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San Francisco Chronicle
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area artists make Tony Awards history
Among the big winners at the 78th Tony Awards was the Bay Area, as three theater artists with ties to the region took home the nation's highest honors for commercial theater. Two San Francisco natives — and Saint Ignatius College Preparatory School alumni — won acting awards during the ceremony Sunday, June 8, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Francis Jue, who's performed locally with San Francisco Playhouse and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, nabbed best performance by a featured actor in a play for ' Yellow Face,' David Henry Hwang's semiautobiographical comedy about racial representation in theater. Darren Criss, an alumnus of American Conservatory Theater's Young Conservatory program, won best performance by a leading actor in a play for 'Maybe Happy Ending,' Hue Park and Will Aronson's sci-fi show about two robots who've been abandoned by their humans. Meanwhile, Oakland playwright Jonathan Spector won best revival of a play for 'Eureka Day,' his comedy about a mumps outbreak at a progressive Berkeley private school with anti-vaxx parents. Berkeley's own Aurora Theatre Company commissioned and premiered the play in 2018. It was each artist's first Tony Award, and Spector's marks the first such honor in recent memory for a current Bay Area resident. Spector in his acceptance speech thanked 'my theater community, who gave me space to find my voice as a writer.' Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Josh Costello, who helmed the world premiere, revisits 'Eureka Day' at Marin Theatre in September. In his acceptance speech, Criss thanked Craig Slaight, the former director of ACT's Young Conservatory program, 'for shepherding me and so many people here.' Fellow nominee Julia Mattison, co-composer of 'Death Becomes Her,' is also a Young Conservatory alum, and the two helped Slaight, who retired in 2017, travel to New York and attend the ceremony. 'I was honored and humbled to be invited and to have the gift of the arrangements to make it possible,' Slaight told the Chronicle the morning after the ceremony. 'For (Criss) to mention me in his remarks was just so moving.' 'Maybe Happy Ending' is slated to tour to San Francisco as part of BroadwaySF's 2026-27 season, the operator of the Golden Gate, Orpheum and Curran theaters announced Monday, June 9. It joins previously announced titles 'Death Becomes Her' and 'The Outsiders.' Casting has not yet been announced. The Tony Awards ceremony, hosted by ' Wicked ' star Cynthia Erivo, also made history for Asian American representation. Jue's and Criss' wins, alongside Nicole Scherzinger's for best actress in a musical for her role in 'Sunset Blvd.,' doubled the number of actors with Asian heritage who have won Tonys throughout history. Criss' mother is Filipina, Jue is Chinese American, and Scherzinger has Filipino and Native Hawaiian ancestry. The only other winners of Asian descent are Chinese American actor BD Wong (1988), Filipina actor and singer Lea Salonga (1991) and Ruthie Ann Miles (2015), whose mother is Korean. In accepting his award, Jue told the audience he was wearing a tuxedo that the actor Alvin Ing had made for himself for the opening of ' Pacific Overtures ' on Broadway in 1976. Ing gave it to Jue 20 years ago, Jue said, telling Jue to wear it 'when I accepted my Tony Award.' In a statement to the press after walking offstage, Jue said, 'Isn't it interesting that it is still unusual, historic, groundbreaking to tell an Asian American story on Broadway? And to tell it at a time when this country is wrestling with its identity, with who gets to be American, who gets to say who gets to be American?' His character in 'Yellow Face,' an avatar for the real-life father of Hwang, who emigrated from China, begins the show as a fervent champion of what Jue called traditional American values such as 'freedom and inclusion and justice.' He continued, 'We're living in challenging times where we're being asked whether we still value those things that we always assumed make us American.' The Antoinette Perry Awards have honored Broadway plays and musicals annually since 1947. They're named for the actor, producer and director who co-founded the American Theatre Wing, which co-presents the awards with the Broadway League. Nominees are chosen by a committee of a few dozen theater professionals who serve three-year terms, and winners are voted on by a group of more than 800. Tony Awards can boost box office receipts or extend runs for shows still performing on Broadway as well as further career opportunities for winning artists. For Bay Area audiences, they also boost chances that a particular title might tour nationally.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tony Talk: Dissecting those shocking wins for ‘Purpose,' Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss, and more
Welcome to Tony Talk, a column in which Gold Derby contributors Sam Eckmann and David Buchanan offer Tony Awards analysis. Mere hours after the 2025 Tonys, we reconvene to dissect the shocking wins, highlight our favorite victors, and discuss the musical performances. David Buchanan: After a truly sensational Broadway season, last night's Tony Awards didn't disappoint with some surprises, did it? If folks have been reading our weekly column, they probably did pretty well with their predictions and would've seen some of these upsets coming — I shockingly tied for first place worldwide! — but there were still some wins that were hard to call correctly in the moment but were predictable in hindsight. One of those categories was Best Play. We knew that this would be a squeaker between frontrunner Oh, Mary! and challengers Purpose and John Proctor Is the Villain, but very few Gold Derby users correctly called the win for the Pulitzer victor. Do you think the fact that voters recognized performer and playwright Cole Escola with a Best Actor win led them to go with the drama with more gravitas for the top prize? More from GoldDerby Behind the scenes at the Tony Awards: From Darren Criss to Andrew Lloyd Weber, backstage at Broadway's biggest night 'Legend of Zelda' movie delayed, Snoop Dogg biopic cast, and more of today's top stories Minha Kim 'confronted all new emotions that I had never anticipated' in Season 2 of 'Pachinko' Sam Eckmann: Congratulations on your top score! There were so many insanely close races last night, so picking the correct choice in each coin toss was tough. Part of the victory for Purpose came down to the strength of the entire Best Play field. Voters were fans of all of these plays, so a full sweep for Oh, Mary! wasn't in the cards. The classic trope of wanting to reward a script that feels 'important' helped push Purpose over the edge in the top race. