking similarities to Studio Ghibli's works, including several depicting lookalikes of Chihiro Ogino and Haku from Spirited Away (2001). Taking into account Ghibli's strong personal stance against AI art, Catsuka concludes that the involved AI tools were "trained" on Ghibli works without the studio's consent, which is plausible given the derivative nature of many AI programs. "I hope Hayao Miyazaki never sees these videos," @Catsuka commented in an X (formerly Twitter post), which has earned over 11lk likes on social media over the course of three days.

RelatedResearchers Discover Rare Fish From...

San, the titular character from Studio Ghibli's 1997 fantasy hit, Princess Mononoke, is one of the company's most beloved female icons. In a surprising act of tribute, a group of Chinese researchers have named their latest discovery after the iconic character.

As detailed on BBC News, a species of deepwater tilefish belonging to the Branchiostegidae family was recently confirmed as an unidentified species. The fish, which dwells within the South China Sea as deep as 200 meters below the surface, has a pale pink body with prominent red cheek stripes under its eyes. Noting this, the research team decided to name it "Branchiostegus sanae," in reference to Studio Ghibli's San. Until recently, there were only 30 described species in the family as a whole, making the finding particularly significant within the realm of oceanic research. "Finding a new species in this group is a rare and fortunate event, especially one as distinctive as Branchiostegus sanae,...

Last year, the official live-action stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away made its international debut at the London Coliseum Theatre. Recently, the production took home a major prize at the UK-based theater competition, WhatsOnStage, officially cementing a special place in entertainment history.

Per Oricon, Spirited Away: Live on Stage was gifted the title of "Best New Play" at the 25th annual Whatsonstage awards, which was held on Feb. 9, 2025. Developed by John Caird of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Spirited Away's stage adaptation recreates the original film's story with grandiose set pieces, innovative puppetry techniques and a live orchestral performance of Joe Hisaishi's famous score. The show's London run, which lasted from April 30, 2024, to August 24, 2024, was enormously successful. According to Oricon, Spirited Away sold out all 2,300 seats each night, totaling over 300,000 spectators over the course of its four-month run.

RelatedMarch 8 Will Be a Great Day for My...

Studio Ghibli has released an adorable new figurine of the radish spirit from its beloved anime film masterpiece Spirited Away.

Ghibli's official online storefront, Donguri Sora, has added "Shirasama" to its exclusive collection of "bobble-body" mini figures. Crafted from Pvc material, this figure depicts the character holding up a Japanese-style fan. The radish spirit's upper body bobbles on an iron spring, which is intended to mimic the dance he performs during the film. He also comes attached to a small stand. The figure is about 3.7 inches tall and 3.1 inches wide, making it ideal for display on a table or desk. Including tax, the retail price is 1,540 yen (about $10.25 Usd).

Related Miyazaki-Storyboarded Commercial for Studio Ghibli Evokes Howl's Moving Castle Magic A new animated short by Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki for Ghibli Park's new Valley of Witches evokes all the magic of Howl's Moving Castle. Close

Released in 2001, Spirited Away...

Spirited Away: Live on Stage is now available on HBO's Max streaming service for Western audiences.

In 2022, Studio Ghibli collaborated with Toho's theater division to bring Hayao Miyazaki's iconic masterpiece, Spirited Away, to life on stage, with Mone Kamishiraishi (Your Name) and Kanna Hashimoto (live-action Assassination Classroom) double-cast as the film's heroine, Chihiro. As detailed on ComicBook.com, English-subtitled versions of both productions are now available on HBO's main streaming service.

Related Studio Ghibli Unveils Special New Year's Illustration Drawn by Hayao Miyazaki To ring in the year of the dragon, Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki presents his own version of the official mascot for 2024.

In Japan, Spirited Away: Live on Stage had two separate runs, each featuring a different set of cast members. The first version ran at Tokyo's Imperial Theater from February to March 2022. During its initial run, audiences were deeply impressed by the production, which used...

