Aubrey Plaza to Make Stage Debut in Off Broadway Revival of “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea”

Aubrey Plaza is preparing to make her stage debut…

The 39-year-old half-Puerto Rican Emmy-nominated actress, comedian and producer will star opposite Christopher Abbott in an Off Broadway revival of John Patrick Shanley’s 1984 classic Danny and the Deep Blue Sea this fall, with a producing team that includes Sam Rockwell.

Aubrey PlazaThe revival will begin previews on Monday, October 20, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, with an opening night set for Monday, November 13.

The 10-week limited engagement will be directed by Jeff Ward, in his stage directorial debut.

Rockwell said in a statement, “My life and career have been profoundly impacted by Off-Broadway theater – like John Malkovich and Gary Sinise in True West at the Cherry Lane; Stanley Tucci in Scapin at Classic Stage Company; Phil Hoffman and Justin Theroux in Shopping and F*cking at New York Theatre Workshop; and Blasted with Reed Birney and Marin Ireland at Soho Rep, to name a few. I really do believe it’s the beating heart of this city. I couldn’t be prouder to be downtown at the Lucille Lortel with this vital play.”

Rockwell will be producing via his and Mark Berger’s Play Hooky Productions, along with Seaview, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson, by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

The original production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea premiered Off Broadway at Circle in the Square Theatre Downtown in 1984 starring June Stein and John Turturro (who won an Obie Award for his performance).

The official synopsis: Have you ever been caught in an earthquake? A chance meeting. A dive bar. Some encounters are so dangerous and so beautiful, they redefine the meaning of love. Follow two desperate people in the Bronx, Danny and Roberta, as they walk the line between destruction and transcendence.

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea will feature scenic design by Scott Pask, lighting design by John Torres, costume design by Arianne Phillips, sound design by Kate Marvin, and movement by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber.

Plaza is best known for her breakthrough role on Parks and Recreation and, more recently, The White Lotus.

Bobby Cannavale to Star in First Staging of Stephen Sondheim’s Final Musical, “Here We Are”

Bobby Cannavale is here

The 53-year-old half-Cuban American Emmy-winning actor will star in Here We Are, the first production of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical.

Bobby CannavaleCannavale is among a roster of cast members that include Francois BattisteTracie BennettMicaela DiamondAmber GrayJin HaRachel Bay JonesDenis O’HareSteven PasqualeDavid Hyde Pierce and Jeremy Shamos are set for the show, which will make its world premiere on September 28 for a limited Off Broadway engagement at The Shed.

Sondheim’s final, long-awaited musical will be directed by two-time Tony winner Joe Mantello.

Formerly known as Square One, the final musical composed by Sondheim before his death in 2021 features a book by David Ives and is inspired by the two films The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel by Luis Buñuel.

Executive Producers for Here We Are are Sue Wagner, John Johnson and Jillian Robbins, and the musical will be co-presented by The Shed; Artistic Director Alex Poots, President and COO Maryann Jordan, and Chief Executive Producer Madani Younis.

Here We Are will be the latest in a string of Sondheim musicals to receive New York stagings since the Broadway legend’s death, including Company and Into the Woods. Sweeney Todd is currently in previews on Broadway, and revival of Merrily We Roll Along will begin Broadway previews in September.

Shortly before his death, Sondheim appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and confirmed that the musical, then called Square One, was being readied for staging. He told Colbert that he’d been working on the musical for “a couple of years.” A workshop was held in 2016, and Nathan Lane said in 2021 that he Bernadette Peters had recently participated in a reading of the musical.

Disney+ to Release Fourth & Final Season of Frankie Rodriguez’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” in August

It’s curtain call Frankie Rodriguez

The upcoming fourth season of Disney+’s original series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, starring the 23-year-old Mexican American actor/singer, will be its last, with all eight episodes being released on August 9.

Frankie RodriguezThe show’s conclusion was announced on social media by creator and executive producer Tim Federle.

