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Lionsgate has released a restored director’s cut of the late Peter Bogdanovich’s final film, “Squirrels to the Nuts,” on digital platforms.

“Squirrels to the Nuts” was originally released as “She’s Funny That Way” in 2014. Bogdanovich directed the film and co-wrote it with Louise Stratten. The “Squirrels to the Nuts” cast includes Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Cybill Shepherd, Austin Pendleton, Will Forte, Joanna Lumley and Richard Lewis. Jennifer Aniston and Rhys Ifans also appear, alongside cameos from Graydon Carter, Colleen Camp and George Morfogen.

“Peter Bogdanovich was one of the most accomplished filmmakers of his generation as well as a respected writer, actor, producer, and film historian,” Ron Schwartz, Motion Picture Group’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “At Lionsgate, we have a long and proud history of working with acclaimed filmmakers, and we are delighted to present the final movie from one of the greats.

Robert Machray, whose prolific, decades-long career as a character actor included appearances on Three’s Company, Roseanne, Suddenly Susan, The Drew Carey Show and, in a four-episode recurring role as Fire Marshal Dobbins on Cheers, died Sunday, January 12, at his home in North Hollywood. He was 79.

His death was announced on Facebook by husband Luigi Camperchioli, who said Machray suffered from dementia.

In addition to his TV career, Machray frequently appeared on stage, including in the 1999 Broadway production of Amadeus, playing the role of Salieri’s Cook opposite Michael Sheen and David Suchet. Numerous regional and Off Broadway stage credits include roles in Waiting for Godot (at L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum), The Boys Next Door, Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow and Threepenny Opera.

Born May 4, 1945, in San Diego, Machray made his TV debut in the 1977 NBC TV-movie Panic in Echo Park starring Dorian Harewood. That same year...

Robert Machray, who starred as Orson Welles on the stage and played Fire Marshal Dobbins on Cheers in an acting career that spanned five decades, has died. He was 79.

Machray died Sunday at his home in North Hollywood after enduring two strokes and a brief battle with dementia, his husband, Luigi Camperchioli, told The Hollywood Reporter.

He also showed up on episodes of Operation Petticoat, Three’s Company, Life Goes On, Roseanne, Sister, Sister, Suddenly Susan, Profiler, The Drew Carey Show, Girlfriends, Criminal Minds and Parks and Recreation, which in 2011 marked his final onscreen credit.

Machray portrayed Dobbins, often the victim of pranks at the bar, on four episodes of NBC’s Cheers during seasons eight, nine and 11 from 1990-93.

He appeared in the 1999-2000 Broadway revival of Amadeus that starred Michael Sheen and David Suchet and received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle prize in 2002 for his turn as Welles...

During the 1970s, American cinema was in the midst of the New Hollywood movement. When the Production Code officially lost all its power in the late 1960s, American films no longer had to abide by the oppressive and restrictive rules that had been in place for the past three decades. The Production Code's dismantling led to an explosion of creativity, particularly in the comedy genre.

In today's cultural climate, comedies do not typically receive the same level of adulation as dramas. However, throughout the 1970s, comedies ranked among Hollywood's most acclaimed genres. Comedies such as M*A*S*H, The Sting, American Graffiti, and Annie Hall each garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, with The Sting and Annie Hall both winning the Oscar's top prize. Filmmakers like Woody Allen, Hal Ashby, and Mel Brooks reigned supreme as some of the best comedy directors working in the United States during the 1970s.

Cady McClain will play Joan Plowright in the upcoming Off-Broadway production of “Orson’s Shadow” by Austin Pendleton, directed by Mr. Pendleton and David Schweizer, at Theater for the New City, NYC November 8 to December 1. McClain is the first female performer to nab Daytime Emmy Awards for three different series. She was Jennifer Horton-Deveraux in […]

The post Cady McClain Stars in Off-Broadway’s “Orson’s Shadow” appeared first on Soap Opera News.

Space Cadet is a romantic comedy film written and directed by Liz W. Garcia. The Prime Video film follows the story of Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a Florida party girl who has always dreamed of going to space and gets admitted into the NASA space program because of a fluke with much more capable candidates. She must prove herself to the NASA bosses using her heart, street smarts, and moxie. Space Cadet stars Emma Roberts in the lead role, with Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu, Sebastián Yatra, Kuhoo Verma, Desi Lydic, Gabrielle Union, Andrew Call, Sam Robards, and Dave Foley starring in supporting roles. If you like the comedic, romantic, and heartfelt moments of Space Cadet, here are some similar films you could watch next.

