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While there are a lot of Disney characters who easily stand out on their own, there are some iconic Disney duos that show how much fun a pair can be. Disney has always loved exploring friendship in their animated movies and they have done so successfully since the beginning of their run. However, even in their long history, some Disney duos rise above the rest and showcase those truly special pairings that have delivered laughs, heartbreak, and charm to audiences over the years.

Including all the Pixar movies alongside the animated Disney roster, there are a lot of notable pairs to choose from. There are some friends who clearly go back a long way, like Mike and Sully in Monsters Inc. Some start out with a lot of tension only to find common ground, like Moana and Maui. Of course, some Disney duos are just fun to watch sharing the screen,...

Latanya Richardson Jackson will return to Broadway in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s new play Purpose.

Jackson, who has previously appeared on Broadway in the 2018 production of To Kill A Mockingbird and the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, will star alongside Kara Young, who won a Tony Award last season for her role in Purlie Victorious, Harry Lennix (The Blacklist), Jon Michael Hill (Pass Over), Glenn Davis (King James) and Alana Arenas (The Bluest Eye).

Phylicia Rashad directs the new play from Jacobs-Jenkins, who wrote last season’s Tony Award-winning revival Appropriate.

The play follows the Jasper family, which has created a powerful dynasty in Black American politics. However, when the family’s youngest son, Nazareth, comes home with an uninvited friend, the family must contend with faith, their own legacy and the cracks beneath the surface.

Purpose is scheduled to play a limited 19-week run at the Helen Hayes Theater,...

Latanya Richardson Jackson and Kara Young are among the complete cast announced today for the Broadway transfer of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play Purpose, directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad.

In addition to Richardson (A Raisin in the Sun) and Purlie Victorious Tony-winner Young, the cast will include Harry Lennix (TV’s The Blacklist), Jon Michael Hill (Broadway’s Pass Over), Glenn Davis (Off Broadway’s Downstate), and Alana Arenas (The Bluest Eye).

Arenas, Davis, Hill, and Lennix all appeared in the play’s acclaimed world premiere at Steppenwolf in Chicago in March 2024.

Purpose will play a limited 19-week run at the Helen Hayes Theater with previews beginning February 25, followed by an official opening on March 17. The engagement runs through July 6, 2025.

The official synopsis: “For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families,...

In the third major shake-up of leadership in New York’s non-profit theater world in recent months, the Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that Tony Award-winning director Christopher Ashley will become its Artistic Director in July 2026 for the 2027-28 season.

Ashley, the Artistic Director for 17 years in a celebrated run at La Jolla Playhouse in California, will collaborate with Scott Ellis, Roundabout’s Interim Artistic Director, for the 2026-27 season while Ashley honors his previous commitment with La Jolla. Ellis, who has filled the slot since the 2023 death of his colleague and friend Todd Haimes, will continue solo through the 2025-26 season.

The changes were announced today by the Roundabout’s Board of Directors. The news comes just 15 days after Lincoln Center Theater, another one of the city’s top major non-profit theatrical companies and producers, announced that director Lear deBessonet had been appointed Artistic Director, effective this coming June...

Buena Vista Social Club, a new musical about the acclaimed group of Cuban musicians who recorded a seminal 1997 Grammy-winning album and were the subject of an acclaimed 1999 documentary, will open on Broadway in March, with Saheem Ali (Tony nominee for Fat Ham) directing.

The musical, which made its world premiere Off Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company last December, will begin performances at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Friday, February 21, 2025, with an opening night set for Wednesday, March 19.

Featuring music from Cuba’s 1940s-era golden age and a book by Marco Ramirez, Buena Vista Social Club is performed by an ensemble of artists including a band of musicians from across the globe. The musical tells the story of the artists who recorded the original album. Choreography will be by Patricia Delgado and Tony Award winner Justin Peck.

The music team will be...

New musical Buena Vista Social Club is transferring to Broadway this winter.

The musical follows a group of musicians from Cuba’s golden age and is inspired by the true story of the artists who came together in 1996 to record the Grammy-Award winning album. Buena Vista Social Club comes to Broadway after a well-reviewed world premiere at the Off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company in December 2023.

The show features direction by Saheem Ali (Fat Ham) on Broadway, choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck ((Illinoise), a book by Marco Ramirez (The Royale) and a music team led by David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit). It is slated to open at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre Feb. 21, before opening March 19.

In 1996, Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos González and two producers flew to Cuba and recorded an album with a group of musicians who had been well-known in the country in the 1950s. The album, and the assembled group,...

Exclusive: More than 50 of Broadway’s biggest names, including actors, directors, producers, writers and others, are organizing to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election.

