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New York City Center today announced that its musical theater programming for the 2025–2026 Season will include an Encores! presentation of an all-Black production of La Cage Aux Folles starring Billy Porter as Albin. Robert O’Hara will directed the production scheduled for June 17 through 28, 2026.

The musical was one of three Encores! productions and a gala presentation announced today by City Center for the season – the first season planned by the newly appointed VP & Artistic Director, Musical Theater Jenny Gersten.

Besides Porter, no casting was yet announced for the season.

In addition to La Cage, the other Encores! musicals to be presented are the Hugh Martin-Timothy Gray musical High Spirits, based on Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, to be directed by Jessica Stone; and the Michael John Lachiusa-George C. Wolfe musical The Wild Party, directed by Lili-Anne Brown.

In addition to the Encores! entries, the City Center season will include gala benefit...

While the show is still in the early stages of its development, Jennifer Hale is already weighing in on potentially returning for the Mass Effect TV adaptation. Hale, a highly regarded voice actor, starred in the first three games of the sci-fi RPG franchise as the female version of Commander Shepherd, as the lead character came with both a male and female option for players to choose. Development on a Mass Effect adaptation began regaining steam after shifting to TV on Prime Video with F9: The Fast Saga's Daniel Casey set to write the show.

During a recent interview with Eurogamer, Hale was asked her thoughts on the in-development Mass Effect TV show. While the game star humorously acknowledged she would like to see FemShep made canon for the show, she was very eager about her interest to return to the franchise with the adaptation, while also explaining why...

Since its release in 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a cultural phenomenon, largely due to its protagonist, Arthur Morgan, portrayed by actor Roger Clark. In an interview, Roger Clark, expressed his discontent with the gaming industry’s pervasive secrecy.

From the outset, he wasn’t told much about his role during the audition, only that he needed to perform in cowboy boots. The scripts were often given just minutes before filming, which made it challenging for actors to deliver their best performances.

Roger Clark’s Experience With The Video Game Industry

Roger Clark shares his experience in the video game industry. | Rockstar Games

Clark’s experience with Rockstar, however, wasn’t entirely negative. Despite the tight non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and minimal initial information, he appreciated that Rockstar always tried to answer his questions. This allowed him to understand his character deeply. However, in his interview with The Gamer, he says:

Personally,...

In 2021, director Morgan Neville made headlines when he revealed that he and his team had built an AI model of the late Anthony Bourdain's voice for his documentary "Roadrunner," and Neville had secretly slipped AI-generated narration into the doc alongside narrations that Bourdain himself actually read aloud. In this case, the AI narrations were for lines the acclaimed chef and television personality had written in books or articles but never physically recorded, but controversy swirled about the ethics of that decision.

In 2022, actor James Earl Jones, who has provided the voice of Darth Vader since the original "Star Wars" in 1977, made his own headlines when he allowed a start-up company called Respeecher to use artificial intelligence to generate new vocal performances using his early archival recordings as source material, letting Lucasfilm retain a consistency to Darth Vader's iconic intonations instead of recasting the role. Jones, now 92 years old, reportedly...

Are you looking for the greatest TV programs ever made? If so, this is exactly where to find them! Did your favorite show make the list of best TV series of all time?

We have researched and compiled a list of 10 amazing series based on IMDb ratings and viewership data. Ranging from crime dramas to animations – no matter your preference, there’s something here for everyone. So grab some popcorn & settle in; it’s time for an awesome TV marathon experience.

IMDb utilizes its user rating systems to create seemingly never-ending lists of top shows around all genres. One particular list is termed the “Top 250 TV Shows,” thanks again to these scoring methods used by contributors online daily. Below are listed out ten highest-rated TV series according to those stats.

10 Highest-Rated TV Shows of All Time The Sopranos (1999–2007) – 9.2 Game of Thrones (2011–2019) – 9.2 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014) – 9.3 Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008) – 9.3 The Wire...

"We will build the ultimate weapon! Their stuff will be our stuff!" How did we miss this?! Netflix is showing a new 40-minute animated holiday special film titled Alien Xmas, the latest creation of the Chiodo Bros. This stop-motion animated adventure looks like Rankin/Bass' classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" TV special – but with aliens, instead of reindeer. Meet X, a little alien who learns that in a world full of stuff, things aren’t meant to be taken, but given. When extraterrestrials attempt to steal Earth's gravity, only the gift-giving spirit of Christmas -- and a small Alien named X -- can save the world. It is already available to watch now; somehow we missed all these trailers when they debuted weeks ago. But better late than never! The film features the voices of Keythe Farley, Dee Bradley Baker, Kaliayh Rhambo, Michelle Deco, Barbara Goodson, and Jessica Gee-George. It...