Legally Blonde (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – MGM

Legally Blonde is a romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic from a screenplay by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith.

This year’s Tonys will be held on June 16, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should take home this prestigious trophy, which honors an individual’s body of work? It has gone to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers and designers. In some years we get multiple recipients.

Last year these honors went to actor Joel Grey and composer John Kander. The following living male Broadway vets have also received this award in the past and thus won’t be chosen again: Paul Gemignani, Alan Ayckbourn, Athol Fugard, Marshall W. Mason, Tommy Tune, James Earl Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Harold Wheeler.

Here are 10 possibilities featured in our poll below, all accomplished men over the age of 65. Vote to let us know who you’d like to see honored. And take a...

M. Emmet Walsh is dead at the age of 88, his manager Sandy Joseph told IndieWire. The grizzled character actor appeared in Hollywood movies across 55 years and was one of the most recognizable “oh yeah, that guy!” performers in the industry. Even just by saying “grizzled character actor” you probably pictured him, even if you didn’t know his name.

Walsh had bit parts in “Midnight Cowboy,” “Little Big Man,” “Serpico,” “What’s Up, Doc?” and “The Gambler” at the start of his career. But it’s two films from the early 1980s that put him on the map and truly lodged him in the consciousness of cinephiles: “Blade Runner” and “Blood Simple.” In Ridley Scott’s film he played Capt. Bryant, who sends Harrison Ford’s Decker on his quest to terminate the escaped, murderous replicants. Or “retire” them, rather. That’s the kind of euphemism Walsh, in his rumpled way,...

Sometimes you look at the best shows across a year of New York theater and see clear trends, the patterns of storytelling or corners of the industry that seem to be thriving most artistically. In 2023, however, there was a happy diversity in the tapestry of the theater that resonated most deeply, from small-scale international entries at the Under the Radar Festival, to puntastic Broadway musical comedies, to potent new voices telling tender stories off-Broadway. Even in a year that often stretched New York theater to the breaking point financially, with several companies closing and nonprofits shortening their current seasons, theater artists were able to thrive and rediscover across the city’s stages.

If there’s a pattern to be found in the dozen selections below, it’s the two writers who show up twice. One is the late legend Stephen Sondheim, represented here by both the stunning revival of Merrily We Roll Along,...

Joanna Merlin, whose acting career stretched from Broadway (she was the original Tzeitel in Fiddler On The Roof), film (she played the dance teacher Miss Berg in Alan Parker’s 1980 film Fame) and TV (Law & Order: SVU‘s Judge Lena Petrovsky on dozens of episodes) has died. She was 92.

Her death was announced on the Instagram page of the New York University Tisch Graduate Acting Program, where Merlin had been on the faculty since 1998.

“Joanna was an actress, master Chekhov teacher, and former casting director for Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bernardo Bertolucci, and James Ivory,” the NYU message said, adding, “Joanna will be deeply missed at Grad Acting, by the Chekhov community, and by the many people she touched through her artistry.”

As a casting director, Merlin was involved in numerous landmark Broadway productions written by Stephen Sondheim. She was, for many years, Harold Prince’s go-to casting director.

A...

Update: Lauren Pazienza, the event planner who fatally shoved the 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach Barbara Gustern to the ground in a random 2022 attack, was officially sentenced to eight and a half years in prison Friday.

Pazienza had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in August in a plea deal for eight years in prison. The six months was added on Friday by Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin, who, according to reports, said she was unconvinced that the 28-year-old Pazienza had taken responsibility for her actions.

Previous, August 23: Lauren Pazienza, who deliberately and randomly shoved 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach Barbara Gustern to the ground on a Manhattan sidewalk in 2022 causing the elderly woman’s death, changed her plea from not guilty to guilty and will be sentenced to eight years in state prison.

The plea deal was announced today by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr.

“Lauren Pazienza aggressively...

Exclusive: Emily Mann, who directed Daphne Rubin-Vega in the 2012 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, will re-team with both the actor and the playwright in December with an Off Broadway revival of The Night of the Iguana co-starring Tim Daly.

Also featured in the cast will be Lea DeLaria, Austin Pendleton and Jean Lichty. Previews begin December 6 at the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center, with opening night on December 17. The engagement will run through February 25, 2024.

The staging is a production of La Femme Theatre Productions, a company dedicated to showcasing the diverse female experience. The announcement describes the production as “an evocative 21st century production of Tennessee Williams’s timeless masterpiece.”

“The Night of the Iguana poses critical questions of faith and identity that are particularly relevant today as we navigate a paradoxically divided yet open world,” Lichty said in a statement.

