LaBelle, Knight, Cole all heading to ‘After Midnight’
Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole are all set to join the Jazz Age revue “After Midnight,” which received seven Tony nominations, at separate points during the summer in the special guest vocalist slot. Vanessa Williams, who is currently appearing in the production, will stay through May 11. She will be followed by Fantastia, who was its original star singer.
‘Velocity’ to close on Sunday
“The Velocity of Autumn,” a two-hander starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella about a wiry, aging mother and her estranged son, will shutter on Sunday after just 16 performances on Broadway. The show has been struggling at the box office since previews. It received just a single Tony Award nomination for Estelle’s performance.
Tony Awards to host Broadway trivia night
The Tony Awards and TrivWorks, which specializes in live trivia events, will co-produce a night of Broadway trivia on May 21 at the Paramount Hotel. The questioning will test “all things Broadway: the shows, the actors/actresses, the music, the off-stage drama and everything in between.” Admission is free. You can register at trivworks.com.
Miramontez dominates best musical nominees
The biggest winner of this year’s Tony nominations may just be publicist Rick Miramontez, whose PR firm O&M represents three of the four shows nominated for Best Musical, including “After Midnight,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” and “Beautiful.” Not only that, his office is also a publicity consultant for Disney Theatricals, which captured the fourth nomination slot with “Aladdin.”
54 Below replaces ‘Time and Time Again’ with ‘Merrily’
54 Below has opted to indefinitely postpone its planned concert of the long-forgotten Off-Broadway musical “Time and Time Again” on May 11 due to problems with the score. In its place, the venue will present the cult Sondheim flop “Merrily We Roll Along,” which just happens to be the favorite musical of Jennifer Ashley Tepper, 54 Below’s popular programming director.
Leslie Odom, Jr. joins ‘tick…tick…BOOM!’
Leslie Odom, Jr., who had a key supporting role on the television series “Smash,” will appear in the upcoming Encores! Off-Center staging of the Jonathan Larson rock musical “tick…tick…BOOM!” alongside Lin Manuel-Miranda and Karen Olivo. The autobiographical piece, which was written before “Rent” but produced after Larson’ death, focuses on a songwriter anxiously approaching his 30th birthday.
LeKae announces she is cancer free
Valisia LeKae, who left the cast of the Broadway musical “Motown” immediately after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, has confirmed via Twitter that she is now cancer free. LeKae was nominated for a Tony last season for her supporting turn as Diana Ross.
Spotted…
Johnny Depp, Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Simon at “Cabaret”…Jerry O’Connell and Ari Graynor at “The Substance of Fire”…Edie Falco at “Casa Valentina”…Meredith Viera, Bobby Lopez and Rosie O’Donnell at “Beautiful”…Katy Perry at “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”
