Lin-Manuel Miranda to Take Part in “Broadway for Biden” Fundraising Event

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Lin-Manuel Miranda will be performing on Broadway with a special purpose…

The 43-year-old Puerto Rican Tony-winning songwriter, actor, filmmaker and playwright will be taking part in a Broadway fundraising concert next month for President Joe Biden.

In addition to Miranda, who created the Tony-winning musicals Hamilton and In The Heights, will feature some of theater’s other biggest stars, including Josh Groban, Ben Platt, Sara Bareilles, Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr. and Laura Benanti, among others, with the president himself scheduled to attend.

There’s at least one detail being kept under wraps for the moment – the Broadway venue in Times Square has not been identified – the date has been set for Monday, 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, Thomas Kail, Luz & Luis Miranda, Bruce Cohen & Gabe Catone, Tom Healy & Fred P. Hochberg, Barbara Marcin & Orin Kramer, Stacey & Eric Mindich, Karen & Gary Rose, Janet & Marvin Rosen, Alexandra & Eric Schoenberg, Ted Snowdon & Duffy Violante, Henry Tisch & Sean Walsh.

The Broadway for Biden event is being described by organizers as both a celebration of Biden’s political career and “a call to action, emphasizing the importance of his reelection in 2024.”

Rosie Perez to Take Part in “Stars in the House” Telethon to Benefit Victims of the War in Ukraine

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rosie Perez is helping raise money for the people of the Ukraine…

The 57-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-nominated actress is among an all-star roster of film, television and theater performers who’ve signed up for a 10-hour telethon to raise money for the victims of the war in Ukraine.

Entitled “Stars in the House,”the special will air on Saturday, March 26 from noon-10:00 pm Eastern.

In addition to Perez, the other celebrities scheduled to appear on the telethon include Steve Martin, Annette Bening, Billy Porter, Audra McDonald, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Chenoweth, David Hyde Pierce, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin, as well as Tituss Burgess, Kelli O’Hara, Donna Murphy, Annaleigh Ashford, Jessie Mueller, Josh Groban, Judith Light, John Stamos, Lindsay Mendez, Laura Benanti, Norman Lear, Betty Buckley, Mandy Patinkin, Rachel Bloom, Patrick Wilson, Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, Brittney Johnson, Santino Fontana, Judy Kuhn and Norbert Leo Butz.

The event also hopes to feature Ukrainians, including Oleg Karpenko, a Ukrainian theater and film actor who co-starred with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Servant of the People.

The special can be viewed and listened to on the series’ site, the Stars in the House YouTube channel, as well as SiriusXM Stars109.

Donations made during the event will benefit the International Rescue Committee and its humanitarian efforts for those affected by the war in Ukraine.

Stars in the House is a live-streamed concert series created by SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley that has raised over $1 million for the Actors Fund’s COVID-19 relief program and other nonprofits.

It’s just one way the theater community has tried to help Ukrainians: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded $300,000 in emergency grants to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and a portion of ticket sales for “The Minutes” will go to Save the Children’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund.

Robin de Jesús to Appear in Hulu’s Chippendales History-Themed Series “Immigrant”

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Robin de Jesús is cashing in his chip(pendales)…

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican three-time Tony Award-nominated actor has joined the cast of Hulu’s Immigrant in a recurring role.

de Jesús will portray Ray Colon, a proud Nuyorican from the Bronx who comes on the Chippendales scene as the resident handyman and self-proclaimed jack of all trades. Affable and eager-to-please, Ray reveres founder Somen “Steve” Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani) and their growing friendship finds Ray in more than one compromising situation as the season progresses.

Immigrant tells the true story of Banerjee, the Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales. The series will detail the insane, darkly comedic, crime-ridden story behind the unique male revue that became a cultural phenomenon.

The cast includes Dan Stevens, Murray Bartlett, Annaleigh Ashford, Quentin Plair, Andrew Rannells and Nicola Peltz.

Nanjiani will also executive produce alongside series creator Robert Siegel, Dylan Sellers, Jenni Konner, Matt Shakman, Emily V. Gordon, Nora Silver, and Rajiv Joseph, who will write on the series along with Mehar Sethi.

Siegel and Konner serve as co-showrunners and Shakman will direct. Jacqui Rivera is co-executive producer and Annie Wyman is co-producer. 20th Television serves as the studio on the series.

de Jesús most recently starred in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick, Boom!, based on the stage musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson, for Netflix.

He previously appeared in the Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix film, The Boys in the Band, reprising his Tony award-nominated role.

Héctor Elizondo to Appear on Second Season of CBS’ “B Positive”

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Héctor Elizondo is staying positive…

The 84-year-old Puerto Rican and Spanish American actor will appear as a recurring character on the second season of Chuck Lorre’s B Positive.