Diamanda Galás, the powerful vocalist whose avant-garde compositions cry out for humanity, has penned a letter condemning Lauren Pazienza, the woman who last year killed Galás’ friend, Barbara Gustern. Gustern was a beloved, New York City vocal coach who tutored not only Galás but Debbie Harry, Kathleen Hanna, Taylor Mac, and many others.

A judge last month sentenced the 27-year-old Pazienza, who fatally shoved the 87-year-old Gustern while attempting to get a taxi, to eight years in prison followed by five years of supervision after she pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.

Chicago – One of the Midwest Film Festival’s greatest strengths is its sense of community. The way they branch out and reach out to all in the Chicago filmmaker/actor/crew collective is without precedent in this evolving cinema city. Monday, August 28th, will feature Women & Gender Non-Conforming Filmmaker Night, and one of the films making its Chicago debut is “Road Head” by Allison Torem. Click Mff for tickets and more information.

“Road Head” is a hilarious story of coupling, carnality and Covid, not necessarily in that order. Written/directed by and in a lead role is Allison Torem, the broad farce takes on as many modern problems as possible in a short film format. The filmmaker herself describes it as a “Reform Jewish absurd comedy about grief, changing plans, and the lengths we’ll go to avoid direct communication with the people we love.”

’Women & Gender Non-Conforming Filmmaker Night...

Sheldon Harnick, the nimble lyricist who partnered with composer Jerry Bock to create the songs for some of Broadway’s greatest musicals, including Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and She Loves Me, has died Friday. He was 99.

Harnick died of natural causes at his apartment overlooking Central Park on the Upper West Side, spokesperson Sean Katz told The Hollywood Reporter.

Harnick, who credited actress Charlotte Rae for inspiring him to become a Broadway lyricist, had an uncanny knack of making it sound as if the singer were having a conversation with the audience. His lyrics for such tunes as “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “She Loves Me” and “Little Tin Box” were simple and straightforward yet deeply moving at the same time.

“A theater lyricist is a playwright who writes short plays in verse that have to be set to music,” Harnick said in a 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times.

A long time ago, in a small town in USA, a devoted film fan spends his days making movies in his backyard and obsessing over 2001: A Space Odyssey and every other film he loves… but little does he know that he’s about to discover a film that will change his life forever…

That boy is Pat (John Francis Daley – Spider-man: Homecoming, Game Night) and that film is Star Wars.

Now the long-awaited, captivating feature, 5-25-77, based on the true story of Patrick Read Johnson – written and directed by the man himself – is out now on UK digital thanks to 101 Films.

This funny and endearing coming-of-age drama is a love letter to film, filmmaking and the seminal films of the 70s and is a must-see for anyone with a passion for film or just loves a good movie.

Meet Pat, he’s an outsider, a geek with an obsession for film.

All you need to do to understand the animating injustice of Viola Davis's career is scan through her Wikipedia biography, and note the puzzling dynamic of going from Tony-winning leads on Broadway in the late 1990s and early 2000s to, at best, supporting turns in studio movies. How was this Juilliard-trained dynamo who routinely set New York City stages ablaze getting relegated to undernourished roles in films starring actors she could dust straight off the screen?

If you're at all aware of how things work in the United States of America, you know the answer. Davis certainly does, and she shouted it from the mountaintop at a Woman in the World event in 2018:

"I have a career that's probably comparable to Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Sigourney Weaver. They all came out of Yale; they came out of Julliard; they came out of NYU. They had the same path as me.

The Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside And Crazy starring Common will be simulcast during its final two weeks in February, producer Second Stage Theatre announced today.

The play will be the second production simulcast by Second Stage, following last season’s production of Clyde’s.

“We are very pleased to once again offer a simulcast viewing option – in real time – from our Broadway home, the Hayes Theater,” said Second Stage Executive Director Khady Kamara in a statement. “This unique program significantly broadened our audience with last year’s production of Clyde’s and we are excited to resume this program by simulcasting a live Broadway performance of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play into people’s homes this winter.”

Between Riverside And Crazy begins performances at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater on Nov. 30, with an official opening night on Dec. 19.

The simulcast performances will take place the...

Common shows his excitement over his upcoming Broadway debut this November. Pic credit: ©ImageCollect.com/gotpap/StarMaxWorldwide

Common will be turning his dream into a reality as he takes the stage for his Broadway debut this November.

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known by his stage name Common, has had a successful career in the music industry since his start in the early 90s.

The rapper has also established his place as a Hollywood actor, with starring roles in films such as Just Wright, The Informer, and John Wick: Chapter 2.

