Tag Archives: Rent

Miranda’s “Hamilton: An American Musical” Original Cast Recording Surpasses 1 Million in U.S. Album Sales

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Lin-Manuel Miranda has a platinum hit on his hands…

The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical, created by the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor, playwright, composer, rapper and writer, has now surpassed 1 million in U.S. album sales, according to Nielsen Music.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's final Hamilton curtain call

The set, which won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album last year, sold another 16,000 copies in the week ending January 5, which brings its total sales sum to 1.005 million since its release on September 25, 2015.

Hamilton is only the ninth cast recording to sell a million since Nielsen began electronically tracking music sales in 1991.

The top selling cast album in Nielsen’s history is the highlights edition of the original London cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera, with 4.97 million sold. (The complete recording of The Phantom of the Opera — which is tracked and charts separately — has sold 503,000 since 1991.)

Aside from The Phantom of the Opera (Highlights) and Hamilton, here are the other million-selling cast albums of the Nielsen era: the original Broadway cast recordings of Wicked (2.67 million), Les Miserables (1.65 million), Jersey Boys (1.44 million), Rent (1.28 million) and The Lion King (1.04 million), along with the original cast recording of Mamma Mia! (1.71 million) and the highlights edition of the complete symphonic recording of Les Miserables (1.03 million).

In 2016, Hamilton received a record-setting 16 Tony Award nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Suarez Inks Production Deal with Universal Television

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Flody Suarez is going Universal…

The Latino producer and former NBC executive and his producing partner Jeffrey Seller have signed a production deal with Universal Television.

Flody Suarez

“Jeffrey’s spectacular track record on Broadway and his knack for finding and nurturing brilliant new talent, such as the creative forces behind Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights and Hamilton, is nothing short of remarkable,” NBC Entertainment and Universal Television chairman Bob Greenblatt said. “There is more and more cross-pollination these days from theater to television, especially at NBC, and we’re excited to see where he and Flody’s instincts and talent relationships will go in the world of television.”

Under Greenblatt, who has strong theater ties and has been involved in a number of Broadway productions, including Hamilton in which he is an investor, theater has had significant presence on NBC. That includes the series Smash as well as live stagings of The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz Live and the upcoming Hairspray and A Few Good Men.

This marks Suarez’s return to NBC where he was a vice president of development, working on such shows as ER and Just Shoot Me. He is currently a consultant on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and recently consulted for Sony on NBC’s drama The Blacklist.

He has produced several television series, including 8 Simple Rules, The Tick and The Book of Daniel.

Rubin-Vega to Appear on NBC’s “Smash”

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Daphne Rubin-Vega will be having a smashing year on television in 2013…

The 42-year-old Panamanian actress and two-time Tony Award-nominated actress/singer will be appearing on the second season of NBC’s musical drama Smash, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Daphne Rubin-Vega

Rubin-Vega—who played a heroin-addicted 19-year-old with HIV who works as an exotic dancer in the original Broadway production of Rent—will play a Broadway publicist on the series.

Rubin-Vega began her musical career as the lead singer of Pajama Party, a Latin freestyle group that placed three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 and 1990.

She most recently appeared on Broadway in a new revival of Tennessee Williams‘ A Streetcar Named Desire, in which she played the role of Stella Kowalski opposite Blair Underwood as Stanley.

The second season of Smash returns in early 2013.