Jimmy Smits News

In the Heights opened on Broadway on March 9, 2008. Watch videos of the original cast in action!

In 2015, Backyard Renaissance's (BYR) first production out-of-the-gate was very much a couple-thing. Helmed by Director Lisa Berger and starring her husband Mike Sears, BYR founders, husband-and-wife team Francis Gercke and Jessica John, produced and co-starred in the production of Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song.

Signature Theatre's production of Quiara Alegría Hudes' My Broken Language, the acclaimed playwright's stage adaptation of her eponymous memoir, officially opened on Sunday night, November 6 and runs through Nov 27, 2022 in the Pershing Square Signature Center's Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre. Check out photos from inside the big night!

Other Lives: The Story Songs of Michael Colby, a mélange of melody and tour de force performances featuring lyrics by Michael Colby, will be presented as part of Urban Stages 2022 “Winter Rhythms” series, produced by Tom Toce and Sue Matsuki, on Sunday, December 11 at 3pm and Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 7pm at Urban Stages Theater 

Watch an exclusive video preview of the upcoming episode of East New York on CBS starring Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson. The episode takes place during an investigation into a fatal shooting, the team crosses paths with Demonté Green (Woody McClain), a smooth-talking businessman who may have been the intended target.

Topdog/Underdog officially begins previews on Broadway tonight, September 27. The production opens at the John Golden Theatre on October 20. Meet the cast bringing the story to life!

SUZAN-LORI PARKS’ Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, TOPDOG/UNDERDOG, will return to Broadway this Fall in a 20th Anniversary Production, directed by Tony Award-winner KENNY LEON. Learn all about the new production!

On June 4, 2022, the Ojai Playwrights Conference will celebrate 25 successful seasons with a Benefit Gala to be directed and produced by OPC Artistic Director/Producer Robert Egan at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles.

Living legend Rita Moreno stops by 'Awards Chatter' podcast to chat about her life in the industry. On Tuesday, October 5 (9 pm), PBS will air American Masters - Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It. 

Librettist/fiction writer/translator James Magruder, who wrote the book for the Broadway musical Triumph of Love late in the last century, and co-wrote the book (in blank verse no less) for the far more recent Head Over Heels, has a fourth book of fiction, titled Vamp Until Ready, coming out on September 28, 2021

PBS will be offering a new lineup of premiere content to celebrate Latino Heritage Month this September and October. New performances from The Met, Rita Moreno documentary, and The 34th Hispanic Heritage Awards will highlight the schedule.

Film interviewees include Gloria Estefan, Morgan Freeman, Mitzi Gaynor, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria, Justina Machado, Terrence McNally, Karen Olivo, as well as Norman Lear and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The program opened with a surprise greeting from Ringo Starr and from that point on, donations poured in by phone, online, and text…and they're still coming in. They sent out a call for love, and Los Angeles answered with donations big and small. People calling in were not only giving $5, $10, $100, they were telling stories to volunteers about the son they lost to AIDS, or their own cancer battle, or their friend who has survived because of Project Angel Food.

See the full list of award winners here. In The Heights took home top honors, including best picture, best actor for Anthony Ramos, and best director for Jon M. Chu.

Today's top stories: Go inside Hairspray's return to the West End, Javier Munoz releases a new song, Krysta Rodriguez chats playing Liza Minnelli, and more!

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon shared a behind the scenes look at their viral salute to Broadway that premiered on the show on June 8 with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phylicia Rashad, Kristin Chenoweth, Laura Benanti, Christopher Jackson, and 'In the Heights' stars Olga Merediz and Jimmy Smits!

This weekend, the big screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning musical, In the Heights, opened in movie theaters. Despite widespread acclaim, the film has also sparked online criticism and debate about its lack of adequate Afro-Latinx representation, particularly in its leading cast. 

Anthony Ramos, star of the new film adaptation of In The Heights, recently sat down with CBS Sunday Morning to chat about playing Usnavi, Latino representation in musical theatre, and much more.

Today's top stories: Matthew Morrison performs with Seth Rudetsky, the Hamilton reference in In The Heights that everyone is talking about, and more!

The film adaptation of In The Heights is now in theaters and on HBO Max. Jimmy Smits, who plays the role of Kevin Rosario, recently chatted about how he prepared for the film, putting together clips of him singing to prove he could, and more!