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On Sunday, the 77th annual Tony Awards were held, hosted by Broadway and film actress Ariana DeBose at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The ceremony saw wins for Sarah Paulson, Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe. Several notable faces took the stage as presenters, including Angelina Jolie, Brooke Shields, Nick Jonas and even former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

This year’s nominations raised some skeptical responses over the omission of the fan-favorite revival of The Wiz and Appropriate‘s nomination for costume design. The ceremony was also deemed “dull” by many viewers citing numerous on-stage speech fumbles and a lack of stage presence from presenters and award winners.

Regardless, fans were excited to see their favorite faces take home their wins. Stereophonic and Alicia Keys‘ musical Hell’s Kitchen swept the categories with 13 nominations. Paulson returned to the stage after 13 years and snagged a win,...

Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe winner Sarah Paulson is now the proud new owner of a Tony, too. The actress best known for her work in the American Horror Story franchise took home the gold Sunday for Best Actress in a Play for her work in Appropriate.

“As a young actress I remember seeing Janet McTeer burst on the stage in A Doll’s House in the very theater I am currently living in,” said Paulson about doing Appropriate at the Belasco Theatre in NYC. “And some nights when I’m backstage I think about the indelible impact of her. I think about the walls of theaters all over this magical town holding the impact of each and every one of you in this room, and all of those who came before and I think how lucky those walls are to bear witness to the relentless interrogation of human experience that...

The Tony Awards are being handed out Sunday night.

Ariana DeBose is hosting the live broadcast from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The ceremony airs live from 8-11 p.m. Et/5-8 p.m. Pt on June 16 on CBS and streams on Paramount+ in the U.S. (See the red carpet photos.)

Among the noteworthy winners so far are Daniel Radcliffe and Jeremy Strong, who both took home their first Tonys, and Dede Ayite, who became the first Black woman to win a Tony for best costume design of a play.

Set to perform at the ceremony are the casts of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Hell’s Kitchen, Illinoise, Merrily We Roll Along, Stereophonic, Suffs, The Outsiders, The Who’s Tommy and Water for Elephants.

Presenters will include Utkarsh Ambudkar, Nate Burleson, Cynthia Erivo, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Josh Gad,...

Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, April 30 by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry. While the nominations for the 77th annual Tony Awards were determined by approximately 60 theatre professionals, winners were decided by hundreds of members of the Broadway community.

A whopping 36 shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there were 10 original works and five revivals in the running for nominations. Over on the musical side, 15 new tuners were in contention for bids as were six musical revivals. The cutoff date for eligibility was Thursday, April 25.

The Tony Awards are set for June 16 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and will be hosted for the third year in a row by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose. The earlier “Tony Awards: Act One” ceremony will be hosted by Julianne Hough and Utkarsh Ambudkar; Skylar Astin will host...

When Tony voters looked at their ballots for best musical in 1960, they must have felt lightheaded. They were tasked with choosing a winner among the latest Rodgers and Hammerstein (The Sound of Music), a political drama that would go on to win the Pulitzer (Fiorello!), a new kind of psychological biography (Gypsy), and an uproarious fairy-tale comedy (Once Upon a Mattress). I’m not sure if any of the 2024 nominees for best musical will stand the test of time quite like that stunning lineup. But as was true 64 years ago, there are at least four celebrated contenders vying, all equally convincingly, for the top prize.

Part of what makes this season’s best musical category particularly tricky to predict is the volume of productions that aren’t on the ballot here: At various moments throughout the season, in which 15 new musicals opened (and six have already closed), it would have...

Betsy Aidem has been in over 80 plays, off Broadway, on Broadway, and around the world. Recent titles of note: All The Way, where she played Lady Bird Johnson, Mama’s Boy, where she played Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother, Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, and Prayer For The French Republic, for which she is nominated for her first Tony Award. On this gold-filled episode, she talks about her love of extensive research, why she doesn’t think the people she plays are just one person, the “golden moment when your character is unsure,” the importance of a director’s patience and willingness to let her […]

The post “The Most Human Part of Acting is the Moment In-Between When You Don’t Know What To Do”: Betsy Aidem, Back To One, Episode 294 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Betsy Aidem has been in over 80 plays, off Broadway, on Broadway, and around the world. Recent titles of note: All The Way, where she played Lady Bird Johnson, Mama’s Boy, where she played Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother, Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, and Prayer For The French Republic, for which she is nominated for her first Tony Award. On this gold-filled episode, she talks about her love of extensive research, why she doesn’t think the people she plays are just one person, the “golden moment when your character is unsure,” the importance of a director’s patience and willingness to let her […]

The post “The Most Human Part of Acting is the Moment In-Between When You Don’t Know What To Do”: Betsy Aidem, Back To One, Episode 294 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The Drama League Awards unveiled their slate of winners at an in-person ceremony on Friday, May 17. The event was hosted by Frank Dilella at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, where attendees toasted the best of Broadway and Off-Bradway.

