From Playbill.com:

Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, Taboo’s Jeffrey Carlson and Spring Awakening veteran Lea Michele will headline the Powerhouse Theatre reading of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s musical Nero.

A partnership between New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, the Powerhouse Theatre season runs June 27-Aug. 3 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and will also include new works by Eric Bogosian and Eve Ensler.

Carlson stars in the title role of the aborning chamber musical penned by the Tony Award-winning team behind Spring Awakening. Music is by Sheik, and book (including scenes in verse) and lyrics are by Sater. Joining Carlson are Michele as Nero’s mute wife and step-sister Octavia and Menzel as his lover Poppea.

Also set for the cast are stage and screen actress Laila Robbins (Heartbreak House) as Nero’s mother Agrippina, Michael Arden (The Times They Are A-Changin’) as Nero’s step-brother Britannicus, David Patrick Kelly (Festen) as Nero’s advisor Seneca and Paolo Montalban (Pacific Overtures) as Praetorian Guard member Tigellinus.

Daniel Kramer (Bent) helms the public Powerhouse reading at Vassar’s Martel Theater July 11-13. Kramer also staged the 2007 reading of Nero at the Public Theater that featured Euan Morton, Jan Maxwell and Bobby Steggert.

Since its debut at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in 2006, “we’ve transformed this piece dramatically,” Sater told Playbill.com on June 20.

“Nero was the first political star,” Sater continued. “[The musical is] about the birth of politics as theatre. It makes sense that characters of his life, which he was always staging as a kind of show, should be stars in their own right.”

Sater has turned to historical accounts of the Roman leader to inform the script for what he calls a chamber musical comprised of 19 songs incorporated into dramatic verse scenes. Nero “is not a rock musical,” Sater explained. The piece will be backed by percussion, harp, violin and keyboard.

Following the Powerhouse staging, Nero will likely see a fully staged workshop in spring 2009, according to Sater. [No word on Idina’s potential involvement in that.]

Tickets for the Powerhouse staging of Nero are currently available by visiting Vassar.edu or by calling (845) 437-7235 or (845) 437-5599.

Note: While not officially announced yet by Idina’s staff, I’ve been told that her management has indeed confirmed this privately.

Idina.com has just announced an additional date for Idina’s impressive touring schedule.

The pre-sale begins Wednesday, June 25th at 10am CDT and ends Friday, June 27th at 12pm CDT. Visit Idina’s tour page for full pre-sale details. (You will have to purchase a fan club membership for $25 in order to participate in the pre-sale).

The public on-sale date is Friday, June 27th at 5pm CDT.

I hope plenty of you will get to attend this concert and welcome Idina to the Show Me State.

NOTE: A lot of pre-sales are happening/about to happen, so be sure to check Idina’s website for details on everything!

For the first time ever, Idina is getting her own official fan club! It was announced this week on IMMB. It should be fully operational in the next 2-3 weeks. The details are as follows:

For membership fee of $25 (USD), you will get a one-year membership to the fan club. Benefits include access to pre-sales, meet & greets, exclusive photos, store discounts, exclusive merchandise, special fan events, an “Ask Idina” feature that will allow her fans to connect with her, and more! Upon joining, members will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Official Store.

As far as the presales go, fan club memberships can be piggybacked with ticket purchases on Ticketmaster. For more details on presale passcodes, visit the official tour page. Upcoming/ongoing presales include:

6/20
Nashville, TN
Cary, NC
Richmond, VA

6/21
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Detroit, MI

6/23
Charlotte, NC

6/25
Tampa, FL
Chicago, IL
Denver, CO

If you have questions about the fan club or presales, feel free to contact me directly and I’ll get them answered for you. You can also leave comments here, but it might be quicker to e-mail them right to me.

Click “Read More” for COMPLETE fan club details, since I just summarized them here.

Last night, Idina’s segment for ABC’s “Nightline” aired. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know it was coming, so I think most of us missed it! If anyone managed to capture it, please contact me so I can post the video here. You can also read Nightline’s written article about her on the ABC website right here!

EDIT Thanks to Sierra for finding the video on ABC’s website!

Sorry for the slow news this past week! I’ve been on vacation, but after a great concert in San Diego (by Ms. Menzel!) I’m back online. A ton of things have happened since our last update! I’ll break this up into a couple posts to avoid confusion.

On June 30th, Idina will be performing in NYC at the annual “Trevor Project” gala benefit. The Trevor Project is an organization that operates the nation’s only around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth. For more information or to purchase tickets to this event, visit The Trevor Project’s website.

Note: This is a charity benefit, so tickets don’t come cheaply, but it’s sure to be a moving, emotional evening for a very good cause.