Odds and Ends: Rent Reunion Measures Love in Millions, Michael Mayer Honored and More

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

4,571,464 Dollars
The Rent 30th anniversary concert raised a whopping $4,571,464 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS from both in-person tickets and livestream viewers. The one-night-only performance took place at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre and featured the musical’s original stars, including Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Rent Tony winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Taye Diggs and more as well as generations of alums united in celebration of Rent creator's Jonathan Larson’s enduring legacy. They’ll cover you.

Mr. Mayer
Tony-winning Spring Awakening director Michael Mayer will be honored with Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s 2027 “Mr. Abbott” Award, given to a director or choreographer in recognition of their outstanding contributions to Broadway in honor of renowned director George Abbott. The award will be presented at the foundation’s gala on March 22, 2027. Chairing the 2027 “Mr. Abbott” Award gala are original Spring Awakening producer Tom Hulce, Berkeley Rep artistic director Johanna Pfaelzer, producer Jordan Roth and choreographer Ellenore Scott. Lorin Latarro will direct the evening with Thoroughly Modern Millie scribe Dick Scanlan writing. Mayer is directing the new Broadway musical Galileo and is also represented off-Broadway by Little Shop of Horrors. His other Broadway credits include Chess, Funny Girl, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and more. 

John Procto(u)r is the Villain
The West End production of Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain, directed by Tony winner Danya Taymor, has set its cast. The play will star Lauryn Ajufo, Charlie Borg, Reece Braddock, Dónal Finn, Holly Howden Gilchrist, Miya James, Amy Macken, Molly McFadden and Sadie Soverall. Alfie Craig, Anna Francis, Thalia Gambe, Ada Grey and Tom Milligan complete the cast. The show follows a high school English class in rural Georgia studying Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible with a lot more bawdiness and laughs than anything you studied in school. The limited run at Wyndham’s Theatre will begin on February 2, 2027 and go through April 24.

Obie, Oh, My!
There are a new set of judges for the Obies, which celebrates off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway. Serving as co-chairs for the second year in a row are Obie-winning director Taylor Reynolds and Obie-winning performer Heather Alicia Simms, who is appearing in Broadway's School Girls. Joining them are Afsoon Pajoufar, Carmelita Tropicana, Oana Botez, Jared Mezzocchi, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Maechi Aharanwa, Spencer Scott Barros and Raquel Almazan. The 71st Obie Awards season includes shows that open between September 1, 2026 and August 31, 2027. 

Coffee Is for Honorees
The 49th Kennedy Center honorees are set. The honor is awarded annually to performing artists for a lifetime of contributions to American culture. The honorees are Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet and composer and producer David Foster as well as singer-songwriter Paul Anka, actor Andy Garcia and country music star Barbara Mandrell. Mamet’s many plays include American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow and Glengarry Glen Ross, which earned him the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Foster, a 16-time Grammy winner, composed the Broadway musical BOOP!, which is now touring the country. Garcia earned an Oscar nomination for The Godfather Part III and is also known for The Untouchables and Ocean’s Eleven. Mandrell is a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. The ceremony will take place on December 7 at Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena, marking its first presentation outside the Kennedy Center.