Tag Archives: André De Shields

Netflix Releases Trailer for New Series “Uncoupled,” Guest Starring Jai Rodriguez

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Jai Rodriguez is uncoupling…

Netflix has released the full trailer for Uncoupled, the upcoming eight-part series featuring the 43-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor, musician and former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy host.

Jai RodriguezStarring Neil Patrick Harris, the project hails from Emily in Paris creator Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman.

Harris stars as a gay man in his mid-40s navigating the single life in New York City after he was unceremoniously dumped by his partner of 17 years.

In addition to Harris and Rodriguez, a guest star on the series, Uncoupled also stars Tisha Campbell, Brooks Ashmanskas, Emerson Brooks and Marcia Gay Harden.

André De Shields, Byron Jennings, Colin Hanlon, Dan Amboyer, Gilles Marini, Nic Rouleau, Peter Porte and Stephanie Faracy join as guest stars.

Javier Bardem Joins Voice Cast of Animated Film “Spellbound”

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Javier Bardem is officially feelin’ the magic…

The 53-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor has joined the voice cast of the animated film Spellbound.

Javier BardemLed by West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler, the recently expanded voice cast also includes Bardem’s Being the Ricardos co-star Nicole Kidman, John Lithgow, Nathan Lane, Jenifer Lewis, André De Shields and Jordan Fisher.

The upcoming musical from Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation will have Kidman voicing Ellsmere, the kind and just, yet hyper-precise Queen of Lumbria, with Bardem as Lumbria’s boastful yet big-hearted King, Solon. Together, they are the parents of Princess Ellian (Zegler), who they join on her daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms them into monsters and threatens to cover Lumbria in darkness forever.

Lithgow and Lewis will voice Princess Ellian’s royal advisors, Minister Bolinar and Minister Nazara Prone, with Lane and De Shields as The Oracles of the Sun and Moon that Ellian seeks out to break the spell on her parents and the kingdom.

Additional characters aiding Ellian throughout her journey include the young nomad Callan, voiced by Fisher.

Academy Award winner Alan Menken is providing the film’s original score and songs, with song lyrics by Glenn Slater. Chris Montan is serving as executive music producer.

Bardem, who landed his fourth nom for his portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, recently appeared in Dune and Fernando León de Aranoa’s comedy The Good Boss.

His upcoming projects include Columbia Pictures’ adaptation of the children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid and Dune: Part Two.

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Appear on “The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!” Special

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is celebrating Broadway’s reopening…

The 41-year-old Puerto Rican Tony Award-winning actor, singer, songwriter, rapper, producer and playwright will take part in Broadway’s Back!, the live two-hour broadcast special immediately following this Sunday’s streaming-only Tony Awards ceremony.

Lin-Manuel Miranda 

In addition to Miranda, who created the Broadway hits In The Heights and Hamilton, the program will include appearances by Kristin Chenoweth, André De Shields, Jake Gyllenhaal, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Broadway legend Chita Rivera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, who originated the role of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent, and more, according to CBS and The American Theatre Wing.

The special, presented live on Sunday, Sept. 26 from Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre, will be hosted by Leslie Odom, Jr.

Designed as a celebration of Broadway’s return to the stage following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, the special (full title: The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!) airs on CBS from 9:00 – 11:00 pm ET (live) and PT (delayed). The special also will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

The concert special will include Broadway performers and Tony Award winners re-uniting on stage to perform classics, and will feature performances from the three Tony-nominated Best Musical contenders: Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.

The special also will include the live presentation of three Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Revival of a Play and Best Musical.

The 74th Annual Tony Awards, delayed from June 2020 due to COVID-19 and representing a shorter roster of nominees because of the shutdown, will stream exclusively on Paramount+ live beginning at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT. The ceremony will be hosted by Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning singer and actor Audra McDonald, and will cover productions from the abbreviated 2019-2020 Broadway season.

The line-up of Broadway’s Back! performers and presenters also includes Annaleigh Ashford, Kerry Butler, Christopher Jackson, Ruthie Ann Miles, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Ben Platt, Jeremy Pope and BD Wong. Additional performers and presenters will be announced later this week.

The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! will be produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment, the team behind the annual Tony Awards telecast. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director.

Chita Rivera Among the Stars Taking Part in Fundraising Concert for Joe Biden, “In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nation”

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Chita Rivera is Biden her time before the upcoming presidential election…

The 87-year-old half-Puerto Rican Broadway star will be among the stars of the Great White Way who’ll stage a fundraising concert for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, with plans to stream the event on October 21.

Chita Rivera

The event, which starts at 8:00 pm ET, is organized by the group Broadway for Biden and is called In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nation, with donations going to the Biden Victory Fund.

In addition to Rivera, the lineup of the concert includes Derrick Baskin, Laura Benanti, Victoria Clark, Glenn Close, Chuck Cooper, Darren Criss, André De Shields, Renée Elise Goldsberry, John Goodman, Jayne Houdyshell, Jennifer Hudson, James Monroe Iglehart, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Norman Lear, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Karen Olivo, Ashley Park, Steven Pasquale, Carrie Preston, Kelani Queypo, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Phillipa Soo, Ephraim Sykes, BD Wong, the Broadway Dreams Foundation Choir, and the casts of Six and KPOP.

Liesl Tommy, director of the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic Respect (with Hudson in the lead role), will direct the show. Tommy is the executive producer along with Julie Boardman, Nolan Doran, Halle Morse, and Jennifer Mudge.

The concert will stream on YouTube via news publisher NowThis, on Facebook via Broadway for Biden and NowThis, and on Broadway Unlocked.

In a statement, Tommy said, “It is a tremendous honor to direct this incredible collective of performers and artists, who are coming together to amplify the promise of Broadway and a nation that are future-looking, accessible, and deeply inclusive.”

The evening will include original material, stagings of musical numbers that have never been seen, and previews of productions bound for Broadway. Among those contributing are Chad Beguelin, Tony Kushner, Lynn Nottage, Robert O’Hara, Stacey Rose, Aurin Squire, DeLanna Studi, Paula Vogel and John Waters.

Christopher Gattelli, Lorin Latarro, Ray Mercer, and Abbey O’Brien will provide original choreography, with music direction by Jason Michael Webb. Chris Boardman and Charlie Rosen will provide orchestrations. Sean McLaughlin will serve as director of photography and Grady Bowman will be associate choreographer.

The event is in the vein of a fundraiser in 2012 for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, called Barack on Broadway, that was produced by Margo Lion and others.