However, he has recently moved his talents over to the Broadway stage and will be starring in the role of Junior in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play, Between Riverside and Crazy.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play will begin previews on November 30 and will run at the Second Stages Hayes Theatre in New York City.

The rapper recently took to Instagram to announce his upcoming...

Common, the actor, rapper and songwriter who has won Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Awards, will make his Broadway debut in the coveted role of “Junior” in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy.

Today’s announcement by the Second Stage Theater completes casting for the play, which begins performances Nov. 30 at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater ahead of a Dec. 19 opening night.

Earlier this week, the production announced that most of the cast members of the acclaimed 2015 Off Broadway production will reprise their roles for Broadway, including Stephen McKinley Henderson, Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Canavan, Rosal Colón, Liza Colón-Zayas and Michael Rispoli.

In the 2015 staging, the role of Junior was played by Ron Cephas-Jones.

The play, directed by Austin Pendleton, tells the story of ex-cop and recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and his recently paroled son Junior (Common) as they struggle to hold on to...

Click here to read the full article.

Common will step onto a Broadway stage for the first time this winter in Second Stage Theater’s Between Riverside and Crazy.

The rapper and actor — who is a Tony Award short of becoming an Egot winner — was announced on Friday as part of the cast of the upcoming Broadway production from writer Stephen Adly Guirgis and director Austin Pendleton. The show will begin previews on Nov. 30 before opening on Dec. 19 at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater.

Common will star in the dark comedy as the recently paroled Junior, son of ex-cop and recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington (played by Stephen McKinley Henderson). The play follows the duo as they fight to hold on to one of the last rent-stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive amid the rehashing of old wounds and in the face of sketchy new houseguests and a final ultimatum.

Common...

When you see a real actor performing with The Muppets, it is easy to think that would be a straightforward process. You show up and goof around with some puppets for a bit and don't have to take things too seriously. While this can work for a sketch on "The Muppet Show," it's not really the case when it comes to a real-life actor with a sizable role in a feature film. Sure, Steve Martin or Mel Brooks can come in for one scene in "The Muppet Movie" and do a schtick, but the weight of the story does not rest on them. Charles Durning as Doc Hopper and Austin Pendleton as Doc's sidekick, Max, cannot afford to be knowingly silly. They are ostensibly the antagonists of the movie, and if they do not play the film straight, there are no stakes to the picture. Therefore, there's no drama and no reason to care.

"How much do you want to be a director, Patrick?" "Do you Need to be one?" Mvd Entertainment has revealed a brand new official trailer for the Star Wars opening day movie 5-25-77, from filmmaker Patrick Read Johnson. Yes, this is the long lost, still-never-released (until now!!) nerdy Star Wars coming-of-age flick that has been in the works for more than a decade. We first posted a trailer for it back in 2009, when it was still called simply '77, now it's ready to shine all these years later. 5-25-77 is a coming-of-age comedy inspired by the true story of a nerdy, alienated, hopeful filmmaker named Pat Johnson about growing up, falling in love, and becoming the very first fan of the movie that changed everything, Star Wars. Starring John Francis Daley as Pat Johnson, with Austin Pendleton, Colleen Camp, Neil Flynn, and Justin Mentell. I've been waiting to watch this!

The upcoming Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside And Crazy, directed by Austin Pendleton, will reunite much of the acclaimed 2015 Off Broadway cast when it begins previews Wednesday, November 30, at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater.

The production, which officially opens Monday, December 19, will reunite most of the Off Broadway cast, including Stephen McKinley Henderson, Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Canavan, Rosal Colón, Liza Colón-Zayas and Michael Rispoli.

The synopsis: City Hall is demanding more than his signature, the landlord wants him out, the liquor store is closed – and the Church won’t leave him alone. For ex-cop and recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington (Henderson) and his recently paroled son Junior, the struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with old wounds, sketchy new houseguests and a final ultimatum…”

Original cast member Ron Cephas-Jones will not be returning...

Austin Pendleton might be best known for My Cousin Vinny, or What’s Up Doc? but the 82-year-old actor, director, playwright and teacher is a one-man theater institution. It almost seems like there isn’t a great play that he hasn’t performed or directed, somewhere, in his more than 60 years in the business, and he’s not slowing down in the slightest. In this epic, 90-minute episode, what Meryl Streep said of Pendleton will ring tru: “There’s no line between the man and his work.” He talks about his latest performance, in the celebrated new Tracy Letts play The Minutes, then takes […]

The post “The Only Important Thing is the Work”: Austin Pendleton on a Life on Stage first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

At the request of company members of Broadway’s The Minutes, producers announced today that audiences will be required to continue masking through the play’s final performance on Sunday, July 24, nearly a month after Broadway at large will shift to a mask optional policy.

