Odds & Ends: Lea Michele to Lead ABC Movie Same Time, Next Christmas & More

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

Lea Michele to Lead ABC Movie Same Time, Next Christmas
Lea Michele is ringing in the 2019 holiday season with a starring role in an original TV movie, Variety reports. ABC will present the new film, titled Same Time, Next Christmas, slated to debut, not surprisingly, in December. Michele "will play Olivia Henderson, a young woman who met her childhood sweetheart during her family's annual Christmas visit to Hawaii. After being separated by distance and years, the two reunite at the same Hawaii resort years later and the old chemistry between them flares up anew, but circumstances conspire to keep them apart." Michele is an Emmy nominee for Glee who has been seen on Broadway in Spring Awakening, Fiddler on the Roof, Ragtime and Les Misérables.

Abrons Arts Center Sets World Premiere Theatricalization of The Jazz Singer
Off-Broadway's Abrons Arts Center has announced a world premiere experimental reinterpretation of the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, scheduled to play the downtown venue from September 24 through October 12. Reinterpreted by Joshua William Gelb and Nehemiah Luckett, The Jazz Singer, set on the Lower East Side, tells the story of a jazz crooner forced to choose between his immigrant Jewish heritage and his aspirations to become a Broadway star. Though the film is historically significant for its integration of synchronized sound, it is also remembered for its controversial use of blackface. Gelb and Luckett's musical offers a contemporary take on the distinctly American story, one that interrogates appropriation, assimilation, atonement and whether escape from the specter of blackface is possible. For a further look at Abrons Arts Center's new season, click here.

Wicked's Jesse JP Johnson to Play Concert at The Green Room 42
On the heels of a celebrated recent concert at Feinstein's/54 Below, Jesse JP Johnson, the strong-voiced star currently appearing as Boq in Broadway's Wicked, has announced an upcoming performance at The Green Room 42 on July 28 at 9:30pm. The show will feature Johnson's original music, inspired by Stevie Wonder, Ottis Redding, Amy Winehouse, Sam Cook and Tedeschi Trucks Band, as well as new songs and covers that will be included on his upcoming album. Joining Johnson onstage will be his Wicked co-star Gizel Jiménez, along with Marissa Rosen and Chloe Lowery. In addition to his turn in Wicked, Johnson has been seen on Broadway in Glory Days, SpongeBob SquarePants and Xanadu and on tour in Grease, 9 to 5, Altar Boyz and Wicked.