Real Estate: forgoing Broadway, Meatloaf's "Bat Out of Hell - The Musical" will play City Center as part of its U.S. tour next summer; meanwhile, Glenda Jackson's "King Lear" will now play the Cort Theatre, opening up the Golden Theatre for Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow in "Hillary and Clinton"
Casting: check out the cast for FOX's "Rent: Live" telecast planned for January 27th, including Brandon Victor Dixon ("Hamilton"), Vanessa Hudgens ("Gigi"), Valentina ("RuPaul's Drag Race"), and Keala Settle (Waitress"); and Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child joins the cast of Critic's Pick! "Once on This Island" as Erzulie, Goddess of Love
Bad News: Midtown's famed Drama Book Shop will close its 40th Street location at end of January due to high rent, but plans to find another, cheaper site
Industry: The Broadway League's 2017–2018 “Demographics of the Broadway Audience” survey discovered the average theatregoer's age dropped from 41.7 to 40.6, and a record 2.1 million theatregoers were under the age of 18, which bodes well for the future
Watch: check out the trailer for John Leguizamo's "Latin History for Morons" on Netflix (read my review of the Broadway show)
RIP: Ntozake Shange, the trailblazing playwright who penned "For Colored Girls", is dead at 70.
