Odds & Ends: Norm Lewis & Carolee Carmello Sing from Sweeney Todd, Ben Platt to Host Jimmy Awards & More

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

Norm Lewis & Carolee Carmello Rehearse Sweeney Todd
Tony nominees Norm Lewis and Carolee Carmello are getting ready to take over the roles of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett in Tooting Arts Club’s immersive pie-shop Sweeney Todd at Barrow Street Theatre. The pair will replace original stars Jeremy Secomb and Siobhan McCarthy on April 11. Carmello offered a sneak peek of a duet with Lewis on Twitter. Hold onto your Sondheim-loving heart and give a first listen to this unmatched rendition of a classic.
 

Rehearsals are a lot more palatable when @normlewis777 is singing in my ear! @sweeneytoddnyc #thatwasprettyclose pic.twitter.com/8UC4xlPh7P

— Carolee Carmello (@CaroleeCarmello) March 28, 2017

Dolly Wells Joins The Whirlgig, Starring Norbert Leo Butz
U.K. writer/performer Dolly Wells (HBO’s Doll & Em) will take over for the previously announced Maura Tierney in Hamish Linklater’s The Whirligig off-Broadway with the New Group. Tierney has withdrawn from the play due to shooting schedule conflicts. Wells will costar alongside two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, Zosia Mamet, Noah Bean, Jon DeVries, Alex Hurt, Jonny Orsini and Grace Van Patten. The world premiere, directed by Scott Elliott, begins previews May 4 in advance of a May 21 opening. The limited engagement will play through June 11 at the Pershing Square Signature Center.

David Storey, Tony-Nominated Playwright, Has Died
Novelist and playwright David Storey, who was twice Tony-nominated for his plays Home and The Changing Room, died in London on Sunday. Storey’s other theater works included The Restoration of Arnold Middleton, Cromwell, The Farm and In Celebration, the latter two of which played off-Broadway. Storey was 83.

Murder on the Orient Express Stage Adaptation to Play Hartford Stage
The new stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, currently playing New Jersey’s McCarter Theatre Center, is headed to Connecticut. Hartford Stage has added the show to its spring 2018 docket. Exact dates and casting will be announced. Directed by Emily Mann and adapted by Lend Me a Tenor scribe Ken Ludwig, the McCarter production features Broadway veterans Alexandra Silber, Max von Essen, Julie Halston and Alan Corduner. That mounting is set to run through April 2.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eddie Redmayne & More Audition for the Role of Stephen Hawking’s Voice
In a grueling casting process, Broadway’s best took their shot at auditioning for a one-of-a-kind role: the voice of Stephen Hawking. The legendary physicist, whose life was represented on-screen by Tony and Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, held tryouts in honor of Comic Relief: Red Nose Day. Sit back and check out stars ranging from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Anna Kendrick and Redmayne offering their best Hawking for the man himself.



Jitney Star Brandon J. Dirden to Lead A Raisin in the Sun with Wife Crystal A. Dickinson
Brandon J. Dirden, who appeared in the Broadway premiere of August Wilson’s Jitney this year, will star as Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ. Dirden’s wife, Crystal A. Dickinson, also a Broadway veteran, will appear as Ruth Younger. The production will run September 9 through October 8.

Dear Evan Hansen Star Ben Platt Will Host the Jimmy Awards
Ben Platt, who plays a high school student in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, will tip his hat to teenage performers when he hosts the National High School Musical Theatre Awards on June 26 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. In other emcee news, Tony winner Sarah Jones, whose Sell/Buy/Date played Manhattan Theatre Club in 2016, will host the Lilly Awards, which celebrates women of distinction in the American Theater, on May 22 at Playwrights Horizons.

Beyond thrilled to have the huge honor of hosting The 2017 Annual @JimmyAwards! Tickets available now! High School Musical Theatre FOREVER! pic.twitter.com/FBSRQRDaEb

— Ben Platt (@BenSPLATT) March 28, 2017