The Minutes, at the Studio 54 theater, becomes the second production – following American Buffalo – to extend the mask mandate through their closing nights. (American Buffalo at Circle in the Square closed July 10.)

According to recent reports, six of the 11 cast members of The Minutes were out sick with Covid in mid-June.

The mask optional policy was announced by The Broadway League, the trade organization representing theater owners and producers, earlier this month. The new policy allows individual productions to set their own protocols.

The mask debate comes as New York City’s Covid positivity rates have plateaued or even crept up in recent weeks, with daily...

The Thanksgiving Play, which had its Off Broadway world premiere in 2018 and has become one of the top 10 produced plays, will make its Broadway debut in spring 2023 in a staging by Tony-winning Hadestown director Rachel Chavkin.

The Second Stage Theater production, set for the Hayes Theater, will make FastHorse the first female Native American playwright ever produced on Broadway.

“Larissa FastHorse’s unique voice deserves to be heard on the Broadway stage and I’m very excited for her biting satire, The Thanksgiving Play, to have the larger audience it deserves,” said Second Stage President and Artistic Director Carole Rothman.

Described as a satirical comedy, The Thanksgiving Play follows a troupe of well-meaning theater artists who “dream of creating something revolutionary: a culturally sensitive, totally inoffensive Thanksgiving school pageant that finally gives a voice to Native Americans. Finding said Native Americans… isn’t so simple. And that’s when things start to get absurd.

Commission

Warner Bros. Discovery U.K. is re-teaming with Optomen TV to produce a follow-up to “Johnny vs Amber,” a two-part documentary which explored Johnny Depp’s defamation trial in the U.K. High Court with explosive evidence, intimate personal archive and in-depth interviews from both legal teams. Following the success of that documentary, the follow up will be focused on the recent and very high-profile legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, this time in the U.S. The two-part Discovery+ documentary will again look at the extensive evidence and testimony of both Depp and Heard. Each episode will present one side of the argument through legal teams, friends, family and key witnesses.

In addition, Discovery+ has also greenlit two further ‘vs’ series: “Coleen vs Rebekah,” will examine the recent U.K. court battle between high profile footballers’ wives Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy; and “Britney vs Jamie,...

Exclusive: Mvd Entertainment Group has acquired worldwide rights to the autobiographical coming-of-age comedy 5-25-77, from writer-director Patrick Read Johnson (Spaced Invaders), slating it for release in North American theaters this fall, with an unveiling on digital and VOD to follow.

The film’s title stems from the 1977 release date of George Lucas’ original Star Wars film—which today celebrates its 45th anniversary. It’s inspired by the true story of a nerdy, alienated, hopeful filmmaker named Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley) about growing up, falling in love, and becoming the very first fan of the movie that changed everything. Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny), Colleen Camp (Die Hard with a Vengeance), Neil Flynn (Scrubs) and Justin Mentell (G-Force) also star.

Gary Kurtz, Fred Roos, and Leigh Jones produced, in collaboration with Film.io Originals, with 5-25-77 marking Kurtz’s final film before his passing in 2018. Mvd...

Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God was named best play of the 2021-22 season today by the the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, with David Lindsay-Abaire’s and Jeanine Tesori’s Kimberly Akimbo chosen as best musical.

Two special citations were awarded by the group, one to stage and film veteran Austin Pendleton, currently co-starring on Broadway in The Minutes, and a citation for emerging talent to Sanaz Toossi for two plays produced this year, English and Wish You Were Here.

The selections skewed away from Broadway’s Tony Award contenders this year, at least in part because many of those shows – including The Lehman Trilogy, A Strange Loop, Hangmen and Skeleton Crew – were recognized or eligible by the Circle in previous years for productions outside of Broadway, and thus ineligible for consideration this year.

Kimberly Akimbo will be staged on Broadway in fall 2022.

The awards,...

Some of the biggest names in film, television and the Broadway stage won’t be making the coveted pilgrimage to Radio City Music Hall this June when the 75th annual Tony Awards are handed out, as such high-profile performers as Daniel Craig, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Katrina Lenk, Beanie Feldstein, Jane Lynch and Patrick J. Adams were not among the nominations announced Monday morning.

And at least as surprising as the snubs was the strong showing of Paradise Square, a musical that received fairly mixed reviews and has been struggling at the box office since opening April 3. The musical, a comeback for producer Garth H. Drabinsky, scored 10 nominations (tying with Mj and second only to A Strange Loop). Among Paradise Square‘s are Best Musical, Joaquina Kalukango’s nom for Best Lead Actress/Musical, and A.J. Shively’s nom for Featured Actor/Musical.

