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Creating TV programs since the early '90s, screenwriter Shawn Ryan admittedly took a while to make his way into the streaming world. The first step when it came to traversing digital platforms was when he made Mad Dogs for Prime Video in 2016, then The Get Down for Netflix a year later, and finally, The Night Agent for the same subscription service in 2023. This ongoing thriller about a night operator uncovering a conspiracy at the White House, starring Gabriel Basso in the lead role, seems to have hit the best of strides for Ryan. The first season was not only nominated by numerous recognizable award associations (such as the Critics' Choice Super Awards and the People's Choice Awards) but has also already...

Spoiler Alert: The following reveals major plot points from the series finale of Starz‘s Power Book II: Ghost.

In 2014, Michael Rainey Jr. was a young teen when he debuted as Tariq St. Patrick in the Starz drama series Power, from executive producers Courtney A. Kemp and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Today, Rainey is older and wiser after a decade of growing up in front of audiences in two Power Universe series— including most recently, Power Book II: Ghost where he survives to see another series finale. Could there be a third?

The Power Book II: Ghost conclusion, currently available to stream via the Starz app, wraps up many storylines while leaving others open for possible continuation. Deadline has spoken to the network regarding what the future holds but there are no announcements to be made at present. And it’s important to note that with one more season of Power...

Apple TV's sci-fi mystery show Sunny has earned positive reviews, but fans are eager to find other shows and movies that have similar atmospheres. Sunny stars Rashida Jones as an American living in Japan who receives a mysterious robot companion after her husband disappears in a plane crash. Sunny's season 1 finale provided a satisfying ending, and if there are plans for a season 2, the wait will be more than some fans can bear.

Fortunately, there are plenty of good options for fans who can't get enough of Sunny. There are other shows and movies which feature compelling mysteries set in the near-future, or ones which probe at the sticky issue of artificial intelligence. Apple TV has some great sci-fi shows that fit the bill. Fans of Sunny who admire the show's stylish aesthetic and dark mystery will want to check out similar shows and movies to ease the pain of season 1 coming to an end.

Exclusive: The Accidental Wolf, a drama series starring Kelli O’Hara, has been renewed for a second season by streamer Topic.

The First Look Entertainment-backed digital platform, will launch the second season of the show, which comes from writer and director Arian Moayed, who is best known for playing dastardly foe Stewy in HBO’s Succession, on December 30.

The six-episode second season will feature Laurie Metcalf, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Denis O’Hare, Judith Light, Judith Ivey and Sahr Ngaujah.

Six months has passed since Katie, played by O’Hara, answered a phone call that upended her life and put the fate of a pregnant and wounded stranger in her hands. Her family is threatening to medicate her and take away her daughter. Every lead has gone cold. Katie attempts to return to her old life, but a new faction emerges that pulls her deeper into the mystery of what happened on...

Broadway has just reopened after shuttering on March 13, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To mark the return of the rialto, the 74th annual Tonys were handed out on Sunday, September 26 at the Winter Garden theater. This two-part ceremony, which will be hosted by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald on Paramount+ and “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom, Jr. on CBS, comes almost one year after nominations were announced on October 15, 2020.

Two new musicals – “Jagged Little Pill” and “Moulin Rouge!” — lead the Tony Awards nominations with 15 and 14 bids respectively including Best Musical. A third tuner, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” reaped a dozen bids as did the new drama “Slave Play.” While the nominees were decided by 48 theater professionals, the winners were voted on by 831 members of the Broadway community.

Below, the 2020 Tony Awards winners list in all 25 competitive categories.

See Broadway insiders dishing the 2020 Tony Awards nominations in our theater forum

Musicals...

Natalie Mendoza, a star of the BBC One drama series Hotel Babylon and The Descent horror film franchise, has been cast in the lead role of Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical, filling the vacancy left when the Tony-nominated Karen Olivo resigned in April over what she perceived as industry silence regarding the workplace harassment and abuse claims levied against theater producer Scott Rudin.

(Rudin had no involvement in Moulin Rouge!)

With the casting of Mendoza, announced today by producers Carmen Pavlovic and Bill Damaschke, the full Moulin Rouge! cast is in place for the resumption of performances on Friday, September 24, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The musical originally opened on July 25, 2019, but performances were suspended in March 2020 when Broadway went dark due to the Covid pandemic shutdown.

Mendoza joins a principal cast that also includes Aaron Tveit, Danny Burstein, Sahr Ngaujah, Tam Mutu, Ricky Rojas and Robyn Hurder.

The...

Multiple Tony nominee Moulin Rouge! The Musical will resume Broadway performances on Friday, September 24 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, producers announced today, but the successor to former (and Tony-nominated) lead actress Karen Olivo, who left the role in protest of Broadway’s silence over Scott Rudin, was not revealed.

Back on stage will be Aaron Tveit, Danny Burstein, Sahr Ngaujah, Robyn Hurder, Tam Mutu and Ricky Rojas. Ashley Loren has been cast at the alternate Satine (a position she held at the time of the shutdown). Additional casting, including the role of Satine, will be confirmed at a later date.

Produces also announced that Moulin Rouge! will honor New York’s Frontline Workers at a special dress rehearsal on September 23.

“Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a story about artists fighting to keep...