SAG-AFTRA and nine of the video game industry’s largest companies have agreed to a two-year extension of their 2017 Interactive Media Agreement covering voice-over and performance-capture performers. Under the new agreement, wage minimums will increase 3% per year and employer health and retirement contributions will increase 0.5%. The union went on strike for 340 days – the longest in its history – to achieve the 2017 contract.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the employers,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris. “The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the entertainment industry, but work on video games, much of which can be done remotely, has continued. This extension allows members to keep working and have some certainty during an uncertain time.”

The nine companies party to the agreement are Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, WB Games, Activision Productions, Blindlight, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions and VoiceWorks Productions.

The extension was approved unanimously by the...

Netflix has released the first footage from the highly anticipated Alien Xmas stop-motion holiday special. The footage is bundled in with the streaming platform's November additions. Back in 2019, Jon Favreau revealed that he was working with Stephen, Charles, and Edward Chiodo, aka The Chiodo Brothers on a stop-motion Christmas special for Netflix. The 40-minute special is an animated adaptation of The Chiodo Brothers' 2015 holiday book of the same name.

Alien Xmas takes place when a race of kleptomaniac aliens attempt to steal Earth's gravity in order to more easily take everything on the planet. Only the gift-giving spirit of Christmas and a small alien named X can save the world. The footage is very brief, but it begins with Santa Claus asking if he can tell some children a "crazy" Christmas story. From there, we are treated to our first look at X, as he attempts to bring some Christmas "joy.

A voice actor working on Insomniac’s “Spider-Man” game accidentally revealed that a classic Spidey villain makes an appearance, according to Eurogamer.

(Spoilers, obviously.)

Chris Jai Alex plays Rhino in the game. He’s also the voice of the multiplayer announcer in “Call of Duty: Black Ops IV.” During a recent interview with YouTuber Drift0r, he talks about the challenges of creating a certain fight scene because all of the villains scale differently, and he mentions the name Doctor Octopus.

I wanted to know if there was a Nuke in Black Ops 4 so I just asked the multiplayer announcer voice actor @chrisjaialexhttps://t.co/C2p6vi5XVt

— Drift0r (@Drift0r) June 21, 2018

Drift0r’s video is gone now, but the internet never forgets. You can watch a clip below.

Doc Ock’s inclusion in the game makes sense. He’s a popular character and founder of the Sinister Six.

A deal has been made and voice actors will be heading back to work. Come inside to find out what SAG-aftra got in order to end the video game strike.

It took nearly a year but SAG-aftra is officially ending their strike against 11 video game companies, after reaching an agreement early Saturday morning. On October 21, 2016, we reported that the union behind over 160,000 actors of the vocal variety was set to go on strike after certain companies within the gaming industry refused to go into detail of the project, pay the actors a cut of the game's earnings, and provide safe work environments, among other things.

Saturday, SAG-aftra would earn a victory on some of their demands, enough to end the 11 month strike. The terms of the tentative agreement include a new bonus structure that provides an additional payment to performers. The bonus payment, which is due no later than the release date of the game,...

For two years back in the late nineties and early aughts, producer, author and all-around film lover John Pierson hit the road alongside his own group of fellow cinephiles to explore the filmmaking scene in a variety of venues and with a ton of exciting guests.

The venture resulted in his beloved television series “Split Screen,” which introduced movie buffs to all manner of filmmakers and their creations over the course of 60-plus episodes. “Split Screen” was IFCtv’s signature series from 1997-2000, boasting such guests as Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, Mary Harron, Katherine Dieckmann and many, many more.

Read More: Watch: ‘Jackie’ Director Pablo Larraín Discusses ‘Movies That Inspire Me’ in New IndieWire Video Series Presented by FilmStruck

While the series has long been available online in bits and pieces, it’s now bound for a brand new internet home, where it will be available in all its wild glory,...

Union video game voiceover actors continued their strike Nov. 17 with a third official picket line, this time outside Insomniac Games with its largest crowd yet. Approximately 450 SAG-aftra voiceover actors gathered outside the “Ratchet & Clank” gaming company’s Burbank, California, headquarters in a continuation of the strike, which began Oct. 21 after 19 months of unsuccessful contract negotiations. Previous picket lines were held at Electronic Arts Productions, WB Games, and VoiceWorks Productions. (A full list of the gaming companies being picketed can be found at sagaftra.org.) The strike has since gained support from Actors’ Equity Association and other actors unions in England, New Zealand, and Australia. Read: “Why Video Game Voiceovers Matter” “We didn’t ask for a three-foot high oak stool with spring water in a blue glass bottle to be within arm’s reach of the actor at all times,” voice actor and chair of SAG-aftra’s interactive negotiating committee...

