Behind the Scenes Buzz with Jake Gyllenhaal

May 4, 2020 | 6:23 AM

MATT SIMMONS DIES AT 93: Matt Simmons, the founder of the Diners Club credit card, Weight Watchers magazine, and co-founded the National Lampoon magazine, has died at 93. He rose to fame producing film offshoots of National Lampoon, including Animal House and the Vacation franchise. He had a brief, non-coronavirus illness, according to reports. A statement tweeted by National Lampoon reads, “The comic geniuses everyone knows deserve much credit for our legacy. BUT, there’d be no #Vacation, #AnimalHouse nor #NationalLampoon w/o crazy, wonderful, visionary Matty Simmons.” Dying exactly 50 years after the founding of the Lampoon, the company said, feels like Simmons’ “last great punchline.”

LIONSGATE SNAGS RAPTURE: Lionsgate has signed a deal for writer-director Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz‘s next film, Rapture, as they redate the duo’s feature debut Antebellum for a worldwide theatrical release from August 21st. First up will be Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet on July 17, followed by Mulan a week later on July 24. “With tentpole movies from major distributors, like Warner Bros.’ Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984, and Disney‘s Mulan, all lined up for late summer, we believe that by Aug. 21, audiences will be eager for the distinctive, unique story and voice of these groundbreaking filmmakers’ debut, Antebellum,” David Spitz, Lionsgate president of worldwide distribution said.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL, DAVID ALAN GRIER, JONATHAN GROFF AMONG DRAMA LEAGUE AWARD NOMS: This year’s Drama League Awards have released their list of nominees. Among the nods: for the League‘s Distinguished Performance Award were Ral Esparza, David Alan Grier, Jonathan Groff, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hiddleston, Kate Mulgrew, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Sturridge, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, and Tina‘s Adrienne Warren, among others. Voting is open through May 22nd, with winners to be announced via livestream in June.

TRAILER FOR LOVECRAFT COUNTRY DROPS: HBO has dropped a teaser trailer for its new drama series, Lovecraft Country, set in 1950s Jim Crow America. The series is based on a novel of the same name by Matt Ruff and follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), Letitia (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance).

CHECK IT OUT:

See Lovecraft Country trail:

Here are the nominees for 86th Annual The Drama League‘s five competitive categories for this year:

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A PLAY

Cambodian Rock Band
Directed by Chay Yew
Written by Lauren Yee
Signature Theatre Company

Dana H.
Directed by Les Waters
Written by Lucas Hnath
Vineyard Theatre

Grand Horizons
Directed by Leigh Silverman
Written by Bess Wohl
Second Stage/Helen Hayes Theater

The Hot Wing King
Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III
Written by Katori Hall
Signature Theatre Company

The Inheritance
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Written by Matthew Lopez
Barrymore Theatre

The Michaels
Written and Directed by Richard Nelson
Public Theater

Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow
Directed by Trip Cullman
Written by Halley Feiffer
MCC Theater

One in Two
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Written by Donja R. Love
The New Group

Sea Wall/A Life
Directed by Carrie Cracknell
Written by Simon Stephens/Nick Payne
Hudson Theater

Seared
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Written by Theresa Rebeck
MCC Theater

Slave Play
Directed by Robert O’Hara
Written by Jeremy O. Harris
New York Theatre Workshop/John Golden Theatre

Stew
Directed by Colette Robert
Written by Zora Howard
Page 73

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Girl from the North Country
Directed by Conor McPherson
Book by Conor McPherson, Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
Belasco Theatre

Jagged Little Pill
Directed by Diane Paulus
Music by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, Lyrics by Alanis Morissette, Book by Diablo Cody
Broadhurst Theatre

Moulin Rouge!
Directed by Alex Timbers
Book by John Logan, Music and Lyrics by Various Artists
Al Hirschfeld Theatre

Octet
Directed by Annie Tippe
Written by Dave Malloy
Signature Theatre Company

The Secret Life of Bees
Directed by Sam Gold
Book by Lynn Nottage, Music by Duncan Sheik, Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead
Atlantic Theater Company

