Theatre Roundup: Week of February 8, 2021

Happy Sunday, friends! Welcome to the second edition of Theatre Roundup. We previously introduced this column as Musical Theatre Roundup but decided to change things up a bit. Regardless, this will still be a place where we can talk about what’s going on in the industry. This column was made in collaboration with Staff Writers Camille and Kathryn. From Cinderella (1997) to a couple of movie remakes, here’s what you might have missed.

IN MEMORIAM

This post is dedicated to Theatre District Restaurateur Joe Allen and The Supreme’s Mary Wilson who also has stage credits in shows like Beehive and Grandma Sylvia‘s Funeral. We’ll miss you.

STORIES THIS WEEK

• Things are happening every day… Rodger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) captured hearts on Disney+ this week. If this is your first time or you’ve lost track, welcome to the ball! In honor of the huge event, Entertainment Weekly hosted a reunion with stars Brandy, Paolo Montalban, Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber, Jason Alexander, Bernadette Peters, and Veanne Cox. You can watch it here. Be honest. How many times have you watched it already? We promise we won’t judge.

• Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS hosted a virtual performance of Josh Canfield and Taylor Peckham’s Haley at Therapy to raise funds for the organization. You can still view the reading and donate here. The debut public performance stars Lilli Cooper, Denee Benton, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Grace McLean, and James Scully.
• BroadwayWorld released their 100 People To Follow on Twitter in 2021 list earlier this week. The list includes names and organizations across the industry. Don’t worry, it’s alphabetical. We don’t blame them. We wouldn’t be able to rank it either. Anybody else love Broadway Twitter?
• Let’s talk about remakes. Both The King & I and Wizard of Oz are getting the remake treatment from Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema respectively. Both projects are in early development.
• Rent celebrated its 25th Off-Broadway anniversary yesterday. It originally made its Off-Broadway debut at the New York Theater on February 13, 1996.
• Happy Valentine’s Day! By the time this article comes out, it’ll be Valentine’s Day in the U.S. Playbill.com recently asked 46 Broadway stars to share their most romantic stage roles. Here’s what they said. Who’s your OTP?

WHAT’S COMING UP

• Raquel Bitton’s virtual performance of PIAF… Her Story… her Songs will be available to stream starting February 15th at 7:30 pm ET. The event will benefit The Actors Fund.
• Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a huge initiative for the return of the performing arts to the state. You can learn more about “NY PopsUp” here. The festival starts on February 20th.
• Daddy Long Legs will be available on stream.theatre from March 8th – March 14th. According to notes, this production was filmed live at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin in 2018. It runs for approximately 2 hours.
• 2021 National “You Will Be Found” College Essay Contest: 11th and 12th-grade students are invited to submit a college-application style essay for a very special prize. The deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, April 5^th, 2021. Good luck! You’ve got this.
• Looking for more online Broadway-centric events in your life? Here’s a great day-to-day schedule from Broadway.com.

That’s all we have for now. What are you looking forward to? Feel free to join us in the comments if you have any thoughts. We’d love to hear from you. Have a great week, everyone!