Gina Rodriguez Developing Series Adaptation of Sonoro Podcast “Princess of South Beach”

Life’s a (south) beach for Gina Rodriguez.

The 38-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Golden Globe winner is developing a series adaptation of Sonoro podcast series Princess of South Beach for Netflix.

Gina RodriguezThe streamer has optioned the podcast with the former Jane The Virgin star set to executive produce the project under her I Can & I Will Productions banner alongside Sonoro, iHeart’s My Cultura Network and Jasmine Romero .

Rodriguez is not currently attached to star in the series.

Additionally, the scripted podcast series has been renewed for a second season, set to premiere this fall.

Princess of South Beach is iHeart’s My Cultura Network’s top performing title and was nominated for Best Fiction Podcast at the Ambies last year.

The second season will be released in both English and Spanish and will be marketed to audiences globally. It will feature some of the first season’s biggest stars, including X Mayo, Gina Torres, Raul Esparza and Danny Pino.

Princess of South Beach follows Maria del Carmen and Gloria, twin sisters who were separated at birth and raised in dramatically different ways — one in a convent and the other in the lap of luxury. When a freak accident kills Gloria, Maria del Carmen assumes her identity and uncovers that Gloria’s rich family isn’t as picture-perfect as they seem.

The bilingual series pays homage to beloved telenovela tropes and adds modern twists. It stars Rachel Zegler, Esparza, Torres, Pino and Sheryl Rubio.

Season 2 will see Raul and Estrella set off on a road trip to figure out the whereabouts of Estrella’s long-lost high school sweetheart, Gabby, and in turn, uncover the dark past behind Esteban Calderon.

Camila Victoriano and Joshua Weinstein will executive produce season two on behalf of Sonoro, and Gisselle Bances for iHeart’s My Cultura Network. Romero served as a writer (alongside Joanna Hausmann) and director on Season 1 and will return in both capacities in the second season.

Raul Esparza to Star in FX’s Pilot “The Answers”

Raul Esparza has all the answers

The 52-year-old Cuban-American stage, screen and voice actor and singer will star in FX’s hour-long pilot The Answers, the network’s adaptation of Catherine Lacey’s novel.

Raul EsparzaIn addition to Esparza, the series regular cast will include Lucy Hale, Krys Marshall, Melanie Field, Pallavi Sharda and Kine Kunutu in the project from Sorry for Your Loss creator Kit SteinkellnerDopesick creator Danny StrongRequiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky and 20th Television.

They join previously announced male lead David Corenswet.

The story, which has drawn comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale, is set in the near future, where a heartbroken young woman, Mary (Hale), joins an enigmatic experiment that promises to hack love, but after moving into an idyllic, secluded location with her fellow female participants, she and the other women start questioning what’s really happening in the experiment, and why they’ve all been tasked with dating the same mysterious man, Christopher Skye (Corenswet).

Esparza plays Dr. Crowe; Marshall portrays Ellis; Field is Dani; Sharda plays Ash and Kunutu is Nic.

Steinkellner wrote the pilot and executive-produces. Strong and Aronofsky executive produce with Mandy Safavi with Danny Strong Productions and Ari Handel and Elizabeth Gesas with Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures.

Gillian Robespierre will direct and executive produce the pilot. 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios, is the studio.

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Serve as a Presenter at This Weekend’s Tony Awards Show

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a date with Tony

This Sunday’s 75th Annual Tony Awards will feature a line-up of all-star presenters from the stage and screen, including the 42-year-old Puerto Rican actor, rapper, composer, playwright and filmmaker.

Lin-Manuel MirandaMiranda, a multiple Tony Award winner, is among a roster of presenters that includes Andrew Garfield, Laurence Fishburne, Nathan Lane, Bowen Yang and both Paris and Prince Jackson, the children of MJ subject Michael Jackson.

