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Manhattan Theatre Club has announced initial casting for the world premiere of The Balusters, by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. The Balusters will feature Drama Desk Award winner Marylouise Burke as Penny Bewell, Emmy Award nominee Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Brooks Duncan, Drama Desk Award nominee Margaret Colin as Ruth Ackerman, Tony and Grammy Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry as Kyra Marshall, and Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas as Elliott Emerson, with...

Renée Elise Goldsberry, Richard Thomas and Carl Clemons-Hopkins will star on Broadway in the world premiere of The Balusters.

The play, written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, will also star Marylouise Burke (True West) and Margaret Colin (Carousel), with more casting to be announced.

Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, King James) directs the show, which is set to open in spring 2026 at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Goldsberry returns to Broadway after starring in Netflix’s Girls5eva and rising to fame in the original cast of Hamilton, where she won a Tony and Grammy Award. Thomas, known for his role as John-Boy Walton in the television series The Waltons, as well as Ozark and The Americans, recently starred on Broadway in Leon’s Our Town, and starred as Atticus Finch in the touring production of To Kill A Mockingbird.

The world premiere production of The Balusters by Kimberly Akimbo writer David Lindsay-Abaire has been added to Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2025-2026 season, joining the previously announced Broadway premiere of James Graham’s acclaimed Punch.

The Balusters, to be directed by Kenny Leon, will open at Mtc’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in spring 2026 (Punch opens there in the fall). Lindsay-Abaire won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Rabbit Hole, a Manhattan Theatre Club production.

Mtc today also announced an Off Broadway addition to its 2025-2026 season: A newly imagined version of Queens by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living), to be directed by Trip Cullman with an opening in fall 2025 Off-Broadway at NY City Center Stage I. Queens joins Mtc’s spring 2026 Off Broadway production The Monsters, written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu in a co-production with Two River Theater.

Additional productions for Mtc’s 2025-26 season will be announced soon.

Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire is bringing a new play to Broadway next season.

The play, The Balusters, will make its world premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in spring 2026. Kenny Leon, who directed Our Town and Othello on Broadway this season, will helm the production.

The Balusters follows the neighborhood association in a small community which is upended by a newcomer who suggests installing a stop sign on the community’s most beautiful block.

Lindsay-Abaire’s previous plays at Manhattan Theatre Club have included the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole, the Tony Award-nominated Good People, Ripcord, Wonder of the World, Fuddy Meers and Kimberly Akimbo. Lindsay-Abaire later adapted the play version of Kimberly Akimbo into the Tony Award-winning musical, alongside Jeanine Tesori.

“Manhattan Theatre Club has been my artistic home since I was a baby-playwright, so of course I’m thrilled to be back with The Balusters,...

Long Day’s Journey into Night unfolds within a single April day in 1912, as the Tyrone family convenes in their Connecticut seaside retreat. Morning light filters through lace curtains (ghostly in its delicacy), hinting at both renewal and decay. Jonathan Kent adapts Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize–winning drama with minimal fanfare: David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay preserves the play’s structural integrity while allowing microexpressions to carry seismic emotional weight.

Cinematographer Mark Wolf frames each encounter with a stillness that feels almost surgical, positioning Mary (Jessica Lange), James (Ed Harris), Jamie (Ben Foster) and Edmund (Colin Morgan) in tableaux where silent glances speak volumes. Ilan Eshkeri’s sparse score—or absence thereof—amplifies ambient creaks and a distant foghorn, rendering the house a character itself.

Lange’s Mary drifts between lucid charm and opioid-tinted disorientation, while Harris’s James masks paternal regret beneath a veneer of theatrical pride. Foster’s...

Hugh Jackman’s Easter Bunny movie, Rise of the Guardians, Hits Top 10 (Photo Credit – Netflix)

Easter just passed, and right on schedule, a fantasy film featuring the Easter Bunny hopped its way to the number three spot globally on Netflix. It even made the top 10 in 41 countries! The film is an animated adventure titled Rise of the Guardians, starring Hugh Jackman. Interestingly, though, India wasn’t one of the countries where it cracked the top 10 list.

Interestingly, major English-speaking countries like the US and the UK didn’t have the film in their top 10 lists either. Over in Europe, though, it showed up in places like Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and a few others, pretty much all across the region, except France.

In the North American region, Mexico saw it rise in the charts. Countries like Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and others featured it in their top 10 in South America.

Jonathan Kent’s feature film adaptation of Long Day’s Journey Into Night begins, as the famous Eugene O’Neill play usually does, at breakfast. James Tyrone (Ed Harris) and his wife Mary (Jessica Lange) are enjoying some idle morning chitchat in their seaside Connecticut home, discussing trivial things like the foghorn that blared all through the previous night. They’re soon joined by their two sons, Jamie (Ben Foster) and Edmund (Colin Morgan), who quickly liven up the conversation by throwing a few gentle jibes at their father. “The joke is always at the old man’s expense,” James complains, perhaps only half-seriously.

