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Tony Award winners Linda Lavin and Stephanie J. Block are among the cast announced today for the world premiere production of Sarah Silverman’s Off Broadway musical The Bedwetter. Sami Bray, who appeared on Broadway in the 2017 production of 1984, and Zoe Glick (of Broadway’s Frozen) will share the role of Sarah, the 10-year-old title character inspired by Silverman.

The casting was announced by the Atlantic Theater Company.

Based on Silverman’s bestselling memoir, The Bedwetter begins performances on Saturday April 25 for a limited engagement at the Linda Gross Theater, with opening night set for Wednesday May 20. The musical will run through Sunday June 14.

Other cast announced today: Ashley Blanchet (Frozen), Rick Crom (HBO’s Divorce), Darren Goldstein (Continuity), Taylor Paige Henderson (Off-Broadway debut), Charlotte MacLeod (Off-Broadway debut), Ellyn Marie Marsh (The Rose Tattoo), Charlie Pollock (Pretty Woman The Musical) and Emily Zimmerman (Off-Broadway debut).

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Those who might have wished otherwise are out of luck: Louis C.K. is just going to keep talking. And the comedian’s newest material has aroused more anger than laughs, thanks to leaked audio from a recent performance which reveals C.K. thinks that cruel jokes about gender pronouns, school shooting survivors, and the genitalia of Asian men are now funny. When Andy Richter takes the time to explain why your jokes are hacky, you know you’ve crossed a line.

It’s true that like many comedians, C.K. is likely still developing his material on stage — the leaked set isn’t the final product the way his televised specials are. But it still represents what’s been really depressing for those who used to admire his work: Specifically, the way in which he seems to have completely lost the ability for empathy.

It was C.K.’s empathy...

Fred M. Caruso, a writer and producer best known for penning The Big Gay Musical, has died in an apparent suicide, multiple outlets report. He was 41. Caruso wrote a lengthy suicide note that appeared on The Big Gay Musical's Facebook page early Tuesday morning, explaining that he has considered "ending things for awhile." "For my most of my life I have been absolutely miserable - exact [sic] for when I was creating," he wrote. "I have nothing left in me to create. I truly don't think I have any idea what love or happiness is. I have been incredibly lonely...

Fred M. Caruso, a writer and producer best known for penning The Big Gay Musical, has died in an apparent suicide, multiple outlets report. He was 41. Caruso wrote a lengthy suicide note that appeared on The Big Gay Musical's Facebook page early Tuesday morning, explaining that he has considered "ending things for awhile." "For my most of my life I have been absolutely miserable - exact [sic] for when I was creating," he wrote. "I have nothing left in me to create. I truly don't think I have any idea what love or happiness is. I have been incredibly lonely...

Has it really been 20 months since Louie, a strong contender for the greatest show currently on TV (half-hour meta-comedy about a stand-up that runs on FX division) graced our airwaves? How time flies when you're busy watching long-running sitcoms disappoint their fans with so-so finales and chemistry teachers-turned-drug lords go out in a blaze of glory. The return of Renaissance man Louis C.K.'s brilliant, Beckett-like series is a cause for celebration, and as the back-to-back episodes that kicked off its fourth season last night confirmed, the time off has paid off,...

Is Louis C.K. hoaxing us?

By now, you’ve probably watched “Back,” the season premiere of Louie. (And if you haven’t, go watch it before we spoil things for you.) And you know that the highlight of the episode is the frank, funny discussion about masturbation that Louie shares with other comedians, including Sarah Silverman, Rick Crom, Nick Dipaolo, Jim Norton, and William Stephenson, at a poker table. (Norton, who recently spoke to me on Entertainment Weekly’s SiriusXM radio show TV Editor’s Hour, says the scene was inspired by the long-running real-life weekly poker games that Stephenson plays with other comedians,...

Stand-up comedy has always been predominantly a straight man’s game. And because of that it has always been a treacherous place for Lgbt audiences. Let’s face it, “gay panic” and straight men’s squeamishness with homosexuality have been go-tos for guaranteed barroom laughs for decades.

Gay jokes may still be low-hanging fruit for straight comics but in recent years there has been a pronounced shift in the way that the broader culture frames its discussion of gay people. This article is a survey of recent “gay” material from popular straight male comedians. Some of the routines discussed here will be offensive to some readers. Some of them are offensive, period. But I’ve chosen to highlight comics and routines that I feel signify a shift – however slight – in how gay people are discussed in straight stand-up. Some of these men seem to sincerely support gay rights and gay people,...

After well-received guest stints on “Glee” and “The Sopranos,” Perez Hilton is hardly a novice thespian. But his latest project could very well be his most ambitious foray into performing yet.

This month, the celebrity blogger and multimedia entrepreneur will sing, dance and act in “NEWSical the Musical,” Rick Crom’s off-Broadway comedy which skewers the latest celebrity and political scandals among other other current events. Describing “NEWSical” as “a lot like ‘Saturday Night Live,’ but with music,” Perez speaks with the confidence of a Broadway veteran -– perhaps not surprising given that the 34-year-old originally dreamt of a stage career, having earned his Bfa in acting from New York University.

Taking a breather from a busy rehearsal schedule that includes singing lessons, Perez talked exclusively to HuffPost Gay Voices about the Drama Desk-nominated show, his new compilation CD, his role within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (Lgbt) community...