The stage adaptation of Spirited Away, one of Hayao Miyazaki's most successful animated films, is set to release on digital and Blu-ray later this year.

Spirited Away is an Academy Award-winning Studio Ghibli film that has captured the hearts of people around the world since its debut in 2001. The stage adaptation of Spirited Away premiered in Japan on Feb. 28, 2022 to wide acclaim. Tony Award Winner John Caird directed and adapted Miyazaki's most famous film for the stage, successfully bringing his story to life. The beautiful sets and clothing, along with the new musical numbers and master puppetry by Tobie Olie, has captivated audiences throughout Japan. The filmed performances also debuted successfully in theaters in North America earlier this year. As reported by Gkids, the release of Spirited Away: Live on Stage will be distributed by Shout! Studios.

Related: Spirited Away Isn't the Innocent Children's Story We Thought It Was...

Spirited Away is one of director Hayao Miyazaki's most famous films, and it was recently adapted into a stage play in Japan. The animated-movie-turned-play ran for several months, first in Tokyo and then touring across Japan. Now, it's time for London audiences to experience the show with the original Japanese cast.

Studio Ghibli has produced some of the most successful and influential animated films of the last 20 years. Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Ponyo are some of the studio's most prominent projects. Per Anime News Network, in March 2022, Toho Stage — a Tokyo production company focused on producing stage plays, which recently celebrated its 90th anniversary — debuted its production of Spirited Away. The beloved Miyazaki film was turned into a stunning show, featuring puppets and practical effects to bring the magical creatures of the story to life.

Related: 15 Valuable Life Lessons Chihiro Learned In Spirited Away...

Spirited Away is one of the most, if not the most, successful animated movies ever made. It is currently the only hand-drawn animated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It also held the record as Japan’s highest-grossing film for up to 19 years until it was beaten by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train.

Related: 15 Highest Grossing Anime Movies

On the Spirited Away’s twentieth anniversary, a stage adaptation of the movie was announced with John Caird as writer and director. Spirited Away: Live on Stage received the full blessing of Hayao Miyazaki himself and premiered in Tokyo on February 28, 2022. This year, screenings of the production have been shown in U.S. theaters as part of the year-long Studio Ghibli Fest. Excited fans will want to discover everything they can about this new version of their favorite movie.

It's Not A Musical...

With "Spirited Away: Live on Stage," Tony Award-winning theater director John Caird took on the risky yet rewarding creative challenge of adapting one of the most beloved animated films ever made. To date, Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's original animated version of "Spirited Away" remains the only non-English language film to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Just last year, it made Sight and Sound's once-a-decade list of the greatest movies of all time.

Fortunately, "Spirited Away: Live on Stage" had an asset in Caird, who originated the long-running "Les Misérables" stage adaptation in London and now serves as honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. When "Spirited Away: Live on Stage" premiered last March in Japan, it was able to immediately sidestep any concerns about doing Miyazaki's film justice with the release of several eye-catching images, showing what Caird and collaborators like puppetry designer Toby Olié had accomplished.

The Tony Award-winning stage director John Caird, who's a renowned figure in the prestigious world of theater for directing massive stage productions (including 1987's Les Misérables) that have graced the stages of famous venues like Broadway, recently entered the realm of anime by adapting Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning masterpiece Spirited Away.

Screen Rant recently had the honor of speaking with John Caird, who is also an honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, about his stage production of Spirited Away: Live On Stage, which was filmed during its 2022 run at the historic Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan. The production, as Caird told Screen Rant, features poems that were initially written by Hayao Miyazaki himself to help influence and inspire what would later become the film's iconic soundtrack.

Related: What No-Face Represents In Spirited Away

Caird's interview with Screen Rant includes other tantalizing details and behind-the-scenes facts like this...

