Kenny Ortega Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Apparently, Omri Katz was lighting a little more than just the black flame candle while working on Hocus Pocus! Ha!

Katcy Stephan Verve has hired longtime agent Valarie Phillips. The news comes just two weeks after the agency brought on non-fiction agent Jacy Schleier from CAA. Phillips, who brings more than two decades of agency experience to Verve, was most recently co-head of the motion picture literary department at A3 Artists Agency.

Zac Efron has praised late Friends actor Matthew Perry for motivating him to reach the next stage of his career after starring together on 17 Again, during a speech at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.The High School Musical star, 36, was honoured with his own star on the iconic Hollywood road, which he described as "so surreal" and "just insane." During his speech, he also opened up about his time working with his 17 Again co-star Matthew, who passed away in October, aged just 54. He said: "I really also want to mention someone that is not here today, and that’s Matthew Perry, who was so kind and generous with me when we worked on 17 Again." He continued: "Collaborating with him…it was so much fun and it really did propel me and motivate me in so many ways.

Zac Efron is being honored!

EXCLUSIVE: Radar Pictures and Bandits Roost Entertainment have tapped Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) to direct Weslandia, a feature adaptation of the international bestselling children’s book by Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman.

Hocus Pocus fans were ecstatic when Disney released a long-awaited sequel to the classic last year, but one key player was missing: original director Kenny Ortega.

Kristin Chenoweth has tied the knot with her fiancé Josh Bryant in a romantic ceremony held in Dallas, Texas.The pair met at the Glee star's niece's wedding in 2016, at which Josh's band Backroad Anthem was booked to perform, and one year later they met again at Kristin's nephew's wedding after he also booked the band for the occasion. And after becoming engaged in 2021, the duo tied the knot over the weekend, with Kristin, 55, telling People Magazine: "I have been a self-proclaimed bachelorette my whole life. I was never going to get married.

Kristin Chenoweth and Josh Bryant made it down the aisle nearly two years after announcing their engagement!

come out as gay in the Disney+ series based on the iconic franchise.“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” dropped its fourth and final season on Wednesday and there is a scene where some of the original Disney Channel stars are filming “High School Musical 4.”The TV series’ showrunner Tim Federle told TV Line recently that he called Grabeel, 38, to tell him the news of Ryan’s sexual orientation.“Lucas, like, cried on the phone and said, ‘This would mean so much to people who grew up with this movie,'” Federle recalled.He went on and noted that the “Switched at Birth” star had told him: “It’s what they were always kind of missing from this character.”The TV show’s scene featured Ryan kissing his partner, portrayed by Pentatonix member Scott Hoying.“High School Musical” premiered on Disney Channel in 2006 and subsequently had two sequels released in the following years.

Tim Federle is thrilled by the High School Musical stars who appeared on season 4 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — but he says there was one person missing.

The High School Musical universe has confirmed what fans knew all along — Ryan Evans is gay.

The Sanderson sisters will be returning to cause more wicked chaos with Hocus Pocus 3, 30 years after the original movie was first released.

EXCLUSIVE: Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (I Feel Pretty) have closed deals to write and direct Big Pink, an English-language remake of the Spanish dramedy La lista de los deseos for Monarch Media.

Rick Anderson, the co-founding bassist of the Tubes who was with the band for a half-century and played on “She’s a Beauty,” “Talk to Ya Later” and “White Punks on Dope,” has died. He was 75.

Lighting the candle — or the pipe? Omri Katz opened up about his experience filming Hocus Pocus at sixteen, and how toking up on the job almost cost him the role.

during the Broadway Podcast Network’s “The Art of Kindness” podcast on Thursday.“This started before COVID, but now it seems to be back on — and that is that they are building a Broadway version of ‘Hocus Pocus,’ ” said Kirschner.“I just want to pinch myself, and I’m just afraid that I’m going to be 9 years old and on a Little League field again … But it’s just so wonderful just to stand back and watch all of this.”The 67-year-old producer and “Hocus Pocus” creator made the announcement a day before the highly-anticipated sequel is set to fly on Disney+.“It’s not just me. It’s so many people that brought ‘Hocus Pocus’ [to life] — from [director] Kenny Ortega and Mick Garris’ script and John Debney’s score and Bill Sandell’s production design, and now a whole new generation are working on it,” Kirschner said.“Hocus Pocus” and its sequel star Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the hilarious-yet-sinister Sanderson sisters — who are hellbent on terrorizing modern-day Salem, Massachusetts.

Hocus Pocus casting its spell on Broadway? The Sanderson Sisters might be flying their brooms a bit closer to the stage after all.

A “Hocus Pocus” Broadway musical is in the works.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic What strange sorcery is this that “Hocus Pocus” — a so-so comedy turned campy cult favorite starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as absolutely fabulous Salem witch sisters — should be getting a sequel nearly three decades after its 1993 release? At the time, Variety speculated that, were it not for the film’s three stars, “‘Hocus Pocus’ wouldn’t seem out of place on the Disney Channel, and perhaps belongs there.” (Its director, Kenny Ortega, would go on to helm the “High School Musical” franchise for the cabler.) In a sense, that’s what’s happened with this follow-up, aimed to breathe some life into the graveyard that is Disney+. The sequel’s existence owes less to popular demand (the original earned a respectable $39.3 million stateside and went on to become a Halloween season staple) than the realization that the film had tapped into preteens’ fascination with witchcraft before Harry Potter came along. It can be no coincidence that the new feature lifts so much of its look and feel from that franchise — with eye of newt, a dead man’s head and some aspects of “The Craft” tossed in for good measure. In “Hocus Pocus 2,” the three teens called upon to save Salem from the Sanderson sisters’ return are themselves budding witches, which means the movie is less about scaring kids away from magic than indulging their post-Potter junior wizarding fantasies.

