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Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story (2010) Movie Review: Stories invite reflection, embedding moral lessons deep within the essence of our being. As Chuck Palahniuk observes in “Haunted,” readers consume lives much like theatres absorb audiences. Novels aim to provoke – whether through tears or nausea – drawing readers into the emotional world of the author. The climax resolves the excruciating narrative, leaving the audience to wrestle with the emotions it evokes.

Wataru Misaka stands as a wanderer, a refugee seeking to illuminate his path through the darkness, striving to restore faith in forgiveness. Born a Nisei – a term for second-generation Japanese immigrants – he was part of a community that left Japan in pursuit of the mythical “land of dreams and promises.” Yet, these refugees grew up as American citizens, belonging to a homeland that often treated them not with pride but as scapegoats.

Racial tensions remain stark, compelling all individuals of Japanese descent...

Unlike the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys, the Tonys delegate the task of deciding on the nominees to a small group of theater professionals. These dedicated theater-goers attend every eligible production during the Broadway season. At the end of April they get together to discuss the contenders and decide on the nominees in the 26 competitive categories. This season’s winners will be revealed during the 78th Tony Awards on June 8, 2025.

The Tony Awards nominating committee roster numbers 62 this year; that is up by two from last year. Members serve on a rolling three-year basis and new additions to the committee are denoted by an * in the list below.

Bob Balaban – Actor / Producer / Director / Writer

Danielle Barlow – Theatre Administrator

Sarah Benson – Director

Rick Boynton – Producer / Script Consultant / Dramaturg

Brian Harlan Brooks* – Director / Choreographer / Dei Director

Dr. Jamie Cacciola-Price* – Theatre Educator / Director

Kevin Cahoon* – Actor / Director

Adam Chanler-Berat – Actor / Playwright

Victoria Clark...

When the 77th Tony Awards nominations are announced this morning, those honored with recognition will have been selected by a small group of theatre professionals who commit to seeing each and every eligible production that opened during the 2023-2024 season. They are thus able to make informed decisions on what shows, performers and creatives should earn the spotlight of New York theatre’s top honor.

This past season, 60 theatre professionals saw all 36 eligible musicals, play, and revivals and will select the nominees in 26 competitive categories.

Below, see a complete list of the 2023-2024 Tony Awards nominating committee members, including their professions plus past Tony nominations and wins. Some of these nominators may have to recuse themselves prior to voting if they have a conflict, such as if a production that they worked is eligible for a nomination this year.

Watch 2024 Tony Awards nominations slugfest: Final predictions in 17 competitive categories

Warren Adams,...

Ain’t No Mo star and playwright Jordan E. Cooper, Kpop composer Helen Park, and Ojibwe and Oneida performance artist Ty Defoe are among the new members of the Tony Award nominating committee.

The trio are among 25 new members of the 2023-2024 committee announced today by the Tony Awards Administration Committee. Other newcomers include Dear Evan Hansen composer Benj Pasek, writer-director Miranda Haymon, actors Jason Tam, Bob Balaban and Adam Chanler-Berat, and Flying Over Sunset lyricist Michael Korie.

The 2023-2024 committee of the Tony nominators will include 60 members, each of whom serve a three-year term. The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

The 2023-2024 Nominating Committee includes:

Warren Adams – Director/Choreographer/Producer

Becky Ann Baker – Actor

Bob Balaban** – Actor/Producer/Director/Writer

Pun Bandhu – Actor/Producer

Danielle Barlow** – Theatre Administrator

Sarah Benson** – Director

Rick Boynton** – Creative Producer, Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Christopher Burney – Producer...

The Tony Awards has added new members to its nominating committee, including Ain’t No Mo star and playwright Jordan E. Cooper and Kpop composer Helen Park, who have both been outspoken about the need for change within the industry.

Other new members joining for the 2023-2024 Broadway season include The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen songwriter Benj Pasek, actor Bob Balaban, actor and playwright Adam Chanler-Berat, interdisciplinary artist Ty Defoe and director Miranda Haymon.

The Tony Awards nominating committee is typically younger and more diverse than the larger Tony Awards voting body. However, the addition of Cooper and Park is particularly notable, as both had shows this past season that posted early closing notices and have spoken out about the need for Broadway to improve how it markets to and welcomes diverse audiences (Kpop is about competing Korean pop bands, while Ain’t No Mo’ follows a series...

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As the 2022 Tony Awards honor the first full season of theater since Broadway’s return following the 18-month Covid-19 shutdown, a slew of timely topics will likely make their way into Sunday night’s monologues, acceptance speeches and segments.

