Tonight, in honor of Paul Newman, Broadway will dim its lights for one minute at 8pm. While best known for his many Hollywood star turns, Newman was also an accomplished stage actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1953 in the original New York production of William Inge's "Picnic," in which he met and fell in love with his future wife, Joanne Woodward, the Broadway League tells Reuters. In 2003 he was nominated for a Tony award for his role in the Broadway production of "Our Town."

Broadway theaters report that both attendance and reveneus dropped more than 10 percent from April 2007 to April 2008, according to the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book. Attendance and revenues were down 3 percent annually in May, too.

Also, another tourist-dependent industry seems to have taken a mild hit recently. The Fed reports that Manhattan hotel room rates were up 7.5 percent in April from the same month last year and total revenues for hotels were up 6 percent during the same period. But! These are the smallest annual increases in more than two years.

Shrek is ditching the magic kingdom and coming to Broadway. Although, don't expect Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers to come out of their recording booths to prance around on stage any time soon. Shrek The Musical will premiere in Seattle in August this summer and then transfer to New York (at a theater to be announced) in early November. Spamalot helmer Tim Hatley will direct.

Read on for full press release.  read more »

After a year of dismal ticket sales, Rent is due to close on June 1. (We'll have to settle for Spring Awakening.) The show has been staged for 12 years at the Nederlander theater, the seventh-longest running show in Rialto history.  read more »

Will Ferrell might come to Broadway with a one-man show. According to Michael Riedel of the New York Post, Mr. Farrell was inspired by... Billy Crystal? "The show's bouncing around at this point," a source told Mr. Riedel. "He hasn't figured out what it's supposed to be yet."  read more »

Hey, remember Johnny Depp in the '90s, sporting a leather jacket and a greasy pompadour for his first musical, John Waters' Cry-Baby? Well a stage adaptation based on the 1990 cult classic is coming to Broadway starting March 15. The musical has been playing at the La Jolla Playhouse in California since November, but now James Snyder, who plays a blonde version of Mr. Depp, and Tony award-winner Harriet Harris, will reprise their roles on the Marquis Theatre stage, according to Playbill.  read more »

Chaka Khan is, indeed, every woman, including Sofia in the Broadway Theatre's production of The Color Purple. Gospel singer Bebe Winans, who had a small role in The Manchurian Candidate, will also join the cast tonight. Check here for tickets.  read more »

Donna Corbello, the widow of biographer Rex Conrad Woodard, filed a suit alleging that an unpublished biography of The Four Seasons singer-guitarist Tommy DeVito written by her late husband aided in the creation of Jersey Boys. She claims that Mr. Woodward's estate is entitled to some cash from the hit Broadway musical. She is suing Mr. DeVito for a piece of the royalty he makes off the smash musical — although he is not an author of the musical, merely a subject in it.

Playbill reports:  read more »

Tony Award winner Alan Cumming will play Trigorin, the lover to Dianne Wiest's magnetic actress, Arkadina, in Anton Chekhov's 1896 play, The Seagull, at Classic Stage Company (136 East 13th Street). It is to be directed by Viacheslav Dolgachev, artistic director of the Moscow New Drama Theatre. Previews begin on Feb. 20, with opening night set for March 13.  read more »

On Dec. 8, 2007, a single performance of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Richard Rogers Theater smashed the record for the highest gross of a play or musical in one night, totalling $153,880. Just a month later, on Jan. 6, Edmond Rostand's 1897 timeless romance will close its curtains. The star-studded production, including Kevin Kline, as the big-schnozed Cyrano and Jennifer Garner as hard-to-get Roxane, began previews on Oct. 11 and opened on Nov. 1.  read more »