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is also the 'it' writer of the moment in New York. Couple these points with the fact that Escola has a guaranteed win in Lead Actor, and it does make sense that a different production squeaked past Mary Todd Lincoln in the top race. Speaking of performers, I'm kicking myself for dropping Darren Criss at the last minute for Jonathan Groff in Lead Actor in a Musical. Clearly voters were head over heels for Maybe Happy Ending. Is it safe to say the overall enthusiasm for that musical is what tipped the scales for Criss? SEE 'Every beat is meticulously crafted': An oral history of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play 'Purpose' Buchanan: I think so! In such an incredibly strong season for new musicals, it was not a guarantee that Maybe Happy Ending would sweep the pivotal categories of Director, Book, and Score on its way to its likely Best Musical victory. But once it started cleaning up during the ceremony, it would have been shocking if Criss — the sole acting nominee and thus the face of the show – ultimately lost. We both predicted Criss all season long, but The New York Times Tony voter survey led many folks astray by claiming Groff had the lead for playing Bobby Darin in Just in Time. He would have made for a great winner, as you can glimpse from the Tony performance last night just how high energy and charismatic he is throughout that show. But at the end of the day, Criss is also giving a strong performance in what is clearly a better-written musical. Do you think a similar dynamic tipped the scales for Nicole Scherzinger over Audra McDonald? I think most folks would say that Gypsy is one of if not the best musical of all time, but voters were clearly more taken by Jamie Lloyd's radical reinterpretation of Sunset Boulevard than George C. Wolfe's version of Gypsy. Eckmann: I admit that I was definitely swayed for the first time (in the wrong direction) by the voter survey in The New York Times. It's normally the best barometer for the Tony Awards, so the fact that it wasn't totally accurate points to how fiercely close so many of these votes were. This was definitely the case in the McDonald-vs.-Scherzinger battle. I think that once again, the victory went to the performer in the production that was more popular with voters. McDonald was the only potential win for this revival of Gypsy, whereas Sunset Boulevard was strong enough to win Lighting Design and Musical Revival. Were there any other wins during the night that had you cheering? As a huge Purpose fan I'm sure you enjoyed Kara Young prevailing for the second year in a row. SEE 2025 Tony Awards first-timers club: Half of this year's acting winners triumphed for their Broadway debuts Buchanan: Yes, the two wins for Purpose were by far my favorites of the night! I predicted Young, but it was by no means a guarantee that she would win in that incredible field which included Jessica Hecht and Fina Strazza. But there is just no denying that Young is a generational talent and so supremely kind and charismatic to boot, so it is absolutely fitting and thrilling that she is one of the very few performers to win back-to-back at the Tonys and the first Black performer to do so, too. I will remember her performance as Aziza and her growing disillusionment over her night with the Jasper family for a very long time. I'm also delighted that Tony voters found a way to acknowledge Jacobs-Jenkins' brilliant, Pulitzer-winning play and Cole Escola in the same ceremony. While I'm sure Escola would have loved to win both prizes, I think the way they split the trophies — plus giving Oh, Mary! the directing prize for Sam Pinkleton — was very "appropriate," Jacobs-Jenkins pun intended. As a champion of the show since its off-Broadway days, were the two Oh, Mary! wins your favorites of the night? And what were some of the snubs or complete shut-outs that stung the most? Eckmann: I was so thrilled for Pinkleton! Oh, Mary! simply would not work the way it does without his guiding hand. In our current political moment, it's truly powerful to see that this radically queer work of bizarre genius can be a financial smash on Broadway and win mainstream awards. I was similarly ecstatic for Francis Jue, who managed to win Featured Actor even though Yellow Face lost Play Revival. He was truly one of the breakout stars of the campaign trail, and this was a wonderful way to honor not only his moving performance, but also his incredible career in the theater. It's hard to be mad at any of these wins because the season was just so strong. But I will continue to say that Real Women Have Curves should have been a Best Musical nominee. I wish there were more places for it to be rewarded last night. Alas, its only real shot was for Justina Machado, but Natalie Venetia Belcon has long had Featured Actress in a Musical sewn up. At least Real Women managed to secure a performance on the telecast, and I hope folks are inspired to buy tickets. The show has a gigantic heart that deserves to be celebrated. Speaking of performances, I think I was most moved by the host Cynthia Erivo and Sara Bareilles duetting on 'Tomorrow' from Annie during the In Memoriam segment. The image of them holding each other as they looked back at the image of the late Gavin Creel had me at a puddle of tears, and reinforced the theme of community which seemed to dominate this telecast. In a world where we constantly analyze winners and losers of the industry's biggest award, it was a needed reminder that everyone in attendance is truly a winner just for the opportunity to be in that room. SEE 2025 Tony Awards: 'Maybe Happy Ending' dominates with 6 wins, Nicole Scherzinger shocks with Best Actress win over Audra McDonald Buchanan: Beautifully said, and I agree seeing Bareilles' reaction at the end of the In Memoriam was incredibly powerful! I also loved Harvey Fierstein's Lifetime Achievement Award speech on the Tony Awards: Act One telecast and his message that he feels like he accidentally fell into his exceptional career in the theater after finding his community while painting show posters as an adolescent. It is hard to have too many gripes about the winners this year, but I will confess that I am a bit heartbroken that three of my favorite productions from this sensational Broadway season — Dead Outlaw, Gypsy, and The Hills of California — all went home empty-handed. Victories for David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna in Best Score, Audra McDonald in Best Actress of a Musical, and Laura Donnelly for Best Actress in a Play, respectively, would've made this Tony Awards an all-timer for me, personally. I am glad that Dead Outlaw, Gypsy, and the also-snubbed Just in Time acquitted themselves exceptionally well in their performances; I couldn't be more pleased that McDonald's otherworldly "Rose's Turn" has been recorded on video in an accessible form for posterity, and I'm sure Sunset Boulevard fans feel exactly the same way about Scherzinger's moving "As If We Never Said Goodbye." While we're on the subject of Best Actress in a Musical again, you and I foreshadowed this year's exceptionally close contest exactly one year ago last June when we offered our extremely early 2025 Tony predictions; I can't wait to do that guesswork for the 2026 Tonys with you again any day now, so stay tuned, Broadway fans! SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby 'Maybe Happy Ending' star Darren Criss on his Tony nomination for playing a robot: 'Getting to do this is the true win' Who Needs a Tony to Reach EGOT? Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Getting to Do It for an Audience, It's Like Drugs': 7 Tony Nominees on Jumping Between Hollywood and Broadway