Among them will be the pandemic, but so will inclusion and diversity. As the New York theater community reimagined itself with a series of protocols aimed at more safely producing live performances amid waves of Covid-19, it also pledged to take lessons from other major events of 2020. Both the Black Lives Matter protests and the swell of anti-Asian hate and attacks had many in the city’s theater community, Broadway and beyond, reconsidering how its own historical exclusion has played a role in the disparate, discriminatory experiences of its artists both onstage and off.

The best representative of diversity and inclusion efforts among this...

Stars in the House, the YouTube and streaming talk and performance series hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley since the March 2020 Broadway shutdown, will feature a special episode tonight focusing on the new Omicron variant and what it means for Broadway.

Joining Rudetsky and Wesley will be CBS Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon Lapook, as well as Michael Mina (Chief Science Officer at EMed) and Kim Prather, Ph.D,. Also joining them throughout the episode with their own questions about Omicron will be Broadway’s Audra McDonald, Jagged Little Pill cast members Elizabeth Stanley, Lauren Patten and Kathryn Gallagher, Hamilton‘s Miguel Cervantes, and Christine Toy Johnson from the Come From Away national tour.

“Seth and I decided at the last minute to ask Dr. Jon Lapook, who has been with us since Day One of Stars in the House, if...

More than 200 theater writers – playwrights, composers, lyricists, librettists – have joined a nationwide letter writing campaign urging the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to prioritize its commitment to an arts community ravaged by Covid-19. Among other goals, many of the letters urge the administration to create a Department and Secretary of Arts & Culture.

Organized by the non-partisan grassroots coalition Be An #ArtsHero in partnership with The Dramatists Guild of America, the “Dear Mr. President and Madam Vice President” campaign asserts that “the Arts are vital to our nation’s soul and our collective humanity, as well as being an essential driver of the economy.”

Among those writing letters: Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown), Heidi Schreck (What The Constitution Means To Me) as well as V (formerly Eve Ensler), Craig Lucas, Theresa Rebeck, Sarah Ruhl, Marsha Norman, Lynn Ahrens, Zakiyyah Alexander, Jaclyn Backhaus, Bekah Brunstetter, Carla Ching, Vichet Chum, Paul Downs Colaizzo,...

Come From Away on tour has landed in Los Angeles The touring production of Come From Away stars Kevin Carolan Disney's Newsies, Harter Clingman Peter and The Starcatcher, Nick Duckart In the Heights, Chamblee Ferguson, Becky Gulsvig School of Rock the Musical, Julie Johnson Memphis, Christine Toy Johnson The Music Man, James Earl Jones II The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Megan McGinnis Les Miserables, Andrew Samonsky South Pacific, Danielle K. Thomas Avenue Q, Emily Walton August Osage County, Marika Aubrey, Jane Bunting, Michael Brian Dunn, Julie Garnye, Adam Halpin, Aaron Michael Ray.

Come From Away on tour has landed in Los Angeles The touring production of Come From Away stars Kevin Carolan Disney's Newsies, Harter Clingman Peter and The Starcatcher, Nick Duckart In the Heights, Chamblee Ferguson, Becky Gulsvig School of Rock the Musical, Julie Johnson Memphis, Christine Toy Johnson The Music Man, James Earl Jones II The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Megan McGinnis Les Miserables, Andrew Samonsky South Pacific, Danielle K. Thomas Avenue Q, Emily Walton August Osage County, Marika Aubrey, Jane Bunting, Michael Brian Dunn, Julie Garnye, Adam Halpin, Aaron Michael Ray.

BroadwayWorld has an exclusive first look at Come From Away on Tour Check out the video below The touring production of Come From Away stars Kevin Carolan Disney's Newsies, Harter Clingman Peter and The Starcatcher, Nick Duckart In the Heights, Chamblee Ferguson, Becky Gulsvig School of Rock the Musical, Julie Johnson Memphis, Christine Toy Johnson The Music Man, James Earl Jones II The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Megan McGinnis Les Miserables, Andrew Samonsky South Pacific, Danielle K. Thomas Avenue Q, Emily Walton August Osage County, Marika Aubrey, Jane Bunting, Michael Brian Dunn, Julie Garnye, Adam Halpin, Aaron Michael Ray.

