Odds & Ends: Steven Spielberg Enticed Stark Sands Away From Broadway, NPH Has His Bluff Called & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you may have missed today.

Stark Sands Enticed by Spielberg
Two-time Tony nominee Stark Sands (Kinky Boots, Journey’s End) has landed the lead role(s) in Fox’s Minority Report and he's opening up about what persuaded him to move from Broadway to the small screen. "In particular, knowing that it was a Steven Spielberg property and knowing that he was involved and that it was a really, really cool role," he told Vanity Fair (that'd do it!). Anything that he misses from the theater? "The immediate gratification of an audience, specifically with Kinky Boots....Sometimes I would sing “Soul of a Man,” which was my big 11 o’clock number, and I could see people in the audience crying with me at the end of that song. And it was just really visceral. So, that doesn’t happen on the job now." Minority Report is airing on Fox this fall.

Lesli Margherita is a BROAD
Olivier winner and vlogging queen Lesli Margherita is set to premiere her brand new show BROAD at Birdland on November 30 and December 7. The cabaret act will celebrate the controversial women of yesteryear (think Mae West); Margherita can currently be seen as Mona Kent in the Broadway premiere of Dames at Sea. We're loving all these opportunities to bow down to her.

Young Playwrights Cheerleader Sheri M. Goldhirsch Dies
Sheri M. Goldhirsch, the artistic director of Young Playwrights Inc., which mounts works from playwrights under the age of 18, died on September 22 in New York at the age of 55. According to The New York Times, the ostensible cause of death was liver failure. “She cultivated several generations of American playwrights,” said dramatist David Henry Hwang. “For so many of them, she was the first person to identify their work; she followed their work their entire lives.”

B'way Alum Heléne Yorke Set for Graves
Broadway alum Heléne Yorke (Bullets Over Broadway) will join Nick Nolte and Skylar Astin in the previously reported original series Graves. According to Deadline, Yorke will take on the role of Olivia Graves, a former First Daughter. The Epix political drama, which will no longer co-star Susan Sarandon as the First Lady (they’re recasting), is scheduled to begin production later this year.

NPH Has His Bluff Called
Switching gears, Neil Patrick Harris, who is currently hosting new NBC variety series Best Time Ever, recently stopped by The Meredith Vieira Show. The Tony winner ended up playing a hysterical version of "Call My Bluff" with Vieira...and one of them turned out to be an exceptional liar! Check out the video below.