Odds & Ends: Will Chase Lands HBO Gig, Andrew Rannells on Slam-Dunking in Lysistrata Jones & More

Will Chase & Matthew Morrison Land New TV Gigs
Smash veteran Will Chase has booked a new TV job, according to Deadline. The Tony nominee will take on a recurring role in HBO’s eight-episode drama Sharp Objects, opposite Amy Adams. Chase is set to play Bob Nash, the father of a murder victim. Also, confirmed today, Matthew Morrison will appear in a guest role on Grey’s Anatomy, according to Variety. As previously reported, Morrison will play Dr. Paul Stadler. No further details yet, but with these two talented Broadway men returning to the small screen, we better be privy to the kind of singing out delivered by fellow Broadway vet Andrew Rannells on Girls (see below).

Andrew Rannells on Singing from Smash
Theater favorite Andrew Rannells, who appeared on Broadway this season in Falsettos, thrilled stage fans to no end on a recent episode of Girls when he sang from Smash. The twinkly-eyed Tony nominee stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night to reminisce about his basketball skills in the out-of-town tryout of Lysistrata Jones, getting his big break in Hairspray and having the chance to sing from the TV show that starred his two-time Tony-winning Falsettos costar Christian Borle.

An Extension for Picnic and Come Back, Little Sheba 
The new pair of William Inge revivals Picnic and Come Back, Little Sheba playing in repertory at the Gym at Judson, have been extended by one week. The productions will now run through April 23 at the downtown venue. Transport Group Artistic Director Jack Cummings III directs the revivals starring Broadway favorites Michele Pawk, Hannah Elless, Emily Skinner and John Cariani.

New Play The Cake by This Is Us Writer Bekah Brunstetter to Play La Jolla Playhouse 
Bekah Brunstetter’s new play The Cake has been added to the 2017-2018 season at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse. Set to run February 6-March 4, 2018, the play follows Jen, who lives in New York but has always dreamed of getting married in her small North Carolina hometown. She heads down south with her partner to ask her late mother’s best friend, Della, to make one of her legendary wedding cakes. Faith, family and frosting collide. The Cake joins a season that includes the Broadway-bound Jimmy Buffett musical Escape to Margaritaville starring Paul Alexander Nolan, set to play La Jolla from May 9-June 25.