Ahead of the 78th Tony Awards, which will take place on Sunday night at Radio City Music Hall in New York and air on CBS, The Hollywood Reporter gathered seven of the 2024-2025 Broadway season's standout performers for our annual Tonys Roundtable. Joining us to discuss their Tony-nominated parts, as well as hot-button issues like nontraditional casting, gender-neutral awards and screens on stages, were two nominees for best actress in a musical, Audra McDonald (stage mother Rose in Gypsy) and Nicole Scherzinger (aging film star Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd.); two nominees for best actor in a musical, Darren Criss (a futuristic A.I. 'Helperbot' in Maybe Happy Ending) and Jonathan Groff (Bobby Darin in Just in Time); a nominee for best actress in a play, Sarah Snook (26 characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray); and two nominees for best actor in a play, Cole Escola (a hilariously ahistorical Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!) and Louis McCartney (a 1950s teen with telekinetic powers in Stranger Things: The First Shadow). More from The Hollywood Reporter Tom Felton to Reprise Role of Draco in 'Harry Potter' on Broadway The Hollywood Reporter Sets Tonys Preshow How George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' Is Preparing to Go Live on CNN Two are veterans of the Great White Way: McDonald, 54, has garnered 11 Tony noms and six wins, both records; and Groff, 40, has landed four noms (including for Hamilton) and won last year for Merrily We Roll Along. The other five are Tony-nom first-timers: Scherzinger, 46, formerly of the Pussycat Dolls; Criss, 38, Glee star and Emmy winner for The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story; and Snook, 37, who shot to fame on Succession, for which she won an Emmy last year. Escola, 38, who uses they/them pronouns, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and McCartney, 21, making his professional stage debut, are the season's breakouts. The group was diverse in more ways than one. Criss, at one point, marveled: 'We have a Gen Z from Belfast who's playing an American [McCartney]. We have a Czech-Filipino-Hawaiian girl playing Norma Desmond [Scherzinger]. We have a non-binary person playing Mary Todd Lincoln [Escola], an Australian woman playing several Englishmen [Snook], a gay farm boy from Pennsylvania playing Bobby Darin [Groff], a Black girl from Fresno playing Rose [McDonald] and a white passing Asian-American as a robot [Criss himself]. Like, what the fuck is going on here? That's incredible!' You can watch the entire conversation — or read a transcript of it edited for clarity and brevity — below. Before we dive into your shows, can you talk about a person who provided you with the tools to perform eight shows a week, at the level at which you are doing it, without losing your mind or body? DARREN CRISS I think anybody here with kids has to give full unbridled credit to our partners, because it's a Herculean task to be a parent — a present one — and to have the commitment that doing a Broadway show demands. To quote Wicked, because I'm a theater geek, 'Magic is a demanderating mistress,' and it does not let up. I'd also like to shout out a movement professor I had at the University of Michigan, Malcolm Tulip. He helped to unlock my interest in physical theater. It was just a niche interest for me that I never thought would come up in any other realm in my life. Cut to 20 years later, I find myself in a situation where I call upon the skillsets that he introduced to me. LOUIS MCCARTNEY One of our directors, Justin Martin. He's been one of the people who stepped up when I moved away from home, as a director and being there for me as a bro, just hanging out and keeping me going through the hard times. AUDRA MCDONALD Zoe Caldwell, who I did Master Class with in 1996. I didn't know what I was doing and I was very frightened about working with her, because she was such grand lady and one of the greatest actresses of the theater. But she ended up becoming such a mentor that I named one of my daughters after her. I learned from Zoe by watching how disciplined she was about the preparation for each performance, about knowing everybody's name at the theater, making sure that she was thanking everybody on a nightly basis. I have adopted a lot of her methods, one of which is making sure that I'm at the theater a good three hours before showtime. I don't want the train to be about to take off and I'm just getting to the theater. I'm going to be the one to make sure that the train is ready to go. JONATHAN GROFF Our choreographer, Shannon Lewis, is a prolific Broadway dancer, but Just in Time was her choreographic debut. I've never really danced before this, and she was, 'I got you.' She gave me 10 weeks of dance lessons, three times a week, before the first day of rehearsal. She taught me this thirty-minute physical warm-up of five different songs that she has on a playlist, and I do it every day before doing the show. COLE ESCOLA Darren's wife. [laughs] Actually, there's this great interview where Zoe Caldwell is telling this anecdote about when she stepped in for Anne Bancroft in The Devils, and she's recalling a line off the cuff and turns her head and goes right into character. The lights don't actually change, but you feel like there's a lighting change and a temperature drop — I'm getting goosebumps now just thinking about it. But it reminded me, 'Oh, it's just about having immediate and free access to your imagination.' So, Darren's wife and Zoe Caldwell. SARAH SNOOK The vocal coach that I worked with in Australia, Geraldine Cook. I hadn't done theater since 2016, and needed to get my instrument back into shape and to get the athleticism going for this particular show, with so many different characters and talking for two hours straight, yelling and speaking quietly and all of that. And she was really instrumental in being able to switch them on quickly, and to also know that I have something to go back on when, in the 10th week, you're like, 'My voice is shot. What am I going to do?' NICOLE SCHERZINGER It's not necessarily a person for me, it's a higher power, because it's so much bigger than me — as we all know, it is a lot. So I'd have to say a higher power, and my ancestors. Cole, you'd been thinking about doing something about Mary Todd Lincoln for 15 years. Why her? ESCOLA I had the idea, 'What if Abraham Lincoln's assassination was a good thing for Mary Todd?' [laughs] But it's really a story about someone with a dream that everyone around her thinks is stupid — and that's how I felt about this idea, so