Odds & Ends: Lauren Zakrin to Lead Cheerleading Musical We Are the Tigers & More

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

Lauren Zakrin & More to Lead Cheerleading Musical We Are the Tigers
A talent-packed group of stars have signed on to lead the new musical We Are the Tigers at off-Broadway's Theater 80, beginning performances on February 7, 2019. Michael Bello will direct and Patrick Sulken will music-direct Preston Max Allen's pitch-black comedy about a dismally low-ranking team of cheerleaders trying to survive the night while being terrorized by a serial killer. The company will include Great Comet and Cruel Intentions alum Lauren Zakrin, along with Cathy Ang, Jenny Rose Baker, Cameron Bartell, Kaitlyn Frank, Louis Griffin, Zoe Jensen, Caroline Lellouche, Wonu Ogunfowora, Sydney Parra, Celeste Rose, Mimi Scardulla and Alexia Sielo. We Are the Tigers is scheduled to play a limited run through April 17. 

Laura Benanti's Latest Melania Trump Impression Offers Up Everything We Need This Holiday Season
Laura Benanti may be currently taking on her dream role as Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady, but that gig won't stop the Tony winner from continuing in what might be her most acclaimed role to date: First Lady Melania Trump. In advance of a December 21 skit on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Benanti has offered up a sneak peek at the holiday-themed appearance in the new video below. Give it a watch and tune in tomorrow night.



Katrina Lenk to Join Hailey Kilgore on NBC's The Village
Katrina Lenk, Tony-winning star of The Band's Visit, has been cast in the recurring role of Claire in NBC's upcoming midseason drama The Village, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lenk joins the previously announced Tony nominee Hailey Kilgore, the Once On This Island star who competed against Lenk in the Leading Actress category at the 2018 Tonys. The Village will follow a Brooklyn apartment building's many residents and the ongoing bond they've built with friends and neighbors. Details have yet to be revealed on the nature of the roles to be played by Lenk and Kilgore.

Peter Masterson, Co-Creator of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Dies at 84
Peter Masterson, the multi-talented artist who earned a pair of Tony noms as co-librettist and co-director of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978), died on December 18 from complications due to Parkinson's disease, according to The New York Times. He was 84. Masterson's long career wearing various hats in film and theater includes acting work in Broadway's Marathon '33 (1963), The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1967), The Great White Hope (1968), That Championship Season (1972) and The Poison Tree (1976). He also co-wrote and co-directed the sequel musical The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public (1994). Among Masterson's credits as a director include the first film adaptation of The Trip to Bountiful (1985) and off-Broadway's Lime Green/Khaki Blue (1969), The Cover of Life (1994) and The Young Man from Atlanta (1995).

Come From Away's Kevin McAllister Set for Ain't Misbehavin' at Signature Theatre
Casting is here for the previously announced production of the Fats Waller musical Ain’t Misbehavin' at Virginia's Signature Theatre! Joe Calarco will direct and Jared Grimes (After Midnight) will choreograph the celebration of the songs of Waller, set to run from January 23 through March 10, 2019. The company will include Kevin McAllister (Come From Away), along with Iyona Blake, Solomon Parker III, Nova Y. Payton, Korinn Walfall, Da'Von T. Moody and Kanysha Williams. Mark G. Meadows is the production's musical director and onstage pianist.