Media Morsels 5.10.13

The Newsroom: Season 2—Invitation to Set
Get a sneak peek at the second season of The Newsroom, which premieres on HBO on Sunday, July 14.




Theatre Award Season
Tony Awards
Tickets for the annual ceremony are now on sale to the public (Playbill has details), and you'll definitely want to be there (or, at least tune in on June 9 at 8pm on CBS) because, as I guessed a few weeks ago, Neil Patrick Harris will host Broadway's biggest night for the fourth time! (If something works, stick with it!) He hosted last year and the year before (wherein he ended the night with a Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned rap about what it takes to put on a Broadway show), as well as in 2009. (Sean Hayes hosted during the gap year.) On the occasion of the announcement, Harris said, "I'm very excited to be back hosting the Tony Awards at the legendary Radio City Music Hall. It'll be more impressive than ever." We're excited, too, NPH! Visit the Tony Awards website for the full press release and more information.(And over on The New York Times, theatre critics Ben Brantley and Charles Isherwood make their Tony predictions and include a "should have been nominated" category, expanded to include off-Broadway contenders. It's interesting to note how split they are, especially on the "will win" front.)

Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards
These awards, the only ones chosen—from the nominees to the eventual winners—entirely by the fans were handed out on Sunday night. While you'll have to wait until Monday, May 13, to watch the full ceremony (including presenter appearances by Aaron Tveit, Laura Benanti and Bobby Cannavale), you can view the full list of winners; winners' reactions; the nominees', attendees' and winners' fashion choices; fun "photo booth" pics; the Broadway.com staff's favorite moments (including Bobby Cannavale wanting to dance Fosse and Aaron Tveit being funny); a photo-filled scrapbook; and after party interviews, hosted by Paul Wontorek and Susan Blackwell on Broadway.com right now. Big winners included Kinky Boots, which won for Favorite Musical, Favorite Actor in a Musical (Billy Porter) and Favorite Funny Performance (Annaleigh Ashford), and Stephanie J. Block, who took home the Favorite Diva Performance award (for her work in The Mystery of Edwin Drood).

Lucille Lortel Awards
Also on Sunday night the winners of the Lucille Lortel Awards, which honor excellence in off-Broadway prodcutions, were announced. Special, non-competitive honors were given to Roundabout Theatre Company's artistic director Todd Haimes and to the Theatre Development Fund, among others. Winners in the competitive categories included Dogfight (Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Choreography (Christopher Gattelli); Annie Funke for If There is I Haven't Found it Yet; and The Piano Lesson (Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Director (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), Outstanding Lead Actress (Roslyn Ruff) and Outstanding Featured Actor (Chuck Cooper)). View the full list of winners on Broadway.com.  (And visit Broadwayworld.com for photo coverage of the red carpet, including Jake Gyllenhaal, and backstage pics with the winners.)

Theatre World Awards
Honoring those actors making their Broadway and off-Broadway debuts this season, the Theatre World Awards were announced this week. Honorees include Tony nominees Carrie Coon in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Shalita Grant in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Keala Settle in Hands on a Hardbody; and Tom Sturridge in Orphans, among others. Visit Broadway.com for the full list of honorees.

Off Broadway Alliance Awards Nominees
The Off-Broadway Alliance, comprised of off-Broadway producers, theatres, general managers, press agents and marketing professionals, announced its nominees. Nominees include: Here Lies Love and Murder Ballad (Best New Musical); Cock and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Best New Play); The Last Five Years (Best Musical Revival); and Uncle Vanya (Best Play Revival). Visit Playbill for the full list of nominees.

Casting Update
  • Tony Award winners Billy Crudup (The Metal Children, Arcadia) and Shuler Hensley will join Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen for the Broadway repertory run of No Man's Land (Pinter) and Waiting for Godot (Beckett). As previously announced, the shows will run in rep at the Cort Theatre. Previews begin October 26 in advance of a November 24 opening. Visit Broadway.com or the shows' official site, twoplaysinrep.com, for more details.

  • Cherry Jones is heading back to Broadway this fall in The Glass Menagerie, but the busy lady already has her next gig planned. She'll return to the stage in MTC's off-Broadway production of When We Were Young and Unafraid, written by Sarah Treem and directed by Pam MacKinnon (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). Previews begin on May 22, 2014, in advance of a June 17 opening. Broadway.com has more.