The volunteer coalition Broadway for Harris will work to to elect Harris, Walz and down ballot Democratic candidates this November. The organization plans to increase voter participation in key swing districts, produce fundraising events featuring the talents of the Broadway community and “work together toward a brighter, more hopeful, more equitable future for the country under the historic leadership of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Among those who have signed on to the initial organizing committee are Adrienne Warren, Alex Edelman, Audra McDonald, Billy Porter, George C. Wolfe, Idina Menzel, Jeremy O. Harris, Lachanze, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Leguizamo, Sara Bareilles, Sarah Paulson, Shaina Taub and Tony Kushner. (See the full list as of August 19 below.)

Related: Democratic National Convention: What To Expect...

Out of all the winners (and also-rans) in the 26 competitive categories at the 2024 Tony Awards, 23 results stand out as particularly noteworthy when considered in the context of history. So what were this year’s most interesting facts, records, and milestones? Check out the complete list of winners here.

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1. The productions that received multiple Tony nominations, but went home empty-handed were “Back to the Future,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Doubt,” “Grey House,” “Here Lies Love,” “Lempicka,” “Mary Jane,” “Mother Play,” “The Notebook,” “Prayer for the French Republic” and “Water for Elephants.”

2. The individuals who had multiple nominations this year, but went home empty-handed were songwriter/orchestrator Will Butler (“Stereophonic”), lighting designer Isabella Byrd (“Cabaret” and “An Enemy of the People”), scenic designer dots (“Appropriate” and “An Enemy of the People”), songwriters/orchestrators Jamestown Revival (“The Outsiders”), lighting designer Natasha Katz...

Tony Award winner Lachanze is launching her own multimedia production company.

The company, Lachanze Productions, will seek to produce Broadway and other commercial theater projects, with an eye to original works that bring new talent to the stage. All current projects in development are plays and musicals, but the company also plans to expand into film and television as well.

Lachanze, a Tony Award winner for her role as Celie in the original 2005 production of The Color Purple, has appeared on Broadway numerous times, including originating the lead role in Once on This Island in 1990 and most recently starring in the 2021 revival of Trouble in Mind.

In recent years, Lachanze has also been producing on Broadway. She served as a co-producer of Kimberly Akimbo, which won the 2023 Tony Award for best musical; TopDog/Underdog, which won the Tony for best play that same year; and this season’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,...

The 2024 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, April 30. Out of all the nominees spread across 26 categories, 23 fascinating facts, stats, trivia and achievements stand out as particularly noteworthy.

1. The following shows only received one Tony nomination: “The Great Gatsby,” “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” “Patriots” “Uncle Vanya” and “The Who’s Tommy.”

2. The following Broadway productions from this past season were completely snubbed: “The Cottage,” “Harmony,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” “How to Dance in Ohio,” “I Need That,” “Once Upon a One More Time,” “The Shark is Broken” and “The Wiz.”

3. The following individuals nominated last year are recognized again this year: Kai Harada, Tim Hatley, Amy Herzog, Brian d’Arcy James, Natasha Katz, Bradley King, Tom Kitt, Gareth Owen, Emilio Sosa, Jessica Stone, and Kara Young.

SEETony Awards snubs: ‘Patriots,’ Steve Carell, Chip Zien …

4. Some noteworthy names who happen to be nominated for producing at least one...

The Broadway revival of The Wiz is officially open!

Nichelle Lewis is playing the lead role of Dorothy in the beloved musical and she looked gorgeous in green while attending the opening night party on Wednesday (April 17) in New York City.

The Broadway newcomer was joined at the celebration by co-stars Wayne Brady, Deborah Cox, Melody A. Betts, Kyle Ramar Freeman, Phillip Johnson Richardson, and Avery Wilson at the opening night celebration. The opening comes two months after the show played in Los Angeles for the final stop of the North American tour.

Some of the celebs who were in attendance at the opening included Hillary Clinton, Anna Wintour, engaged couple Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, Lachanze, Ben Vereen, Peppermint, Sherri Shepherd, Tamron Hall, Common, Leslie Uggams, and writer Amber Ruffin.

Get your tickets now to see The Wiz on Broadway.

Stars like Katie Holmes, Alan Cumming, and Rose Byrne are all joining Broadway’s best talent in supporting the Roundabout Theatre Company!

The three stars – who have all starred on Broadway themselves – stepped out for the 2024 Roundabout Theatre Company Gala on Monday night (March 4) at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.

The event honored director Kenny Leon with the Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre and The Rudin Family with the Ovation Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. These awards are given to those who have made an indelible impact on both theatre and Roundabout.

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose gave a special concert performance at the gala.

Head inside to see all of the attendees at the gala…

Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs who attended…

Katie Holmes

Jim Parsons and husband Todd Spiewak

Kelsey Grammer

Matt Dillon

Rose Byrne

Vanessa Williams

Anna Chlumsky

Richard Kind

Alan...

Gutenberg! The Musical! ended its Broadway run last night, but not before recouping its initial $6.75 million investment, producers have announced.

The musical starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, and directed by Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! recouped its investment during a 20-week Broadway run, producers said. In its final week of performances, the musical comedy set another box office record at the James Earl Jones Theatre with a weekly gross of $1,463,226.

