Odds & Ends: Viola Davis Switches Her Fences Awards Category, Micah Stock & James Roday Set for Rabbit & More

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

Viola Davis Switches Her Fences Awards Category
Viola Davis has made a notable decision regarding her reprise of her Tony-winning leading actress role in the much-buzzed about film adaptation of Fences. According to Variety, the stage and screen favorite has decided her performance as Rose Maxson in the movie is a supporting one. Paramount is thus submitting her where it can in awards season in that category, including for Screen Actors Guild Awards consideration, although the studio cannot control where she’s put in the Oscar race. Fun fact: the only person so far to win a Tony and an Oscar for the same performance in two different categories is The King and I’s Yul Brynner.

Micah Stock & James Roday Set for Rabbit
Tony nominee Micah Stock (It’s Only A Play, The Front Page) and James Roday (Psych) will take the leap in White Rabbit Red Rabbit off-Broadway. Stock is scheduled for December 5, with Roday on December 12. The New York premiere of Nassim Soleimanpour’s solo show, which involves a different actor every performance seeing the script for the first time just before they go on stage, is playing Monday nights at the Westside Theatre.

Dates Set for Hairspray Live! Album & DVD Release
Run and tell that! The original soundtrack to Hairspray Live! will drop on December 9, with the DVD of the telecast scheduled for release on December 20. As you all know by now, the musical is set to air on December 7 on NBC, starring Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad, Kristin Chenoweth as Velma Von Tussle, Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton, newcomer Maddie Baillio as Tracy Turnblad and so many more. You can’t stop the beat!

Aleshea Harris Wins $45,000 Relentless Award
Congratulations to Aleshea Harris, who has been selected for the 2016 Relentless Award, winning $45,000—the largest annual cash prize in American theater awarded to a play. Established in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and his pursuit of truth in the theater, her show, Is God Is, is a revenge tale of twin sisters that takes its cues from the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk. The play will receive the most extensive national roll-out in American theater, with staged readings at some of the most esteemed theaters in the country.

P.S. Take a look below at a snippet of “You’re Welcome,” the brand new song from Moana performed by Dwayne Johnson and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Oh, and Jordan Fisher will perform the song with Miranda on the film's end credits. You're welcome!