“The Accidental Wolf,” the new thriller from creator Arian Moayed debuting on Topic next week, is a series that avoids easy answers. Rather, the show lives within the ambiguities of truth and belief and, according to series star Kelli O’Hara, it speaks directly to our current political and cultural moment.

“How is it we can be absolutely opposed, 50-50, on things that seem so clear?” O’Hara said during a preview of the series for TheWrap’s Virtual Screening Series on Wednesday.

“The Accidental Wolf” centers on Katie Bonner (O’Hara), a woman whose “quiet” life in Manhattan is upended by a late-night phone call in which an unknown caller pleads for the life of his pregnant and wounded wife, Tala. Deeply affected, Katie embarks on a journey to find her, but not without drawing skepticism and condemnation from the people around her who think she’s falling into a scam.

Film diversity non-profit Film2Future will honor The Walking Dead and Shameless writer Latoya Morgan at its first-ever virtual gala on Thursday. The annual gala and fundraiser, named “Origins In the Beginning,” honors Morgan with its 2020 Changemaker award.

“Growing up in a L.A., I dreamed of the day I could create my own stories and get them on screen. I always wished for an organization like Film2Future which is doing incredible work building a pipeline for talented diverse students directly to the entertainment industry,” said the honoree, Morgan, who participated on Film2Future’s ‘Staying Creative in Uncertain Times’ panel earlier this year. “Every time I speak with the students I’m inspired by the depths of their curiosity, commitment, and creativity. It’s exciting to share insight into the work that I do knowing that these exceptional teens are the next generation of great storytellers.”

In addition to honoring Morgan,...

Succession‘s Juliana Canfield, WandaVision‘s Kathryn Hahn, Messiah‘s Emily Kinney, Moulin Rouge!‘s Sahr Ngaujah, and Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert‘s Joel Perez have joined the line-up for tonight’s Act Out: Vote2020, a get-out-the-vote online event featuring short monologues and songs that team prominent playwrights with an all-star cast.

Among the offerings: The Letter by Lynn Nottage starring Sandra Oh, Mr. Morrow Comes to Tally by Tarell Alvin McCraney with Brian Tyree Henry; Two Girlfriends on Zoom by Jocelyn Bioh with Yvette Nicole Brown and Dis Is Your Fathah by Ngozi Anyanwu with Sahr Ngaujah.

See the full line-up below.

“Voting matters for every election but this November 3rd is even more important,” said two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nottage, who presents the event with The Walking Dead actress and playwright Danai Gurira and The Inheritance director Stephen Daldry. “We believe that if the entire theatrical...

The Tony Awards nominations were announced on Thursday, October 15 by Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart (“Aladdin”). The reveal of the roster of contenders was carried on the Tonys YouTube channel. While the nominations for the 74th annual Tony Awards were determined by 41 theater professionals, winners will be decided by 784 members of the Broadway community.

Only 18 shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there are 10 original works and four revivals in the running. Over on the musical side, four new tuners are in contention; no musical revivals qualified. The cutoff date for eligibility was February 19, 2020. As both the Bob Dylan tuner “Girl From the North Country” and a new revival of “West Side Story” opened after that, don’t look for them on the list of nominations below.

Broadway has remained closed since March 13 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Tony Awards had been set...

Good News: The 2020 Tony Awards will be held virtually this fall, giving the shuttered Broadway industry a desperately needed shot of good will. Bad news: Only four new musicals opened before the new eligibility cut off date of February 19, 2019. The limited number of contenders has industry insiders scratching their heads as to what the musical categories will look like.

The four new musicals competing for the coveted Best Musical prize are “Jagged Little Pill,” “The Lightning Thief,” “Moulin Rouge!,” and “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.” Under the usual Tony Awards rules for show categories, there can only be three nominees for categories with four or five eligible contenders. So one of these four musicals will be left in the dust unless there is a tie for third place.

See 2020 Tony Awards: Which 18 plays and musicals are eligible for the autumn ceremony?

A huge question mark hangs over the Lead Actor in a Musical category.

If you’re confused as to who is actually able to compete for the newly announced virtual Tony Awards this fall, you’re not alone. The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced a new cut off date of February 19, 2020. That means that the 2019-2020 Broadway season was cut incredibly short.

Musical races are most heavily affected by the shortened season. “West Side Story” will have to wait until next year to compete as it opened after the February 19th eligibility cutoff date. Other scheduled revivals of “Caroline, or Change” and “Company” were postponed due to the Broadway shutdown. As such there will be no Revival of a Musical category this year. Other categories, like Best Musical and Director of a Musical, will likely see their number of nominees reduced to three due to a limited number of contenders.

Luckily, there are plenty of plays in contention since many of these non-musical outings premiere in the fall.

Exclusive: iHeartRadio, FlynnPictureCo., Psychopia Pictures and UpperRoom Productions have defied the pandemic to complete production on There Be Monsters, a 10-part narrative sci-fi thriller podcast. Starring are Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s John Boyega and American Crime: The Assassination of Gianni Versace‘s Darren Criss. There Be Monsters is produced by Beau Flynn of FlynnPictureCo., Dan Bush of Psychopia Pictures and Boyega’s UpperRoom Productions, and it will be available later this year on the iHeartPodcast Network.

