Read on for more theatre news you may have missed in today's headlines.
America Ferrera Will Narrate the Audiobook of In the Heights: Finding Home
Emmy Award winner America Ferrera will join authors Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Jeremy McCarter in narrating the upcoming audiobook for In the Heights: Finding Home, the inside story of the making of the hit musical. The audiobook is due out from Penguin Random House Audio along with the Random House hardcover and ebook on June 15. The star announced the news on her own Instagram, noting that she's "die-hard fan of In the Heights" and saw it three times on Broadway. Meanwhile, the highly anticipated screen adaptation premieres a few days prior to the book dropping, on June 11.
Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet has landed the role of a young Willy Wonka in the Warner Bros and the Roald Dahl Story Co.’s Wonka, Deadline reports. Like the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, this new movie is set to include several musical numbers. Gene Wilder played the title role in the 1971 film, with Johnny Depp in the 2005 remake Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Tony winner Christian Borle in the Broadway adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel. Paul King will direct from the screenplay he penned with Simon Farnaby. Several other writers had previously tackled the script, including Dear Evan Hansen's Steven Levenson.
A Silent Film Festival For 651 ARTS' Juneteeth Celebration
651 ARTS, a Brooklyn performing arts company devoted to the appreciation of the African Diaspora, will present Juneteenth Celebration: (RE)VISION in partnership with Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and Rooftop Films. The weekend event, June 18–19, will consist of four "silent" film screenings, with headphones provided for audiences, as well as two sets from Soho House resident DJ Qool DJ Marv. Headlining the film screening will be the short film WATA, along with the regional premiere of Charles O. Anderson’s (RE)current Unrest, an encore presentation of 651’s world premiere of Marjani Forté-Saunders’ Memoirs of a…Unicorn: BLUEPRINT and the world premiere of the provocative Cyborg Heaven, an exploration of the Black urban movement through House Ballroom culture and hip hop. For scheduling and more information, visit 651ARTS.org.
Barbara Barrie is Blinded by Love in New Podcast
Barbara Barrie, a Broadway mainstay and Tony nominee for 1971's Company, has released Blinded by Love, a new podcast hosted with her longtime friend, poet, business executive, and community organizer Margot Zucker Mindich. The podcast aims to share the rarely heard, honest, and often hysterical stories and experiences of people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s in their own words. Tony Award winner John Cullum guested on the most recent episode. Episode topics range from aging in entertainment careers to why old people pay in exact change. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