The biggest winner of the day was Sarah Paulson, who claimed the coveted Distinguished Performance Award for her fiery role in “Appropriate.” That play, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, also took home the League’s trophy for Best Revival of a Play.

See 2024 Dorian Theater Awards nominations announced: LGBTQ journalists champion ‘Merrily We Roll Along,’ ‘Stereophonic,’ ‘Oh, Mary!‘

The Distinguished Performance Award is unique in that a performer may only win the award once in their career. After prevailing, they are never eligible again. The category is also a massive catch-all race that includes actors of all genders, roles of all sizes, and both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. This year, 54 thespians were included as nominees.

Winning...

Galeca: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics unveiled nominations for their 2nd annual Dorian Theater Awards on Monday, March 13. Galeca’s 39-member theater wing decided this season’s crop of nominees, which honor the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway.

The nominations list is dominated by the current revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” and new play “Stereophonic.” Both productions netted six nominations a piece. In the case of “Merrily,” that tally includes bids for its Tony-nominated trio of stars: Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe. “Stereophonic” managed one better with four members of its cast nominated in the same featured performance category: Will Brill, Eli Gelb, Tom Pecinka, and Sarah Pidgeon. The individual acting races at the Dorian Awards are gender neutral.

The Best Broadway Musical category features Tony Award nominees “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Illinoise,” “The Outsiders,” and “Suffs,” along with the closed David Byrne tuner “Here Lies Love” and soon-to-be closing “Lempicka.

A musical inspired by the life of Alicia Keys and a play that loosely draws on the story of Fleetwood Mac — Hell’s Kitchen and Stereophonic, respectively — cleaned up at the 2024 Tony Awards nominations. Both received 13 nominations, more than any other show this year.

Hell’s Kitchen was nominated for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (for Kristoffer Diaz), Best Direction (Michael Greif), and Best Choreography (Camille A. Brown), while its stars Maleah Joi Moon, Shoshana Bean, and Kecia Lewis all picked up acting nods. But despite its impressive haul,...

With the announcement of the Tony Awards nominations on April 30, we now know the shows and performers in contention for the 77th annual ceremony. The 60 members of the Tony nominating committee recognized 28 of the 36 eligible productions across 26 competitive categories.

See 2024 Tony Awards nominations snubs: ‘Patriots,’ Steve Carell, Chip Zien …

David Adjmi’s new play “Stereophonic” makes Tony Awards history with 13 nominations. This bests by one the previous record-holder “Slave Play” by Jeremy O. Harris, which earned 12 bids back in 2020. Its haul includes recognition for Best Play, Best Director (Daniel Aukin), five nominations for its performers and, rare for a dramatic work, Best Original Score for Will Butler and Best Orchestrations for Butler and Justin Craig.

“Hell’s Kitchen,” a loosely biographical work on the early life and featuring the music of Alicia Keys, leads all musicals and musical revivals with 13 nominations. In addition to a Best Musical nom, the show...

Daniel Radcliffe’s post-“Harry Potter” career has long been dominated by his theater work, both in New York and London. On April 30, he finally scored his first Tony nomination, for his role in the musical “Merrily We Roll Along.”

Radcliffe’s buzzy stage work began in 2007 with a run in “Equus” on both sides of the pond. He powered a delightful, blockbuster revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” in 2011 (Grammy nomination), and since then, he has chosen an eclectic mix of projects, work where his name alone can often get challenging — or even just serious — work funded. Think the occasionally dense “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” the provocative “Privacy,” or the genre-bending experiment “The Lifespan of a Fact.” He’s long been an asset to the NY stage scene, and this morning’s recognition long-deserved.

Radcliffe landed another perfect part playing Charley Kringas in the buzzy...

Broadway fans: the 2024 Tony Award nominations are finally here!

Each year, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre (aka the Tonys), celebrates the best on Broadway. The nominations were announced by two past Tony winners: Take Me Out‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamilton‘s Renée Elise Goldsberry.

This year, the Tonys will be held on June 16, 2024 with host Ariana DeBose returning to host for a third time. Just Jared will be live updating throughout the entire event, so stick with us that night!