Boyega plays Jack Locke, a mysterious hero with a vendetta who infiltrates a Silicon Valley body hacking startup run by an enigmatic CEO Max Fuller (Criss), whose highly secretive creations promise to enhance human biology in incredible ways. Of course, every drug has a side effect.

iHeartRadio began developing this with the producers in late 2019 as part of its expanding slate of immersive PodFiction audio dramas. As the creative team was...

Audra McDonald, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical and its star Adrienne Warren, Lachanze, Aziza Barnes’ play Blks and the Off Broadway revival of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf were among the big winners at tonight’s inaugural Antonyo Awards for black theater artists on Broadway and Off Broadway.

McDonald took the award for Best Actor in a Play on Broadway for her performance in the Broadway revival of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune directed by Arin Arbus. Warren, who plays Tina Turner in Tina, was named Best Actor in a Musical on Broadway.

Blks was named Best Play, and Tina took Best Musical.

Created by Broadway Black, a multimedia organization that includes a website and podcast, the Antonyos’ Juneteenth inaugural ceremony included such presenters and performers as McDonald, Tituss Burgess, Alex Newell, Jordan E. Cooper,...

Like Baz Luhrmann’s groundbreaking 2001 romantic-tragedy movie before it, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a poptastic spectacle with a grab bag of famous pop songs.

For the stage production, music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator Justin Levine expanded its sonic landscape, using more than 70 pop songs (credited to 161 writers) in the construction of the score, which includes Karen Olivo singing Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Aaron Tveit singing “Roxanne,” by the Police.

The album has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album and, with no composers on the show,...

This year’s Grammy nominees for Best Musical Theater Album are “Ain’t Too Proud,” “Hadestown,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — In Four Contemporary Suites” and “Oklahoma!” Six of the last 10 winners in this category matched up with the Tony Award for Best Musical. So does this bode well for the 2019 Tonys champ, “Hadestown”?

In the musical, songwriter Orpheus and his muse Eurydice fall in love during the warmth of summertime. But as winter approaches, reality sets in: these young dreamers can’t survive on songs alone. Tempted by the promise of plenty, Eurydice is lured to the depths of industrial Hadestown. On a quest to save her, Orpheus journeys to the underworld where their trust is put to a final test.

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The nominated principal soloists on the recording are Reeve Carney, André De Shields,...

The Grammys took a fairly expansive sweep with this morning’s nominations for Best Musical Theater Album, The Motown sound, Rodgers & Hammerstein, the folk-rock music of Anaïs Mitchell, the reworked radio hits of Moulin Rouge! and Imogen Heap’s Harry Potter musical suites were all represented.

But four of the five nominations did not include composers, since the music was not original to the cast albums. In the case of several, the musical numbers consist largely of oldies, some reworked for contemporary settings. Anaïs Mitchell’s previous concept album for Hadestown was already Grammy-nominated upon its release in 2010.

The nominees:

Ain’t Too Proud: The Life And Times Of The Temptations is a rousing recreation of the Motown sound, focusing largely, but not exclusively, on the title group’s hits. Nominated were original cast members Saint Aubyn, Derrick Baskin, James Harkness, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope and Ephraim Sykes and...

Moulin Rouge! the Musical: 3/5 Stars

There was a show. A very strange, enchanted show.

Entering the red light-coated Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with the stage flanked on either side with a giant red windmill and a large elephant’s head, you’re immediately asked to immerse yourself in the dreamlike, fantastical world of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 romantic tragedy Moulin Rouge! As its musical adaptation blazes forth with a whiplash-inducing 70 songs, flashy can-can dancers and bohemian ideals, the fantasy is forced to be grounded in reality and loses some of the film...

Even the most wholly original works of art can, in the service of story or character or heart, summon the stray memory, the whispery chill of déjà vu. They’ll switch on the bittersweet recall of better times or drip-drop echoey little splashes of the worst. Most, though, remember to turn the damn spigot off.

Watching Broadway’s truly lovely-looking, golden-oldie-stuffed Moulin Rouge! The Musical, opening tonight, I was reminded time and time (and time) again not only of life’s circumstances when this or that hit song first caught our shared attention, but of Moulin‘s spiritual predecessor. I thought of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 movie, too, but the predecessor that never escaped my mind was Name That Tune, the old game show in which contestants vied to be the first to recognize a song in as few notes as possible.

Directed by Alex Timbers, whose stage credits include the transcendent and the okay (Beetlejuice), Moulin Rouge! both adheres to, and expands upon, Luhrmann’s dazzling, hyper-stylish film starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. The plot and setting are the same: We’re in fin-de-siècle Paris (1899 and Montmartre to be exact), inside the legendary nightclub of the title.

Actually, legendary might be a tad premature – a mere 10 years into its extant existence, the tales of debauched, defiant Bohemians of many and varied stripes are just taking root. The club is hot hot hot, but broke.

Not that you’d know by looking at it. In the miracle-working hands of scenic designer Derek McLane, Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre is transformed into a red velvet heart-shaped fever dream, a gloriously naughty, gender-mucked Valentine from a last-gasp Victorian Era. Costume designer Catherine Zuber matches the mood with the sort of flashy divine decadence undergarments-as-outer that we’ve come to expect after so many Cabaret revivals, but few will begrudge the familiarity. Dazzle is dazzle, never more so than when Sonya Tayeh is choreographing with a kitchen sink approach that encompasses can-can, Fosse and Single Ladies.