“After four years at East High, it’s time to graduate. This will be our final, endgame season,” he wrote. “This show brought the most extraordinary cast – and crew, and collaborators – to my life. To the fans, who embraced our super-meta series: we ‘don’t not love you.’ We can’t wait to share this epic 4th act with you all.”

Along with The Mandalorian, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series helped launch Disney+, premiering in November 2019. It’s the longest running and most successful Disney Branded Television series for the streamer to date.

Inspired by the hugely popular High School Musical movies, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has launched notable careers such as Grammy Award-winning artist Olivia Rodrigo; Tony Award-nominated Julia Lester; singer-songwriter Joshua Bassett, who recently completed a world tour; and Dara Reneé, who made her songwriting debut on the series and stars in the upcoming Disney+ Original movie Descendants: The Rise of Red.

Season four of the GLAAD Media and Kids Choice Award-winning series will see the Wildcats returning to East High, where they prepare a stage production of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” But, in a meta twist signature to the series, plans are disrupted when Disney announces the long-awaited “High School Musical 4: The Reunion” movie will shoot on location at their beloved high school.

Franchise alum Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed and Kaycee Stroh play themselves, reprising their High School Musical roles, and the Wildcats will play featured extras in the movie.

Season 4 stars Bassett, Sofia Wylie, Reneé, Lester, Rodriguez, Kate Reinders and Liamani Segura.

Anthony Ramos to Star as Mozart in Broadway Revival of Peter Shaffer’s Play “Amadeus”

Anthony Ramos is taking on a classical music legend…

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican actor/singer and In the Heights, has revealed that he’s signed on to star as Mozart in a Broadway revival of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play Amadeus.

Anthony Ramos“I am excited about going back to Broadway,” said Ramos, who’ll soon appear on the big screen in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast. “I signed on to do Amadeus on Broadway, to play Mozart.” The actor said the production is still looking to cast the Salieri role.

No additional details were shared about the production.

Amadeus is a non-musical and fictionalized account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.

First performed in 1979 in London, a subsequent Broadway production, starring Tim Curry as Mozart and Ian McKellen as Salieri, won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play.

Shaffer then adapted his play for the 1984 film starring F. Murray Abraham (in an Oscar-winning performance) as Salieri and Tom Hulce as Mozart.

The play was most recently revived on Broadway in 1999 in a production starring Michael Sheen as Mozart and David Suchet as Salieri.

Shuga Cain’s London West End Smash “Death Drop” Headed to Broadway

Shuga Cain is dropping into the Big Apple…

London’s West End smash Death Drop, starring the 45-year-old half-Salvadoran American drag queen, is coming to New York this summer.

Shuga CainDeath Drop is set to begin its Off-Broadway previews on June 30, followed by opening night on July 13 at New World Stages.

In addition to Shuga Cain, the stage name of Jesus Martinez, the show also stars RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Jujubee as Summer Raines, Willam as Shazza and Shuga Cain as Lady Rosebud von Fistenberg.

Joining the Drag Race alumni include Peachez Iman Cummings as Morgan Pierce, Wang Newton as Phil Maker and the Death Drop writer Holly Stars as the Bottomly Sisters. Kiki Ball-Change will serve as an understudy. Additional casting will be announced soon.

Here’s the official description: On Tuck Island a gaggle of girls join each other for a soirée, but when the tension rises as the peculiar guests reveal their sordid pasts, one by one they “sashay away.” That is until at the last shocking moment when the surviving girls find out how earlier guests dropped to their deaths.

Based on an original idea by Christopher D. Clegg , Death Drop was written by drag queen and comedian, Holly Stars.

Stars is joined behind the curtain by director Jesse Jones, scenic designer Justin Williams, costume designer Isobel Pellow, lighting designer Jack Weir, sound designer Beth Duke, wig designer Florencia Melone, vocal supervisor Jacob Yates and composers Nicola Dempsey and Rosie Dempsey.

The Off-Broadway show is produced by TuckShop, Tom Smedes, Heather Shields, Peter Stern, Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. BatmanAndres Martinez, Marc David LevineScott Johnson, M&E Productions, Bryan McCaffrey, Kyle Valentine, and Michael McCraryCody Lassen serves as executive producer. Alex Wyse and Wes Taylor are dramaturgs.

