In Brief: Martin Scorsese goes looking for shipwrecks, and more

Martin Scorsese will return to Polizzi Generosa, the Sicilian town where his grandparents were born, to film a documentary about ancient shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea, according to Variety. The untitled project is based on research by U.S. archaeologist Lisa Briggs, who uses scientific tools, such as DNA analysis, on artifacts recovered from ancient shipwreck sites “to reconstruct stories of ships, sailors, cargoes, and maritime trade in the ancient world,” per the outlet. Shooting is expected to begin this summer …

Deadline reports singer-actor Nick Jonas will join Adrienne Warren, the latter best known for her Tony-winning turn in the Broadway show Tina, in the first-ever Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown’s popular off-Broadway musical, The Last Five Years. Jonas and Warren will play rising author Jamie and aspiring actor Cathy, respectively, “two New Yorkers who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.” Jonas’ other theater credits include Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying …

Hiram Kasten, a comedian/actor who also guest starred on a number of popular TV shows, died June 16 at his home in Batavia, New York at the age of 71, according to Deadline. A cause of death was not revealed, but Kasten’s wife tells the outlet that he had been battling “a multitude of illnesses, including prostate cancer,” for seven years. Kasten, a good friend of Jerry Seinfeld, appeared on Seinfeld’s titular sitcom as a co-worker to Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Elaine Benes. Other guest starring roles included Mad About You, Everybody Loves Raymond, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and L.A. Law …