Created by former Mom co-executive producer Marco Pennette inspired by personal experience, B Positiveis about a therapist and newly divorced dad (Thomas Middleditch) who is faced with finding a kidney donor when he runs into a rough-around-the-edges woman from his past (Annaleigh Ashford) who volunteers her own. Together they form an unlikely bond and begin a journey that will change both of their lives. Izzy G, Sara Rue, Kether Donohue and Terrence Terrell co-star.

Lorre, who serves as executive producer, highlighted several big changes that will be happening in the new season. “Having donated a kidney and saved a man’s life, Gina (Ashford) has learned that happiness is in the giving, not the getting,” said Lorre. “She puts this principle to work by trying to improve the lives of the elderly residents of Valley Hills, the assisted living facility where she’s been working. In the meantime, Drew (Middleditch) is struggling with a strange new feeling. Post-surgery, he’s convinced he’s in love with Gina. It’s complicated.”

Elizondo recurs as Harry, a gruff, no-nonsense resident at Valley Hills, fighting to keep his terminally-ill wife, Meredith, comfortable.

Santino Fontana to Perform During Broadway “Show of Titles” Musical Event to Benefit The Actors Fund

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Santino Fontana is a title(s) act…

The 39-year-old part-Spanish America actor will perform at Show of Titles, a special livestreamed musical event next month benefiting The Actors Fund.

Fontana joins a lineup of nearly 30 stars – from Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Darren Criss, Kelsey Grammar and David Alan Grier to Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Henry and Phillipa Soo – who will perform title songs from more than 20 musicals.

The event will feature title songs of Broadway musicals spanning nine decades, from “Lady Be Good” to “The Light in the Piazza.”

The line-up also includes Annaleigh Ashford, Len Cariou, Isabelle Huppert, Norm Lewis, Rob McClure, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Melba Moore, Jessie Mueller, Eva Noblezada, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Steven Pasquale, Michael Rupert, Ernie Sabella, Lea Salonga, Will Swenson, Aaron Tveit, Leslie Uggams, Vanessa Williams and Patrick Wilson.

Making special appearances will be Broadway Inspirational Voices, Candice Bergen, Danny Burstein, Bryan Cranston, Sheldon Harnick, John Kander, Angela Lansbury, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Phylicia Rashad, Ben Vereen, BD Wong and Florian Zeller.

Conceived by Broadway’s Best Shows producer Jeffrey Richards, Show of Titles will be directed by Lonny Price, with music direction by Jason Howland, and livestreamed on June 8, 8:00 pm ET on Stellar for a limited time only.

Tickets went on sale May 17 for $29 ($39 starting May 21), with all sales donated to The Actor’s Fund.

Composers represented include Lee Adams, Maxwell Anderson, Burt Bacharach, Irving Berlin, Jerry Bock, Bertolt Brecht, Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, Joe Darion, Hal David, Fred Ebb, Gary Geld, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Adolph Green, Adam Guettel, Oscar Hammerstein, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Herman, John Kander, Burton Lane, Mitch Leigh, Alan Jay Lerner, Frank Loesser, Frederick Loewe, Galt MacDermot, Cole Porter, James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Richard Rodgers, Charles Strouse, Jule Styne, Peter Udell and Kurt Weill.

Valentina to ‘Drag Out the Vote’ at Variety Show “Divas For Democracy: United We Slay”

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Valentina’s prepared to drag out the vote…

The 29-year-old Mexican American drag performer and former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant will team up with some of her fellow queens and Broadway celebrities to get out the vote for November’s presidential election.

Valentina and divas from the drag world and icons of the stage will come together for Divas For Democracy: United We Slay, a one-night-only variety show extravaganza promoting voter participation and key issues relating to the LGBTQIA+ community in the upcoming 2020 election.

Presented by the nonprofit voter engagement organization Drag Out the Vote and hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race star Nina West and Entertainment Tonight‘s Keltie Knight, Divas for Democracy: United We Slay features scores of talent who’ll sing and lip-synch through dazzling performances of theater classics and pop songs.

Special segments will highlight LGBTQIA+ activists in a nonpartisan effort to shine a light on community participation in the political process, including celebrity appearances by Tony winner Cyndi Lauper, Drag Race panelist Michelle Visage, Harvey Fierstein, James Monroe Iglehart, Bianca Del Rio, Shangela, Cheyenne Jackson, Mila Jam, and Oscar-winning actress Allison Janney.

In addition to Valentina, other drag superstars slated to perform during the broadcast include Alaska, Jinkx Monsoon, Jujubee, Peppermint, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Shuga Cain, Honey Davenport, and Drag Out the Vote’s national co-chairs Brita Filter, Marti Gould Cummings, and Pixie Aventura.

