Odds & Ends: Darren Criss Stars in Reading of Nick Jonas' New Play & More

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

Darren Criss Stars in Reading of Nick Jonas' New Play
Darren Criss and Nick Jonas, both former stars of Broadway's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, just might be kicking off a new theatrical collaboration. Over the weekend, Criss appeared in an L.A.-based reading of Dessert First, a new play written by Jonas, Variety reports. The cast of the reading also included Broadway-vet A-listers such as Molly Shannon and Killian Donnelly. Plot details and information on a full-staged production of Jonas' play are hopefully to come.

Lesli Margherita & Joey McIntyre to Lead Reading of New Play Radio Galaxy
Olivier winner Lesli Margherita (Matilda, Zorro The Musical) and Broadway alum Joey McIntyre (Wicked, New Kids on the Block) have signed on to give voice to a new play in a pair of upcoming readings. The talented duo will star in Radio Galaxy, written by Michele Aldin Kushner (Unfit), with readings to be held at off-Broadway's Westside Theatre on September 27 and 28. Radio Galaxy follows a 17-year-old science prodigy from a hard-working blue-collar family who dreams of university and a career in astronomy. The cast will also include Hari Dhillon (Disgraced) and Nandita Shenoy (Washer/Dryer). Mark Waldrop (La Cage aux Folles) will direct.

Ann Harada to Star as The Witch in Concert Presentation of Into the Woods
Broadway favorite Ann Harada (Cinderella, Avenue Q) will lead an upcoming one-night concert of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods, presented by National Asian Artists Project and Prospect Theater Company. Steven Eng will direct and Kristen Lee Rosenfeld will music-direct the event taking place at The TimesCenter on October 20 at 7:30pm. Harada will take on the iconic role of The Witch alongside Raymond J. Lee (Groundhog Day) as The Baker, Cindy Cheung (Thirteen Reasons Why) as The Baker's Wife, Viveca C. (Miss Saigon) as Cinderella, Alex Chester (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) as Little Red, Karl Josef Co (Pacific Overtures) as Cinderella's Prince, Daniel J. Edwards (Anything Goes) as Rapunzel's Prince, Lydia Gaston (The King and I) as Jack's Mother, Kennedy Kanagawa (Dinner with Georgette) as Jack and Jason Ma (Gold Mountain) as the Mysterious Man.

Theater Talk Concludes After 25-Year Run
Theater Talk, the Emmy-winning television-interview program that featured the best of Broadway, has come to an end. The series has concluded its run following a dispute with CUNY TV. "The new Interim Executive Director there no longer felt comfortable giving our independent production a berth at CUNY TV without taking over editorial and creative control. That didn’t work for us, so we moved on," said executive producer and co-creator Susan Haskins in a statement. Stars featured on Theater Talk over the years included Edward Albee, Cate Blanchett, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Laurie Metcalf, Neil Simon and Elaine Stritch. Check out a memorable episode with that late Broadway legend below.