B'way Update: Louis Armstrong Musical to Open at Studio 54

James Monroe Iglehart in
What a Wonderful World:
The Louis Armstrong Musical
Credit: Jeremy Daniel

After runs in Chicago and New Orleans, Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) will star on Broadway in What a Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, beginning previews on Oct. 16 and opening Nov. 11 at Studio 54. The show is presented in association with Roundabout Theatre Company and will be part of the company's subscription series.

This musical bio of the legendary jazz musician and singer features a book by Aurin Squire (This Is Us, The Good Fight). The score is made up of songs immortalized by Armstrong and the direction is by Drama Desk winner and Tony nominee Christopher Renshaw (The King and I, Taboo).

“I am so excited to bring this wonderful brand-new musical to Broadway,” James Monroe Iglehart commented. “American music wouldn’t be what it is today without Louis Armstrong and what is Broadway if not American music? ‘Pops’ doesn’t get enough credit for his contribution to our entertainment industry or our country. I know I have never studied, researched, or prepared for anything as much in my career as I have for this role. I feel such a strong connection and an obligation to bring his voice, his music, and his story to the one place where it can be presented in all its glory – Broadway! I can’t wait for you all to become a part of A Wonderful World.”

Film Independent Spirit Awards

This must have been a busy weekend for award nominees. After flying back from London for the BAFTAs on Monday, everybody had to get ready for the SAGs on Saturday night. From there they had to change quickly and head to the beach in Santa Monica for the Film Independent Spirit Awards (also for TV this year) in the afternoon on Sunday. No time for dinner because the PGAs (Producers Guild Awards) were that night. They now have two weeks to recover and prepare for the big night of the Oscars on March 10. 

The Indie awards were live streamed on YouTube, hosted by Aidy Bryant. Big budget blockbusters such as Oppenheimer, Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon were ineligible so these awards were slightly different from the SAGs, BAFTA, Critics Choices where the same winners keep marching up to the stage. Celine Song's Past Lives won two major categories--Best Feature and Director. American Fiction took Best Lead Performance for Jeffrey Wright and for Cord Jefferson's Screenplay. The Indies started giving out gender-neutral performance awards last year so there are a lot of nominees. Da'Vine Joy Randolph continued her winning streak by taking the Supporting Performance category for her moving performance as the grieving cook in The Holdovers. Beef also took home prizes after picking up awards at the SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe and Emmys. So I guess I should try it out on Netflix.

Protestors outsider the tent loudly chanted pro-Palestinian slogans during the show. I think they may have been preaching to the choir.

Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in
All of Us Strangers.
Credit: Searchlight Pictures

I did catch up with one Indie nominated film which did not show up on Oscar's nominee list. All of Us Strangers (on Hulu) is a strangely beautiful combination ghost story and gay acceptance tale. Andrew Scott gives a sensitive, heart-wrenching performance as a gay screenwriter whose parents were killed when he was a boy, so they never got to know him as a gay adult. He goes to their old house and finds them there just as they were, frozen in time. It was weird seeing Jamie Bell and Claire Foy as the still-young parents since I still picture them as Billy Elliott and Queen Elizabeth. 

SAG and BAFTA Aftermath

The SAG (Feb. 24) and BAFTA Awards (Feb. 18) were pretty much in agreement in almost every major category--except Best Actress. Both prizes honored Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey, Jr. and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. But the SAG went to Lily Gladstone of Killers of the Flower Moon and the BAFTA was delivered to Emma Stone of Poor Things. Stone was playing a British character so that may have earned her Brit votes for the BAFTA, plus Lily wasn't even nominated for the BAFTA. I think Gladstone is still the favorite for the Oscar since she will be the first Native American to win one. 

BTW, the People's Choice Awards were on the same day as the BAFTAs and Oppenheimer actually won both at the BAFTAs and in the Drama Film category at the People's Choice, which otherwise went big for Barbie. The People Choice Award has changed shapes over the years and now looks like a giant lipstick cylinder with a rubber ball stuck in the middle.

The SAG and
People's Choice Awards

SAG and BAFTA winners list follows:

Lortel, Bistro, MAC Award Dates Announced

Ruben Santiago-Hudson
will receive a Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Lortels

The 39th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards – honoring excellence in the Off-Broadway theater – will be handed out in the annual ceremony on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 7PM at NYU Skirball. Special Award recipients for 2024 have also been announced. The Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by TDF.