We’ll take it on faith that this nightclub has to sell itself to a devilish Duke.

At least, that’s the plan dreamed up by Harold (a couldn’t be better Danny Burstein), the leering emcee of this cabaret, er, nightclub who conspires with his star performer/courtesan and longtime from-the-streets pal Satine (Karen Olivio) to give the rich and vicious-by-reputation Duke of Monroth (Tam Mutu) whatever he wants, and whenever he wants it.

The complication is Christian – sometimes the show is just that literal – a naive young and very poor composer from Ohio (where else? what else?) who has come for a slice of La Vie Boheme and finds it straight off. He meets artist Toulouse-Lautrec (Sahr Ngaujah) and Argentinian gigolo Santiago (Ricky Rojas) and, through them, the Moulin Rouge and Satine.

There’s a mix-up/meet-cute involving the Duke, Christian (Aaron Tveit) and Satine, but identities are sorted soon enough, and before you can say “my dad has a barn” the gang is planning a new musical that will save the club, revolutionize the art form, provide Christian with the recognition he deserves and make a star of Satine.

At least, that’s how it should go. But the Duke’s wallet comes with a string attached to Satine, who now must dump Christian lest he wind up face down in the Seine. Oh, and Satine only has a week or so to live, her countdown tick-tocked by the size of the rouge splotch on her white hanky.

Plotwise, that’s pretty much it. John Logan’s book adds no big (or small) surprises and little emotion – what genuine feeling graces Moulin Rouge comes via the likes of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, when a “Your Song” pushes the exact button intended. Both Tveit and Olivo are wonderful singers and fine actors, but neither can bring much depth to these stock stage musical characters.

Olivo makes a better go of it, partly because Timbers and Logan have given her a rawer Satine than Luhrmann gave Kidman. This survivor is no porcelain doll, and if her backstory of child prostitution and sisterhood of the streets seems a bit tacked on, well, a character needs notes to hit just as much as any singer does.

Still, even the best of these character flourishes begin to feel like also-ran ideas running to catch up with what must have been the founding concept for this adaptation: the cover songs. The term “jukebox musical” is often one of disparagement, but rarely has it felt more appropriate. What seemed like a clever little motif in the film – having late 19th Century bohos strutting to “Lady Marmalade” or jamming to T. Rex – here becomes the raison d’être. The movie’s original soundtrack lists 17 songs, nearly all cover versions of hits, and though a few numbers in the movie were left off the record, even the second volume couldn’t combine to match the 70 (!) songs of the stage version.

Granted, most of those are more snippet than song, which is either good or bad, I suppose, depending on whether your era of choice got much snipping. While the movie leaned, aurally at least, on ’70s nostalgia, the stage production updates with Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, OutKast, Britney Spears, Beyonce, the White Stripes, Florence and the Machine, Seal, Adele, Sia and whoever sang “Shut Up + Dance.”

Good, catchy songs, no disputing that, whether you favor “Bad Romance” or “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Chandelier” or “The Sound of Music.” And certainly the track listing itself can be fun in a guess-what’s-next, parlor-game sort of way, at least initially. Wears thin fast, though, certainly by the time we get to the end of the overlong first act where we’re met with what’s been called the “Elephant Love Medley” since the movie.

Performed by Satine and Christian in her elephant-shaped dressing room, the medley strings together what begins to feel like every love song ever written. Here’s the list, courtesy of Playbill: “All You Need is Love/Love is Just a Game/I Was Made for Loving You/Just One Night/Pride (In the Name of Love)/Can’t Help Falling In Love/Don’t You Want Me/Don’t Speak/I Love You Always Forever/It Ain’t Me Babe/Love Hurts/Love is a Battlefield/Play the Game/Such Great Heights/Torn/Take On Me/Fidelity/What’s Love Got To Do with It/Everlasting Love/Up Where We Belong/Heroes/I Will Always Love You).”

The something-for-everyone approach has its advantages – not least a steady stream of applause and recognition chuckles that make Moulin Rouge! feel like one of the liveliest shows on Broadway. With box office soaring), this reportedly $28 million enterprise will swat away any stray critical brickbats like so many gnats.

But I don’t think I’ll be the only one leaning more toward grimace than grin. There’s another bit of nostalgia detritus that drifted across my mind during

“Elephant Love Medley,” and if you can’t manage my recommended Hadestown or Tootsie to see musicals with genuine heart, take another route and search YouTube for the Cher and David Bowie duet from 1975’s The Cher Show. It’s a classic of its type called “Young Americans Medley,” featuring the two icons (one coked to his different-colored eyeballs) performing a musical daisy-chain. “Song sung blue/everybody knows one/Is the loneliest number…” You can fast-forward when you’ve had enough.

Be More Chill and What The Constitution Means To Me, currently on Broadway, are among the just-announced Lucille Lortel Award nominees for their previous Off Broadway versions.

The Lortels, which honor Off Broadway productions, mark a sort of unofficial kick-off to New York’s theater awards season. Broadway’s Tony Award nominations will be announced Tuesday, April 30.

Winners of the 34th annual Lortel Awards will be announced Sunday, May 5 at an event hosted by Wayne Brady.