Head inside to see the full list of Tony Award nominations…

Scroll down for the full list of Tony Award nominees…

Best Musical

Hell’s Kitchen

Illinoise

The Outsiders

Suffs

Water for Elephants

Best Play

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Mary Jane

Mother Play

Prayer for the French Republic

Stereophonic

Best Revival of a Play

Appropriate

An Enemy of the People

Purlie Victorious: A...

The 2024 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, May 2 by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry. The reveal of the roster of contenders was carried on the Tonys YouTube channel. While the nominations for the 77th annual Tony Awards were determined by a few dozen theater professionals, winners will be decided by upwards of 800 members of the Broadway community.

Three dozen shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there are 10 original works and five revivals in the running. Over on the musical side, 15 new tuners were in contention as were six musical revivals. The cutoff date for eligibility was April 27.

The Tony Awards are set for June 16 at Lincoln Center and will be hosted for the third year in a row by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.

The 2024 Tony Awards nominations list below includes all 26 competitive categories.

Musicals

Best Musical

Hell’s Kitchen

Illinoise...

Close races and sharp elbows are likely when the 2024 Tony Award nominations are announced Tuesday morning. With so many shows opening during the onslaught of the past two weeks, nominators might still be clearing their minds — and maybe taking a moment to eat and breathe — as they ponder and re-ponder the 36 productions that opened on Broadway between April 28, 2023, and April 25, 2024.

Some of the nominations are no-brainers: The much-praised and hugely popular Merrily We Roll Along is a sure bet for all concerned, but what about more polarizing fare? Cabaret, Here Lies Love, Water for Elephants, I’m looking at you.

A selection of categories will be read live on CBS Mornings at 8:30 am Et, and a full livestream of the announcements will follow at 9 a.m. Et on the official Tony Awards YouTube page.

Related: 2024-25 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For Oscars, Tonys, Guilds, BAFTAs, Spirits & More

Here, then,...

“This crazy whirlwind of a season has finally come to an end,” declares Sam Eckmann as we kick off our final Tony Awards nominations predictions slugfest of 2024. We begin our conversation with the musical categories and the ever-challenging race for Best Musical. Sam and I both feel “pretty secure” about the top three shows – “Suffs,” “Illinoise” and “Hell’s Kitchen” – and we surprisingly concur on the final two slots, predicting “Here Lies Love” and “The Outsiders.” There are so many potential nominees in contention, though, that we cite our alternate picks as I opt for “Days of Wine and Roses” as my number six, and Sam goes with “The Notebook.” Watch our full Tony Awards video slugfest above.

You can also watch both of us giving our wishlist picks, pleading to Tony nomination voters to choose some people who might be under the radar. Watch that video here.

Sam and...

The 2023-2024 Broadway season has been positively packed with an abundance of talent as dozens of new productions danced across New York City stages. The nominating committee for the Tony Awards usually does a great job in selecting the best of the best, thanks to a fair system that requires committee members to see all eligible productions. But given the sheer volume of shows this season, David Buchanan and I thought it best to remind these voters of contenders most in need of recognition.

David and I sat down to stump for 10 Tony Awards hopefuls who find themselves on uncertain ground heading into nominations (plus a few shoutouts to some stellar designers). Watch the full video slugfest above to hear our passionate pleas to the voters on the nominating committee. Hey Tony voter nominators, please don’t forget these incredible artists!

See 2024 Tony Awards eligibility rulings (round 3): ‘Uncle Vanya...

The nominees for the 2024 Drama League Awards were announced April 22, 2024, by Vanessa Williams and past Drama League winner Bebe Neuwirth. Winners will be announced during the 90th Annual Drama League Awards ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom on Friday, May 17.

These kudos honor both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions and are famous for their catch-all acting category, the Distinguished Performance Award. An actor can only win it once in their career. After they have won, they can never be nominated again. This year, a whopping 54 performers are nominated.

See 2024 Tony Awards eligibility rulings (round 2): ‘Appropriate’ is officially a revival, ‘The Notebook’ actors split up

The expansive production categories mean that many Tony Awards hopefuls heard their name called this morning. Ten Broadway musicals were nominated in the Outstanding Production of a Musical race. Notable omissions include “Back to the Future: The Musical,” “The Great Gatsby” and critical darling “Days of Wine and Roses...

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the third time during the 2023-2024 Broadway season on April 19, to discuss eligibility of 8 productions for the 77th Annual Tony Awards in 2024.

