Marlee Matlin joins ‘Spring Awakening’ cast
Deaf actress Marlee Matlin, who won an Academy Award for “Children of a Lesser God,” will make her Broadway debut in the upcoming revival of the rock musical “Spring Awakening,” which will incorporate both hearing and deaf performers. Matlin will play two adult females that interact with the adolescent lead characters.
‘Hamilton’ cast album to be released in fall
Atlantic Records will release the cast album of “Hamilton,” which will be out in the fall. The presale will begin on Aug. 7, the day after the musical officially opens on Broadway. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, founding members of The Roots, will serve as executive producers of the album.
‘Hedwig’ writer working on ‘King of Comedy’
Stephen Trask, songwriter of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” is at work on a new musical based on the 1982 film “The King of Comedy,” about a struggling comedian (played originally by Robert De Niro) who kidnaps a famous talk show host (originally played by Jerry Lewis). “I saw ‘King of Comedy’ in film class at Wesleyan and I still can’t get it out of my head,” Trask said in a statement.
Karen Olivo to take an ‘Odyssey’ in New York
Stage actress Karen Olivo, who dramatically announced two years ago that she had become disenchanted with show business and was relocating to Wisconsin, will return briefly to take part in the Public Theater’s upcoming four-night production of “The Odyssey” in Central Park, which will have a 200-person cast that includes both professionals and New Yorkers from all five boroughs.
Forgotten Lloyd Webber show to make NYC debut
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1990s musical “Whistle Down the Wind,” which failed to make it to Broadway after a problematic tryout run, will finally receive its New York premiere on Dec. 13 in concert form at 54 Below, which has made a specialty out of presenting these sorts of concerts. Based on a 1961 film, it involves a young girl who believes an escaped convict may be Jesus.
Spotted …
Barack Obama at “Hamilton” … Diane Sawyer at “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” … Gina Gershon at “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” … Jon Hamm at “Something Rotten!”