The roster of presenters was announced by Tony Awards producers, and also includes Josh Lucas, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Skylar Astin, Zach Braff, Danielle Brooks, Danny Burstein, Len Cariou, RuPaul Charles, Jessica Chastain, Lilli Cooper, Bryan Cranston, Wilson Cruz, Colman Domingo, Anthony Edwards, Cynthia Erivo, Raúl Esparza, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tony Goldwyn, David Alan Grier, Vanessa Hudgens, Jennifer Hudson, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O’Hara, Sarah Paulson, Bernadette Peters, Jeremy Pope, Billy Porter, LaTanya Richardson, Chita Rivera, Tony Shalhoub, Phillipa Soo, Sarah Silverman and George Takei,

The four-hour June 12 Tony evening begins at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT with The Tony Awards: Act One, a one-hour streaming event of exclusive content live on Paramount+ hosted by Darren Criss and Julianne Hough.

The 75th Tony Awards, hosted by Oscar-winning actress and singer Ariana DeBose, follows at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on CBS and Paramount+. The awards will be presented live coast-to-coast from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Last night, DeBose confirmed that the Tony Awards also will pay respect to the swings and understudies who made this Covid-plagued Broadway season possible. In response to a tweet from Actors’ Equity president Kate Shindle dismissing social media rumors that swings and understudies would be ignored during the ceremony,

DeBose reiterated Shindle’s assurances, writing, “To all concerned, all I can ask is that you keep the faith & trust. I am working round the clock to bring you all a beautiful celebration of everyone’s hard work…”

Raul Esparza  to Star in FX’s Limited Series “Retreat”

Raul Esparza is going on retreat

The 51-year-old Cuban American actor and Broadway star has been cast in FX’s Retreat, a limited series from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij.

Raul EsparzaLed by Emma Corrin, the list of new additions to the cast includes Clive OwenHarris Dickinson, Alice Braga, Jermaine FowlerJoan ChenEdoardo Ballerini Pegah Ferydoni, Ryan J. Haddad and Javed Khan.

Retreat is a radical conceptualization of the whodunit with a new kind of detective at the helm — a gen Z amateur sleuth named Darby Hart (Corrin). Darby and 11 other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a Retreat at a remote and dazzling location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must fight to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.

Esparza is David; Owen plays Andy; Marling portrays Lee; Dickinson is Bill; Braga plays Sian; Fowler is Martin; Chen portrays Lu Mei; Ballerini plays Ray; Ferydoni portrays Ziba; Haddad plays Oliver and Khan is Rohan.

Marling and Batmanglij will write and direct the series. FX Productions is the studio.

Esparza is best known for his role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

He received Tony Award nominations for his roles as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical Taboo in 2004; Robert in the musical comedy Company in 2006; Lenny in Harold Pinter‘s play The Homecoming in 2008; and Charlie Fox in David Mamet‘s play Speed-the-Plow in 2009.

Eva Noblezada Among Broadway Stars to Guest Star on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” While Curtains Remain Closed

There’s some law and order in Eva Noblezada’s future…

The half-Mexican American actress and Broadway star will appear on next week’s episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The Tony Award-nominated Hadestown actor is among several Broadway stars who will appear on the long-running series.

“We are trying to hire every Broadway actor we can while we and they wait for the curtains to rise again,” says showrunner Warren Leight to Deadline.com.

“We know how hard the community has been hit here. The goal is to get as many jobs to as many theater actors as we possibly can.”

The National Endowment for the Arts recently released figures indicating that while the overall unemployment rate has averaged 8.5 percent, the average among actors was 52 percent. (The figures do not distinguish between Broadway, film and TV performers.)

The NBC New York-based Law & Order franchise has long been known as a steady source of employment for the city’s theater performers – rare is the stage actor whose Playbill credits don’t include at least one of the L&O series – but the coronavirus pandemic has pushed Leight’s team to ramp up even those efforts for the current Season 22.

Stage actors already cast in parts for this season include the Tony-winning Adriane Lenox, Elizabeth Marvel, Jane Bruce, Jelani Alladin, Michael Mastro and Betsy Aidem.

Even Raúl Esparza, a four-time Tony nominee known to the wider television audience for his six-season SVU run as Assistant D.A. Rafael Barba, is making a temporary franchise comeback to reprise the role for this week’s episode “Sightless in a Savage Land.”

Leight says the Broadway-filled roles range in scope from one-day parts to more substantial turns, but have an important practical impact for the actors, adding to the work day minimums required for Actors Equity-Broadway League health insurance.

