Odds & Ends: Grease: Live Wins 17 Million Viewers Worldwide, Cast Set for West End's The Father & More

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

Grease: Live Wins 17 Million Viewers Worldwide
Grease: Live proved to be the one everyone wanted! The telecast has delivered more than 17 million total viewers worldwide since it originally aired on January 31, starring your Broadway boyfriend Aaron Tveit, Broadway alum Vanessa Hudgens and Julianne Hough. 14.3 million viewers ended up tuning in on Fox, along with 1.7 million viewers on CTV Canada, 666,000 viewers on ITV2 UK and 590,000 viewers on Channel 9 in Australia. Grease is the word, indeed!

Cast Set for West End's The Father
Amanda Drew, Rebecca Charles, Brian Doherty, Daniel Flynn and Jade Williams will join the previously announced Kenneth Cranham in the West End return of Florian Zeller’s The Father. Directed by James Macdonald, the new translation by Christopher Hampton will play a limited engagement at the Duke of York’s Theatre from February 24 through March 26. Meanwhile, Frank Langella will headline the American premiere of The Father, helmed by Doug Hughes, this spring at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Tatum & Gordon-Levitt's Musical Comedy
Channing Tatum (who can now tap thanks to Broadway’s best) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (A.K.A. the man who belongs on Broadway) are joining forces for a musical comedy, produced by Marc Platt (Wicked, Grease: Live) and more. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gordon-Levitt came up with the concept with Michael Bacall, who will pen the script for Universal. Bacall is no stranger to Tatum—they collaborated on the 21 Jump Street films. Apparently, the plot follows two pilots on a misadventure and with this talent attached, safe to say we’re keeping a close eye on the project!

Rupert Everett Heading to New York Stage
Rupert Everett is bound for Brooklyn’s boards. The stage and screen star will headline the North American premiere of David Hare’s The Judas Kiss first in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre this spring then at B.A.M, where it will run May 11 through June 12. Directed by Neil Armfield, The Judas Kiss provides an insight into Oscar Wilde’s (Everett) relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas.

John Malkovich Will Direct in London
John Malkovich is slated to make his London directorial stage debut this fall. The Oscar nominee will helm the English language premiere of Zach Helm’s Good Canary at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, which is set to play a limited engagement September 16 through October 8, opening on September 21. Additionally, Trevor Nunn (Cats, Les Miz) will return to the venue with Shakespeare’s King John; the classic will run May 13 through June 5, opening on May 18. The production marks Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary and will be the penultimate play in Nunn’s undertaking to direct all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays. He'll then pop over to New York to direct the Cats revival. And, just because it's Friday, here's the opening number from those fabulous felines followed by Betty Buckley's "Memory" at the 1983 Tony Awards. Happy weekend!