Another nominated Off Broadway production that later made its way to Broadway is Mike Birbiglia’s The New One, nominated in the Outstanding Solo Show category.

Tying for most Lortel nominations are Classic Stage Company’s Carmen Jones starring Anika Noni Rose and Ars Nova’s Rags Parkland Sings The Songs Of The Future, each with six nominations.

The nominations were announced today by the Off-Broadway League. The 34th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards will be handed out Sunday,...

The stage production of Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” that opened in Boston this summer is heading to Broadway.

Producer Carmen Pavlovic announced Monday that the musical will open on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with previews beginning June 28, 2019 prior to a July 25 opening night.

The cast from the show at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre will transfer to Broadway, including Karen Olivo, Aaron Tveit, Danny Burstein, Sahr Ngaujah, Tam Mutu, Ricky Rojas and Robyn Hurder.

Also Read: 'Moulin Rouge!': Watch Aaron Tveit Channel Ewan McGregor in Broadway-Bound Musical (Video)

“We are thrilled to be bringing ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ to Broadway,” said producer Carmen Pavlovic in a statement. “We are especially delighted that the show is going to the Hirschfeld – the perfect theater for this production with its lavish architecture and rich history of landmark Broadway shows.”

Based on the Oscar-nominated 2001 film of the same name...

The Broadway adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! will begin its run on the boards next summer, producers announced, with previews starting June 28 and opening night set for July 25.

Producer Carmen Pavlovic (Global Creatures) called the show’s home, the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, “the perfect theater for this production with its lavish architecture and rich history of landmark Broadway shows.”

As in the film, Moulin Rouge! celebrates some of the greatest popular music of the last 50 years. The stage musical features many songs from the movie and also includes recent hits released since the movie premiered in 2001. After a splashy Cannes launch, the film version went on to earn eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and took home two trophies.

Cast members from the production’s run last summer in Boston will transfer to Broadway, including Karen Olivo, a Tony winner for West Side Story and In the Heights,...

(Note: This post contains spoilers for “Luke Cage” Season 2, especially toward the end of the season.)

One of the primary villains of “Luke Cage” Season 2 gives the Hero of Harlem a run for his money. Super strong and super durable, the Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir) is a lot like Luke (Mike Coulter): he can stop bullets with this chest, and he can beat up a guy who once took a shotgun blast to the face and survived without a scratch.

But we know that his abilities aren’t at full strength all the time, and that he wasn’t born with them — unlike other characters in the Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Luke. So how exactly do they even work?

Also Read: 'Luke Cage' Season 2: All the References to the Rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Bushmaster, better known as John McIver, was...

Tony-winner Karen Olivo, Next to Normal‘s Aaron Tveit and six-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein have been set as the principal cast in the upcoming Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the world premiere engagement in Boston of the Broadway-bound production.

Based on Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 movie, the stage version, produced by Global Creatures, is being directed by Alex Timbers, the Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson director who also has a stage version of Beetlejuice in the works.

The musical’s book is by John Logan (Red), and like the movie, the stage Moulin Rouge! will include popular songs from the past five decades, some used in the film and some from the years since the film’s release. Justin Levine is Music Supervisor, Orchestrator and Arranger and Matt Stine is Music Producer. Sonya Tayeh is the choreographer.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical will play the Boston limited engagement at the refurbished Emerson Colonial Theatre,...

Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo will headline the new musical adaptation of “Moulin Rouge,” the stage adaptation of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film.

Tveit, a Broadway fan-favorite whose screen work has included the film version of “Les Miserables” and TV outings “Graceland” and “Grease Live,” will play the role Ewan McGregor played in the movie, with Tony winner Olivo (“West Side Story,” “In the Heights”) on board in the Nicole Kidman part. Also on the cast list are Danny Burstein (“Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “Follies”), playing the host of the Moulin Rouge, as well as Sahr Ngaujah (“Fela”), Ricky Rojas, Robyn Hurder and Tam Mutu.

Alex Timbers (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” “Peter and the Starcatcher”) directs the musical, with a book by John Logan (“Red,” “Gladiator”) adapted from the screenplay by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Sonya Tayeh (“So You Think You Can Dance”) choreographs.

“Moulin Rouge” centers on the romance...

Stars: Danielle Macdonald, Bridgett Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay, Mamoudou Athie, Cathy Moriarty | Written and Directed by Geremy Jasper

Written, directed and largely composed by Geremy Jasper, a New Jersey music video director making his first feature, Patti Cake$ is an exceptionally well made film, displaying the sort of rawness and authenticity only possible in street-level filmmaking. It’s a fresh take on some very familiar underdog story traits.

23-year-old Patricia (Danielle Macdonald), Aka Patti, lives a meagre existence of microwave meals, tinned lager and daytime TV. She lives with her mother, Barbara (Bridgett Everett) – a “friend” to many a local gentleman – and her sarcastic, chain-smoking Nana (Cathy Moriarty). Patti dreams of taking the star-studded crown from her hero, O-z (Sahr Ngaujah), and becoming “Killa P”, the sickest rapper on the East Coast. But her reality is merely sick: her family’s declining health is costing them dearly in insurance bills.

