Krysta Rodriguez & Fellow “Smash” Cast & Crew to Mount Fully Staged & Choreographed Workshop This Month

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Krysta Rodriguez is one step closer to smashing it on Broadway again…

Smash, the stage musical adaptation of the NBC musical series of the same name starring the 39-year-old Latina actress/singer and Broadway star, is set to take another major step in its march to Broadway.

The cast and crew will gather for six weeks starting this month to mount a fully staged and choreographed workshop, with an orchestra, culminating in five performances for recruited audiences.

The new Susan Stroman-directed musical, inspired by the NBC TV series, is slated for Broadway in the 2024-25 season.

In addition to Rodriguez, who starred on the original television series as Ana Vargas, the workshop cast includes Brooks Ashmanskas, Alex Brightman, Yvette Nicole Brown, Bella Coppola, newcomer Nihar Duvvuri, Casey Garvin, Robyn Hurder, Kristine Nielsen and Jonalyn Saxer.

The full company includes Wendi Bergamini, Giovanni Bonaventura, Jim Borstelmann, Zachary Downer, Tiffany Engen, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Megan Kane, Caleb Marshall-Villarreal, Connor McRory, JJ Niemann, Tanairi Sade Vazquez, Brian Shepard, Sarah Sigman, Jake Trammel and Katie Webber.

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote songs for the series, also handle the score for the Smash musical, which will feature tunes from the TV show as well as new material. Book writers are Bob Martin and Rick Elice.

The musical is produced by Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron.

“Bob, Steven and I are thrilled to take this next big development step on the road to bringing ‘Smash’ where it was always meant to be: a Broadway theater,” Meron tells me. “Not a week goes by when someone doesn’t tell us how much they loved the original series, and it’s time to pull back the curtain on how we’re transforming this show into a funny, joyous stage musical.”

Greenblatt adds, “This workshop/rehearsal process will give the creative team a chance to get reactions from real theatergoers who will experience it for the first time in a theater setting. We’re so fortunate to be working with this fantastic cast of Tony and Emmy nominees, and it will be exciting to see the show on its feet, fully staged by Susan Stroman and choreographed by Josh Bergasse.”

Rodriguez’s previous theater credits include Cabaret, Into the Woods, West Side Story, Spring Awakening and The Addams Family.

Krysta Rodriguez to Star in TBS’ Rom-Com Pilot “Space”

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Krysta Rodriguez is getting some much-needed space…

The 36-year-old Latina actress and Broadway star will star in TBS’ scripted romantic-comedy pilot, Space, written and executive produced by Hilary Winston and executive produced by Nick Stoller of Stoller Global Solutions.

Rodriguez, currently earning raves for her role as Liza Minelli on Netflix’s Halston, will star opposite Jake Lacy in the pilot.

Ally Maki, Caleb Hearon and Rachel Pegram have also been cast as series regulars in the pilot, which Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul have been tapped to direct and executive produce.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television for TBS, Space begins shooting in Portland in June.

Space, described as a hilarious, romantic Quantum Leap, follows Rob (Lacy) and Marin (Rodriguez), a long-term couple on the verge of a break-up who are granted the ultimate space to figure out their future when they suddenly begin jumping into the bodies of other couples.

Lacy’s Rob is a nice guy everyone loves to get a beer with but who has no idea what he wants. Rodriguez is Marin, his lovably eager girlfriend who hasn’t yet accepted she’s an adult. Their relationship’s reckoning happens during their friend Priscilla’s (Maki) wedding, after Priscilla fights off intense cold feet to dive into commitment, causing their other friends Jesse (Hearon) and Hannah (Pegram) to question Rob and Marin’s chronic avoidance of marriage.

Rodriguez’s previous credits include NBC’s Smash, ABC’s Quantico and Netflix’s Daybreak.

Krysta Rodriguez to Take Part in Special “Smash” Virtual Cast Reunion to Benefit Actors Fund

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Krysta Rodriguezis ready for a Smashing reunion…

The 35-year-old Latina actress/singer is expected to take part in a virtual Smash cast reunion.

Rodriguez, who portrayed Ana Vargas on NBC’s 2012-2013 musical series, will appear in the one-night-only Actors Fund benefit event alongside her Smashcastmates Jaime Cepero, Will Chase, Brian d’Arcy James, Jack Davenport, Ann Harada, Jeremy Jordan, Andy Mientus, Leslie Odom Jr. and Wesley Taylor.