54 Below presented '54 Below Sings Kander And Ebb's Woman Of The Year' on Wednesday, November 29th, 2017. This performance featured an all star cast with nine ladies singing the songs of Tess Lauren Bacall on Broadway, four men singing for Sam, and all the other roles covered by the rest of the cast. The performers were Klea Blackhurst, Todd Buonopane, Mary Callahan, Robert Cuccioli, Joyce DeWitt, Natalie Douglas, John Epperson, Anita Gillette, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Dee Hoty, Christine Toy Johnson, Luba Mason, Julia Murney, Brad Oscar, Christine Pedi, Eve Plumb, Robbie Rozelle, and Kevin Zak. The musical director was Joshua Zecher-Ross, with Corey Schuyler on the bass, Chris Schultz on the drums and Dan Glaude on the reed.

Erin Mackey In Transit, Wicked and Wade McCollum Ernest Shackleton Loves Me will lead a private reading of Till Soon, Anne, a new musical with book and lyrics by Christine Toy Johnson and music by Bobby Cronin on Friday, October 6.

Read More: 7 Best Screenwriting Apps to Make Life Easier

New York Women in Film & Television (Nywift) and Iris , a collective of women filmmakers, have officially announced the 10 selected screenwriters who will participate in this year’s The Writers Lab. Now in its second year, The Writers Lab is a program where emerging female screenwriters team up with industry mentors to help develop their screenplays. The lab is open to women over the age of 40 and is funded by Meryl Streep. This year’s participants include:

Carol Carpenter, “The Guadalupe”

Melody Cooper, “The Sound of Darkness”

Meredith DePaolo, “Devil’s Eye””

Nancy Duff, “Dead Drop”

Kate Erickson, “Roll With It”

Tina Field Howe, “Drone War”

Christina Hulen, “A Gentleman of Good Hope”

Christine Toy Johnson, “Jumping the Third Rail”

Nanci Katz-Ellis, “Blink”

Leslie Longworth, “One Bad Astronaut”

Barbara Nunberg, “Willful Blindness”

Stephanie Stanley, “The Radical”

The mentors who will be included...

The Asian American Composers and Lyricists Project and ReImagined World Entertainment will present 'Arriving In Asian America,' a song cycle collectively written by members of the project with original words and music by Adam Gwon, Timothy Huang, Christine Toy Johnson, Ming Aldrich-Gan, Hyeyoung Kim with Michael Cooper, Leon Ko, Robert Lee, Yoonmi Lee with Gaby Gold amp Zhu Yi, Yan Li, Jason Ma, J. Oconer Navarro, Kamala Sankaram, Tidtaya Sinutoke with Ty Defoe and Jeff Tang.

Fresh from her choreographing stint at the first London revival of Marvin Hamlisch's 'A Chorus Line,' Baayork Lee, 'A Chorus Line' veteran herself, and a co-founder of the National Asian Artists Project, a non-profit organization that promotes Asian performing artists, presents a fully-staged, fully-costumed adaptation of Jerry Herman's hit Broadway musical 'Hello, Dolly,' featuring an all-Asian cast led by Rosetta Lenoire Award-winning actress Christine Toy Johnson as Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widowed matchmaker a role originated by Carol Channing in the 1964 Broadway production.

John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo and Carey Anderson all from Broadway's Avenue Q along with Gwen Hollander Little Women, Christine Toy Johnson Falsettoland, Francis Jue Thoroughly Modern Millie, Pacific Overtures, singersongwriter Phoebe Kreutz, Raymond J. Lee Anything Goes, Adam Levinskas, Jose Llana The 25Th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Rent, Orville Mendoza Peter And The Starcatcher, Olivia Oguma Mamma Mia and actress Lexi Windsor will all be on hand to perform and pay tribute to the beloved director and actor Alan Muraoka Sesame Street, Broadway's Miss Saigon, The King And I at an evening to benefit National Asian American Theatre Company Naatco tonight, September 10 at 416 W. 42 St.

John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo and Carey Anderson all from Broadway's Avenue Q along with Gwen Hollander Little Women, Christine Toy Johnson Falsettoland, Francis Jue Thoroughly Modern Millie, Pacific Overtures, singersongwriter Phoebe Kreutz, Raymond J. Lee Anything Goes, Adam Levinskas, Jose Llana The 25Th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Rent, Orville Mendoza Peter And The Starcatcher, Olivia Oguma Mamma Mia and actress Lexi Windsor will all be on hand to perform and pay tribute to the beloved director and actor Alan Muraoka Sesame Street, Broadway's Miss Saigon, The King And I at an evening to benefit National Asian American Theatre Company Naatco on Monday, September 10 at 416 W. 42 St.