Broadway figures set to appear include legendary three-time Tony-winning actress Chita Rivera, as well as Tony winners Stephanie J. Block, Lea Salonga, Nikki M. James, Beth Leavel and Annaleigh Ashford. Also joining the program are stage stars Shoshana Bean, Eden Espinosa, Jenn Collela, Chilina Kennedy, Keala Settle, Tamika Lawrence, L Morgan Lee, and Our Lady J.

The presentation will be directed by Josh Rhodes and Lee Wilkins, whose joint careers include work choreographing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, First Date, It Shoulda Been You, and Bright Star on Broadway. Tony winner Stephen Oremus will serve as music supervisor.

“One in five LGBTQIA+ people is not registered to vote, and 100 million people did not vote in the 2016 election. We must fix this,” said Drag Out the Vote founder Jackie Huba in a press statement. “We are excited to bring together the worlds of Broadway and drag to inspire voters to sashay their way to the polls or their mailboxes.”

Divas for Democracy: United We Slay airs October 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET exclusively on StageIt. Tickets — available on a “donate-what-you-can” basis — go on sale Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET at divasfordemocracy.com.

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Take Part in Stephen Sondheim Virtual Birthday Concert

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Lin-Manuel Miranda is celebrating a living musical theater legend.

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican composer, lyricist, singer, actor, producer and playwright, widely known for creating and starring in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, has signed on to appear on Sunday’s Stephen Sondheim virtual birthday concert.

Miranda, who starred in Mary Poppins Returns, joins a roster of new additions that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Lavin, Laura Benanti, Neil Patrick Harrisand Ben Plattfor the all-star benefit for Artists Striving To End Poverty.

Previously announced stars participating in the concert include Annaleigh Ashford, Melissa Errico, Beanie Feldstein, Josh Groban, Judy Kuhn, Randy Rainbow and Lea Solanga.

Special appearances will be made by Victor Garber, Joanna Gleason, Nathan Lane and Steven Spielberg.

They’ll all join the previously announced Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, among many others, in the special virtual concert to celebrate Sondheim’s 90th birthday.

Take Me To The World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, hosted by Raúl Esparza, is set for this Sunday, April 26, the 50th anniversary of the opening night of Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical Company.

The concert kicks off at 8:00 pm ET, and will be available for free at Broadway.comand the Broadway.com YouTubechannel.

Other artists performing songs from the Sondheim catalog will include Mandy Patinkin, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Iain Armitage, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Stephen Schwartz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani and, from the cast of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage Company, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh and Thom Sesma.

Esparza starred as Bobby in the 2006 Tony Award-winning revival of Companyand in the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along in 2002, as well as the City Center Encores! production of Anyone Can Whistle and in last year’s Road Show.

“The world is in a hard place,” Esparza said in a statement, “and we are all searching for something great. Well, Stephen Sondheim is greatness personified.”

Mary-Mitchell Campbell will be the music director, with Paul Wontorek serving as director.

The online event will act as a fundraiser for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), the organization conceived by Campbell and Juilliard students to transform the lives of youth through art.

Justice Strips Down to Her Skivvies for Her “Rocky Horror Picture Show” Song

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Victoria Justice is stripping down and camping it up for the cameras…

The 23-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer gets down to her underwear in a new sneak peek at her interpretation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show tune “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me” from Fox‘s reboot of the gender-bending musical.

Wearing only a bra and slip, Justice belts out the campy tune while Dr. Frank-N-Furter‘s dopey monster, Rocky (Staz Nair), paws at her.

Justice takes on the role of the virginal Janet opposite vanilla fiancé Brad (Ryan McCartan) in the prime-time musical that will also star Orange is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox as Frank, as well as Adam Lambert, Christina Milian, Reeve Carney, Annaleigh Ashford and original Frank, Tim Curry, in a cameo.

Fox’s remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be broadcast on October 20.

Fox to Broadcast Justice’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in October

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

It will be a Rocky Halloween for Victoria Justice…

Fox will air its remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring the 23-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer, in October. A specific date was not announced.

A re-imagining of the original movie, the two-hour event follows sweethearts Janet Weiss (Justice) and Brad Majors (Ryan McCartan), who stumble upon the bizarre abode of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Laverne Cox), a sexually ambiguous, flirtatious alien mad scientist. She’s holding an annual Transylvanian science convention to showcase the birth of Rocky Horror – a fit, attractive man (Staz Nair) created solely to fulfill Frank’s desires.

The cast also includes Adam Lambert (Eddie), Reeve Carney (Riff Raff), Annaleigh Ashford (Columbia), Christina Milian (Magenta), Ivy Levan (Usherette), Ben Vereen (Dr. Everett Scott) and Tim Curry, the original Frank-N-Furter, as the show’s Criminologist Narrator.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is executive produced by original Rocky Horror EP Lou Adler, along with Gail Berman and Kenny Ortega.

Fox 21 Television Studios is the producer.

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