The entirety of the film takes place at the Tyrone house, following these four characters over the course of a single day. At breakfast they seem the picture of a happy family, yet the camera keeps finding little signs that something isn’t right. Often it will...

On the eve of EFM in Berlin, Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired international sales rights to the new feature adaptation of the Eugene O’Neill stage classic Long Day’s Journey Into Night starring Ed Harris and Jessica Lange.

Jonathan Kent, the acclaimed British theatre and opera director and former joint artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, makes his feature debut and directed from an adapted screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire, who scripted Rabbit Hole. Kent directed Lange in the 2016 Broadway production.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night will screen for buyers in Berlin and receives its world premiere at Dublin International Film...

Comedy has always been an extremely popular genre of cinema. It has consistently offered audiences a chance to laugh and escape from the troubles of daily life, with both slapstick classics and witty, dialogue-driven powerhouses achieving similar, dopamine-rushed results. Humor driven films have produced timeless gems that continue to resonate today, with few cinematic genres boasting such a rewarding appeal. As the world has just recently been greeted by 2025, now is the perfect moment to revisit some of the best comedy movies of all time that have just celebrated their 20-year milestone of life after release.

Comedy in 2005 was an era of its own. It rolled out numerous effective gut-busters while also flexing its deep variety, as shown through films like Wedding Crashers, Robots, and The Longest Yard. These films not only brought laughter but also checked off different boxes of comedy, striking an imperative balance between clever humor and heartfelt moments.

Nicole Kidman could be on the verge of receiving her sixth acting Oscar bid for the upcoming A24 erotic thriller “Babygirl,” directed by Halina Reijn, best known for the indie film “Bodies Bodies Bodies” (2022). With the movie already making its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and Kidman taking home the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, let’s take a closer look at her five previous Oscar nominations, including her one win.

Her first recognition came for the Baz Luhrmann jukebox musical “Moulin Rouge” (2001), where Kidman portrayed a cabaret performer and courtesan in love with an English poet. It is certainly one of her most physical performances, as she performs extravagant musical numbers and showcases strong emotions as her character Satine suffers through an illness. Kidman won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and was part of the movie’s eight Oscar nominations,...

The 2000s was a great decade for the fantasy genre. Not only did you have landmark franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter make their mark, but audiences also got to appreciate gems like Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. It is hard to think of another era that had so many remarkable series and films in the genre that still garners acclaim today. At the same time, with the genre thriving, you had many trying to capitalize and falling short, such as The Gold Compass and Treasure Planet being significant box office flops.

One movie that fell short of expectations was 2008's Inkheart, not making back its budget at the theater, and seeing the scores of critics. However, with the movie now on Max, fantasy fans have been giving the movie a second chance. We will examine the Brendan Fraser-led fantasy,...

Ever since breaking out in Hollywood as Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, Hugh Jackman has become a blockbuster star who has continuously gotten audiences' attention. People have flocked to the theaters to see what the Australian actor will do next. While X-Men and its many succeeding installments are his most famous works, Jackman's resume also includes musicals, animated films, and acclaimed dramas.

Even though he retired from the role of Wolverine in Logan, Jackman will still be returning as the iconic superhero in Deadpool & Wolverine, a movie that is set to make huge waves at the box office. Some reports even say the film could cross $1 billion and become Jackman's highest-grossing film. With him and Ryan Reynolds leading the project, the probability of that happening is very high. Even if none of his works have reached the $1 billion mark yet, Jackman's career is full of financially successful movies.

Rise of The Guardians...

Free-spirited mom. Strict mother. Abused wife. Boozing adulteress. Mousy governess. Strong-willed nomad. With her talent for deadpan delivery and with one of the most expressive faces in the industry, Frances McDormand has created a treasure trove of complex and diverse characters over the past 40 years, earning numerous accolades along the way.

McDormand was born Cynthia Ann Smith on June 23, 1957, and was adopted when she was a year-and-a-half old and renamed Frances Louise McDormand. After studying theater, including receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale School of Drama, she quickly made a name for herself on stage, as well as in film and television.

In 1984, McDormand made her film debut in “Blood Simple,” the first film made by her new husband Joel Coen and his brother Ethan Coen. She has collaborated with the brothers in seven other films, including her first Oscar-winning performance in “Fargo” (1996). In addition to her film work,...

Holland Taylor and Ana Villafañe will star in the Off Broadway world premiere of Mario Correa’s new play N/A this summer, playing congresswomen of different generations in a production directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus.

Taylor will play “N,” the first woman Speaker of the House, and Villafañe will portray “A,” the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. The play is described as being inspired by real people and events, and although producers did not name names the descriptions more-than-strongly suggest Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

N/A will begin previews on Tuesday, June 11, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, with opening night on Sunday, June 23.

