Hamilton — Original Cast!! — Coming to Disney Plus
Posted on May 13, 2020 at 5:28 pm
The original Broadway cast of Hamilton film is coming to Disney+ on July 3.
The show was filmed live on stage with the original cast at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2016.
The original Broadway cast appearing in the film include Tony Award® winners Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr; Tony Award® nominees Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jonathan Groff as King George; Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton; and Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.
The cast also includes Carleigh Bettiol, Ariana DeBose, Hope Easterbrook, Sydney James Harcourt, Sasha Hutchings, Thayne Jasperson, Elizabeth Judd, Jon Rua, Austin Smith, Seth Stewart, and Ephraim Sykes.
The Tony nominations are out! I was delighted to see “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” get several nominations, including best play, best actor Alex Sharp, and best director Marianne Elliott. It is one of the most stunning evenings I have ever spent in the theater, with astonishing stagecraft that takes the audience inside the mind of an autistic teenager. It was even nominated for best choreography, although there is no dancing, just movement.
It’s nice to see Bradley Cooper nominated for his passion project, “The Elephant Man.” And it is very good to see special Tony awards going to John Cameron Mitchell, whose “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” has been a smash hit with Neil Patrick Harris, Darren Criss, and Michael C. Hall, and to the long-legged Broadway dancer Tommy Tune.
Best Musical
An American in Paris
Fun Home
Something Rotten!
The Visit
Best Play
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Disgraced
Hand to God
Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2
Best Musical Revival
The King and I
On the Town
On the Twentieth Century
Best Play Revival
The Elephant Man
Skylight
This Is Our Youth
You Can’t Take It With You
Best Leading Actor in a Play
Steven Boyer, ‘Hand to God’ (In Performance Video)
Bradley Cooper, ‘The Elephant Man’
Ben Miles, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
Bill Nighy, ‘Skylight’
Alex Sharp, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Best Leading Actress in a Play
Geneva Carr, ‘Hand to God’
Helen Mirren, ‘The Audience’
Elisabeth Moss, ‘The Heidi Chronicles’
Carey Mulligan, ‘Skylight’
Ruth Wilson, ‘Constellations’
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, ‘Fun Home’
Robert Fairchild, ‘An American in Paris’
Brian d’Arcy James, ‘Something Rotten!’
Ken Watanabe, ‘The King and I’
Tony Yazbeck, ‘On the Town’
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, ‘On the Twentieth Century’
Leanne Cope, ‘An American in Paris’
Beth Malone, ‘Fun Home’
Kelli O’Hara, ‘The King and I’
Chita Rivera, ‘The Visit’
Best Book of a Musical
‘An American in Paris,’ Craig Lucas
‘Fun Home,’ Lisa Kron
‘Something Rotten!,’ Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
‘The Visit,’Terrence McNally
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)
‘Fun Home,’ Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron
‘The Last Ship,’Music and Lyrics: Sting (In Performance Video)
‘Something Rotten!,’ Music and Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
‘The Visit,’ Music: John Kander, Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Best Featured Actor in a Play
Matthew Beard, ‘Skylight’
K. Todd Freeman, ‘Airline Highway’
Richard McCabe, ‘The Audience’
Alessandro Nivola, ‘The Elephant Man’
Nathaniel Parker, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
Micah Stock, ‘It’s Only a Play’
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Annaleigh Ashford, ‘You Can’t Take It with You’
Patricia Clarkson, ‘The Elephant Man’
Lydia Leonard, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
Sarah Stiles, ‘Hand to God’
Julie White, ‘Airline Highway’
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Christian Borle, ‘Something Rotten!’
Andy Karl, ‘On the Twentieth Century’
Brad Oscar, ‘Something Rotten!’
Brandon Uranowitz, ‘An American in Paris’
Max von Essen, ‘An American in Paris’
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Victoria Clark, ‘Gigi’
Judy Kuhn, ‘Fun Home’
Sydney Lucas, ‘Fun Home’
Ruthie Ann Miles, ‘The King and I’
Emily Skeggs, ‘Fun Home’
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Bob Crowley, ‘Skylight’
Christopher Oram, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
David Rockwell, ‘You Can’t Take It with You’
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, ‘An American in Paris’
David Rockwell, ‘On the Twentieth Century’
Michael Yeargan, ‘The King and I’
David Zinn, ‘Fun Home’
Best Costume Design of a Play
Bob Crowley, ‘The Audience’
Jane Greenwood, ‘You Can’t Take It with You’
Christopher Oram, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
David Zinn, ‘Airline Highway’
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, ‘Something Rotten!’
Bob Crowley, ‘An American in Paris’
William Ivey Long, ‘On the Twentieth Century’
Catherine Zuber, ‘The King and I’
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Paule Constable and David Plater, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
Natasha Katz, ‘Skylight’
Japhy Weideman, ‘Airline Highway’
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, ‘The King and I’
Natasha Katz, ‘An American in Paris’
Ben Stanton, ‘Fun Home’
Japhy Weideman, ‘The Visit’
Best Direction of a Play
Stephen Daldry, ‘Skylight’
Marianne Elliott, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Scott Ellis, ‘You Can’t Take It with You’
Jeremy Herrin, ‘Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2’
Moritz von Stuelpnagel, ‘Hand to God’
Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Gold, ‘Fun Home’
Casey Nicholaw, ‘Something Rotten!’
