Academy Award-winning singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, H.E.R., is currently in final talks to make her feature film debut in the upcoming movie musical adaptation of The Color Purple.
Read on for more theatre headlines you may have missed in today’s news.
Rich + Tone Talauega Join the Creative Team of MJ the Musical
Choreographer brothers Rich and Tone Talauega have been tapped for the creative team of the upcoming Broadway musical MJ. The pair, who began their careers on Michael Jackson’s HIStory World Tour, will focus specifically on the title character’s movement in the show. “Working with Rich and Tone over the last three years of our developmental process has been exceptional and I am so thrilled to announce them,” said director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. “It has been very exciting to have them as a part of my team as their first-hand knowledge both of Michael’s life on tour and movement languages is invaluable and informed the authenticity of our show.” The Talauegas have previously choreographed multiple numbers in the two shows produced by the Michael Jackson Estate and Cirque du Soleil, Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour and Michael Jackson ONE, a resident show in Las Vegas. MJ begins previews December 6 with newcomer Myles Frost in the title role.
Denise Gough Reunites with Andrew Garfield for FX series
Two-time Olivier winner Denise Gough will join her Angels in America co-star for FX’s limited series Under The Banner Of Heaven, Deadline reports. The series is based on Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction crime drama surrounding a 1984 murder committed by extremist members of the LDS church. Garfield stars as Pyre, a church elder, alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones, the murder victim Brenda Lafferty. Gough joins the cast with Sam Worthington, Wyatt Russell, Seth Numrich (Travesties) and Rory Culkin, all who play members of the Lafferty family. Production is currently underway on the series, which will be available on FX on Hulu.
The Broadway Women’s Alliance and YesAnd Productions Collab for Docu-Series
Through interviews, first-hand accounts, on-site coverage, and self-submissions, the docu-series Here’s To The Ladies Who will chronicle the stories of the women working on the business side of Broadway, focusing on their journeys and the industry, and how they adapted during the pandemic. “As we emerge from the shutdown, we’re hearing stories from women who have dealt with the uncertainty of job loss, held companies together through sheer will, pivoted careers and pivoted back again. These women are leading the charge on rebuilding the future of Broadway and beyond,” said Jennifer Isaacson, a co-founder of Broadway Women’s Alliance. The series is directed by Heather Arnson, executive produced by Catherine Markowitz, and line produced by Arielle Cohen, Anna Mack, and Holly Sutton. The series is expected to premiere in early 2022. Story submissions can be made here.
Marry Murder F*&%k - A Ballroom Comedy Will Play The Flea Theater
Playwright Candace H. Caplin will star opposite her ballroom instructor Ronny Dutra in her new comedy premiering September 24 at The Flea Theater. Marry Murder F*&%k centers on Rae Applebaum, who comes home to find her mother in the arms of a half-naked dance teacher. Also in the cast are Audrey Rose Young and Gary Wolf. The play is co-written by Kim St. Leon, who also co-directs with Dutra. The limited engagement runs through October 3. For ticketing, click here.
She’s going to the ball Check out this new clip from the upcoming Cinderella movie musical starring Camila Cabello andBilly Porterbelow. The film was originally scheduled to hit theaters in June of 2021. It will now be released on September 3rd on Amazon Prime Video.
The Broadway company of Chicago, which resumes performances at the Ambassador Theatre September 14, strutted their stuff on the August 25 broadcast of ABC’s Good Morning America.
Bianca Marroquín led the company in the John Kander and Fred Ebb classic “All That Jazz” live in Times Square. Watch the performance below.
As previously announced, when performances resume on Broadway, the cast will be led by Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!) as Roxie Hart, Marroquín (a longtime Roxie in the revival) as Velma Kelly, and Tony winner Lillias White (The Life, How to Succeed…) as Matron Mama Morton with Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart and Ryan Lowe as Mary Sunshine.
Ensemble members include David Bushman, Jennifer Dunne, Jessica Ernest, Jeff Gorti, Arian Keddell, Mary Claire King, Barrett Martin, Sharon Moore, Drew Nellessen, Celina Nightengale, Brian O’Brien, Denny Paschall, Angel Reda, Jermaine R. Rembert, Michael Scirrotto, Christine C. Smith, and Brian Spitulnik.
The revival of Chicago began life as one of the three annual Encores! presentations offered by City Center. The musical opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in November 1996, where it remained through February 1997. The musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre, and played that house through January 26, 2003. The revival reopened at the Ambassador Theatre January 29 that year.
It is now the second-longest running show in Broadway history (after The Phantom of the Opera).
READ: How the Chicago Costumes Have Evolved Over 25 Years
With a book by the late Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Ebb, Chicago features direction by Walter Bobbie, choreography by the late Ann Reinking, set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design Ken Billington, and sound design by Scott Lehrer.
The current production, produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1997 as well as awards for actors Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, director Bobbie, lighting designer Billington, and Reinking. The original production was directed and choreographed by the late Bob Fosse.
READ: Broadway Will Require COVID Vaccines for Audiences
Joining the Broadway cast for a limited engagement will beTony Award nominee Tom Hewitt. Hewitt will play the role of Hades until originalBroadway cast member and Tony Award nominee Patrick Page, who is in productionfor a new film project, returns on Tuesday, November 2.
1986 A revival of The Royal Shakespeare Company‘s acclaimed eight-and-a-half-hour production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby opens on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, once again directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.
1989 Willard White becomes the first Black actor to play Othello for the Royal Shakespeare Company when it opens at The Other Place. A tin shed in Stratford, the venue served as one of the group’s most intimate and experimental venues. Joining White on stage was Ian McKellen as an especially dastardly Iago.
2001 Rex Smith and Rachel York begin their stint at Los Angeles’ Shubert Theatre in an extended-stay production of Kiss Me, Kate, based on the 1999 Tony-winning revival.
2008 The Phantom of the Opera puts down his mask for four performances at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway while technicians invade his lair and upgrade the sound system. Producers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh take the unusual step of temporarily closing down the longest-running show in Broadway history “to bring the production’s sound design technology into the 21st century.”
2016 The Flea presents Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation of Euripides’ The Trojan Women, directed by Anne Cecelia Haney.
2017 Prince of Broadway, a musical retrospective that charts the life and legendary career of director-producer Harold Prince, opens on Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Prince and Susan Stroman co-direct a cast that includes Chuck Cooper, Emily Skinner, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba. The production features biographical material and songs from many of the shows that earned Prince a record 21 Tony Awards, including The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Evita, Sweeney Todd, and The Phantom of the Opera.
2018 The New York premiere of Mark Chrisler’s drama Worse Than Tigers begins at the New Ohio Theatre. The production, directed by Emmy nominee Jaclyn Biskup, stars Braeson Herold and Shannon Marie Sullivan.
2019 Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me plays its final performance on Broadway. The Tony-nominated production had extended its run at the Hayes twice. Schreck received Tony nods for Best Play and Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. The play was also a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and nominated for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Today’s Birthdays: Max Beerbohm (1872–1956), Frank Craven (1881–1945), Nedda Harrigan Logan (1899–1989), Durward Kirby (1912–2000), Stephen Fry (b. 1957), Martine Allard (b. 1970), Jessica Boevers (b. 1972), Taylor Mac (b. 1973), Amy Spanger (b. 1971).