The official synopsis reads, “N/A is a whip smart battle of wills – and wits – between N, the first woman Speaker of the House, and A, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Inspired by real people and events,...

Every actor probably has a great story about how they got into the business, or some anecdote concerning what landed them their first big gig. Miles Teller has an unbelievable tale that led to his first feature film role in the 2010 tearjerker drama Rabbit Hole, adapted from the 2006 Broadway play by David Lindsay-Abaire. The movie stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as two parents struggling to deal with the loss of their 4-year-old son. But it's a shaggy-haired, chubby-faced very young-looking 23-year-old Teller that steals the show. Both his performance as Jason, which established him as a legitimate dramatic actor, and the way he landed the part are worthy of attention. Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction, and the unbelievable yarn is just as worthy as the nuanced and layered performance he delivers in the movie. Let's begin with the most unlikely coincidences that landed him on the big screen,...

A new chapter in the “Kung Fu Panda” saga has been unleashed upon movie patrons. This film is accurately called Kung Fu Panda 4 and comes eight years after 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3. This adventure, however, seems to be less a solid entry in the series and more of an example of the law of diminishing returns as it enjoys its best moments harkening back to earlier films in the series.

Po (Jack Black) faces his most difficult challenge yet as he is told he must retire from fighting as the Dragon Warrior and focus on more spiritual endeavors. For Po, however, this is problematic for two reasons: 1) first, he does not feel qualified to ascend to any sort of spiritual leadership and instead prefers to stick to “kicking butt” and, 2) he must find and train an apprentice to replace himself as the new Dragon Warrior to protect the Valley of Peace.

The first trailer for Wicked received criticism from fans for its visuals, specifically the CGI and color grading. The concerns about Wicked are justified when looking back at the visually pleasing 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful. There is still time for the post-production team to address the visual concerns and make changes to the film before its release in late 2024.

The Wicked trailer received some criticism from fans regarding its visuals, and unfortunately, one 2013 movie justifies their concerns. The 2024 musical fantasy film, directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman, is based on Stephen Schwartz and Holzman's stage musical of the same name. Wicked chronicles the origin story of Elphaba, or the Wicked Witch of the West, and tells her side of the tale. Due to the story's setting and characters, the cast and crew had to rely heavily on CGI and special effects for the film,...

Gyllenhaal's alleged behavior on set caused the indie film Suddenly to fall apart, according to director Thomas Bidegain. The film project changed because Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby had different visions for the film during script readings in Iceland. Bidegain faced challenges working with an actor-producer who didn't share the same vision as the director, highlighting differences between French and American filmmaking.

Jake Gyllenhaal isn't really known for displaying erratic behavior on set, but according to director Thomas Bidegain, who was in the middle of working with the actor on the indie film Suddenly, the project all fell apart because of that very reason.

During a recent interview with Technikart, via Cbr, filmmaker Bidegain appeared to reveal that his film Soudain Seuls, which was recently released, was supposed to star Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby, who previously worked together in 2015's Everest. The project was to feature the pair as a couple...

Director Bidegain reveals why Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby left the movie Suddenly: they had different visions for the film's message. Bidegain's account contradicts reports of Gyllenhaal's inappropriate behavior on set, but he does confirm that creative differences led to their departure. The movie was retooled with new actors and released as the French-language film Soudain Seuls, while Gyllenhaal and Kirby moved on to other successful projects.

The director of Suddenly is being candid about why Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby left the project. The movie was meant to be based on Isabelle Autissier's Soudain Seuls and would have told a story of two lovers desperately trying to survive on an isolated island. As director Thomas Bidegain is known for his French movies, Gyllenhaal's project was meant to be his first English film. Instead, reports of poor on-set behavior slowly emerged, before Kirby and Gyllenhaal both quietly left the movie,...

French director Thomas Bidegain is setting the record straight about Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby’s exit from his project “Suddenly.”

An interview with Bidegain that ran last week in the French magazine Technikart got international attention, with the headline “Four Days to Bury a Movie.” The interview suggested that Gyllenhaal and Kirby had left the film in the last stretch of pre-production in Iceland, which resulted in a loss of $26 million.

According to the story, Gyllenhaal dove into the freezing ocean, demanded multiple rewrites and rehearsed scenes in a mocking “Pepe Le Pew-like accent.” Though Bidegain wouldn’t address those specific claims, he tells Variety that he parted ways with Gyllenhaal and Kirby over a creative clash, rather than unprofessional behavior on Gyllenhaal’s part. He also claims that, contrary to what is suggested in the French article, the company which financed “Suddenly,” Studiocanal, didn’t lose $26 million because...

Kimberly Akimbo, the 2023 Tony Award winner for best musical, will be closing on April 28.

The musical, which also took home four other Tony Awards, has been running at the Booth Theatre on Broadway since October 2022, after making its world premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway in 2021. The entire original cast from the Off-Broadway run, including Tony Award winners Victoria Clark and Bonnie Milligan, has remained with the show throughout its run and will remain for the final performance.

