Curtain Call: Diego Andres Rodriguez To Appear In ‘Evita’, Miz Hashimoto Added To Ensemble Studio Theatre
Leslie Odom Jr. - Rob Kim/Stringer
Broadway: Tony and Grammy winner Leslie Odom Jr. is to reprise his role as Aaron Burr in the hit musical Hamilton, which will mark its tenth anniversary on Broadway this August. Having initially originated the role, this will be Odom Jr.’s first time returning to the part since he bowed out in 2016. He is to appear in a limited engagement from Tuesday, September 9, 2025, to Sunday, November 23, 2025. “Returning to Hamilton is a deeply meaningful homecoming,” Odom Jr. stated. “I’m so grateful for the chance to step back into the room—especially during this anniversary moment—and to revisit this brilliant piece that forever changed my life and the lives of so many.”
Jordan Fisher has joined Alex Timbers production of Moulin Rouge!, appearing in the role of Christian from Tuesday, April 15, 2025, through to Sunday, July 20, 2025. Fisher appears alongside Solea Pfeiffer, his former co-star from Hadestown, alongside Austin Durant, Andy Karl, André Ward, Pepe Muñoz, and pop star Boy George. Fisher has previously appeared on Broadway in productions of Sweeney Todd, Dear Evan Hansen, and Hamilton.
Ali Louis Bourzgui and Myra Molloy are set to join the cast of Hadestown in the lead roles of Orpheus and Eurydice. They are set to appear from Tuesday, May 6, 2025, and will be taking over from Carlos Valdes and Hailey Kilgore in these roles. The two will be appearing alongside Phillip Boykin, who will be reprising the role of Hades from Tuesday, April 22, 2025, to Sunday, August 31, 2025. The musical, which reimagines the ancient Greek myth and is now in its sixth year on Broadway, will be appearing at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and is directed by Rachel Chavkin.
Lorna Courtney and Ramin Karimloo are to lead the industry presentation for the new musical Roam, with Karimloo presenting alongside Bandits Roost. The play, by Alexander Sage Oyen and Michael Dovid, addresses the issues faced by the Roma community, with a rock-pop score shaped by Roma musicians and influences. Having previously been workshopped with the Romani theatre company Giuvlipen and the Romanian "I.L. Caragiale" National University of Theatre and Film, the upcoming industry presentation will be held in New York, with readings from the cast.
Tony-nominated actress and performer Montego Glover has signed for representation with Buchwald, a New York and Los Angeles-based talent agency that has been operating since 1977. This comes after her recent completion of the national Broadway tour of Into the Woods, in which she has drawn praise for her reprisal of the Witch. Her previous appearances on Broadway include Memphis, Hamilton, and The Color Purple, while she has also been known for her appearances Off-Broadway, on television, and her voiceover work. Alongside Buchwald, she continues to be represented by Liebman Entertainment and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham LLP.
Miz Hashimoto - Facebook
Off-Broadway: Isa Briones, star of The Pitt and Star Trek: Picard, will join the cast of Manhattan Class Company Theater’s production of All Nighter for its final weeks Off-Broadway, starting Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Following a group of students who attempt to pull an all-nighter ahead of their final assessments, the play will feature Briones in the role of Lizzy. She replaces Havana Rose Liu, who had previously appeared in the role, and will be starring alongside AnnaSophia Robb as Darcie. The cast is also to include Tony nominees Kathryn Gallagher & Julia Lester, and Alyah Chanelle Scott.
Proud Mary, the new musical from Jennifer Paz and Anthony Fedorov, received a developmental reading at NYC’s Dramatists Guild on Friday, April 28, 2025, following earlier presentations and development at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Fall 2024 Festival of New Musicals, Goodspeed's Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove, and East West Players. The play, with a book and lyrics by Paz and music and lyrics by Fedorov, follows three Filipino women who each fall pregnant out of marriage, despite their strictly religious upbringing. The cast includes Liz Casasola, Jaygee Macapugay, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Emily Borromeo, Shea Renne, Reanne Acasio, Red Concepción, Reuben Uy, and Christopher James Tamayo.
South African-born Theatre-maker and director Keenan Tyler Oliphant is to direct in the upcoming production Practice, a new play from Brooklyn-based writer and musician Nazareth Hassan. The play, which has been described as "a shapeshifting psycho-comedy" based around a company of actors residing together in an old church and devising a play about themselves, slowly gives away their independence to the control of a manipulative and charismatic leader. Hassan’s writing has been praised by Artistic Director Adam Greenfield, who described him as “a writer who immediately has my head spinning, who has me grasping to get my hands on as many of their new works as I could.” The play is to be held at Playwrights Horizons Judy Theater from October to December 2025.