They discussed eight productions: “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Doubt,” “The Notebook,” “An Enemy of the People,” “Water for Elephants,” “The Who’s Tommy,” “The Outsiders” and “Lempicka.” The group also met during the winter to discuss late fall and winter openings, but those determinations were not made public until now. Those shows include: “I Need That,” “Harmony,” “Spamalot,” “How to Dance in Ohio,” “Appropriate” and “Prayer for the French Republic.”

The most notable ruling is that “Appropriate” will compete as a revival. The hit play from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has never been seen on Broadway before this season, but previously enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run with a different director and cast. Since it is the play’s Broadway debut, Jacobs-Jenkins will appear...

During a pivotal moment in Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer for the French Republic,” Betsy Aidem desperately asks where she can take her family “to feel safe.” The question reverberates through the play as her character weighs whether to flee Paris following antisemitic violence. “History has taught us that these things don’t pass,” says Aidem, “it’s not a question from another time. It’s a very live, living, breathing question.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

“Prayer for the French Republic” depicts several generations of the Benhamou family in Paris. The “present day” of the play is set in 2016, where violence and hate speech towards Jewish people is surging. Marcelle (Aidem) has a fulfilling life in the city and is at first incredulous at the thought of fleeing to Israel. But when her son is bloodied in the streets and her husband faces debilitating panic, Marcelle must ask herself...

The 'domestic revenge' thriller "A Vigilante", is written and directed by Sarah Daggar-Nickson, starring Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett, C.J. Wilson, Tonye Patano, Chuck Cooper, Betsy Aidem and Judy Marte, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video:

".... 'Sadie' (Wilde) works as a vigilante, by helping women and children escape abusive homes and family members. She struggles with money, attempting to redeem a life insurance policy on her missing husband. She lives out of a motel room, the wall of which is posted with a map she has been using to search for him. She works out and disguises herself with latex makeup, contacts and a wig, before 'going to work'..."

Click the images to enlarge...

The 'domestic revenge' thriller "A Vigilante", is written and directed by Sarah Daggar-Nickson, starring Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett, C.J. Wilson, Tonye Patano, Chuck Cooper, Betsy Aidem and Judy Marte, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video:

".... 'Sadie' (Wilde) works as a vigilante, by helping women and children escape abusive homes and family members. She struggles with money, attempting to redeem a life insurance policy on her missing husband. She lives out of a motel room, the wall of which is posted with a map she has been using to search for him. She works out and disguises herself with latex makeup, contacts and a wig, before 'going to work'..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Initial cast has been announced for Broadway’s Prayer for the French Republic. Written by Joshua Harmon and directed by David Cromer (The Band’s Visit), Prayer for the French Republic begins performances on Tuesday, December 19 with opening night set for Tuesday, January 9, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Cast includes Emmy-nominated Anthony Edwards, Aria Shahghasemi (Legacies) along with several actors from the original Off Broadway production including Betsy Aidem (Leopoldstadt), Lucille Lortel award winner Francis Benhamou, Ari Brand, Molly Ranson and Nancy Robinette. Additional cast members and the creative team will be announced in the coming weeks.

Manhattan Theatre Club’s highly acclaimed, twice-extended, sold-out world premiere of Prayer for the French Republic at New York City Center – Stage I was the winner of the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

Set in 1944, Prayer revolves around a...

A new Broadway season has started, and there are currently 11 productions of plays set to open this fall. Could we be seeing any of them contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below is an overview of the plot of each play as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative team, and the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Death of a Salesman”

In the fifth Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s 1949 drama, Willy Loman is a traveling salesman whose illusions of picture-perfect business and family life cave in on him. He and his family are caught up in the pressures and delusions of living the American dream.

The original production directed by Elia Kazan won six Tony Awards (including Best Play) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This staging follows a successful run on London’s West End back in 2019, where it received five Laurence Olivier...

Most of the 38-member cast of the upcoming Broadway production of Tom Stoppard’s Olivier Award-winning Leopoldstadt was announced today, with four members of the original West End company making the move and newcomers to the show set to include Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, Seth Numrich and David Krumholtz.

Twenty-three of the cast members announced today will be making their Broadway debuts with Leopoldstadt, according to producers Sonia Friedman Productions, Roy Furman, and Lorne Michaels. Patrick Marber, who directed the West End staging, will direct for Broadway as well.

Leopoldstadt’s limited Broadway engagement will begin previews Wednesday, September 14, with an official opening on Sunday, October 2, at the Longacre Theatre.

Set in Vienna, Leopoldstadt begins in the last days of 1899 and follows one extended family well into the 20th Century. The title takes its name from Vienna’s Jewish quarter, and the play is described by the production as “a...

