Sergio Trujillo to Direct & Choreograph The Broadway-Bound “Studio 54 The Musical”

It’s a disco inferno for Sergio Trujillo

The 61-year-old Colombian Tony Award-winning theater director, choreographer, dancer and actor will direct and choreograph the Broadway-bound Studio 54 The Musical.

Sergio TrujilloProducers Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron are developing the new work with a book by Chad Hodge.

The musical, which will feature a full playlist of hits from the disco era, will trace “the astonishing ascent and sudden downfall of the most legendary club in nightlife history.”

“Neil Meron and I started talking about the amazing story of Studio 54 as a possible series years ago,” said Greenblatt in an exclusive statement to Deadline, “but we finally came to our senses and realized we had the perfect musical right under our noses.”

Add Meron, “And with book writer Chad Hodge and the incredible Sergio Trujillo, who came of age during the disco dance craze in Toronto and New York, we have the perfect team to bring it to life.”

Casting details and production schedule are to be announced.

The synopsis: “In staggeringly short order, two scrappy impresarios turned an abandoned west side theater into the hottest club in the history of New York– utterly transforming music, nightlife, and celebrity culture in the process. It also transformed the lives of everyone who made it past the door, whether for one extraordinary night or every night. Until it all abruptly came to an end. Studio 54 The Musical will bring audiences past the velvet rope and into a world of unfathomable decadence, set to the thumping sound of the most iconic disco hits of the 1970s and populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, all having the time of their lives. Welcome to Studio 54.”

The legendary disco nightclub was opened by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1977 and quickly become a cultural sensation. Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Truman Capote, Bianca Jagger and countless other celebrities made the venue their nighttime home-away-from-home, along with New York City’s most fabulous collection of gay, straight and trans nightclubbers. The club on West 54th Street in Manhattan is currently a Broadway theater operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Trujillo has an impressive roster of Broadway credits, including Ain’t Too Proud, Memphis, Jersey Boys, The Addams Family, On Your Feet! and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

He was most recently Director/Choreographer of the new musical Real Women Have Curves, which debuted at American Repertory Theatre, and he served as choreographer for the upcoming movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman starring Jennifer Lopez.

He was Emmy-nominated for his choreography for NBC’s Annie Live!

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer Returning to Broadway’s “Beetlejuice” This Spring

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer is juiced for her next role…

The 44-year-old half-Puerto Rican musical theater actress/singer will be back on stage in Broadway’s Beetlejuice when it returns this spring.

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Broadway, Beetlejuice,Rodriguez Kritzer, who originated the roles of Delia/Miss Argentina, will be joined by much of the cast that was in place before the March 2020 pandemic shutdown.

Joining the previously announced Alex Brightman in the title role and Rodriguez Kritzer will be fellow returnees Kerry Butler, David Josefsberg, Adam Dannheisser, Kelvin Moon Loh, Danny Rutigliano and Dana Steingold.

New to the production will be Elizabeth Teeter as Lydia Deetz, Michelle Aravena as Miss Argentina and Zonya Love as Maxine Dean/Juno.

The musical begins performances at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre on Friday, April 8.

Aravena has appeared on Broadway in A Bronx Tale, Rocky, Jersey Boys and A Chorus Line.

The full cast of Beetlejuice also includes Kate Bailey, Will Blum, Ryan Breslin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Brooke Engen, Eric Anthony Johnson, Andrew Kober, Elliott Mattox, Mateo Melendez, Ramone Owens, Commodore C. Primous III, Nevada Riley and Graham Stevens.

Based on the 1988 film starring Michael Keaton, the musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, an offbeat teenager whose life changes when her family moves into a home inhabited by a recently deceased couple and the green-tinted-haired demon Beetlejuice. The musical features an original score by Eddie Perfect, and a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, with choreography by Connor Gallagher.

Beetlejuice originally opened at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre on Thursday, April 25, 2019, and closed along with the rest of Broadway in March 2020 due to the pandemic shutdown.

The Music Man currently occupies the Winter Garden, necessitating Beetlejuice‘s change of venue.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” Musical Cast Recording Notches 100th Week on Billboard 200

Make that a perfect 100 for Lin-Manuel Miranda

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican composer, lyricist, playright and actor’s original Broadway cast recording Hamilton: An American Musical notches its 100th consecutive week on the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated September 9).

Lin-Manuel Miranda's final Hamilton curtain call

The cast recording, which ranks at No. 24 o the list, also surpasses the total album sales of the original Broadway cast album to Rent.

In the latest tracking week (ending August 24), Hamilton sold another 7,000 copies, bringing its total sales to 1.285 million – slightly more than the 1.284 million of Rent (released in 1996).

Hamilton is now the sixth largest selling cast album of the Nielsen Music era (which started in 1991, when the company began electronically tracking music sales).

