Dear Will and Grace

The cast of Will & Grace with its
episode 2 guest star, l-r:
Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally,
Ben Platt, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes
Photo by Chris Haston, NBC

Amid the excitement about not just the reboot of Will & Grace, but the announcement -- before an episode had even been shot -- that the show has been picked up for a 13-episode second season, now comes word that the show has booked the star of Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt, fresh off his Tony win for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Will & Grace taped its first episode this past Wednesday night, and on Thursday morning, the cast convened for a "table read" of episode two.  That's when the cast took a beaming photo with guest star Platt, and tweeted out the news to fans.

NBC sent out the following press release as well, with news about the show and episode, which will air Thursday, October 5 at 9PM Eastern/Pacific.:

The cast of “Will & Grace” announced Ben Platt’s guest starring appearance below:

Will & Grace: https://instagram.com/p/BXoF_cKldtb/Eric McCormack: https://twitter.com/ericmccormack/status/895742083704561664Sean Hayes: https://instagram.com/p/BXoGNE8Au3e/ 

ABOUT BEN PLATTPlatt won a Tony Award earlier this year for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role in “Dear Evan Hansen,” which captured the Tony for Best Musical.  “Dear Evan Hansen” was a huge winner at the Tonys and won six awards in all.  In addition to taking home the Tony, Ben also won the Drama League Award for distinguished Performance making him the youngest actor to have won the coveted award.  Ben was awarded an Obie and Lucille Lortel Award as well as  nominations for Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards for his performance in the Off Broadway run.  Prior to his award winning turn as Evan Hansen, Platt made his Broadway debut in  the musical, “The Book of Mormon.” On the big screen, Platt has co-starred in both “Pitch Perfect” and “Pitch Perfect 2” as well as “Ricki and the Flash”, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” and the soon to be released “Drunk Parents.”

ABOUT “WILL & GRACE”A decade after their unforgettable eight-season run, Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally reprise their infamous roles in “Will & Grace” in a 16-episode event. In addition, at NBC’s recent Television Critics Assn. day, the network also ordered a 13-episode second season.  The legendary James Burrows, director of every original “Will & Grace” episode, returns along with a slew of razor-sharp jabs and dirty martinis. Behold once again, from the minds of Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, TV’s wittiest ensemble ever.  Max Mutchnick and David Kohan will write and executive produce. Tim Kaiser, Alex Herschlag, Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally also executive produce. James Burrows will direct and executive produce. “Will & Grace” is produced by Universal Television.

Late Night on the Great White Way

Fresh from doing a nice job hosting the Emmy Awards this past August 29, Jimmy Fallon announces today that all next week (leading up to Jimmy's -- and my -- birthday on Sept 19), his show will be hosting a cadre of the biggest stars on Broadway.

Check out today's NBC press release, below.

NBC's 'LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON' BRINGS BROADWAY FROM NYC TO YOUR TV WITH ITS FIRST EVER BROADWAY WEEK

NEW YORK September 10, 2010 - "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is excited to announce its first ever LNJF Broadway Week. The week will showcase all the biggest hits the Great White Way has to offer, from pounding punk rock to 60s swing. Starting September 13th, Jimmy will welcome a different Broadway musical to the Late Night studios each night .

The curtain will go up on Monday when David Bryan from Bon Jovi introduces a performance by the cast of "Memphis." The musical explores the underground dance clubs of the 1950s with explosive dancing, irresistible songs and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love. The show was the winner of four 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Tuesday brings "Promises, Promises" to the Studio 6B stage. This revival of the 1968 musical is based on the Oscar-winning Billy Wilder film "The Apartment" and it stars Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day arrives to introduce the Tony Award winning musical "American Idiot" when they makes an appearance on Wednesday, telling the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. Their quest for true meaning in a post 9-11 world leads them on an exhilarating journey.

Thursday will feature "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." Cheered by the New York Times and Rolling Stone as "the season's best musical", the show began its life at the Public Theatre (which birthed "Hair" and "A Chirus Line") and begins performances on Broadway next Monday.

Make sure to tune-in to see what other Broadway inspired surprises Jimmy has in store!

Broadway to Dim Its Lights for Bea

BROADWAY TO DIM ITS LIGHTS
TONIGHT AT 8 PM

IN MEMORY OF TONY AWARD®-WINNING ACTRESS
BEATRICE ARTHUR

(New York, NY)  April 28, 2009 -- The Broadway community mourns the loss of  Bea Arthur, who died on Saturday at age 86.

The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in her memory on Tuesday, April 28th, at exactly 8:00pm for one minute.

Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League, commented, “We are so fortunate that Bea Arthur’s portrayals of memorable roles graced our Broadway stages. With a career spanning so many forms of entertainment, there is no doubt she will be missed by all.”

Before she became an iconic Emmy®-Award winning television star, Bea Arthur received a Tony Award® for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1966 for her performance as Angela Lansbury’s best friend Vera Charles in the original Broadway production of Jerry Herman’s musical Mame, directed by Gene Saks, her husband at that time.

Ms. Arthur’s Broadway career began in 1955 with the original musical Plain and Fancy and continued with roles in Seventh Heaven and Nature’s Way. Among her Broadway credits, she played Yente the Matchmaker in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof and appeared in Woody Allen’s The Floating Lightbulb in 1981.

In 2002, she returned to Broadway starring in Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends, a collection of stories and songs based on her life and career. The show was nominated for a Tony Award® for Best Special Theatrical Event.

In a career spanning seven decades, the celebrated actress, comedienne, singer and writer became a television star as the title character, Maude Findlay, on the 1970's sitcom Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980's sitcom The Golden Girls. She won Emmy® Awards for both roles.


She is survived by two sons and two granddaughters.


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The Broadway League, founded in 1930, is the national trade association for the Broadway industry.  The League’s 600-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in over 240 North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the theatre industry. Each year, League members bring Broadway to nearly 30 million people in New York and on tour across the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.BroadwayLeague.com.