Winners of the 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced in a ceremony on May 1, 2022, at NYU Skirball. New musicals “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Oratorio for Living Things” tied for the most wins, with three trophies each. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.

The cast of Ars Nova’s “Oratorio For Living Things” took home the inaugural award for Outstanding Ensemble, while the Broadway-bound “Kimberly Akimbo” nabbed the two individual musical acting categories, with Lead Performance going to Victoria Clark and Featured Performance going to Bonnie Milligan.

Special honorees this year included Deirdre O’Connell (“Dana H.”), who was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heidi Schreck; and David Henry Hwang, who was inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk by Jeanine Tesori.

Find the nominees and recipients of the 2022 Lucille Lortal Awards below.

SEEAlfie Allen (‘Hangmen...

The 2022 Outer Critics Circle nominations were announced Tuesday. They honor the best of the 2021-2022 Broadway and Off-Broadway season. “The Lehman Trilogy” scored the most nominations with nine bids, followed closely by the Off-Broadway musicals “Harmony” and “Kimberly Akimbo,” which scored eight nominations apiece.

Special Achievement Awards will be presented to “How I Learned to Drive” stars Johanna Day, David Morse and Mary-Louise Parker, as well as “Lackawanna Blues” star Ruben Santiago-Hudson, to mark their outstanding returns to roles they originated two decades ago. Since these actors were eligible for the original runs of these shows, the Outer Critics Circle has opted to take them out of contention for this year’s awards.

SEE2022 Drama League Awards nominations unveiled; 43 performers contend for distinguished performance award

There are many additional Tony Awards hopefuls who were not eligible for this group’s nominations. The Outer Critics Circle announced that they would only...

Nominations for the 37th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced April 7, 2022 by Lilli Cooper and Lea DeLaria, stars of Broadway’s “Potus.” The Lortel Awards were created in 1985 to honor outstanding achievement Off-Broadway. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 1, at NYU Skirball.

Tony Award hopeful Deirdre O’Connell is the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She won a Lortel Award for her riveting solo performance in “Dana H.” at the Vineyard Theatre last year. That production transferred to Broadway in the fall.

Acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang is this year’s Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee. His name will be added to a star on the sidewalk outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre on Christopher Street, a permanent monument to Off-Broadway playwrights.

New musicals...

Kimberly Akimbo, Assassins, Prayer for the French Republic and The Chinese Lady were among the Off Broadway productions receiving multiple nominations for this year’s Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off Broadway, announced today.

Among the innovations in this year’s 37th Annual Lortel Awards are the first non-gendered performance categories, and the first-ever Lortel for Outstanding Ensemble. In the new Ensemble category, the inaugural nominees are the casts of English, Oratorio For Living Things, and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.

Kimberly Akimbo and Oratorio For Living Things scored the most nominations, with six each, while Black No More and On Sugarland received five. Assassins, Prayer for the French Republic and The Chinese Lady each have four nominations.

The awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 1, at NYU Skirball in Manhattan. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.

Exclusive: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has a warrant out, in a manner of speaking, for Broadway actors. Next week’s episode features Tony-nominated Hadestown actor Eva Noblezada and Beetlejuice himself Alex Brightman, and showrunner Warren Leight tells Deadline that’s just the beginning.

Last night, after the episode casting was announced, Leight tweeted, “We are trying to hire every Broadway actor we can while we and they wait for the curtains to rise again.” And he wasn’t joking.

“We know how hard the community has been hit here,” Leight said in an interview. “The goal is to get as many jobs to as many theater actors as we possibly can.”

The offer couldn’t come at a more opportune time. The National Endowment for the Arts recently released figures indicating that while the overall unemployment rate has averaged 8.5 percent, the average among actors was 52 percent.

The NBC New York-based L&o franchise has long been known as a steady source of employment for the city’s theater performers – rare is the stage actor whose Playbill credits don’t include at least one of the L&o series – but the pandemic has pushed Leight’s team to ramp up even those efforts for the current Season 22.

Stage actors already cast in parts for this season include the Tony-winning Adriane Lenox, Elizabeth Marvel, Jane Bruce (Jagged Little Pill), Jelani Alladin (Disney’s Frozen), Michael Mastro (Love! Valour! Compassion!), and Betsy Aidem (Steel Magnolias).

Even Raúl Esparza, a four-time Tony nominee known to the wider TV audience for his six-season Svu run as Assistant D.A. Rafael Barba, is making a temporary franchise comeback to reprise the role for this week’s episode “Sightless in a Savage Land.”