The casting offers a significant logistical benefit to the show as well: casting New York actors is the more practical and efficient option during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the prospect of long-distance flights from Hollywood and required quarantine protocols can complicate using Los Angeles-based actors.

“In the past we’ve done what you could call Hollywood stunt casting,” Leight says, “but a lot of those players aren’t going to be willing to get on a plane and quarantine right now. We realized early on that we’ll have to cast locally much more.”

The Broadway shutdown also allows the show to get around the planning issues that Broadway’s usual performance schedule demands: Coordinating a shoot around the identical eight-performance weeks of working stage actors is daunting. There’s only so much guest-starring that can be crammed into a dark Broadway Monday.

Raúl Esparza Among This Year’s Outer Critics Circle Awards Honorees

Raúl Esparza  is the (outer) critics choice

The 49-year-old Cuban American stage and television actor is among this year’s Outer Critics Circle Awards recipients, a collection of Broadway and Off Broadway ecipients that make up the organization’s first-ever slate of multiple honorees.

Raul Esparza

With the Tony Awards remaining a mere possibility this year, the 70th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards took a different approach to an unusual, pandemic-shortened theater season: Instead of selecting traditional nominees with one winner from each category, the OCCnamed five honorees in each of its technical categories and up to six honorees in the acting categories. 

Esparza was named one of the honorees in the Outstanding Actor in a Playcategory for his acclaimed performance in Seared.

Esparza’s Searedco-star Krysta Rodriguezwas one of the honorees in the Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play category.

Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance picked up an honoree designation for Outstanding New Broadway Play.

The Puerto Rican playwright penned the two-part play, which is set in New York three decades after the height of the AIDS epidemic.

John Ortiz was one of the honorees in the Outstanding Director of a Play for helming Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, while one of the play’s stars, Liza Colón-Zayas, was named an Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play honoree.

Karen Olivo picked up an honoree designation for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her starring role in Moulin Rouge! 

Recalibrated to celebrate “widespread excellence in New York theater this season,” the OCC Awards – chosen by the official organization of writers on New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers and national publications – were announced by past honorees Kristin ChenowethBryan CranstonPatti LuPoneLin-Manuel Miranda, and Patrick Stewart.

The OCC is making a donation to The Actors’ Fundin support of its emergency relief efforts.

Here’s a look at the 2019-2020 Outer Critics Circle Award honorees:

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY

Grand Horizons
Written by Bess Wohl

The Height of the Storm
Written by Florian Zeller
Translated by Christopher Hampton

The Inheritance
Written by Matthew Lopez

Linda Vista
Written by Tracy Letts

The Sound Inside
Written by Adam Rapp

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL

Jagged Little Pill
Music by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard
Lyrics by Alanis Morissette
Book by Diablo Cody

Moulin Rouge!
Book by John Logan
Based on the 2001 Twentieth Century Fox Motion Picture written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Book by Katori Hall
With Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY

Cambodian Rock Band
Written by Lauren Yee

Greater Clements
Written by Samuel D. Hunter

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis

Make Believe
Written by Bess Wohl

Seared
Written by Theresa Rebeck

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL

Darling Grenadine
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik

Octet
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Dave Malloy

The Secret Life of Bees
Book by Lynn Nottage
Music by Duncan Sheik
Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead
Based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd

Soft Power
Book and Lyrics by David Henry Hwang
Music and Additional Lyrics by Jeanine Tesori

A Strange Loop
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY
(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Betrayal
Written by Harold Pinter

Fires in the Mirror
Written by Anna Deavere Smith

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Written by Ntozake Shange

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Written by Terrence McNally

A Soldier’s Play
Written by Charles Fuller

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Little Shop of Horrors
Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Music by Alan Menken

The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
Book and New Lyrics by Dick Scanlan
Based on the Original Book by Richard Morris
Music Adapted by Michael Rafter

West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Based on a Conception by Jerome Robbins

JOHN GASSNER AWARD
(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)

Georgia Mertching Is Dead by Catya McMullen
Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord by Alexis Scheer
Pari sby Eboni Booth

OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL
(Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill
David Henry Hwang, Soft Power
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Lynn Nottage, The Secret Life of Bees
Mark Saltzman, Romeo and Bernadette

