News

Riz Ahmed is carving out a niche in the action-thriller space. After leading “The Night Of” series, the Oscar-nominated actor (he won for his short film “The Long Goodbye”) is expanding his action chops with David Mackenzie’s “Relay.” The critical darling film debuted at TIFF 2024 and was later acquired by Bleecker Street.

Ahmed stars as a world class “fixer” who specializes in brokering lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and individuals threatening to expose them. A nameless character, he keeps his identity a secret by using a message relay service called Relay, which is usually used by people with a hearing or speech disability to make and receive telephone calls via text. Yet when a message arrives from a potential client (Lily James) who needs his protection just to stay alive, Ahmed’s character abandons his own ironclad rules of communication.

“It was just the idea that this person is...

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...

Unlike other major awards bodies, the Tony Awards decide their nominations via a committee of industry members who commit to seeing every single production that opens during the Broadway season. This committee can thus make informed decisions on what shows, performers and creatives should earn recognition from New York theatre’s top honor.

In 2023, 40 theatre professionals saw all 38 eligible musicals and plays and selected the nominees in 26 competitive categories.

Below, a complete list of the 2023 Tony Awards nominating committee members including their professions plus past Tony nominations and wins:

Warren Adams, choreographer, director and producer

Tony winner for Best Revival of a Musical for “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” (2014)

Becky Ann Baker, actor

Pun Bandhu, actor and producer

Two-time Tony winner for Best Revival of a Play for “Glengarry Glen Ross” (2005) and Best Musical for “Spring Awakening” (2007) and Tony nominee for “Beetlejuice” (2019)

Brenda Braxton, actor and author

Tony-nominee for Featured...

Click here to read the full article.

Kpop, which broke ground on Broadway for its casting and representation of Korean culture, is closing just a few weeks after opening at the Circle in the Square.

The musical, which originally premiered off-Broadway in 2017, will end its run on Dec. 11, the producers announced Tuesday. Written by Jason Kim and directed by Teddy Bergman with music and lyrics by Helen Park and Max Vernon and choreography by Jennifer Weber, Kpop‘s closure follows 44 previews and 17 regular performances.

The final performance will feature a panel discussion celebrating and reflecting on Aapi representation on Broadway. Those panelists include David Henry Hwang, the first Asian American playwright to win a Tony; Kpop‘s Park the first Asian female composer in Broadway history; Korean playwright Hansol Jung; and actor Pun Bandhu. In support of that final performance, 200 complimentary tickets are being offered to Aapi community members and youth.

Kpop, the history-making Broadway musical depicting and celebrating the Korean pop genre phenomenon of the title, will play its final performance this Sunday after a struggle at the box office.

The final performance of the musical, which features a cast of young actors and actual K-pop stars including Luna, BoHyung and others, will close after its performance on Sunday, December 11, at Circle in the Square Theatre. It will have played only 17 regular performances after 44 previews.

Despite generating considerable excitement among K-pop fans, the musical has not drawn big audiences – or at least audiences paying top dollar for tickets. Last week, the show, which received mixed reviews from critics, grossed just 126,493, and although 72 of the venue’s seats were filled, the average ticket price was a tiny 32.

The show began previews on Oct. 13, and officially opened Nov. 27.

For the final show, producers are offering 200 complimentary tickets to Aapi community members and youth,...

Realm, the largest scripted podcast network that creates immersive, original fiction podcasts and audiobook series, released the trailer and announced casting for the Realm Original, “Echo Park,” starring and executive produced by Harry Shum Jr. launching August 18.

This pulse-pounding crime thriller takes place in a lightly futuristic world where Echoes—genetic clones of their sources— exist and live on the outskirts of society. James (Harry Shum Jr.) and Terrance share DNA, but they aren’t brothers. They aren’t even friends. As a civil advisor for the LAPD harboring a secret addiction, James relies on Terrance— his genetic clone—to help him pass mandatory drug testing. But when Terrance suddenly goes missing, and multiple clones end up murdered, a case of mistaken identity forces James to inhabit his double’s life, risking the unraveling of his carefully composed lies.

Shum Jr. said: “The team at Realm have created a compelling...

Click here to read the full article.

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...

Hey, "Blue Bloods" fans. Unfortunately, it's one of those times again where we have to inform you that your favorite show is about to take a small hiatus. However, this one won't last for too long, especially since we're close to the end of season 9. So, here's the deal. We have been informed that the next, new episode 20 will not be airing next Friday night, April 19,2019. No, no, no. Instead, CBS has scheduled it to air on Friday night, April 26, 2019 in its same 9pm central standard time slot. So, be sure to mark that very important date down on your TV show calendars. We don't have an exact reason for why they're doing this. We just know that they are. We're guessing it probably has something to do with scheduling. CBS probably wants the season finale to land on a certain night in May 2019. So, they're skipping a week to make sure that happens.

Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Gregory Korostishevsky, Jane Curtin, Stephen Spinella, Christian Navarro, Pun Bandhu, Erik Laray Harvey, Brandon Scott Jones, Shae D’lyn | Written by Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty | Directed by Marielle Heller

Directed by rising star Marielle Heller, her latest offering comes after the 2015 breakout comedic hit film The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Heller turns her attention from a coming of age story to the more overly serious and tonally mature, yet comedically balanced drama, Can You Ever Forgive Me? A film that inhabits a truly outstanding and splendid array of performances. Specifically, that of leading actress Melissa McCarthy, of Bridesmaids and Life of the Party fame, who is terrific and exceptional as subject Lee Israel – fully deserving to be recognised in this year’s awards season with an astonishing dramatic turn.