it's very meta. It's Mary's story, and then it's my story with the show— SCHERZINGER And Norma's story. ESCOLA And Rose's story. My deep fear is that I'm irredeemably annoying. So I thought, 'Can you root for someone who's completely annoying, with no redeeming qualities? Can you have the audience on her side by the end, even though she's just id the whole time? That was my hope.' Audra, at the age of 10, you were part of a production of at a dinner theater in Fresno? MCDONALD Yes, I was one of Uncle's Jocko's buddies. [laughs] Over the years since, was it even an aspiration of yours to be a part of a Broadway production of it? Where did the idea come from? MCDONALD Gavin Creel [the Tony-winning actor who died of cancer last year just 48], who was a wondrous friend to many of us here. He brought Sara Bareilles to Thanksgiving dinner at our house, and my older daughter was obsessed with Sara, so at one point Gavin said to her, 'Why don't you go talk to her?' And then, as I was nursing my younger daughter upstairs, I heard Sara at the piano and my older daughter, who plays the bass, playing 'Who Made You King of Anything?' I ran downstairs to take pictures, and then Gavin said, 'Oh, honey, I want to talk to you about something! Come here!' And he dragged me into the garage and told me his idea that I should play Rose in Gypsy. SCHERZINGER Wow, that's an amazing story! MCDONALD So it's a tribute to Gavin. He's the one who put it in my head. Jonathan, you portray Bobby Darin from around 19 to 31, and he died at 37. Your association with this project goes back to 2018? GROFF Eight years ago, [producer] Ted Chapin asked me to do a night of Bobby Darin music at the 92nd Street Y. Sort of like you, Cole, part of my inspiration is watching clips of divas singing, so I went home and watched Bobby Darin performing on YouTube, and I had this reaction that I normally feel when I watch Barbra [Streisand] or Judy [Garland] or Beyoncé — it's usually reserved for a female performer, but he was singing for his life. Then I started learning about him, that he was told that he was going to die by the time he was 16, so from 16 to 37 was all borrowed time for him, and is reflected in the primal way that he's leaping, in these black and white clips, off of my computer screen. I read this quote that, 'At the end of the day, he was a nightclub animal,' which is now a line at the end of our show. So at the Y, we started doing his music live, which was really fun, but then all of a sudden, in the space between audience and performer, it felt spiritual. For the last seven and a half years, we've been trying to make it happen [on Broadway]. And now we're at Circle in the Square, finally getting to do it for an audience, and it's like drugs. It's great. Nicole, the world first got to know you through the Pussycat Dolls — you ladies were together from 2003 through 2010 — but from what I understand, your interest in and involvement with theater predated that, and you've been on a quest to get back to it. In fact, I was invited to something at the Pendry Hotel in LA in 2022, and I wasn't sure what was behind it, but I was thrilled to get to see you— SCHERZINGER You went?! Yes. This was an intimate performance that you gave, which sort of connects to , right? SCHERZINGER I got my first job when I was about 14 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky — which, for Louisville, Kentucky, is big time, y'all — and I was in a youth performing arts high school. That's where I found my tribe. I always felt, since I was a little girl, that I didn't really fit in and didn't really feel comfortable in my skin, but then I went to this performing arts school and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, these humans are just like me!' I started out in voice and learned to read music and sang in the choir; and then I went to musical theater. Ms. Mateus cast me in Alice when I was 15— ESCOLA Alice in Wonderland? SCHERZINGER Alice in Wonderland. ESCOLA Okay. It could have been Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. [laughs] SCHERZINGER And that was big-time for me because back then people didn't cast roles like that. I was like, 'Yo, you're casting a Hawaiian-Ukrainian-Filipina girl as Alice?!' So, that's where my love affair began with musical theater. I went on to college and to do a lot more musical theater — summer stock in many different places around the country — so yes, this is over 30 years in the making. In the Dolls we have a song called 'When I Grow Up [I Want to Be Famous],' and we were shooting that music video on Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Pantages, and there's actually a video where I go, 'I always thought I'd end up on that side of the street,' and it pans to the Pantages with Wicked. I was fortunate enough to do Rent at the Hollywood Bowl 10 years ago. Neil Patrick Harris directed it and it had a beautiful cast— CRISS I saw that! It was fantastic. You smoked that. SCHERZINGER Around 2017 or 2018, I was like, 'Can I please audition for things?' And people wouldn't even allow me to audition. So I created my own show and put it on in London, New York at the Django, and then in LA [at the Pendry]. I was like, 'I'm just going to go put it on myself and invite people to come.' It was all the roles that I wanted to be cast in and all the songs that I wanted to sing. And that's what you saw. You obviously achieved your objective, because Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jamie Lloyd approached you about — and I know you sort of thought at the time, 'Is it a great compliment or insult to be asked to play Norma Desmond?' But I think the ultimate compliment came after Andrew Lloyd Webber later said that your performance is the best thing that he's ever seen in anything that he's been a part of, which is high praise. ESCOLA He didn't see me in Cats. [laughs] Darren, is an original musical. How did it get on your radar and how did you wind up bringing it to Broadway? CRISS I think all the best stories that we weren't really prepared to hear — Batman or Star Wars are examples. If you were trying to elevator-pitch any of them, people would be like, 'What the fuck are you talking about? That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard.' So it is fun to be part of something so singular. I was telling Audra that I name-drop her every night when people come by to say hello. I say, 'I don't envy the Herculean task that Audra has. First, it's over three hours of ripping your soul out vocally, emotionally, all these things. But because it's such a known piece, people also come in with comparisons and expectations, which isn't fair to her— MCDONALD And singing along! [laughs] CRISS Because I've done shows like Little Shop [of Horrors, Off Broadway] and Hedwig [and the Angry Inch, on Broadway] where people know the material, that can also be an obstacle and something that you have to overcome, for better or for worse. For me, I've never been a part of anything where audience has been completely unencumbered by expectation or experience. That in itself is an