A national tour is scheduled to follow starting in September.

The musical, which features a book by David Lindsay-Abaire and a score by Jeanine Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire, follows Kimberly (played by Clarke), a 16-year-old girl with a rare genetic condition that causes her to age rapidly, as she navigates a complicated family life and tries to fit in amongst her peers. The show was adapted from a 2001 play by Lindsay-Abaire.

In addition to Clarke,...

Kimberly Akimbo, winner of five 2023 Tony Awards including Best Musical, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, April 28, producers announced today.

Remarkably for Broadway, the entire original company, which has been performing together since the musical’s Off Broadway world premiere in 2021, has continued, and will continue, with the production through its final performance.

The universally acclaimed musical, which finds humor, heartbreak and hope in the tale of a teenage girl with a rare (and fictional) rapid-aging genetic condition that likely will take her life before she finishes her adolescence, opened on Broadway November 10, 2022, following its world premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company in November 2021.

Upon closing, Kimberly Akimbo will have played 32 previews and 612 performances on Broadway. The musical will kick off a 75-week, 60-city national tour at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts this September. (The touring cast has not been announced.)

Though the production grossed a...

"They're here."

With those two words, the nebulous world of the supernatural, the ominous ambiguity of the paranormal, and the deep-seated terror that is inherent in the concept of ghosts were perfectly summed up by 1982's "Poltergeist." Despite the film being over 40 years old, it still holds up as one of the most modern movies about the paranormal ever made. Sure, there had been films about ghosts and hauntings before, but many of these tended to be set in remote, antiquated locations such as spooky old mansions and abandoned homes on a hill. More than even the well-regarded visual effects, the biggest innovation of "Poltergeist" is its quintessentially American suburban setting, the inherent message being that ghosts aren't merely sequestered in places that average people would never dare go; instead, they exist right next to us.

Released during the busy summer of '82, "Poltergeist" more than held its own, making $121.7 million over a $10.7 million budget.

According to the current combined predictions of Gold Derby users, reigning Tony champ “Kimberly Akimbo” is the frontrunner to win this year’s Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album with 10/3 odds. So far within this century 10 shows that won Tonys for both Best Musical and Best Score also came out on top at the Grammys. Among them are “The Producers,” “Hairspray,” “Spring Awakening,” “In the Heights,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Kinky Boots,” “Hamilton,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Band’s Visit” and “Hadestown.” Will that trend continue this year?

SEEGrammys flashback: Revisiting The Weeknd’s notorious, confounding 2021 snub

“Kimberly Akimbo” features a score by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire. Tesori has been nominated five times before but still has yet to win. Those previous bids were for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in 2003 (lost to “Hairspray”), “Shrek the Musical” in 2010 (lost to “West Side Story”), “Fun Home” in 2016 (lost to “Hamilton”), “Soft Power” in...

For the second consecutive year, Broadway cast albums made a clean sweep of the Grammy nominations for Best Musical Theater Album, shutting out both the West End and Off Broadway.

Competing for the 2023 Grammy will be Kimberly Akimbo, Parade, Shucked, Some Like It Hot and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Three of the five nominees are new shows, while two – Parade and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – are revivals.

With today’s announcement, the Grammys reprise last summer’s Tony Awards, when all five of the productions made strong showing in both nominations and wins. At the Tonys, Kimberly Akimbo won top honors for Best Musical and Best Original Score, while Parade was named Best Musical Revival – three wins that might be most relevant as a Grammy predictor.

Still, the Tonys also awarded performances from Some Like It Hot and Shucked – Kimberly Akimbo‘s Victoria Clark and Bonnie Milligan took the Actress nominations in those categories – while Parade‘s Michael Arden was honored for his direction. David Lindsay-Abaire won Best Book for Kimberly Akimbo.

Like last year, all five of the nominees are Broadway cast albums, bucking a previous nomination trend that saw strong showings from both London, Off Broadway and even a concept album from a TikTok musical (the 2022 winner The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical).

Related: 2023-24 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

Even in years when the nominations are more representative of theater both Broadway and non-Broadway, the Grammy winner almost always is a Broadway cast album, Bridgerton being the notable exception. The 2023 winner was the revival of Into The Woods, which began life Off Broadway as an Encores! presentation but took the Grammy for the recording of its subsequent Broadway staging.

Also worth noting: Of the five 2024 nominees, one has already closed (the limited engagement of Parade starring Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond), two will definitely be closed by the time the winners are announced on Feb. 4; and one – Sweeney Todd – will have lost its original leads (the final performances of Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford are January 14; Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster step in beginning February 9 for 12 weeks only).

