Odds & Ends: Broadway Couples Get Engaged Over the Holidays & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed over the holidays.

Broadway Engagements Abound Over the Holidays
While everyone was out of town celebrating the holidays, three stage-favorite couples decided to make it official! Two-time Tony-winning choreographer-director Jerry Mitchell and his longtime beau, dancer Ricky Schroeder, announced their engagement on December 29, Tony-nominated actress Taylor Louderman was engaged to her love, Brooks Toth, on Christmas Eve, and Tony-nominated star and new mom Danielle Brooks broke the news of her engagement to Dennis Gelin on New Year's Eve. We can't wait to see these adorable couples dolled up in their wedding best!

Broadway Marquee Lights Will Dim in Memory of Jerry Herman
The Broadway League has announced that marquee lights of all Broadway venues will be dimmed for one minute on January 7 at 6:45pm in memory of Tony-winning songwriter Jerry Herman, who passed away on December 26 at age 88. Herman won Tony Awards for his music and lyrics to Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles, and was Tony-nominated for his scores to Milk and Honey, Mame and The Grand Tour. In 2009, Herman was presented with a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Estelle Parsons, Margo Seibert & More to Lead Unknown Soldier at Playwrights Horizons
Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons has announced full casting for Unknown Soldier, the final musical of the late composer Michael Friedman, featuring a book and lyrics by Daniel Goldstein, direction by Trip Cullman and choreography by Patrick McCollum. The previously announced chamber musical will run from February 14 through March 29 at Playwrights' mainstage venue. The cast will include Estelle Parsons, Margo Seibert, Kerstin Anderson, James Crichton, Zoe Glick, Emilie Kouatchou, Erik Lochtefeld, Jay McKenzie, Jessica Naimy, Thom Sesma and Perry Sherman. In the musical, Ellen Rabinowitz (Seibert) discovers a mysterious photograph of an anonymous soldier when cleaning out her grandmother's home, which leads her to unearth the secrets buried in her family's past.

Tina Star Daniel J. Watts Will Return to Joe's Pub with The Jam: Only Child
Daniel J. Watts, the mega-talent currently appearing as Ike Turner in Broadway's Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, will take the stage of Joe's Pub this month as part of The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival. Watts will perform the cabaret The Jam: Only Child, an evening of music, dance, spoken word and storytelling, scheduled for January 6, 10, 12 and 20 at the downtown venue. A play on words, The Jam pays homage to Watts' great-grandmother who, after making jam from scratch, would share with others what she was unable to consume herself.

Allee Willis, Tony-Nominated Co-Composer of The Color Purple, Dies at 72
Allee Willis, a two-time Grammy-winning songwriter who made a mark on Broadway contributing to the score of The Color Purple, died on December 24 in Los Angeles, according to Variety. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Willis was 72. With Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray, Willis co-wrote the original score to the stage adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer-winning novel The Color Purple. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2005, earning the trio of songwriters a Tony nomination for their music and lyrics. The musical received a Tony-winning revival in 2015; a screen adaptation is currently in the works. Also on Broadway, Willis' music written for the band Earth, Wind & Fire was heard in the 2006 Broadway musical Hot Feet. Her popular songwriting successes include Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance" and the Friends theme song "I'll Be There for You." Willis is survived by her life partner, animator and producer Prudence Fenton.

New York Musical Festival, Which Gave Life to Next to Normal, [title of show] & More, Will End After 15 Years
The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) announced today that after 15 years, it will cease operations immediately. In a statement, the board said, "It is with a heavy heart that we face the reality of the arts funding crisis in the United States. It has caught up with NYMF. The board and donors have been valiantly subsidizing NYMF operations for 15 years, but looking ahead, we do not see a clear path forward." In Broadway circles, the shows that earned most life from NYMF include [title of show], which, following its debut at NYMF, played a run at off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre and later transferred to Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for book writer Hunter Bell, and Next to Normal, which moved to Second Stage after NYMF and then to Broadway, winning three Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Other shows which transferred to the off-Broadway stage from NYMF include Altar Boyz, Gutenberg! The Musical! and The Great American Trailer Park Musical. The new musical Emojiland, which won acclaim at last summer's festival, will begin an off-Broadway run next week.