After years of development, Clyde 'n Bonnie A Folktale premiered in suburban Atlanta at Aurora Theatre on March 15. Aurora Theatre first encountered the show in 2009 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the annual showcase of potential Broadway hits, like the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning Next to Normal. Clyde n Bonnie is the musical brainchild of Broadway stars Hunter Foster and Rick Crom.BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the production below...

After years of development, Clyde 'n Bonnie A Folktale premiered in suburban Atlanta at Aurora Theatre yesterday, March 15. Aurora Theatre first encountered the show in 2009 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the annual showcase of potential Broadway hits, like the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning Next to Normal. Clyde n Bonnie is the musical brainchild of Broadway stars Hunter Foster and Rick Crom.

After years of development, Clyde 'n Bonnie A Folktale is set to premiere in suburban Atlanta at Aurora Theatre on March 15, 2012. Aurora Theatre first encountered the show in 2009 at the prestigious New York Musical Theatre Festival, the annual showcase of potential Broadway hits, like the TonyTM Award and Pulitzer Prize winning Next to Normal. Clyde n Bonnie is the musical brainchild of Broadway stars Hunter Foster and Rick Crom, and so has attracted world-class talent throughout its development.

Though Bonnie amp Clyde closes on Broadway tomorrow, December 30, the story of the infamous duo will live on at Georgia's Aurora Theatre in 2012. Bonnie amp Clyde A Folktale has attracted an impressive creative team for the premiere of this new musical at Aurora Theatre in March 2012. Storied Broadway veteran, award-winning Lonny Price will direct, while the magnificent Josh Rhodes, having worked on the show through development, will choreograph. It is no wonder the project has attracted world-class talent. The musical is the brain child of Broadway stars Hunter Foster and Rick Crom. Aurora Theatre Associate Producer Ann-Carol Pence joins as musical director. She discovered the show while attending the New York Musical Theatre Festival, a place where new shows like Tony Award-winning Next to Normal got their start.

That's Hilarious! No Way! It's Offensive! Well, Actually It's Complicated

Everyone knows that two of the trickiest subjects to talk about in mixed company are religion and politics. But when it comes to what we obsess about cover on AfterElton.com, I'd actually say comedy might be one of the toughest to discuss (that and whether or not there should be a U.S. version of Torchwood).

All you have to do to see that is look at the comments on our last post about Family Guy which generated very heated discussion. That same issue came up twice this week, first with a discussion of gay male sexuality and the use of the word "faggot" on the new FX series Louie, and then again on an episode of The Boondocks that joked about prison rape.

When it comes to the use of the word "faggot" I don't like hearing it...

***Warning*** This post discusses important plot points from the second episode of FX's new comedy series Louie.

"What's that feel like anyway? A dick in the ass?" blurts out a straight man during the second episode of FX's new comedy series Louie, based on the life of stand-up comie Louis C.K.

And thus kicks off one of the most extraordinary discussions of gay male sexuality and the use of the word "faggot" ever seen on television (at least outside of pay cable programming).

While the premise of the series isn't exactly ground-breaking — a stand-up comic plays a character pretty closely based on his real life — the first ten minutes of the second episode of Louie (titled "Poker/Divorce") are something truly ground-breaking.

The episode opens as Louie and his group of comic friends are sitting around playing poker and BSing each other in the sexually graphic way many straight men...

Comedian Louis C.K. has always been painfully funny (emphasis on “pain”) — at least on the stage. Most would argue that the HBO sitcom Lucky Louie failed to translate the C.K. brand of comedy to the sitcom format, though the sparsely titled autobiographical Louie is an entirely different creature: half standup, half sketch comedy.

Hit the jump for a review of the first four episodes, the first two of which premiere Tuesday June 29th at 11/10c on FX.

C.K. is credited as writer, director, even editor in the first four episodes. He brings a lot of himself to the sitcom, borrowing from his life as a standup comic, as a father, and as a miserable middle-aged white man.

The show incorporates filmed segments of C.K.’s standup act, filmed more intimately than you might see on a Comedy Central special, which loosely set up vignettes (two per episode...

"Ragtime" and "The Scottsboro Boys" came up big as the nominees for the 55th annual Drama Desk Awards were announced today. The short-lived Broadway revival of the Terrence McNally musical and the new Off-Broadway tuner each received nine nominations, more than any other production.The nominees were announced by actors Brian Stokes Mitchell and Cady Huffman at the Friars Club in New York. It was also announced that Drama Desk members have voted this year to present special ensemble awards to the casts of "Circle Mirror Transformation" and "The Temperamentals." The awards will be presented May 23 in a ceremony hosted by Patti LuPone at the Laguardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.The complete list of nominees is below.Outstanding play:Alan Ayckbourn, "My Wonderful Day"Annie Baker, "Circle Mirror Transformation"Lucinda Coxon, "Happy Now?"John Logan, "Red"Geoffrey Nauffts, "Next Fall"Bruce Norris, "Clybourne Park"Outstanding musical:"American Idiot""Everyday...

Rick Crom (Urinetown, The Goodbye Girl), Marina Franklin ("Chappelle's Show") and Erica Watson (upcoming film Push) headline A Hip-Hop Def Comedy Jam at the Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street) on Sunday, June 7, 2009 from 4:00 pm until 6;30 pm. Presented by the production team behind the new play Twin Towers, the event benefits the New York-based non-profit Enact, where actors use role-play and drama therapy techniques to help New York City students learn emotional and social skills.