Gkids will release filmed performances of theStudio Ghibli/Toho co-production "Spirited Away: Live On Stage", directed by 'Tony' award winner John Caird, based on the "Spirited Away" comic books by Hayao Miyazaki, recorded during performances in Tokyo, Japan's Imperial Theatre in 2022:

"...'Chihiro' and her parents are traveling to their new home. When her father decides to take a shortcut, he stops in front of a tunnel that appears to go to an abandoned amusement park. 

"Despite Chihiro's objections, her father proceeds to explore the tunnel. Chihiro's parents uncover a seemingly deserted restaurant that is still loaded with food, and they start eating right away. 

"Chihiro discovers an immense bathhouse while going farther, where she encounters 'Haku', a kid who cautions her to cross the riverbed before sunset. 

"Chihiro, however, learns that her parents have changed into pigs, making it impossible for her to cross the now-flooded river.

Gkids, the New York-based studio bringing beloved animated films to homes for generations, has acquired the North American audiovisual distribution rights to Spirited Away: Live on Stage. The live-action presentation recreates Hayao Miyazaki‘s classic fantasy film about a young girl who escapes to a magical world filled with danger, dragons, and spirits looking to rest their weary souls. Screenings of the Spirited Away stage play reportedly capture the entire performance from a front-row row view, bringing fans of Miyazaki’s enigmatic story closer to Chiriho’s journey than ever before. The recording is from the stage show’s 2022 run at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo, Japan.

Spirited Away: Live on Stage features Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as the story’s brave protagonist Chihiro Ogino. Honorary associate director of England’s Royal Shakespeare Company, John Caird, oversees the production, filled with mythical creatures, elaborate stage magic, and detailed sets...

Great news anime fans, and fans of everything that is haunting yet wonderful! The stage play adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's beloved anime classic "Spirited Away" is finally headed to the U.S.! Better yet, you won't have to be exclusively in New York to see it, because Gkids is set to release it in theaters across North America.

"Spirited Away" follows Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who is on her way to a new home with her parents. While visiting an abandoned amusement park, Chihiro's parents are turned into pigs while she is sent to work at a magical bathhouse by a sorceress. It is left to Chihiro to find a way out of this magical and haunting place, get her parents back, and return to the normal world.

The film was a monumental success. It quickly became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history, a record it...

Ready to get “Spirited Away” again?

Gkids, the producer and distributor for some of the most exciting animation from around the world, announced that it has acquired the North American audiovisual distribution rights for “Spirited Away: Live on Stage.” The new movie was filmed during the production’s run at the historic Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan in 2002. Based on Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning animated feature, the stage adaptation was directed by Tony Award-winner John Caird, known for his groundbreaking adaptation of “Les Misérables.”

Gkids will release two separate filmed performances of the production, starring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi, double-cast as the lead heroine Chihiro. Character actor Mari Natsuki, who voiced the sorceress Yubaba and her twin sister Zeniba in the original movie, returns to her original role, accompanied by voice actor Romi Park. How cool is that?

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Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's classic animated film "Spirited Away" has been reborn on the stage. Toho Stage has what looks to be a beautifully mounted theater adaptation of "Spirited Away" running in Tokyo, directed by two-time Tony Award winner John Caird The show runs until March 29, 2022, at the Imperial Theatre in Central Tokyo, after which it will expand to more cities in Japan, with an eye toward other international territories in the future.

In the meantime, designer and puppeteer Toby Olié has shared some images from the production on Twitter and his website. Below, you can see some of...

The post Spirited Away is Brought to Life in Delightful Images From New Stage Show appeared first on /Film.

Hayao Miyazaki’s animated masterpiece “Spirited Away” will be adapted for the stage for a production set to premiere in Japan next year.

Tony and Olivier Award winner John Caird, who wrote the English-language book and co-directed the hit musical “Les Misérables,” will write and direct the stage adaptation based on Miyazaki’s 2001 film.

The new version of “Spirited Away” is set to premiere at Toho’s Imperial Theater in Tokyo next February and March. The production will then tour throughout Japan, including to Osaka (April), Fukuoka (May), Sapporo (June) and Nagoya (June and July).

