Rachel Dratch Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Gordon Cox Theater EditorIn a Broadway season filled with star turns and individual standouts, maybe the biggest breakout performance came from … ensemble casts.From the queens of “Six” to the Thoughts of “A Strange Loop,” and from the community of “For Colored Girls …” to the triad of “The Lehman Trilogy” to the town council of “The Minutes,” Broadway rebounded from its long shutdown with a slate of shows that emphasized the collective effort that’s central to any theatrical experience. This year’s Tony nominations are packed with competing castmates from shows that highlighted the skill, the labor and the pleasures inherent in a group of talented performers simultaneously shining as individual artists and working together as a seamless whole. “Honestly, it’s why I do theater,” says Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the “Modern Family” alum now up for a Tony for his work among the cast of “Take Me Out.”His previous Broadway stint was in the one-man show “Fully Committed,” and he didn’t love going solo.

When Rachel Dratch makes her entrance in the Broadway, all-female ensemble farce POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, audiences respond with an enthusiasm that feels like the greeting of an old friend. Best known for the 1999 to 2006 stint on NBC’s Saturday Night Live that saw her holding her own among some of the show’s most popular casts – Will Farrell, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers and Darrell Hammond were just a few of the all-stars during those seasons – Dratch created one of SNL’s most enduring characters with in Debbie Downer, a never look on the bright side type who could sink even the happiest occasion with a gloomy observation. “Did you factor in the loss of life at the hands of the African diamond industry?”, Debbie might say to a newly engaged family member, at Thanksgiving no less.

Darren Criss and Julianne Hough – both currently starring on Broadway, he in American Buffalo, she in POTUS -will co-host the pre-Tony Awards livestream special on Paramount+ next month.

EXCLUSIVE: James Morosini, the writer, director and star of the splashy SXSW comedy I Love My Dad, has signed with Anonymous Content for management.

Curtains up, light the lights! Stars like Hugh Jackman, Jesse Williams and Rachel Dratch were among the performers honored when the 2022 Tony Award nominations were announced on Monday, May 9.

75th annual Tony Awards, which recognizes the best in live theater over the past year. After the pandemic derailed the 2020 season, the Broadway world is back on track with new and returning star-studded productions resuming performances in New York City. The road to recovery, however, wasn’t without its setbacks. Despite resuming performances, many productions were paused due to coronavirus outbreaks among the cast and crew, forcing the eligibility period to be extended from April 28 to May 4.That said, the Broadway world is pushing forward and celebrating the achievements of the 2021-2022 season. Among this year’s top nominees are, which earned 11 nominations, the most for any original musical or eligible production, and garneredeight nominations, the most for any original play.

Julianne Hough steps out in a bright yellow dress for the opening night party for POTUS held at The Shubert Theater on Sunday (May 1) in New York City.

Marilyn Stasio Theater CriticI am woman, hear me roar — with laughter, at “POTUS: or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” playwright Selina Fillinger’s delicious feminist farce about the all-female staff that keeps the country out of war and other sticky situations while babysitting the dullard who holds the highest office in our beleaguered land. Playing characters largely unknown to the public within the world of the play are actors Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White and Vanessa Williams.

If “The West Wing” was made into a live stage show, banned all men and snorted a line of coke before the curtain went up, it might look something like “POTUS,” the hyperactive new farce that opened Wednesday on Broadway.One hour and 45 minutes, with one intermission. At the Shubert Theatre, 225 W 44th Street.Selina Fillinger’s weird and wired comedy imagines a White House fiasco, in which the president — we never meet him or anyone else with a Y chromosome — publicly makes a crass remark about the first lady (Vanessa Williams) and leaves a crew of panicked women staffers to clean up his PR mess.And what a mess it is.

Like some strange brew blend of VEEP, Noises Off and one of the late Charles Ludlam’s outrageously vulgar (and still sorely missed) Ridiculous Theatrical Company follies, Selina Fillinger’s all-female, star-packed political satire POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive is an occasionally glorious mess of a farce, sometimes chaotically funny and other times as what-were-they-thinking?? goofy as the last segment of a Saturday Night Live episode.

Vanessa Williams and Rachel Dratch are promoting their new Broadway comedy POTUS!

Julianne Hough, making her Broadway debut in the comedy POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, has tested positive for Covid and will miss several preview performances of the play.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaMagnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to “I Love My Dad,” one of the biggest breakouts from this year’s SXSW.Critics loved “I Love My Dad” reserving particular praise for the direction of James Morosini and for Patton Oswalt’s lead performance. The movie, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature as well as the Narrative Feature Competition Audience Award at the festival, certainly gets points for originality.

For Colored Girls, Ntozake Shange’s brilliant work isn’t even just a play, but rather a series of monologues that also incorporate music and dance.The show is a modern-seeming musical of sorts, and it’s impressive that it still feels fresh and timely, as it was originally performed in New York in 1976. The title features seven women who have all faced adversity due to sexism and racism, and while everyone should see it, the event is not running very long, just for 20 weeks.A post shared by for colored girls – Broadway (@forcoloredgirlsbroadway) LGBTQ audiences have a lot of reasons to go see Take Me Out.

Julianne Hough raises her champagne glass in a toast to her new Broadway play POTUS while attending a celebration following the first preview performance.

Nick Grad, president of original programming at FX, announced on Thursday that the network has ordered the pilot of an untitled half-hour comedy written by writer/director Lauren Ludwig. The project is a metaphysical comedy about a group of queer 20-somethings forced by the most unlikely source to confront their generational anxieties and unpack their emotional baggage. Ludwig will executive produce along with Chris & Paul Weitz through their production company Depth of Field.