It used to be “can a white boy sing the blues,” but now it is “can a white girl rap,” in the Sundance hit Patti Cake$. Of course, Patricia Dombrowski, aka Patti Cake$, isn’t a girl any more, she’s a 23-year-old overweight white woman who feels her teenage dream of being a hip-hop star fading away as she remains stuck in lower working-class suburban New Jersey.

Patti Cake$ is surprising, endearing, and inspiring film about outsiders, misfits and outcasts but with a women-centric twist. Much of the film’s appeal rests more on the cast performances than its familiar struggling-musician story. As Patti, Australian actress Danielle Macdonald seems like an unremarkable dreamer at first, but Macdonald suddenly transforms when she starts to rap, radiating charisma, intelligence and defiance in equal measures. Even those who are not rap fans while find her energy hard to resist.

The underdog story...

Chicago – How does a filmmaker create a movie about a white girl in New Jersey dreaming of being a hip-hop star? He takes the beats from his own life admiration of the music genre and fleshes out a working class story about pushing back against the odds. Geremy Jasper wrote and directed the electrically poignant “Patti Cake$.”

The film features Danielle Macdonald as the title character, that of a bartender with a talent for hip hop rhymes, and her friends Jheri (Sid Dhananjay) and Bob (Mamoudou Athie), who want to help her record those beats. Patti’s home life is difficult, as her mother Barb (Bridget Everett) is depressed and unstable, plus her beloved grandmother (Cathy Moriarty) is fighting a homebound illness. But Patti will not be stopped, despite her weight, the odds and her obsession with rapper O-z (Sahr Ngaujah). The film marks the debut of Geremy Jasper as a feature director,...

As the star of Patti Cake$, Australian newcomer Danielle Macdonald was the find at this year Sundance Film Festival. Now everyone gets to see what all the fuss is about. She plays Patricia Dombrowski, a 23-year-old plus-sized New Jersey bartender dissed as "Dumbo" by local (dim)wits. No matter. In her fantasies, Patti, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, is a white gangsta rapper whose talent fills stadiums. In reality, she lives in a dump with boozy mom Barb, superbly played by cabaret revolutionary Bridget Everett, and her grandmother Nana (Cathy Moriarty...

Chicago – How does a native Australian actress become a New Jersey hip hop artist? Practice, practice, practice… in formulating the character of “Patti Cake$.” Danielle Macdonald, who had never rapped before in her life, portrayed the title Jersey Girl with a stellar determination, poignancy and heart.

“Patti Cake$” features Danielle as that title character, that of a bartender with a talent for hip hop rhymes, and her friends Jheri (Sid Dhananjay) and Bob (Mamoudou Athie), who want to help her record those beats. Patti’s home life is difficult, as her mother Barb (Bridget Everett) is depressed and unstable, plus her beloved grandmother (Cathy Moriarty) is fighting a homebound illness. But Patti will not be stopped, despite her weight, the odds and her obsession with rapper O-z (Sahr Ngaujah). The film was written and directed by Geremy Jasper, making his debut as a feature filmmaker.

Danielle Macdonald Brings it Home...

Morris From America. We Are The Best!. Sing Street. All recent, beautiful coming-of-age stories about finding yourself through musical expression. What do they have to do with Geremy Jasper’s Patti Cake$? These three titles grow their ranks to four, one of them being this Jersey-born lyrical flamethrower. Talent so fierce trapped in a hopeless place, spit like venom into the faces of haters who’ve turned a pit stop into home-sweet-home. Jasper bottles small-town suffocation, big-city dreams and all-important individuality to create an easy-sippin’ cocktail that’ll have you trippin’ on empowered vibes. A killa’ on the mic and a hero to us all – albeit a bit expected, but hardly forgettable.

Danielle Macdonald strikes a thunderous performance as Patricia Dombrowski, an aspiring rapper who fronts as “Killa P.” Mother Barb (Bridget Everett) drinks away the sorrow of past decisions and Nana (Cathy Moriarty) suffers from Alzheimer’s, leaving Patti...

Chicago – Bridget Everett is a New York City entertainment maven, as a singer and “cabaret provocateur.” She is breaking out recently as a movie actor, with the just-released comedy “Fun Mom Dinner” and her latest role, as a mother to “Patti Cake$,” a white girl hip-hop artist from New Jersey with a determination of gold.

“Patti Cake$” features Danielle Macdonald in the title role, that of a bartender with a talent for hip hop rhymes, and her friends Jheri (Sid Dhananjay) and Bob (Mamoudou Athie), who want to help her record her beats. Patti’s home life is difficult, as her mother Barb (Bridget Everett) is depressed and unstable, plus her grandmother (Cathy Moriarty) is fighting a homebound illness. But Patti will not be stopped, despite her weight, the odds and her obsession with rapper O-z (Sahr Ngaujah). The film was written and directed by Geremy Jasper, making his debut as a feature filmmaker.

From working with non-professionals to writing roles for specific actors to hiring a top casting director, there is no one way to find a great cast for an independent film. IndieWire checked in with the Dramatic Competition and Next directors of Sundance 2017 to find out their secrets.

Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival

Gillian Robespierre, “Landline” Jenny Slate was attached from the beginning. I wrote the role of Donna in “Obvious Child” for Jenny, and when sitting down to write the next project it was a no-brainer to write another role for her. We then built the family around her with the help of two incredible casting directors, Doug Aibel and Stephanie Holbrook.