“Spirited Away,” which is known in Japan under its original title “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi,” is approaching its 20th anniversary later this year, and the stage premiere will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the film winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002.

Arguably the best film of animation master Hayao Miyazaki, “Spirited Away...

Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar winner “Spirited Away” is getting the stage play treatment, courtesy of Toho Co., Ltd and award-winning theater director John Caird. The play is eyeing a world premiere run February-March 2022 in Tokyo, followed by a tour through Japan in cities such as Osaka (April 2022), Fukuoka (May 2022), Sapporo (June 2022), and Nagoya (June and July). Caird is also known for being the Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

“Spirited Away” is often considered one of Miyazaki’s best films and, up until last year, was the highest grossing film in Japan. The story centers on Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl moving with her parents to their new home. The family loses itself in a mysterious world of fantastic spirits, ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba, who turns Chihiro’s parents into pigs. After a series of bizarre and dangerous challenges, including the loss of her identity, Chihiro must...

Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 Oscar winning animated film, Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi), has been set for a stage production which will have its world premiere in Tokyo in 2022. This is the first-ever stage adaptation of the beloved movie and will be written and directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winner and Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, John Caird. Japanese giant Toho is behind the project.

The original film, from Studio Ghibli, went on to become the highest-grossing movie ever in Japan, holding the spot for 19 years and only recently being overtaken by Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train. It had a re-release in fall 2020 and has grossed over $355M worldwide.

The story follows Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl moving with her parents to their new home. They lose themselves in a mysterious world of fantastic spirits, ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba,...

The enchanting world of Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki is heading to the stage.

The director’s beloved 2001 Oscar-winning classic Spirited Away will be adapted into a stage play for the first time, with a premiere date set for February 2022 in Tokyo. The adaptation will be produced by Japanese entertainment giant Toho, and written and directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winning director John Caird (Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby, Daddy Long Legs). Crucially, Miyazaki’s notoriously reclusive Studio Ghibli has given the project its full support.

“We, Hayao and I, both liked John’s vision; he is a person we can trust,” said ...

The enchanting world of Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki is heading to the stage.

The director’s beloved 2001 Oscar-winning classic Spirited Away will be adapted into a stage play for the first time, with a premiere date set for February 2022 in Tokyo. The adaptation will be produced by Japanese entertainment giant Toho, and written and directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winning director John Caird (Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby, Daddy Long Legs). Crucially, Miyazaki’s notoriously reclusive Studio Ghibli has given the project its full support.

“We, Hayao and I, both liked John’s vision; he is a person we can trust,” said ...

Exclusive: “You thought you knew Scrooge,” an ominous voice intones. “You don’t know this Scrooge.” So get acquainted with Estella Scrooge, the upcoming world premiere streaming musical with a heavy-hitting Broadway pedigree.

This first-look trailer (watch it above) features Betsy Wolfe (Waitress) singing the show’s “Never Look Down” as clips and characters from the cleverly filmed production take us through this new musical spin on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. References and storylines from other Dickens classics — including Great Expectations, Little Dorrit and Bleak House — are incorporated into the mix.

Estella Scrooge will premiere Friday, November 27 at EstellaScrooge.com. Tickets go on sale Tuesday for $24.99 at Ticketmaster.com.

As Deadline reported in September, Estella Scrooge utilizes greenscreen technology and virtual sets along with individually recorded performances. Billed as “the first fully-realized musical to be filmed in virtual production,” Estella Scrooge uses hundreds of images, animations and digital environments blended...

Exclusive With a roster of Broadway actors from such recent or on-pause productions as Waitress, Hadestown, The Play That Goes Wrong and Moulin Rouge!, a new musical inspired by A Christmas Carol and other works of Charles Dickens will make its streaming debut before Christmas utilizing technology to combine socially distanced performances.