Gutenberg! previously set the Jones Theatre box office record the week ending December 31, 2023, when it grossed $1,280,597.

After taking their final bows last night, Gad and Rannells began recording the upcoming Original Broadway Cast Album to be released this spring on Center Stage Records and Yellow Sound Label. The album will be produced and mixed by Michael Croiter, with Marcia Goldberg, and Andrew Paradis serving as Executive Producers.

Since opening on Thursday, October 12, Gutenberg! has...

Kimberly Akimbo, the 2023 Tony Award winner for best musical, will be closing on April 28.

The musical, which also took home four other Tony Awards, has been running at the Booth Theatre on Broadway since October 2022, after making its world premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway in 2021. The entire original cast from the Off-Broadway run, including Tony Award winners Victoria Clark and Bonnie Milligan, has remained with the show throughout its run and will remain for the final performance.

A national tour is scheduled to follow starting in September.

The musical, which features a book by David Lindsay-Abaire and a score by Jeanine Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire, follows Kimberly (played by Clarke), a 16-year-old girl with a rare genetic condition that causes her to age rapidly, as she navigates a complicated family life and tries to fit in amongst her peers. The show was adapted from a 2001 play by Lindsay-Abaire.

In addition to Clarke,...

Kimberly Akimbo, winner of five 2023 Tony Awards including Best Musical, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, April 28, producers announced today.

Remarkably for Broadway, the entire original company, which has been performing together since the musical’s Off Broadway world premiere in 2021, has continued, and will continue, with the production through its final performance.

The universally acclaimed musical, which finds humor, heartbreak and hope in the tale of a teenage girl with a rare (and fictional) rapid-aging genetic condition that likely will take her life before she finishes her adolescence, opened on Broadway November 10, 2022, following its world premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company in November 2021.

Upon closing, Kimberly Akimbo will have played 32 previews and 612 performances on Broadway. The musical will kick off a 75-week, 60-city national tour at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts this September. (The touring cast has not been announced.)

Though the production grossed a...

The movie The Color Purple is currently in theaters and winning over audiences around the country!

The film features Celie’s triumphant song “I’m Here,” which is performed by Fantasia Barrino in the movie. She’s reprising her role as Celie after previously playing the character in the Broadway version of The Color Purple back in 2007.

“I’m Here” has been performed around the world and by various talented stars and we’ve rounded up some of the best renditions of the song.

Head inside to watch the videos…

Lachanze originated the role of Celie on Broadway while Cynthia Erivo originated the role in the Broadway revival. Both of them won Tony Awards for their performances!

Jennifer Hudson performed the song during the Kennedy Center Honors tribute for Oprah Winfrey and Jordan Fisher sang it at the McC Theater MisCast Gala, where actors perform songs that they normally wouldn...

Lachanze, the actress who played the central character Celie Harris Johnson in the 2005 Broadway musical adaptation of The Color Purple, posted yesterday about the new movie musical produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.

Lachanze said she was “thrilled for the movie’s success” and “happy for all involved,” but added, “I do want my royalty fee for the lyrics I added to ‘I’M Here.

“I am getting a lot of Dm’s and posts about why I’ve been left out of the press as the original Celie in the [The Color Purple] (musical),” she wrote. “I am thrilled for the movie’s success! Happy for all involved,” the 62-year-old tweeted Tuesday. “However, I do want my royalty fee for the lyrics I added to ‘I’M Here.'”

I am getting a lot of Dm’s and posts about why I’ve been left out of the...

Lachanze is the first actress to play the role of Celie in the musical version of The Color Purple and she now has a message for the movie’s producers.

The 62-year-old actress won a Tony Award in 2006 for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in the original production of The Color Purple. Fantasia Barrino, who is playing Celie in the movie, later took over the role six months after Lachanze left the show.

Lachanze took to Twitter on Tuesday (December 26) to share her thoughts on the movie and to make a demand from the producers.

Keep reading to find out more…

She said, “I am getting a lot of Dm’s and posts about why I’ve been left out of the press as the original Celie in the @TheColorPurple (musical). I am thrilled for the movie’s success! Happy for all involved. However, I do want...

In 2007, Jennifer Hudson dominated awards season for her undeniable portrait of Effie White in the movie musical adaptation of “Dreamgirls.” Her show-stopping performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” had theaters around America erupting in cheers, and she deservedly took home the best supporting Oscar — becoming the first “American Idol” contestant to do so.

Now Fantasia Barrino, the electric singer who beat Hudson as the winner of the third season of “Idol,” is about to headline a movie musical that could be collecting gold statuettes of its own. Barrino stars in Warner Bros.’ “The Color Purple,” releasing in theaters on Christmas, and Oscar voters are sure to take notice.

Barrino is no stranger to playing Celie — she reprises the role she inhabited on Broadway in a 2007 musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s beloved 1982 book. For the movie based on the musical, director Blitz Bazawule brings Barrino back to the role,...