Heller’s film follows a delightfully simplistic and jaunty template...

The whitewashing controversy that plagued recent releases like “Ghost in the Shell,” “The Great Wall,” and 2015’s “Aloha,” is merely one symptom of the racism many Asian American actors face in Hollywood, The Guardian reported in a thorough survey of working Asian American actors. Most said they were very rarely considered for leading roles, and often asked to play offensive caricatures.

Yale School of Drama graduate Pun Bandhu, who is Thai American, has a healthy roster of doctors, lawyers, and scientists on his IMDb page. “We’re the information givers. We’re the geeks. We’re the prostitutes,” he said. “We’re so sick and tired of seeing ourselves in those roles.”

As with sexism, the problem is often apparent in the casting breakdowns. One called for an Asian American actor to be “focused while he composes his drawing…Makes you wonder what kind of life he had back in Asia.

Complete Sentences, the heartwarming short film where romantic comedy meets sports comedy, is now available. Starring stage vets Pun Bandhu Bway Wit, Nurse Jackie and Chandra Thomas Labor Day, The Good Wife, Eddie Bandhu is a chef who pops 'the question' to his longtime girlfriend Kara thomas. He made the romantic brunch. He got the ring. He's down on one knee-but will she say Yes Watch the short below...

New Elementary season 2,episode 18 official spoilers,plotline revealed by CBS. Recently,CBS released the new,official,synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Elementary" episode 18 of season 2. The episode is entitled, "The Hound of the Cancer Cells," and it sounds like it'll be pretty intriguing as Holmes and Watson investigate the murder of a famous cancer researcher, and more. In the new,18th episode press release: Holmes and Watson will investigate the murder of an influential cancer researcher whose latest invention might have changed the face of modern medicine. Press release number 2: When a famous cancer researcher is found dead, Holmes and Watson are going to have to determine if the scientist’s untimely demise was tied to his latest cutting-edge invention. In the meantime, Bell will finally be cleared to re-enter the field. Guest stars will feature: Jordan Gelber (Dr. Eugene Hawes), Ron Canada (Manny Rose), Shiri Appleby (Dalit Zirin...

Only three months ago, the Asian American Performers Action Coalition published a report showing the stunning paucity of casting diversity in New York City theater. Looking at Broadway and 16 Off-Broadway productions, Aapac found that Caucasian actors filled almost 80 percent of roles for the 2011–2012 season. In the midst of these facts, however, there was a bright spot for African-American performers. “In the 2006–2007 season, African-Americans filled only 8 percent of roles. In 2012, it was 16 percent of all roles. That is just an indication that in a very short amount of time African-American casting has come leaps and bounds,” said Pun Bandhu, an actor and a member of Aapac’s steering committee. “African-Americans are much more [culturally] prevalent, and you see [their representation] in the music industry, television, and film.” A number of recent productions with a focus on African-American characters, such as “Dreamgirls” and “Memphis,” have made the leap from the Great White Way to traveling across the country.

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.

Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming Broadway premiere of Wit, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson, directed by Lynne Meadow, will start previews Thursday, January 5 and open Thursday, January 26 at Mtc's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Wit features Pun Bandhu Technician, Olivier Award winner Suzanne Bertish E.M. Ashford, Michael Countryman Harvey KelekianMr. Bearing, Jessica Dickey Technician, Chik Johnson Technician, Greg Keller Jason Posner, Tony and Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon Vivian Bearing, Carra Patterson Susie Monahan, and Zachary Spicer Technician.The company met the press on Tuesday, Decmber 13 and BroadwayBeat was on hand for interviews with Cynthia Nixona and Lynn Meadow. Click below to check it out...

Manhattan Theatre Clubs upcoming Broadway premiere of Wit, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson, directed by Lynne Meadow, will start previews Thursday, January 5 and open Thursday, January 26 at MTCs Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Wit features Pun Bandhu Technician, Olivier Award winner Suzanne Bertish E.M. Ashford, Michael Countryman Harvey KelekianMr. Bearing, Jessica Dickey Technician, Chik Johnson Technician, Greg Keller Jason Posner, Tony and Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon Vivian Bearing, Carra Patterson Susie Monahan, and Zachary Spicer Technician.Today, the company met the press and BroadwayWorld was on hand for the photo op...

Manhattan Theatre Club has just announced full casting for the upcoming Broadway premiere of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Wit, by Margaret Edson, directed by Lynne Meadow. Joining Tony and Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon as Vivian Bearing will be Pun Bandhu Technician, Olivier Award winner Suzanne Bertish E.M. Ashford, Michael Countryman Harvey KelekianMr. Bearing, Jessica Dickey Technician, Chik Johnson Technician, Greg Keller Jason Posner, Carra Patterson Susie Monahan, and Zachary Spicer Technician.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents the ferociously funny, utterly unreliable memoir, Yellow Face, from the Tony Award-winning author of M. Butterfly, David Henry Hwang. Part fact, part fiction, this revealing backstage comedy chronicles the playwright?s struggle to define racial identity in the mixed-up melting pot of contemporary America. Broadway and Off-Broadway star Francis Jue will reprise his Obie-Award winning role as the playwright?s father alongside New York-based actor Pun Bandhu and Bay Area theatre veterans Robert Ernst, Amy Resnick, and Howard Swain. Thomas Azar and Tina Chilip make their TheatreWorks debuts. Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley will direct. Yellow Face plays August 26 through September 20 (press opening August 29), at TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets and information, the public may call 650-463-1960, or visit www.theatreworks.org.