obstacle, because now I have to try and convince them that this is something somewhat worthwhile, but it is amazing to feel that the gasp of, 'What is going on?!' But in short, this came to me in 2018, and it was just a matter of being available — the pandemic and then a strike and so many things that happened until finally the stars aligned in a way that I'm so grateful for. Sarah, was never done for the stage until 2020, when it was first performed in Australia. How did you wind up attached to it? SNOOK Kip [Williams, the playwright] and I had a conversation about it around March of 2023. I was about to go and shoot the final scenes in Barbados for season four of Succession. I went, 'This is an amazing thing that's about to end, and this is something else that I could go on to.' The question, first of all, was, 'What's the earliest you think you could do this? We have a theater we're looking at in August.' [laughs] I was like, 'I have a baby I'm currently cooking. She's due in April. So there's no way I can make August work. The earliest I could do it is this time next year.' And so they accommodated that. You're used to having to perform a lot of lines very quickly, between Sorkin's with and , among other things, but doing so while also literally running from one character into another, as you do in , is different. SNOOK It's different. And it's prose that has been turned into dialogue and that has to be spoken in a way that the audience can receive it, to understand it, to be engaged with it — finding places to be incredibly swift with it, because we need to be moving on and get the audience leaning forward, and then also to allow them to sort of sit back for a second and enjoy the pretty pictures. And I think, ironically, that having a baby and doing this show was maybe a good choice because it means that you stay very straight and narrow. You're not going out after the show to have a drink or wind down. It's like, 'No, I've got to go breastfeed in two hours, so I'm going to try to get another hour-and-a-half of sleep now, wake up and feed, and then go back to sleep.' Louis, you're only 21. What was going on in your life when you first heard about ? Were you already a watcher of ? MCCARTNEY I was just moving out of Dublin. My dad and I were doing our little YouTube channel, which is how they [the show's producers] got wind of me, and how my agent got wind of me me as well. I was finishing up season three of Hope Street, which was the soap I did. And then I got wind of this 'untitled Netflix play directed by Stephen Daldry,' and I did three to four months of auditions, and was flying back to Belfast, and finally we got word that it was Henry Creel, so all my focus then turned on Jamie Campbell Bower [who played the character on the TV show] and his performance in season four. I think he's phenomenal — I wanted to emulate that, but also create my own line of Henry Creel because he's a kid in the show, and we're dealing with this idea, 'What if he's a good boy? What if he just wants to go to school and get a girlfriend?' At the start of the process, I judged him and thought that he was a bad kid, but now I think he's a really good kid and it's his conditioning and the people around him that shaped him. But that's the question of our play. It's quite a psychological Greek take on Stranger Things. You've got the mother archetype and you have the tragic hero, very Hamlet, and there's lots of questions to the stars, 'Why me and why am I like this?' But also keeping with the mythology of Stranger Things and honoring the fans. It has now been 10 years since the opening on Broadway of a little show called , which Mr. Groff here helped to bring to life. Jonathan, 10 years later, what do you believe is the greatest legacy of ? GROFF That Lin-Manuel Miranda is a fucking genius and wrote an unparalleled work of art. I replaced Brian d'Arcy James in the show Off Broadway at the Public Theater. He originated the role of the King, so I got this really interesting experience with the show because I always felt outside of it and inside of it at the same time. Lin and I became friends when I was doing Spring Awakening and he was doing In The Heights, and we had stayed in touch, and then Brian had to leave and Lin texted me, 'What are you doing next month? Can you come be in the show that I wrote for a couple months Off Broadway?' I was like, 'Sure.' I went on a Friday and was in the show on Tuesday. When I saw it, I was like, 'Oh my God!' I mean, we all had that experience seeing it. The King is only on stage for nine minutes; when we moved to Broadway to the Richard Rodgers, I would peek through the curtain, watching the show. Lin is such a brilliant performer, he has such an awareness of storytelling and audience, and he knew how to keep everyone's attention for two-and-a-half, three hours. Even when I'm listening to the mashup that we're doing on the Tonys I'm like, 'Oh my God, Hamilton is so good!' Now it's been around for a decade and you're like, 'Oh, yeah, it's Hamilton' — it's the poster and it's 'send all your friends to see it' and whatever. But every time I re-engage with the material, it's just pure genius. Audra, yours is the sixth Broadway incarnation of , and you are the first person of color to play Rose. You've been navigating this conversation your whole life, or at least since you were 16 and playing Eva Perón in . Also, you received your first Tony nomination for , for a part that had been played by white people. Can you take us into your experience with nontraditional casting? MCDONALD I was very lucky growing up in Fresno, California, and having two parents who needed something for their very hyperactive, over-emotional, over-dramatic child who was struggling deeply. They found this dinner theater for me, and I went and auditioned and became a part of the little junior troupe. And once I was a part of that troupe, like when all of us kind of find theater, it was, 'Oh, here I am!' ESCOLA 'Bye, everyone!' MCDONALD 'I know who I am now.' Or, 'I know that there are a lot of people like me,' whether we know who we are or not. But in that theater in Fresno, I at one point was cast to play the Servant Girl in The Miracle Worker — I just ran out and auditioned for it and got the part — and my parents said, 'Absolutely not. You will not be playing that part. We don't need to have you out there perpetuating stereotypes. There are other roles for you.' From then on, it was, 'What role do you think you can play? And make them say no to you.' So when the call came to audition for Carousel, I think that helped me. I'm trying to find who a person is, not what they look like; that's a part of it, but, 'Who are they? And is there something in my soul that can help illuminate who that character is?' And that's what I feel about what's happened with Rose. The main thing with me playing Rose as a Black woman is we are not shrinking away from it. We have not changed a single line. We have not changed any of the grammar. A lot of people come to this show and say, 'Oh, well Rose is saying 'that ain't this' and 'that ain't