Among the biggest surprises and take-aways...

With 34 productions eligible for this year’s Tony Awards, there were plenty of names missing when nominations were announced on Monday morning. Among the most surprising 2022 Tony Awards nominations snubs was Katrina Lenk, who plays Bobbie in Marianne Elliott’s reimagining of the late Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.” The production merited nine nominations, including Best Musical Revival, Best Director, Best Featured Actor (Matt Doyle), and Best Featured Actress. Lenk previously won a Tony Award for her performance in Best Musical-winner “The Band’s Visit.”

See the complete list of 2022 Tony Awards nominees

Original musical “Flying Over Sunset” also underperformed. Even though the shuttered production scored four nominations, including Best Actress (Carmen Cusack) and Best Score, it missed out on the top category of Best Musical and Best Book for librettist James Lapine.

The star-studded revival of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” also missed out on a number of key nominations. Director Sam Gold...

Two musical revivals will dominate the 2022 Tony Awards nominations, according to our official odds in 17 of the 25 categories. “Company” and “The Music Man” will each earn at least seven bids apiece when the nominations are announced on Monday, May 9. Original musical “A Strange Loop” will likely earn at least six nominations. “The Lehman Trilogy” will likely lead the new plays with at least four bids, and revivals “Take Me Out” and “Trouble In Mind” will also earn four or more bids each, too.

These official odds are derived from 2022 Tony predictions by our Experts who write about theatre year-round, our in-house team of Editors, and all Users who make up the largest (and often savviest) bloc of predictors.

Below, we break down the predicted nominees by show, ranked by the number of nominations. Make or edit your own predictions before the nominations are unveiled on Monday morning.

Musicals

Company

Best...

Broadway came roaring back from its long winter of coronavirus closures with 34 musicals, plays, and revivals opening in the 2021-2022 season. If that whopping number of eligible productions has you unsure as to what shows, actors, and creatives to predict for the Tony Awards nominations, check out our racetrack odds below for all of the top categories. The nominees will be announced on May 9 and the ceremony will occur on June 12.

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, and all Users who make up the largest (and often savviest) bloc of predictors.

Below, see our 2022 Tony Awards predictions in 17 of the 25 categories. Make or edit your own predictions before the nominations are unveiled on Monday morning.

Musicals

Best Musical

A Strange Loop – 4/1

Six – 9/2

Girl From the North Country – 11/2

Mr. Saturday Night – 13/2

Flying Over...

Two years after its premature pandemic closure, Martin McDonagh’s play “Hangmen” has slipped the proverbial noose and returned to Broadway in a plot twist you might think McDonagh wrote himself. The unexpected resurrection of this dark comedy about the cessation of the death penalty in England in 1965 stars a slightly different cast than it did back in March 2020: David Threlfall has stepped into the shoes of the hangman played by Mark Addy, while Alfie Allen takes over the menacing character Mooney that Dan Stevens once embodied.

These two characters come to loggerheads when they meet in the bar that Threlfall’s Harry runs in his early retirement, while a subsequent kidnapping plot propels both characters to make fateful decisions. Matthew Dunster directs the thriller, which also features original Broadway cast members Tracie Bennett, Gaby French, and many others. “Hangmen” opened at the Golden Theatre on April 21.

Watch Martin...

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

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

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

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

In a Broadway season teeming with exciting plays, musicals, and revivals, a dramatization of a small city council meeting may sound dull. Perhaps in the hands of a lesser playwright than Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, but his fictional Big Cherry bureaucracy at the center of “The Minutes” is anything but tame. The “August: Osage County” scribe re-teamed with director Anna D. Shapiro for this genre-defying political satire with a horrifying underbelly. The ensemble comprises both New York and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre mainstays, featuring the likes of Blair Brown, Jessie Mueller, Austin Pendleton, and Letts himself, with Noah Reid making his Broadway debut. “The Minutes” opened at Studio 54 on April 17 for a limited engagement.

Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

This is the third episode of what we are calling The Final Frame. Here we will dissect the final film of a great, well-respected filmmaker, wrapped in the context of said filmmaker’s entire career. Our subject today: the recently departed Peter Bogdanovich. His final film: She’s Funny That Way, starring Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Aniston, Will Forte, Austin Pendleton, George Morfogen, Richard Lewis, and Cybill Shepherd. But wait! That’s only half-true! Before the half-hearted release of She’s Funny That Way, there was another version of the film. Its title? Squirrels to the Nuts. This is the cut that Bogdanovich wanted the world to see. Until the studio made him change it.

