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Curtain Call

By Matt Windman

5:08 PM EDT, April 10, 2008

Disney Confirms 'High School Musical 4' Plans How many "High School Musical" sequels are ahead? Disney has confirmed that pre-production work has begun on "High School Musical 4," though it won't include Zach Efron, Vanessa Hughes or Ashley Tisdale. All of them are planning to exit the franchise after "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," which hits movie theaters in the fall. Meanwhile, "High School Musical" is being performed onstage throughout the country. NJ's Papermill Playhouse will produce the first major tri-state area production in November.

'August: Osage County' Wins Pulitzer Two years ago, no play received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Last year, in spite of hopes that "Spring Awakening" might win, it instead went to David Lindsay-Abaire's Lifetime Movie-like drama "Rabbit Hole." But this year there was no contest. We all knew that Tracy Letts would win for "August: Osage County," which is about to transfer from Broadway's Imperial Theatre to the Music Box. Needless to say, many Tony Awards will soon follow.

'Jerry Springer' Author at Work on Anna Nicole Smith Opera Richard Thomas, author of "Jerry Springer: The Opera," has found his next subject: Anna Nicole Smith. "It's an incredible story. It's very operatic and sad," Thomas told London newspapers. "She was quite a smart lady with the tragic flaw that she could not seem to get through life without a vat of prescription painkillers." In spite of the rave reviews that greeted the New York premiere of "Jerry Springer" at Carnegie Hall, it is not expected to make a commercial transfer.

Mamet's 'American Buffalo' Confirmed for BroadwayDavid Mamet made news a few weeks ago when he declared in the Village Voice that he's become a conservative. No matter what you think about his politics, his plays are still revered. A Broadway revival of "Speed-the-Plow" is in the works for a while and now "American Buffalo" will also be brought back. Directed by Robert Falls, it is expected to star John Leguizamo and play Broadway in the fall.