Daniel Portman, the Scottish actor best known for playing squire Podrick Payne on “Game of Thrones,” will appear Off-Broadway in June in “Square Go,” as first reported by Deadline. The drama (which previously played the Edinburgh Fringe) observes a youth who gets involved in a school fight.
John Lennon bio film to be adapted for stage
“Nowhere Boy,” a 2009 English bio film about John Lennon as a teenager, is being adapted into a play with music. Songs featured in the film included Lennon’s “Mother,” the Quarrymen’s “In Spite of All the Danger,” Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” and Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day.” Its supporting characters included Lennon’s mother, Julia, his aunt Mimi, George Harrison and Paul McCartney. The show is expected to premiere in the U.K.
Gyllenhaal and Sturridge’s double bill set for Broadway run
Earlier this season, the Public Theater combined two separately-written but thematically-linked monologues by two contemporary English playwrights into a starry double attraction led by Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge. “Sea Wall/A Life,” as it was billed, will play a nine-week encore run on Broadway this summer at the Hudson Theatre (currently home of the “Burn This” revival) beginning July 26. The monologues (each about 40 minutes in length) delve into issues of physical and emotional trauma, death, birth, the existence of God and dealing with the unknowable.
Phylicia Rashad to direct ‘Blue’ on Broadway
Charles Randolph-Wright’s 2000 drama “Blue” will receive a Broadway revival next spring directed by Phylicia Rashad, who previously appeared in a Roundabout Theatre Company production of the play in 2001. This marks the Broadway directing debut for Rashad, who in recent years has directed August Wilson plays at major regional theaters. The play (which contains a jazz score by Nona Hendryx) examines a rich African-American family in rural South Carolina.
‘Hadestown’ leads OCC nominations
The Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk, which consider both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions as part of their annual awards, have announced their nominations. “Hadestown” received the most OCC nominations (12), while "Oklahoma!" received the most Drama Desk nominations (12). Under normal circumstances, "Hadestown," which got seven Drama Desk nominations, would not have been reconsidered by either group since it played Off-Broadway in 2016. However, the OCC decided to reconsider "Hadestown" in all musical-related categories due to "substantial changes made to its book, score and production," while the Drama Desk limited its reconsideration of "Hadestown" to "only those elements that constituted new work."
Tony Lifetime Achievement honors
Actress Rosemary Harris, playwright Terrence McNally and orchestrator Harold Wheeler will be honored with Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement. Harris (who may be best known today for playing Aunt May in "Spider-Man") is currently playing Mrs. Higgins in the Broadway revival of "My Fair Lady." Her many other Broadway credits include "The Lion in Winter" (for which she won a Tony Award), "The Royal Family" and "A Delicate Balance." McNally, whose plays have been produced on Broadway for more than 50 years, will soon be back on Broadway with a revival of his two-hander romance "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune." Wheeler’s credits as an orchestrator span from "The Wiz" in 1975 to the new Temptations musical "Ain’t Too Proud." The 2019 Tony Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday.
Spotted …
Steve Martin at “Oklahoma!” … Carol Burnett at “Network” … Tyra Banks at “Tootsie” … Keegan-Michael Key at “The Prom” … Josh Groban and Ben Vereen at “Hadestown” … Amy Ryan and Bobby Cannavale at “All My Sons.”
