Read on for more theatre news you may have missed in today's headlines.
Watch the Trailer for Lin-Manuel Miranda and Neflix Film Vivo
The Hamilton and In the Heights creator wrote the songs for the animated movie musical and lent his vocal talent as the main character, a kinkajou who must deliver a letter from his owner in Havana to a long-lost love in Miami. Also in the cast are Gloria Estefan, Juan De Marcos, Zoe Saldaña, Michael Rooker, Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo, Lidya Jewett, Brian Tyree Henry, Nicole Byer, Leslie David Baker, and newcomer Ynairaly Simo. The movie, co-directed by Kirk DeMicco and Brandon Jeffords, also features a score by Alex Lacamoire with a script by Quiara Alegría Hudes and DeMicco. Vivo arrives on Netflix August 6.
The program will explore ways arts organizations of color face industry-level challenges while maintaining progress in their community. Ten to 12 organizations will be selected for the initiative, which will have a strong focus on research and a goal to develop insights that can be shared externally to support practice and policy improvements for equity in the arts. Letters of interest from organizations that would like to be considered for the first phase of the initiative are now being accepted. The deadline for submissions is August 13. For more information, click here.
Adam Kaplan Joins Fox’s The Big Leap
The show follows a group of performers in a reality competition series in a lead-up to a production of Swan Lake. Deadline reports the Broadway alum (seen in Newsies and A Bronx Tale) will play a twin opposite Anna Grace Barlow. Tom Lennon and Robert Wisdom have also joined a cast that already includes Scott Foley, Simone Recanser, Teri Polo, Piper Perabo, Simone Recasner, Ser’Darius Blain, Raymond Cham Jr., Jon Rudnitsky, Kevin Daniels, and Mallory Jansen. The show is set to premiere September 20 at 9 PM ET.
Vineyard Theatre Names Jesse Cameron Alick Associate Artistic Director
The theatre artist will begin working at the Off-Broadway company in September. Alick comes from The Public Theater, where he spent a decade and a half focusing on new work development, most recently as company dramaturg. “The Vineyard already works with some of my favorite artists, and I can’t wait to get into dialogue with them, the artists I don’t know, the staff, and the community to hear what they need and how I can support them,” said Alick. “As theatres move into this next phase of understanding how to return after the self-reflections of the pandemic and the illuminations of the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s so important to work with people who share your values and hopes.”
Broadway Alums Set for Austen’s Pride Highlights Performance
Mamie Parris (Cats), Bobby Conte Thornton (Company), and Olivia Hernandez will sing from Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs’s musical, inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The performance is part of the Cape Playhouse and Cape Symphone’s joint concert Symphony at the Playhouse: In Harmony July 31 at 6 PM ET in Dennis, Massachusetts. The 26-piece orchestra will be conducted by Jung-Ho Pak and the event will also feature songs from Chicago, Gypsy, and Fiddler on the Roof. For tickets, visit CapePlayhouse.com.
