Tag Archives: Public Theater

Colman Domingo Co-Producing the Broadway Production of “Fat Ham”

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Colman Domingo is hamming it up…

The 53-year-old Belizean-Guatemalan American actor and social justice activist, an Emmy winner and Tony Award, has signed on as co-producer of the upcoming Broadway production of James Ijames’ Pultizer Prize winning play Fat Ham.

Colman DomingoBeginning performances on Tuesday, March 21, the production of Fat Ham at American Airlines Theatre  has an official opening night of Wednesday, April 12 for a strictly limited 14-week engagement through Sunday, June 25.

The play, which has been described as a “comic tragedy,” reinvents Shakespeare’s Hamlet by setting it at a backyard cookout where Juicy, a queer, Black Southern college kid grappling with questions of identity, is met by the ghost of his father who shows up demanding that Juicy avenge his murder, even as Juicy is trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation.

Fat Ham on Broadway is a Public Theater and National Black Theatre co-production.

“I am beyond thrilled to be a co-producer on The National Black Theater and Public Theater transfer of James Ijames thrilling Fat Ham directed by my dear friend and visionary director Saheem Ali,” Domingo said in a statement to Deadline. “This is the kind of theater that we need on Broadway – bold reimaginings of stories that fuel us all.”

The Broadway transfer of Fat Ham from the Off Broadway Public Theatre represents National Black Theatre’s first production on Broadway, and only the third play to be transferred by a Black theater in Broadway’s century-long history. The complete Off Broadway cast will make the move to Broadway.

Domingo currently stars in Fear of the Walking Dead and Euphoria, and has completed filming of The Color Purple. He is a 2011 Tony Award nominee for his performance in The Scottsboro Boys musical.

Leguizamo to Star in the One-Man Show “Latin History for Dummies”

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John Leguizamo is ready to play teacher…

The 51-year-old Colombian actor plans to give audiences a special educational lesson with his latest one-man show Latin History for Dummies.

John Leguizamo

The Public Theater – an off-Broadway production company in New York City known for hits like Hamilton, Fun Home and Eclipsed – will showcase Leguizamo’s latest comedic creation during its spring 2017 season.

Leguizamo, a Golden Globe, Drama Desk and Emmy nominee, had a string of New York City stage hits in the 1990s with Mambo Mouth, Spic-o-Rama and Freak, and he has been inspired to create and star in his the next show after noticing a lack of representation for Latinos in the American historical narrative.

“Just imagine you’re a white kid, and all of a sudden everybody’s Latin, and everything they’re teaching you is Latin, and you don’t hear anything about yourself or about your contributions,” Leguizamo said in a statement. “And it’s really weird and unfair because we had huge contributions.”

The show takes place under the guise of a satirical history lesson aimed at Leguizamo’s son and will explore Latin historical themes dating back thousands of years, as well how Spanish-speaking immigrants helped to shape the most powerful nation in the world.

The project will be co-produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre and directed by Berkeley Rep’s Tony Taccone.

No official date has been set for the show’s premiere.

Miranda to Write Music for Walt Disney Animation’s “Moana”

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is has the write stuff for Walt Disney…

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican composer, rapper, lyricist, and actor has signed on to write music for Moana, an upcoming project from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The announcement was made at The Official Disney Fan Club‘s D23 EXPO 2015 in Anaheim with Dwayne Johnson, who will be starring in the film as the mighty demi-god Maui, on hand.

Miranda, who has been teasing the announcement on social media, also shared the news via a video Tweet.

Moana follows “a spirited teenager who sets out to prove herself a master wayfinder,” according to press materials.

The film will also feature the talents of Grammy-winning composer Mark Mancina (The Lion King) and Opetaia Foa’i (founder and lead singer of the world music award-winning band Te Vaka).

According to Miranda, the trio have been collaborating for over a year and a half.

Moana is set to open in theaters on November 23, 2016.

Directors John Musker and Ron Clements will helm the film with Osnat Shurer producing.

Miranda, a Tony and Grammy award winner, recently received Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama Critics Circle Awards for Hamilton, which is currently running at the Richard Rodgers Theatre after an engagement at the Public Theater.

He’s a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his musical In the Heights, and is also the coauthor of Bring it On: The Musical.

Miranda received a Primetime Emmy Award for his opening number for the 67th Annual Tony Awards, written with Tom Kitt.

Miranda’s Musical “Hamilton” Wins Seven Drama Desk Awards

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is celebrating a little excess drama…

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican composer, rapper, lyricist, and actor’s latest project, the musical Hamilton, won seven Drama Desk awards including best new musical, on Sunday night.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

In addition to taking home one of the night’s the top honors, Miranda picked up three individual awards: Outstanding Music, Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Book of a Musical.