Barbara Maier Gustern, the 87-year-old singing coach to Broadway and New York’s downtown cabaret scene, died today of injuries sustained in a random street attack last week.

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

Her death was announced by her grandson Aj Gustern, who wrote on her Facebook page, “Today, at 11:15Am, we have lost one of the brightest little flames to ever grace this world.”

“I ask that you all give me a little time and space, but I want to make time for anyone and everyone who wants to know more about her final moments,” Aj Gustern continued. “Bobbob, I love you, you are and always will be my heart. I love you all so much, I could not have made it through these past 5 days without all of your support.”

The shoving attack on the singer and vocal coach outside her apartment in Manhattan’s...

The 87-year-old Broadway singing coach Barbara Maier Gustern remained in a coma Monday after a random attack outside her apartment in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood left her with serious brain trauma.

Gustern, who coached the cast of Daniel Fish’s acclaimed 2019 Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, was on her way to the Public Theater’s Joe’s Pub venue to watch the performance of a student last Thursday when she was shoved to the ground from behind by an unknown woman. Crime Stoppers NYPD released security images of the suspect, who police described as a female with long dark hair wearing a black jacket and a white skirt or dress.

No arrests have been made.

According to a Facebook message posted by Gustern’s grandson Aj Gustern, the coach and singer has been unconscious and intubated at Bellevue Medical Center since the night of the attack – she was briefly conscious when Ems arrived,...

As of now, there is a lot of uncertainty around Covid when it comes to Broadway. Within the past couple of months, several shows had to suspend performances due to positive cases in their casts, some others had to close permanently, and a couple more are taking hiatuses. The American Theatre Wing also hasn’t announced key dates for this year’s Tony Awards yet.

With that being said, we are now about halfway through the Broadway season, and there are currently 11 productions of plays set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tonys? Below is an overview of each play as well as the awards histories of their authors, cast, and directors, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Skeleton Crew” (opened January 26; closes February 20)

This new play by Tony nominee Dominique Morisseau is set in 2008 at a small automotive factory in Detroit,...

The Broadway production of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes is delaying its performance dates by two weeks this spring. The play, starring Schitt’s Creek actor Noah Reid, Letts, Blair Brown, Jessie Mueller and others, will now begin previews at Studio 54 on April 2, with opening night set for April 17.

The previous dates were about two weeks earlier.

Though the production has not indicated a reason for the delay, other shows have initiated similar spring delays due to the recent Omicron surge and its impact on rehearsal schedules, among other things.

The Minutes had already begun previews in spring 2020 when the Covid pandemic shutdown hit. At the time, the play was staged at the Cort Theatre. A planned renovation prompted the production’s move to the Studio 54 venue.

Also during the production’s hiatus, original star Armie Hammer withdrew amidst sexual misconduct allegations. Reid was later cast in the role.

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures has acquired worldwide rights to Lance Kawas’ thriller Good Thief, also claiming North American rights to Sonny Mallhi’s Hurt and Phil Harding’s The Reunion. The Red Arrow Studios company will release the first title on Tvod and digital platforms on November 30, with the second debuting in select theaters and on internet, cable, and satellite platforms on December 10, and the third arriving on all Tvod and digital platforms in February.

Good Thief follows a pair of thieves (played by Peter Donahue and newcomer Shomari Giles) on the outskirts of Detroit who rob a neighborhood pawnbroker (Jimmy Doom) of his valuable baseball card collection, only to find out they’ve unleashed something far more sinister. Aaron Sizemore penned the script for the film, which also stars Melanie Mahanna and Bobby Laenen. Kawas produced with Hicham Benkirane’s company, Hbk F.C. Myriad Pictures is handling international sales.

Schitt’s Creek actor Noah Reid will make his Broadway debut next spring in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s The Minutes, the Tracy Letts play that was in previews when the Covid pandemic shutdown was announced in March 2020.

Reid will take the role of Mr. Peel, previously played by Armie Hammer, who withdrew from the production amidst sexual misconduct allegations.

The Minutes will resume performances at Studio 54 on March 19, 2022, with an official opening set for Thursday, April 7. Tickets are on sale today.

Reid will join the rest of the cast that was in place at the time of the shutdown: Letts, Ian Barford, Blair Brown, Cliff Chamberlain, K. Todd Freeman, Danny McCarthy, Jessie Mueller, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton and Jeff Still.

Best known for playing Patrick Brewer in TV’s Schitt’s Creek, Reid most recently starred in the independent feature film Buffaloed opposite Zoey Deutch and Judy Greer. He will next star...

