Odds & Ends: An American Tail Stage Adaptation Sets World Premiere

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

An American Tail the Musical to Have World Premiere 
All aboard! A musical adaptation of the 1986 animated film An American Tail is set to have its world premiere at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis this summer. An American Tail the Musical features a book by The Band's Visit Tony winner Itamar Moses, music and lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler and direction by Taibi Magar. The musical tells the story of Fievel Mousekewitz, a young mouse who escapes Russia to America, where they believe no cats exist. When a storm at sea separates Fievel from his family, he sets out on a journey to find them in his vast and unfamiliar new home—New York City. The show will run from April 25 through June 18, 2023 and end the company's season, which will  also include Circus Abyssinia: Tulu, Carmela Full of Wishes, Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Locomotion and Corduroy. 

Jeremy Jordan, André De Shields & Harriet Harris Set for When Playwrights Kill World Premiere
A starry cast has been announced for the world premiere production of Matthew Lombardo’s When Playwrights Kill. Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan will star alongside Tony winners André De Shields and Harriet Harris in the backstage comedy, which will play at The Bushnell’s Belding Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut this summer. Directed by Noah Himmelstein, the production follows Jack Hawkins (Jordan), an aspiring playwright on the verge of making his Broadway debut. But after being forced to hire the notoriously difficult actress Brooke Remington (Harris), his play’s out-of-town tryout in Boston proves disastrous. Desperately not wanting to bring the production to New York and being unable to convince the producer to fire her, there is only one thing left he can do to save his play and career: Brooke Remington must be stopped. De Shields plays seasoned director Maurice Khalan Walker, who frantically attempts to keep his playwright and actress from killing each other. When Playwrights Kill will have a limited run from July 26 through August 7.

Fundraising Campaign to Turn Oscar Hammerstein's Former Home Into Museum
The nonprofit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center is raising funds to purchase, restore and preserve Highland Farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, which was Hammerstein's former home and creative epicenter. The mission is to honor his work as a librettist and lyricist along with his legacy of mentorship and social activism. The Hammerstein family lived at Highland Farm for the last 20 years of Oscar’s life, and it is where he began his legendary partnership with Richard Rodgers and mentored a young Stephen Sondheim. Over 75 Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards and Pulitzer Prizes can be directly traced back to Highland Farm. Highland Farm is currently privately owned and not yet open to the public, but work on the theater education center has already begun with several notable individuals joining the nonprofit’s honorary advisory board, including actress Shirley Jones, Ted Chapin (former head of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization), Melinda Mathias Walsh (granddaughter of Hammerstein), Justin Guarini, Jonathan Groff and more. A fundraising gala featuring Broadway's Christy Altomare, Derek Klena and Guarini is planned for July 11. Click here for tickets and more information. 

Nicolas Cage is Curious About Doing a Musical
Could Oscar winner Nicolas Cage be heading to the stage? In a recent interview with Rolling Stone about his upcoming film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Cage talks about his future career: "I’ve never done a musical. That would be something that I would be curious about." Cage won an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas and earned a nomination for Adaptation. His many film credits include Drive Angry, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Kick-Ass, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, National Treasure, The Wicker Man, World Trade Center, The Family Man, City of Angels, Bringing Out the Dead, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Face/Off, The Rock, Honeymoon in Vegas, Moonstruck, Rumble Fish and Raising Arizona. In 2011 he was rumored to make his Broadway debut in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but it never came to fruition.