that' — I'm like, 'That's what Arthur Laurents wrote!' I felt I just knew who she was, and why couldn't it be a Black woman's story? Why couldn't it be an Asian woman's story? It could be anybody's story! Cole, you're a bit of a trailblazer yourself. Over the last few years, there have been a couple of non-binary performers who have been recognized, but not many. Some award shows have adopted gender-neutral awards. That is not the case obviously at the Tonys, so you had to weigh in on which of the existing categories you wanted to be eligible for, and selected best actor in a play. But how did you feel about having to make that call? And is that something that you hope changes? ESCOLA I do hope it changes, yeah. I didn't love having to make that choice. There are arguments, 'Well, women are given so little, and that would take more away from them,' but at the Drama Desks last year, best performer went to Sarah Paulson and Jessica Lange; no men won, and I think the same thing happened in the supporting category. So I don't know, it's such a weird thing, it's almost arbitrary — 'Well, a man couldn't play this same role that a woman can play.' Well, an eighty-year-old couldn't play Juliet — well, I shouldn't say that. An eighty-year-old could play Juliet. But where the lines are drawn, I guess, doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Best director is gender-neutral. Every other category is. ESCOLA Every other category. MCDONALD It makes for a shorter night. [laughs] ESCOLA It makes for a shorter night. I don't know. I just want to do my show and be myself, and I don't want to push people's buttons — well, that's not true. [laughs] I do want to push people's buttons, but not those buttons. Another topic of conversation in the community is the role that technology is playing. Sarah and Nicole have camera rigs on stage with large screens that give us a look into things that people never would've been able to see on Broadway until a few years ago. Louis, some of the effects in your show are unbelievable, and probably wouldn't have been possible pre-, the effects of which were handled by some of the same people who worked on your show and are getting a special Tony for them. In the case of the three of your shows, the technology helps to connect the stories to the world of today, especially for younger audiences, wouldn't you say? SNOOK Yeah, absolutely. Technology is always going to advance — we invent things and we find ways to incorporate them into our lives. And we've always had theater — it's an ancient art form. So inevitably you're going to incorporate technological advancements into theater in some ways. And as long as it has a dramaturgical purpose and an active influence on the audience, I think there's a place for it. This show wouldn't be possible without the camerawork that the camerapeople do, and also the video they record, edits that we've created beforehand. And it's amazing to work inside of that. Nicole, how did you acclimate to acting while there are people with cameras running around you? SCHERZINGER I guess I'm kind of used to cameras with singing, but I didn't have a choice. It makes sense, obviously, because Norma is a film star, that he incorporated that. And we don't have a set or props or anything, so we're able to tell that story on stage and then to be a little bit more intimate when the camera is involved. But yeah, as pop star, this [points to the left side of her face] is my good side. I'm sitting on my bad side [points to the right side of her face] today. [laughs] So I've had to throw all that down the drain. He [director Jamie Lloyd] has taken me out of my comfort zone, but it's what's got me here today. It's supposed to emanate from within, anyway. We've established that unbelievable physicality is demanded of each of you in these roles. Audra, you've said that you've never played a more exhausting part. Darren, I don't know how you don't need a chiropractor walking around with you all day. SCHERZINGER I have several good ones. CRISS I've got to ask Nicole. What do you do for yourself physically between performances? CRISS I'm really militant about contrast therapy. It's this ancient Norwegian stuff. It's being in a hot bath and a cold plunge. I'll do a sauna and a steam. I do this two, three times a week for about a half hour. MCDONALD Do you have a sauna in your dressing room?! SCHERZINGER And a cold plunge?! CRISS I do not. I wish I did. I'll go to a place that has a sauna. I'll do a steam room for 15 minutes, a cold plunge for three minutes, and a sauna for 15. I'll do it in-between shows. It's a meditative thing. It's good for my respiratory system, circulatory system and immune system, and that is how I keep my battery charged. It's a reset. It's my time to just relax. I feel I'm on a beach. I close my eyes and just drown out the world. MCDONALD I would never come for the second show. [laughs] CRISS Well, it's that cold plunge at the very end, sitting in 45-degree water for three minutes. After that I'm like, 'All right, let's go, we've got another one!' SNOOK I just sleep. I think it's so important. I mean, for me, I need eight hours. ESCOLA Between shows? [laughs] SNOOK You've got to have the deep-sleep recovery because it heals your body. SCHERZINGER That's how I feel too. I have to tell myself, 'It's a new day, it's a new performance.' ESCOLA It's reminding me of that Ethel Merman quote: 'Warm up? That's what the opening number's for!' [laughs] I can't rest between shows because then I wouldn't get up. MCDONALD I can't either. Other shows I've been able to, but I can't sleep in between this one. Our show is basically three hours, so especially on a Wednesday matinee, we've got a 2pm and a 7:30pm, so I only have enough time to do PT and then sit down for a few minutes and stare at a wall. ESCOLA Yeah, exactly. The wall stare. You all move back and forth between screen and stage work. When you go from one to the other, what is the thing that you most consciously have to remind yourself to do differently? ESCOLA I don't [do things differently], and that's why I always get told on [a film or TV] set, 'Just less.' [laughs] MCDONALD 'Think louder.' I used to be so afraid of the camera. Once I figured out that the camera is the audience, I realized that I could think louder and the camera will pick it up. ESCOLA Oh, I've got to write that down. SCHERZINGER I'm taking that. Speaking of moving back and forth between the stage and screen, some people will discover you through one and not even know that you do the other. Darren, you told me a funny story about this earlier today. CRISS There's no prerequisite for you to know anything about a person's career. I'll never forget, I saw this queen [McDonald] a long time ago at one of her shows in Los Angeles, and there was a woman next to me who loved Private Practice [the ABC TV series on which McDonald appeared from 2007 through 2011]. We were just small-talking before you went on, and I mentioned Ragtime and all these shows that I've loved your performances in. And she says, 'I didn't know she was a singer.' And I'm