Leight says the Broadway-filled roles range in scope from one-day parts to more substantial turns, but have an important practical impact for the actors, adding to the work day minimums required for Actors Equity-Broadway League health insurance.

The casting offers a significant logistical benefit to the show as well: casting New York actors is the more practical and efficient option during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the prospect of long-distance flights from Hollywood and required quarantine protocols can complicate using Los Angeles-based actors.

“In the past we’ve done what you could call Hollywood stunt casting,” Leight says, “but a lot of those players aren’t going to be willing to get on a plane and quarantine right now. We realized early on that we’ll have to cast locally much more.”

The Broadway shutdown also allows the show to get around the planning issues that Broadway’s usual performance schedule demands: Coordinating a shoot around the identical eight-performance weeks of working stage actors like Noblezada and Brightman (who Leight says enact “a horribly failed virtual romance” in the Jan. 14 episode) is daunting. There’s only so much guest-starring that can be crammed into a dark Broadway Monday.

Yet another plus for the production: Stage actors, accustomed to the tightrope walk of eight shows a week, are what Leight calls “money players,” guest stars who “hit their marks and can do it over and over” quickly. With pandemic safety precautions enforced on set – minimal personal contact, Covid testing, noisy stop-and-start ventilation, among other things – the production, he says, “doesn’t have time for actors who need to find it.”

“Our directors need to know that [guest actors] can do two scenes with Olivia and not be nervous,” he adds, referring to star Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson character.

Leight himself has an extensive stage background, including his 1998 Tony-winning Best Play Side Man, a Pulitzer finalist that starred the Tony-winning Frank Wood.

And yes, Wood will be popping up on Svu this season. Leight says Svu‘s medical examiners office has been “augmented” to include a role for his old friend.

Leight’s Tuesday night tweet was met with a quick response from New York stage actors. Jennifer Mudge, whose Broadway and Off Broadway credits include Into The Woods, Rocky and The Philanthropist, tweeted, “Warren, I feel like now is the time to tell you that only Svu is missing from my L&o trifecta completion. (Mothership twice!),” to which Leight responded, “On it.”

Three-time Tony nominee Carolee Carmello tweeted a simple, “Much appreciated,” while West Side Story actor Danny Wolohan wrote, “Broadway’s Officer Krupke says thank you!”

And Chris Orbach – actor, writer, musician and, as the son of the late Jerry Orbach, a member of an L&o royal family – weighed in. “God love you,” he responded to Leight’s tweet. “You cats are good like that.”

Law & Order: Svu, from Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, airs Thursdays at 9 pm on NBC.

Thank you, @warrenleightTV! My last L&o stint was an episode staring John Ritter! I think it's time I came back for a visit! ❤️

— Erin Leigh Peck (@ErinLeighPeck) January 6, 2021

God love you, you cats are good like that ❤️

— Chris Orbach (@chrisorbach) January 6, 2021...

Olivia Wilde’s “A Vigilante” has sold to Saban Films, along with DirecTV, at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Sarah Daggar-Nickson wrote and directed the crime drama. “A Vigilante” follows a once abused woman, Sadie (Wilde), who devotes herself to ridding victims of their domestic abusers. Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett, C.J. Wilson, Tonye Patano, Chuck Cooper, Betsy Aidem, Judy Marte also star.

The film first premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March, and was nominated for a SXSW Gamechanger Award.

Also Read: Netflix Acquires Genevieve Nnaji's 'Lionheart' in Worldwide Deal

“Olivia plays a badass vigilante which is refreshing and relevant while also shining a much-deserved light on domestic abuse,” Saban Films CEO Bill Bromiley said in a statement. “This role shows a side of Olivia that we haven’t seen before and audiences will love.”

“A Vigilante” will be released theatrically by Saban in the first...

Olivia Wilde is an avenging angel in The Hollywood Reporter's exclusive first-look image of A Vigilante.

The Rush actress stars as Sadie, a woman who helps victims seeking revenge against their domestic abusers, in Sarah Daggar-Nickson's thriller, which also features Tonye Patano, Betsy Aidem and David Shumbris. Daggar-Nickson also wrote the screenplay.

Produced by Andrew D. Corkin, Lars Knudsen, Ambyr Childers, Wilde and Allison Carter, the film is being sold at Cannes internationally by Highland Film Group. Wme Global is handling domestic rights.

 

...

The 59th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, celebrating achievement in the Off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theater, were given out at a ceremony last night at Webster Hall in Greenwich Village. The awards ceremony was co-hosted by Tamara Tunie and Hamish Linklater. The awards were presented by Betsy Aidem, Harvey Fierstein, Lena Hall, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Andy Karl, David Bar Katz, Cristin Milioti, Kelli O'Hara, Lily Rabe and Stephen Trask. BroadwayWorld was there for the ceremony and you can check out photo coverage of the winners backstage below...