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE
(Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Susan Birkenhead and Duncan Sheik, The Secret Life of Bees
Ross Golan, The Wrong Man
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Dave Malloy, Octet
Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang, Soft Power

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
David Cromer, The Sound Inside
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Kenny Leon, A Soldier’s Play
Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal
John Ortiz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Michael Mayer, Little Shop of Horrors
Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill
Alex Timbers,Moulin Rouge!
Ivo van Hove, West Side Story

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER
Sidi Larbi Cherakoui, Jagged Little Pill
Raja Feather Kelly, A Strange Loop
Sonya Tayeh,Moulin Rouge!
Anthony Van Laast, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Travis Wall, The Wrong Man

OUTSTANDING ORCHESTRATIONS
Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man
Justin Levine, with Matt Stine, Katie Kresek, and Charlie Rosen,Moulin Rouge!
Christopher Nightingale, A Christmas Carol
Duncan Sheik and John Clancy, The Secret Life of Bees

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Ian Barford, Linda Vista
Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements
Raúl Esparza, Seared
Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
Will Hochman, The Sound Inside
Jonathan Pryce, The Height of the Storm

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Eileen Atkins, The Height of the Storm
Judith Ivey, Greater Clements
Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play
April Matthis,Toni Stone
Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside
Portia, Stew

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance
Paul Hilton,The Inheritance
Samuel H. Levine, The Inheritance
John-Andrew Morrison, Blues for an Alabama Sky
Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Montego Glover, All the Natalie Portmans
Marsha Mason,Little Gem
Krysta Rodriguez, Seared
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Jennifer Van Dyck, The Confession of Lily Dare

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
David Cale, We’re Only Alive For a Short Amount of Time
Laura Linney, My Name Is Lucy Barton
Aedin Moloney, Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.
Michael Benjamin Washington, Fires in the Mirror

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Jonathan Groff,Little Shop of Horrors
Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man
Adam Kantor, Darling Grenadine
Larry Owens, A Strange Loop
Isaac Powell, West Side Story
Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge!

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Janelle McDermoth, We’re Gonna Die
Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge!
Shereen Pimentel, West Side Story
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Christian Borle,Little Shop of Horrors
Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge!
Gus Halper, Sing Street
Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA
Francis Jue, Soft Power
Daniel J. Watts, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Eisa Davis, The Secret Life of Bees
Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill
LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees
Judy McLane, Romeo & Bernadette
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Saycon Sengbloh, The Secret Life of Bees

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Tim Mackabee, Seared
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!
Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons
Anthony Ward,The Height of the Storm

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Vanessa Leuck, Emojiland
Jeff Mahshie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Rachel Townsend & Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!
Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol
Hugh Vanstone, The Height of the Storm

OUTSTANDING PROJECTION DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Luke Halls, West Side Story
Brad Peterson, Broadway Bounty Hunter
Lisa Renkel and Possible Productions, Emojiland
Aaron Rhyne, The Sound Inside
Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge!
Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room
Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

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

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.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda, who starred in Mary Poppins Returns, joins a roster of new additions that includes Jake GyllenhaalLinda LavinLaura BenantiNeil Patrick Harrisand Ben Plattfor the all-star benefit for Artists Striving To End Poverty.

Previously announced stars participating in the concert include Annaleigh AshfordMelissa ErricoBeanie FeldsteinJosh GrobanJudy KuhnRandy Rainbow and Lea Solanga

Special appearances will be made by Victor GarberJoanna GleasonNathan Lane and Steven Spielberg.

They’ll all join the previously announced Meryl StreepBernadette PetersPatti 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 BaranskiDonna MurphyKristin ChenowethSutton FosterBrian Stokes MitchellKelli O’HaraAaron TveitMaria Friedman, Iain ArmitageKatrina LenkMichael CerverisBrandon UranowitzStephen SchwartzElizabeth StanleyChip Zien, Alexander Gemignani and, from the cast of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage CompanyAnn HaradaAustin KuKelvin 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.

Raul Esparza Earns Drama Desk Awards Nomination for “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”

Raul Esparza’s theater cred is on the Rise… 

The New York Drama Desk Awards nominations have been revealed, with the 48-year-old Cuban American stage and television actor and voice artist earning recognition.