Estella Scrooge, with a book and direction by Tony Award winner John Caird and music and lyrics by Paul Gordon (Tony-nominated for 2001’s Jane Eyre), will star Betsy Wolfe (Waitress) as the title character, the niece of Carol‘s Ebenezer Scrooge. Clifton Duncan (The Play That Goes Wrong) will costar as her childhood sweetheart Philip “Pip” Nickleby.

Also featured are Patrick Page (Hadestown), Carolee Carmello (Mamma Mia) and Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge!) as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Those actors and others will film their performances – separately, live, and one at a time – this week, with...

We also dropped by a rehearsal for Cameron Mackintosh's new production of the landmark musical Les Misrables, directed by John Caird. It starred Alexander Gemignani, Aaron Lazar, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gary Beach and Norm Lewis. Mackintosh told Ridge, 'I'm delighted to have the opportunity. The only thing I never expected or dreamt of was getting such a wonderful cast as this. Everybody we ever dreamt of wanted to be in it. We found some marvelously talented people that we didn't know, and I think it's one of the strongest casts of Les Mizthat's ever been anywhere.'...

Ballet, opera, and orchestra companies worldwide have allowed their performances to be screened in cinemas for years (and for the price of a ticket), but for the first time fans of Off-Broadway theater will be able to experience a production from the comfort of their homes. "Daddy Long Legs" and the Davenport Theatre have partnered with Live Stream to stream a live performance of the intimate musical for free online.  "I'm worried about the theater industry falling behind," Ken Davenport, one of the producer's of "Daddy Long Legs," told the New York Times.  Written and directed by John Caird, with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, "Daddy Long Legs" is based on the novel that inspired the 1955 Fred Astaire film of the same name. The Davenport's production stars Megan McGInnis and Adam Halpin as a witty young woman and her mysterious benefactor. The performance will stream at here on Thurs.

Theater composers seem to have a thing for “beloved” novels about ambitious girls, usually orphaned, making their way in an unwelcoming world. There’s a good reason for it, too: Such novels are typically in the public domain. Certainly it’s not because Jane Eyre (1847) and Little Women (1868) and Anne of Green Gables (1908) and The Secret Garden (1911) have made good musicals; only the last, which opened on Broadway in 1991, is bearable. Something about the very belovedness of these works makes them resistant to adaptation, perhaps because they encourage a worshipful approach to a process that benefits more from benign disrespect. In any case, the authors of that 2000 Jane Eyre musical — Paul Gordon (music and lyrics) and John Caird (book and direction) — are back at it with Daddy Long Legs. They should have known better. Not only does Jean Webster’s 1912 novel (styled Daddy-Long-Legs) cover very...

The new Off-Broadway musical Daddy Long Legs will record a cast album to be released by Ghostlight Records. Daddy Long Legs, which features music and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon Sense and Sensibility, book by Tony Award and Olivier Award winner John Caird Les Miserables, and direction by John Caird began previews on September 10, 2015, and will officially open September 28, 2015 at the Davenport Theatre 354 West 45th Street. Due to popular demand, Daddy Long Legs was recently extended to an open-ended run.

The new musical Daddy Long Legs will have an open-ended run at the Davenport Theatre 354 West 45th Street. Starring Megan McGinnis Broadway's Les Miserables, Side Show, Little Women and Paul Alexander Nolan Broadway's Once, Jesus Christ Superstar, Doctor Zhivago and based on the 1912 novel by Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs features music and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon Sense and Sensibility, book by Tony Award and Olivier Award winner John Caird Les Miserables, and direction by John Caird. Daddy Long Legs begins previews on September 10, 2015, and will officially open September 28, 2015. Tickets are on sale now at Telecharge.com.Below, BroadwayWorld takes you inside the rehearsal room with the cast for a special performance preview...