The 2024 Best Musical Theater Album nominees, as listed by the Grammys, are:

Kimberly Akimbo – John Clancy, David Stone & Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; David Lindsay-Abaire, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Parade – Micaela Diamond, Alex Joseph Grayson, Jake Pedersen & Ben Platt, principal vocalists; Jason Robert Brown & Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer & lyricist (2023 Broadway Cast)

Shucked – Brandy Clark, Jason Howland, Shane McAnally & Billy Jay Stein, producers; Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)

Some Like It Hot – Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks & NaTasha Yvette Williams, principal vocalists; Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Scott M. Riesett, Charlie Rosen & Marc Shaiman, producers; Scott Wittman, lyricist; Marc Shaiman, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street – Annaleigh Ashford & Josh Groban, principal vocalists; Thomas Kail & Alex Lacamoire, producers (2023 Broadway Cast)...

When it comes to the most disappointing comic book movies that were planned but never produced, which one tops the list? Is it Tim Burton’s Batman Continues? Guillermo del Toro’s Doctor Strange? Perhaps JJ Abrams’ Superman: Flyby? Nah, there’s only one correct answer: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, a movie that continues to breathe potential

flickers of life nearly 15 years after it was declared dead by Sony Pictures. Indeed, with the exciting new announcement that Tobey Maguire’s version of Peter Parker may not be extinct after all, the real question of the day is, Wtf Happened to Sam Raimi’s unmade Spider-Man 4?

It all started in the spring of 2007. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 opened in theaters on May 4, 2007, and obliterated the box office competition, turning an estimated $250 million budget into a massive $894 million worldwide moneymaker. Yet, despite the tepid reception from critics and fans...

New York city certainly hasn’t been immune to the effects of the strikes. But while Hollywood has largely been at a standstill, major players in theater, music, sports and tech have been as busy as ever. In The Hollywood Reporter’s NYC spotlight, meet the 25 attorneys handling big-ticket catalog deals, navigating AI copyright fights, buying and selling sports teams, and helping clients chase Broadway dreams.

Profiles by Winston Cho, Kirsten Chuba, Mesfin Fekadu, Caitlin Huston, Katie Kilkenny, Sydney Odman and Alex Weprin.

Lisa Alter

Alter Kendrick & Baron

NYU School of Law

Selling off big-deal music catalogs has been a growing phenomenon, and Alter is helping her clients profit. She represented Primary Wave in buying a stake in the catalogs of The Doors and Huey Lewis and the News; BMG Rights Management in the acquisition of rights from Peter Frampton and The Hollies; and Influence Media Partners in acquiring...

Out of all the winners (and also-rans) in the 26 competitive categories at the 2023 Tony Awards, 34 results stand out as particularly noteworthy when considered in the context of history. So what were this year’s most interesting facts, records, and milestones? Check out the complete list of winners here.

1. The productions that received multiple Tony nominations, but went home empty-handed were “& Juliet,” “Ain’t No Mo’,” “Between Riverside and Crazy” “Camelot,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Cost of Living,” “Death of a Salesman,” “A Doll’s House,” “Fat Ham,” “Into the Woods,” “Kpop,” and “The Piano Lesson.”

2. This year marked the first time a Broadway production of “Into the Woods” didn’t win a single Tony. The original won three awards in 1987 for Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), Best Book of a Musical (James Lapine), and Best Original Score (Stephen Sondheim). The 2002 remounting won two for Best Revival of a Musical...

On Sunday night, Broadway honored the best live theater of the year at the 76th annual Tony Awards.

At a time of the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, it was a possibility that the ceremony would not happen this year, but the WGA and the Tony Awards’ organizers reached an agreement where the show would not be picketed and the writers would not work on the telecast. The previous time this occurred was in 1988 when Phantom of the Opera and Into the Woods competed for Best Musical.

The Tonys was the first major ceremony to take place amid the current writers’ strike. While other awards shows need a host and numerous presenters to say written remarks about the competitors and provide good ratings, the Tonys already have a built-in fan base that only requires around a dozen performances and winners’ speeches to succeed.

Ariana DeBose returned as the host,...

A show about a 16-year-old girl with an affliction that causes her to age four times as fast as normal? Or about a Jewish family in the decades leading up to the Holocaust? Or about antisemitism in early 1900s Georgia?

Those are the loglines of three of the four shows that were awarded top prizes at Sunday night’s 76th Tony Awards — best musical winner Kimberly Akimbo, best play winner Leopoldstadt and best musical revival winner Parade, respectively. (The fourth, best play revival winner Topdog/Underdog, closed back in January.)

Needless to say, they aren’t exactly easy sells on paper, and haven’t proven to be blockbusters on Broadway. But voters strongly embraced them anyway — not only as a way of celebrating acclaimed work, but also, one can reasonably assume, as a way of putting a little wind behind their sails (and sales) by providing some eye-catching material for their marquees and advertisements.

The 2023 Tony Awards just honored a fresh group of incredible talents. Trophies were handed out at the United Palace Theater in NYC on June 11. This year's big winners include "Killing Eve" star Jodie Comer for her role in "Prima Facie," the play "Leopoldstadt," and the musical "Kimberly Akimbo."

"Shucked" star Alex Newell and "Some Like It Hot" star J. Harrison Ghee also made history as they became the award show's first openly nonbinary acting winners. The Tony Awards do not have gender-neutral acting categories. Newell, an alum of "The Glee Project," took home the award for featured actor in a musical. Ghee also won in their category, best actor in a musical.

The annual theater award ceremony was hosted by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, who is emceeing without a script amid the 2023 writers strike.

Ahead, these are the 2023 Tony winners.

Best Musical

"& Juliet"

Winner: "Kimberly Akimbo"

"New York, New York...

Kimberly Akimbo was the big winner at the 76th annual Tony Awards, which were handed out Sunday night in New York. It won five awards including Best Musical and Lead Actress for Victoria Clark.

Related: Tony Awards Review & Recap: A Writer-Less Ceremony Goes Off Without A Hitch As Broadway Improvises A Winner

Leopoldstadt won four Tonys including Best Play, tying for second-most with Some Like It Hot. See the full list of winners below.

Julie Comer and (Prima Facie) and J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) took Lead Actress and Actor in a Musical, respectively, and Sean Hayes won Lead Actor in a Play for Good Night, Oscar, which was that shows lone win – as was Comer’s for Prima Facie.

Related: Tony Awards 2023: The Best Of The Red Carpet

Eleven Tonys were presented during the hour-plus preshow, and 15 more are were doled out in primetime. Oscar...

The 2023 Tony Awards swiftly moved through this year’s ceremony unscripted amid the ongoing writers strike.

The two unscripted telecasts (which included a preshow on Pluto and the main telecast on CBS) appeared to go smoothly, thanks to quick speeches and introductions, historic wins for Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee, live musical performances and an undercurrent of dance that propelled the action forward. Among the top honors, Kimberly Akimbo won best musical, Leopoldstadt won best play, Parade won best revival of a musical, and Hollywood names such as Jodie Comer and Sean Hayes took home trophies. And it even ended on time.

Host Ariana DeBose acknowledged the unusual task of running an unscripted show in her opening number, which began by zooming in on a binder that read “script,” but was filled with blank pages. She then danced her way through the hallways of the United Palace theater in Washington Heights,...

The 76th Tony Awards took place on Sunday, June 11 in a two-part telecast staged at the United Palace in Washington Heights. Nominations were announced on May 2, 2023. Of the 38 eligible productions from the 2022-2023 Broadway season, 29 reaped bids across 26 competitive categories.

13 of the 15 eligible musicals and musical revivals earned at least one nomination. A new stage adaptation of the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot” leads all productions with 13 nominations. Its tally includes a nomination for the top honor of Best Musical and four bids for its performers. Three other new musicals are tied for second place with nine nominations: “& Juliet,” “New York, New York,” and “Shucked,” all earning Best Musical bids. Best musical frontrunner “Kimberly Akimbo” nabbed eight total bids. Of the six eligible Musical Revivals, the late Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” leads with eight, including Best Revival and three acting nominations; “Parade” and...

Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, May 2 by Lea Michele and Myles Frost. While the nominations for the 76th annual Tony Awards were determined by 40 theatre professionals, winners were decided by over 750 members of the Broadway community.

A whopping 38 shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there were 17 original works and six revivals in the running for nominations. Over on the musical side, nine new tuners were in contention for bids as were six musical revivals. The cutoff date for eligibility was April 27.

The Tony Awards are set for June 12 at United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights and will be hosted for the second year in a row by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose. The earlier “Act One” ceremony will be hosted by Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin.

Musicals

Best Musical

& Juliet

X — Kimberly Akimbo

New York, New York

Shucked

Some Like It Hot...

If you manage to go in blind to “Eric Larue,” the directorial debut of actor Michael Shannon, you might think the titular character is dead. His parents, Janice and Ron, go through the motions of their everyday routines with a gaping hole in their emotional lives. It feels a bit like the somber sadness of “Rabbit Hole,” the Nicole Kidman-starring adaptation of the David Lindsay-Abaire play about the grief over a lost child.

Continue reading ‘Eric Larue’ Review: Michael Shannon’s Directorial Debut Gives Judy Greer the Spotlight She Deserves [Tribeca] at The Playlist.

New musical “Kimberly Akimbo” will win the most Tony Awards, according to our official odds in all 26 categories. The latest from Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and six-time Tony-nominated lyricist and librettist David Lindsay-Abaire about a teenage girl, Kimberly Levaco, living with a rare genetic condition and a zest for life will take home six awards, besting by two its closest musical competitor “Some Like It Hot” and the epic stage adaptation of “Life of Pi,” which will both claim four.

These official odds for the Tonys are derived from the predictions of our Experts who write about theatre year-round, our in-house team of Editors, the Top 24 Users who did the best predicting last year’s ceremony, the All-Star Top 24 who have the highest scores when you combine predictions from the last two years, and all our Users who make up the largest and often savviest bloc of predictors.

Below, we...

The Rise of the Guardians voice cast is full of recognizable A-list actors. Released in 2012, Rise of the Guardians is a DreamWorks animated feature that revolves around the Avengers of childhood heroes: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman. The Guardians reluctantly team up with Jack Frost to prevent the villainous Pitch Black from destroying the world with darkness. The screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole playwright David Lindsay-Abaire is adapted from the book series The Guardians of Childhood and William Joyce’s short film The Man in the Moon.

Rise of the Guardians marked the feature-length directorial debut of Peter Ramsey, who later rose to prominence with his Oscar-winning work as the co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Although it was a box office disappointment (via Vulture), Rise of the Guardians was well-received by critics, who praised its heart and imagination. The film earned nominations...

Ahead of the 76th Tony Awards, which will be held at the United Palace in New York City on June 11, The Hollywood Reporter gathered six of the 2022-23 Broadway season’s most distinguished acting nominees at Pmc’s Manhattan headquarters for our annual Tony Nominees Roundtable.

This year, in addition to discussing the challenges and rewards of working on the Great White Way generally and in their nominated parts specifically, we delved into the ways in which the writers strike is impacting the Tonys, whether the theater community should demand a more humane schedule of performances, what audience members do that drives them mad, and much more.

Two of the participants — the most senior and the most junior — already have a Tony on their mantelpiece: Victoria Clark, 63, a best actress in a musical nominee for Kimberly Akimbo, was nominated on four prior occasions as well, winning best actress in a...

Victoria Clark and Jessica Stone met in 1996 when both were appearing on Broadway in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying – Clark had originated the revival’s role of Smitty and Stone replaced Megan Mullally as Rosemary. The friendship would prove both lasting and fruitful.

Twenty-seven years later, the two are nominated for Tony Awards, Clark for her starring performance as the title character in Kimberly Akimbo, and Stone for directing it. The musical, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, has been championed by critics and audiences since premiering Off Broadway two years ago, and its transfer to Broadway last October was no less the talk of New York theater.

The premise is as unlikely as it is captivating. Based on Lindsay-Abaire’s non-musical 2001 play of the same name, Kimberly Akimbo tells the story of, as the show’s official synopsis puts it,...

The 2023 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, May 2. Out of all the nominees spread across the 26 categories, a number of them stand out as particularly noteworthy. Read my 31 fascinating facts, stats and trivia for this year’s contenders below.

See 2023 Tony Awards nominations: Full List

1. The following shows only received one Tony nomination: “Almost Famous,” “Ohio State Murders,” and “Summer, 1976.”

2. The following Broadway productions from this past season were completely snubbed: “1776,” “Bad Cinderella,” “A Beautiful Noise,” “Bob Fosse’s Dancin’,” “The Collaboration,” “The Kite Runner,” “Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool,” “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” “Pictures From Home,” “The Thanksgiving Play,” and “Walking with Ghosts.”

3. Two of this year’s nominees for Best Revival of a Musical (“Into the Woods” and “Parade”) are transfers from successful runs at New York City Center.

4. Some noteworthy names who happen to be nominated for producing at least one Broadway...

On Tuesday, performers Lea Michele and Myles Frost presented the nominees for the 76th annual Tony Awards live on “CBS This Morning” before finishing the list from the heart of Broadway at the Sofitel New York.

Recognizing the best in live theatre, the Tony Awards cap off a strong year for Broadway, which bounced back during the 2022-2023 season with a number of acclaimed and groundbreaking productions. In total, there were 38 eligible shows, including 17 original plays and nine new musicals as well as six play revivals and six musical revivals.

Earning the most of any production, Some Like It Hot came out on top, with a total of 13 nominations. The most nominated play, meanwhile, is Ain’t No Mo’, which garnered six. Additionally, Sweeney Todd and A Doll’s House were the two most recognized revivals of the year, collecting eight and six nominations, respectively.

When it comes to the acting prizes,...

The 2023 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, May 2 by Lea Michele and Myles Frost. The reveal of the roster of contenders was carried on the Tonys YouTube channel. While the nominations for the 76th annual Tony Awards were determined by a few dozen theater professionals, winners will be decided by upwards of 800 members of the Broadway community.

A whopping 38 shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there are 17 original works and six revivals in the running. Over on the musical side, nine 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 12 at United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights and will be hosted for the second year in a row by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.

The 2023 Tony Awards nominations list below includes all 26 competitive categories.

Musicals

Best Musical

& Juliet

Kimberly Akimbo

New York,...

“I don’t think I’m done creating this part! It’s still an exploration,” reveals Victoria Clark in reference to the title character of “Kimberly Akimbo.” In this new musical from Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire, Clark portrays a teenage girl with a genetic disease that causes her to age at four times the normal rate. That the Tony winner is still in a daily state of discovery with her performance is fitting given the complexity of the role, and the story’s challenge to the audience to stay in the present during the “Great Adventure” called life. “We have never done the same thing twice,” says Clark of the cast, “we get on the train and we really pay attention. We try to make it fresh.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

“It was a lot of trial and error,” admits Clark when asked about finding the nuances...