Raul Esparza

Esparza, who has previously won the Drama Desk Award for his roles in Company on Broadway (2007) and Taboo (2004), is nominated in the Outstanding Actor in a Play category for his role in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Santino Fontanahas earned a nod for his gender-bending role…

The 37-year-old part-Spanish American actor/singer is nominated in the Outstanding Actor in a Musical category for his starring role as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie, which is based on the 1982 comedy film of the same name.

Fontana previously won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Playfor his work in Brighton Beach Memoirs.

George Salazarhas also earned a Drama Desk nod.

The 33-year-old half-Ecuadorian American actor, singer and musician is up for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in Be More Chill.

He was previously nominated in the same category in 2017 for his role in The Lightning Thief.

Unlike the Tony Awards, the Drama Desk Awards cover both Broadway and Off Broadway, significantly lessening the nominations’ prediction factor. 

The winners of the 64th annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced Sunday, June 2, during a ceremony hosted by Michael Urieat the Town Hallin Manhattan. The awards are voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, publishers and broadcasters.

Here ‘s the complete list of Drama Desk Awards nominations (Off Broadway productions are indicated by theater company):

Outstanding Play
“Fairview,” by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Soho Rep
“The Ferryman,” by Jez Butterworth
“Lewiston/Clarkston,” by Samuel D. Hunter, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
“Usual Girls,” by Ming Peiffer, Roundabout Theatre Company
“What the Constitution Means to Me,” by Heidi Schreck, New York Theatre Workshop and Broadway

Outstanding Musical
“Be More Chill”
“The Hello Girls,” Prospect Theater Company
“The Prom”
“Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future,” Ars Nova
“Tootsie”

Outstanding Revival of a Play
“Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine,” Signature Theatre
“Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts,” National Asian American Theatre Company
“Our Lady of 121st Street,” Signature Theatre
“Summer and Smoke,” Classic Stage Company/Transport Group
“The Waverly Gallery”
“Uncle Vanya,” Hunter Theater Project

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
“Carmen Jones,” Classic Stage Company
“Fiddler on the Roof,” National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and Off-Broadway
“Kiss Me, Kate, Roundabout Theatre Company
“Merrily We Roll Along,” Fiasco Theater/Roundabout Theatre Company
“Oklahoma!,” Bard Summerscape/St. Ann’s Warehouse and Broadway

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Jeff Biehl, “Life Sucks”
Edmund Donovan, “Lewiston/Clarkston”
Raúl Esparza, “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”
Russell Harvard, “I Was Most Alive With You”
Jay O. Sanders, “Uncle Vanya”

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Midori Francis, “Usual Girls”
Zainab Jah, “Boesman and Lena”
Elaine May, “The Waverly Gallery”
Laurie Metcalf, “Hillary and Clinton
Heidi Schreck, “What the Constitution Means to Me”

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, “The Prom”
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Damon Daunno, “Oklahoma!”
Santino Fontana, “Tootsie”
Steven Skybell, “Fiddler on the Roof”

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, “The Cher Show”
Beth Leavel, “The Prom”
Rebecca Naomi Jones, “Oklahoma!”
Anika Noni Rose, “Carmen Jones”
Stacey Sargeant, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Charles Browning, “Fairview”
Arnie Burton, “Lewiston/Clarkston”
Hampton Fluker, “All My Sons”
Tom Glynn-Carney, “The Ferryman”
Brandon Uranowitz, “Burn This”

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Harriett D. Foy, “The House That Will Not Stand”
Megan Hill, “Eddie and Dave”
Celia Keenan-Bolger, “To Kill A Mockingbird”
Ruth Wilson, “King Lear”
Alison Wright, “Othello”

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Corbin Bleu, “Kiss Me, Kate”
André De Shields, “Hadestown”
Sydney James Harcourt, “Girl from the North Country”
George Salazar, “Be More Chill”
Patrick Vaill, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Stephanie Hsu, “Be More Chill”
Leslie Kritzer, “Beetlejuice”
Soara-Joye Ross, “Carmen Jones”
Sarah Stiles, “Tootsie”
Ali Stroker, “Oklahoma!”
Mary Testa, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Director of a Play
Sarah Benson, “Fairview”
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, “The Jungle”
Sam Mendes, “The Ferryman”
Tyne Rafaeli, “Usual Girls”
Taylor Reynolds, “Plano”
Jeff Wise, “Life Sucks”

