Musicals Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is in talks with “Black-ish” and “BlackAF” creator Kenya Barris and “Happy” singer Pharrell Williams to develop a feature-length musical about Juneteenth – the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.Deadline understands that the streamer and the pair are in the early stages of working up a plan for the project, and details about storyline are under wraps, although sources say it is a separate project to the live musical that they announced in 2018.Williams

Variety reports. The live-action project is tentatively titled after his 1983 song, “All Night Long,” and will utilize some of his greatest hits.According to the report, the artist pitched the concept to the studio, where it was accepted in January and the artist is on board as the film’s producer alongside his manager Bruce Eskowitz as well as Calvary Media’s Dana Brunetti and Matt Del Piano.

“Frozen the Musical” will close on Broadway, Disney announced Thursday, making it the biggest theatrical demise caused by the coronavirus pandemic so far.

ABC’s “The Disney Family Singalong” special drew a strong at-home crowd Thursday, topping the night with a 2.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 10.3 million viewers. It teamed with “Station 19” (1.3, 6.99M), in its new 9 p.m. time slot, and “How to Get Away With Murder” (0.6, 3.05M) to help the network sweep the night overall.

Broadway fans around the world will soon be able to stream the works of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber on YouTube — for free.

We’ve just heard that a brand new YouTube channel titled The Shows Must Got On is set to be launched offering full theatre performances from some of the best productions online for free. Recent weeks have seen the temporary closure of theatres and their shows, meaning audiences around the world are spending more time at home than usual.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theater.

Sophia Anne Caruso, the talented young star of “Beetlejuice,” surprised a lot of the musical’s fans when she announced on Instagram last week that she’d performed her last show.

Within our smartphones is a world of smiley faces, flowers, royals . . . and a pile of poo. And now many of them have come alive, in the off-Broadway musical “Emojiland.” Several key players tell us how — and sometimes why — they bring a digital character to life.