Lin-Manuel Miranda to Perform at This Year’s Tony Awards

Lin-Manuel Miranda is making his triumphant return to the Tony Awards

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican composer, playwright, actor and singer will perform on Sunday’s Tonycast, almost one year after his hit Broadway musical Hamilton swept the awards.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The casts of Bandstand, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Falsettos, Groundhog Day The Musical, Hello, Dolly!, Miss Saigon, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and War Paint will perform during 71st Annual Tony Awards, which CBS will broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall from 8:00 to 11:00 PM.

There’s still no word on what Miranda will perform.

There will be additional performances by The Radio City Rockettes and Tony Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton).

There will be additional appearances by Scott Bakula, Sara Bareilles, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bloom, Glenn Close, Stephen Colbert, Brian d’Arcy James, Cynthia Erivo, Tina Fey, Sutton Foster, Josh Gad, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Groff, Mark Hamill, Taraji P. Henson, Christopher Jackson, Allison Janney, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Keegan-Michael Key, Nick Kroll, John Legend, John Lithgow, Patina Miller, John Mulaney, David Oyelowo, Chazz Palminteri, Sarah Paulson, Lea Salonga, Tom Sturridge, Tommy Tune, Olivia Wilde, and 2017 Tony nominees Sally Field, Josh Groban, Bette Midler and Ben Platt.

Although Midler will appear as a presenter in one of the acting categories, she is not scheduled to participate in the Hello, Dolly! segment, which will be led by co-star Hyde Pierce. The blockbuster production’s offer to present the title song, or another of Dolly’s show-stoppers, live via remote from the Shubert Theatre was declined by the Tony producers.

The ceremony will be hosted by Tony and Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey.

The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

Rodriguez Being Courted to Star in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Miss Bala” Remake

Gina Rodriguez may have found her next crowning project…

Catherine Hardwicke is in talks to direct Miss Bala, the remake of the Mexican film co-written and directed by Gerardo Naranjo, with the 32-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star being courted for the leading role.

Gina Rodriguez

Miss Bala, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film, centers on a beauty pageant contestant who witnesses the brutality of a drug gang and is dragged into their dangerous business.

Kevin Misher and Pablo Cruz are producing, Andy Berman is executive producer. Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer is adapting the script by Naranjo and Mauricio Katz.

Rodriguez, who earned a Golden Globe for her performance in Jane the Virgin, rose to acclaim after starring the indie film Filly Brown. Her other film roles include Deepwater Horizon and Enter the Dangerous Mind.

Larrain Attached to Direct Annapurna Pictures’ “The True American”

Things could be ringing True for Pablo Larraín

The 40-year-old Chilean filmmaker, the Oscar-nominated director behind such titles as Jackie and Neruda, is attached to direct Tom Hardy in Annapurna Pictures’ The True American.

Pablo Larraín

The project is based on Anand Giridharadas’ nonfiction book of the same name, which is set in Texas in the days following 9/11. It follows the story of Rais Bhuiyan, a Muslim immigrant and Bangladesh Air Force veteran who narrowly survived a killing spree that took the lives of two other immigrants. Employed at a Dallas-area convenience store as he established himself in America, Bhuiyan worked to have his attacker, self-styled “Arab-slayer” Mark Stroman, spared from execution.

This is a project that has been kicking around for a few years now, with Kathryn Bigelow attached to direct at one point, but now it’s moving forward with Bigelow taking a producer role on the film.

Larraín is fast becoming one of the most sought after international directors after his recent effort Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as the former First Lady in the days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, was nominated for three Oscars.

His Spanish-language film Neruda, a twist on the biopic genre about the eponymous Nobel Prize-winning poet, was made in Chile and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival while his 2012 political satire No was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas was published in 2014 by W.W. Norton & Company.

Olmos to Take Part in Center Theatre Group’s 50th Anniversary Event

It’s a special homecoming for Edward James Olmos

The 70-year-old Mexican American actor will take part in a star-studded event to celebrate the Center Theatre Group’s 50 years of excellence.

Edward James Olmos

The event will feature a one-night-only production from writer, director and producer Robert Egan, followed by dinner in downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park.