The 59th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, celebrating achievement in the Off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theater, were given out at a ceremony last night at Webster Hall in Greenwich Village. The awards ceremony was co-hosted by Tamara Tunie and Hamish Linklater. The awards were presented by Betsy Aidem, Harvey Fierstein, Lena Hall, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Andy Karl, David Bar Katz, Cristin Milioti, Kelli O'Hara, Lily Rabe and Stephen Trask. BroadwayWorld was there for the ceremony and you can check out backstage photo coverage below...

The 59th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, celebrating achievement in the Off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theater, were given out at a ceremony last night at Webster Hall in Greenwich Village. The awards ceremony was co-hosted by Tamara Tunie and Hamish Linklater. The awards were presented by Betsy Aidem, Harvey Fierstein, Lena Hall, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Andy Karl, David Bar Katz, Cristin Milioti, Kelli O'Hara, Lily Rabe and Stephen Trask.

The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced today that the Lifetime Achievement Award Obie will go to the esteemed Estelle Parsons. The Obie Awards Ceremony Will Be Co-hosted by Tamara Tunie and Hamish Linklater, and presented by Betsy Aidem, Harvey Fierstein, Lena Hall, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Andy Karl , David Bar Katz, Cristin Milioti , Kelli O'Hara , Lily Rabe and Stephen Trask.

Stars: Alexandra Chando, Nina Lisandrello, Patrick Breen, Richard Bekins, Betsy Aidem, Charlie Hewson, Court Young, Henderson Wade, Victoria Dalpe | Written and Directed by Philip Gelatt

The Bleeding House is a mystery horror movie directed by Philip Gelatt, a director who hasn’t done anything else as far as research can tell, as a director. Gelatt also wrote the screenplay to the movie. The film, originally titled “The Bleeding” was released in the Us in 2011. I remember seeing the cover-art for this film a few months ago and it stood out, the white and red silhouette of a man holding a suitcase on a black background. It’s a great cover for a film that I otherwise knew nothing about.

The plot of the film is intriguing from the start. A family in a country home appear to be battling something from their past, attempting to start fresh. A stranger stops...

Lincoln Center Theater presents Betsy Aidem, Blair Brown, Michael Cerveris, Anthony Cochrane, Lauren Culpepper, Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover, Jennifer B. Grace, Katie Kreisler, Stephen Kunken, Haviland Morris, Dale Place, John Procaccino, Gareth Saxe and Alan Schmuckler in the 18-member cast of its world premiere production of Nikolai And The Others, a new play by Richard Nelson. The play, which was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, is directed by David Cromer. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights below...

Lincoln Center Theater presents Betsy Aidem, Blair Brown, Michael Cerveris, Anthony Cochrane, Lauren Culpepper, Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover, Jennifer B. Grace, Katie Kreisler, Stephen Kunken, Haviland Morris, Dale Place, John Procaccino, Gareth Saxe and Alan Schmuckler in the 18-member cast of its the world premiere production of Nikolai And The Others, a new play by Richard Nelson. The play, which was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, is directed by David Cromer and opened last night, May 6. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the opening night below...

Lincoln Center Theater presents Betsy Aidem, Blair Brown, Michael Cerveris, Anthony Cochrane, Lauren Culpepper, Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover, Jennifer B. Grace, Katie Kreisler, Stephen Kunken, Haviland Morris, Dale Place, John Procaccino, Gareth Saxe and Alan Schmuckler in the 18-member cast of its upcoming world premiere production of Nikolai And The Others, a new play by Richard Nelson. The play, which was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, is directed by David Cromer and opens Monday, May 6. Check out photos of the cast in action below...

Lincoln Center Theater previously announced that Betsy Aidem, Blair Brown, Michael Cerveris, Anthony Cochrane, Lauren Culpepper, Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover, Jennifer B. Grace, Katie Kreisler, Stephen Kunken, Haviland Morris, Dale Place, John Procaccino, Gareth Saxe and Alan Schmuckler would be featured in the 18-member cast of its world premiere production of Nikolai And The Others, a new play by Richard Nelson. The play, which was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, will be directed by David Cromer and will begin performances tonight, April 4 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Opening night is Monday, May 6.

