In the News: Rita Moreno Pulls The Prank, Judith Light Joins TV Horror-Comedy Shining Vale | Playbill

Film & TV News In the News: Rita Moreno Pulls The Prank, Judith Light Joins TV Horror-Comedy Shining Vale Plus: The Shubert Organization announces the five BIPOC producers for the inaugural Artistic Circle Core Program.
Rita Moreno and Judith Light

Read on for more theatre news you may have missed in today's headlines.

Rita Moreno Stars in Feature The Prank
EGOT winner Rita Moreno will lead the cast of the upcoming dark comedy feature film The Prank, Deadline reports. The story centers on two high school students, played by Connor Kalopsis and Ramona Young, who falsely accuse a demanding teacher (Moreno) of murder. Up-and-comer Maureen Bharoocha directs the film, penned by Rebecca Flinn-White and Zak White. The cast also includes Broadway alum Keith David (Thoughts of a Colored Man), along with Meredith Salenger, Jonathan Kimmel, Nathan Janak and Kate Flannery. Filming begins this month in the Los Angeles area. Moreno will also soon be seen in the Steven Spielberg adaptation of West Side Story. She is the subject of the recently released documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, which will air on PBS October 5.

Watch: Rita Moreno Talks About Her Documentary

Judith Light Joins TV Horror-Comedy Shining Vale
Another Tony-winning leading lady will take a turn at dark comedy: Judith Light (Other Desert Cities) has joined the cast of the Starz half-hour horror-Comedy Shining Vale, according to TVLine. She will guest star as Joan, the "vain and hyper-critical" mother of series lead Pat, played by Courteney Cox. The series follows a dysfunctional family who moves from the city to a small town and finds themselves living with a paranormal. The cast also includes Greg Kinnear, Mira Sorvino, Merrin Dungey, Gus Birney, and Dylan Gage. The show hails from creators Jeff Astrof (Trial & Error) and Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe). Shining Vale has received an eight-episode order, but no air date has been set.

Shubert Organization Announces BIPOC Producers for Inaugural Artistic Circle Core Program
Victoria Detres, Lawryn LaCroix, Bryan Joseph Lee, Sammy Lopez, and Danny Marin will be the inaugural members of The Shubert Organization’s new Artistic Circle Core Program, created as part of Shubert’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. The Artistic Circle will provide assistance to this cohort of BIPOC commercial theatre producers, chosen from an open call for submissions of producers who are in the early-to-mid stage of their careers and have a project currently in development. Members will receive financial support for their projects, as well as support over the next season to help further their commercial careers. “To address the historical lack of representative producers on Broadway and off-Broadway, we are placing an emphasis on nurturing BIPOC producers for the commercial theatre,” said Robert E. Wankel, chairman and CEO of The Shubert Organization. “We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with this slate of producers and launch this new initiative.” For more, visit Shubert.nyc.

 
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