The Big Show Show Season 1: Production Complete

Ben Giroux
2003 Donna Reed Scholar

Cast include Donna Reed Alumnus Ben Giroux

The Big Show Show is all about the heavyweight WWE star Paul Wight aka Big Show. The story revolves around the WWE star and his teenage daughter who comes home to live with him, along with his wife and other two daughters. Giroux is cast as Coach Fener.

Giroux, from Phoenix, AZ, was a 2003 Donna Reed Scholarship recipient in Acting. On camera, he recurs as The Toddler on Nickelodeon’s “Henry Danger”, Superintendent Bonavich on Disney’s “Coop & Cami Ask The World”, Little Zach on the CW’s “Hart of Dixie”, and the Dark Warrior on Disney’s “Mighty Med”.
Read his bio.

Aretha Franklin Biopic ‘Respect’ Wraps Production

Saycon Sengbloh
1966 Donna Reed Scholar

Cast includes Donna Reed Alumnus Saycon Sengbloh

Respect (to not be confused with Nat Geo’s upcoming Genius: Aretha sequence starring Cynthia Erivo) follows Franklin’s life from singing in her father’s church, to turning into one of the vital iconic figures within the music trade. The MGM biopic is ready to launch in theaters on October 9, 2020.

Sengbloh was a 1966 Donna Reed scholarship winner in Acting and Musical Theatre. She has starred in a number of Broadway musicals. Her breakthrough came in 2015, when she was cast in Eclipsed, a play about five Liberian women and their tale of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War.

Come From Away Celebrates Three Years on Broadway

De'Lon Grant
2002 Donna Reed Scholarship finalist

Cast includes Donna Reed Scholar De’Lon Grant

The Broadway production of the international hit musical Come From Away recently celebrated three years on Broadway. The musical, which tells the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the Newfoundland town that welcomed them in the immediate aftermath of September 11, officially opened on Broadway March 12, 2017.

Grant, from Duluth, MN, was a 2002 Donna Reed Scholarship finalist in acting. He has appeared in a touring production of "Jersey Boys," and a production of "The Scottsboro Boys," where he played leader Haywood Patterson.

Read Playbill article

Final Casting Announced for OTHER WORLDS at Bucks County Playhouse

Kristen Faith Oei
1999 Donna Reed Scholar

Kristen Faith Oei will appear in the world premiere production of the new musical-comedy adventure, "Other World." The musical, which celebrates the ability to find heroes in unexpected places, begins performances at the Playhouse on March 13 and run through April 11 with an official opening night on March 28.

Oei, a Fremont, Calif. native, and 1999 Donna Reed Foundation National Award recipient in Dance, most recently appeared in the Broadway production of “Spiderman:Turn Off The Dark”, understudying chorus and dance roles.

Read the Broadway World article

‘Black No More’ musical to premiere Off-Broadway

Brandon Victor Dixon
1999 Donna Reed Finalist

Cast includes Donna Reed Scholarship Alumnus 

Brandon Victor Dixon will appear in a modern musical adaptation of “Black No More,” a 1931 novel by George S. Schuyler satirizing race relations and a symbol of the Harlem Renaissance. It will receive its world premiere in the fall in an Off-Broadway production by the New Group. It will have a book by Oscar winner John Ridley( “Twelve Years a Slave”) and choreography by Tony winner Bill T. Jones (“Spring Awakening”). The cast will also include Jennifer Damiano (“Next to Normal”) and Theo Stockman (“Hair”).

Dixon, from Gaithersburg, Maryland, was a 1999 Donna Reed Scholarship finalist in Musical Theatre.

Santino Fontana Comes to Bay Area Cabaret

Santino Fontana
2000 Donna Reed Acting Finalist

Versatile star with Donna Reed Scholarship ties

Tony winner Santino Fontana will make his San Francisco concert debut at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel May 10. 

Santino Fontana won the 2019 Tony Award for his performance as "Michael Dorsey"/"Dorothy Michaels" in Tootsie, and a Tony nomination for his leading role as "Prince Topher" in Cinderella.

Fontana, from Richland, WA, was a 2000 Donna Reed Scholarship finalist in acting.

Read full Broadway World article