Zoe Lister-Jones, “Band Aid” Almost all the actors in the film were either friends or people I had personal connections to, so it was a relatively easy process.

“This shit’s so confusing,” raps North Jersey native Patti (Danielle Macdonald) early in “Patti Cake$,” adding, “Want my life like a movie.” Mission accomplished: The rousing debut of writer-director Geremy Jasper channels his music video experience into a winning musical ride that hits some familiar beats while using them in service of a satisfying tale of big dreams and funky talent.

Aussie star Macdonald has a few movie credits to her name (including “The East” and Amy Berg’s “Every Secret Thing”), but she emerges as a genuine breakout in the transformative role of a hard-edged Jersey kid with an uncanny talent for turning her ambitions into energetic freestyle rap. When she isn’t honing her skills, she’s grappling with her alcoholic mother (the great New York underground theater performer Bridget Everett), herself an expert songstress whose dreams faded long ago, and grimacing her way through a dead-end catering gig.

Recently, CBS served up the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "The Good Wife" episode 8 of season 7. The episode is entitled, "Restraint," and it turns out that we're going to see some very interesting and high drama stuff go down as a very heated case has Diane personally conflicted. Alicia and Lucca get desperate for new business, and more! In the new, 8th episode press release: Diane Is Personally Conflicted When She Is Forced To Argue A Heated Case In Order To Keep An Important Client, On "The Good Wife," Sunday, Nov. 22. Press release number 2: Diane is going to be personally conflicted when she is forced to argue a heated case between pro-choice and pro-life advocates in order to retain an important client, represented by attorney Ethan Carver (Peter Gallagher). Also, Alicia and Lucca will be desperate for new business and will attempt to poach clients from Louis...

The New York Television Festival, an organization dedicated to identifying and nurturing top independent creative talent and connecting it with networks, studios, digital media companies and brands, today announced the official selections for its flagship Independent Pilot Competition Ipc, including The Accidental Wolf, created by Arian Moayed of Waterwell Films. This explosive thriller, stars Kelli O'Hara Tony Winner for The King amp I, Mike Doyle Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys and Sahr Ngaujah Tony Nominee for Fela, and is one of 50 original television and web series pilots that will be presented for industry executives and TV fans at the 11th Annual New York Television Festival.

CBS pilot Taxi-22 has rounded out its cast. Joining star John Leguizamo as regulars in the single-camera comedy project that had been shepherded by the late James Gandolfini are Lenny Venito (The Neighbors) and Sahr Ngaujah (Last Resort). Venito will play Dean, Bobby’s (Leguizamo) boss at the Yellow Cab Garage and Ngaujah is Valentine, a Nigerian cab driver who shares a taxi as well as a love hate relationship with Bobby (Leguizamo) at Yellow Cab. Also set for the CBS TV…...

Perhaps fitting for a celebration of a musician whose polyrhythmic extravaganzas tended to run 20-plus minutes, Alex Gibney's doc Finding Fela takes a while to get started. The opening scenes focus on rehearsals for Broadway's Fela!, and in the early going, Gibney shows us more footage of stage-Fela Sahr Ngaujah than of the Afro-pop pioneer himself — an odd choice but not a tragic one, since the too-short musical performances of both prove thrilling and hypnotic.

A pair of talking-head notables offers what play as apologies for the haphazard structure of Gibney's film: Bill T. Jones, the Broadway show's choreographer and co-author of its book, admits that the theater reduced the complex Fela to just two dimensions, and we see him and Ngaujah hashing over how...

Although it has a few episodes that slow the pace and failed to maintain an audience before getting cancelled by ABC, Last Resort is an entertaining thrill ride of a series that will keep you hooked on the series thanks to a great ensemble cast and a plot that feels somewhat grounded in realism. Created by Shawn Ryan and Karl Gajdusek, the series featured a huge cast that included Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Camille De Pazzis, Dichen Lachman, Daniel Lissing, Sahr Ngaujah, Autumn Reeser, Jessy Schram, and Robert Patrick. While trying to stay as spoiler free as possible, The Complete Series collects all 13 episodes of the show (which ran September 27, 2012 to January 24,...

To celebrate the release of The Last Resort: The Complete Season on DVD boxset, we are giving 3 readers the chance to win a copy of the DVD boxset.

A fugitive crew of a U.S. nuclear submarine seeks to uncover the truth behind suspicious orders in Sony Pictures Television’s explosive military series, Last Resort: The Complete Series. The spellbinding series full of shocking twists is available on DVD on July 1 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It stars Andre Braugher (TV’s “Men of a Certain Age”) as Captain Marcus Chaplin, along with Scott Speedman (The Vow) as Executive Officer (Xo) Sam Kendal. Also starring Daisy Betts (Shutter), Camille de Pazzis (Gamer), Dichen Lachman (TV’s “Dollhouse”), Daniel Lissing (TV’s “Crownies”), Sahr Ngaujah (Stomp the Yard), Autumn Reeser (The Girl Next Door), Jessy Schram (Unstoppable) and Robert Patrick (Walk the Line). Last Resort: The Complete Series...

Will Last Resort finally bring ABC great ratings in its timeslot or will it be cancelled -- like last season's Charlie's Angels remake? We'll have to wait and see.

