Snoop Dogg will make his stage debut in “Redemption of a Dogg,” a new musical built around his hit songs, which will observe (according to the news release) “a character built around the persona of Snoop Dogg — a multifaceted character who is a gangsta rapper, family man and man of God.” It will play a national tour beginning in October, and stop in NYC at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre on Oct. 14. “Please believe you’ve never seen urban theater like this,” the hip-hop artist said in a statement.
Fringe Festival returning in fall
The NYC Fringe Festival (which took the past two summers off in order to regroup and rethink its future) is set to return in October for its 21st season. It will now take the form of a monthlong fall festival consisting of FringeNYC (84 productions around the West Village) and FringeBYOV (“Bring Your Own Venue,” which will take place at outer borough venues). Shows that have premiered at the Fringe over the years include “Urinetown!,” “Silence! The Musical,” “Debbie Does Dallas” and “Dog Sees God.”
Spider-Man and Green Goblin set for ‘Hadestown’
Reeve Carney (who played Peter Parker in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”) will join Patrick Page (who played the Green Goblin) in the London premiere of the new folk-pop-jazz musical “Hadestown,” which is slated to come to Broadway in 2019. “Hadestown” (an adaptation of the Orpheus myth, based on a concept album by Anaïs Mitchell) has previously been produced Off-Broadway and in Edmonton. The cast will also include André De Shields (“The Wiz”), Eva Noblezada (“Miss Saigon”) and Amber Gray (“The Great Comet”).
Gina Gershon joins the Trump family
Gina Gershon will play Melania Trump in “The 1st Annual Trump Family Special,” an Off-Broadway parody musical resembling the old-school TV specials featuring “The Partridge Family” and “The Brady Bunch,” which will play the Triad Theatre on Thursday nights beginning Sept. 13. She will be joined by actors playing Ivanka, Ivana, Eric, Donald Jr., Marla Maples and Mike Pence. Gershon starred in a poorly-reviewed Broadway revival of “Bye Bye Birdie” in 2009.
Spotted . . .
Nancy Pelosi and Rainn Wilson at “The Band’s Visit” . . . Topol at “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish . . . Jason Tartick and Sutton Foster at “Frozen.”
