Odds & Ends: Bette Midler & Ben Platt Set for Easter Bonnet Competition, Groundhog Day Album Released & More

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

Bette Midler, Ben Platt & More Set for Easter Bonnet Competition
Broadway’s best will take part in Broadway Cares//Equity Fights AIDS’ 31st annual Easter Bonnet Competition on April 24 at 4:30pm and April 25 at 2:00pm at the Minskoff Theatre. The days featuring unique skits and musical numbers will include special guests Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce (Hello, Dolly!), Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones (Dear Evan Hansen), Denée Benton and Lucas Steele (The Great Comet), Andy Karl and Barrett Doss (Groundhog Day), Bongi Duma and Tshidi Manye (The Lion King), Gideon Glick and Sas Goldberg (Significant Other) and Christine Ebersole with Patti LuPone (War Paint). Nick Kroll and John Mulaney will reprise their curmudgeonly characters of Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland from the 2016 hit comedy Oh, Hello on Broadway. More than 150 Broadway actors and dancers will come together to celebrate the theater community’s fundraising efforts for Broadway Cares.
 

Michael Shannon to Lead Sam Shepard’s Simpatico at McCarter
Tony nominee Michael Shannon will star in a production of the Sam Shepard classic Simpatico at Princeton, NJ’s McCarter Theatre, September 8-October 8, 2017, directed by Dado. The company will also present a world premiere from Vanya and Sonia Tony winner Christopher Durang titled Turn Off the Morning News, directed by Emily Man from May 4-June 3 2018. Also set for McCarter’s new season is A Night with Janis Joplin, A Christmas Carol, Stones in His Pockets and Crowns.

Rita Moreno to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from Ballet Hispanico
Stage and film legend Rita Moreno will be honored by Ballet Hispánico. The EGOT will be presented with the Toda Una Vida Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by actress Gina Rodriguez on May 15 at 6:30pm at the Plaza Hotel. Moreno first appeared on Broadway in Harry Kleiner's short-lived 1945 play Skydrift and followed up with roles in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gantry and her Tony-winning performance as bathhouse performer Googie Gomez in Terrence McNally's 1975 play The Ritz. She repeated her award-winning work in the 1976 film version. One of Moreno's most notable screen roles is as Anita in the 1961 screen adaptation of West Side Story.
 

Daveed Diggs, Robert De Niro to Receive Honorary Degrees from Brown
Brown University has announced that Hamilton Tony winner Daveed Diggs and Oscar-winning Bronx Tale co-director Robert De Niro will be presented with honorary doctorates at the school’s 249th commencement on May 28. The degrees are given to people who have achieved great distinction in their fields. Diggs, an undergrad graduate of Brown, will deliver the commencement address to the class of 2017.
 

Groundhog Day's Original Broadway Cast Recording Released Digitally
Now’s your chance to start listening on loop to the new cast album of Groundhog Day, released digitally today by Masterworks Broadway and Broadway Records. The CD for the new musical starring Andy Karl comes out on May 12. The original score by Tim Minchin is accented with orchestrations by his Matilda collaborator Christopher Nightingale. Groundhog Day opened at the August Wilson Theatre on April 17. Give a listen to the original score below.