The top selling cast album in Nielsen Music’s history is the highlights edition of the original London cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera, with 4.97 million sold. (The complete recording of The Phantom of the Opera — which is tracked and charts separately — has sold 503,000 since 1991.)

The Phantom of the Opera (Highlights) is followed by the original Broadway cast recording of Wicked (2.7 million), the original cast recording of Mamma Mia! (1.72 million), the original Broadway cast recording of Les Miserables (1.66 million), the original Broadway cast recording of Jersey Boys (1.44 million) and Hamilton.

Further, Hamilton has sold 297,000 in 2017. It is one of only two cast albums to sell 100,000 copies this year; Dear Evan Hansen, at 116,000, is the other. Those totals also make 2017 the first calendar year since 2011 where two cast albums have cleared 100,000. That year, The Book of Mormon and Wicked respectively sold 182,000 and 133,000.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the latest Billboard 200 chart:

Miranda’s “Hamilton: An American Musical” Original Cast Recording Surpasses 1 Million in U.S. Album Sales

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a platinum hit on his hands…

The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical, created by the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor, playwright, composer, rapper and writer, has now surpassed 1 million in U.S. album sales, according to Nielsen Music.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's final Hamilton curtain call

The set, which won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album last year, sold another 16,000 copies in the week ending January 5, which brings its total sales sum to 1.005 million since its release on September 25, 2015.

Hamilton is only the ninth cast recording to sell a million since Nielsen began electronically tracking music sales in 1991.

The top selling cast album in Nielsen’s history is the highlights edition of the original London cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera, with 4.97 million sold. (The complete recording of The Phantom of the Opera — which is tracked and charts separately — has sold 503,000 since 1991.)

Aside from The Phantom of the Opera (Highlights) and Hamilton, here are the other million-selling cast albums of the Nielsen era: the original Broadway cast recordings of Wicked (2.67 million), Les Miserables (1.65 million), Jersey Boys (1.44 million), Rent (1.28 million) and The Lion King (1.04 million), along with the original cast recording of Mamma Mia! (1.71 million) and the highlights edition of the complete symphonic recording of Les Miserables (1.03 million).

In 2016, Hamilton received a record-setting 16 Tony Award nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Miranda’s “Hamilton” Cast Recording Breaks the Half-Million Sales Mark

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a half-million reason to celebrate…

The original Broadway cast recording of the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor, composer, rapper and writer’s critically acclaimed musical Hamilton has crossed the half-million sales mark in the U.S, according to Billboard.com.

Lin-Manuel Miranda in Hamilton

The cast recording to Hamilton, which recently won 11 trophies at this year’s Tony Awards, slips one position to No. 4 on the most recent Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 9).

The set sold another 32,000 copies in the week ending June 23, bringing its cumulative total to 522,000.

Hamilton is the No. 12 largest-selling cast recording in the U.S. since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. (Only 12 cast albums have sold a half-million copies in the U.S. since 1991.)

Hamilton is also the biggest selling cast album released in more than 10 years. The last cast recording released with greater sales is the original Broadway cast recording of Jersey Boys, which bowed on November 1, 2005 and has sold 1.4 million to date.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Longoria Hosting Special Night of Music to Raise Funds for Homeless LGBT Youth

Michael Longoria is singing for Homeless LGBT Youth…

The Mexican-American Broadway veteran is teaming up with American Idol alumni Constantine Maroulis and Diana DeGarmo for a special night of music on Thursday supporting the nonprofit organization New Alternatives at the New York City club Hardware.

Michael Longoria

The benefit, co-hosted by Ashley Austin Morris, will raise money for New Alternatives — an organization that helps homeless LGBT youth become self-sufficient and transition out of the shelter system and into stable adult lives. The center — which provides services including case management, education, life-skills training, community-building recreational opportunities for self-expression and support services for HIV-positive youth — will be losing its donated space after August, and Longoria hopes the benefit will raise enough money as well as awareness to keep the program alive.

“It’s a very dangerous situation for young people, where the only reason they’re homeless is because their family has abandoned them,” he tells Billboard. “That’s the only reason they’re in there, and that’s what we need to get involved in — if we don’t look out for them, who will?”

Programs like New Alternatives are necessary, he said, to help homeless youth map out their futures while staying out of “harm’s way.” “This organization is specifically for these people that go to these other shelters and are harassed or physically hurt because people don’t accept young gay people,” he said.

The event — which kicks off at 9 p.m. — will also feature raffles for a Broadway records album package, a bottle of Pinot by Tituss wine autographed by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess, as well as tickets to The Color PurpleFiddler on the RoofKinky Boots, Finding NeverlandHimself, Nora, Trip of Love and Feinstein’s/54 Below.

The evening will serve as a celebration of Pride Week and a reminder to the community to remain vigilant in the face of hate and bigotry in light of the tragic massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 and injuring 53.