Today marked the beginning of a SAG-aftra strike against 11 video game companies. For the first time in the history of the video game actors’ union, which now numbers 165,000, its members have been instructed to withhold their services, effective immediately.

The issues have been simmering since February 2015, when the existing labor agreement between SAG-aftra members and the video game companies expired. Four more meetings over 19 months failed to find a compromise, and SAG-aftra announced the strike effective just after midnight October 21.

See More Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and More Remember Robin Williams at SAG-aftra Center Opening

IndieWire attended a roundtable at SAG-aftra headquarters Friday afternoon, where members of the Interactive Contract Negotiating Committee elaborated on their decision to strike. Here’s the primary issues, in a convenient Faq format.

What’s the main sticking point?

That depends on which side you’re listening to. Video game companies maintain it’s a financial issue.

The Office for the Arts at Harvard recently announced that its upcoming undergraduate production of the cult hit Bat Boy The Musical will debut new scenes and songs by the show's original writers. Composerlyricist and Harvard alum Laurence O'Keefe and bookwriters Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming have been holding writing sessions and workshops at Harvard, working directly with the undergraduate cast and crew to develop the new material.Bat Boy is the story of a feral half-bathalf-boy, originally invented by the Weekly World News supermarket tabloid. The musical comedy's premiere Off-Broadway in 2001 garnered rave reviews and the show has received hundreds of productions worldwide, but the three writers have nonetheless continued to work on the show.O'Keefe recently took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld about revisiting the project and his intentions for the show at Harvard and beyond. Check out the full interview below...

The Office for the Arts at Harvard has announced that its upcoming undergraduate production of the cult hit Bat Boy The Musical will debut new scenes and songs by the show's original writers. Composerlyricist and Harvard alum Laurence O'Keefe and bookwriters Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming have been holding writing sessions and workshops at Harvard, working directly with the undergraduate cast and crew to develop the new material.

There are two upcoming movie musicals that, for a long time, I've wanted to make into motion pictures, should someone with money be willing to give me the funds to make them -- Into The Woods and The Last 5 Years. I'm both nervous and excited to see how directors Rob Marshall and Richard Lagravenese, respectfully, have interpreted the material I hold so close to my heart. I am especially nervous for Into The Woods, given Marshall's less than impressive track record. If someone is going to screw up something I cherish, it should be me. Of course, there are far more than two musicals I have a deep connection to. Some have already been made into films, like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Les Miserables, but there is a vast collection of musicals I have thought could make fantastic films, but have never been made.

In honor of Halloween and the many fantastic events that are happening around St. Louis this week, we here at Destroy the Brain will be spotlighting a different Halloween themed event every day this week. St. Louis is a city that loves the haunting holiday, and what is better than joining in in the fun by partaking in one of these horror themed happenings.

The subject of persecution and nonacceptance of a “stranger” entering a new community has been tackled in film, books, and stage productions for years. Though many of these stories sometimes fall to the side of melodrama, a few stand out as touching accounts that reflect our own society. Thankfully, Bat Boy: The Musical, a story by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming and music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe, is able to touch on these complex issues while also infusing some effective humor. If the name...

Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director of Great Lakes Theater Festival (Gltf), announced plans for the company's ambitious forty-eighth season to Festival Members earlier this week. Scheduled to run from September through May, Gltf's 2009-10 season will feature a Fall Repertory, the Festival's annual holiday classic and a Spring Repertory. In the fall (September 24-November 1, 2009), the Festival will present Rupert Holmes' Tony Award-winning solve-it-yourself musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Drood) in rotating repertory with Shakespeare's enchanting comedy, Twelfth Night. Gltf's annual production of Charles Dickens' holiday classic, A Christmas Carol (December 4-December 23, 2009), originally adapted and directed by Gerald Freedman, will mark the midpoint of the Festival's 48th season. Gltf will round out its 2009-10 season with a Spring Repertory (April 8-May 16, 2010) by pairing Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming's outrageous Off-Broadway hit Bat Boy: The Musical with Shakespeare's magical masterpiece, A Midsummer Night's Dream.