K. Todd Freeman is to star in the upcoming production of Prince Faggot, alongside Rachel Crowl, Mihir Kumar, and N’yomi Allure Stewart. The play, from Jordan Tannahill and co-directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, will be held at Playwrights Horizons Peter Jay Sharp Theater from Friday, May 30, 2025, through to Sunday, July 6. It has been described as a ‘meta-theatrical satire,’ in which its queer and gender-fluid cast of characters imagine a monarch from their community. “We may be imagining royals in this play, but the ensemble are the leads, the protagonists, as we think through the ways colonization has shaped our lives, the ways our sexualities intersect with power, and the ways we talk about queer childhood," stated Tannahill.
The Bees Call Me Eva, a new play by British-Japanese playwright Miz Hashimoto, has been added to the lineup for the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Spring 2025 First Light Festival. The festival aims to give the first look at new plays commissioned and developed by Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, with a focus on plays that question and broaden the view of science in the popular imagination. Based in New York City, Hashimoto is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood collective.
Soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee is to star in Part 1 of Parlando’s The Cabaret Project, which explores the history and art of cabaret in the years before reaching America and afterwards. It is to feature pieces from Erik Satie, Franz Schrecker, and William Bolcom and is to close out the chamber orchestra’s season at New York’s Merkin Hall on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
New York-based actor and writer Temidayo Amay to appear in the upcoming production of Machinal, alongside singer and performer Kimberly Immanuel, actress and singer Alice Reys, and actor Sam Im. These are among the latest additions to the cast for the revival of Sophie Treadwell’s play about a woman sent to the electric chair for murdering her husband. Scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025, to Thursday, July 3, 2025, this marks the off-Broadway debut for the New York Theatre Company, which is committed to reviving classic texts through inventive, socially conscious interpretations.
The cast has been announced for the world premiere of Chiaroscuro, produced by New York’s National Black Theatre, in association with the Flea Theatre. Originally written in 2002 by the late Aishah Rahman, the play is a dark comedy set aboard the S.S. Chiaroscuro, in which six Black singles embark on a singles cruise to nowhere. Scheduled for later this year, the play will star Abenaa Quïïn, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Gayle Samuels, Lance Coadie Williams, Paige Gilbert, Sidney DuPont, and TL Thompson.
Tarell Alvin McCraney - John Nacion/Stringer
Regional: CrazySexyCool, the upcoming jukebox musical from Kwame Kwei-Armah, which is set to premiere in Washington, D.C., next year, is reportedly aiming for a move to Broadway; however, a Broadway production timeline has not yet been set. The musical, which will tell the story of TLC, the ‘90s trio behind hits such as “Waterfalls,” “Creep,” and “No Scrubs,” is currently set to premiere at Washington’s Arena Stage as part of its 75th Anniversary season.
Casting is now complete for Tarell Alvin McCraney’s new play We Are Gathered, which is playing at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage from Friday, May 16, 2025, through to Sunday, June 15. Previously announced as headlining the play are Kyle Beltran, Nic Ashe, and Nikkole Salter. Also appearing alongside them will be Jade Jones, Kevin Mambo, Craig Wallace, Prince Bajon, Jason B. McIntosh, and Jasmine Joy. The play which is a queer-themed focus on one couple’s relationship, is what director Kent Gash has described as a “celebration and honoring of love, sexual expression, freedom, and Black excellence.”
Aneesa Folds is to star in the upcoming hip-hop musical Co-Founders, which premieres in San Francisco on Thursday, May 29, 2025. The play, written by Ryan Nicole Austin, Adesha Adefela, and Beau Lewis, sees Folds playing Esata, a young coder whose home is threatened by increasing gentrification. The premiere, which will take place at the American Conservatory Theater’s Strand Theater, will be directed by Jamil Jude.
The cast has been announced for the Olney Theatre Center's world premiere in Maryland for the new musical Senior Class, which will be held on the Roberts Mainstage from Friday, May 16, 2025, to Sunday, June 22, 2025. Starring in the production are Bradley Adam Stein, Jeffrey Cornelius, and Lauryn Adams, who play theater students whose production is threatened by the clashing of egos and high school hierarchies. Featuring music by Melvin Tunstall III, the play is drawn from the producer’s own experiences, tapping into issues around class, race, equality, and student activism.
The Pulitzer and Tony Award-winner Michael R. Jackson is to write the libretto for Complications in Sue, a new opera that will form part of Opera Philadelphia’s upcoming 2025-26 season. The play, which will tell the story of a woman whose personality is split in two, will follow her life over ten decades, with a score provided by ten composers. The premiere, which is to be held from Wednesday, February 4, 2026, to Sunday, February 8, 2025, will form part of Opera Philadelphia’s 50th anniversary season.