like, 'You best buckle up, you're about to get served some serious fucking shit!' [laughs] I just was so moved by that because, again, there's no prerequisite here. Her gateway drug was Private Practice. We take all kinds. We're happy to have you! MCDONALD No, it's true. People who don't usually come to see theater, but come for some reason — 'Well, I love Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls, so I'm coming to see her' or 'I love Sarah from Succession' or whatever — what usually happens is they get bit by the theater bug. They get a taste, and then they want more. Let's close with some fun rapid-fire stuff. Excluding relatives, who's the person whose attendance at one of your performances of your current show has meant the most to you? ESCOLA Elaine May. GROFF Tom Hanks. MCCARTNEY Tom Hanks as well. SNOOK Bette Midler. CRISS Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. SCHERZINGER Glenn Close or Oprah. What's the most unusual thing in your dressing room? ESCOLA Me. [laughs] MCCARTNEY Dried lavender that I have yet to buy a vase for. SNOOK I've got a little crochet doll of the characters of Dorian and Jane from Predestination [a 2014 film in which she starred] and my Met Gala outfit, which this incredibly talented young woman crocheted. I love them, and so does my daughter — she loves to play with them. What's the most annoying thing that audience members are doing at Broadway shows in 2025? SNOOK I don't get particularly annoyed by it because I know the impulse, but I do just want to make a PSA that we can see your phones when they're up. It's a reflective surface reflecting back onto the stage. I can see you filming. [laughs] MCDONALD We can't do anything about phones. It is what it is. But at curtain call, it's almost like no one's applauding anymore because they're all filming! It's the weirdest thing to me. 'Well, then we'll just go.' SCHERZINGER Because they're trying to catch that legacy, honey! They got to get it. [laughs] Also, we can hear you eating. Sometimes with the rustling, I'm like, 'Did you get it? Did you?' Last one. If you could snap your fingers and make it so, what would be the ideal number of performances you would perform per week? SCHERZINGER That is a great question. MCDONALD That is a really good question. CRISS Do you get to decide when they are? Absolutely. MCDONALD Wednesday matinée is gone. SNOOK Yeah, I think seven is good. MCCARTNEY We do a double-double — two on Saturday and two on Sunday — so we don't have a Wednesday matinée. SNOOK The Sunday matinée is not something that exists in London, but it's fantastic. SCHERZINGER Delightful. SNOOK Because then you get a spare night! SCHERZINGER Six would be lush. You could just do it forever then. A version of this story appeared in the June 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tony Awards: Complete Winners List
Maybe Happy Ending, Purpose, Sunset Blvd. and Eureka Day took the top prizes at the 2025 Tony Awards, winning best musical, best play (in a surprise), best musical revival and best play revival, respectively. The Cynthia Erivo-hosted ceremony also saw The Picture of Dorian Gray's Sarah Snook; Oh, Mary!'s Cole Escola; Maybe Happy Ending's Darren Criss and Sunset Blvd.'s Nicole Scherzinger win the lead acting awards for plays (Snook and Escola) and musicals (Criss and Scherzinger). More from The Hollywood Reporter Tony Awards Snubs and Surprises: 'Death Becomes Her' Goes One for 10 as 'Purpose' Scores Upset Best Play Win Darren Criss Wins First Tony Award for 'Maybe Happy Ending' Tony Awards: 'Maybe Happy Ending' Wins Big, Nicole Scherzinger Takes Home First Tony Maybe Happy Ending won a total of six awards after going into the night tied with Buena Vista Social Club and Death Becomes Her for the most nominations with 10 apiece. Buena Vista Social Club won four awards, while Death Becomes Her only took home one trophy, for Paul Tazewell's costume design, which was presented in the Tony Awards' Act One preshow. The Tony Awards featured performances from the above nominated musicals as well as Dead Outlaw, Floyd Collins, Gypsy, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Just in Time and Real Women Have Curves. There was also a special appearance by 2019 Tony honor recipient Broadway Inspirational Voices. Presenters this year included Goldsberry, Aaron Tveit, Adam Lambert, Alex Winter, Allison Janney, Ariana DeBose, Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Carrie Preston, Charli D'Amelio, Danielle Brooks, Jean Smart, Jesse Eisenberg, Katie Holmes, Keanu Reeves, Kelli O'Hara, Kristin Chenoweth, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Lea Michele, Lea Salonga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michelle Williams, Oprah, Rachel Bay Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Sara Bareilles and Sarah Paulson. The first winners were announced during the Criss- and Renée Elise Goldberry-hosted The Tony Awards: Act One preshow streaming on Paramount's free streaming service Pluto TV. Criss was nominated for and won his first Tony for his role in Maybe Happy Ending, and Goldsberry won a Tony for originating the role of Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, which celebrated its 10th anniversary with a performance featuring members of the original Broadway cast on the 2025 awards show. Harvey Fierstein received a lifetime achievement award, and Celia Keenan-Bolger accepted the 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for advocacy work through the arts, both of which were presented during the preshow. The 2025 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre were given to Great Performances, Michael Price, New 42 and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Special Tonys were awarded to the musicians who make up the band in Buena Vista Social Club and to the illusions and technical effects team at Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The Tony Awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League A complete list of this year's winners follows. EnglishAuthor: Sanaz Toossi The Hills of CaliforniaAuthor: Jez Butterworth John Proctor Is the VillainAuthor: Kimberly Belflower Oh, Mary!Author: Cole Escola (WINNER)Author: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Buena Vista Social ClubDead OutlawDeath Becomes Her (WINNER)Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical (WINNER)Author: Jonathan Spector Romeo + Juliet Thornton Wilder's Our Town Yellow FaceAuthor: David Henry Hwang Floyd CollinsBook/Additional Lyrics: Tina Landau Music & Lyrics: Adam Guettel Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Musical (WINNER) George Clooney, Good Night, and Good LuckCole Escola, (WINNER)Jon Michael Hill, PurposeDaniel Dae Kim, Yellow FaceHarry Lennix, PurposeLouis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Laura Donnelly, The Hills of CaliforniaMia Farrow, The RoommateLaTanya Richardson Jackson, PurposeSadie Sink, John Proctor Is the VillainSarah Snook, (WINNER) Darren Criss, (WINNER)Andrew Durand, Dead OutlawTom Francis, Sunset Groff, Just in