Hamilton, which won’t be eligible for the Pulitzer Prize or Tony Award nominations until next season, is based on Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton.

First presented at the Public Theater, Hamilton already had won the best musical award from the New York Drama Critics Circle, the OBIEs, the Lucille Lortel, the Outer Critics Circle and the Off-Broadway Alliance.

The show’s prize-winning juggernaut comes in advance of its July transfer to Broadway.

Unlike the Tony Awards, which are limited to Broadway productions, the Drama Desk, which comprises writers and editors from publications that cover theater, considers shows that opened off-Broadway as well.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Outstanding Play
Simon Stephens, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Outstanding Musical
Hamilton 

Outstanding Revival of a Play
The Elephant Man

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
The King And I

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Helen Mirren, The Audience

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Robert Fairchild, An American In Paris

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Todd Freeman, Airline Highway

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Annaleigh Ashford, You Can’t Take It With You

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Christian Borle, Something Rotten!

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton

Outstanding Director of a Play
Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Thomas Kail, Hamilton

Outstanding Choreography
Christopher Wheeldon, An American In Paris 

Outstanding Music
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Outstanding Lyrics
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Outstanding Orchestrations
Christopher Austin, An American In Paris

Outstanding Music in a Play
Arthur Solari & Jane Shaw, Tamburlaine The Great 

Outstanding Revue
Just Jim Dale 

Outstanding Set Design
Bob Crowley, An American In Paris

Outstanding Costume Design
Catherine Zuber, Gigi 

Outstanding Lighting Design
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Outstanding Projection Design
Finn Ross, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
Nevin Steinberg, Hamilton

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
Ian Dickinson (for Autograph), The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Outstanding Solo Performance
Benjamin Scheuer, The Lion 

Unique Theatrical Experience
Queen of the Night

Special Awards:

Outstanding ensemble, A. R. Gurney’s The Wayside Motor Inn: Kelly AuCoin, Jon DeVries, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Rebecca Henderson, Marc Kudisch, Jenn Lyon, Lizbeth Mackay, David McElwee, Ismenia Mendes and Will Pullen.

Bess Wohl, the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award: For establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater, and having a breakthrough year with the eclectic American Hero, Pretty Filthy and Small Mouth Sounds.

John Douglas Thompson: For invigorating theater in New York through his commanding presence, classical expertise, and vocal prowess in Tamburlaine the Great and The Iceman Cometh.

Ensemble Studio Theatre: For its unwavering commitment to producing new works by American playwrights since 1968.

Andy Blankenbuehler: For his inspired and heart-stopping choreography.

Colón-Zayas Wins Lortel Award for “Between Riverside and Crazy”

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Liza Colón-Zayas has a Crazy reason to celebrate…

The Puerto Rican actress, married to actor David Zayas, has won the Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Between Riverside and Crazy, which was named outstanding play.

Liza Colón-Zayas

The Lortels, now 30 years old, are underwritten by the Lucille Lortel Foundation and are named for the late owner of the former Theatre De Lys, now the Lucille Lortel, on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.

Along with the Village Voice Obie Awards, the Lortels are focused on plays that open in New York City outside the 40-theater Broadway district.

Meanwhile, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway-bound musical Hamilton, which is heading uptown for a summer opening after a sold-out run at the Public Theater, took home10 awards, including outstanding musical. The book, music and lyrics were written by the In The Heights creator.

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican composer, rapper, lyricist, and actor, a Tony Award, Grammy and Emmy winner, was named Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical for his performance in Hamilton.

The awards in 18 categories, plus three special honors, were presented Sunday night at New York University’s Skirball Center during a ceremony hosted by Emmy nominated actors Anna Chlumsky and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Here’s a look at the winners:

Outstanding Play: Between Riverside and Crazy
Outstanding Musical: Hamilton
Outstanding Revival: Into the Woods
Outstanding Solo Show: Josephine and I
Outstanding Director: Thomas Kail, Hamilton
Outstanding Choreographer: Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play: Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play: Tonya Pinkins, Rasheeda Speaking
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Phillipa Soo, Hamilton
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Jacob Ming-Trent, Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Liza Colón-Zayas, Between Riverside and Crazy
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Outstanding Scenic Design: Jan Versweyveld, Scenes From a Marriage
Outstanding Costume Design: Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Outstanding Lighting Design: Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Outstanding Sound Design: Nevin Steinberg, Hamilton

Special Awards:
Lifetime Achievement Award: Terrence McNally
Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee Jeanine Tesori
Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award: Nancy Nagel Gibbs