Dawn M. Simmons has been appointed as the new artistic director of the SpeakEasy Stage Company, the award-winning Boston-based theater company. Effective on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, the appointment comes after a six-month nationwide search, following the retirement of Paul Daigneault, who had originally founded the company in 1992 and had served as its director since. As an award-winning producer, director, playwright, and consultant with experience leading numerous productions within Boston and across the country, Simmons was approved unanimously for the post by the board of directors. “I’ve admired the incredible team at SpeakEasy for years, and I have been fortunate to collaborate with them in myriad ways,” Simmons stated. “Stepping into the role of artistic director is a true honor; I’m beyond excited to join this remarkable team. I’m committed to amplifying fresh voices, diving into meaningful subjects, and celebrating the rich diversity of stories that deserve to be heard.”
Opera artist Tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr., has taken up representation with Fletcher Artist Management. A graduate of Georgia State University’s School of Music, he has gone on to join the Sarah and Ernest Butler Studio at the Houston Grand Opera and will later be making his debut at the Austin Opera.
Laiona Michelle will be taking over artistic and creative management at New Jersey's George Street Playhouse as one of three incoming artistic producers who will be taking over from outgoing artistic director David Saint. Having previously worked for the company as an artistic associate for five years, Michelle will be taking on this role for the duration of the company’s 2025-2026 season, until a new permanent artistic director has been found. Michelle will also be directing a new production of Shayan Lofti's What Became of Us, which will run from Tuesday, March 17, 2026, to Sunday, April 5, 2026.
International: Ncuti Gatwa, star of Doctor Who and Sex Education, is to appear at the West End as Christopher Marlowe, the legendary playwright and contemporary to Shakespeare. The play, Born With Teeth, from Liz Duffy Adams, will focus on Shakespeare, as played by Edward Bluemel, through his relationship with Marlowe, and will play at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London from Wednesday, August 13, 2025 to Saturday, November 1. “I’m so excited to be joining Born With Teeth alongside the amazing Edward Bluemel," Gatwa stated, "Liz Duffy Adams has written an exceptional play that is smart, dark, sexy, sharp, and funny! There’s a lot to get one’s teeth into. This is like no version of Shakespeare and Marlowe that I’ve ever seen before, and I can’t wait for audiences to join us for the ride."
Diego Andres Rodriguez will appear alongside Rachel Zegler in the upcoming production of Evita at the London Palladium this summer. The play, which tells the story of Argentina’s former First Lady, Eva Peron, will feature Rodriguez in the role of Che alongside Zegler’s Peron. Having previously appeared in director Jamie Lloyd’s production of Sunset Boulevard, Rodriguez will here be making his West End debut, appearing from Saturday, June 14, 2025, through to Saturday, September 6, 2025, with an official opening set for July 1, 2025. “I’m beyond thrilled to be making my West End debut in Evita this summer,” Rodriguez stated. “Being directed by Jamie Lloyd again and playing Che opposite Rachel is an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Television and radio presenter Fleur East will make her West End debut as Tina Turner, in the London production of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, later this summer. A former contestant on The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, East will share the role with current star Karis Anderson. The play, which tells the life story of pop phenomenon Tina Turner, is showing at the Aldwych Theatre in London. East will appear from Tuesday, June 24, 2025, to Saturday, September 13, 2025.
Oraine Johnson, an actor, writer, and singer from Birmingham, England, will be starring as Jay Gatsby in a new production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby, which marks 100 years since the publication of the original novel. With a cast that also includes Jerome Lincoln and April Nerissa Hudson, the play is a co-production between Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Scotland and Derby Theatre in the north of England. The play will be shown at Pitlochry from Friday, June 27, 2025, to September 25. It will then move over to Derby from Friday, October 3, 2025, to Saturday, October 25, 2025.
Bryan Cranston, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Paapa Essiedu have joined the cast for the upcoming West End production of Arthur Miller’s All My Son’s, with productions to be held from Friday, November 14, 2025, to February 7, 2026, at Wyndham’s Theater. The play, which has enjoyed numerous revivals since first being released in 1947, explores themes of guilt and responsibility following WW2.
Samira Wiley is to star in the upcoming play Intimate Apparel, from writer Lynn Nottage. The play will be showing at London’s Donmar Warehouse from Friday, June 20, 2025, with an official opening date of Thursday, June 26. Telling the story of a sewist in early twentieth-century New York who dreams of setting up their own business, the play will also feature Nicola Hughes, Claudia Jolly, Kadiff Kirwan, Faith Omole, and Alex Waldmann.
Khayakazi Madlala has joined the Cape Town Opera, where she is set to appear in its upcoming production of Verdi’s Aida, where she will play the role of the High Priestess. She will be reprising the role after previously having played the part for a Royal Opera House production in London. The production will be playing from Friday, May 23, 2025, to Saturday, May 31.