Just two years after Anita of “West Side Story” became the first non-white fictional character to inspire multiple Academy Award nominations, three others are on their way to earning the same distinction. As was the case in 1986, 30% of 2024’s female acting Oscar slots could be filled by stars of “The Color Purple,” the new version of which serves as an adaptation of the similarly titled stage musical rather than Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. If Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson all reap bids for their fresh takes on the parts for which Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Margaret Avery were previously recognized, the overall list of doubly Oscar-nominated fictional characters will expand to include 20 examples.

In “The Color Purple,” Barrino executes the lead role of Celie Johnson, who she initially played on Broadway as a direct successor to 2006 Tony-winning originator Lachanze. As in the book and first film,...

"Some friendships are worth more than you could ever wish for." Peacock has revealed the official trailer for a holiday comedy called Genie, directed by filmmaker Sam Boyd. This genie-in-a-bottle story mashed up with a Christmas movie comes from a screenplay written by the talented British writer Richard Curits, adapting his own 1991 teleplay called "Bernard and the Genie". Now updated for modern times with more awkward jokes. A holiday fairytale comedy about a genie, a man, and landing one last chance to fix the mess you’ve made of your life. With his job, life & family unraveling around him, a despondent Bernard (Paapa Essiedu) dusts off a jewelry box and unintentionally releases genie Flora, who just might be able to help him. Maybe. It's a longshot, frankly. Starring Melissa McCarthy as the genie, plus Denée Benton, Marc Maron, Jordyn McIntosh, Luis Guzmán, Tate Ellington, Lachanze, and Alan Cumming. I'm a...

Richard Curtis, the prolific writer-director behind Love Actually, is gifting audiences yet another holiday comedy this year. Set to release on Nov. 22 on Peacock, Genie stars Melissa McCarthy as Flora, a wish-granting being summoned by hapless workaholic Bernard, played by Paapa Essiedu.

The trailer is filled with Curtis’ signature feel-good, witty banter and sparkly shots of Christmas tinsel in the background. Flora literally poofs into Bernard’s life when he needs it the most — he’s missed his daughter’s birthday, his wife has left him, and his boss has given him the boot.

Melissa McCarthy is granting all the magical wishes this holiday season.

In the upcoming holiday fairytale comedy, Genie, from Universal and Working Title, Bernard (Paapa Essiedu) enlists genie Flora (McCarthy) to help him win back his family before Christmas.

While Bernard has been busy with work, he doesn’t realize his job, life and family are unraveling around him until it’s too late. As he’s sitting in his New York City apartment alone, trying to figure out how to fix his mistakes, Bernard comes across an antique jewelry box. As he’s dusting it off, he unintentionally releases Flora, a genie trapped for more than 2,000 years inside.

“I need to get my wife and kid to love me again and for us to be happy,” Essiedu can be heard saying to McCarthy in the trailer.

Though, as Bernard starts to question if Flora can actually help him, they...

From the pen of “Love Actually” writer-director Richard Curtis comes a new holiday comedy — but this time the magic of the season is literally magic. Premiering on Peacock on Nov. 22, “Genie” follows Melissa McCarthy as Flora, the titular character, who comes to the assistance of a despondent Bernard (Paapa Essiedu). Through their unexpected friendship, the two discover how the power of love can unleash a special holiday magic.

From missing his daughter’s birthday to his wife leaving him to getting fired, Bernard is in need of a genie for several reasons. Luckily for him, he stumbles upon a jewelry box and unintentionally releases the genie Flora, who can grant unlimited wishes. Flora has been trapped in that box for over 2,000 years due to a misunderstanding with a sorcerer in 77 B.C., so Bernard begins to show her the world she has been missing. Meanwhile, declaring that he needs to...

Peacock has unveiled a trailer, premiere date and first look photos for Genie, its previously untitled holiday fairytale comedy, starring Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu, which Love Life creator Sam Boyd directed from a script by Richard Curtis, the Oscar nom best known for Love Actually.

Hailing from Universal and Working Title, the film premieres November 22nd. Check out the trailer above, and new photos above and below.

McCarthy leads the pic as Flora, a genie trapped for more than 2,000 years inside an antique jewelry box because of one teeny-tiny little misunderstanding with a sorcerer back in 77 B.C. After millennia of being summoned to grant wishes of gold doubloons and hot babes for greedy men, Flora is accidentally called to service by Bernard Bottle (Essiedu), whose life is unraveling around him.

Bernard’s been so busy working that he has lost sight of his marriage to his wife Julie...

The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the full lineup for their 2023 festival, which will run in person from Oct. 25 to Oct. 29. The festival will feature the world premiere of Rob Reiner’s “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” and the world premiere of Matthew Brown’s “Freud’s Last Session,” starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode.

Other titles include Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers,” Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction,” Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” Mahalia Belo’s “The End We Start From,” Christos Nikou’s “Fingernails,” Michel Franco’s “Memory,” Jessica Yu’s “Quiz Lady” and J.A. Bayona’s “Society of the Snow.”