  • The lovely and talented Carla Gugino (The Road to Mecca) will star in Lincoln Center's world premiere production of Daniel Pearle's A Kid Like Jake. Evan Cabnet (The Performers, The Dream of the Burning Boy) will direct. The play begins previews on June 2, in advance of a June 17 opening, and will play a limited run through July 14. Broadway.com has details.

  • Reese Witherspoon (How Do You Know) will re-team with her Walk the Line director James Mangold for an adaptation of the Ashley Rhodes-Courter memoir, Three Little Words. The Hollywood Reporter has details.

  • Homeland has promoted two guest stars to series regular for its third season, which will air in September. F. Murray Abraham, as Saul's retired black ops specialist, and Sarita Choudhury, as Saul's estranged wife. (Remember, Saul is the character played by the inimitable Mandy Patinkin.) Hit Fix has the report.

  • It's confirmed that last year's Best Actor in a Play Tony winner James Corden (One Man, Two Guvnors) will star alongside Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in the film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Broadwayworld.com has details.

  • Tony host Neil Patrick Harris has joined the cast of Seth MacFarlane's (Ted) feature film, A Million Ways to Die in the West. And though it only just started filming, the flick already has a release date: May 30, 2014. Hit Fix has more.
First Listen: Love's Labour's Lost
The Public Theater released a third song from the upcoming Shakespeare in the Park production of Love's Labour's Lost. This song is "Change of Heart," and features cast member Colin Donnell (Anything Goes). The musical adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy comes from team Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Michael Friedman (score) and Alex Timbers (book and direction). It plays in Central Park's Delacorte theatre this summer, July 23-August 18. Listen here and check back next week for another song!

Graceland Preview
The pilot episode of the new USA Network TV show Graceland, starring Aaron Tveit, is still available through you cable company's on demand services. (I thought the pilot was great, and I can't wait to see the rest of the episodes. Plus, Complex magazine has named it one the 25 Most Anticipated Shows of the Summer.) The series premieres on June 6. Until then, enjoy the pilot via on demand and check out the latest look behind the scenes: (and check out the Aaron Tveit/Agent Mike Warren character poster on the right!) 


Murder Ballad Extends!
Woohoo! Murder Ballad, which has only just begun previews for its downtown engagement, has extended. Initially scheduled to run through July 7, the show will now play until September 29. This is great news, since the musical is sexy and rocking, and it's original and features an original score by up-and-coming writers. Broadway.com has details about the extension. (I'm curious, though, what this means for Rebecca Naomi Jones' involvement in Love's Labour's Lost, which is premiering in Shakespeare in the Park this July. Stay tuned for updates.)

August: Osage County—First Trailer
The first trailer for the film adaptation of Tracy Letts's (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) Pulitzer Prize-winning play was released this week. The play starred Amy Morton and Deanna Dunagan in its Tony-winning Broadway premiere. Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep take on, respectively, those talented ladies' roles. (Roberts and Streep are joined by several other talents.) Letts adapted his play for the screen and it is directed by The West Wing producer (and sometimes writer and director) John Wells. With the starry cast and the meaty material, you can look for this to be a major contender this award season. (It took tons of awards when it was on stage, and that's in addition to the Pulitzer.) The film is set for release on November 8.



Senator Elizabeth Warren—Rock Star


Dig This
  • Steve Carell will appear in the series finale episode of The Office. TV Line has details. (And Rolling Stone reports that the final episode will be 75 minutes.)

  • Two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster (Anything Goes) will return to the Cafe Carlyle in September. Broadway.com has details.

  • On The Huffington Post, Alec Baldwin (Orphans) pontificates on the state of Broadway and, in particular, theatre criticism, today.

  • Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers walks you through some highly anticipated (though sometimes disappointing) summer flicks.

  • Here Lies Love, currently playing a thrice-extended run at the Public, will release a cast album. The show is directed by Alex Timbers. Broadway.com has details. (I will finally see the show this weekend. Look for my review next week!)

  • PBS announced its fall lineup and it includes a Barbra Streisand concert, a Marvin Hamlisch tribute and the New York Philharmonic staged concert of Company, featuring Tony host Neil Patrick Harris. Playbill has details.

  • Good news: Parks and Recreation has been renewed for a sixth season. E! Online has more.

  • And, as we head into the weekend, enjoy this interview with Leonardo DiCaprio as he talks about his new movie, The Great Gatsby, opening today.

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