Odds and Ends: Shuffle Along Stars Reunite, Ariana DeBose Takes On Sweet Charity & More

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

Struttin' to Lincoln Center
The stars of the 2016 Broadway production of Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed are reuniting on September 26 at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater. This concert presentation will feature Audra McDonald, Brian Strokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Adrienne Warren, Amber Iman and Brooks Ashmanskas, with Norm Lewis filling in for Joshua Henry. The show, directed by George C. Wolfe, dramatizes how the groundbreaking, all-Black revue of the same name found its footing on Broadway. It boasts an electrifying score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle. This concert staging of Shuffle Along is a part of Lincoln Center’s Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival.

She’s a Brass Band
Strike up the band because Ariana DeBose is leading an autumn workshop of Sweet Charity. The West Side Story Oscar winner will play Charity Hope Valentine, a chronically unlucky dance hall hostess. The workshop will be directed and choreographed by Jeff and Rick Kuperman, who earned a Tony nomination for their work on The Outsiders. The 1966 musical, which was originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse with Gwen Verdon in the title role, was last revived on Broadway in 2005 with Christina Applegate starring. It features a score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields with a book by Neil Simon. “Sweet Charity asks a question that feels urgent today: how do you keep an open heart in a world set on breaking it? Ariana has the wit, fearlessness, vulnerability and extraordinary physical command to make Charity entirely her own," the Kuperman brothers said in a statement. "We’re approaching the musical with deep respect for its history while creating a contemporary theatrical language in which dance drives the story and Charity’s hard-earned optimism remains at its core.” Additional details will be announced at a later date.

Divine Intervention
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Eureka has been tapped to embody drag legend Divine in Divine: Beyond the Flamingos! off-Broadway. Written and directed by Donnie, this biographical work tells the story of Harris Glenn Milstead, a mild-mannered Baltimore resident who adopted the larger-than-life drag persona of Divine. Known for his collaborations with director John Waters, Divine starred in Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Hairspray, the latter of which served as the source material for the Tony-winning Broadway musical. Beyond Drag Race, Eureka co-hosts the HBO Max reality series We’re Here, for which she received a Peabody Award. “Divine showed the world that drag artistry could be taken seriously beyond the clubs, on television, film and even the New York stage," Eureka said in a statement. "Divine’s journey carries a deep, personal resonance for me. It is an honor to collaborate with Donnie in celebrating a legend whose legacy continues to inspire.” Divine: Beyond the Flamingos! premieres at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater on December 3 with opening night on December 8. The play is set to run for six weeks.

Thinking of You
How I Met Your Mother co-creator Carter Bays will receive a world premiere of his play True Marriage at New Jersey’s McCarter Theatre Center. The comedy follows a couple who have hit the wall after five years of marriage. Desperate to put the zing back in their relationship, they sign up for an experimental new treatment that takes honesty and intimacy to a hilarious—if slightly terrifying—new level by enabling them to hear all of each other's thoughts. McCarter Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen helms the production, which runs May 8–30, 2027.

Tudor TV
The historical drama 1536 may be coming to your small screen. The BBC commissioned the six-part series, directed by Molly Manners, and now HBO is on board. Based on Ava Pickett's play, which premiered in London last year and finished up its run in the West End last week, it follows a trio of women in Tudor England dealing with puritanism and misogyny in the weeks after Ann Boleyn’s arrest. “I’m so excited and thrilled to be working with HBO, the BBC and Drama Republic on 1536 and feel very lucky to have them champion this story so fiercely,” said Pickett in a statement. “I can’t wait to bring this story about power, patriarchy and friendship to a new audience.”