TimeJames Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong MusicalJeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins Megan Hilty, Death Becomes HerAudra McDonald, GypsyJasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The MusicalNicole Scherzinger, (WINNER)Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her Glenn Davis, PurposeGabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the VillainFrancis Jue, (WINNER)Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen RossConrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary! Tala Ashe, EnglishJessica Hecht, Eureka DayMarjan Neshat, EnglishFina Strazza, John Proctor Is the VillainKara Young, (WINNER) Brooks Ashmanskas, SmashJeb Brown, Dead OutlawDanny Burstein, GypsyJak Malone, (WINNER)Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins Natalie Venetia Belcon, (WINNER)Julia Knitel, Dead OutlawGracie Lawrence, Just in TimeJustina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The MusicalJoy Woods, Gypsy Knud Adams, EnglishSam Mendes, The Hills of CaliforniaSam Pinkleton, (WINNER)Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the VillainKip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social ClubMichael Arden, (WINNER)David Cromer, Dead OutlawChristopher Gattelli, Death Becomes HerJamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd. Buena Vista Social Club, Marco RamirezDead Outlaw, Itamar MosesDeath Becomes Her, Marco Pennette, Will Aronson and Hue Park (WINNER)Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts Dead OutlawMusic & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna Death Becomes HerMusic & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey (WINNER)Music: Will AronsonLyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park Operation Mincemeat: A New MusicalMusic & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts Real Women Have Curves: The MusicalMusic & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez Marsha Ginsberg, EnglishRob Howell, The Hills of CaliforniaMarg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian GrayMiriam Buether and 59, (WINNER)Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck Rachel Hauck, Swept AwayDane Laffrey and George Reeve, (WINNER)Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social ClubDerek McLane, Death Becomes HerDerek McLane, Just in Time Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good LuckMarg Horwell, (WINNER)Rob Howell, The Hills of CaliforniaHolly Pierson, Oh, Mary!Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social ClubGregg Barnes, BOOP! The MusicalClint Ramos, Maybe Happy EndingPaul Tazewell, (WINNER)Catherine Zuber, Just in Time Natasha Chivers, The Hills of CaliforniaJon Clark, (WINNER)Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, Good Night, and Good LuckNatasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, John Proctor is the VillainNick Schlieper, The Picture of Dorian Gray Jack Knowles, (WINNER)Tyler Micoleau, Buena Vista Social ClubScott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, Floyd CollinsBen Stanton, Maybe Happy EndingJustin Townsend, Death Becomes Her Paul Arditti, (WINNER)Palmer Hefferan, John Proctor Is the VillainDaniel Kluger, Good Night, and Good LuckNick Powell, The Hills of CaliforniaClemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray Jonathan Deans, (WINNER)Adam Fisher, Sunset Hylenski, Just in TimePeter Hylenski, Maybe Happy EndingDan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins Joshua Bergasse, SmashCamille A. Brown, GypsyChristopher Gattelli, Death Becomes HerJerry Mitchell, BOOP! The MusicalPatricia Delgado and Justin Peck, (WINNER) Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in TimeWill Aronson, Maybe Happy EndingBruce Coughlin, Floyd CollinsMarco Paguia, (WINNER)David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd. This story was first published on June 8 at 3:45 p.m. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Seeing Double? 25 Pairs of Celebrities Who Look Nearly Identical From 'Lady in the Lake' to 'It Ends With Us': 29 New and Upcoming Book Adaptations in 2024 Meet the Superstars Who Glam Up Hollywood's A-List
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Darren Criss Wins First Tony Award for ‘Maybe Happy Ending'
Darren Criss is now a Tony winner. Criss won his first Tony Award on Sunday night for best actor in a leading role in a musical for Maybe Happy Ending, which is an original musical. He thanked his co-star in his acceptance speech. More from The Hollywood Reporter Tony Awards: 'Maybe Happy Ending' Wins Big, Nicole Scherzinger Takes Home First Tony BET Awards Set to Go Ahead as Planned Despite Los Angeles Protests; Organizers "Monitoring" Situation Nicole Scherzinger Wins Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical After Heated Race 'Helen J. Shen, I'm so proud of you and your Broadway debut for the books. This is where you belong,' he said before thanking the rest of the show's crew and his fellow teachers. The show also won best musical. Criss continued, 'Also my wife Mia, who took a massive swing on allowing me to do this and to allow this crazy upheaval in our life, to make this logistically possible and for bearing the brunt of raising two tiny friends under three so that I could raise a singing robot at the Belasco Theater eight times a week. Mia, you are the very pedestal that upholds the shiny spinny bit in our lives and your love and your support for me and our beautiful children combined with the miracle of working on something as magical as Maybe Happy Ending has been and will always be award enough.' Other nominees in his category included Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw), Tom Francis (Sunset Blvd.), Jonathan Groff (Just in Time), James Monroe Iglehart (A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical) and Jeremy Jordan (Floyd Collins). Criss recently was featured in THR's Broadway roundtable where he spoke about his relationship to the show. 'Because I've done shows like Little Shop [of Horrors, Off Broadway] and Hedwig [and the Angry Inch, on Broadway] where people know the material, that can also be an obstacle and something that you have to overcome, for better or for worse. For me, I've never been a part of anything where audience has been completely unencumbered by expectation or experience. That in itself is an obstacle, because now I have to try and convince them that this is something somewhat worthwhile, but it is amazing to feel that the gasp of, 'What is going on?!,'' he said. 'But in short, this came to me in 2018, and it was just a matter of being available — the pandemic and then a strike and so many things that happened until finally the stars aligned in a way that I'm so grateful for.' Maybe Happy Ending is currently playing at the Belasco Theatre. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Seeing Double? 25 Pairs of Celebrities Who Look Nearly Identical From 'Lady in the Lake' to 'It Ends With Us': 29 New and Upcoming Book Adaptations in 2024 Meet the Superstars Who Glam Up Hollywood's A-List