Special Award honorees include actor-director Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Lackawanna Blues, Jitney) for Lifetime Achievement; Dominique Morriseau (Skeleton Crew, Sunset Baby) will receive the Playwrights Sidewalk Honor outside the Lucille Lortel Theater; and Ars Nova for Outstanding Body of Work. 

Nominees for the Lortels will be announced on April 4 and there will be a Nominees Breakfast on April 17. The Lortels are presented for Off-Broadway work from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. . Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, Actors’ Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, United Scenic Artists, the Lucille Lortel Theatre, in addition to theatre journalists, academics and other Off-Broadway professionals, serve on the Voting Committee (though no members' names are listed in the press release or on the Lortels' website.)

The event will, as always, be open to the public, with tickets available for purchase beginning April 4 at tickets.nyu.edu or at the NYU Skirball box office Tuesday – Saturday 12pm–6pm. As always, the Lortel Awards is a benefit for the Entertainment Community Fund and fans are encouraged to make donations at LortelAwards.org.

Animation Feature Oscar: Spider Vs. Heron

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Credit: Sony Animation

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature for 2018. Its sequel Across the Spider-Verse is a front-runner for the same award this year. The race is between Spider-Verse and Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece The Boy and the Heron. Miyazaki has won in this category for Spirited Away (2001) and is regarded as a master in the field, so he may be primed for a second Golden Guy. 

It's a tough choice. I watched Spider-Verse on Netflix and was totally stunned. There was so much happening in every frame, it was overwhelming. I did not see the 2018 film, so at first the plot was kinda confusing. But gradually we can figure out that we're in an alternate universe where Spider-Man is not Peter Parker, but Miles Morales, the son of an African-American father and a Puerto Rican mother. In this world, there is also a spider-powered version of Gwen Stacy--or is she from yet another world? Evidently, there are an infinite number of universes, each with their own Spider-Man or Woman. For reasons not immediately clear, Miles is taken to a Spider- World where EVERYBODY has Spider powers. The plot is not as important as the action which is jam-packed and the multiple Spider heroes are fun. There's even a Spider-kitty and a Spider-dinosaur.

Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films

On a whim, I decided to jump on the subway and catch the Oscar nominated shorts at the IFC Center. I have seen all the live action and documentary shorts, but only two of the animated ones (those were the only ones on YouTube). Every year, the IFC screens the nominated shorts, giving a leg up to Award show fans in their party betting pools. As I have related before, I've actually been at Oscar viewing parties where people objected to allowing me to bet in the pool because I had the unfair advantage of seeing all the films in these categories, even though they were open to the public and playing only a few blocks away. This year's animated shorts are high-caliber and it's difficult to pick a favorite, but here are some thoughts:

Our Uniform

Our Uniform (Iran): Yegane Moghanddam cleverly uses clothes as a backdrop for her ruminations on attending an all-girls school in Iran where the students had to wear the hijab, even though there were no males present. "Who were we covering up from," she asks in her voice-over narration. She says she learned to be a female in Iran, but nothing else, not a doctor or soccer player, just a female. She examines attitudes about the dress codes women must adhere to as figures move along dresses, slacks, jeans, and the hijab itself.

Super Bowl Commercials

Does Scarlett Johansson need money?

I reverse-DVRed the Super Bowl, meaning I fast-forwarded past the game so I could watch only the commercials and the half-time show which were very telling about the state of the country. Not only were they selling beer, cars, travel services and websites, but also ideas and religions. There was more than one ad selling Jesus and another promoting Scientology as something you should check out. Never mind all those horror stories about it being a cult and mind-control, drop in and be greeted by a smiling young person. The Christian ads were advising viewers to wash the feet of someone you disagree with. There was even a campaign ad for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In a bizarre twist, they used footage of a commercial for RFK Jr's uncle's 1960 Presidential campaign and imposed his photo over JFK. (RFK Jr. later apologized for the ad's bad taste, explaining he had nothing to do with it. It was paid for by a Super PAC supporting his third party candidacy.) Film and TV stars like Christopher Walken, Tina Fey, Glenn Close, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Patrick Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger must need money for new wings of their houses since they appeared in spots. Also the Wicked movie looks cool.