Today’s Highlights:
The The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttton, by Jethro Compton & Darren Clark, directed by Compton, featuring Andrew Durand (Benjamin Button / Reberthi.), Kelsee Kimmel (Elowen Keene / Sterenow), Britney Coleman (Gwyns), Matt Wolpe (Tir), Andrew Durand (Benjamin Button/Reverthi), Kelsee Kimmel with Trevor Lindley Craft, Brandon J. Ellis, and Andrew Furand (Elowen Keene ( Sterenow), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Public Theatre.
Like Father, by Jacob Ryan Smith & Caroline Pernick, directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, featuring Charity Angél Dawson (Lillian Clark), Hannah Elless ( Michelle), Benjamin H. Moore (Ben), Sophie Pollono (Chris), Frankie Rodriguez (Trevor), and Billy Harrigan Tighe (John Grady), with Mila Bolash, Aavyn Lee, and Nevaeh Riddle. begins previews at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.
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Starcadia, workshop, by Brayden Martino & John-William Gambrell, directed by Brayden Martino, featuring Tamar Greene (Saturn), Liz Gilmartin (Earth),’Teddy Wilson Jr. (‘Mercury), Michael Olaribigbe (Neptune), Kendall Grayson Stroud(Uranus), Melody Munitz (Mars),Melea Dessommes (Venus), and Teralin Jones (‘Jupiter), with Maddie Butterfield, Brayden Co, & Gia Marino, continues through Oct. 11 at Off-Broadway’s Masquerade (218 W 57th St.).
Down State, by Bruce Norris & Joe Mantello, will run Oct. 17 – Jan. 10, 2027 (opening Nov. 15) at the Booth Theatre, directed by Joe Mantello.
Cassie Beck, K. Todd Freeman, Francis Guinan, Adrian Martinez, Al’Jaleel McGhee, Thomas Sadoski, Ivy Wolk, and Liza Colón-Zayas.
Four men, living together uneasily in the pressure-cooker of a state-sanctioned group home, have been convicted of sex crimes against minors. They have served their prison sentences, but enjoying the freedom they believe they have earned proves both elusive and treacherous. When a survivor unexpectedly arrives and demands to confront his abuser, the encounter triggers a catastrophic chain reaction that cannot be contained.
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The Verdi Chorus will present From Verdi to Verismo concert Nov. 4 & 5 at Santa Monica’s First Presbyterian Church, led by Anne Marie Ketchum.
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Passing Strange, by Stew & Heidi Rodewald, with a new book, will run Nov. 4-29 (opening Nov. 8) at the Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Zhailon Levingston.
Ty Taylor (Narrator), Britton Smith Youth), and Saycon Sengbloh (Mother).
A young artist is searching for the real, but he can’t seem to find it at home in South Central LA. He sets out on a cross-continental journey of self-discovery full of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll in search of a life that’s bigger, louder, and entirely his own.
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Going Bacharach continues through Nov. 29 at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, directed by Zippel,
Hilary Kole, John and Pagano, Tay-Tynisa Wilson
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Rogue Machine will present the world premiere of Joy Gregory’s Saint Megan, to run Oct. 10 – Nov. 22 at the Matrix Theatre, directed by Lina Patel
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Shannon Lee Clair (Megan) and Emily Jerez (Emily), with Cairy Z, Rachel Sorsa, Cordelia Leigh, Meg Marlene, and Zack rocklin-Waltch.
The play explores belonging and the price of challenging the world we live in IA inspired by the story of Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, a hyper-Calvinist sect notorious for its outrageous picketing of military funerals. As the play’s Megan defends her faith online, her curious mind and honest conversations threaten her ties to her family and the only community she has ever known. Part family drama, part spiritual reckoning, part Twitter conversation—with music video parodies and Shaker dances—Saint Megan explores the long history of American Christian zealotry, our longing for salvation, and the moral courage it takes to face uncertainty. This play is a fictionalized dramatization inspired by real events and public figures. Certain scenes, timelines, and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
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Dolly: A True Original Musical, by Maria S. Schlatter, will begin previews Dec. 7 and open Jan. 19 at the St. James Theatre, directed by Bartlett Sher.
Katie Rose Clarke ( establishedDolly), Carrie St. Louis (Up-and-coming singer Dolly Parton), Norah Nunes (Little Dolly), John Behlmann (Carl Dean, Dolly’s husband), and Gabriel Ebert (Porter Wagoner).
From the top of the Smoky Mountains to the top of the world, Dolly captures how she dreamed, dared, stumbled, and soared.