Tony Goldwyn joins ‘Network’ cast
Tony Goldwyn has joined the cast of “Network,” an adaptation of the 1976 film satirizing television news, alongside the previously announced Bryan Cranston and Tatiana Maslany. He will play Max Schumacher, a veteran news executive who has an affair with the shameless producer Diana Christensen (Maslany) and watches as newsman Howard Beale (Cranston) undergoes a mental breakdown. The production (directed by the experimental Ivo van Hove) will play Broadway’s Belasco Theatre beginning Nov. 10.
‘Wicked’ to mark anniversary with televised concert
The 15th anniversary of the Broadway musical blockbuster “Wicked” will be celebrated on television with “A Very Wicked Halloween,” a concert that will be held at the Marquis Theater and air on NBC on Oct. 29. It will include performances by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel (who originated the roles of Glinda and Elphaba in 2003) plus Ariana Grande and Pentatonix.
‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to be adapted into stage play
Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are,” which has already been adapted into a 1984 opera and a 2009 film, will now be turned into a stage play, to be produced by Off-Broadway’s New Victory Theater (which imports kid-friendly productions from around the world each year). In a statement, Arthur Yorinks (who will pen the adaptation) said, “Maurice and I believed that good theater for a family audience should not talk down to its audience and should in no way diminish what is presented for the sake of its audience.” The stories comprising Sendak’s “The Nutshell Library” previously served as the basis for the children’s musical “Really Rosie.”
‘Almost Famous’ musical in the works
A stage musical adaptation of the 2000 Cameron Crowe film “Almost Famous” is currently in development. It will have music by Tom Kitt (“Next to Normal”), lyrics by both Kitt and Crowe and direction by Jeremy Herrin (“Wolf Hall”). In “Almost Famous,” a mild-mannered teenager lands a writing gig with “Rolling Stone” and goes on the road with a rock band in 1973. The starry cast of the film included Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand and Philip Seymour Hoffman — as well as Zooey Deschanel, Jimmy Fallon, Rainn Wilson and Eric Stonestreet.
Arnaz and Klein to reunite for ‘They’re Playing Our Song’ concert
Lucie Arnaz and Robert Klein, the original stars of the 1979 hit two-person musical “They’re Playing Our Songs” (which had a score by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager and a book by Neil Simon), will headline a 40th annual reunion concert of the musical on Feb. 11 at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre. The event will serve as a benefit for The Actors Fund (which last year produced a reunion concert of “Thoroughly Modern Millie”).
Spotted…
Shirley MacLaine at “The Band’s Visit”…Kristin Chenoweth at “Mean Girls”…Cynthia Nixon at “The True.”
