Odds & Ends: Darren Criss Sets New York City Residency at Café Carlyle

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

Darren Criss to Play Residency at Café Carlyle
Darren Criss, who was most recently seen on Broadway in American Buffalo, will play a holiday residency at Café Carlyle in New York City. The Emmy winner announced the news on Instagram saying "Cafe Carlyle is one of those legendary NYC places I’ve always wanted to gig at and I’m pleased to announce a short residency there from Nov 29-Dec 10, just in time for the Holiday Season." Criss' Broadway credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. On television, Criss’ portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace won him a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors’ Guild Award and Critics’ Choice Award. His other screen credits include Glee, Midway, Central Park and more. Tickets for his residency are now on sale.

Pasek & Paul Working on The Oregon Trail Musical Movie Adaptation
Tony and Oscar-winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have their eyes set on the trail. They are set to write music for an upcoming movie musical adaptation of classic computer game The Oregon Trail, according to Variety. The pair will reunite with their Lyle, Lyle Crocodile directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon, who will helm the film. The Oregon Trail was first released in 1974 and was designed as an educational computer game for students to learn about the 19th-century pioneer migration. There have been numerous sequels over the years across various platforms, with the most recent published by Apple in 2021. StarKid Productions, the musical theater company that went viral for it A Very Potter Musical and launched the career of Darren Criss, produced the musical parody The Trail to Oregon!  in 2014 also was inspired by the video game.

Full West End Cast Set for Michael Grandage's Orlando, Starring Emma Corrin
We now know who will be joining Golden Globe winner and Olivier Award nominee Emma Corrin in director Michael Grandage's West End production of Orlando. Inspired by Virgina Woolf's novel of the same name, this new stage version is by Neil Bartlett and features Corrin in the title role along with Deborah Findlay as Mrs Grimsditch, Jessica Alade as Virginia/Drunken Tory, Debra Baker as Virginia/Favilla/The Captain, Akuc Bol as Virginia/ Euphrosyne/Prue, Lucy Briers as Virginia/Queen Elizabeth/Officer, Richard Cant as Virginia/Harriet/Kitty, Melissa Lowe as Virginia/Drunken Tory, Jodie McNee as Virginia/Marmaduke, Oliver Wickham as Virginia/Clorinda and Millicent Wong as Virginia/Sasha/Nell. Orlando features set and costume design by Peter McKintosh, lighting design by Howard Hudson, composition and sound designer by Alex Baranowski, movement by Ben Wright, associate directtion by Anna Girvan and casting by Jacob Sparrow. Orlando begins performances at London's Garrick Theatre on November 26 and opens on December 5.

P.S. Watch the cast of the national touring production of Oklahoma! perform on The Late Late Show with James Corden below!