Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls) has joined the list of celebrity presenters for the 11th annual Broadway Barks Adopt-A-Thon. The annual event pairs local animal shelters with adoptive families - 125 adoptions were made last year at the event!

The Adopt-A-Thon will take place on July 11th in Shubert Alley. Other celebrities set to make an appearance include Hope Davis, Kate Jennings Grant, David Hyde Pierce and more. The event will run from 3:30 to 6:30 pm. Celebrity presentations will be made at 5:30.

In other Lauren Graham news, you can bid on a chance to dine with the stars of Guys and Dolls! Check out the info here.

Image: Newscom

As you know, Lauren Graham’s Guys and Dolls opened on Broadway last night. In addition to the reviews, production photos and final curtain call photos I posted earlier, I have pictures of Lauren Graham and the cast arriving on the red carpet for the opening night party.

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Lauren Graham’s Guys and Dolls celebrated opening night on Broadway last night!! In addition to a whole series of photos from the production and from the curtain call from last night, there are a number of new reviews out! USA Today says much the same of Platt, though has little praise for Lauren either. They says she lacks grace - shouting her lines and stumbling her dance. AP says Lauren can sing & dance but she’s missing some poignancy.

The reviews mix the good with the bad. Entertainment Weekly says the show goes a little astray, like a community theater production, and Oliver Platt gets dubbed “no one’s idea of a musical comedy star.” Lauren Graham, on the other hand, who makes her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide, has a “sure, strong voice” and wins over some laughs though perhaps struggles to play a simpleton.

Bloomberg says that magic happens onstage of Guys and Dolls in the second act and labels Lauren Graham as a “knockout” in the Hot Box Club numbers. Theatermania calls Lauren’s work endearing and Variety says that Lauren was able to put her own “daffy comic spin” on her lines. Though they don’t call her an outstanding Adelaide, they do call her a fun one. Unlike other reviews, Variety says Lauren nailed the poignancy of her scenes. Read more

Lauren Graham’s production of Guys and Dolls has been in previews on Broadway for most of this month with opening night scheduled for March 1st. As buzz is generated for the show, we can add to the great fan reviews I’ve shared with some new interviews with Lauren Graham!

Lauren Graham, who plays Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, talks to the New York Times about trying to discover who her character was.

“She’s a dancer in a marginal club, and all her fantasies are about getting out: getting out of the city with this boyfriend she has stayed with for so long, giving up this gambler’s life.”

Lauren Graham seems excited to take on the role, though admits it’s “scary to do such wonderful material.” And in a very candid interview with Time Out New York, Lauren jokes about turning to stripping after only 2 years out from Gilmore Girls:

“People keep asking for the Gilmore Girls movie. This is what it would have been. Lorelai falls on hard times, separated from Rory. “

Ok, she kids! It’s a very funny interview, Lauren talking about her previous time singing in college and about waiting for David Letterman to propose! Lauren admits she has a love-affair with late-night talk shows - she loves the comedy and tries to be a good guest when she’s invited on:

“I’ve mined my childhood and show business for stories, and I’ve got a couple old theater tales no one cared about till now. But [hosts] will say, ‘Hey, I read on the Internet that you said, ‘Belly buttons are cool.’?’ I’m like, ‘That old chestnut? You kidding me?’”

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Sally Struthers (Babette on Gilmore Girls), as previously posted, showed up on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in New York on Monday for the event: Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert - A Celebrity Benefit for Equal Rights.

Sally Struthers, Mark Indelicato, Kerry Butler

Sally Struthers was one of the celebrity guests at the event, which benefitted 5 charitable organizations promoting equality. I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I believe Sally was in the cast for the premiere of Prop 8 - The Musical. Read more

Broadway is just full of Gilmore Girls actresses right now! There’s Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls) in Guys and Dolls plus Kelly Bishop (Emily on Gilmore Girls) and Emily Bergl (Chilton’s elite Francie Jarvis in Gilmore Girls) in Becky Shaw. Now one more actress is making her way to the stage!

Sally Struthers (Babette on Gilmore Girls), who recently completed a theatrical tour with Nunsense, will take part in a one-night benefit event on Broadway. Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert — A Celebrity Benefit for Equal Rights will take place on Monday, February 23rd at 8pm at The Gershwin Theatre in NYC.