Izzy Edmunds-Clarke will be making her West End debut as part of the incoming cast for the long-running comedy hit The Play That Goes Wrong. Having previously trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Edmunds-Clarke will be a part of the eleventh lineup of the play, which will be showing at London’s Duchess Theatre from Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Also appearing in the production will be Mitesh Soni, who has trained with the Guildford School of Acting and has worked extensively across theater, film, and television.
Shobna Gulati is to star in Through It All Together, a new play from Leeds Playhouse in the north of England. The play, from Chris O’Connor, which tells the story of a couple who deal with dementia, has been described as a love letter to the football team Leeds United and its manager, Marcelo Bielsa. Gulati, who will be appearing alongside Reece Dinsdale, stated, “I’m really looking forward to being a part of the brilliant team telling this heartfelt story, as a person who has a first-hand experience of dementia and a great passion for football. In our story we share how this family navigates the impact of this condition through the challenges and choices they face, and how the shared love of their football team continues to cement their bond in the difficult sea of change.” The production will be playing at Leeds Playhouse from Monday, June 23, 2025, to Saturday, July 19, 2025.
Emily Tang has joined the cast for the world premiere of the new musical King of Pangea, to be held at the King’s Head Theatre, a pub and theatre in the West End of London, that has operated since 1970 and platforms LGBTQI+ theatre. An actress based in London, with a background in musicals and pantomime, Tang is represented by Apollo Artist Management and will appear from Saturday, June 7, 2025, to Sunday, July 6, 2025.
Miranda Cromwell, Clint Dyer, and Lynn Nottage have been named among the new artistic associates with the National Theatre in London, and working alongside Sophie Duncan, incoming director and co-chief executive Indhu Rubasingham, and deputy artistic director Robert Hastie. The new artistic associates will aim to help support and shape the National’s creative vision, ensuring the broadest possible access to high-quality theatre. Dyer had previously worked as an artistic director at the National, whilst Nottage is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Cromwell, who had previously worked as a director and choreographer on productions like Death Of A Salesman, stated, “I am elated to join such an esteemed group of artistic associates at the National Theatre at this exciting and pivotal time. It is thrilling to be here at the start of a new chapter of history for the NT.”
Alpesh Chauhan has joined the roster of Askonsas Holt, the London-based music and arts management agency, for general management. Chauhan has worked as Music Director of the Birmingham Opera Company, where he has attempted to bring opera to the wider community and was named Newcomer of the Year at the 2021 International Opera Awards.
Soprano Nardus Williams has joined the roster of IMG Artists for general management. A winner of the Rising Talent Award at the International Opera Awards, Williams will be represented by senior artist managers Callan Coughlan and Isabella Pitman. “I am delighted to be working with both Isabella Pitman and Callan Coughlan,” she stated. “I look forward to continuing to explore wonderful roles and repertoire, with the support of IMG Artists.”
French mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet has joined the roster of Intermusica for worldwide general management. Having recorded her debut album, Long Time Ago, back in 2019, she has performed with numerous operas throughout Europe and will be making her debut in the title role of Ariodante at Strasbourg.
Michael Harper
Industry: Michael Harper has passed away at the age of 61. Born in 1963, Harper died of pulmonary complications on Monday, March 10, 2025. A noted countertenor & vocal coach, Harper was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Mayer-Lismann Opera Centre in London, whose career as a singer took him across Europe, the US, and China, taking part in premieres with the Royal Ballet and Opera’s Linbury Theatre in London, the China National Symphony Orchestra, and the Ballet Grand Théâtre de Genève, among others. He also tutored at the School of Vocal Studies and Opera at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, where he set up the Williams-Howard Prize to promote art songs by composers of African heritage. Alongside his career, Harper was a passionate advocate for music education for young people of all backgrounds and was a patron for OperaWire’s Diverse Voices program.
ROUNDTABLE
Actors On Actors: Audra McDonald (Gypsy) joined Jake Gyllenhaal (Othello) on Actors On Actors, where they discussed the challenges in preparing for roles, from vocal warm-ups carried out ahead of singing or speaking on the stage to methods of cooling down after performances and dealing with continuing problems of stage fright. McDonald stated,
“I think, honestly, sometimes plays are harder than musicals, because we forget, sometimes as actors, to support when it’s just speaking… in some ways I have found, when I’ve done just straight plays, I have been in more vocal trouble.”
McDonald also discussed the pressure that comes with taking on well-known & iconic roles and the need to give them her twist.
“When you’re playing an iconic role, there’s the judgement that comes in, there’s the knowledge that a lot of the people in the audience are coming in with. And because we’re taking it and without overtly turning it on its head, we have turned it on its head, by having it seen through a black lens, and having certain lines hit a different way. All of a sudden, certain motivations seem slightly different, even though we haven’t changed a word.”