The show’s stars Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and other cast members will virtually reunite on May 20 for a streaming of the 2015 Bombshell in Concert, with Renée Zellwegerintroducing the event and Julie Klausner hosting a live, virtual cast reunion.

The concert of the show-within-the-show about the life of Marilyn Monroewas taped at Broadway’s Minskoff Theateron June 8, 2015, an event that remains one of the most successful fundraisers ever for The Actors Fund. Bombshell– the creation of which formed the plot of Smash– features a score by Marc Shaimanand Scott Wittman, who also served as executive producers of Smash.

Rodriguez and her cast members will appear in a livestream reunion during the intermission.

The concert and reunion will stream on Wednesday, May 20, at 8:00 pm ET on people.com, PeopleTV, and People social platforms.

Tony Awardwinner and Actors Fund chairman Brian Stokes Mitchell said, “Bombshell in Concertwill be a wonderful evening to share this benefit night with fans far and wide, and will raise much-needed funds to help The Actors Fund continue to help everyone in need in our entertainment community across the country.”

In the past seven weeks, The Actors Fund has distributed $10.1 million in emergency financial assistance to 8,558 people in need due to the current COVID-19pandemic, or more than five times the funds normally provided in a year.

Smashwas based on an original idea by Steven Spielberg, who was also executive producer of the series, and created by Theresa Rebeck.

Daphne Rubin-Vega to Appear on the CW’s Upcoming “Riverdale” Off-Shoot “Katy Keene”

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Daphne Rubin-Vega has landed the mother of a role…

The 49-year-old Panamanian actress, singer and dancerwill appear in a major recurring role on the CW’s upcoming Riverdale off-shoot Katy Keene.

Rubin-Vega, the original Mimi in both the Off Broadway and Broadway landmark productions of Rentand coming off the Lin Manuel/Warner Bros. feature In The Heights, will play Luisa, the mother of a central character, Katy’s roomie Jorge/Ginger. She’s described as adoting mother, a former Rockette and now owner, with her husband Luis, of a bodega in Washington Heights. She supports her son Jorge’s ambitions to make it on Broadway, but doesn’t know about his drag alter ego, Ginger.

The Jorge/Ginger character, played by Jonny Beauchamp, is a central figure on the series and one of at least two characters expected to perform musical numbers on every episode.

In the Katy Keeneseries pilot, recently screened at the Tribeca TV Festival, Jorge is a Broadway hopeful by day and, as Ginger, a drag performer by night. When his Broadway dreams begin to fizzle – he is, he says, “too gay for Broadway” – he’s encouraged by Katy to make the audition rounds not as Jorge but as Ginger.

Katy Keeneis expected to debut during the CW’s winter/spring 2020 midseason.

Rubin-Vega was Tony-nominated in 1996 for originating on Broadway the lead female role of Mimi in Jonathan Larson’s Rent, which she’d debuted earlier that year Off Broadway to great acclaim. The actress received another Tony nomination in 2004 as featured actress in a play for Anna In The Tropics.

Her more recent credits include Broadway’s A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Blair Underwood, NBC’s Smash and Netflix’s Tales Of The City. Ruben-Vega was among the original Rentperformers who made an end-of-show appearance on Fox’s Rent: Live last January.

Netflix Gives Series Order to Callie Hernandez’s Musical Drama “Mixtape”

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Callie Hernandez is bringing the music to Netflix…

Fox’s pilot Mixtape, starring the Latina actress/singer,is headed to series — at Netflix.

The Internet network has given a 10-episode order to the musical drama starring Hernandez, Jenna Dewan and Madeline Stowe.

The project hails from Quantico creator Josh Safran; Annapurna Pictures; 20th Century Fox Television, which produced the original pilot; and its cable/streaming division Fox 21 Television Studios.

The majority of the cast of the Fox pilot, which was directed by Jesse Peretz, are set to continue. That includes Hernandez, Jahmil French, Dewan, Campbell Scott, Stowe, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Megan Ferguson and Evan Whitten.

The male lead, played in the Fox pilot by Raul Castillo, will be recast, and possibly the child role of his young son. As a result, there will be some reshoots on the pilot, which would be helmed by Peretz subject to availability.

Written by former Smash showrunner Safran, Mixtape is a romantic musical drama that looks at the love stories connecting a diverse, disparate group of people in contemporary Los Angeles through the music that lives inside their hearts and minds.

Hernandez is best known for her roles in Blair Witch, Alien: Covenant, La La Land and The Endless.