Michaela Zee editorDisney has released the official trailer for “Hocus Pocus 2,” in which the Sanderson sisters will once again put a spell on you. The new trailer debuted at the D23 Expo with an introduction from Disney Chairman Alan Bergman. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Doug Jones are reprising their roles from the original 1993 film. Hannah Waddingham, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo and Whitney Peak also star in the sequel, along with “Drag Race” queens Ginger Minj, Kahmora Hall and Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté. 

EXCLUSIVE: Kristin Chenoweth (Schmigadoon!), Kenny Ortega (Julie and the Phantoms) and producers Alan Powell, Steve Barnett and Vicky Patel of Monarch Media are teaming for the docuseries 1300 Miles to Broadway. Inspired by Chenoweth’s Broadway Bootcamp, the series introduces 8th to 12th graders to the world of performing arts through master classes in acting, singing and dancing, and goes on the emotional journey with them as they prepare for a future as performers.

that comes Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween schedule.Granted, the network’s Halloween programming itself doesn’t start until October 1st, but it’s important to plan ahead. And, as expected, “Hocus Pocus” reigns supreme in the 31 Nights line-up this year.

The iconic Disney film Hocus Pocus in concert is coming to Manchester this Halloween, as part of spooky UK tour. Featuring live orchestral music from Emmy winning composer John Debney, Hocus Pocus in Concert will play at Bridgewater Hall on Monday October 24.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is reportedly in the works at Paramount Pictures.According to a new report from Deadline, the spin-off will be helmed by Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald, with Bill Posley set to write the script.Titled Sam and Victor’s Day Off, the new movie will “follow the same-day adventure of the titular valets who took the Ferrari on a joy ride in the Matthew Broderick-starrer.”Others included in the new project are Paul Young (producer), Devon Young (executive producer) and Stephen Cedars, Benji Kleiman and Scott Yacyshyn (associate producers).During the first COVID lockdown in 2020, the cast of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off reunited as part of Josh Gad’s web series ‘Reunited Apart’.The Frozen actor spent his lockdown bringing the casts of famous movies back together for a series of lockdown webcam specials, including The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings and Ghostbusters.For the final one in the series, Gad united Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara and Jennifer Grey from the John Hughes cult classic.Also joining in on the reunion were Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett, who portrayed Bueller’s parents, as well as economics teacher star Ben Stein, as the cast talked about their memories from the film.

Sasha Urban editorThe last time the witches of “Hocus Pocus” were revived, it took three centuries. This time around, it’s only been about three decades.The Sanderson sisters — Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) — are almost back, and the first teaser trailer for “Hocus Pocus 2” has been released, giving a first taste of the wickedness to come.

Nearly 30 years since the original “Hocus Pocus” film, starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, the trio have finally reunited for “Hocus Pocus 2,” the live-action, long-awaited sequel to the perennial Halloween classic. The original film, directed by Kenny Ortega, is centered on a curious youngster who moves to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorVeteran talent agent Brooklyn Lavin has joined McDonald Selznick Associates (MSA) as the agency’s new below-the-line director and co-director of creatives direction.Lavin brings with her over two decades of experience and longtime clients.  Those clients will join MSA’s roster that includes Kenny Ortega, director and producer of “High School Musical,” Marguerite Derricks, choreographer of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Glow,” Jamal Sims who choreographed “Encanto,” and the live-action “Aladdin” and Brian Burke, Co-Executive Producer of “American Idol.”“I am very excited to join forces with MSA since we are already so like-minded and passionate about our creative clients,” said Lavin.

UPDATED, 3:05 PM: Producer Adam Shankman took to Instagram on Friday to unveil a premiere date for the anticipated Hocus Pocus 2, announcing that the sequel to Kenny Ortega’s 1993 Disney classic will debut on Disney+ this Halloween.

Julie and the Phantoms is coming to an end.

Netflix has opted not to renew Julie and the Phantoms for a second season. Kenny Ortega, the musical dramedy’s executive producer, choreographer and director, announced the news on Instagram.

EXCLUSIVE: American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance creator Simon Fuller, High School Musical director and Michael Jackson choreographer Kenny Ortega and buyers including ABC’s Rob Mills were among the crowd for a new dance competition format pitch in Hollywood last night.

World Choreography Awards nominees list includes Mandy Moore (“Zooey’s Extraordinary Playlist”), Casey Nicholaw (“The Prom”) two-time Emmy Award winner and “Dancing With the Stars” host Derek Hough (“The Disney Holiday Singalong,” “DWTS”) and many others, the awards organization said Wednesday. The “Choreo” Awards nominees list also includes Ashley Wallen (“The Greatest Showman”) and Chris Scott (“In The Heights”), and Kenny Ortega and Paul Becker (“Julie and the Phantoms”).

series format over on Disney+, but the original performances are also finding new life on TikTok.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorMusic luminaries Clive Davis (pictured), Kenny Ortega and Rickey Minor will participate in the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Sunday night (April 11), each feting Maureen Crowe, who will receive the Legacy Award.

Kenny Ortega had directed a string of “Ally McBeal” and “Gilmore Girls” episodes, but what he really wanted to was return to making movies.So he asked his agents to keep an eye out for a TV movie, something “under the radar” that would allow him to quietly flex his filmmaking chops as he slid behind the camera for his first feature since 1993’s “Hocus Pocus.” (And before that, he’d directed another cult Disney favorite, the 1992 musical “Newsies.”)The script that caught his eye, a Disney Channel

Audrey Cleo Yap Director Kenny Ortega knew he had found the lead for Netflix’s “Julie and the Phantoms” when he saw Madison Reyes’ audition tape after casting directors had put out requests to performing arts schools across North America.