Say goodbye to Anatevka. The Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” will play its last performance on Dec. 31, a year after it officially opened. It will have run roughly half as long as the 2004 revival with Alfred Molina and then Harvey Fierstein. The production won raves for Bartlett Sher’s direction and Danny Burstein’s sensitive performance as Tevye.
Jenna Ushkowitz to join ‘Waitress’
Jenna Ushkowitz, best remembered as Tina on “Glee,” will join the cast of the Broadway musical “Waitress” beginning July 29, briefly taking over for Kimiko Glenn (“Orange is the New Black”) in the role of Dawn. Before “Glee,” Ushkowitz appeared on Broadway in “The King and I” (she was nine years old at the time) and “Spring Awakening.”
Gyllenhaal set for ‘Burn This’ revival
Jake Gyllenhaal, who will lead a concert production of Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” at City Center in October, will then headline a Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s 1987 drama “Burn This,” which follows two outcasts in downtown New York. Directed by Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening”), it will play the newly renovated Hudson Theatre, which has been used in recent years as an event space.
TFANA calls off ‘Hamlet’ with Oscar Isaac
Theatre for a New Audience’s upcoming production of “Hamlet” led by Oscar Isaac and directed by Sam Gold (“Fun Home”) has been canceled due to the sudden withdrawals of both Gold and Isaac, the off-Broadway theater revealed last week. In its place, the company will present Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure.” The new TFANA season will also include Beckett’s “Happy Days” starring Dianne Wiest, Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth” and the Italian comedy “The Servant of Two Masters.”
‘Ragtime’ headed to Ellis Island
A site-specific concert version of “Ragtime” will be performed on Aug. 8 at Ellis Island, which just happens to be one of the many locations depicted in the 1997 musical. Narrated by Brian Stokes Mitchell (who played Coalhouse in the original production), the cast will include Laura Michelle Kelly (“Finding Neverland”), Brandon Victor Dixon (“Shuffle Along”), Robert Petkoff (who played Tateh in the 2009 revival) and Georgia Engel (making a cameo as Houdini’s mother). According to a press statement, the goal is to present a full production of “Ragtime” next year at Ellis Island.
‘Spamilton’ holding lotto for 10 cent tix
Just as “Hamilton” sells a limit number of discounted $10 tickets by lottery, the new off-Broadway parody “Spamilton” (devised by “Forbidden Broadway” writer Gerard Alessandrini) is going to hold a similar lottery for 10-cent tickets before each performance. A press statement describes “Spamilton” as “an evening that celebrates, roasts and eviscerates the Broadway blockbuster.”
‘Gypsy’ screenwriter touts its ‘cinematic concept’
The film remake of “Gypsy” starring Barbra Streisand is moving ahead, writer-director Richard LaGravenese told Playbill.com. LaGravenese, who wrote the screenplay, said that director Barry Levinson “came up with a cinematic concept that I think works,” warned that “it won’t be the theatrical ‘Gypsy,’“ but to allay fears added that “all the songs are there.”
Spotted …
Claire Danes at “Privacy” … Debra Messing at “Something Rotten!“ … Kerry Washington at “Turn Me Loose.”
