Odds & Ends: Lin-Manuel Miranda's Spidey Sense Was Tingling About Andrew Garfield

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

Lin-Manuel Miranda Tried to Get the Scoop on Spider-Man from Andrew Garfield 
With Encanto's "We Don't Talk About Bruno" reaching number one and tick, tick...BOOM! getting awards buzz, it's a bit of a time to be Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda spoke about the hit animated movie and the song's popularity on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He also apparently asked tick, tick...BOOM! star Andrew Garfield about Spider-Man: No Way Home. "He didn't [tell me]," Miranda said about Garfield. "The day it leaked that he might be involved, he was on my set. We were still filming. Between shots, I quietly went over to him and was like, 'Are you in the new Spider-Man?' His exact reaction was, 'What?! Shut up! Shut up! Ha! Shut up!' I walked away thinking, 'Oh, he's in the new Spider-Man.' He was a total pro at denying it." Watch the interview below!

Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Steven Levenson, Thomas Kail & More Unite for TV Series
Hulu has ordered the musical romantic comedy series Up Here for eight episodes with Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Steven Levenson and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel serving as writers and executive producers, Variety reports. Levenson will also serve as showrunner, while Anderson-Lopez and Lopez will write original songs. Tony winner Thomas Kail will direct and executive produce under his Old 320 Sycamore Productions banner. The show will be set in 1999 New York City and follow the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple as they fall in love. Casting is underway with production set to begin this summer in New York.

Jackie Hoffman & More Head to Rydell High for Grease Prequel Series
Grease is the word! Paramount+ has announced its cast for Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies as principal photography begins in Vancouver. Deadline reports that the prequel series will star Marisa Davila as Jane, Cheyenne Isabel Wells as Olivia, Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia, Tricia Fukuhara as Nancy, Shanel Bailey as Hazel, Madison Thompson as Susan, Johnathan Nieves as Richie, Jason Schmidt as Buddy, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper as Wally and Jackie Hoffman as Assistant Principal McGee. The new series takes place four years before Grease and tells the backstory of the film's Pink Ladies.

Finalists Announced for 2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 finalists for its playwriting award. Chosen from an international group of over 160 nominated plays, the 2022 finalists are Chiara Atik, Daniella De Jesús, Sarah Hanly, Zora Howard, Sonya Kelly, Benedict Lombe, Joanna Murray-Smith, Kae Tempest, Lauren Whitehead and Amanda Wilkin. The winner, who will be named in April, will be awarded a cash prize of $25,000. Each of the additional finalists will receive an award of $5,000.

Mary Testa to Play Restaurateur Elaine Kaufman in New Musical Reading
New York Theatre Barn will present a reading of Everyone Comes to Elaine’s, a new musical about iconic restaurateur Elaine Kaufman with Mary Testa in the title role. Directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun, the reading will take place on March 4 in New York City. With a book by Asa Somers and music and lyrics by Robert Morris, Steven Morris and Joe Shane, the new musical serves an inside look at Elaine’s famous saloon while chronicling her struggles as an independent, pioneering female business owner coping with both personal and professional challenges. The cast also includes Jill Abramovitz, Jillian Butler, Stephen Carlile, Stephen DeRosa, Alex Joseph Grayson, Cooper Grodin, Mel Johnson Jr., Mauricio Martínez, T. Oliver Reid, Talia Simone Robinson and Paul Whitty.