“What happened in Orlando is just a reminder that no matter how much love we have, other sources of evil are always going to resist, so let’s find a way to get serious in a positive way that shows our support for each other and our love for each other in public,” he said. “The people that need to be the most out and proud are the youth — the young people that are seeing all this violence are now scared to be themselves. … I feel like now more than ever is the time we need to show affection and we need to show who we are, because those people that were in that nightclub were people that were living their lives and showing their love for one another.”

Longoria — who said he has visited Pulse while on tour with various productions — was heartbroken to learn of a mother who was killed in the club while out dancing with her son. “To know that that mother was there in support of her son and loved her son and was accepting of her son and she lost her life in that tragic moment was just the worst news that I got, and ultimately, it’s just an attack on all Americans, humanity and our American way of life,” he said. “In a gay club, we are in a place where we can be ourselves and be free and not worry about any of that judgment and live our lives, and to have an attack on that freedom is an attack on every freedom in America, and that’s why all Americans need to be paying attention and getting involved in hopes of preventing this kind of thing from happening again in the future.”

Longoria — an original member of the cast of Jersey Boys in the role of Frankie Valli after a run in Hairspray — is currently supporting his new CD, Broadway Brick by Brick: a Latin-infused collection of Broadway classics including “Maria” (West Side Story), “The Sound of Music” (The Sound of Music) and “Music and the Mirror” (A Chorus Line). The record weaves in Longoria’s own personal story of his youth in Los Angeles leading to his success on The Great White Way.

“It became an autobiography of my life, my journey as a very young opera singer in a Mexican-American culture, a very heterosexual, Catholic culture, and finding myself in musical theater, in Broadway songs, and realizing that I was gay all the while,” he said. “Each song I chose tells a milestone of my journey, starting with my father, getting accepted to NYU and not having a means to get there, and getting the scholarship and getting on a plane in Los Angeles and leaving my family behind.”

A $10 donation is suggested to attend. Hardware is located at 697 10th Ave. in New York.

Villafañe to Portray Gloria Estefan in the Broadway Musical “On Your Feet!”

It’s a Miami Sound Machine moment for Ana Villafañe

The Cuban-American singer, dancer and actress has been cast as Gloria Estefan in On Your Feet!, the highly anticipated Broadway musical about the Latin music superstar and her equally talented husband, producer Emilio Estefan.

Emilio Estefan, Gloria Estefan, Ana Villafañe and Josh Segarra

Villafañe, who attended the same Miami high school as la Estefan, wasn’t able to make the open casting call last fall but sent a video audition, according to an announcement Monday from the production team. She got the call to audition for director Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, Hairspray) and the Estefans, and was cast in the show.

She’ll star opposite Josh Segarra, who will portray Emilio.

The musical — a rare Latino-themed Broadway offering that will surely benefit from Estefan’s global status — is based on the life story of the seven-time Grammy-winning singer and her husband, who owns 19 of his own Grammys. It’s slated to open at Broadway’s Nederlander-operated Marquis Theatre on November 5, following previews beginning October 5. I

n addition to staging by Mitchell, the show will have choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, Memphis), with a book by Oscar winner Alexander Dinelaris (Birdman). Prior to Broadway, the show will try out at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre from June 2-July 5.

“She walked into the room, and I immediately thought to myself – ‘this is it’,” Mitchell said of Villafañe in a prepared announcement. “Not only was she beautifully reminiscent of a young Gloria, but she embodied her energy and spirit in such a captivating way. And then she fully rose to the occasion by giving a sensational audition.”

Villafañe’s film and television credits include Magic City Memoirs (executive producer Andy Garcia), Los Americans and the upcoming Hulu original series South Beach: Fever as well as the female lead in Max Steel (Mattel), set for global release this summer.

Segarra has appeared in New York in Second Stage Theater’s Dogfight and Lysistrata Jones. On television, he stars in USA’s comedy series Sirens and has a recurring part on NBC’s Chicago PD as well as PBS’ The Electric Company, and guest appearances on Showtime’s Homeland and FX’s The Following. This summer, he’ll appear in the Judd Apatow feature film Trainwreck.

The company will also feature Andréa Burns (In The Heights) as Gloria Fajardo (Gloria’s mother); Alma Cuervo (Beauty And The Beast) as Consuelo (Gloria’s grandmother); Alexandria Suarez as Little Gloria; and Noah Johnston as little Emilio.

David Rockwell (Kinky Boots, On The Twentieth Century) has designed the sets, with costumes by Emilio Sosa (Porgy & Bess), lighting by Kenneth Posner (Wicked, Hairspray), sound by Steve Kennedy and projections by Darrel Maloney. The show is produced by James L. Nederlander and Estefan Enterprises Inc., in partnership with Bernie Yuman.

In anticipation of a wide-ranging social media campaign to publicize the show, the production also released three videos about the Estefan’s and the making of the musical.