Odds & Ends: Tony Nominee Mike Faist Nabs Role in Amazon YA Pilot Panic & More

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

Tony Nominee Mike Faist Nabs Role in Amazon YA Pilot Panic
Mike Faist, a Tony-nominated and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award-winning breakout star of Dear Evan Hansen, is gearing up for a sweet new TV gig. The young talent will star in Panic, an Amazon YA pilot based on Lauren Oliver's best-selling book, according to Deadline. Panic centers on a forgotten town where each year the high school seniors play a high-stakes game to win a life-changing pot of money. Faist will play the new kid in town, Dodge Mason. He'll be joined in the cast by fellow Broadway alum Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (The Crucible) and Olivia Welch (Unbelievable).

Casting Is Set for Public Theater's Gospel at Colonus in Central Park
The Public Theater has announced casting for their previously announced co-production of The Gospel at Colonus, a retelling of Sophocles' classic Oedipus at Colonus, set to play the Delacorte Theater in Central Park from September 4-9. The company will include Rev. Dr. Earl F. Miller, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Willie Rogers, Ben Odom, Gene Stewart, Wren T. Brown, Greta Oglesby, Shari Addison, J.D. Steele, Tina Fabrique, Jeff Young, Sam Butler Jr., Jay Caldwell, Kevin Davis, Carolyn Johnson-White and Josie Johnson. Featuring a book, original lyrics and direction by Lee Breuer, with original music, adapted lyrics and music direction by Bob Telson, Oedipus at Colonus celebrates the 2,400-year-old myth of Oedipus' redemption with a rousing gospel-and-blues score. The Gospel at Colonus premiered in 1983 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival to great acclaim, earning the Obie Award for Outstanding Musical and a 1985 finalist slot for the Pulitzer Prize.

Eddie Korbich & More to Lead World Premiere My Parsifal Conductor
Broadway alum Eddie Korbich and a talented group of stage stars have signed on to appear in My Parsifal Conductor, a new play by Allan Leicht making its world premiere at the Marjorie S. Deane Theater at the West Side YMCA this fall. Robert Kalfin will direct the production, beginning on September 25 with an opening set for October 11. Joining Korbich onstage will be Claire Brownell, Geoffrey Cantor, Carlo Bosticco, Logan James Hall, Alison Cimmet and Jazmin Gorsline. The show follows musical genius Richard Wagner (Korbich) and his ever-faithful wife Cosima (Brownell), who find themselves in a moral, political and musical dilemma when King Ludwig II of Bavaria (Bosticco) insists that Hermann Levi (Cantor), the son of a rabbi, conduct Wagner’s final masterpiece, Parsifal. My Parsifal Conductor will play a limited run through November 3.

Ben Fankhauser & More Set for Encore Presentation of The Flood
Casting has been announced for an upcoming concert staging of the acclaimed musical The Flood, inspired by the historic 1993 Mississippi River Floods, set to appear at TheTimesCenter on September 8 at 8:00pm. The event kicks off Prospect Theater Company's 2018-2019 season. The principal cast will feature Ben Fankhauser (Newsies), Victoria Huston-Elem (Finding Neverland), Aline Mayagoitia (In the Heights), Mia Pinero (West Side Story), Aaron Ramey (The Bridges of Madison County), Scott Wakefield (Hands on a Hardbody) and Simone Zamore. Prospect presented an off-Broadway run of The Flood in 2006; in 2007, the musical had its regional premiere at the Monroe Actors Stage Company in Illinois, which will also present an encore staging of the show this fall.

Educational Theatre Foundation to Honor the Memory of Craig Zadan
Prolific producer Craig Zadan will be remembered at an upcoming gala of the Educational Theatre Foundation on November 11 in Los Angeles, according to Variety. Zadan, a mastermind behind Smash and a bouquet of television musicals, died on August 20 while recovering from shoulder-replacement surgery. Proceeds from the gala will benefit ETF. "I can't think of a better way to honor Craig since his entire life was devoted to theater and the performing arts," said Elwood Hopkins, Zadan's life partner. "He also knew the transformative power of the arts especially for young people, and I'm certain Craig would have loved to raise a great deal of money for ETF and their important work."