Co-Chairs Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Sue Tsao, Center Theatre Group board member will be joined by celebrated alumni like Olmos, Alfred Molina, Annette Bening, Matthew Bourne, Danai GuriraPhylicia Rashad and more.

The celebration, taking place on May 20 at the Ahmanson Theatre, will spotlight Center Theatre Group’s education and community outreach programs as well as its continuing role in creating new work and helping to define the role of theatre both in Los Angeles and beyond.

“We are thrilled to have so many incredible artists returning to help us celebrate this exciting milestone, and the power of theatre to shape the cultural landscape of Los Angeles,” said Center Theatre Group Board President Kiki Ramos Gindler. “Our 50th Anniversary Celebration will bring together some of our most beloved and talented artists to reflect on Center Theatre Group’s proud history of world-class productions, innovative programs and field-defining new work.”

Olmos, an Academy Award nominee for his performance in Stand and Deliver, starred in the in the Center Theatre Group’s production of the Chicano protest musical Zoot Suit as El Pachuco back in 1978. Oscar-nominated actor Demian Bichir stepped into that role for the revival of the Luis Valdez play, also produced by the Center Theater Group.

Rodriguez to Sit Down with Barbra Streisand at the Tribeca Film Festival

Robert Rodriguez is ready to babble on with Babs

The 48-year-old Mexican American filmmaker will partner with Barbra Streisand for a special talk at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Robert Rodriguez

Streisand, an icon in multiple entertainment fields, will converse on her unparalleled career and force field of creativity with filmmaker Rodriguez, the mastermind behind such films as El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, as part of the festival’s Tribeca Talks: Storytellers series.

Streisand has attained unprecedented achievements as a recording artist, actor, director, producer, concert performer, author and songwriter. Streisand has been awarded two Oscars, five Emmys, ten Golden Globes, eight Grammys plus two special Grammys, a special Tony Award in 1970, and two CableACE Awards – the only artist to receive honors in all of those fields of endeavor.

Rodriguez, a horror/cult movie maestro, will pose questions to Streisand on her storied career.

But he isn’t the only Latino taking part in this year’s Tribeca Talks…

Alejandro González Iñárritu will talk part in the Tribeca Talks: Director Series, a series of will “intimate talks and discussions.”

The Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker, who directed Birdman and The Revenant, will discuss his own body of work.

The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 19-30. Visit the festival’s website for more details.

Here’s more on the two Tribeca Talks:

Tribeca Talks: Directors Series
Today’s most groundbreaking filmmakers discuss their careers and highlights.

Alejandro González Iñárritu
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, one of only three directors to ever win consecutive Oscars and the first to do so in 65 years, will talk about his beautifully varied work on films such as Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Biutiful, Babel, and most recently, The Revenant. Iñárritu is the first Mexican filmmaker to have been nominated for Best Director and Best Producer in the history of the Academy Awards.
DATE: Saturday, April 22
TIME: 2:30PM

Tribeca Talks: Storytellers
Some of today’s most innovative creators broke from traditional roles and pioneered their own forms of storytelling, often mastering multiple mediums. This series will celebrate the illustrious careers of those individuals who have broken from the mold.

Barbra Streisand with Robert Rodriguez
Widely recognized as an icon in multiple entertainment fields, Barbra Streisand has attained unprecedented achievements as a recording artist, actor, director, producer, concert performer, author and songwriter. Streisand has been awarded two Oscars, five Emmys, ten Golden Globes, eight Grammys plus two special Grammys, a special Tony award in 1970, and two CableACE Awards – the only artist to receive honors in all of those fields of endeavor. She will converse on her unparalleled career and force field of creativity with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.
DATE: Saturday, April 29
TIME: 6:00PM
LOCATION: BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center

Esquivel’s “Like Water For Chocolate” to Get Television Adaptation

There’s no water shortage for Laura Esquivel

The 66-year-old Mexican author’s popular novel Like Water For Chocolate is getting a television adaptation.

Laura Esquivel

Endemol Shine Studios, the scripted division of Endemol Shine North America, has acquired the rights Esquivel’s best-selling novel Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua Para Chocolate) to adapt as a global television franchise.

