Odds & Ends: Corbin Bleu to Star in Anything Goes at Arena Stage & More

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

He's the Top! Corbin Bleu to Star in Anything Goes at Arena Stage
Fresh off of a celebrated run in Singin' in the Rain at the Muny, Chita Rivera Award-winning stage-and-screen star Corbin Bleu will take on the lead role of Billy Crocker in a new staging of Cole Porter's Anything Goes at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage. The production, directed by Molly Smith and also starring Soara-Joye Ross (Les Misérables) as Reno Sweeney, will run from November 2 through December 23 on Arena's Fichandler Stage. The new mounting will feature choreography by Parker Esse and music direction by Paul Sportelli. Additional casting is to come.

Once On This Island to Offer Actors Fund Benefit Performance
Michael Arden's Tony-winning and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award-winning revival of Ahrens & Flaherty's Once On This Island has added a special benefit show in support of The Actors Fund. The performance will be held on October 3 at 8:00pm at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that fosters stability and resiliency and provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan.



Off-Broadway Revival of Lillian Hellman's Days to Come Receives Extension
The acclaimed new off-Broadway staging of the rarely produced play Days to Come by Tony-nominated playwright Lillian Hellman (The Little Foxes) has been extended by the Mint Theater Company. Originally slated for an engagement through September 30, the production will now conclude its run at Theatre Row's Beckett Theater on October 6. Days to Come is a family drama set against the backdrop of labor strife in a small Ohio town. J.R. Sullivan directs a cast led by Mary Bacon, Janie Brookshire, Larry Bull, Chris Henry Coffey, Dan Daily, Ted Deasy, Roderick Hill, Betsy Hogg, Kim Martin-Cotten, Geoffrey Allen Murphy and Evan Zes.

Original Ain't Misbehavin' Star Charlayne Woodard Joins Starry Anniversary Concert
Charlayne Woodard, the multi-talented Broadway alum currently seen on FX's Pose, will reprise her Tony-nommed turn from the original production of Ain't Misbehavin' in an upcoming concert at Feinstein's/54 Below. The previously announced event, set for September 9 at 7:00pm and 9:30pm, will give audiences the chance to experience the 1978 Tony-winning musical with a talent-packed lineup of stars. Joining Woodard will be the previously announced André DeShields and Ken Page, who also starred in the original production, with Broadway and American Idol alum Frenchie Davis (Rent), Johmaalya Adelekan (Ragtime), Rheaume Crenshaw (Groundhog Day), Tyrone Davis Jr. (Waitress) and Zurin Villanueva (Mean Girls). Ain't Misbehavin' opened at the Longacre Theatre in 1978 and played 1600 performances.