John Rando, ‘On the Town’
Bartlett Sher, ‘The King and I’
Christopher Wheeldon, ‘An American in Paris’
Best Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, ‘On the Town’
Christopher Gattelli, ‘The King and I’
Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Casey Nicholaw, ‘Something Rotten!’
Christopher Wheeldon, ‘An American in Paris’
Best Orchestrations
Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, ‘An American in Paris’
John Clancy, ‘Fun Home’
Larry Hochman, ‘Something Rotten!’
Rob Mathes, ‘The Last Ship’
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater
Tommy Tune
Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Stephen Schwartz
Regional Theatre Tony Award
Cleveland Play House
Special Tony Award
John Cameron Mitchell, ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’
Katie Wexler is one of the stars of Most Valuable Players, a sensational new documentary about three high school teams competing to win the Freddy Awards for theatrical productions. The Freddys are like the high school version of the Tony Awards. The movie shows that musical theater can be as thrillingly suspenseful and wildly entertaining backstage as it is from a front-row seat. Katie answered my questions about her dream role, her biggest challenge, and the best advice she ever got about performing.
What’s your favorite role that you’ve played and what’s one you wish you could play?
Picking a favorite role is tough! I always equate working on a show to gaining a best friend in the character you’re playing, and then never getting to spend time with them once the show closes. It sounds mildly morbid I guess, but that’s the kind of bond I form with the leading ladies I’ve played. I think I’d have to say I had the most fun playing Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. She is fiesty and hilarious and the range of growth she experiences throughout the show is tremendous, challenging, and an incredible ride for the actress on board. I am getting ready to work on Reno inAnything Goes in the spring time and she may give Dot a run for her money in the feisty department, so we’ll see how I feel come April!
Now dream role? Well, that’s every actor’s favorite question! No brainer. Eva Peron in Evita. And not the movie-Madonna-stuff…I mean Patti LuPone-Tony-Award-winning stuff!
Do you have a favorite musical?
I pace back and forth on the favorite musical spectrum between Sweeney Todd and1776. So, either a vengeful-murdering-singing-barber or singing-dancing-founding fathers. See? How can you not love musical theatre?!
What surprised you when you first began to learn about Broadway musical theater?
Hmm. “Broadway” musical theatre is such a teensy tiny microcosm of the art form ‘musical theatre’. There are brilliant musical theatre productions both old and new being mounted all over the United States in regional theatres, even some that tour through it! Broadway is only the tip of this wonderful iceberg. The regional theatres that adapt, engineer, and re-engineer timeless favorites, as well as invent new pieces that may make their way to Broadway, all over the country are the unsung heroes of the musical theatre world, I think.
What has been your biggest challenge as a performer?
Letting go. And whatever ‘letting go’ means on that day; whether it’s leaving behind stress, a terrible day, letting go of preconceived notions of what is ‘silly’ or feels uncomfortable. Letting go of insecurities and trusting yourself, fellow actors, and directors is so important. There’s really no room once you’re in the rehearsal space for anything else but letting go to the show or the piece and letting the work have an untainted life of its own.
What’s the best advice you ever got about performing?
Embrace your own uniqueness. The sooner a performer is ok with who they are; I mean fully come to terms with flaws, insecurities, weaknesses, strengths, and skills, and like it. Love it! Our job is to honestly portray humans on stage and what a better well to draw inspiration from than the life you know best—your own!
Do the Freddy Awards create too much pressure or do they inspire kids to do their best?
As far as my experiences have informed me, there are no negative consequences of the Freddy Awards. Of course some people will take competitive situations to the next level, but that’s any situation in life. It’s no different from kid’s pitting rival sports teams against each other in high school, it’s another way we motivate ourselves to do better. I know concerns had been expressed that theatre was such a different medium than sports that to “judge” and “win” were somehow bad words to qualify an art form, but from my experiences in the theatre both at the college level and professionally, it is painfully competitive out there just as much for actors as it is for professional athletes. High school thespians deserve their moment in the limelight for all the heart and time those kids put into the productions, and the Freddy’s has done a great job at giving it to them. If a little competition brings the community into the process and pushes these young artists to work harder, I say no harm no foul!
Tomorrow: An interview with Producer/Director Matthew Kallis.
Contest from Allen Zadoff of My Life in the Theater, and Other Tragedies
Posted on July 6, 2011 at 8:23 am
Allen Zadoff‘s terrific new book is My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies, about a high school theater techie (he works lights in a production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream”) who likes to stay behind the scenes until he meets a pretty transfer student who is suddenly put into one of the starring roles. It is funny, smart, and filled with authentic details and a lot of heart. You can win prizes for your own school theater group by uploading a picture of the book in a theatrical setting to the contest page. You might find yourself in the paperback edition! Stay tuned for an interview with Zadoff coming soon.
, a sensational 
, about a high school theater techie (he works lights in a production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream”) who likes to stay behind the scenes until he meets a pretty transfer student who is suddenly put into one of the starring roles. It is funny, smart, and filled with authentic details and a lot of heart. You can win prizes for your own school theater group by