Lincoln Center Theater has just announced that Betsy Aidem, Blair Brown, Michael Cerveris, Anthony Cochrane, Lauren Culpepper, Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover, Jennifer B. Grace, Katie Kreisler, Stephen Kunken, Haviland Morris, Dale Place, John Procaccino, Garth Saxe and Alan Schmuckler will be featured in the 18-member cast of its upcoming world premiere production of Nikolai And The Others, a new play by Richard Nelson.

The Acting Company will present a benefit staged reading of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer at 7 pm on Monday, February 13 at the Mainstage Theater Playwrights Horizons. The performance, starring Dana Ivey The Help, Importance of Being Earnest, Rebecca Brooksher The Good Wife, Betsy Aidem Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling, Chad Hoeppner Come Back Little Sheba, Butley Neal Huff When I Come to Die, The Little Dog Laughed and Pamela Nyberg Doubt tour will be followed by a reception with the cast and director, Jodie Markell The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond. Ms. Ivey serves on the Board of The Acting Company Chad Hoeppner and Pamela Nyberg are both Acting Company Alumni Members. Tickets 35 are available from 212-258-3111.

Title: The Bleeding House Director: Philip Gelatt Starring: Alexandra Chando (‘As The World Turns’), Patrick Breen (‘Men in Black’) and Betsy Aidem (‘Far From Heaven’) While his characters are trying to run from their past, first time director and screenwriter Philip Gelatt is trying to pave the way for his filmmaking future with his debut movie, ‘The Bleeding House.’ The horror thriller, which had a successful run at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, strives to create an original idea about the fear people have when dealing with their past actions in a genre that’s success is based on purely violent sequels and remakes. While Gelatt deserves credit for striving to...

Around a month ago (almost to the day), we brought you the trailer premiere of Philip Gelatt's The Bleeding House, which will be released nationwide via video-on-demand under the “Tribeca Film” banner simultaneously with the start of the Festival on April 20th, and now folks, we've got a pretty cool retro poster for you to dig on.

From April 20 through June 23, The Bleeding House will be available in more than 40 million homes via cable, telco and satellite systems. Additionally, the Tribeca Film platform will be available on the web via digital VOD services. Viewers will be able to access Tribeca Film titles via the “Tribeca Film” category of video-on-demand menus, via pay-per-view offerings and via other branded destinations online.

“We are excited to be able to present a spectrum of specialty films that will simultaneously premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and on demand in over 40 million homes, giving...

More good news for folks unable to head to New York for the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival: Philip Gelatt's The Bleeding House will be released nationwide via video-on-demand under the “Tribeca Film” banner simultaneously with the start of the Festival on April 20.

From April 20 through June 23, The Bleeding House will be available in more than 40 million homes via cable, telco and satellite systems. Additionally, the Tribeca Film platform will be available on the web via digital VOD services. Viewers will be able to access Tribeca Film titles via the “Tribeca Film” category of video-on-demand menus, via pay-per-view offerings and via other branded destinations online.

“We are excited to be able to present a spectrum of specialty films that will simultaneously premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and on demand in over 40 million homes, giving those not at the Festival in NY a chance to enjoy these quality films,” said Geoff Gilmore,...

Yes, here are more photos and a trailer from another entry in the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival's Cinemania program. You can't say we didn't warn you! Prepare to enter The Bleeding House from writer/director Philip Gelatt.

Synopsis:

Meet the Smiths — a family full of secrets who keep to themselves on a back road outside a small Midwestern town. In this visceral, tightly wound horror/thriller, their lives are shaken when a sweet-talking Texan arrives on their doorstep on a mission for retribution. Will he succeed in his goal to bleed them of their sins, or will the family’s haunted past prove to be even more deadly than he bargained for?

The Bleeding House, starring Patrick Breen, Alexandra Chando, and Betsy Aidem, is another one of the nine titles Tribeca Film plans to release theatrically, on video-on-demand, and via other platforms throughout the coming year (click here for more info...

Tribeca Enterprises today announced that Tribeca Film will expand to commercially release 26 films over the next year, more than double the number of titles released in 2010. The comprehensive distribution label for independent film also announced that it acquired U.S. rights to nine new titles to be released across multiple platforms, including three horror projects we know our readers will be interested in.

Following its launch in March 2010, Tribeca Film has grown to a year-round, full-service distribution label that delivers quality independent films to audiences through innovative strategies bolstered by its partnership with American Express. Tribeca Film’s significant expansion is highlighted by Tribeca’s continued relationship with Comcast, one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment and supporter of independent film.

Tribeca Film plans to release the following titles theatrically, on video-on-demand and via other platforms throughout the coming year (details are provided below on the genre projects):

The Bleeding House.