Curtain Call: Disney’s ‘Coco’ Is In The Early Stages Of Development For Its Stage Adaptation
Broadway: During a recent Disney World concert on January 24, performers L. Steven Taylor and Mandy Gonzalez revealed that Pixar’s 2017 animated hit, Coco, is being reimagined as a stage play. Disney outlet LaughingPlace was the first to announce this, stating that the project was still in its formative phase. The film originally created a significant impression for its quirky yet holistic exploration of culture and identity via Dia de los Muertos.
Taylor said, "This tale of family, fun, and adventure inspires a young musician named Miguel to go on a[n] extraordinary adventure to the magical land of his ancestors. With a score by Michael Giacchino, and additional songs from the composer-lyricist team from Frozen [Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez], Coco is now in development at Disney on Broadway to become a live stage show!"
Amy Herzog’s Broadway adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen drama, A Doll’s House, is all set for rehearsal. Though its early pull was Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain’s casting as Nora, the roster has since gone much deeper than that. Jesmille Darbouze, Michael Patrick, Tasha Lawrence and Arian Moayed have all joined the team now. Additionally, Hamilton original Okieriete Onaodowan will also act alongside the star-studded lineup.
Originally premiered in 1897, the modern revival of the play is a joint effort between artistic director Jamie Lloyd’s Jamie Lloyd Company and the Ambassador Theatre Group. Scheduled to preview on February 13 and open on March 9, the production will run for a limited 16 weeks at the Hudson Theatre.
Kenny Leon - Michael Loccisano
Off Broadway: Michael R. Jackson, known best for his Tony- and Pulitzer-winning play A Strange Loop, is on track to debut his next stage production. In the lead-up to the world premiere at Vineyard Theatre and Second Stage Theater, a Works & Process at the Guggenheim event will preview White Girl in Danger on February 26.
Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz with choreography from Raja Feather Kelly, the show will begin its previews on March 15 at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theater, followed by its opening on April 10. The musical is set in the fictional town of Allwhite, wherein Keesha Gibbs and others like her i.e. "blackgrounds" negotiate a fragile existence that involves dodging the Allwhite Killer.
The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Hamlet will run for nine weeks this summer. If Kenny Leon directing the landmark play wasn’t massive news itself, Tony Award nominee and Slave Play star Ato Blankson-Wood has now been cast as the title role. More news regarding casting is expected soon.
Set to take place at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater in Central Park as part of its 61st season, previews will commence on June 8, followed by opening night later on June 28. The team will then wrap up a little over a month later on August 6.
“I’m so happy to be at The Delacorte once again and to share something that binds us to one another,” Leon said.
“A 500-year-old play exploring the need for a strong foundation of family, with music and words, Shakespeare’s Hamlet has much to say about humanity and the importance of our connectedness to each other. We set this production in 2021, filled with all of the challenges we face as Americans as we explore our need to love more profoundly both nature and its people.”
Mazin Akar - Jeffery Smith-Georges
Regional: Sylvia Khoury’s Pulitzer finalist Selling Kabul will take the stage at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia next month. With performances set to start on February 21 at the ARK Theater, the production’s cast and creative team have now been finalized.
Broadway's Mazin Akar (The Kite Runner) will take on the lead role of Taroon. He will be supported by Yousof Sultani as Jawid, Awesta Zarif as Afiya and Neagheen Homaifar as Leyla. The show will conclude on April 2. The play is set ten years ago and tells the story of a brother-sister pair hiding from an expanding Taliban as they wait for their American visas.
“While the war may be over for Americans, the conflict continues for Afghans impacted by the American withdrawal,” director Shadi Ghaheri said.
“Over the past twenty years, America has caused a human crisis in Afghanistan, and it is imperative that we see the humanity of the people affected. Selling Kabul is a story about the dreams and fears of four Afghans trying to survive in these complicated and unjust circumstances and asks you to see these individuals and their lives in full. It is my hope that within the specificity of this story, we can think of the human rights that ought to be honored for all individual Afghans!”
Director and producer Wendy C. Goldberg’s entertainment company, TheFrontOffice, has awarded a $25,000 mid-career grant to Mina Morita. This financial boost aims to uplift artists and push back against the gender inequality that affects female-identifying directors. Morita, who is the Director of Artistic & Artist Development at Crowded Fire Theater Company, will be the inaugural recipient of this honor.
Mina Morita accepted this award by stating her gratitude:
“I am astonished and humbled to be recognized by this accomplished panel of colleagues, as well as grateful for the life-changing generosity of Wendy C. Goldberg, TheFrontOffice Foundation, Peggy J. Koenig, Jerry & Roz Meyer, and directors Rachel Chavkin, Tamilla Woodard, Lear DeBessonet, and Lila Neugebaur,”
“Mina Morita is the perfect candidate for this award and on behalf of our committee, we are so thrilled for her,” Wendy C. Goldberg said.
“I started the Foundation during the pandemic in the hopes to aid theater artists, but prior to the pandemic, it was blazingly clear that little to no support was available for mid career directors– there were no awards of this magnitude. These types of awards only existed for playwrights. We learned via SDC’s ‘On The Edge Study,’ women directors fall out of the membership when they should be flourishing, all of which my community knew to be true, and it was now confirmed with data. The goal with this grant is to draw attention to the support of directors, as well as encourage other funders to create some structures of support for our country’s most gifted artists.”
George Taeki - David M. Benett
International: After its 2012 world premiere in San Diego, George Takei's Allegiance ran on Broadway from 2015 to 2016. Based on his childhood experiences at an internment camp during the Second World War to contemporary Los Angeles, the play has travelled across the pond and has settled in the UK for the time being. It will reside at the Charing Cross Theatre till 8 April, and production shots of its recent premiere have now been released.
Steered by Takei, Aynrand Ferrer and Telly Leung, the lineup consists of Megan Gardiner, Iroy Abesamis, Mark Anderson, Rachel Jayne Picar Masashi Fujimoto, Raiko Gohara, Iverson Yabut, Eu Jin Hwang, Hana Ichijo, Misa Koide, Sario Solomon, Joy Tan and Patrick Munday. The creative team comprises choreographer and director Tara Overfield Wilkinson, costume and set designer Mayou Trikerioti and musical supervisors Charlie Ingles and Andrew Hilton.
Seven years after the original Brazilian production, Wicked will return to São Paulo on March 9 thanks to a collaboration between Instituto Artium and the Atelier de Cultura. Tiago Barbosa has been cast as Fiyero whereas Fabi Bang and Myra Ruiz will reprise their roles as Glinda and Elphaba respectively.
The upcoming shows will be directed by John Stefaniuk, associate director of El Rey Leon. Morgan Large will be in charge of clothing and set design, Vânia Pajares will serve as the musical director and Floriano Nogueira will take on associate direction and choreography. Wicked, composed by Stephen Schwartz, is a musical rendition of the novel by Gregory Maguire.