The event will benefit five charitable organizations working to promote equality and to protect civil rights for the gay and lesbian community. The evening will be filled with a star-studded line-up. The main draw for the night is the Broadway debut of Prop 8 - The Musical. It’s not clear if Sally Struthers will be a part of this musical (my guess) or just one of the many celebrity guests there to support the event.

Image: Newscom

Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls) and Emily Bergl (Chilton’s elite Francie Jarvis in Gilmore Girls) star in the Second Stage production of Gina Gionfriddo’s play, Becky Shaw, directed by Peter DuBois. The play had its opening night on Thursday, January 8th. Gilmore Girls co-stars Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Edward Herrmann (Edward Gilmore) were on hand to support Kelly Bishop on opening night.

In Becky Shaw, a newlywed couple fix up two romantically challenged friends. When the path to happiness goes astray, we must ask what we owe to the people we love as well as to the strangers who land in our way. Learn more about the play, which also stars David Wilson Barnes, Annie Parisse, and Thomas Sadoski, here.

In reviews of the production, Becky Shaw is called “perfect nourishment” for theatergoers looking for drama (AP) with Kelly Bishop as a “delight” in her role of a widow with MS dating a much younger man. Variety says the play is “blithely cynical and devastatingly funny”, with Emily Bergl’s portrayal of Suzanna as “endearingly strung-out” and Kelly Bishop’s Susan “could snap your spine with one basilisk look”. The New York Daily News says perhaps the play is “too clever”, but gives high praise to Kelly Bishop as “delectably funny” and “maternal as barbed wire.”

Becky Shaw will be running from now through to March 15th at Second Stage Theater, six weeks more than was originally scheduled. Tickets are $70 and may be purchased by phoning 212-246-4422 or 800-766-6048 or online at www.2ST.com

For more photos from the premiere of ‘Becky Shaw’… Read more

Lauren Graham will be making her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in the revival of Guys and Dolls starting previews on February 3rd at the Nederlander Theatre in New York. The official opening night is March 1st.

If you, like me, are anxious to see Lauren Graham on Broadway (oh, how I wish I lived closer to New York!!), you’ll be pleased to know that tickets for the show will be going on sale soon! Group sale tickets (of 9+ tickets) are already on sale at Givenik, with prices starting at $36.50 / ticket. As a bonus, if you buy your tickets with Givenik, 5% of the proceeds go to charity. So, if you can muster up 8 friends, you can already get this great ticket price!

Read more about Lauren Graham’s upcoming appearance in Guys and Dolls here, or listen to her interview with Craig Ferguson, where she talks about her role in Guys and Dolls, here.

Image used with permission of Givenik / Nederlander Theatre

It was only a little more than a week since Lauren Graham attended the Broadway premiere of “All My Sons”, with me wishing she’d be in her own show. And now I have the pleasure to announce - Lauren Graham will be on Broadway!!

Lauren Graham will take the lead role of Miss Adelaide in the Broadway revival of “Guys and Dolls“, opening March 1 at the Nederlander Theatre. Previews for the new show will begin on February 3rd.

Lauren Graham will co-star in the revival with Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit. Producer Howard Panter says, of casting, Lauren:

“She is the perfect combination of leading lady and natural comedienne and I know she will be the ideal romantic foil for Oliver Platt’s Nathan.”

About “Guys and Dolls”

Guys and Dolls is a musical, with music written by Frank Loesser. It’s based on two short stories by Damon Runyon and first hit Broadway in 1950. In its original production, directed by George S. Kaufman, it ran for 1201 performances and won 5 Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical. In 1995, it was turned into a film.

Guys and Dolls has been revived several times now, 3 times on Broadway and several more times around the world. The latest revival will be directed by Des McAnuff with choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

You’ll likely know many musical numbers that are from Guys and Dolls, such as “Luck be a Lady” and “Adelaide’s Lament.”

Image: used with permission by Newscom

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Last night, the new Broadway show for “All My Sons” opened up in New York City. This is the show that stars Katie Holmes, so it has had a lot of buzz attached to it. Lauren Graham came out to see the opening night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, and posed for some great shots on the red carpet:

Image: used with permission by Newscom

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