The first season of Last Resort typically airs Thursday nights at 8pm on the ABC network. The cast includes Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Camille de Pazzis, Sahr Ngaujah, Jessy Schrams, and Autumn Reeser.

Below are the TV show's ratings for the 2012-13 season, the best way to tell if Last Resort is going to be cancelled or renewed for a second season.

These figures will be updated as the weeks progress so be sure to bookmark and return to this page:

Final series averages: 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.26 million total viewers.

Episode 01-13:...

Network: ABC

Episodes: 13 (hour)

Seasons: One

TV show dates: September 27, 2012 -- January 24, 2013

Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Camille de Pazzis, Sahr Ngaujah, Jessy Schrams, and Autumn Reeser.

TV show description:

Created by Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Unit, The Chicago Code) and Karl Gajdusek (Dead Like Me), this TV series takes place 500 feet beneath the ocean's surface, on the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, the personnel are told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.

A man of principle, honor, and duty, Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders and is then unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House. A pragmatic...

Last Resort has been sunk. ABC has cancelled the newbie drama. The network plans to air all 13 episodes but won't order a back nine or a second season. ABC also cancelled 666 Park Avenue today and CBS dropped Partners as well.

The TV series takes place in the submarine Colorado when its officers are mysteriously ordered to destroy Pakistan. Sensing that something isn't right, they require confirmation and are subsequently fired upon and hunted.

The cast of Last Resort includes Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Camille de Pazzis, Sahr Ngaujah, Jessy Schrams, and Autumn Reeser.

Though it received a lot of promotion, Last Resort debuted to mediocre ratings; a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.31 million viewers.

The numbers declined over the course of the season...

If you do one thing for America today, you should vote. But if you do two things for your country, you should vote, and then watch this exclusive behind-the-scenes video featuring the very handsome men of Last Resort. "Let's be honest, a uniform does great things for guys," producer Jean Higgins says in what is the truest statement ever stated in the history of the universe. In the featurette, we get to know Last Resort's Scott Speedman, Andre Braugher, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing and Sahr Ngaujah. And by "get to know," we mean watch footage of these beautiful guys wearing uniforms, posing shirtless and just generally looking gorgeous. You are welcome. Celebrate America by...

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

“The one thing we have out here is our loyalty to each other! That’s it!”

Last Resort remains a mixed bag for this sardonic reviewer; I found the first half of Eight Bells to be thoroughly riveting and watching Marcus and Sam navigate their way between a duo of destroyers was great TV. The second half wobbled slightly but overall it was a solid passing. My problem remains that I don’t have a burning desire to see the next episode any time soon.

From the get go, this episode displayed loyalty under fire. Of course the crew are going to be restless and they’re going to have questions. They’re on an alien island far away from their homes and they’re being depicted as enemies of the state. The growing unrest prompts Marcus to release Joe from the ‘brig’ and, so long...

[Warning: Major spoilers from Thursday's episode ahead.] A turf war is brewing on ABC's Last Resort, and it's already getting ugly.  This week, the USS Colorado crew -- led by Capt. Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) and Xo Lt. Cmdr. Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) -- begin their search for three missing members. The search brings them to the island's unofficial "mayor" Julian Serrat (Sahr Ngaujah), who proves just how far he'll go to protect his land -- including a major sacrifice that changes the face of the group. The Serrat-Marcus dance is a development that will continue to grow as the

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The search is on for the crew of the USS Colorado on Last Resort. The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive scene from Thursday's episode, "Eight Bells," in which head of the sub Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) gathers the troops in search of three missing crew members, bringing him to Mayor Julian Serrat (Sahr Ngaujah). It's he who Chaplin hopes will be of significant help. Story: 'Last Resort' Bosses Shawn Ryan, Karl Gajdusek Preview Season After exchanging obligatory pleasantries -- complete with Serrat's emphasis on the Colorado's temporary accommodations on Sainte Marina -- Chaplin gets down to business. What he gets in

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Last night, ABC unveiled their new high-profile TV series, Last Resort. Will it be a ratings smash or quickly sink into danger-of-cancellation territory?

The TV series takes place in the submarine Colorado when its officers are mysteriously ordered to destroy Pakistan. Sensing that something isn't right, they require confirmation and are subsequently fired upon and hunted. The cast of Last Resort includes Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Camille de Pazzis, Sahr Ngaujah, Jessy Schrams, and Autumn Reeser.

Last Resort debuted to 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.08 million total viewers.

That was not exactly a positive start for the new series. It was a distant third in its timeslot in the demo and a close third in viewers -- behind The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men on CBS...

Tonight, ABC is unveiling their big new TV series, Last Resort. It looks like a winner but goodness knows enough of those have ended up cancelled. Is Last Resort really worth watching?

On Last Resort officers on the submarine Colorado are ordered to destroy Pakistan via a secret channel. Something doesn't seem right so they require confirmation. They're subsequently fired upon and are then hunted by their own country as a cover-up ensues. The cast of includes Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Robert Patrick, Daniel Lissing, Dichen Lachman, Camille de Pazzis, Sahr Ngaujah, Jessy Schrams, and Autumn Reeser.

Interesting concept but, is Last Resort really worth your time? Here's what some critics say:

Hollywood Reporter: "That's partly because the pilot for Last Resort feels more like a big-screen movie than the start of an ongoing series, so viewers will have to...