FX has ordered the pilot of an untitled half-hour comedy written by Lauren Ludwig (American Auto, Rob Riggle’s Ski Master Academy).

Producers of the upcoming Broadway comedy POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive have moved up the show’s opening night, becoming eligible for 2022 Tony Award nominations.

The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the 2021-22 season will be Thursday, April 28, leaving the May opening of POTUS outside of this year’s race.

and starring in movie musicals like and, Julianne Hough is taking her many talents to the stage with her Broadway debut in the upcoming play,. “This has been a dream of mine, to do Broadway and be on Broadway,” the performer tells ET’s Rachel Smith. And with that in mind, Hough is embarking on a whole new chapter in her life after deciding this is what she wanted to do next.

Vanessa Williams is making her return to Broadway as the first lady and one of “the women in charge of the man in charge of the free world” in, a new comedy from playwright Selina Fillinger. “It is really wonderful to be a part of something that is so innovative,” she tells ET’s Rachel Smith about the ensemble production directed by Susan Stroman and also starring Julianne Hough, Julie White, Lea DeLaria, Lilli Cooper, Rachel Dratch and Suzy Nakamura. Together, they play the seven women forced to deal with an unexpected PR nightmare and keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble after the use of a four-letter word rocks the White House.“We see all the ladies behind the scenes, and that’s what this all is about,” Williams says, before teasing what’s said that kicks off the whole show. “I don’t wanna give away the first line of the play, but we go right there.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhile putting his life back together following a suicide attempt, an unstable young man named Franklin (James Morosini) meets a girl online who starts to make him feel better. Her name is Becca, she’s way prettier than he thinks he deserves, and she seems really interested in him. How or why this person chose Franklin, out of all the incels on Facebook, doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.

Roger Ebert used to say it’s not what a movie’s about but how it’s about it. I found that thought inescapable throughout the entirety of “I Love My Dad,” a comedy about a desperate father who reconnects with his estranged son by catfishing him, pretending to be a hot girl who the young man comes to believe to be his girlfriend.

Julianne Hough is heading to Broadway!

Rachel Dratch, Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White and Vanessa Williams will star in the just-announced Broadway comedy POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive this spring.

The secret society of Saturday Night Live. Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch aren’t on SNL anymore, but membership in the club is lifelong.

“A Clüsterfünke Christmas” may sound like a new film where Santa’s getting dirty, but executive producers and former “Saturday Night Live” cast members Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch promise its “wholesome fun.”

Tina Fey and Seth Meyers step out to support pals Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer at the screening of their new movie, A Clüsterfünke Christmas, over the weekend.

Katie Song Comedy Central announced its annual 31-day holiday extravaganza, featuring two new movies: “A Clüsterfünke Christmas,” debuting Dec. 4, and “Hot Mess Holiday,” premiering Dec.

mock church back in 2015 with “Saturday Night Live” alum Rachel Dratch and this time, he and Dratch have a new venture — a church called “Our Lady of Perpetual Health” that will offer a bogus health care sharing ministry program, JohnnyCare. The HBO host brought Dratch back as part of a bit to raise awareness of not only how easy it is to create a tax-exempt church, but specifically to call out Florida for its lack of regulation around health care sharing ministry programs.

EXCLUSIVE: Saturday Night Live alums Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer have teamed to write, executive produce and star in A Clüsterfünke Christmas, described as “a celebratory parody of the corny and ubiquitous traditional TV movie holiday romance genre.” Vella Lovell (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story) and Ryan McPartlin (L.A.’s Finest) also star in the MTV Entertainment Studios movie, which has started production in Vancouver with Anna Dokoza directing.

Patton Oswalt is toplining and starring alongside writer-director James Morosini in I Love My Dad, a dramatic comedy that just wrapped principal photography in Syracuse, NY. Claudia Sulewski, Rachel Dratch, Ricky Velez also star along with Lil Rel Howery and Amy Landecker.

Saturday Night Live has poked fun at The Shining for a new skit starring Maya Rudolph.The star, who was a former regular player in the US comedy show, returned over the weekend to host.As part of her stint, she starred in sketch ‘The Maya-ing’, which took on the style of the Stanley Kubrick film as Rudolph is visited by some familiar SNL faces.Among them are Tina Fey (as former SNL writer Gloria Zelwig), Kristen Wiig (who parodies the spooky twin girls) and Rachel Dratch (who appears in the

A monthlong hiatus and the switch to daylight saving time took a toll on Saturday Night Live’s overnight ratings. The show’s March 27 telecast, with Maya Rudolph as host, Jack Harlow as musical guest and appearances by Martin Short, Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch, drew a 3.6 household Live+Same Day rating in the 44 metered local markets and a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Maya Rudolph took a stroll down memory lane as she closed out Saturday Night Live – with the help of a few friends.

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticEXCLUSIVE: Five short comedic plays written by The View‘s Joy Behar will be streamed as a benefit for the East Hampton, New York, arts and community venue Guild Hall, with performances by Behar, Lorraine Bracco, Dylan McDermott, Bob Balaban, Susie Essman, Robert Klein, Brenda Vacarro, Chris Bauer, Danny Hoch and Rachel Dratch.Guild Hall: A Totally Disrespectful Evening of Short Plays by Joy Behar, directed by John Gould Rubin, will stream on Oct.