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Noah Brody, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Rachel Chavkin, “Hadestown”
Scott Ellis, “Tootsie”
Daniel Fish, “Oklahoma!”
Joel Grey, “Fiddler on the Roof”

Outstanding Choreography
Camille A. Brown, “Choir Boy”
Warren Carlyle, “Kiss Me, Kate”
Denis Jones, “Tootsie”
Lorin Latarro, “Twelfth Night”
Rick and Jeff Kuperman, “Alice by Heart”
David Neumann, “Hadestown”

Outstanding Music
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Joe Iconis, “Be More Chill”
Peter Mills, “The Hello Girls”
Mark Sonnenblick, “Midnight at the Never Get”
Shaina Taub, “Twelfth Night”
David Yazbek, “Tootsie”

Outstanding Lyrics
Chad Beguelin, “The Prom”
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Joe Iconis, “Be More Chill”
Peter Mills, “The Hello Girls”
David Yazbek, “Tootsie”

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Scott Brown and Anthony King, “Beetlejuice”
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Robert Horn, “Tootsie”
Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, “The Prom”
Dominique Morisseau, “Ain’t Too Proud”

Outstanding Orchestrations
Larry Blank, “Fiddler on the Roof”
Simon Hale, “Girl from the North Country”
Daniel Kluger, “Oklahoma!”
Charlie Rosen, “Be More Chill”
Daryl Waters, “The Cher Show”

Outstanding Music in a Play
Paul Castles and Jongbin Jung, “Wild Goose Dreams”
Justin Ellington, “Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie”
Justin Ellington, “The House That Will Not Stand”
Nick Powell, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Jason Michael Webb and Fitz Patton, “Choir Boy”

Outstanding Set Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, “The Jungle”
Es Devlin, “Girls & Boys”
Maruti Evans, “The Peculiar Patriot”
Mimi Lien, “Fairview”
Matt Saunders, “Daddy”

Outstanding Set Design for a Musical
Rachel Hauck, “Hadestown”
Laura Jellinek, “Oklahoma!”
Laura Jellinek, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
David Korins, “Beetlejuice”
Rae Smith, “Girl from the North Country”

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Dede M. Ayite, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”
Dede M. Ayite, “If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka”
Ásta Bennie Hostetter, “Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie”
Toni-Leslie James, “Bernhardt/Hamlet”
Nicole Slaven, “Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts”

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
William Ivey Long, “Beetlejuice”
William Ivey Long, “Tootsie”
Bobby Frederick Tilly II, “Be More Chill”
Michael Krass, “Hadestown”
Bob Mackie, “The Cher Show”
Paloma Young, “Alice by Heart”

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Amith Chandrashaker, “Boesman and Lena”
Amith Chandrashaker, “Fairview”
Jiyoun Chang, “Slave Play”
Jon Clark, “The Jungle”
Simon Cleveland, “Spaceman”
Yi Zhao, “The House That Will Not Stand”

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Adam Honoré, “Carmen Jones”
Bradley King, “Hadestown”
Jamie Roderick, “Midnight at the Never Get”
Barbara Samuels, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Scott Zielinski, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Projection Design
Peter England, “King Kong”
Katherine Freer, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”
Luke Halls, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Alex Basco Koch, “Be More Chill”
Peter Nigrini, “Beetlejuice”
Joshua Thorson, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
Tyler Kieffer, “Plano”
Fitz Patton, “Choir Boy”
Nick Powell, “The Ferryman”
Jane Shaw, “I Was Most Alive With You”
Mikaal Sulaiman, “Fairview”

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
Simon Baker, “Girl from the North Country”
Drew Levy, “Oklahoma!”
Brian Ronan, “Tootsie”
Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, “Hadestown”
Mikaal Sulaiman, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
Campbell Young Associates, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Cookie Jordan, “Eddie and Dave”
Paul Huntley, “Tootsie”
Charles G. LaPointe, “Beetlejuice”
Charles G. LaPointe, “The Cher Show”