AFI previously announced that Sam Esmail’s “Leave the World Behind,” starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke, will open the festival on Oct. 25. The Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro,” directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, will close the festival. “Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story” is the Centerpiece film.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” has been riding high on Oscar buzz since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and Lily Gladstone’s eye-opening turn as a tragedy-stricken Indigenous woman in the midst of an Osage slaughter in the 1920s has been at the forefront of those loud whispers.

Gladstone’s campaign announced her “Killers” bid will be for leading actress, and if the “Certain Women” standout were to win, she would become the first Best Actress Oscar winner who identifies as Indigenous.

Gladstone made a splash in Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 indie “Certain Women,”, where she amassed several awards and nominations, including winning the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Best Supporting Actress prize, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Her other credits include Reichardt’s “First Cow,” the FX on Hulu critical darling “Reservation Dogs” and “Fancy Dance,” a Sundance premiere which premiered to rock-solid reviews.

As of this writing, based on the combined Oscar predictions of Gold Derby users, Fantasia Barrino is the front-runner to win Best Actress with 9/2 odds for playing Celie in “The Color Purple.” Currently in seventh place with 11/1 odds is Annette Bening for “Nyad.” Bening is long overdue for her first win. So could this be similar to 1985 when another overdue veteran beat an actress playing Celie in “The Color Purple?”

In “The Color Purple,” Barrino plays Celie Harris Johnson, an African-American woman struggling to live in the South during the early 1900s. In “Nyad,” Bening plays Diana Nyad, a real-life swimmer who, at age 60 and with the help of her best friend and coach (Jodie Foster), commits to achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida.

SEEOscar predictions: Fantasia Barrino (‘The Color Purple’) is the early favorite for historic Best Actress victory

During the 1985 season...

A Broadway fundraising concert next month for President Joe Biden will feature some of theater’s biggest stars, including Josh Groban, Ben Platt, Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr. and Laura Benanti, among others, with the president himself in attendance.

Although at least one detail is being kept under wraps for the moment – the Broadway venue in Times Square has not been identified – the date has been set for Monday night, September 18, with ticket prices ranging from $250 for rear mezzanine seats to $7,500 for orchestra center front. The seating chart at the ticket website indicates that the concert will take place at an indoor theater rather than outdoors in Times Square.

Other stars to be featured at the concert are Annaleigh Ashford, Josh Gad, Alex Edelman, Christopher Jackson, Lachanze, Ruthie Ann Miles, Andrew Rannells and Aaron Tveit.

The one-night-only concert fundraiser is being hosted by Broadway producers and supporters Jeffrey Seller,...

Exclusive: Entertainment company Madison Wells Live, Lachanze and Taraji P. Henson have joined the producing team of Manhattan Theatre Club’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, a world premiere play written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White heading to Broadway this fall.

The partnerships were announced today by Mtc’s Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Chris Jennings (Executive Director).

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding will begin previews on Tuesday, September 12 and open on Tuesday, October 3, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

The play is set at a hair braiding salon in Harlem where a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders create “masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women.” According to the synopsis, “During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed.”

Both Bioh, the Ghanaian-American playwright of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, and White...

Coming to theaters from IFC Films and Shudder on August 18th, we have a look at the new trailer and poster for Laura Moss' birth/rebirth, starring Marin Ireland and Judy Reyes!

"Rose (Marin Ireland) is a pathologist who prefers working with corpses over social interaction. She also has an obsession — the reanimation of the dead. Celie (Judy Reyes) is a maternity nurse who has built her life around her bouncy, chatterbox six-year-old daughter, Lila (A.J. Lister). When one tragic night, Lila suddenly falls ill and dies, the two women's worlds crash into each other. They embark on a dark path of no return where they will be forced to confront how far they are willing to go to protect what they hold most dear.

This standout directorial debut from Laura Moss reimagines Mary Shelley’s classic horror myth Frankenstein with such a contemporary understanding that it becomes something exciting,...

Out of all the winners (and also-rans) in the 26 competitive categories at the 2023 Tony Awards, 34 results stand out as particularly noteworthy when considered in the context of history. So what were this year’s most interesting facts, records, and milestones? Check out the complete list of winners here.

1. The productions that received multiple Tony nominations, but went home empty-handed were “& Juliet,” “Ain’t No Mo’,” “Between Riverside and Crazy” “Camelot,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Cost of Living,” “Death of a Salesman,” “A Doll’s House,” “Fat Ham,” “Into the Woods,” “Kpop,” and “The Piano Lesson.”

2. This year marked the first time a Broadway production of “Into the Woods” didn’t win a single Tony. The original won three awards in 1987 for Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), Best Book of a Musical (James Lapine), and Best Original Score (Stephen Sondheim). The 2002 remounting won two for Best Revival of a Musical...

The 76th annual Tony Awards were handed out Sunday night.