A new workshop production of "The Nightingale" by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater at the historic La Jolla Playhouse in California is striking nerves in the Asian American community.

The show, which was adapted from a short story by Hans Christian Anderson and is set in ancient China, has amassed critics vocal about the lack of actual Asian actors present on stage. The lead role of a Chinese monarch is being played by a white actor, and the rest of the cast is multiethnic.

Most of the grievances have been aired on the theater company's Facebook page. "Would you cast non African American people in the roles of 'The Color Purple' or an August Wilson play or 'Topdog/Underdog'???" wrote one commenter. "I am eagerly anticipating your multiracial, non-traditionally cast production of Glengarry Glen Ross! Should be outstanding!" wrote another.

After receiving enough complaints to warrant a discussion,...

The Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire was awarded the Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award for the 2011-2012 Season from Actors Equity Association Aea on Tuesday. The show, produced by Front Row Productions Stephen Byrd, Alia Jones-Harvey, received the honor at a presentation at Equity headquarters. Christine Toy Johnson and Julia Breanetta Simpson Aea Co-chairs Eastern Regional Equal Employment Opportunity Committee presented the award, which turns the spotlight onto those doing exemplary work to promote the goals of diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in theatre.Check out photos from the big event below...

Actors' Equity Association has announced the results of its elections for eight offices and 17 National Council seats. Union members elected Nick Wyman for President, Paige Price as First Vice President, Rebecca Kim Jordan as Second Vice President, Ira Mont as Third Vice President, and Sandra Karas as Secretary-Treasurer. Each of these candidates ran uncontested for their respective offices and will serve three-year terms.Dev Kennedy was reelected as the Central Regional Vice President and Doug Carfrae was reelected Western Regional Vice President. Melissa Robinette has been elected the Eastern Regional Vice President. The above regional officers have all been elected to serve three-year terms.In addition to the officers, 17 Council seats were filled. In the Eastern Region, Christine Toy Johnson, David Sitler, Ira Denmark, Margot Moreland, and James Moye have been elected to five-year term Principal seats, and Kristen Beth Williams has been elected to a one-year term Principal seat.

In September of last year, an Asian-American actor posted an offhand status message on Facebook. He wrote that he'd finally been seen by one of the top Off-Broadway theater companies in the city, and he was excited about it. But he also wondered why, after graduating from one of the best graduate acting schools in the country, and living in the city for almost 10 years, it had taken him so long to get his foot in the door there.

The actor wasn't aiming to get someone in trouble or cause an uproar, really -- he was merely expressing a frustration. But it sparked a major response. Other Asian-American actors responded in droves: some who had been working for decades vented similar frustrations, while others mentioned that they had also never been seen by that theater and had hung onto similar thoughts for years.

Based on this online conversation, many started thinking on a wider scale.

Stage actors go to New York; film and TV actors head to California. That's the sort of truism few people bother to question. But these days, things could be shifting. With state and city tax incentives in place for production companies that shoot in New York and a mayor and governor who strongly support the film and TV industry, more New York actors may soon make on-camera work their primary focus.Christine Toy Johnson has reaped the benefits of this new climate. A longtime New York actor who pursues both stage and screen work, she recently appeared in the first episode of ABC's Ugly Betty to be filmed in New York after two seasons in California. "I'm thrilled that they're here," she says. "The cast and crew really had a great energy, and I had a ball working on it." Among the series now shooting in New York are Gossip Girl,...

Actors Equity has re-elected its top two officers in membership voting that also filled 19 open seats on the union's national council.

Equity president Mark Zimmerman, whose Broadway credits include "The Rainmaker" and "Brigadoon", and actress Paige Price, who has returned as first vp, were uncontested. Figures weren't immediately available for how many of Equity's 45,000 actors and stage managers voted in the election.

Zimmerman and Price, who will serve until spring 2009, were first elected to the posts in the fall after the late Patrick Quinn resigned as Equity president to assume the role of executive director.

In the Eastern region of council races, Christine Toy Johnson, Margot Moreland, Paul Ames, Ira Denmark and Thomas Jay Miller were elected in the principal category for five-year terms and Bob Knapp for a four-year term.

In the Eastern chorus category, Jeffrey Bateman and Roger Preston Smith will serve five-year terms and Craig Meyer will serve a three-year term. Eastern stage managers elected to five-year terms are Lisa Jo Snodgrass and John Atherlay.