Auli’i Cravalho to Star in Paramount’s Film Adaptation of Broadway Musical “Mean Girls”

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Auli’i Cravalho is on a mean streak…

The 22-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress/singer has joined the ensemble cast of Paramount Pictures’ new Mean Girls film based on the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical.

Cravalho, who will portray Janis, will be joined by Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp and Jaquel Spivey.

Lorne Michaels is producing with Tina Fey. Erin David, Caroline Maroney and Micah Frank are overseeing for Broadway Video, and Eric Gurian and Jeff Richmond for Little Stranger. Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne are directing with Fey writing the adaptation.

The film is based on the stage musical Mean Girls written by Fey, with music by Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Paramount Pictures is adapting the new film for Paramount+.

Best known for voicing the titular character in the Disney hit animated film Moana, Cravalho was most recently seen in Netflix’s feature film All Together Now directed by Brett Haley and as Ariel in ABC’s acclaimed television production of The Little Mermaid Live. She can currently be seen in Hulu’s Darby of the Dead.

20th Century Studios to Stream Auli’i Cravalho’s Supernatural Teen Comedy “Darby and the Dead” on Hulu

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Auli’i Cravalho’s latest project is headed to Hulu…

20th Century Studios has announced that its supernatural teen comedy Darby and the Dead, starring the 21-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress/singer and Riele Downs, will stream exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ under the Star banner in all other territories on December 2nd.

The film formerly titled Darby Harper Wants You to Know is about a high school student who moonlights as a spiritual messenger. After suffering a near-death experience as a young girl, Darby Harper (Downs) gains the ability to see dead people. As a result, she becomes introverted and shut off from her high school peers and prefers to spend time counseling lonely spirits who have unfinished business on earth. But all that changes when Capri (Cravalho), the Queen Bee of the school’s most exclusive clique, unexpectedly dies in a freak hair straightening accident, resulting in the obvious cancellation of her upcoming “Sweet 17.”

Capri, however, pleads with Darby from the other side to intervene and convince Capri’s friends to proceed with the party as planned. In order to appease the wrath of the undead diva, Darby must emerge from her self-imposed exile and reinvent herself — which along the way allows her to find new joy back in the land of the living.

The film also stars Chosen Jacobs, Asher Angel, Wayne Knight, Derek Luke and Tony Danza.

Darby and the Dead was directed by Emmy nominee Silas Howard. Becca Greene wrote the script, which was based on a story by Wenonah Wilms.

Cravalho made her acting debut as the voice of the titular character in Disney’s Moana. Her other credits include Rise, All Together Now and Crush.

Justina Machado to Star in Mario Garcia’s Indie Comedy “The Throwback”

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s throwback time for Justina Machado.

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican actress will star opposite Will Sasso in The Throwback, an indie comedy marking the feature directorial debut of Mario Garcia.

The project will be heading into production in Tampa next month.

The film follows a married couple (Machado and Sasso) in full-blown midlife crisis who are thrown into further turmoil when the wife (Machado), an underappreciated and stressed ‘supermom,’ suffers a post-traumatic breakdown during the holiday season, causing her to regress to her 19-year-old college party-girl self.

Garcia wrote the script and will produce via his company Garcia Interactive, alongside Michael A. Alfieri of Miantri Films and Doug Fox. Machado and Sasso’s longtime manager, Danielle Del, will executive produce alongside Machado and Sterling Macer Jr.

Machado recently starred as Penelope on Sony Picture Television’s revival of One Day at a Time. She will next be seen in the Blumhouse-produced Amazon series, The Horror of Dolores Roach.

The actress has also been seen on series like Queen of the South, Jane the Virgin and Six Feet Under, among many others.

Her additional film credits include All Together Now, The Purge: Anarchy, The Call and The Accidental Husband.

Disney Branded Television Gives Green Light to Auli’i Cravalho’s Animated Series “Hailey’s On It!”

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Auli’i Cravalho’s on it…

Disney Branded Television has given a series green light to Hailey’s On It!, an original animated comedy-adventure with the 20-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress/singer leading the voice cast.

The project hails from longtime writing and producing partners Devin Bunje and Nick Stanton and Disney Television Animation.

Cravalho, who rose to acclaim in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana, voices the title character, Hailey; along with Manny Jacinto as Scott, Hailey’s best friend; and Gary Anthony Williams as Beta, an artificially intelligent operating system from the future.

Hailey’s On It! is slated to debut in 2023.

