Odds & Ends: A Plea from Benedict Cumberbatch, Gretchen Mol Tapped for Mozart in the Jungle & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you may have missed today and over the weekend.

Don’t Make Cumberbatch Pull a Patti
Following a recent performance of Hamlet at the Barbican, Olivier winner and Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch stopped by the stage door to give a special announcement—one that he wants everyone to “Tweet, blog, hashtag the shit out of.” Apparently, some theatergoers haven’t gotten the memo from Patti LuPone and think it’s appropriate to film the performance. But according to the Prince of Denmark himself, “It’s mortifying and there’s nothing less supportive.” Hear, hear. Let this be a word of warning to a certain Broadway.com editor who is catching the production this week. Not that she'd be anything less than cordial at the theater.



Mol Heads to Mozart
Gretchen Mol, who appeared on Broadway last season in Disgraced, will appear in season two of Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle. According to Deadline, Mol, whose credits include Boardwalk Empire and the upcoming by the Sea, has been tapped for an eight-episode arc in the classical music-themed series to play Nina Robertson, a labor lawyer who steps in once the New York Symphony’s contract is up. The show, which also features stage vets Bernadette Peters and Debra Monk, is set to return early next year.

It Pays to Be Evil (Like Cheno)
The soundtrack to Descendants, the Disney Channel original movie featuring Kristin Chenoweth as a 4’11” Maleficent has landed at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chat. The movie premiered on July 31 and follows the offspring of some of Disney’s most diabolical villains. On that chart-topping album is the original Andrew Lippa tune “Evil Like Me,” featuring (a flying!) Chenoweth and Dove Cameron.