Odds & Ends: Cheyenne Jackson to Play Hades in Disney Channel's Descendants 3 & More

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

Cheyenne Jackson to Play Hades in Disney Channel's Descendants 3
Stage alum and former Broadway.com vlogger Cheyenne Jackson has signed on to appear as Hades (from Hercules) in the Disney Channel's live-action musical sequel Descendants 3, according to Deadline. The Descendants franchise centers on the children of beloved cartoon characters. Jackson joins a cast that will include Descendants newcomers Jadah Marie, Jamal Sims and Luke Roessler, along with veterans Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, China Anne McClain, Thomas Doherty, Dylan Playfair, Anna Cathcart, Mitchell Hope, Sarah Jeffery, Jedidiah Goodacre, Zachary Gibson, Brenna D’Amico, Dan Payne, Keegan Connor Tracy and Melanie Paxson. Kenny Ortega returns as director and choreographer. 



Three World Premieres Set for American Repertory Theater's New Season
Cambridge, Massachusetts' American Repertory Theater, the first home of Waitress and current home of the Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill, has announced three world premiere productions as part of its 2018-2019 season. The Black Clown, a play with music adapted from the poem by Langston Hughes, will debut at A.R.T.'s Loeb Drama Center. Written by Davóne Tines and Michael Schachter and featuring music by Schachter and direction by Zack Winokur, the show animates a black man’s resilience against America’s legacy of oppression. Tines will star in the production set to run from August 31 through September 23, 2018. Endlings, a world premiere play by Celine Song and directed by Sammi Cannold, will appear at the Loeb from February 26 through March 17, 2019. Endlings follows three elderly women on the Korean island of Man-Jae who live both on land and underwater. We Live in Cairo, a world premiere musical by Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour, will also make its first appearance at the Loeb. Directed by Taibi Magar, the new work will run from May 14 through June 16, 2019. Inspired by the young Egyptians who took to the streets to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the new musical follows six revolutionary students armed with laptops and cameras, guitars and spray cans as they come of age in contemporary Cairo. Casting for all three productions is forthcoming.

Clare Barron's Dance Nation Receives Final Extension at Playwrights Horizons
Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons has announced a third and final extension for Dance Nation, a world premiere play by Obie winner Clare Barron (You Got Older). The production, directed and choreographed by Obie winner Lee Sunday Evans (Caught), will now run through July 1. In Dance Nation, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. If their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at the Boogie Down Grand Prix in Tampa Bay. The cast includes Obie winner Ellen Maddow, Purva Bedi, Eboni Booth, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Christina Rouner, Elena Maddow, Thomas Jay Ryan, Dina Shihabi, Lucy Taylor and Ikechukwu Ufomadu. Dance Nation began previews on April 13 and officially opened May 8.

Richard Thomas & More Boston Theater Stars Win Elliot Norton Awards
Winners of the 2018 Elliot Norton Awards were announced on May 21 at the Huntington Avenue Theatre in Boston. Broadway-notable winners include Tony nominee Richard Thomas, honored for his performance as Erik Blake in the Boston tour stop of Stephen Karam's Tony- and Pulitzer-winning play The Humans. Another winner of note was Broadway alum Adrianna Hicks, who took home a Norton Award for her powerhouse turn as Celie in the touring production of the Tony-winning Color Purple revival; the beloved production also took home the prize for Outstanding Visiting Production. Tony-nommed Broadway choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) won a Norton Award for his direction of Arrabal at American Repertory Theater. For a full list of Elliot Norton Award winners, click here.