The classic story is being developed as an English language series with plans to adapt it in other languages, as well.

Like Water for Chocolate was first published in 1989 by Esquivel, a first-time Mexican novelist and quickly became a global sensation. The use of magical realism alongside a raucous family drama made the book an instant classic.

Like Water For Chocolate

To date, Like Water for Chocolate has sold 3.5 million copies in the U.S. through publishers Knopf Doubleday (English) and Vintage Espanol (Spanish). The novel spent a year and a half on the New York Times Bestseller list and has been published in 45 languages.

In 1992, a film based on Esquivel’s screenplay adaptation of the novel was successfully released in Spanish, earning critical acclaim and numerous honors. The film earned 11 Ariel Awards from the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including the Ariel for Best Picture and at the time became the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever released in the United States. It also was the Mexican entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards.

“It fills me with joy to know that Like Water for Chocolate will be brought to television screens throughout the world by a studio that bets on quality in producing content for each of its projects,” says Esquivel. “Of all the companies that offered to create the series, Endemol Shine Studios stood out in sharing a vision of Like Water for Chocolate closest to my own: leading from the heart.”

“The opportunity to adapt this beloved novel is a privilege, added Endemol Shine Studios President Sharon Hall. “Laura’s epic love story has all the ingredients of a breakthrough drama.”

Bardem to Serve as a Presenter at This Year’s Academy Awards

Javier Bardem has a date with Oscar

The 47-year-old Spanish actor, who won an Academy Award for his role in No Country for Old Men, will serve as a presenter at the 89th Academy Awards on February 26.

Javier Bardem

In addition to Bardem, the latest list of presenters includes

Amy Adams, Riz Ahmed, John Cho, Dwayne Johnson, Felicity Jones, Leslie Mann, Janelle Monáe, David Oyelowo, Emma Stone and Charlize Theron, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Previously announced presenters include Halle Berry, Jamie Dornan, Chris Evans, Gael García Bernal, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Dakota Johnson, Shirley MacLaine, Kate McKinnon and Hailee Steinfeld. 

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. ABC will broadcast the ceremony live.

Miranda to Perform “How Far I’ll Go” at This Year’s Academy Awards

Lin-Manuel Miranda will go far at this year’s Oscars

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican actor, playwright, composer, rapper, and writer will perform at this year’s Academy Awards, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda, a first time Oscar nominee and creator of the smash Broadway musical Hamilton, will join voices with part-Puerto Rican Moana voice star Auli’i Cravalho, a recent Annie Award winner, to perform one of the Best Original Song-nominated tracks.

Miranda and Cravalho will perform “How Far I’ll Go,” which he wrote for the hit animated film from Disney.

Other performers include Justin Timberlake, Sting and John Legend.

“We’re thrilled to welcome these world-class artists to the Oscars. These performances will not only celebrate the five extraordinary nominated original songs, but also the integral part music plays in movies,” Oscarcast producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd said in a statement.

Jimmy Kimmel will hosts the 89th Annual Academy Awards on February 26. ABC will air the awards show live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Garcia Bernal Among the Presenters at This Year’s Academy Awards

Gael García Bernal has a date with Oscar

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has announced the second group of presenters for the 89th Academy Awards on February 26, with the 38-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer making the list.

Gael García Bernal

Garcia Bernal, a Golden Globe-winner for Best Actor for his recently renewed series Mozart in the Jungle, joins a roster that includes Halle Berry, Jamie Dornan, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Dakota Johnson, Shirley MacLaine, Kate McKinnon and Hailee Steinfeld.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the trophy show is set for February 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. ABC will carry the ceremony live.

Miranda Receives First Oscar Nomination for His Work on Disney’s “Moana”

Lin-Manuel Miranda is thisclose to making history…

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican actor, playwright, composer, rapper, and writer, best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights, has picked up his first Oscar nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda, the recipient of an Emmy, two Grammys and three Tony Awards, earned the recognition for his musical work on the Disney animated film Moana. He’s responsible for the music and lyrics for the track “How Far I’ll Go,” which is nominated in the Best Original Song category.