Ariana DeBose to Return as Host of This Year’s Tony Awards Ceremony

Ariana DeBose will be heading back to the Tony Awards 

The 32-year-old half-Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress/singer will return as host of this year’s Tony Awards ceremony.

Ariana DeBoseDeBose, who earned a Tony nomination for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, hosted last year’s broadcast to general acclaim.

This year’s event, the 76th Annual Tony Awards, will air live from United Palace in New York City’s Washington Heights on Sunday, June 11, on CBS.

“I was honored to serve as host last year and even more so to be asked back,” DeBose said in a statement. “So looking forward to celebrating this incredible season and the people who make the work happen. Here’s to adding some uptown flavor to the magic of the Tony Awards.”

Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League said in a joint statement that DeBose is a “force both on and off the stage,” and that the event presenters and producers are “thrilled to welcome back one of Broadway’s brightest lights to dazzle, inspire and illuminate this year’s Tony Awards.”

“Ariana will host and dance and sing, we’re so thrilled she’s back to do the thing,” said Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, Executive Producers, White Cherry Entertainment.

DeBose won an Oscar last year for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and was Tony-nominated in 2018 for her role as “Disco Donna” in Broadway’s Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Other stage credits include Hamilton, A Bronx Tale, Pippin and Motown the Musical, among others.

Notable television and film credits include the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! and the Netflix adaptation of the Broadway musical The Prom. She’ll next be seen in the feature films Kraven the Hunter, Wish, House of Spoils, Argylle and I.S.S.

The 76th Tonys celebration will recognize Broadway productions of the 2022-2023 season. The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the season is Thursday, April 27; nominations will be announced on Tuesday, May 2.

The 76th Annual Tony Awards will air live Sunday, June 11, at 8:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm PT on CBS, and stream live and in-demand on Paramount+.

Anthony Ramos to Receive Rising Star of the Year Award at Cinema Con 2023

Anthony Ramosstar is on the rise… 

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and actor and Dominique Fishback have been set to receive the Rising Stars of the Year Award at CinemaCon 2023.

Anthony RamosThe Transformers: Rise of the Beasts stars will receive the recognition from NATO’s official convention at its Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony, which takes place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas the night of April 27.

They join a list of honorees that also includes Oppenheimer‘s Christopher Nolan & Emma Thomas (NATO Spirit of the Industry Award), the cast of Lionsgate’s Joy Ride (Comedy Ensemble of the Year Award) and the Dune franchise’s Zendaya (Star of the Year Award).

The new Steven Caple Jr.-helmed Transformers film set for release in theaters June 9 hails from Paramount Pictures and Skydance, in association with Hasbro and New Republic Pictures.

It’s billed as a globetrotting adventure transporting audiences back to the ’90s alongside the iconic Autobots, which also introduces a brand-new faction of Transformers, the Maximals, to join them as allies in the ongoing battle for Earth.

Ramos’ and Fishback’s human characters participating in that fight are tech wiz Noah Diaz and museum artifact researcher Elena Wallace, respectively.

“With a breadth of experience across theater, television and film, Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback will undoubtedly captivate audiences as they take on their first action-packed franchise film in this summer’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” CinemaCon managing director Mitch Neuhauser said. “We are thrilled to be honoring these two talented individuals with this year’s CinemaCon Rising Stars of the Year Award.”

A Grammy winner, as well as a Golden Globe and Emmy nominee, Ramos is best known for originating the roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the Tony-winning Broadway smash Hamilton, and for leading Warner Bros’ feature adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s other famed musical In the Heights. He’s also previously been seen in films like Godzilla: King of the Monsters and A Star Is Born, along with series including She’s Gotta Have It and In Treatment. Other upcoming projects include the films Distant and Dumb Money, as well as the Disney+ Marvel series Iron Heart.

CinemaCon takes place this year from April 24-27.

