Hagan Oliveras to Star in Broadway Revival of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”

Hagan Oliveras is coming to Town

The upcoming fall Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town will feature a 28-actor cast, including the Latino actor.

Hagan OlivaresThe cast will be led by Jim Parsons, Zoey DeutchKatie HolmesEphraim Sykes and Richard Thomas, per the producers.

The strictly limited engagement, directed by Kenny Leon, will begin previews at the Barrymore Theatre on Tuesday, September 17 ahead of an opening on Thursday, October 10.

Parsons will play the Stage Manager, with Deutch as Emily Webb, Holmes as Mrs. Webb, Sykes as George Gibbs and Thomas as Mr. Webb. Billy Eugene Jones will play Dr. Gibbs, Michelle Wilson will be Mrs. Gibbs and Julie Halston will portray Mrs. Soames. Donald Webber Jr. will play Simon Stimpson.

Also in the cast: Ephie Aardema, Heather Ayers, Willa Bost, Bobby Daye, Safiya Kaijya Harris, Doron JéPaul, Shyla Lefner, Anthony Michael Lopez, John McGinty, Bryonha Marie, Kevyn Morrow, Noah Pyzik, Sky Smith, Bill Timoney, Matthew Elijah Webb and Nimene Sierra Wureh.

Two final actors will be announced at a later date.

The production’s design team will include scenic design by Beowulf Boritt; costume design by Dede Ayite; lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes; and sound design by Justin Ellington.

The first Broadway revival of Our Town since a 2002 production that starred Paul Newman as the Stage Manager, the classic drama set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, originally debuted on Broadway in 1938, winning the Pulitzer Prize and quickly becoming one of the most beloved and staged American plays of the 20th Century.

“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in my mind stands at the top of the Mount Rushmore of great American Theatre,” said director Leon in a statement. “I feel blessed and fortunate to have gained the trust of The Wilder estate to present this classic to another generation of theatre lovers. It’s long been a burning desire to collaborate on a Broadway production of such magnitude that speaks so beautifully and intimately to all people about our shared time on the planet.”

The revival is being produced by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Patty Baker, Craig Balsam, Irene Gandy, Rebecca Gold, Louise Gund, Willette & Manny Klausner, M/B/P Productions, Daryl Roth and Jayne Baron Sherman.

Olivares previous credits include American Horror Stories.

Chita Rivera Among the Stars Taking Part in Fundraising Concert for Joe Biden, “In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nation”

Chita Rivera is Biden her time before the upcoming presidential election…

The 87-year-old half-Puerto Rican Broadway star will be among the stars of the Great White Way who’ll stage a fundraising concert for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, with plans to stream the event on October 21.

Chita Rivera

The event, which starts at 8:00 pm ET, is organized by the group Broadway for Biden and is called In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nationwith donations going to the Biden Victory Fund.

In addition to Rivera, the lineup of the concert includes Derrick Baskin, Laura Benanti, Victoria Clark, Glenn Close, Chuck Cooper, Darren Criss, André De Shields, Renée Elise Goldsberry, John Goodman, Jayne Houdyshell, Jennifer Hudson, James Monroe Iglehart, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Norman Lear, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Karen Olivo, Ashley Park, Steven Pasquale, Carrie Preston, Kelani Queypo, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Phillipa Soo, Ephraim Sykes, BD Wong, the Broadway Dreams Foundation Choir, and the casts of Six and KPOP.

Liesl Tommy, director of the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic Respect (with Hudson in the lead role), will direct the show. Tommy is the executive producer along with Julie Boardman, Nolan Doran, Halle Morse, and Jennifer Mudge.

The concert will stream on YouTube via news publisher NowThis, on Facebook via Broadway for Biden and NowThis, and on Broadway Unlocked.

In a statement, Tommy said, “It is a tremendous honor to direct this incredible collective of performers and artists, who are coming together to amplify the promise of Broadway and a nation that are future-looking, accessible, and deeply inclusive.”

The evening will include original material, stagings of musical numbers that have never been seen, and previews of productions bound for Broadway. Among those contributing are Chad Beguelin, Tony Kushner, Lynn Nottage, Robert O’Hara, Stacey Rose, Aurin Squire, DeLanna Studi, Paula Vogel and John Waters.

Christopher Gattelli, Lorin Latarro, Ray Mercer, and Abbey O’Brien will provide original choreography, with music direction by Jason Michael Webb. Chris Boardman and Charlie Rosen will provide orchestrations. Sean McLaughlin will serve as director of photography and Grady Bowman will be associate choreographer.

The event is in the vein of a fundraiser in 2012 for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, called Barack on Broadway, that was produced by Margo Lion and others.

Alonso Starring in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit-Themed Crime Drama Project

Laz Alonso has a Motor City state of mind…

The 42-year-old Afro-Cuban American actor is starring in Kathryn Bigelow’s crime drama Untitled Detroit Project.

Laz Alonso

The film is set against the backdrop of Detroit’s 1967 riots and explores systemic racism in urban Detroit.

In addition to Alonso, the film also stars Jeremy Strong, Chris Chalk, Austin Hébert, Ephraim Sykes, Nathan Davis Jr., Malcolm David Kelley, Peyton Alex Smith and Leon Thomas III.

The crime drama, now in production, was penned by Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty scribe Mark Boal.