Three of TFE's favourite actresses in limited runs on stage this summer!

by Nathaniel R

Donna Lynne, Sutton, and Ann

Theater is finally starting up again this summer and though the news is coming fast and furious about MANY productions there are three you really must know about involving great shows starring three special actresses that TFE loves dearly: Donna Lynn Champlin and Ann Dowd (both of whom have been kind enough to guest-star on this very site!) and Sutton Foster who is a longtime obsession...

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The Tony Awards will be on Paramount+ this year

Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo in "Moulin Rouge: The Musical"

Here's a twist we didn't see coming: the long delayed Tony Awards will be on Paramount+ streaming service this September 26th at 7 PM EST followed by a starry Broadway-celebrating concert on CBS (the usual home of the Tony Awards) at 9 PM EST (both shows are two hours long). That's great timing since the shows begin to return on September 2nd (as previously discussed).

All of the awards but three will be handed out on the Paramount portion of the evening...

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Are we really getting TEN movie musicals in 2021?

by Nathaniel R

In the Heights

In the recent Yes No Maybe So post I mentioned that we were getting three musicals in the space of seven months. But that was a gross understatement as I hadn't yet finished my Oscar chart research for 2021. There are actually TEN musicals... no make that eleven (!) that are supposed to arrive before Christmas. Release dates are subject to change, of course. The current schedule represents Hollywood doubling-down, no quintupling down, on audiences salivating en masse for musicals in the way they currently only do for animated fare and superhero films. (That'd be a wonderful world of course, if audiences were so inclined.)

Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, is spectacularly talented but looking at this schedule we're a little worried for him. We don't want Miranda to become the next Ryan Murphy -- i.e. stretched thin, predictable, veering into being a Brand first and artist second, and offering diminishing returns. Given that Miranda is involved in more than a third of these musicals, that's a major oversaturation risk. Tell us which of these ten you're most excited about in the comments...

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We're rejoicing over Broadway's Return

by Nathaniel R

Patti Lupone in "Company"

When Broadway was shut down on March 12th, 2020 the official story was "until April 12th, 2020". That one month time frame is hilariously optimistic in retrospect (and even raised some eyebrows at the time). Cut to mid May 2021 and Broadway is still closed but with notice that theaters can reopen at full capacity in September. 

But what gives with the Tony Awards? They announced a strange set of nominees after the Broadway closing culled from a very limited pool of shows since a lot hadn't yet opened (Broadway is typically busiest in the spring). Seven months later they still haven't uttered a peep about when those awards will take place. Aaron Tveit, the only nominee for Best Actor in a Musical, still doesn't know whether or not he won. All three of the current nominees in the marquee Tony category of Best Musical (i.e. the one that gets all the headlines and makes the box office difference) will be reopened by late October...

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93rd Academy Awards: A strong Adapted Screenplay race

by Eric Blume

We have our strongest list of contenders for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar that we’ve had in years…I’d argue one of the strongest ever.  These five films represent vastly different stories and emphasize different screenwriting strengths, and involve an array of intelligent decisions from the writers in delivering the best cinematic experience possible based on their source material...

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