Should he win, Miranda will become the youngest member of the EGOT club (recipients of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), replacing Robert Lopez, who completed his quartet in 2014 with a best original song win for Frozen’s “Let It Go.”

He’d be only the second Latino to join the club, following in the footsteps of fellow Puerto Rican multi-faceted artist Rita Moreno.

But Miranda faces stiff competition… “How Far I’ll Go” is up against two songs from Oscar frontrunner La La Land, “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” and Golden Globe-winner “City of Stars,” as well as Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from Trolls and Sting’s “The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story.

Miranda isn’t the only Latino nominee this year…

Like Miranda, Juanjo Gimenez has also picked up his first nomination. The 53-year-old Spanish filmmaker is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film for “Timecode.”

The short film picked up the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Rodrigo Prieto has picked up the second Oscar nod of his career… The 51-year-old Mexican cinematographer is nominated in the Best Cinematography category for his work on Martin Scorsese’s Silence.

Prieto was previously nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, losing the prize to Dion Beebe’s Memoirs of a Geisha.

Other Latino nominees include Richard Alonzo for Best Makeup and Hair for his work on Star Trek Beyond and Adam Valdez for Best Visual Effects for his work on The Jungle Book.

The 89th annual Academy Awards will take place on February 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best picture:
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Lead actor:
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Lead actress:
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Supporting actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”

Supporting actress:
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best director:
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Mel Gibson
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan
“Arrival,” Denis Villeneuve 

Animated feature:
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
“Moana,” John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
“My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras and Max Karli
“The Red Turtle,” Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
“Zootopia,” Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

Animated short:
“Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev
“Borrowed Time,” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Robert Valley and Cara Speller
“Pearl,” Patrick Osborne
“Piper,” Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Adapted screenplay:
“Arrival,” Eric Heisserer
“Fences,” August Wilson
“Hidden Figures,” Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
“Lion,” Luke Davies
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney 

Original screenplay:
“20th Century Women,” Mike Mills
“Hell or High Water,” Taylor Sheridan
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“The Lobster,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan

Cinematography:
“Arrival,” Bradford Young
“La La Land,” Linus Sandgren
“Lion,” Greig Fraser
“Moonlight,” James Laxton
“Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto

Best documentary feature:
“13th,” Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
“Fire at Sea,” Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
“I Am Not Your Negro,” Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck
“Life, Animated,” Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
“O.J.: Made in America,” Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow

Best documentary short subject:
“4.1 Miles,” Daphne Matziaraki
“Extremis,” Dan Krauss
“Joe’s Violin,” Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
“Watani: My Homeland,” Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
“The White Helmets,” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best live action short film:
“Ennemis Interieurs,” Selim Azzazi
“La Femme et le TGV,” Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
“Silent Nights,” Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
“Sing,” Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
“Timecode,” Juanjo Gimenez

Best foreign language film:
“A Man Called Ove,” Sweden
“Land of Mine,” Denmark
“Tanna,” Australia
“The Salesman,” Iran
“Toni Erdmann,” Germany

Film editing:
“Arrival,” Joe Walker
“Hacksaw Ridge,” John Gilbert
“Hell or High Water,” Jake Roberts
“La La Land,” Tom Cross
“Moonlight,” Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Sound editing:
“Arrival,” Sylvain Bellemare
“Deep Water Horizon,” Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“La La Land,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Sully,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound mixing:
“Arrival,” Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
“La La Land,” Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth 

Production design:
“Arrival,” Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
“Hail, Caesar!,” Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
“La La Land,” David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Passengers,” Guy Hendrix Dyas, Gene Serdena 

Original score:
“Jackie,” Mica Levi
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell
“Passengers,” Thomas Newman

Original song:
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” “Trolls” — Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
“City of Stars,” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story” — Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana” Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Makeup and hair:
“A Man Called Ove,” Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
“Star Trek Beyond,” Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
“Suicide Squad,” Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson 

Costume design:
“Allied,” Joanna Johnston
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Colleen Atwood
“Florence Foster Jenkins,” Consolata Boyle
“Jackie,” Madeline Fontaine
“La La Land,” Mary Zophres 

Visual effects:
“Deepwater Horizon,” Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
“Doctor Strange,” Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
“The Jungle Book,” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould