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Despite being offered an eight-figure salary to reprise the role of Sheldon Cooper for additional seasons of The Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons chose to leave the sitcom for good. While several factors contributed to his decision to part ways with the sitcom, which was CBS’ biggest cash cow since its inception back in 2007, the actor did reprise his role for its spin-off show.

While some might assume it was hypocritical on the actor’s part, there’s actually a very good explanation behind Parson’s decision to return to the role in Young Sheldon.

Jim Parsons’ Decision To Join Young Sheldon Made Complete Sense Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper | Credit: CBS.

Considering Jim Parsons has been leading the sitcom since 2007, after 12 seasons, he was stern with his decision to leave The Big Bang Theory. Apart from his dog’s death, another factor that contributed to this decision was the death of his father,...

“Trolls Band Together” — the latest entry in DreamWorks Animation’s family friendly franchise — brings together some of the biggest names in movies and music.

Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick reprise their roles from the previous “Trolls” films as Branch and Poppy, respectively. The two are now officially a couple, but when Branch’s boyband past comes back to haunt him, the Trolls embark on another music- and fun-filled adventure.

Click here to find out where to watch “Trolls Band Together,” which opens Friday. And read on to find out who voices whom in the film:

Justin Timberlake as Branch

Branch is a Pop Troll and Poppy’s boyfriend. Branch was the youngest member of the pop band BroZone, where he went by the name Bitty B.

Timberlake is best known for being a member of the boy band Nsync before embarking on a solo career. His film credits include “The Social Network,...

Peter White, who starred in ABC’s “All My Children” from 1974-1980 as Lincoln Tyler, has died at the age of 86. White’s death was confirmed by his costar Kathleen Noone to multiple news outlets.

In addition to the soap opera White also starred in the stage and film adaptations of “The Boys in the Band” as well as the drama series “Sisters.” He also made appearances on “Ally McBeal,” “The X-Files,” “The West Wing,” “Jag,” and more.

White was the third actor to take on the role of Tyler. After leaving the role in 1980, he returned for short stints in 1981, 1984, 1986, 1995, and 2005.

He joined the off-Broadway cast of “The Boys in the Band” in 1968 as Alan McCarthy. The play is about a group of gay men who are attending a birthday party in Manhattan; at the end of the play, it is unclear if White’s character is gay.

The...

Peter White, the actor best known playing Lincoln Tyler on All My Children, has died. He was 86.

His death was confirmed to multiple reports by Kathleen Noone, who played Ellen Dalton on the former ABC sudser from 1978-2011.

White’s cause of death on Nov. 1 was melanoma.

The New York City-born actor joined the action in Pine Valley in 1976 and stayed on the soap on and off through 2005.

A graduate of Northwestern University from the School of Communications, White studied acting at the Yale School of Drama. He kicked off his prolific career on stage and was part of the original 1968 cast of the hit Off-Broadway play, “The Boys in the Band.”

He amassed multiple TV credits, including appearances in Cannon, Hill Street Blues, Falcon Crest, The Jeffersons, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, Simon & Simon, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, NYPD Blue, The West Wing and Ally McBeal. His film credits include Dave,...

Fred Gallo, a former assistant director on a slew of classic 1970s pictures who went on to become the president of production at Paramount, has died. He was 78 years old.

The Hollywood titan, who had worked on Oscar-winning gems like “The Godfather,” “Annie Hall” and “Rocky,” died on Sept. 7 at his Santa Ynez Valley home.

His family confirmed his passing, while Lee Rosenthal called him a “singular force in the industry.” Paramount and Nickolodean’s president of worldwide physical production said, in a statement obtained by TheWrap, that “beneath a formidable exterior was a big-hearted, one-man masterclass in filmmaking and production management.”

“Some of the most iconic movies of our time — ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Rocky’ and ‘Annie Hall,’ to name a few — are imprinted with Fred’s artistry,” Rosenthal stated. “He was a vestige of a time and place in Hollywood history, an early champion of inclusivity and a mentor to many.

Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer's romantic period drama already has us swooning, and it's not even out yet. The handsome actors star in the upcoming Showtime miniseries "Fellow Travelers," set in Washington DC in the 20th century and based on Thomas Mallon's novel of the same name. We've gotten a few glimpses at Bailey and Bomer as secret lovers, thanks to a brief teaser trailer released on June 1 and a sneak preview released on Sept. 19.

Bailey will portray Tim Laughlin, a young Fordham University graduate who's committed to his religious beliefs, while Bomer will play Hawkins Fuller, a charismatic State Department official who avoids relationships until meeting Tim. "Girls" alum Allison Williams is also set to star as Lucy Smith, the daughter of a senator and a longtime friend of Hawkins.

Showtime describes the eight-episode limited series as "an epic love story and political thriller, chronicling the clandestine...

Fred Gallo, who served as an assistant director on films including the Oscar best picture winners The Godfather, Rocky and Annie Hall before becoming a top production executive at Paramount Pictures, has died. He was 78.

Gallo died Sept. 7 after a long illness at his home in the Santa Ynez Valley, his family announced.

Gallo also earned producing credits on Floyd Mutrux’s American Hot Wax (1978), Martin Brest’s Going in Style (1979), James Caan’s Hide in Plain Sight (1980) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981).

After a run as a production vice president at Warner Bros., Gallo joined Paramount in 1993. He was promoted to executive vp feature production management in 1996 and worldwide president of features production management in 2001, overseeing day-to-day physical production for the studio through his retirement in 2005.

“Fred was a singular force in the industry,” Lee Rosenthal, president of worldwide physical production for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, said in a statement.

Turner Classic Movies will celebrate the life and career of director William Friedkin, who died on Aug. 7 at the age of 87.

On Thursday, Sept. 14, TCM will air three of Friedkin’s movies: The French Connection at 8 pm, followed by To Live and Die in L.A. (at 10 pm) and The Boys in the Band (at 12:15 am).

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The tribute continues on Sunday,...

Hollywood and movie fans mourned the passing of Oscar-winning filmmaker William Friedkin on August 7, 2023. Friedkin, who earned a Best Director Oscar in 1972 for The French Connection, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 87, with his widow, Sherry Lansing, tearfully telling BBC shortly after his death, “He was the most wonderful husband in the world. He was the most wonderful father in the world. He had a big wonderful life. There was no dream unfulfilled.”

Friedkin died before his final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jake Lacy, and Jason Clarke debuted at the Venice Film Festival.

TCM will be celebrating the critically acclaimed filmmaker’s life and career with two nights of special programming. Announcing the tribute, TCM described William Friedkin as “a great friend to Turner Classic Movies and he attended the TCM Classic Film Festival several times, most recently in April 2023.”

TCM Remembers William...

Most directors would be more than happy to make a single touchstone genre film at some point in their careers. William Friedkin? He made two in just as many years. His 1971 crime thriller "The French Connection" established the template for car chase scenes that's still being used today. Then, in 1973, he made "The Exorcist," the film that got the world to start taking horror seriously as a high art form.

As if that wasn't enough, Friedkin also made not one but two quintessential pieces of queer cinema with "The Boys in the Band" and the controversial but undeniably important "Cruising." Even in his twilight years as a filmmaker, Friedkin was tackling provocative material in the forms of the stage play adaptations "Bug" and especially the twisted "Killer Joe" (a film that played a less-acknowledged yet key role in the McConaissance era of Matthew McConaughey's run as an actor).

With...

William Friedkin, who died August 7 at the age of 87, will get a programming tribute courtesy of Turner Classic Movies in a two-part block on September 14 and November 26.

There will be a triple feature on September 14 of the Gene Hackman-starring “The French Connection,” to air at 8pm, followed by “To Live and Die in LA” at 10:00 pm.

The night will be capped off with “The Boys in the Band” from 1970, a pre-“French Connection” feature concerning a birthday party that was an, at the time, ground-breaking feature for LGBTQ representation.

Night two, over Thanksgiving weekend, will feature the TCM premiere of the 2018 documentary “Friedkin Uncut,” followed by “The Exorcist.” For those who still need more Friedkin gems, “Bug,” “Killer Joe” and “The Hunted” will fit the bill.

One of Friedkin’s first breakthroughs jobs was directing one of the last episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” Hitchcock would reportedly scold...

Click here to read the full article.

Jim Parsons is learning to like control. For nearly his entire career, the actor best known for a 12-season run starring on The Big Bang Theory has been almost exclusively invested in delivering the best performances possible. Even after one of those massive deals to stay put at the late sitcom birthed a shingle, That’s Wonderful Productions, navigating the off-camera stuff often felt like work better suited to someone else. The company has thrived: The Big Bang spinoff Young Sheldon recently hit 100 episodes, the comedy Call Me Kat has been a rare scripted success at Fox, and Netflix’s Special proved a critical darling. But its latest project, in which Parsons also stars, signals a shift. “Spoiler Alert has changed everything,” he says of the movie, out in theaters Dec. 2 via Focus Features and based on Michael Ausiello’s memoir about losing his partner to cancer.

Jim Parsons cried a lot while reading “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Other Four-Letter Words,” entertainment journalist Michael Ausiello’s 2017 book about his late husband Kit Cowan’s battle with cancer.

“My husband watched me read it, which means he watched me sob through it. And he said, ‘Do you think it would make a good movie?’ I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Parsons tells me on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “And he read it, and he said, ‘I think it would.’”

Fast forward to today: Focus Features’ “Spoiler Alert,” directed by Michael Showalter and in theaters on Dec. 2, stars Parsons as Ausiello (whom I’ve known for a couple of decades and is editor-in-chief of Variety’s sibling outlet TVLine) and fellow queer actor Ben Aldridge (“Fleabag”) as Kit. Rounding out the cast are Sally Field and Bill Irwin as Cowan’s parents.

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”

After the success of “Uncut Gems,” filmmaker brothers Josh and Benny Safdie and their star Adam Sandler have a lot to live up to with their next collaboration. The trio announced in October they were reuniting for an untitled film for Netflix.

While details about the project are under wraps, Sandler did tell me Monday at the Gotham Awards that he’s going to have a much “different look” than he’s ever had. “I can’t say that I’m gonna look that handsome in it,” Sandler said. “It’s not a handsome moment…It’s gonna be tough.”

As for the storyline, Sandler would only say, “They’re working hard. Every time I talk to them they say they are working hand.”

Sandler starred in “Uncut Gems” as a Howard Ratner, a shady New York City jeweler with a gambling addiction.

When it comes to Netflix’s star-studded production of The Prom, one thing’s universal: this movie is a lot of fun. And mostly for the right reasons!

Based on the short-lived Broadway musical, The Prom tells the story of Emma (newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman), an Indiana high schooler who isn’t allowed to attend the dance with her girlfriend Alyssa (Hamilton‘s Ariana DeBose). Well, that’s part of the story, at least. The movie is mostly about a quartet of washed-up actors — Dee Dee (Meryl Streep), Barry (James Corden), Trent (Andrew Rannells) and Angie (Nicole Kidman) — who decide...

Daniel Fish’s wildly re-imagined revival of Oklahoma! leads New York’s Drama Desk Awards nominations with 12, including Revival of a Musical. No big surprise there — but the head-scratcher came in the Best Play category: To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the best reviewed productions of the season and a box office smash, was snubbed. See the full list below.

Unlike the Tony Awards, though, the Drama Desk Awards cover both Broadway and Off Broadway, significantly lessening the nominations’ prediction factor. Mockingbird almost certainly will be among the nominees when the Broadway-only Tony roster is announced Tuesday.

Some other notable considerations for the Desk roster is that this season’s Broadway productions of Hadestown, Torch Song and Choir Boy were ineligible from some major overall categories because each had been staged in previous seasons as Off Broadway productions. For the Broadway productions, the Drama Desk nominating committee chose to consider...

At the Time 100 Summit on Tuesday, Ryan Murphy revealed that he has 10 greenlit projects in the pipeline at Netflix, including three documentaries, four TV shows, and three movies.

Murphy has previously announced five titles slated for a Netflix release. Three are shows, including “Ratched,” the drama series starring Sarah Paulson as the infamous Nurse Ratched; “The Politician,” a political satire featuring Ben Platt; and “Hollywood,” which focuses on the golden age of Tinseltown.

He has also announced two Netflix film adaptations of Broadway productions. The first is “The Prom,” set for a September 2020 debut, and the other is “The Boys in the Band” with Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto, also due out in 2020.

Netflix said they could not provide further information about Murphy’s work at this time.

The multi-hyphenate appeared on the Time 100 stage with Janet Mock, who writes and produces for “Pose,” the FX series Murphy co-created about...

Ryan Murphy, the prolific writer/producer/director of Glee and American Horror Story who signed one of the biggest production deals in television history with Netflix last year, has lined up another project for the streaming service. He’ll produce a film adaptation of The Boys in the Band, a 1968 play that was revived on Broadway in […]

The post Ryan Murphy is Bringing ‘The Boys in the Band’ to Netflix, Starring Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, and More appeared first on /Film.

Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong are literally winging it in the trailer for their upcoming Netflix animated series “Tuca & Bertie.”

Haddish voices Tuca, a cocky, care-free toucan, while Wong voices her best friend Bertie, an anxious, daydreaming songbird. Living in the same apartment building, the pair of 30-year-old bird women take on life together in a world where the subway is actually a snake and jaguars make good pets.

Steven Yeun joins Haddish and Wong as a series regular. Guest voices include Nicole Byer, Richard E. Grant, John Early, Reggie Watts, Tig Notaro, Amber Ruffin, Jermaine Fowler, and Tessa Thompson. The series will have its world premiere May 1 at the Tribeca Film Festival ahead of its May 3 Netflix launch.

Watch the trailer for Season 1 of “Tuca & Bertie” above.

Also Read: Ryan Murphy to Produce 'The Boys in the Band' Play as Netflix Film

The 10-episode comedy is created by Lisa Hanawalt,...

“The Boys in the Band,” Mart Crowley’s 1968 play about a group of gay men, which had a successful Broadway revival last year, will soon be a Netflix movie. Ryan Murphy announced the news Wednesday on Instagram. The entire cast of out gay actors will reprise their roles, including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, and Matt Bomer. Prolific Broadway director Joe Mantello will helm the adaptation with Murphy, David Stone and Ned Martel stepping in as producers.

“The Broadway cast of ‘Boys’ was so important to me, and as equally groundbreaking as Mart Crowley’s seminal work,” Murphy wrote on Instagram. “Everyone in the cast was out and proud…and feeling so blessed to mark the 50th anniversary of Mart’s landmark play. The entire Broadway cast will reprise their roles in the film.”

A groundbreaking work in the queer canon, “The Boys in the Band” follows a group...

Ryan Murphy announced on Wednesday that he will produce a film adaptation of “The Boys in the Band” for Netflix that will feature the full cast of the 2018 Broadway revival.

Joe Mantello, who directed the Broadway revival, is directing the film. Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington and Brian Hutchison are all reprising their roles in the film.

Murphy will produce with David Stone and Ned Martel. Netflix is aiming to release the film in 2020.

Also Read: 'The Boys in the Band' Broadway Review: Jim Parsons Hosts the Nastiest Birthday Party Ever

“The Boys in the Band” premiered as an off-Broadway play in 1968 written by Mart Crowley. The production was considered groundbreaking for queer culture in its portrayal of gay life. The play follows a group of gay men gathered together in an Upper East Side...

Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer and the entire Broadway cast of last year’s The Boys in the Band will reunite, along with director Joe Mantello, for a Netflix film adaptation, producer Ryan Murphy announced today.

Also reprising their roles from the star-packed production are Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington and Brian Hutchison.

“The Broadway cast of Boys was so important to me,” Murphy wrote in an Instagram post, “and as equally groundbreaking as Mart Crowley’s seminal work. Everyone in the cast was out and proud…and feeling so blessed to mark the 50th anniversary of Mart’s landmark play.”

Murphy will be produce the film with David Stone and Ned Martel, with a debut on Netflix in 2020.

The news comes quickly after Murphy’s announcement that he is planning a Netflix adaptation of the current Broadway musical The Prom. Both...

Following a successful limited engagement on Broadway last year, The Boys in the Band will bring the party to Netflix in 2020, Ryan Murphy announced Wednesday on Instagram.

“Last summer, The Boys In The Band were on Broadway, breaking house records at The Booth,” Murphy wrote. “This summer, The Boys In the Band will be filming a Netflix movie event. The incomparable Joe Mantello, who directed the Broadway revival, will direct the film adaptation. The Broadway cast of Boys was so important to me, and as equally groundbreaking as Mart Crowley’s seminal work. Everyone in the cast was out and proud…...

Showtime’s “Halo” series finally has its Master Chief. Pablo Schreiber will suit up as the video game series’ iconic central character as the ambitious TV adaptation takes another step toward finally becoming a reality.

Schreiber can currently be seen on another unconventional, massive-budget adaptation intended as a network cornerstone: Starz’s “American Gods,” where he plays the feisty leprechaun Mad Sweeney. Prior to that, Schreiber broke through to new audiences as Pornstache, the manipulative prison guard from the early seasons of the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.”

The possibility of seeing Master Chief’s face in this Showtime adaptation, given that it is not seen in the original video game, has been the subject of some speculation over the course of the development process. Showtime’s Gary Levine clarified at last summer’s Television Critics Association press tour that Master Chief would not only be seen, but...

Ryan Murphy is getting his band back together.

The prolific showrunner on Wednesday announced that his star-studded hit Broadway production of The Boys in the Band is coming to Netflix.

Murphy, who made the reveal on his verified Instagram account, noted that stars Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington and Brian Hutchison will all return for the film, which is due in 2020. Murphy will produce alongside David Stone and Ned Martel. Director Joe Mantello, who staged the Broadway revival, will also return in that capacity.

"The Broadway cast ...

Ryan Murphy is getting his band back together.

The prolific showrunner on Wednesday announced that his star-studded hit Broadway production of The Boys in the Band is coming to Netflix.

Murphy, who made the reveal on his verified Instagram account, noted that stars Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington and Brian Hutchison will all return for the film, which is due in 2020. Murphy will produce alongside David Stone and Ned Martel. Director Joe Mantello, who staged the Broadway revival, will also return in that capacity.

"The Broadway cast ...

00The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the third time in the 2018-2019 Broadway season, and announced eligibility rulings for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards. Seven productions were discussed in the meeting: “King Kong,” “Choir Boy,” “True West,” “Be More Chill,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations” and “What the Constitution Means to Me.”

The committee made the following decisions:

Christiani Pitts and Eric William Morris will be eligible for Lead Actress/Actor in a Musical for their respective performances in “King Kong.”

Peter England’s projection design will be considered eligible along with his scenic design in the Best Scenic Design of a Musical category, for “King Kong.”

Jeremy Pope will be considered eligible for Lead Actor in a Play for his performance in “Choir Boy.”

Will Roland will be considered eligible for Lead Actor in a Musical category for his performance in “Be More Chill.

“It is a very competitive year for the plays,” Sam Eckmann announces when he and fellow contributor David Buchanan chatted via webcam about the top Play categories at the 73rd Tony Awards. The nominations in all 24 Tony categories will be announced on April 30 ahead of the ceremony on June 9. Watch the video chat below.

Discuss the season with Broadway insiders in our notorious forums

Sam and David agree that “The Ferryman” will most likely win Best Play, choosing “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Hillary and Clinton” for their second and third slots. They disagree, though, on what play will round out the category, with Sam currently picking “Gary” and David backing “Network.” While their lists for Best Play are almost identical, they have significantly different predictions for Best Revival. Both have “All My Sons” and “Burn This” making the cut, but David chooses “The Waverly Gallery” and “King Lear” while...

Olivia and Fitz presumably went off to Vermont to make jam for the rest of their lives after he picked her up in last year’s series finale of “Scandal.” But their portrayers, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, have been busy on the Great White Way, which means we could be treated to an Olitz reunion at the Tony Awards.

Washington headlined “American Son,” which ended its limited two-month run on Jan. 27. She’s currently in sixth place in our Best Actress in a Play odds for the production, which follows an estranged interracial couple who reunites at a police station when their teenage son goes missing. This would be the first Tony bid for Washington, who was twice Emmy-nominated for “Scandal.” Glenda Jackson (“King Lear”), Laurie Metcalf (“Hillary and Clinton”), Elaine May (“The Waverly Gallery”), Annette Bening (“All My Sons”) and Laura Donnelly (“The Ferryman”) are the predicted top five.

Playwrights Kenneth Lonergan, Harvey Fierstein and Mart Crowley – each of whom had older works produced on Broadway this season – will be eligible for Tony Awards, the Tony administration committee has determined.

The eligibilities were among a raft of such rulings made by the committee today in the third of four planned meetings. Other rulings focused mostly on category eligibility for performers in ensemble cast productions.

In the cases of Crowley and Lonergan, the two playwrights will benefit from a new Tony rule that allows living authors and composers of plays and musicals that had not previously been staged on Broadway to be eligible along with the producers in the Best Revival of a Play/Musical category. This season, Crowley’s The Boys in the Band and Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery were staged on Broadway after debuting years ago Off Broadway..

As for Fierstein, he’s eligible for this season’s Torch Song due to another new rule: Authors and composers of Best Revival nominees are eligible with producers even if those authors and composers have previously won Tonys for the works – so long as the revivals have been “substantially reworked.” (Fierstein made significant changes to the former Torch Song Trilogy for the recent Torch Song).

Other determinations made today by the committee:

Christiani Pitts and Eric William Morris will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress/Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical categories for their respective performances in King Kong; Peter England’s projection design will be considered eligible along with his scenic design in the Best Scenic Design of a Musical category, for his work on King Kong Jeremy Pope will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play category for his performance in Choir Boy Will Roland will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category for his performance in Be More Chill; Beowulf Boritt and Alex Basco Koch will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Scenic Design of a Musical category for their work on Be More Chill; Corbin Bleu will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical category for his performance in Kiss Me, Kate; Derrick Baskin will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category for his performance in Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations; Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Scenic Design of a Musical category for their work on Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations; Heidi Schreck will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play category for her performance in What the Constitution Means to Me.

Nominations for the 2019 Tony Awards will be announced April 30. The 73rd Annual Tony Awards will air live on Sunday, June 9 at 8 Pm Et/delayed Pt) from New York’s Radio City Music Hall on CBS. James Corden will host.

Ryan Murphy is planning to make a feature adaptation of the hit Broadway musical The Prom under his huge deal at Netflix, Deadline has confirmed.

Murphy made the announcement tonight at New York’s Longacre Theatre prior to a charity performance of The Prom which benefited the Hetrick-Martin Institute, GLAAD and the Trevor Project. No word if Murphy will direct or produce, however, he has a canon of inclusive projects including the two-time Emmy winning HBO movie The Normal Heart, FX’s Pose series and the six-time Emmy-winning Fox high school musical series Glee.

From director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw, The Prom is based loosely on a real-life incident. The musical follows a troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars of a certain age who swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. The concept is from Jack Viertel...

Gold Derby’s 2019 Tony Awards prediction center is now open! Broadway productions must open by an April 25th cutoff date in order to be eligible for Tony consideration. So it’s time to make your early predictions in the race for Broadway’s highest honors.

Last year, “The Band’s Visit” stormed the ceremony with a whopping 10 wins, including Best Musical. David Yazbek finally became a Tony winner for his intimate Middle Eastern inspired score, and he will be back in contention this year for “Tootsie.” The musical adaptation of the classic film stars previous Tony nominee Santino Fontana (“Cinderella”) in the role Dustin Hoffman made famous. The show will face serious competition from “Hadestown,” a riff on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth with a folk opera score from Anais Mitchell. Director Rachel Chavkin (“The Great Comet”) has guided the show through successful runs Off-Broadway and in London, and is...

The 2019 Tony Awards may be months away, but the Tony Awards Administration Committee is busy determining category placement for shows from the 2018-2019 Broadway season.

The committee met for the second time this season to determine Tony Award eligibility for ten Broadway productions. The shows discussed were: “American Son,” “The Cher Show,” “The Lifespan of a Fact,” “The Ferryman,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The New One,” “Network,” “The Prom,” “Torch Song,” and “The Waverly Gallery.”

Here is the full list of decisions made by the committee:

Paddy Considine and Laura Donnelly will be eligible for Lead Actor/Actress in a Play for “The Ferryman.”

Joan Allen, Michael Cera, and David Cromer will be eligible for Featured Actress/Actor in a Play for “The Waverly Gallery.”

Mercedes Ruehl will be eligible for Featured Actress in a Play for “Torch Song.”

Brooks Ashmanskas, Beth Leavel, and Caitlin Kinnunen will be eligible for...

It’s hard to stay current. That’s one of the points of “The Kominsky Method,” a sitcom starring Michael Douglas as a thespian and acting teacher who’s increasingly confounded by his venal young students. Douglas’ Sandy Kominsky, whose career has shifted from having been left out of Hollywood to being left behind by it, finds himself contemplating what lies ahead and how much the world around him has changed. Over the course of the season, he manfully resists meeting that world.

The show’s depiction of a Hollywood actors’ workshop — ground recently trod with more loving wit by HBO’s “Barry” — glimmers with contempt for a generation of aspiring performers. Kominsky’s pupils, dreaming less of artistic achievement than of placement in commercials, only seem to come alive when debating which members of protected classes may play what roles. A white man performs a monologue from August Wilson...

Harvey Fierstein’s glorious voice, that frog with a human stuck in it, remains so powerful you might swear you still hear it, loud and, well, loud in a Torch Song that can often only shout over the Harvey-shaped hole at its center.

Last year’s hit Off Broadway revival, Torch Song (nee Torch Song Trilogy, the award-gathering marvel from 1982 that introduced Fierstein to the world) opens at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater tonight, its oh-so-cute bunny slippers in place. Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) and Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King) reprise their Off Broadway performances as the big-hearted drag queen Arnold Beckoff and his caustic, disapproving but down-deep lovin’ Ma.

Okay, so the slippers fit better than the roles that were custom-made way back when by Fierstein and a soon-to-be-Golden Estelle Getty. And no some of the gags don’t land. Urie is too trim for big-boned jokes, Ruehl...

The Tony Awards give out four top awards each year: Best Play, Best Play Revival, Best Musical, and Best Musical Revival. These are the most coveted categories for producers hoping a win will help turn a profit on their investment. But due to a dearth of classic musicals on the boards this season, Broadway’s top honors may be ditching one of their most sought after categories.

Roundabout Theatre Company is staging a highly anticipated revival of “Kiss Me, Kate” this spring. This iteration of the classic Cole Porter tuner stars Tony winner Kelli O’Hara (“The King and I”) and Tony nominee Will Chase (“The Mystery of Edwin Drood”), with direction from the esteemed Scott Ellis. It has all the makings of a lush, feel-good production that could walk away with the Musical Revival category. The only problem is that “Kiss Me, Kate” is the only announced revival of a musical this season.

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the first time in the 2018-2019 Broadway season, and announced the first round of Tony Awards eligibility rulings. Seven productions were discussed at this meeting: “The Boys in the Band,” “Straight White Men,” “Head Over Heels,” “Gettin’ the Band Back Together,” “Pretty Woman,” “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” and “The Nap.”

The Tonys committee made the following determinations:

“The Boys in the Band” will be considered a revival per the “classic” rule and eligible for Best Play Revival.

Jim Parsons will be eligible for Lead Actor in a Play for “The Boys in the Band.”

Julian Crouch (scenic designer) and Andrew Lazarow (projection designer) will be considered jointly eligible for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for “Head Over Heels.”

Mitchell Jarvis will be eligible for Lead Actor in a Musical for “Gettin’ the Band Back Together.”

Samantha Barks and Andy Karl will be eligible for...

Joe Mantello’s recent Broadway staging of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band will be eligible for a 2019 Tony Award – no surprise there – but theater trivia buffs might quibble with the category: Best Revival of a Play.

Although the gay groundbreaker has been staged many times since its Off Broadway debut in 1968, The Boys in the Band had never made its way to Broadway until Mantello’s star-packed production last April. So revival, or new play?

Revival, says the Tony Awards Administration Committee.

The decision was one of six announced today. Although the committee does not publicly explain its decisions, Boys’ 50-year production history – Broadway notwithstanding – apparently persuaded the committee toward the revival designation.

The designation was made during the first of four scheduled meetings planned by the committee for the 2018-2019 Broadway season. Other determinations made today:

Actors Jim Parsons (The Boys in the Band), Mitchell Jarvis...

Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” HBO’s “Barry,” Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and CBS’ “Young Sheldon” are among the TV nominees for the 34th annual Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America.

On the legit side, “The Boys in the Band,” “Lobby Hero” and “Angels in America” were among the productions recognized.

The Artios kudos will be handed out on Jan. 31 in simultaneous ceremonies held in Beverly Hills and New York.

The casting team behind shows such as “American Horror Story,” “Glee,” and “Supernatural” will be honored. Robert J. Ulrich, Eric Dawson and Carol Kritzer of Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting will receive the Hoyt Bowers Award for their outstanding contribution to the casting profession.

“It has been an exceptional year on stage and screen,” said Russell Boast, Csa president in announcing the first wave of Artios nominations. Nominees for feature film will be unveiled early next year.

Csa members submitted...

The Deuce, Atlanta, Game of Thrones, The Boys in the Band and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert are among the Artios Awards nominees in television, theater and short film announced today by the Casting Society of America.

Recognizing outstanding achievement in casting, the 34th Annual Artios Awards will take place January 31, 2019, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles & Stage 48 in New York City.

“It has been an exceptional year on stage and screen,” said Russell Boast, Csa President. “As the profession of casting gains more and more industry recognition we are pleased to announce our first slate of nominees – many of whom have also recently been recognized by our peers at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the American Theatre Wing among many others this awards season.”

All nominees, submitted by Csa members, represent projects that were aired, released or performed between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. Nominees for...

Zachary Quinto is sinking his teeth into cable TV once again, having nabbed the lead role in AMC’s forthcoming supernatural drama NOS4A2.

Based on Joe Hill’s bestselling 2013 novel, NOS4A2 — which received a 10-episode series order in April — centers on Vic McQueen, a young artist who discovers she has a supernatural ability to track the seemingly immortal villain Charlie Manx.

Quinto will star as Manx, the seductive adversary who feeds off the souls of children, then deposits what remains of them into Christmasland — an icy, twisted Christmas village of Manx’s imagination where every day is Christmas Day and unhappiness is against the law.

Why is The Big Bang Theory ending? Jim Parsons was ready to say goodbye to Sheldon Cooper. A source told E! News that Parsons, who won four Emmys and a Golden Globe for playing the Big Bang physicist, was ready to explore life and more work outside the series. Parsons recently wrapped a run on Broadway in the Ryan Murphy-produced The Boys in the Band and our source said it was his summer on stage that helped fuel his decision to exit, however it wasn't a hastily made decision, it was something Parsons has been debating for months. We're told Parsons is happy the show is ending while still a hit and creatively successful. According to Deadline, executive producer Chuck Lorre let Parsons make his announcement...

“The Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons has expressed “intense gratitude” for the show’s fans, its crew and his castmates on the heels of Wednesday’s news that the upcoming 12th season will be the last for the top-rated CBS comedy series.

Parsons posted a Instagram photo on Thursday of himself and the show’s core cast members — Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch — as they began work Wednesday on the last of the Warner Bros. Television show’s 24 episodes.

“It is hard to really accept that this is a picture of the first of the final 24 episodes we will shoot for ‘The Big Bang Theory,'” wrote Parsons, who has won four Emmy Awards for his role. Parsons’ desire to end his run on the show after this season was a big factor in the decision by CBS and Warner Bros. TV to call it a wrap next spring.

Pretty Woman: The Musical and The Boys in the Band broke house records last week as Broadway’s box office held steady into the summer’s dog days. Total b.o. for the 31 shows climbed a tad to $37,289,893, about 2.4% over the previous week, with attendance of 277,794 showing a slight dip of an identical percentage.

Higher average ticket prices – $134 compared to the previous week’s $128 – kept box office from slipping during the season’s Week 11, ending Aug. 12.

Bidding adieu to the street on Aug. 11 was Joe Mantello’s staging of The Boys in the Band, taking $1,152,649, well above and beyond the official potential of $957,024. The box office take smashes the Booth Theater’s previous $1,113,192 house record set back in 2015 when Bradley Cooper was on stage in The Elephant Man. The 50th anniversary staging of Mart Crowley’s Boys recouped its $3.5 million investment in the 11th week of its 15-week engagement.

Heading in as Boys headed out,...

Broadway’s Pretty Woman: The Musical passed the $1 million box office mark for a second consecutive week — no doubt the beginning of a habit — playing seven previews, including one heavily-comped tribute performance for the late Garry Marshall.

The previewing musical, at the Nederlander Theatre starring Samantha Barks and Andy Karl, grossed $1,008,726, a drop of about $60,000 from the previous week, reflecting the August 2 memorial performance. Marshall co-authored the musical that is set to open August 16 and, of course, directed the original 1990 film.

Broadway’s overall box office of $36,391,385 for the week ending August 5 (Week 10 of the season) was down about 8% from the previous week’s $39.6M. The Week 10 total is 14% bigger than last year’s $32M, with this year’s average ticket price of $128 about 8% heftier than last year’s $120.

The other previewing musical,...

Pretty Woman played seven previews to nearly Sro audiences and Mean Girls set another house record, but the Go-Go’s musical Head Over Heels just couldn’t find its footing as it opened to sales as weak as its reviews during Week 9 of the Broadway season.

Overall, summertime Broadway was anything but wilted for the week ending July 29, taking in a strong $39,633,285 in total box office. That’s a jump of nearly 8% over the previous week’s $36M, and a big 26% over the same period last year.

Total attendance for the week was 295,685, a solid 95% of capacity and a 5% hike over the previous week. Those 295,685 theatergoers spent an average $134 for their seats, compared to the $119 average last summer.

The previewing Pretty Woman: The Musical, at the Nederlander Theatre, is off to a terrific start, grossing $1,068,493 for a seven-performance week (just one shy of a full eight-show week). With an average...

Zachary Quinto’s got a big role on his bucket list — and it’s in a stage musical.

Listen to this week’s podcast for free below and at Apple Podcasts:

On the latest episode of Stagecraft, Variety‘s theater podcast, the “Star Trek” actor — currently starring in the Broadway revival of “The Boys in the Band” — reveals that he’s determined to play the title role in “Sweeney Todd” someday, after seeing the show as a boy and being, as he described it, blown back in his seat by it.

“I didn’t understand the power of theater until that moment, and so I feel like it’s a role I have to play someday,” he said of Sweeney. Although he hasn’t sung in a while, he trained to be a singer in school. “I went to Carnegie Mellon for musical theater, so I’ve got a piece...

The Boys in the Band, the first Broadway show to open during the 2018-19 season, has also become the first to recoup its investment, according to a show spokesperson. The $3.5 million production, directed by Joe Mantello, made its money back in 11 weeks, with four weeks left in the engagement.

The recoupment came during Week 7 of the current Broadway season as Broadway overall raked in $37,330,028, a solid 10% gain over the previous week when Fourth of July fireworks and holiday celebrations may have distracted attention from the stage. This week’s box office hit about 86% of potential for the 31 shows.

Paid attendance for Week 7, ending July 15, was at 280,463, 92% of capacity, with the average buyer paying $133.

The figures reflect a considerable jump over last year’s Week 7, which included the July 4 holiday. Last year the week took $29M, with attendance at 256,171.

Boys in the Band, a revival of Mart Crowley’s 1968 play about...

With Bruce Springsteen still on a soon-to-end hiatus, competition from fireworks and two fledgling productions still getting their footing, Broadway box office was down about 11% for the week ending July 8, the 30 shows grossing a total $33,865,380.

Paid attendance of 272,945 put Broadway houses at about 92% of capacity, with an average paid admission of $124.07. That attendance is down about 6% from last week when the Street had 33 shows running.

New(ish) to the line-up, Straight White Men played its first full week of eight previews (compared to last week’s three performances), with the Josh Charles and Armie Hammer starrer taking in $302,222, about 47% of potential. Attendance of 4,139 was closer to the mark, about 89% of the 4,648 capacity. That means average ticket price was $73.02, well below the $149 most ticket buyers could have spent.

The Young Jean Lee-penned play had some cast upheavals in recent weeks, but nothing that would impact the marquee value too much – Hammer,...

The Tonys have come and gone, which means that the 2018-2019 Broadway season has already begun Sixteen shows are scheduled to open before the end of the year, including The Boys in the Band already open, Straight White Men, Head Over Heels, Gettin' the Band Back Together, Pretty Woman The Musical, BernhardtHamlet, The Nap, The Lifespan of a Fact, The Ferryman, The Waverly Gallery, Torch Song, American Son, King Kong, The Prom, The Cher Show and To Kill a Mockingbird.