Rodriguez Lands Recurring Role on ABC’s “Quantico”

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Krysta Rodriguez is heading to the Alphabet Network…

The 32-year-old Latina actress and Broadway star has landed a recurring role for the second half of the second season of ABC’s Quantico.

Rodriguez will play Maxine “Max” Griffin, the intelligent, passionate and fiercely driven founder of “the Roster,” a network and visibility platform for professional women committed to helping one another rise. A DC insider who wants to change the way politics treat women, Max is not to be messed with – in her personal or professional life.

Rodriguez, who originated the role of Wednesday Addams in the 2009 Broadway musical The Addams Family, stars in the NBC mockumentary Trial & Error. She previously starred in the second season of Smash as Ana Vargas, followed by the Broadway musical comedy First Date.

Additional television credits include Mysteries of Laura, Gossip Girl and Chasing Life.

Rodriguez’s “Trial & Error” Comedy Headed to Series at NBC

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Krysta Rodriguez is headed to Trial…

NBC has picked up its Trial & Error pilot, starring the 31-year-old Latina actress and former Smash star, to series.

From Warner Bros. Television, the single-camera comedy – originally titled The Trail – had been an early favorite at NBC, which landed the pitch with a big commitment last summer and had been high on the pilot since its early stages.

Trial & Error, written by Jeff Astrof and Matt Miller, is a comedic take on the hot genre of murder trail documentaries like Making a Murderer.

In the outrageous fish-out-of-water comedy, bright-eyed New York lawyer Josh Segal heads to a tiny Southern town for his first big case. His mission: to defend an eccentric, “rollercizing” poetry professor (John Lithgow) accused of the bizarre murder of his beloved wife. Settling into his makeshift office behind a taxidermy shop and meeting his quirky team of local misfits, Josh suspects that winning his first big case will not be easy, especially when his client is always making himself look guilty.

In addition to Rodriguez and Lithgow, the series also stars Nick D’Agosto, Steven Boyer, Sherri Shepherd and Jayma Mays.

Rodriguez Lands Bestie Role on CBS’ “How I Met Your Dad” Pilot

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Krysta Rodriguez is reporting for Dad duty…

The 29-year-old Latina actress and Broadway star, who most recently starred on the second season of NBC’s short-lived series Smash, has been cast in one of the lead roles on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) spinoff How I Met Your Dad.

Rodriguez will star opposite Greta Gerwig and Drew Tarver on the follow-up to the long-running hit sitcom.

Similar to the original series, How I Met Your Dad (HIMYD) tells the story from a female point of view, that of Sally (Gerwig), and revolves around a new group of friends in New York.

Rodriguez will portray Sally’s best friend Juliet, a sexy, flamboyant force of nature who runs the most successful fashion blog in the country.

The pilot, from 20th Century Television, was written by Emily Spivey and HIMYM creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. It will be directed by Pam Fryman.

Rubin-Vega Lands Recurring Role on ABC’s Richard LaGravenese Drama Pilot

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Daphne Rubin-Vega could be returning to television in the near future

The 42-year-old Panamanian actress, who appeared on the second season of NBC’s Broadway-based musical series Smash, has signed on for a recurring role on ABC’s Richard LaGravenese drama pilot.

Similar to Dangerous Liaisons, the untitled project is set in New York and revolves around the love and rivalry between two equally matched, powerful socialites — Philip Fitzgerald Julien and Margot Worth Cole — who play out their obsessive attraction and seduction of each other through their manipulation of others.

Rubin-Vega, a two-time Tony Award-nominated actress/singer, will portray Philip’s housekeeper.

English Adaptation of Spain’s “Los misterios de Laura” to Star Debra Messing

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Spain’s popular drama series Los misterios de Laura has its American star…

Producers of the NBC hour-long pilot project, an adaptation of the Spanish-Language version, have cast former Smash star Debra Messing in the lead role.

The casting of Messing in the pilot, entitled The Mysteries of Laura, has helped lift the project’s cast-contingency.

Written by Jeff Rake and directed by McG, the pilot is based on the popular Spanish series Los misterios de Laura.

It follows the life and relationships of Laura Diamond (Messing), a female homicide detective who can handle murderous criminals — but not her hell-raising twin children.

Production on the pilot and the series will be moved to New York, where Messing is based.

The Mysteries of Laura extends Messing’s long history at NBC where she became a household name with her Emmy-winning starring role on the hit comedy Will & Grace.

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