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Playbill reports: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has launched an online fundraising campaign to create the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, which will be administered by The Actors Fund. The new fund will assist those in the entertainment community, onstage and behind the scenes, who are facing healthcare crises and other needs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Broadway Cares has …

Playbill reports: The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre Association have announced that all SOLT theatres (which includes all of the West End) and all UK Theatre venues (a large number of Off-West End theatres and houses across the country) will temporarily close their doors beginning March 16. The announcement comes shortly after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraged …

Deadline reports: The state of exhibition and the domestic box office is changing by the hour in the current coronavirus climate and by tomorrow or even before next Friday we could be looking at a different theatrical landscape. The lingo “comping” is used by distribution and exhibition executives when discussing the historical comparison of titles at the box office or …

Gothamist reports: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York City is now 213, an increase of 59 overnight. The five boroughs now have more people who have tested positive than Westchester County, which has 174 infections. Westchester had previously been the site of the largest cluster of coronavirus cases in the state, many of them connected to Lawrence …

Playbill reports: Although the Metropolitan Opera has brought down the curtain at least through the end of the month over COVID-19 concerns, the New York City institution will offer another way for audiences to take in its performances. Beginning March 16, the Met will stream a title from its Live in HD series each night through the duration of the …

Click Orlando reports: A Florida man was caught using the stolen credit card of a dead man and was then seen trying to eat the card to destroy evidence before he was questioned by deputies, according to an arrest report. Orange County deputies said they were called to Disney Springs Monday for the report of a man trying to purchase …

Playbill reports: The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, has released an updated statement regarding safety precautions that are currently being taken in all Broadway theatres—for audiences, performers, and crew—in response to the growing spread of coronavirus. “The Broadway League is closely monitoring the evolving coronavirus situation on behalf of the Broadway community. We have significantly …

Playbill reports: A total of six new shows began previews on Broadway last week: the gender-swapped Company, the bio-musical Diana, Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen, West End and Off-Broadway hit The Lehman Trilogy, Tracy Letts’ The Minutes, and the new Broadway revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. In spite of the coronavirus outbreak, which has impacted travel and tourism …

Playbill reports: Playwright Mart Crowley, best known for The Boys in the Band, died March 7 at the age of 84. The writer spent his career dedicated to creating works that often shed light on the queer experience, seen by audiences in theatre and on television. The Boys in the Band originally debuted Off-Broadway in 1968, and was turned into …

NBC News reports: A Florida man was deemed a suspect in a robbery case because of an exercise-tracking app’s tracking of his location. Zachary McCoy, a 30-year-old Gainesville resident, was contacted in January by Google’s legal investigations support team with a notice that local police demanded information related to his Google account. After examining the data, police cleared McCoy as …

Deadline reports: Cheyenne Jackson has been tapped as the male lead opposite Mayim Bialik in Call Me Kat, Fox’s multi-camera straight-to-series comedy, from The Big Bang Theory alums Bialik and Jim Parsons. Written by Darlene Hunt based on Miranda Hart’s BBC series Miranda, Call Me Kat centers around Kat (Bialik), a 39-year-old woman who struggles every day against society and …

Billboard Magazine reports: Just hours before her premiere on season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag star Sherry Pie is already in hot water, after five actors accused her of catfishing them. In a report from Buzzfeed News, five New York actors accused their former SUNY Cortland classmate Joey Gugliemelli (Pie’s birth name) of posing as a casting director over …

Playbill reports: The world premiere of the Britney Spears jukebox musical Once Upon A One More Time has found its cast, with Great News star Briga Heelan and American Idol and Broadway alum Justin Guarini leading as Cinderella and Prince Charming, respectively. Joining the two will be Tony nominee Emily Skinner (Sideshow, The Cher Show) as Stepmother, Brooke Dillman (Superbad) …

New from our pal Matt Baume: Last month I showed you a 1983 episode of Cheers where everybody panicked because they were afraid the bar was turning gay. Well, this month, I want to show you what happened next — basically a decade of the gang more or less refusing to believe that gays exist, until a queer icon finally …

Billboard Magazine reports: On Tuesday (Mar. 3), Randy Rainbow released his latest parody, this time aimed at Democratic voters. The clip opens with Rainbow serving as the faux moderator of the recent South Carolina Democratic debate, where he questions each of the candidates on stage. As the debate devolves into chaos, Rainbow’s inner monologue comes out in the form of …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Waukesha police on Monday afternoon received calls that a woman was performing a spiritual ritual on a dead possum in the road at the intersection of Springdale and Bluemound. The woman, who apparently stopped and got out of her car when she saw the possum, threw goldfish and windshield washer fluid on the dead animal, a …

Playbill reports: Jake Gyllenhaal really likes airport security. He loves it so much, in fact, that on a February 29 episode of Saturday Night Live, the Broadway alum dropped by to fly through the skies singing a parody of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. Check it out below, including a finale featuring David Byrne. From The Phantom of LaGuardia to orphaned …

Deadline reports: Elliott Management Corp. has taken a big stake in Twitter Inc. and will push for changes at the social media company, including replacing Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey.  The firm has nominated four directors for Twitter’s board, with three seats becoming available at this year’s annual Twitter company meeting. Elliott reportedly has had talks with Twitter’s top executives …

Deadline reports: Due to the coronavirus, The Amazing Race is not running right now. “Due to increased concerns and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus around the world, CBS and the producers of The Amazing Race have taken the precautionary measure of temporarily suspending production on the 33rd season of the series,” the network said today. “All contestants and production staff are …

Playbill reports: The lineup is now complete for the 15th annual Broadway Backwards fundraiser, featuring gender-reversed and star-studded twists on classic and modern favorites, March 16 at 8 PM at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Creator Robert Bartley returns to direct and choreograph the event, which is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and benefits Broadway Cares and the LGBT Community …