This combination photo shows actor Lin-Manuel Miranda at the "Mary Poppins Returns" premiere in London on Dec. 12, 2018, left, and TV late night host Jimmy Fallon at the opening night of "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical" in New York on April 23, 2018. (AP Photo)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show" will air an episode next year from Puerto Rico including an exclusive performance with Lin-Manuel Miranda reprising his role in "Hamilton."
NBC announced Monday evening that Miranda and the new touring cast will appear in the episode Jan. 15. The telecast will focus on Puerto Rico's recovery efforts to rebuild and raise awareness after Hurricane Maria massively struck the island in 2017.
The episode will delve into how the deadly hurricane devastated Puerto Rico through widespread damage.
Miranda will reprise his lead role in "Hamilton" at the University of Puerto Rico from Jan. 8 to 27. The performances look to raise money for the Flamboyan Arts Fund to benefit the art, artists and arts institutions.
Merman has officially announced the signing of director Ritesh Gupta for commercial representation in the U.S. Gupta had joined Merman last year but was working on a feature film for most of 2024 so the production company held off until now on making the signing public.
The director is a former award-winning sports journalist and creative director. He’s created noteworthy campaigns from Budweiser’s viral “Dwyane Wade: This Bud’s for 3,” which he directed, to the multi-award winning Beats by Dre campaign “You Love Me,” which Gupta worked on as group creative director at the agency Translation. The “You Love Me” film, which was directed by Melina Matsoukas, earned a primetime commercial Emmy nomination in 2021 as well as a DGA Award win for PRETTYBIRD director Matsoukas. This marked the second Emmy nod for Gupta. Back in his MTV days he was a producer on a documentary, Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan, which garnered a News & Documentary Emmy nomination.
As a director, Gupta’s approach is to layer a truthful authenticity ingrained during his time as a journalist--along with an emotional intelligence he honed storytelling in the documentary world--to craft his own evocative and unique cinematic style. In addition to his two Emmy nods, he has netted four Webbys, six AICP wins, eight Cannes Lions, 25 Clios and recognition from ADCOLOR and the ANDYs.
“Ritesh brings a unique perspective to his storytelling,” said Merman global director Ellen Clarke. “He has the ability to identify the multilayers of a narrative and its characters, weaving them impactfully together. His strength lies in his connection to the talent’s performance and discovering the authenticity within the story.”
