Week in Review 4.7.17


Remembering Don Rickles
The great Don Rickles passed away this week, and Jimmy Kimmel used the opening of Thursday night's show to pay tribute:


Shakespeare in the Park Casting
Initial casting has been announced for the two Shakespeare in the Park productions, Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it's already an embarrassment of riches. (And in keeping with the Public ethos (diversity), both casts include actors of color and non-traditional gender casting.) Among those in Julius Caesar are Corey Stoll (House of Cards, Plenty) as Marcus Brutus; Elizabeth Marvel (House of Cards, Homeland) as Antony; Tony winner Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon, Preludes) as Portia; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy) as Cinna the Poet; Chris Myers (Whorl Inside a Loop) as several characters; and Eisa Davis (Preludes) as Decius Brutus. Performances run May 23 through June 18, and will be directed by the Public's artistic director, Oskar Eustis. Among those in Midsummer are Danny Burstein (Fiddler on the Roof) as Nick Bottom; Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford (You Can't Take It With You, Sunday in the Park with George) as Helena; Kristine Nielsen (Present Laughter) as Puck; Kyle Beltran (The Cherry Orchard) as Lysander; and Shalita Grant (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Hermia. Performances run July 11 through August 13, and will be directed by Lear deBessonet. Theater Mania has more.

(Additional) Casting News
  • Tony winner Reed Birney (The Humans, Man from Nebraska) and Tony nominee Tom Sturridge (Orphans) will lead the company of 1984, set to begin previews at Broadway's Hudson Theatre on May 18. Birney and Sturridge will be joined by, among others, Olivia Wilde, Michael Potts (Aubergine), and Cara Seymour. Opening night is set for June 22. Broadway.com has more.

  • Tony winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening, The Newsroom) will star alongside Kristen Stewart in the upcoming film Underwater, which, according to Deadline, takes place...underwater. William Eubank directs based on a script by Briant Duffield.


  • Complete casting for the Playwright Horizons production of Bella: An American Tale, written by Kristen Childs, has been announced. Ashley D. Kelley leads the company in the title role, alongside Yurel Echezarreta, Kenita R. Miller, Paolo Montalban, and Gabrielle Reyes, among others. Directed by Robert O'Hara, Bella begins previews May 19. Opening night is set for June 12, and the limited engagement is scheduled to conclude July 2. Playbill has more.

     
  • Casting has been announced for the Broadway bow of Prince of Broadway, the retrospective dedicated to storied producer and director, Hal Prince. Tony nominees Brandon Uranowitz (An American in Paris, Falsettos), Nancy Opel (Urinetown, Honeymoon in Vegas), and Tony Yazbeck (On the Town), as well as Tony winner Chuck Cooper (The Life, Romeo and Juliet), are among those making up the company. Prince of Broadway begins previews at the Biltmore Theatre August 3, with opening night set for August 24. Broadway.com has more.
It's an Honor
Tony Awards—Tony nominee Christopher Jackson (Hamilton) and Tony winner Jane Krakowski (Nine, She Loves Me) will announce the Tony Award nominations on Tuesday, May 2, from Lincoln Center. The announcement will be livestreamed. Playbill has more. In addition, the Tony Administration Committee met for a third time to discuss Tony eligibility. 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.
  • Sunset Boulevard: Tracy Christensen will be eligible in the Best Costume Design of a Musical category and David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber will be eligible in the best Orchestrations category
  • Gideon Glick will be eligible in the Best Lead Actor in a Play category for Significant Other
  • Tony Shalhoub, Jessica Hecht, and Danny DeVito will be eligible in the Best Featured Actor/Actress in a Play categories for The Price
  • Jitney will be eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category
Academy Awards—Dates for the next four Academy Award ceremonies have been announced. Next year's awards, the 90th, will be held March 4, 2018. The 91st will be held February 24, 2019; next will be February 23, 2020; and in 2021, the Oscars will be on February 28. Variety has more.

Lucille Lortel Awards—Nominees for the Lortel Awards, honoring excellence in off-Broadway productions, were announced. Several of the nominated works have since transferred to Broadway. For example, the Second Stage production of Dear Evan Hansen garnered four nominations, including one for star Ben Platt. Those lucky enough to snag a ticket can now see Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. Playbill has the full list of nominees; some nominees of note include:
  • Notes from the Field, Outstanding Solo Show, Outstanding Projection Design (Elaine McCarthy)
  • Oslo (now on Broadway), Outstanding Play, Outstanding Director (Bartlett Sher), multiple acting nominations
  • A Life, Outstanding Director (Anne Kauffman), Outstanding Lead Actor (David Hyde Pierce), Outstanding Scenic Design (Laura Jellinek), Outstanding Sound Design (Mikhail Fiksel)
  • The Total Bent, Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Choreographer (David Neumann), Outstanding Lead Actor (Ato Blankson-Wood)
  • Reed Birney Outstanding Lead Actor, Man from Nebraska
  • Kecia Lewis, Outstanding Lead Actress, Marie and Rosetta
Peabody Awards—Finalists for the Peabody Awards have been announced. The awards honor excellence in electronic media. Winners will be announced over the next several weeks (category by category). Some notable finalists include: Hamilton's America, the PBS documentary about the making of Hamilton; Louis C.K.'s Horace and Pete; the HBO shows Veep and The Night Of; and This is Us. Visit peabodyawards.com for the full list of finalists.

Academy of Arts and Letters—Recipients of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in Literature have been announced. Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat) received the Nitro Mountain Award of Merit Medal, which includes a $25,000 prize. Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar (Disgraced) and Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew) each received a price recognizing their "exceptional accomplishment," and their honors come with a $10,000 prize. Theater Mania has more.

In Other News
  • The terrific Significant Other will conclude its Broadway run on July 2. The Joshua Harmon play ran to critical acclaim off-Broadway in summer 2015, and began Broadway previews February 14, 2017. Broadway.com has more.


  • New York's Signature Theatre has announced its 2017-2018 season, and it includes revivals of Edward Albee plays and the New York premiere of Dominique Morisseau's Paradise Blue, among other works. Broadway.com has the full season slate.

     
  • There will be a cast recording of War Paint, the just-opened musical about dueling cosmetic magnates. The recording will feature the show's stars, Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole. Playbill has more.

  • David Letterman will induct Pearl Jam into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend. He is filling in for Neil Young, who had to bow out due to illness. Rolling Stone has more.

     
  • The second season of Master of None will debut on Netflix May 12. Watch the trailer for the Emmy Award-winning Aziz Ansari show below.

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