Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

Tony Season Update All things Tony Awards —Before the main event, there's the pre-show. Tony red carpet coverage will begin at 5:30pm. Special correspondents will also be on hand throughout the night to bring you behind-the-scenes coverage. You can watch both on TonyAwards.com. Visit Playbill for details. Once the broadcast starts, you can expect to see a starry roster of presenters. Some newly announced presenters include Jake Gyllenhaal , Angela Lansbury , Uzo Aduba , Aaron Tveit , Common , Chita Rivera , and Josh Groban , who'll make his Broadway debut this fall. Playbill and Broadway.com have the full list of presenters. And you can also expect to see many performances, ten to be exact. All of the musicals nominated for Best Musical and Best Musical revival will be represented. In addition, there will be a performance by Gloria Estefan and the cast of On Your Feet , which (rightly) received a nomination for Best Choreography. Broadway.com has details. And in case y...

Grammy Nominations Grammy Award nominations were announced this week. You can view the full list of nominees on the Grammy website . Herein, some nominees of interest: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album — Josh Groban , Stages ; Seth MacFarlane , No One Ever Tells You ; Tony Bennett and Bill Charlap , The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern ; Bob Dylan , Shadows in the Night ; and Barry Manilow , My Dream Duets Best Musical Theater Album — An American in Paris , Fun Home , Hamilton , The King and I , and Something Rotten Foo Fighters —Best Rock Performance, " Something from Nothing "; and Best Music Film, Sonic Highways Best Spoken Word Album —nominees include Dick Cavett , Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks ; Jimmy Carter , A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety ; and Amy Poehler , Yes Pelase Best Comedy Album —nominees include Wyatt Cenac , Brooklyn and Louis C.K. , Live at Madison Square Garden Best Score Soundtrack for Visu...

Casting News Broadway —Additional casting has been announced for the Broadway bow of American Psycho . Next to Normal  co-stars Alice Ripley  and Jennifer Damiano  will reunite for the new musical. Helene Yorke  ( Masters of Sex ) also joins the company, which will be led by the previously announced Benjamin Walker. Opening night has not been set, but previews, at the Schoenfeld Theatre, begin March 24, 2016. Theater Mania has more. TV — Andrew Call  ( American Idiot , Brooklynite ) and Ana Gastayer ( A New Brain ) have joined the cast of the upcoming Fox telecast of Grease . Call will play T-Bird Sonny, and Gastayer will delight as Principal McGee. They join a cast that is led by Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko. Broadwayworld.com has more about Call and Deadline has the report on Gastayer. Off-Broadway —The Vineyard Theatre production of Colman Domingo's Dot  will be led by Leslie Uggams . Directed by Susan Stroman, previews begin February 4, 20...

(Scroll down for the first Hamilton commercial.) Fiddler Casting Update Additional casting has been announced for the Danny Burstein -led revival of Fiddler on the Roof . Joining the five-time Tony nominee are Tony nominee Jessica Hecht ( The Assembled Parties , Stage Kiss ) and Adam Kantor ( The Last Five Years ). Hecht will play Golde to Burstein's Tevye, and Kantor takes on the role of tailor Motel. The revival, directed by Tony nominee Bartlett Sher ( The Bridges of Madison County , The King and I ), is set to play the Broadway Theatre. Previews begin November 12, and opening night is scheduled for December 17. Broadway.com has more. Steve Jobs in Sorkinese Several years ago we had Facebook in Sorkinese, The Social Network , and now Aaron Sorkin is taking on the venerated Apple icon in Steve Jobs . The film, set for release on October 9, stars Michael Fassbender ( 12 Years a Slave ), and, as the trailer shows, is riddled with Sorkin's trademark sna...

Casting News Taye Diggs ( Rent ) has been confirmed as the next Hedwig in the Tony-winning revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch . Diggs will begin performances on July 22, and continue for a 12-week run. The fantastic Rebecca Naomi Jones will continue in the role of Yitzhak. (Scroll down for her first backstage vlog.) Broadway.com has more. Uma Thurman ( Pulp Fiction ) and Kristin Chenoweth ( On the Twentieth Century ) will co-star in The Brits Are Coming , a comedic heist movie written by James Okaley and Alex Michaelides, and directed by Oakley. The Hollywood Reporter has details.    Tony winner John Gallagher, Jr. ( American Idiot , The Newsroom ) has his next gig lined up: The talented star has joined the cast of The Belko Experiment , a film written by James Gunn. Greg McLean will direct the picture, set to begin shooting in Bogota, Colombia, this June. Gunn posted the news on Facebook in a thoughtful message about the first time Gallagher auditioned for hi...

Tony Award Nominations and Honorees The Tony Award nominations were announced on Tuesday. See the full list of nominees , check out my Culturalists ( Best Nominations and Worst Snubs ) and then head to Pinterest for Tony photos throughout the season. Also announced on Tuesday: The hosts of the Tony Awards. This year, Tony winners Kristin Chenoweth (a nominee this year for On the Twentieth Century ) and Alan Cumming ( Cabaret ) will be our guides. (Visit Broadway.com for more about their hosting gig.) In addition to the competitive Tony Awards, some special, non-competitive awards will be handed out on June 7: John Cameron Mitchell will receive the 2015 Special Tony Award , recognizing his artistry and his journey with Hedwig and the Angry Inch . (In addition to co-creating the show in the 90s, Mitchell just returned to the role, playing on Broadway for the last few months.)  Stephen Schwartz will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Award , the Tonys' humanitarian award....