Sing Street
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
Book by Enda Walsh, Music and Lyrics by Gary Clark and John Carney
New York Theatre Workshop

 

Six
Directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage
Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss
Brooks Atkinson Theatre

Soft Power
Directed by Leigh Silverman
Book and Lyrics by David Henry Hwang, Music and Additional Lyrics by Jeanine Tesori
Public Theater

A Strange Loop
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson
Playwrights Horizons

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Book by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, Music by Various Artists
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Betrayal
Directed by Jamie Lloyd
Written by Harold Pinter
Jacobs Theatre

for colored girls who have considered suicide
/when the rainbow is enuf
Directed by Leah C. Gardiner
Written by Ntozake Shange
Public Theater

Fires in the Mirror
Directed by Saheem Ali
Written by Anna Deavere Smith
Signature Theatre Company

Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune
Directed by Arin Arbus
Written by Terrence McNally
Broadhurst Theatre

Judgment Day
Directed by Richard Jones
Written by dn von Horvth, Adapted by Christopher Shinn
Park Avenue Armory

Medea
Directed by Simon Stone
Written by Simon Stone after Euripides
Brooklyn Academy of Music

Native Son
Directed by Seret Scott
Written by Nambi E. Kelley, based on the novel by Richard Wright
The Acting Company

The Rose Tattoo
Directed by Trip Cullman
Written by Tennessee Williams
Roundabout Theatre Company

A Soldier’s Play
Directed by Kenny Leon
Written by Charles Fuller
Roundabout Theatre Company

The Woman in Black
Directed by Robin Herford
Written by Stephen Mallatratt, based on the novel by Susan Hill
The McKittrick Hotel

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

Enter Laughing
Directed by Stuart Ross
Book by Joseph Stein, Music and Lyrics by Stan Daniels
York Theatre Company

 

Little Shop of Horrors
Directed by Michael Mayer
Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Music by Alan Menken

Rock of Ages
Directed by Kristin Hanggi
Book by Chris D’Arienzo, Music and Lyrics by Various Artists
New World Stages

The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Directed by Kathleen Marshall
Book and New Lyrics by Dick Scanlan, Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
The Transport Group

West Side Story
Directed by Ivo van Hove
Book by Arthur Laurents, Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Broadway Theatre

DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD

David Acton, The Woman in Black
Jeffrey Bean, Dublin Carol
Ato Blankson-Wood, The Rolling Stone andSlave Play
Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors
Danielle Brooks, Much Ado About Nothing
Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge!
Rose Byrne, Medea
Len Cariou, Harry Townsend’s Last Stand
Patrice Johnson Chevannes, runboyrun & In Old Age
Liza Coln-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Kate del Castillo, the way she spoke
Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements
Ral Esparza, Seared
Francesca Faridany, The Half-Life of Marie Curie
Halley Feiffer, The Pain of My Belligerence
Danyel Fulton, Broadbend, Arkansas
Annie Golden, Broadway Bounty Hunter
Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Where We Stand
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
Jonathan Groff, Little Shop of Horrors
Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life
Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
Kathryn Hunter, Timon of Athens
Galen Ryan Kane, Native Son
Brittney Mack, Six
April Matthis, Toni Stone
Susannah Millonzi, The Crucible
Kate Mulgrew, The Half-Life of Marie Curie
Joe Ngo, Cambodian Rock Band
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.
Brenock O’Connor, Sing Street
Okwui Okpokwasili, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge!
Larry Owens, A Strange Loop
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow
Ben Porter, The Woman in Black
Isaac Powell, West Side Story
Jonathan Pryce, The Height of the Storm
Elizabeth Rodriguez, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Michael Shannon, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life
Marisa Tomei, The Rose Tattoo
Blair Underwood, A Soldier’s Play
Michael Urie, Grand Horizons
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Michael Benjamin Washington, Fires in the Mirror
Portia, Stew