Noah Reid has joined the cast of the Anna D. Shapiro-directed Broadway run of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes.

The Schitt’s Creek actor joins returning castmembers Letts, Ian Barford, Blair Brown, Cliff Chamberlain, K. Todd Freeman, Danny McCarthy, Jessie Mueller, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton and Jeff Still. The show is set to open April 7 at Studio 54, a little over two years after its original opening date. Previews will begin March 19.

Reid has replaced Armie Hammer, who dropped out in April, following sexual harassment allegations and a subsequent LAPD investigation. In a statement, Hammer said he was stepping back from the show “...

Noah Reid has joined the cast of the Anna D. Shapiro-directed Broadway run of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes.

The Schitt’s Creek actor joins returning castmembers Letts, Ian Barford, Blair Brown, Cliff Chamberlain, K. Todd Freeman, Danny McCarthy, Jessie Mueller, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton and Jeff Still. The show is set to open April 7 at Studio 54, a little over two years after its original opening date. Previews will begin March 19.

Reid has replaced Armie Hammer, who dropped out in April, following sexual harassment allegations and a subsequent LAPD investigation. In a statement, Hammer said he was stepping back from the show “...

"We are looking for Jerry." Fandor has debuted an official trailer for an indie dramedy feature called Our Father, which premiered at this year's SXSW Film Festival playing in the main competition. Marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Bradley Grant Smith, the film is described as a "sardonic drama/dark comedy" about two estranged sisters attempting to bond while in search of their mysterious long-forgotten Uncle Jerry. Who may hold the key to their father's suicide and their family's unhappiness. One review says it's "an offbeat odyssey with outwardly small tangible stakes, but calamitous emotional ones..." The indie films stars Baize Buzan & Allison Torem as the two sisters, with Austin Pendleton, Tim Hopper, Guy Massey, Keith Kupferer, and Lance Baker. Not really sure if this one is worth a watch, but there's something strangely appealing about the awkward, tragic concept that got my attention. Take a look below. Here's...

Steppenwolf’s production of The Minutes, the new Tracy Letts play that had begun previews on Broadway when the industry shut down in March 2020, will resume performances in March 2022, with an official opening night on Thursday, April 7.

The play, with cast to be announced, will take up residence at Broadway’s Studio 54 theater, a move from its 2020 home at the Cort Theatre. Though Studio 54 is owned by the Roundabout Theatre Company, The Minutes is not a Roundabout production.

At the time of the shutdown, The Minutes starred Letts, Ian Barford, Armie Hammer, Blair Brown, Cliff Chamberlain, K. Todd Freeman, Danny McCarthy, Jessie Mueller, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton, and Jeff Still. Hammer dropped out of the production in April after becoming the subject of sexual misconduct allegations (the actor has denied all the accusations).

The cast for the 2022 production will be announced soon, producers say.

The Minutes chronicles the inner...

Second Stage Theater has confirmed the post-shutdown Broadway productions of Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s, Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out and Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside and Crazy, with the earliest – Clyde’s – set to begin performances this Fall.

Take Me Out, the all-star Covid-delayed revival directed by Scott Ellis and starring Patrick J. Adams, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams, will begin performances in Spring 2022, a year later than initially planned. Casting was not confirmed, but Second Stage’s website still lists the cast as originally announced.

Between Riverside and Crazy, directed by Austin Pendleton, is planned for Fall 2022. All Broadway productions of the nonprofit Second Stage will take place at the company’s Helen Hayes Theater.

Second Stage also confirmed two upcoming productions at its Off Broadway Kiser Theater, including the previously announced Letters of Suresh by Rajiv Joseph, directed by May Adrales (Fall 2021) as well as...

Amazon has set its cast for The Peripheral, its upcoming original series from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films. Charlotte Riley (A Christmas Carol), JJ Feild (Lost in Space), Adelind Horan (The Deuce), T’Nia Miller (The Haunting of Bly Manor) and Alex Hernandez (Bloodshot) have been cast as leads opposite Chloë Grace Moretz and Jack Reynor in the sci-fi thriller drama, based on the bestselling novel by William Gibson.

Created by Scott B. Smith, The Peripheral is described as a dazzling, hallucinatory glimpse into the fate of mankind — and what lies beyond.

The book centers on Flynne (Moretz) and her brother Burton (Reynor). In the novel, Burton, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps’ elite Haptic Recon force, is hired for a security job which takes place in what he thinks is cyberspace. When Flynne temporarily takes his place, she witnesses something that might have been murder.