Megan McGinnis is heading back to the New York stage, starring alongside Paul Alexander Nolan in John Caird and Paul Gordon's musical adaptation ofDADDY Long Legs. Based on the 1912 novel by Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs tells the extraordinary tale of Jerusha Abbott McGinnis, the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. One day, a rich, anonymous benefactor Nolan decides to send her to college, but she must write him a letter once a month. Unaware of his identity, she invents a nickname for him Daddy Long Legs. Through her brilliant and witty letters, Jerusha shares her experiences of college while discovering her own identity and reveling in the wonders of literature, adventure and love. But one key fact eludes her - who is Daddy Long LegsMcGinnis returns to the role after leading thepremiere at the Rubicon Theatre Company in 2009, and subsequent productions around the country. Shereceived the 2010 Los Angeles Ovation Award,...

Today we are continuing the 5 Songs By... series by talking to a Tony Award nominated composer and lyricist all about his many mainstage musicals, the accomplished Paul Gordon. Sharing insights on his rapturous scores for the period-set classic literature adaptations of Jane Eyre, Sense amp Sensibility and Emma, Gordon also offers thoughts on his brand new musical Analog amp Vinyl, planned for an Off-Broadway run next year, and also previews his forthcoming Off-Broadway musical adaptation of Daddy Long Legs, set to be directed by his Jane Eyre collaborator John Caird and winner of the 2010 Ovation Award for Best Score, beginning performances in September. Also, don't miss The Music Of Paul Gordon at 54 Below tonight.

Award-winning actor Stephen Wight takes on the title role of Lee McQueen and Dianna Agron will play Dahlia in the world premiere of James Phillips's play McQueen directed by John Caird, which will run at St. James Theatre from 12 May, with press nights on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 May. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal...

Award-winning actor Stephen Wight takes on the title role of Lee McQueen and Dianna Agron will play Dahlia in the world premiere of James Phillips's play McQueen directed by John Caird, which will run at St. James Theatre from 12 May, with press nights on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 May. The play will also star Tracy-Ann Oberman as Isabella Blow, Laura Rees as Arabella, and David Shaw-Parker as John Hitchcock, along with Sophie Apollonia, Amber Doyle, George Hill, Eloise Hymas, Jordan Kennedy, Rachel Louisa Maybank and Carrie Willis.

The Kennedy Center presents Children of Eden in Concert on Monday, May 19 at 8 p.m. in the Eisenhower Theater. Featuring music and lyrics by Oscar and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz and book by John Caird, the semi-staged performance is directed and choreographed by Tony nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The all-star Broadway cast includes Ron Bohmer, Ashley Brown, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and Jeremy Jordan and will be accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. This one-time-only event is made possible by the Hrh Foundation. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 28.

For anyone who has ever wondered what the view looks like for the actors about to go on from below the vast stage of the West End production of mega-musical sensation Les Miserables - the longest-running musical in West End history - then look no further than a new behind-the-scenes glimpse at the legendary trap doors utilized so effectively in Trevor Nunn and John Caird's epic staging of the gigantic show.

Today we are talking to a Tony Award-winning performer known around the world for her iconic original performance as Eponine in both the West End and Broadway editions of international stage sensation Les Miserables, copiously convivial chanteuse Frances Ruffelle. Discussing her legacy with the iconic mega-musical and her relationship with the show's director, John Caird, Ruffelle opens up about a life in the theatre, telling tales of her time spent treading the boards in the various incarnations of Les Miserables - winning the Tony for her Broadway performance - as well as working on the original London production of Stephen Schwartz's Children Of Eden with Caird and fellow InDepth InterView participants Matthew Bourne and Ruthie Henshall in addition to shedding light on fascinating workshop experiences - Starlight Express, Sunset Boulevard and Whistle Down The Wind among them - and her more recent roles, such as her run as the...

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of Les Miserables, the third-longest running musical in the history of the Great White Way. The ultra famous production, starring Irish tenor Colm Wilkinson and Brit Frances Ruffelle, lasted an impressive 16 years on Broadway, racking up a total of 6,680 performances. But did you know the critics weren't crazy about the show when it first came out?