Kimberly Akimbo won best musical, Leopoldstadt was named best play, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog won best revival of a play, and Parade won best revival of a musical.

In the lead acting categories, Jodie Comer won best performance by an actress in a play for Prima Facie, while openly nonbinary actor J. Harrison Ghee made history (along with Alex Newell) for winning best performance by an actor in a musical for Some Like It Hot. Sean Hayes won best actor in a play for Good Night, Oscar, while Victoria Clark won best actress in a musical for Kimberly Akimbo.

Oscar winner and Tony nominee Ariana DeBose returned to host the ceremony, which this year moved to the new location of the United Palace in New York City’s Washington Heights. See the red carpet arrivals here.

The show was split into two parts,...

Kimberly Akimbo was the big winner at the 76th annual Tony Awards, which were handed out Sunday night in New York. It won five awards including Best Musical and Lead Actress for Victoria Clark.

Related: Tony Awards Review & Recap: A Writer-Less Ceremony Goes Off Without A Hitch As Broadway Improvises A Winner

Leopoldstadt won four Tonys including Best Play, tying for second-most with Some Like It Hot. See the full list of winners below.

Julie Comer and (Prima Facie) and J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) took Lead Actress and Actor in a Musical, respectively, and Sean Hayes won Lead Actor in a Play for Good Night, Oscar, which was that shows lone win – as was Comer’s for Prima Facie.

Related: Tony Awards 2023: The Best Of The Red Carpet

Eleven Tonys were presented during the hour-plus preshow, and 15 more are were doled out in primetime. Oscar...

The 104-year-old theater formerly known as the Selwyn – and soon to be formerly known as the American Airlines – will be renamed to honor the late Todd Haimes, the artistic director and guiding force behind the Roundabout Theatre Company who died in April.

The naming of the Todd Haimes Theatre was announced last night as members of the Broadway community honored Haimes by dimming the marquees of all 41 Broadway theaters. The new name is designed to recognize Haimes’ “extraordinary dedication to the institution he called home, and his enormous contributions to Roundabout and the entire theatre community.”

“Last year, when the thought of naming the theater after Todd arose, our instinct was to honor a visionary producer who had led Roundabout from a basement under a supermarket in Chelsea to an indelible force in the American theatre,” said Roundabout Vice Chair Lawrence Kaplen in a statement. “I am proud to be...

Less than a week after Apple and Paramount debuted the first trailer for 2024 Oscars hopeful “Killers of the Flower Moon,” another presumed awards contender has taken its first bow in the spotlight. On Monday, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for “The Color Purple,” filmmaker Blitz Bazawule’s adaptation of the Alice Walker novel and subsequent musical.

Originally adapted for the screen by Steven Spielberg in 1985, “The Color Purple” was turned into a Broadway production in 2005 and revived again in 2015. Throughout its life, the property has been an awards magnet. The 1985 film was nominated 11 times at the Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Whoopi Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey. On Broadway, the original production landed multiple Tony Award nominations and won Best Actress in a Musical for Lachanze. The 2015 revival also won Best Actress honors for Cynthia Erivo while netting a Best Featured Actress...

Alice Walker’s timeless novel “The Color Purple” is returning to the big screen for the first time in four decades.

Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 1985 adaptation followed a young Black woman named Celie (then played by Whoopi Goldberg) trying to find her identity in rural Georgia while coping with her abusive father and the prejudices of the post-Antebellum South and forming a close connection with jazz singer Shug. A stage musical adaptation of Walker’s book debuted on Broadway in 2005, with Celie played by the likes of Lachanze and Cynthia Erivo throughout its run and revival. Now, in director Blitz Bazawule’s Warner Bros. film version of the musical (out Christmas Day), R&b star Fantasia Barrino, who appeared on Broadway in the show from 2007 to 2008 and then in the national tour two years later, takes on the role of Celie, with Taraji P. Henson as Shug. Watch the first...

The 2023 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, May 2. Out of all the nominees spread across the 26 categories, a number of them stand out as particularly noteworthy. Read my 31 fascinating facts, stats and trivia for this year’s contenders below.

See 2023 Tony Awards nominations: Full List

1. The following shows only received one Tony nomination: “Almost Famous,” “Ohio State Murders,” and “Summer, 1976.”

2. The following Broadway productions from this past season were completely snubbed: “1776,” “Bad Cinderella,” “A Beautiful Noise,” “Bob Fosse’s Dancin’,” “The Collaboration,” “The Kite Runner,” “Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool,” “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” “Pictures From Home,” “The Thanksgiving Play,” and “Walking with Ghosts.”

3. Two of this year’s nominees for Best Revival of a Musical (“Into the Woods” and “Parade”) are transfers from successful runs at New York City Center.

4. Some noteworthy names who happen to be nominated for producing at least one Broadway...

Refresh For Udpates: The nominations for the 76th Annual Tony Awards will be announced on CBS Mornings today by Funny Girl star Lea Michele and Mj‘s Tony Award winner Myles Frost. The complete list of nominations will be posted here at 9:10 a.m. Et./6 a.m. Pt.