Antonio Díaz Headed to Broadway for Limited Two-Week Engagement This Summer

Antonio Díaz is headed to the Great White Way

The 37-year-old Spanish illusionist, better known by his stage name El Mago Pop, is bringing his show to Broadway this summer, with a limited two-week engagement set for August.

Diaz, one of Europe’s highest grossing illusionists, will begin two weeks of performances at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Thursday, August 17.

“Performing on Broadway has been a lifelong dream,” Díaz said in a statement, “and it will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge of my career. I am certain it will be a life altering experience that I will remember for the rest of time.”

Díaz is one of the most successful illusionists in Europe and is among Spain’s top grossing performers.

Nearly three million theater-goers have seen Díaz in performance, and his Netflix shows Magic for Humans and La Gran Ilusion are broadcast in nearly 200 countries.

El Mago Pop features Diaz’s close-up magic and, according to the announcement, “his most unusual & spectacular illusions.”

Lindsay Mendez’s Revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” to Open on Broadway in September

Lindsay Mendez will be rolling along in September…

The upcoming Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along starring the 40-year-old half-Mexican American actress and singer, Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff will play its first performance at the Hudson Theatre on Tuesday, September 19, producers have announced.

Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll AlongDirected by Maria Friedman, the production played a sold-out Off Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop last year. The preview date for the strictly limited, 18-week Broadway engagement was announced by producers Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo and Jeff Romley.

Merrily We Roll Along features music and lyrics by Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. The revival is choreographed by Tim Jackson

In addition to the previously announced stars (Radcliffe will play Charley Kringas; Groff, Franklin Shepard; and Mendez, Mary Flynn), the production will feature Krystal Joy Brown as Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke as Beth Shepard, and Reg Rogers as Joe Josephson. The cast will also include Sherz Aletaha, Leana Rae Concepcion, Morgan Kirner, Corey Mach, Talia Robinson, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen, and Jacob Keith Watson.

Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily We Roll Along charts “the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley.” The production describes the musical as an “inventive cult-classic ahead of its time” featuring such Sondheim songs as the title number, “Old Friends,” “Not a Day Goes By,” and “Our Time.”

The musical, considered one of Sondheim’s trickiest to stage due to its reverse-chronology plot, also is being developed as a film – unrelated to the Broadway production – by Richard Linklater and set to star Ben Platt, Paul Mescal and Beanie Feldstein. Like Linklater’s 2014 film Boyhood, Merrily will be filmed over the course of more than a decade.

David Del Rio to Star Opposite Kathy Bates in CBS’ Drama Pilot “Matlock”

David Del Rio is (Mat)locking in his next project…

The 35-year-old Latinx actor/director and former Baker and the Beauty star and Leah Lewis have been cast as series regulars opposite Kathy Bates and Skye P. Marshall in CBS’ drama pilot Matlock.

David Del RioThe project is a new take on the classic legal television drama starring Andy Griffith, which hails from Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman and NCIS: Los Angeles star Eric Christian Olsen.

In Matlock, written by Urman and to be directed by Kat Coiro, after achieving success in her younger years, the brilliant septuagenarian Madeline Matlock (Bates) rejoins the work force at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within.

Del Rio plays Billy, a charismatic young associate a few years out of law school and assigned to work on one of the firm’s biggest cases.  He helps Matty navigate her new work environment as he seemingly knows more than he should.

Lewis plays Sarah, a Junior Associate eager to get ahead and not worried about being liked. Sarah is all ambition, determined to be seen for her smarts and willing to do anything to move up a peg at the firm. She is not pleased when she’s forced to work alongside Matty, lowering her position at the company even further.

Bates executive produces alongside Sutton Street’s Urman and Joanna Klein, Coiro, as well as Cloud Nine’s Olsen and John Will.

Del Rio can be seen as a lead in the Hulu Original series, Maggie, opposite Rebecca Rittenhouse. His most recent credits include starring as Mateo in ABC’s Baker and the Beauty. He also replaced Lin-Manuel Miranda in his Tony winning role on Broadway as Sonny in In the Heights, and teamed up with Miranda to star in the Emmy nominated Grease: Live on Fox.