Ariana DeBose
(Photo by Emilio Madrid for Broadway.com)
Here’s a quick roundup of stories you might have missed.
Ariana DeBose, Lauren Graham, Bebe Neuwirth and More Join 50th Anniversary A Chorus Line Celebration
Entertainment Community Fund Board Chair Annette Bening, Tommy Bracco, Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Drama Desk Award winner Mandy Gonzalez, Golden Globe nominee Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth, Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar and Tony Award nominee Jennifer Simard will join the A Chorus Line Official 50th Anniversary Celebration on July 27 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre. As previously announced, the concert performance, benefiting the Entertainment Community Fund, will feature members of the musical’s original 1975 Broadway cast along with additional guests.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella in Development for Limited Series with Disney+
Deadline reports that a limited series based on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella is now in development and in the hands of Disney+. Written by Rachel Shukert, the story is told from the perspective of the fairy godparents. Executive producers include Jennifer Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina for Nuyorican Productions; Sophia Dilley, EVP of Concord Originals and co-president of RKO; former Concord CEO Scott Pascucci; and Bill Bost.
One-Night-Only Reading of All the President’s Men to Feature Robert Downey Jr., Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and More
Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr., Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan, Oscar winner Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, J. Smith-Cameron and Ramy Youssef will perform a one-night-only staged reading of All the President’s Men on August 25 at 7PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The reading benefits and is presented by The Center at West Park, the community performing arts center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and will be directed by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey. William Goldman wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1976 film, which tells the story of the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency.
Michael Park, Mamie Parris, Analise Scarpaci and More Star in U.S. Premiere of Pop-Rock Musical Mythic
Casting is set for the U.S. premiere of the new pop-rock musical comedy Mythic, beginning previews September 20 ahead of a September 25 opening at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Kathleen Marshall, the cast will feature Savy Jackson as Aphrodite, Michael Park as Zeus, Mamie Parris as Demeter, Analise Scarpaci as Persephone and Julius Thomas III as Hades. The ensemble will include Matthew Samuel Blum, Aaron Gabriel Graham, Alexa Magro, Stephanie Lynne Mason, Owen Scales, Cassidy Stoner, Kodiak Thompson and Emily Grace Tucker. The swings are Josh Devine and Madison Osment. With a book and lyrics by Marcus Stevens and music and orchestrations by Oran Eldor, Mythic tells the ancient Greek myth of Persephone with the gods reimagined as chart-topping pop stars, power-hungry politicians and attention-seeking influencers.
Hadestown Alum Maia Reficco Lands Lead Role in Feature Film The Last Sunrise
Maia Reficco, recently seen on Broadway as Eurydice in Hadestown, has been tapped to lead The Last Sunrise, a feature adaptation of the bestselling romance novel from the After series’ Anna Todd. The film follows 22-year-old Oriah “Ry” Pera (Reficco), whose life transforms during a summer in Majorca when she meets an infuriatingly charming local named Julián. Carlson Young directs for Amazon MGM Studios.
Tony-Nominated Set Designer John Conklin Dies at 88
John Conklin, an accomplished scenic designer for both theater and opera, died on June 24 in Cooperstown, New York at the age of 88. Conklin was best known for his sets for the Glimmerglass Festival in upstate New York, also crafting designs for the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera. He designed Daniel Fish’s 2007 Bard College production of Oklahoma!, the production that went on to have acclaimed runs at St. Ann’s Warehouse and on Broadway at Circle in the Square Theatre. He worked on over a dozen Broadway productions throughout his career, earning a 1974 Tony nomination for his set design for The au Pair Man.