Similar to, say, the mixed public opinion surrounding present Les Mis star, Anne Hathaway, writers and reviewers landed on both sides of the fence after Trevor Nunn and John Caird showcased their adapted musical, first in the UK and later in New York City. While one reviewer deemed the work "a wonderful human pageant," another had far less nice things to say, describing the musical as "witless and synthetic entertainment."

Scroll through the slideshow below to get a taste of the reviews accompanying the production's 1980s debut,...

Outspoken original Eponine in the West End and Broadway mountings of international musical institution Les Miserables, Frances Ruffelle, has offered her thoughts on a host of topics in a new interview. Never one to bite her tongue or hold back, Ruffelle offers her frank and candid opinion on the new feature film adaptation of the hit stage property as well as her own memories receiving the 1987 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress In A Musical, moving to New York and carrying on an illicit affair with the then-married co-director of the show, John Caird, before moving back to London when she became pregnant and sufferred debilitating morning sickness.

Christmas Day 2012 marks the biggest and best day of the year for many Broadway babies around the world, but the anticipatory fervor has little to do with the man with the beard in red and white from the North Pole - you see, the guy in question in this equation is more apt to be seen in red and black and his origins are decidedly a bit more Gallic than Jolly Old St. Nick. The man whom I speak of is, of course, Jean Valjean, the protagonist of Victor Hugo's spellbinding 1862 historical epic Les Miserables, a novel which was subsequently adapted into a 1980 concert spectacular and ultimately a 1985 full-fledged stage musical, painstakingly developed through the shepherding of uber producer Cameron Mackintosh, alongside the talents responsible for breathing song into the story - original French composerlyricist team Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil along with Jean-Marc Natel, to whom Mackintosh...

As Frances Ruffelle wrote in her column for The Huffington Post, she was recently invited to a private party at Cameron Mackintosh's home and mingled with 'some of the world's top theatre creatives' such as Stephen Sondheim, Les Miserables film director Tom Hooper and the original Les Miserables theatre directors Trevor Nunn and John Caird. In a 'deliciously memorable moment', she introduced Hooper to Nunn and Caird, and 'they looked like they were getting on famously.'...

Tony and Olivier Award-winner John Caird Les Misrables and Nicholas Nickleby, West End rising star Sam Caird, and Tony nominee Paul Gordon Jane Eyre recently arrived in Ventura to begin rehearsals for a new holiday musical entitled Little Miss Scrooge, which will be presented as a limited-run staged concert for Rubicon Theatre subscribers, December 12 through 23, 2012. The fully staged World Premiere will be produced by Rubicon in December of 2013. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage in the photos below...

Tony and Olivier Award-winner John Caird Les Misrables and Nicholas Nickleby, West End rising star Sam Caird, and Tony nominee Paul Gordon Jane Eyre, arrived in Ventura today to begin rehearsals tomorrow for a new holiday musical entitled Little Miss Scrooge, which will be presented as a limited-run staged concert for Rubicon Theatre subscribers December 12 through 23, 2012. The fully staged World Premiere will be produced by Rubicon in December of 2013. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek below.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis The Rep presents Daddy Long Legs with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and book by John Caird. Based on the classic novel by Jean Webster and directed by John Caird, this tuneful and sweet musical will be performed on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road on the campus of Webster University, Webster Groves, tonight, October 10 November 4, 2012.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis The Rep presents Daddy Long Legs with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and book by John Caird. Based on the classic novel by Jean Webster and directed by John Caird, this tuneful and sweet musical will be performed on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road on the campus of Webster University, Webster Groves, October 10 November 4, 2012.

BFI plans comprehensive season celebrating most adapted author of all time in early 2012

From Alec Guinness as Fagin to Miss Piggy as Mrs Cratchit, the BFI is staging a three-month retrospective of Dickens on film and TV on London's South Bank from January, to mark the novelist's bicentenary.. The season is curated by Michael Eaton and Co-curator Adrian Wootton, said Dickens's influence on cinema and TV had been immense and continues right up to the present day, with Mike Newell's Great Expectations the next movie outing for Dickens. "It demonstrates that he is not a dead, grey old man sitting on dusty shelves who nobody reads, he is a living breathing artist whose work just keeps on rippling and resonating through our culture."