The nominations announced so far:

Best Musical

& Juliet

Producers: Max Martin & Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Jenny Petersson, Martin Dodd, Eva Price, Lukasz Gottwald, 42nd.club, Independent Presenters Network, Jack Lane, Library Company, Shellback, Shivhans Pictures, Sing Out, Louise!, Kim Szarzynski, Taylor/Riegler, Tenenbaum/Keyes, Barry Weiss, John Gore Organization

Kimberly Akimbo

Producers: David Stone, Atlantic Theater Company, James L. Nederlander, Lachanze, John Gore, Patrick Catullo, Aaron Glick

New York, New York

Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Tom Kirdahy, Wendy Federman & Heni Koenigsberg, Crossroads Live, Playing Field, Stephanie P. McClelland, Ambassador Theatre Group, Waiting in the Wings Productions, Colin Callender, Gilbert and DeeDee Garcia/Sue Vaccaro,...

The Black Women on Broadway Awards are returning following last year’s successful inaugural in-person event.

Dedicated to celebrating the legacy and achievements of Black women in the Broadway community, the 2023 Bwob Awards will honor three talents in New York at the Knickerbocker Hotel on June 5 for their work at the highest level of commercial live theater in the U.S.

“We saw with our first-year celebration how necessary it was, how people left in tears and were so elated to be in a space where they didn’t have to be anything other than the Black women they are. There was such a freedom in the room, a vulnerability that is not often felt,” Bwob co-founder, The Piano Lesson star and Tony nominee Danielle Brooks tells The Hollywood Reporter about the group’s decision to return for 2023.

This year’s honorees include Some Like It Hot‘s Natasha Yvette Williams,...

The Adapt Leadership Awards took place on March 9th at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. The awards gala raised $750,000 to support the important ongoing work of Adapt Community Network.

The Adapt Leadership Awards.

Credit/Copyright: Gary Gershoff/Getty

The 2023 Adapt Leadership Awards honored: Willie Geist, host of NBC News’ Sunday Today with Willie Geist, and co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe; John D. Kemp, Esq., President & CEO of Lakeshore Foundation, co-founder of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and author of Disability Friendly: How to Move from Clueless to Inclusive; Jeanine Salvatore, philanthropist, and Louis Salvatore, co-Head of Blackstone Credit’s Performing Credit team.

Abigail Hawk, star of the CBS series Blue Bloods, hosted the awards gala for the first time.

Willie Geist was honored with the Adapt Leadership Award in a special presentation by Ali Stroker, Tony award winner, 2022’s Adapt Leadership Award honoree, past Adapt Co-Chair,...

Edward R. Matthews, CEO of Adapt Community Network, has announced that Ali Stroker, Tony-winning stage, film, television star, and author, will present the Adapt Leadership Award to honoree Willie Geist at the Adapt Leadership Awards on Thursday, March 9th, 2023, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

The awards gala will support the important ongoing work of the non-profit organization.

Ali Stroker is a longtime Celebrity Ambassador to Adapt Community Network. Last year, she was honored with the Adapt Leadership Award and served as Co-Chair of Adapt’s Women Who Care Awards Luncheon for many years.

Ali is a Tony Award winner for her role as Ado Annie in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! She made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway, in Deaf West’s acclaimed 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. She’s a series regular in the Netflix series, Echoes, and starred in the Lifetime holiday film,...

Exclusive: Artists First has signed actor Brandon Micheal Hall for management.

Hall is perhaps best known for his breakout role opposite Alia Shawkat in the acclaimed TBS/HBO Max series Search Party, created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charlies Rogers and Michael Showalter, which ran for five seasons.

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During the course of that dark comedy’s run, he also led the Humanitas Prize-winning CBS drama God Friended Me from EP Greg Berlanti, as well as ABC’s half-hour comedy The Mayor exec produced by Jeremy Bronson, Daveed Diggs and Jamie Tarses.

Hall is a graduate of Juilliard, the British American Drama Academy, and the South Carolina Governor School of the Arts and Humanities,...

Edward R. Matthews, CEO of Adapt Community Network, announced today that the Adapt Leadership Awards will take place on Thursday, March 9th, 2023, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

The awards gala will support the important ongoing work of the non-profit organization.

Abigail Hawk, star of the CBS series Blue Bloods, will host the awards gala for the first time. Hawk is a four-time past Honorary Co-Chair and past celebrity presenter of the Adapt Leadership Awards.

“For the past five years, I have been a proud Celebrity Ambassador to Adapt,” says Abigail Hawk. “In that time, I have seen firsthand the important work that Adapt does helping children, families, and adults with disabilities in wide ranging and comprehensive ways.”

Honorary Gala Co-Chairs will be: Cara Buono, star of Stranger Things and Emmy-nominated for Mad Men; Lachanze, Emmy, Tony, and SAG winning actress, singer, and activist; Tamsen Fadal, Emmy-winning PIX11 News anchor,...