“What I find fun about these characters is how to make them human and as real as possible,” explains Bonnie Milligan. The actress is currently starring in the Broadway transfer of “Kimberly Akimbo” as Aunt Debra, a role she originated Off-Broadway to much acclaim. While Milligan displays her signature brand of comedy in the role, she is quick to point out that Debra is more than just a zany criminal with killer vocals. The performer is keen to bring out the complex intermingling of love and grief which define the character, and the musical as a whole. Watch the exclusive video interview above.

In this new musical from David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori, Milligan’s Debra arrives at her niece Kimberly’s (Victoria Clark) doorstep with her latest (and highly illegal) money making scheme. Kimberly, a 16 year old girl who appears closer to 70 thanks to a rare genetic disorder, is...

In the lead-up to Tony nominations being announced on May 2, Sam Eckmann and I are predicting 10 of the Musical categories, where new breakout shows like “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Some Like it Hot” and revivals of “Sweeney Todd” and “Into the Woods” will compete for the highest honors of the New York theatre community. Nominations will be announced on May 2 and winners will be revealed on June 11. Watch the full video slugfest above.

At the outset, I declare that I think “Kimberly Akimbo” will have “a sensational Tony night.” The new show by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire leads both of our predictions for the Best Musical prize, but we agree that “Some Like it Hot” will be a strong challenger. Sam describes it as “a ‘Hello Dolly!’ for the modern times,” noting how it’s both “super funny but also very poignant.”

As for Revival, Sam deems this contest “a...

Strap on your Laducas and warm up your best 16 bars. The 2023 Tony Awards nominations prediction center is open for business, and a medley of musicals are vying for a spot in this year’s competitive races. Fifteen musicals will compete for Broadway’s biggest honors, and it’s time for you to make your best educated picks as to which ones will rise to the top.

The fall and winter have already seen several new tuners make a play for the coveted Best Musical award. “Kimberly Akimbo” is the latest work from Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home”) and book writer/lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire. The story is adapted from Lindsay-Abaire’s straight play of the same name, which centers on the teenage Kimberly (Tony winner Victoria Clark) who has a rare disease that causes her body to age rapidly. The heartwarming and intimate show earned impressive reviews and has audiences swooning.

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Shrek the Musical" 

Where You Can Stream It: Prime Video, YouTube 

The Pitch: Full disclosure, I don't like "Shrek." The original 2001 film just never did it for me. Maybe it was the animation, maybe it was the aggressively anti-Disney overtones, maybe both. Eventually, DreamWorks won me over with "Shrek 2," which can only be described as a masterpiece, but that's not the second chance I want to talk about right now. We're here for "Shrek the Musical," a stage production that has no right being as good as it is, and how it got me invested in a smelly ogre's origin. The musical follows Shrek (Brian D'Arcy James) as he goes on a quest with Donkey (Daniel Breaker) to...

Barry Grove will step down as the Executive Producer of Manhattan Theatre Club, a major Broadway and Off Broadway institution, at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season.

In his 48 years collaborating with Mtc’s founder and Artistic Director Lynne Meadow, Grove has been a driving force in the production of nearly 450 American and world premieres, earning Mtc 28 Tony Awards, 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 50 Drama Desk Awards and numerous Obie, Outer Critics Circle, and other honors.

Among the productions staged by the subscription-based non-profit company in the decades under Grove and Meadow are seminal works by playwrights Alan Ayckbourn; Richard Greenberg, Harvey Fierstein, Paula Vogel, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Charlayne Woodard and Matthew Lopez, to name a few. Pulitzer Prize and Tony winners include Cost of Living by Martyna Majok (Pulitzer); Crimes of the Heart (Pulitzer) by Beth Henley; Doubt by John Patrick Shanley (Pulitzer and Tony); Love! Valour! Compassion! (Tony) by Terrence McNally; Rabbit...

Exclusive: MGM is repping sales on the new movie version of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, starring Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ben Foster and Colin Morgan.

As we reported Monday, filming has wrapped on the under-the-radar screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer prize-winning play.

Well known British theater and opera director, Jonathan Kent, has made his feature directorial debut on the project, which filmed in Ireland. Above is a first image from the production.

The project sees double Academy Award and five-time Golden Globe winner Lange reprise her 2016 Tony-winning Broadway role, also directed by Kent. She portrays the troubled, emotionally fragile and addiction-plagued Mary Tyrone. Four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris is her husband James, a celebrated actor but failed property magnate – and a man with fears and regrets deeply rooted in his impoverished beginnings.

Foster will play their wayward, charming and hard-drinking elder son, Jamie. And Colin...