James Corden will serve as the host of the 2019 Tony Awards, which will be held on Sunday, June 9 at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS. This marks the second time that Corden has hosted the annual theater awards show. Before becoming the host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS, Corden appeared on Broadway in “One Man, Two Guvnors” and “The History Boys.” In a statement, Tony Awards executive producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss hailed Corden as “Hilarious. Insanely talented. Musical savant. Brilliantly unpredictable.”
‘Gary’ pushes back opening date
“Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” which is currently in previews on Broadway, has pushed back its opening date to April 21 in light of the last-minute substitution of Kristine Nielsen for Andrea Martin, who broke four ribs in an accident during rehearsals. Taylor Mac’s play (a darkly comic examination of the aftermath of Shakespeare’s notoriously gory early tragedy) also stars Nathan Lane and Julie White and has direction by George C. Wolfe and original music by film composer Danny Elfman.
‘Jekyll & Hyde’ movie musical in the works
A film version of the 1997 dual personality pop-rock musical “Jekyll & Hyde” (written by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse) is currently in the works, which will have a screenplay by Alexander Dinelaris (“Birdman,” “The Revenant”) and be produced by Bluestone Entertainment. Whereas the original Broadway production ran four years despite negative reviews, a recent revival quickly fizzled out.
Paper Mill announces annual season slate
Following its annual ritual of providing obscure image-based clues, New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse has announced the makeup of its 2019-2020 season, which will include three new works: “Chasing Rainbows: the Road to Oz” (a Judy Garland bio musical), “Unmasked” (a revue linking songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber with details about their creation and Lloyd Webber’s own history) and “The Wanderer” (a jukebox musical built around the songs of rock and roll icon Dion). The season will also include new productions of “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” and “Sister Act.”
‘Be More Chill’ to receive Broadway cast album
The high school/sci-fi musical “Be More Chill,” which made its way to Broadway largely on the strength of a 2015 world premiere cast recording that became massively popular with teens on digital media, will release a separate original Broadway cast recording in the coming weeks. The new album (which was recorded earlier this month) will contain material that was written after the show’s 2015 world premiere and is included in the current Broadway production.
Spotted …
Mary-Louise Parker and Blythe Danner at “Kiss Me, Kate” … Martin Short and Alan Cumming at “The Prom” … Aaron Sorkin and Vince Gilligan at “Network” … Matthew Rhys at “Burn This.”