Created and executive produced by Bunje and Stanton, Hailey’s On It! follows Hailey Banks (Cravalho), a risk-averse but resourceful teenager on a mission to complete every item on her long list of challenging (and sometimes impractical) tasks in order to save the world. Hailey will be pushed outside her comfort zone to discover the greatness within as she systematically conquers her fears, whether she is winning a sand-building competition, wrestling a honey badger, eating a raw onion, or facing her ever-growing and complicated feelings toward her best friend, Scott (Jacinto).

“Nick and Devin began their writing careers at TVA nearly 15 years ago and have now come full circle returning to their TVA roots to launch their first animated series,” said Meredith Roberts, SVP and general manager, Television Animation, Disney Branded Television. “The series’ fast-paced comedy, heart and grounded stories about two best friends, who happen to get caught up in extraordinary circumstances, made it a perfect fit for Disney.”

Cravalho’s previous credits include the NBC drama series Rise and the Netflix drama film All Together Now.

Auli’i Cravalho to Perform at PBS’ Televised Independence Day Celebration “A Capitol Fourth”

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Auli’i Cravalho is embracing the independence…

The 20-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress/singer will perform at this year’s Independence Day celebration A Capitol Fourth, which will feature a pre-taped concert and live fireworks from Washington, D.C.

The city has lifted almost all COVID-19 restrictions, and President Joe Biden is planning an event at the White House that day, his goal for having at least 70% of the country with at least one COVID-19 shot.

But producers have been planning the show for months, with COVID-19 forcing them to set aside the traditional live concert on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

In addition to Cravalho, others who will perform at the event are Jimmy Buffett, Cynthia Erivo, Alan Jackson, Pentatonix, Jennifer Nettles, Train, Gladys Knight, Mickey Guyton, Ali Stroker, Jimmie Allen and Laura Osnes.

The National Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Jack Everly, will perform John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare, honoring U.S. participation in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games. The orchestra and the Joint Armed Forces Chorus will accompany the fireworks with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Vanessa Williams will host the event, with Renee Fleming set to open the show with the National Anthem. The concert will honor men and women of the military, with other participants including the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, The Joint Armed Forces Chorus and The Armed Forces Color Guard provided by the Military District of Washington, D.C.

The concert, a co-production of Michael Colbert of Capital Concerts and WETA-TV, will air on July 4 from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm ET on PBS, and it also will be broadcast to the American Forces Network. NPR stations also will air the event, and it will be streamed on Facebook, YouTube and PBS.org through July 18.

Cravalho rose to acclaim as the voice of the title character in Disney’s computer animated musical Moana. Her other credits include NBC’s Rise and Netflix’s drama film All Together Now.

Justina Machado to Star in Amazon Studios’ Pilot “The Horror of Dolores Roach”

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a scary time for Justina Machado…

Amazon Studios has given a formal pilot order to The Horror of Dolores Roach, starring the 48-year-0ld Puerto Rican actress.

Based on the hit Gimlet podcast and written and directed by podcast creator Aaron Mark, The Horror of Dolores Roach originally was developed by Mark as a one-woman play starring Daphne Rubin-Vega.

It’s a grotesque Sweeney Todd-inspired tale of eat or be eaten — a macabre urban legend of love, betrayal, weed, gentrification, cannibalism and survival of the fittest.

“Magic Hands” Dolores Roach (Machado) is released from prison after 16 years and returns to a severely gentrified Washington Heights with $200 and the clothes on her back. With her boyfriend missing, her family long gone and her apartment now occupied by strangers, Dolores finds respite in the dilapidated storefront Empanada Loca around the corner — the only remnant of her former life.

Roxann Dawson is attached to direct and executive produce the pilot, which has been casting for the past four months. The project, in development at Amazon since 2020, hails from Blumhouse Television, which won the rights to adapt the podcast in 2019 in a competitive situation, and Spotify.

Mark penned the pilot script and will executive produce alongside Home Before Dark co-creator Dara Resnik and Rubin-Vega. Jason Blum, Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold of Blumhouse Television and Chris Giliberti and Justin McGoldrick of Spotify also will executive produce.

Machado most recently starred in the One Day at a Time reimagining, garnering multiple award nominations and winning two Imagen Awards for her role.

She previously shared in a SAG Award for her role in the Emmy-winning HBO series Six Feet Under.

Her other television credits include Jane the Virgin and Queen of the South.

Her work in film includes Blumhouse Productions’ The Purge: Anarchy, Netflix’s All Together Now and the indie Pedro.

On stage, Machado made her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning musical In the Heights, created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: All Together Now