The Christmas season brings scores of ticket buyers to Broadway as tourists flood Times Square and locals bring visiting family to the theater. Many of those audiences should catch the bold new version of “A Christmas Carol” at the Nederlander Theater, where Tony-winner Jefferson Mays vaults through every single character in Charles Dickens’ classic ghost story. The production is an artistic triumph, but will it thaw the hearts of Tony nominators?

Holiday themed shows have historically demonstrated a shaky track record at the Tony Awards. The 2016 production of “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn” earned a sole nomination for Denis Jones’ choreography. Before that, 2009’s “White Christmas” (another Berlin musical) nabbed nominations for Choreography and Orchestrations. In 2013 “A Christmas Story” became the first, and so far only, Christmas themed Best Musical nominee. It was also up for Score (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul) and Book of a Musical (Joseph Robinette). None of...

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The Wiz is easing on down to Broadway.

The beloved Black-led, music-infused spin on the Wizard of Oz is slated to return as a reimagined revival in Spring 2024, producers announced Thursday. Amber Ruffin, whose co-written Some Like It Hot with Matthew López is set to open on Broadway this December, is attached to provide additional material for the limited engagement.

The “all-new” production of the Tony-winning musical adapted from L. Frank Baum’s children’s book will serve as the Broadway directorial debut for Schele Williams.

“I wouldn’t be on Broadway if it wasn’t for The Wiz,” Williams said in a statement. “The music, the costumes, the choreography and Stephanie Mills! Seeing that show changed my life. It is, in every way, a celebration of Black excellence. I am honored to helm this production and I can’t think of a...

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“Making of a Broadway Show” is the last stop in the newly opened Museum of Broadway, but its contents and design are pivotal to understanding the intimate and intricate human realities — and possibilities — behind everything floors above it.

“You go to a show and see this performance, and it’s so many people’s blood, sweat and tears. It’s several years, sometimes, for a show to even get to Broadway. That wasn’t on my radar growing up. I had no idea I didn’t have to be the actor,” says Tony-winning producer and museum co-founder Julie Boardman about the inspiration for the exhibit. “But the whole world opens up to you in this. You walk through this stage door and get to learn about these different people’s jobs. You learn how a show goes from a blank page.”

It’s an effort,...

Black Theatre United has announced its new Executive Leadership Committee, with Broadway’s Trouble in Mind star Lachanze moving from Vice President to President.

Also named to the committee: actor Michael McElroy (Vice President), production stage manager Lisa Dawn Cave (Secretary), actor Norm Lewis (Treasurer) and actor-producer Tamara Tunie (Compliance Officer).

Btu’s outgoing exec committee includes President Audra McDonald, Treasurer Capathia Jenkins and Secretary Schele Williams.

The announcement comes as Black Theatre United celebrates the recent fulfillment of two major pledges promised in its founding New Deal for Broadway agreement with various Broadway theater owners, producers, creatives, and unions to honor Black theatre artists: On September 13, the Shubert Organization officially renamed the Cort Theatre as the James Earl Jones Theatre, and on November 1, the Nederlander Organization rechristened the Brooks Atkinson Theatre as the Lena Horne Theatre.

The Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization committed to having at least one...

Update Black Theatre United will postpone its inaugural gala to 2023, due to unspecified scheduling conflicts, the organization announced today.

A new date will be announced shortly for the event.

Ahead of the Gala, Btu has partnered with Charitybuzz for an exclusive fundraising auction, now live.

Previous, Sept. 7 Black Theatre United has announced the line-up for its inaugural gala next month, and it’s a stellar one: Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, Lachanze, Capathia Jenkins, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Darius de Haas, Natasha Yvette Williams and Lillias White, for starters.

The “A Night to Remember” gala concert is set for Monday, October 3 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in Manhattan. Hosted by James Monroe Iglehart, the evening also will feature special performing guests Josh Groban, Joaquina Kalukango, Chuck Cooper, Lilli Cooper, Eddie Cooper, with special appearances by Sara Bareilles and Gavin Creel. Jerry Dixon directs, with musical direction by Michael Mitchell.

The...

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The annual Antonyo Awards, which celebrate Black theater artists on and off Broadway, is going in-person for its second edition.

Presented by Broadway Black, the show, honoring the work of Broadway and Off Broadway creatives, will host its 2022 ceremony at the Apollo Theater. The live event will take place Oct. 10 at the legendary Harlem venue, where all 29 nongendered competitive categories, along with five honorary categories, will be presented.

The brainchild of producer and actor Drew Shade, the awards were live-streamed on YouTube for their inaugural 2020 iteration, which took place on Juneteenth.

“The Antonyo Awards were born to remind ourselves of the joy that Black theater artists have created in a fractured country,” Shade, founder of Broadway Black, said. “For almost 10 years Broadway Black has championed Black voices in many different ways, and we are thrilled to move from the well-received initial streaming broadcast...