Read on for some recent theatre headlines you may have missed in today's news.
Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Updates Season to Include Under the Tent Concert Series
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Atlanta's Alliance Theatre has restructured the remainder of its 2020-2021 season, creating Under the Tent, an outdoor series of concert-style performances utilizing enhanced safety procedures and socially distanced seating. A concert staging of Working: A Musical, with songs from Craig Carnelia, Stephen Schwartz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more, will run April 22–May 30. Also scheduled for April are Beautiful Blackbird Live! and Songs to Grow On, both family-friendly concerts. Previously announced titles Hands Up and Toni Stone will move to the 2021–2022 season, and Accidental Heroes has been canceled for the time being. Tickets for the Under the Tent series are available at AllianceTheatre.org.
Cynthia Erivo Hosts Female Trailblazers Series From Bvlgari and Tribeca Studios
The Female Trailblazers Series, from partners Bvlgari and Tribeca Studios, has tapped Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple) to host the short film series focusing on "resilient and extraordinary women." Erivo will host virtual panels for the world premieres of Bella Monticelli’s Lot 448 and Alison Chernick's Ezinma. The complete series will be available to stream on Google, Apple +, and Amazon Prime by mid-February.
GLAAD Media Awards Nominate The Prom, The Boys In the Band, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Each year the GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of the LGBTQIA+ community. There is no Outstanding Broadway Production category this year (Matthew Lopez's The Inheritance was honored last year), but a few theatre-related titles have been nominated in film categories. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Prom, both from Netflix, are nominated for Outstanding Film (Wide Release), and The Boys in the Band, also from Netflix, is nominated for Outstanding Film (Limited Release). For a full list of 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Award nominees, visit GLAAD.org. Winners will be announced at a later date.
Remembering Cloris Leachman
Actress Cloris Leachman, who died this week at the age of 94, created many memorable characters for both large and small screen. A simple internet search returns the phrase "best known for" followed by several different answers. She won an Academy Award for her role in 1971's The Last Picture Show, she created the role of Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein on film, and she played Mary Tyler Moore's landlady and took over for Mrs. Garrett when she left The Facts of Life. Leachman's career, though, began on the New York City stage. She had several Broadway roles in the 1950s, including Nellie Forbush in the 1949 production of South Pacific. Take a look below of a shot of her from the show alongside George Britton.
