• GRACE NOTES: Tuesday, July 8, 2025

     

    Today’s Highlights:

     

    Relax, let go, let fly…

     

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      Samuel D. Hunter’s Little Bear Ridge Road will begin previews Oct, 7, and open Oct. 30 at the Booth Theatre, directed Joe Mantello.

     

      Laurie Metcalf (Sarah), Micah Stock (Ethan), John Drea (James) and Meighan Gerachis (Paulette), with more TBA.

     

      This is the story of an estranged aunt and nephew who reunite during the COVID-19 pandemic to settle their late father/brother’s estate in rural Idaho. Despite a history of emotional distance and a crumbling family home, they find themselves drawn to each other as they navigate grief, shared history, and the challenges of a changing world. The play explores themes of connection, loneliness, and the search for meaning, all while grappling with the complexities of family relationships and the impact of isolation. 

     

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       Theater Books for your Summer 2025 Reading List.

     

    Click here for the complete list.

     

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      Chris Phillips’ A Contemporary Riff on Sex, Lies & Videotape will run July 30 – Aug. 3 at the AMT Theatre, directed by Aaron Benham.

     

      TBA

     

      A married couple from Los Angeles, Stephen and James, invite Stephen’s brash actor friend, Kody, and James’s former fraternity brother, Ellis – once an entitled entrepreneur, now a spiritually-minded, recovering sex addict — for a weekend at their Palm Springs home to celebrate James’s forty-fifth. Unknown to Stephen, James engages in extramarital adventures with anonymous hookups and Kody, while Stephen, increasingly frustrated in his role as ornamental house-husband, finds himself first unnerved by Ellis’s blunt honesty, then drawn to his refreshing candor. As the weekend progresses, the walls come down and the gloves come off as the four men bristle under the weight of the roles all of them have played for far too long.

     

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       The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present a panel discussion for the 50th Anniversary of Broadway’s A Chorus Line. on Fri. July 25 from 3-4 PM. Tickets will be available (free registration is required) for this special opportunity to see original cast members.  Moderated by Richard Jay-Alexander.

     

    Panel: Kelly Bishop, Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez, and Donna McKecknie

     

    Click here for additional details.

     

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      Additional programing has been announced for The Williamstown Theatre Festival, which will run July 10 – Aug. 3.

     

    Click the link above for complete information.

     

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      A reading of Michael Friedman’s musical Stranger will take place Wed. July 23 at 4 PM at NYC’s Library for the Performing Arts (Bruno Walter Auditorium), directed by Trip Cullman.

     

    Lindsay Mendez, Andrew Barth Feldman, Analise Scarpaci, and more.

     

      The story of a family who is visited by a beautiful and seductive young man. When the Stranger vanishes as mysteriously as he appeared, the lives of each family member are changed forever.

     

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       James Graham’s Punch will run on Broadway & in London simultaneously later this year, directed by Adam Penford in both London & on  Broadway.

     

    The Broadway production is scheduled for this Fall (dates TBA) at Broadway’s Friedman Theatre and also Sept. 22 – Nov. 29 at London’s Apollo Theatre.

     

      London: Alec Boaden (Raf/DS Villers/Sam), Julie Hesmondhalgh (Joan/Nan), Tony Hirst (David/Derek/Tony/Raf’s Dad), Shalisha James-Davis (Clare/Nicola), Emma Pallant ( Wendy/Sandra/Jacob’s Mum), and David Shields (Jacob).

     

      Broadway: Julie Hesmondhalgh ( Joan/Nan), Tony Hirst (David/Derek/Tony/Raf’s Dad), Shalisha James-Davis (Clare/Nicola), Emma Pallant (Wendy/Sandra/Jacob’s Mum & David Shields Jacob).

     

      The work follows a Nottingham teenager whose impulsive punch leads to fatal consequences and a prison sentence. After his release, Dunne connected with the victim’s parents and sparked a profound transformation. The sell-out world premiere at Playhouse ignited discussions across the U.K. regarding one-punch murders, even reaching the House of Commons.

     

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      Charles Strause,  David Newman, Robert Benton & Lee Adams’  Superman will run Aug. 1 – 10 at the Broadwater Theatre, directed by TBA.

     

    Casing TBA.

     

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      Joy Behar’s My First Ex-husband will run July 14-19 at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.

     

      Joy Behar, Susan Lucci, Veanne Cox, and Jackie Hoffman.

     

      The play distills hours of real-life interviews into monologues that reveal the heartbreak, humor and resilience found in life’s biggest twists.

     

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      Lindsay Warren Baker & Amanda Jacobs’ Austin’s Pride will run July 25 – Aug. 24 at Stages St. Louis, directed by Igor Goldin, with choreography by Lisa Shriver.

     

      Olivia Hernandez (Jane Austen), Delphi Borich (lizabeth Bennet), Dan Hoy(Fitzwilliam Darcy), Addie Morales (Jane Bennet), Cole Thompson (Charles Bingley), Sarah Ellis (Caroline Bingley), Mary Bennet, and Mrs. Gardiner), Kate Fahey as Lydia Bennet, Cali Noack (Kitty Bennet and Georgiana Darcy), Dianica Phelan (Cassandra Austen/  Charlotte Lucas), Paul Castree (Mr. Collins / Mr. Gardner), Kevyn Morrow ( Mr. Bennet),   Sally Wilfert (Mrs. Bennet / Lady Catherine de Bourgh), and Michael Burrell (George Wickham / Tom Lefroy), with with Travis Anderson, Matt Gibson, Keith Johnson,  Drew Tanabe, Brett Rawlings, Graham Keen, Abigail Isom, Jazmin Gorsline, and Caroline Santiago Turner.

     

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       James Graham’s Punch will begin previews Sept 9 and open Sept. 29 at  the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by  Adam Penford.

     

       Will Harrison (Jacob), Sam Robards (David), Lucy Taylor (Mum/Wendy), and Camila Canó-Flaviá (Clare/Nicola).

     

       As Jacob tears through Nottingham in a whirlwind of drugs, girls, and bar fights, he makes a fatal mistake that lands him in prison. But as he struggles to accept the consequences of his actions and build a new life, he finds an unusual source of salvation: the parents of the boy he killed.

     

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       Come from Away continues through July 14 at the St. Louis  Muny, directed by John Tartaglia, with choreography by Patrick O’Neill.

     

      Heidi Blickenstaff (Beverly), John Bolton (Nick), Ashley Brown (Diand), Andréa Burns (Bonnie), Trey KeLuna (Kevin J.), Alan H. Green (Bob), Adam Heller), Claude), Abigail Isom (Janice), Jacob Keith Watson (Oz), Tamika Lawrence (Hannah), Jason Tam (Kevin T.), Zoe Vonder Haar and (Beula), with Leah Berry, Spencer Davis Milford, and more…

     

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      James Graham’s Punch will run Sept. 9 -Jan. 4, 2026 (opening Sept. 29 ) at the Samual J. Friedman Theatre, directed by Adam Penford.

     

      Will Harrison (Jacob), Sam Robards (David), Lucy Taylor (Mum/Wendy), and Camila Canó-Flaviá (Clare/Nicola),

     

      As Jacob tears through Nottingham in a whirlwind of drugs, girls, and bar fights, he makes a fatal mistake that lands him in prison. But as he struggles to accept the consequences of his actions and build a new life, he finds an unusual source of salvation: the parents of the boy he killed.