Week in Review 1.27.17


Casting News
  • Complete casting for the revival of Sunday in the Park with George has been announced. Joining stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford are their City Center costars Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I) and Phillip Boykin (Porgy and Bess), among others, as well as Andrew Kober (She Loves Me), Erin Davie (Side Show), Max Chernin (Bright Star), and Robert Sean Leonard (Dead Poets Society, Prodigal Son), and more. Previews begin February 11, and opening night is set for February 23. The limited engagement is scheduled to conclude April 23. Broadway World has the full casting announcement.

  • Ben Schwartz (House of Lies, This is Where I Leave You) and Noell Wells (SNL, Master of None) will star in the Netflix original film, Happy Anniversary. The Tracking Board has more.

  • Complete casting for the February 19 Crazy for You concert has been announced. Joining stars Tony Yazbeck and Laura Osnes are Mark Linn-Baker (On the Twentieth Century) and Nancy Opel (Honeymoon in Vegas), among others. Playbill has more.

     
  • Principal casting for the West End production of Hamilton has been announced. Some West End favorites, as well as newcomers, will take on the iconic roles. Broadway.com has details.


  • Complete casting for Amelie has been announced. Joining stars Phillipa Soo and Adam Chanler-Berat are Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Heath Calvert (Nobody Loves You), Allison Cimmet (She Loves Me), and others. Previews begin March 9, and opening night is scheduled for April 3. Broadway.com has more.
Tony Awards Update
The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the second time this season to determine Tony eligibility of several shows that have opened this fall and early winter. Unless noted below, eligibility is consistent with opening night credits. That means that actors billed above the title are eligible in the Lead Actor categories, while actors billed below the title are eligible in the Featured Actor categories. Tony nominations will be announced May 2, and the Tonys will be handed out on Sunday, June 11. Playbill has more.
  • Ben Platt will be eligible in the Lead Actor in a Musical category for Dear Evan Hansen
  • The Present will be eligible in the Best Play category
  • Simon McBurney will be eligible in the Lead Actor in a Play category for The Encounter; Will Duke and Michael Levine will be eligible for Best Scenic Design of a Play for the same show
  • Nathan Lane, John Goodman, Jefferson Mays, Holland Taylor, Sherie Rene Scott, and Robert Morse will be eligible in the Lead Actor/Actress in a Play categories for The Front Page
  • Christian Borle will be eligible in the Lead Actor in a Musical category for Falsettos; James Lapine will be eligible in the Best Direction of a Musical category for the same show
  • Bryce Pinkham and Lora Lee Gayer will be eligible in the Lead Actor/Actress in a Musical categories for Holiday Inn
  • Bobby Conte Thornton will be eligible in the Lead Actor in a Musical category for A Bronx Tale
  • Denis Arndt and Mary-Louise Parker will be eligible in the Lead Actor/Actress in a Play categories for Heisenberg
  • Chuck Cooper, Tavi Gevinson, John Glover, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Harold Perrineau, and Joel Grey will be eligible in the Featured Actor/Actress in a Play categories for The Cherry Orchard
On the Small Screen
  • The New York Times talks with Seth Meyers, delving into how his late night show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, evolved into a notable force of political satire.

  • Alec Baldwin will not only appear on SNL on February 11, the actor will host the late night sketch comedy show. This will be Baldwin's record-making 17th time hosting. The Hollywood Reporter has more.

  • Tony winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) will co-produce a pilot for ABC. Diggs can be seen on the ABC comedy, Blackish, and will produce the untitled pilot with The Mindy Project's Jeremy Bronson, as well as Jamie Tarses, Scott Stuber, and James Griffiths. Variety has more.

  • New York and New Jersey PBS stations will air concerts that feature Broadway favorites, like Tony winners Jessie Mueller (Beautiful, Waitress), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots, Shuffle Along...), and Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me Kate, Shuffle Along...), as well as Broadway friends, like Joshua Bell. Playbill has more.
It's an Honor
Academy Awards—Nominees for the 89th Oscars were announced this week. Bucking the Academy's recent and much criticized trend, there were multiple POC nominated in various categories, including at least one non-white actor in each of the four acting categories. Of note, La La Land earned a record-tying 14 nominations, including two for Best Song, making double nominees of Dear Evan Hansen writing duo, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the lyrics for La La Land. The terrific Moonlight also garnered several nominations (eight, to be precise), including two acting nominations, a nod for its director, Barry Jenkins, and a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. See my post from earlier this week for the full list of nominees, and check out this helpful guide from The New York Times, which tells you on which platforms you can watch some of the nominated films. The Oscars air on ABC on February 26.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—Some presenters for the April 7 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony have been announced. Neil Young will introduce Pearl Jam; Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will introduce Yes; and Jackson Brown will introduce Joan Baez. The 2017 Rock Hall class also includes ELO, Journey, and Tupac Shakur. Additional presenters and performers will be announced soon. Rolling Stone has more.

Emmys—Emmy winner Stephen Colbert will host the 2017 Emmy Awards, set for September 17, and airing on CBS. Colbert won his nine Emmys for his work on both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Rolling Stone has more.

Sundance—The film adaptation of Jordan Harrison's play, Marjorie Prime, took home the Feature Film Prize from the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The movie features Lois Smith, who appeared in the off-Broadway production, as well as Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, and Tim Robbins. Playbill has more.

In Other News
  • NYCB resident choreographer and soloist Justin Peck spoke to The New York Times about his newest ballet, The Times are Racing, which premiered last night (and is AMAZING). Peck talks about how the election shaped the ballet, and having, for maybe the first time in ballet history, a gender-neutral protagonist role.

     
  • The 2017-2018 New York Pops season has been announced. Notable programs include a November 17 concert in which The Last Five Years co-stars Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe will perform songs written by female songwriters; the December 15 and 16 holiday concerts, featuring Tony nominee Megan Hilty (Noises Off, Smash); and a February 2, 2018, concert that will explore this history of R+B, featuring Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin). Broadway.com has more.

  • Josh Groban (The Great Comet) has recorded a new song for the upcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast film. "Evermore" was written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice. In the movie, the Beast sings the song after he releases Belle to her father; Groban's version will play over the end credits. Broadway World has more. More Groban goodness: The Guardian checked in the crooner/actor, who reflected on achieving his childhood dream of being on Broadway.

  • The film adaptation of Stephen Karam's Speech and Debate will be released April 7. Karam recently won the Tony for his play, The Humans. Visit Broadway.com for more.


  • Hamilton's original Schuyler Sisters will reunite for the Super Bowl. Tony winner Renee Elise Goldsberry (Angelica), Phillipa Soo (Eliza), and Jasmine Cephas Jones (and Peggy) will sing "America the Beautiful" before the Patriots and Falcons face off on Sunday, February 5. Playbill has more.

  • Signature Theatre will welcome four playwrights to its residency programs. Dave Malloy (Preludes, The Great Comet) and Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew) will join the Residency Five program, and Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy) and Lynn Nottage (Sweat) will join the Residency One program, Guirgis for the 2017-2018 season, and Nottage for the 2018-2019 season. Broadway.com has more.

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