All the novels have been adapted to some degree. There are around 100 silent films, of which around a third still exist, "although we keep finding new...

Actor best known as the private detective Frank Marker in the television series Public Eye

For 10 years, the actor Alfred Burke, who has died aged 92, starred as the downbeat private detective Frank Marker in the popular television series Public Eye (1965-75). The character was intended as a British rival to Raymond Chandler's American gumshoe Philip Marlowe. Tough, unattached and self-sufficient, Marker could take a beating in the service of his often wealthy clients without quitting. "Marker wasn't exciting, he wasn't rich," Burke said. "He could be defined in negatives."

An ABC TV press release introduced the character as a "thin, shabby, middle-aged man with a slightly grim sense of humour and an aura of cynical incorruptibility. His office is a dingy south London attic within sound of Clapham Junction. He can't afford a secretary, much less an assistant, and when he needs a car, he hires a runabout from the local garage.

Sting and Trudie Styler were joined by Joshua Bell in celebration of composer Robert Schumann’s 200th birthday at Jazz at Lincoln Center on June 30th.

Culture Project in a special association with Music Unites presented “Twin Spirits,” a unique event of music and theater devised and directed for the stage by John Caird featuring Sting as Robert Schumann and Trudie Styler as Clara Weick.

Culture Project presented a very special New York performance celebrating the 200th birthday of composer Robert Schumann with a special performance of Twin Spirits, an intimate theatrical event devised and directed for the stage by Tony Award-winner John Caird, and featuring Sting, Trudie Styler and Joshua Bell, among other artists, on Wednesday, June 30, 7:30 p.m, at The Allen Room at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center on Broadway at 60th Street, New York City.

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By Roger Friedman

HollywoodNews.com: Sting is a major rock star and Trudie Styler, his wife, is a political activist and movie producer with an acting background. So you don’t expect them to go all 19th century, but that’s what they did last night at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In the Allen Room, for a charity called the Culture Project and Music Unites, they performed their own version of an 1837 “Love Letters.”

With a background of the sun setting over Fifth Avenue almost on cue, Sting and Trudie performed their two hander, “Twin Spirits,” that’s based on the letters back and forth between composer Robert Schumann and his decade-younger pianist wife Clara Wieck. This time they had help from actor David Straithairn, who narrated, and Joshua Bell on violin, and singers Nathan Gunn and Camille Zamora.

The audience consisted of no less than Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Denise Rich,...

BEIJING -- A Chinese-language "Les Miserables" will premiere at Beijing's new National Theater in November 2008, the first musical staged by British theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh in a joint venture unveiled Monday with the government-run China Arts and Entertainment Group.

The localized production of the musical based on Victor Hugo's 130-year-old epic -- staged by the show's original directors, Sir Trevor Nunn and John Caird -- will be funded by investments raised by the staff of the Beijing office of Cameron Mackintosh Ltd., run by David Lightbody, and China Arts and Entertainment Group, an affiliate of China's Ministry of Culture, Mackintosh said.

Investors from China, South Korea and Australia, among other countries, already see China as the next great musicals market, Mackintosh said in an interview.

"Shanghai and Beijing want to be the next London and New York for musicals. If either even becomes as successful as 'Chicago' in my lifetime, I'll be immensely satisfied," said Mackintosh, who has worked in the theater for 40 years.

The Chinese version of "Les Mis" -- at 22, the world's longest-running musical –- will be an encore for the play here as Mackintosh first brought it to Shanghai's Grand Theater in 2002, to "test the waters."

"None of these traveling productions make money," Mackintosh said, citing the cost of moving expensive sets and the incidentals for a traveling cast and crew.