Outstanding Solo Performance
Mike Birbiglia, “The New One”
Carey Mulligan, “Girls & Boys”
Liza Jessie Peterson, “The Peculiar Patriot,” National Black Theatre/Hi-Arts
Erin Treadway, “Spaceman,” Loading Dock Theatre
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Fleabag”

Unique Theatrical Experience
“All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914,” Theater Latté Da/Laura Little Theatrical Productions / Sheen Center
“Love’s Labor’s Lost,” Shake & Bake
The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons,” The Wooster Group
“What to Send Up When it Goes Down,” The Movement Theatre Company

Outstanding Fight Choreography
U. Jonathan Toppo, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”
Claire Warden, “Daddy”
Claire Warden, “Slave Play”

Outstanding Puppet Design
Michael Curry, “Beetlejuice”
Sonny Tilders, “King Kong”
Tschabalala Self, “Daddy”

Ensemble Award: “To the uncanny ensemble of Dance Nationfor their pointed portrait of a dance troupe riven by competition but fused by the experiences of youth: Purva Bedi, Eboni Booth, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Dina Shihabi, Ellen Maddow, Christina Rouner, Thomas Jay Ryan, Lucy Taylor, and Ikechukwu Ufomadu.”

Sam Norkin Award: “To Montana Levi Blanco, who enriched this season with his vibrant and detailed costumes for Fairview, The House That Will Not Stand, Fabulation, Or the Re-Education of Undine, Eddie and Dave, “Daddy,” and Ain’t No Mo’. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a Blanco costume is worth considerably more, telling us a complete story about its wearer while giving us something fabulous to look at.”

To Mia Katigbak, “the backbone of the off-Broadway scene, we acclaim her for her performances this season in Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Peace for Mary Francis and Recent Alien Abductions. This award also recognizes her vital presence as the artistic director of NAATCO and her sustained excellence as a performer and mentor.”

To Repertorio Español“for presenting a year-round rotating repertory of new and classic Spanish-language plays in its intimate Gramercy venue. For the past 51 years, Repertorio has been an indispensable theater for Spanish-speaking audiences, while inviting non-Spanish-speaking theatergoers to discover the delights of the Spanish-language canon and introducing New York audiences to the work of actors like Zulema Claresand Germán Jaramillo.”

Esparza Promoted to Series Regular on NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU”

Raúl Esparza will have a buildup of cases in the near future…

The 42-year-old Cuban American actor and Broadway star has been promoted to series regular on NBC’s long-running crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Raúl Esparza

“Making him a series regular is a small way of acknowledging his enormous contribution to our show,” said the show’s executive producer Warren Leight about Esparza’s promotion.

Esparza portrays by-the-book headstrong prosecutor Assistant DA Rafael Barba on the police procedural, which returns for its 15th season beginning on September 25.

Esparza’s television credits include a recurring role on Pushing Daisies, as well as a role on Hannibal.

His Broadway credits include Tony-nominated performances in the Boy George musical Taboo and the musical comedy Company.

Law & Order: SVU, which also stars Danny Pino, begins shooting next week in New York.

Martin to Perform at the Tony Awards

Following his triumphant return to The Great White Way in Evita, Ricky Martin will be performing on Broadway’s biggest night.

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actor will bring his role as Ernesto “Che” Guevara to life at the upcoming Tony Awards, which will be hosted by How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris.

Ricky Martin

Martin, who made his Broadway debut in Les Miserables, has wowed audiences on Broadway alongside his Evita co-stars Elena Rogers, who plays Eva Perón, and Michael Cerveris, who plays Juan Perón.

To get in character as the controversial revolutionary icon—in a role that has taken him to “another place mentally, physically, and spiritually”—Martin has grown a moustache. But the experience has had more than a physical impact on him.

Evita

“I’ve felt emotions onstage that I never felt before, it has strengthened me as a person and as an artist,” Martin said in a press conference in March. “It’s been a great journey. I’m here to grow and to learn. It’s been a fascinating trip,” he added.

In addition to Martin, the list of performers at this year’s Tony Awards include

Cuban-American Broadway star Rául Esparza, Audra McDonald, Matthew Broderick and the casts of Godspell and Ghost The Musical, among many others.

The Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 10.