• GRACE NOTES: Thursday, June 18, 2026

     

    Today’s Highlights:

     

      Labelless, by Lea Lachey & Drew Lachey, directed by Drew Lachey & Lea Lachey, featuring Justin Daxt Bobbs, Nasir Butler, Antonio Davis, Micah Day, Abby Docherty, Diana Hutchinson, Iz Lachey, Kendall Maley, Colton Smith, and Kiwi Villalobos, opens at Off-Broadway’s The Duke on 42nd Street & New 43nd Studios (229 W. 42nd St.).

     

      Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous, by Pearl Cleage, directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, featuring Denise Burse (Betty Samson), Olivia Washington (Precious “Pete” Watson), Deborah Joy Winans (Kate Hughs), and Charlayne Woodard (Anna Campbell), with Pauline Dyer and Monica Parks, opens at LA’s Geffin Playhouse.

     

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      A public forum for Amy Sherald’s American Sublime, directed by  Zhailon Levingston, will take place Mon. June 22 at 8 PM NYC’s the Delacorte Theater.

     

       Leland Fowler, The Harlem Chamber Players, Niles Luther, Alicia Hall Moran, Jurnee Smollett, and Anthony Wayne.

     

      The piece began somewhere between Big Fish and Alice in Wonderland, a space of dreaming, transformation, humor, and folklore. I’m looking forward to seeing it expand and inviting the audience into a shared encounter with figures who are simultaneously ordinary, mythic, and deeply human,” says creator  Amy Sherald.

     

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      Dukes, written & performed by Jane Wickline & Liva Pierce, will run July 8 – Aug. 2 at SoHo Playhouse, directed by Henry Hornbuckle & Mabel Lewis.

     

      Two friends and one piano. One dream and two fools. Two geniuses and one huge mistake.  A two-person musical comedy about hope, lust, and dreams.

     

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       Defiantly Joni: A Singer/songwriter Bares Her Soul will run July 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, and 19 at the Mark Taper Forum.

     

      Chris Pierce, Effie Passero, and the DC6 Singers Collective. 

     

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       Musical Theatre West has announced its 2027 season:

     

    Creative teams and casting TBA.

     

      The Prince of Egypt (Feb. 19 – Mar. 7), by Stephen Schwartz, Philip LaZebnik, & Nichoal Meyer.    An epic journey of faith, family, and freedom featuring Academy Award-winning music by Stephen Schwartz. Experience the powerful story of Moses like never before.

     

       West Side Story (Apr. 9-25)

     

       School of Rock (July 9-25)

     

      Kimberly Akimbo (Oct. 8-24

     

      Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Dec. 3-19)

     

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      Open Door Playhouse will present Terrence Owen Sherry’s Strange Bedfellows beginning July 1, directed by Bernadette Armstrong.

     

      Daamen Krall ( John Adams), David Trice (Benjamin Franklin), Hessel Evelear (Innkeeper), and Justice Davis (Handyman).

     

       One night during the early years of the American Revolution, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin are compelled to share a room at a crowded inn. While the men have different temperaments, they are dedicated to the cause for the revolution.

     

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       The Thelma Houston Experience will run June 19-20 at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club, with music direction by Gail Deadrick.

     

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       The world premiere of Thelma & Louise, reimagined by Raphael Amahl Khouri, will run Sept. 3 – Oc. 24 (opening Sept. 16) at the Young Vic, directed by Trip Cullman.

     

     Amy Lennox (Thelma) and Rachel Tucker Louise),with Trevor Dion Nicholas, Jordan Luke Gage,  Samuel Edwards, Alex Gibson-Giorgio, Letita Hector, Tamlyn Henderson and Jack Butterworth.

     

      On a whim, Louise invites her best friend Thelmafor a spontaneous weekend getaway. After an ill-fated encounter with a stranger at a roadside honkytonk, their lifelong friendship is forged into something dangerous and unbreakable. Propelled by a soaring musical score, they set out on a last-chance adventure in a world where every card is stacked against them.

     

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      Dancers Responding to AIDS will present the  2026 Fire Island Dance Festival, to run July 18-19 at NY’s Fire Island.

     

    Robbie Fairchild, New Chamber Ballet and many more TBA.

     

      The newly announced works spanning contemporary ballet, physical theater and boundary-pushing dance, adding even more artistry and range to this year’s lineup.

     

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       The Outsiders, byAdam Rapp, Justin Levine, and Jamestown Revival Revival, will run Sept 30 – Oct. 18 at The Pantages Theatre, directed by Danya Taymor.

     

      Noah Pacht (Ponyboy Curtis), Johnny Cake (Caleb Mathrua), Dan Berry (Darrel Curtic), SeQuoiia (Dallas Winston), Emma Pittman (Cherry Valance), Sutton James Kaylor (Sodapop Curtis), Daryl Tofa (Two-Bit Matthews), and Victor Carrillo Tracey (Paul).

     

       This classic coming-of-age story takes you to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1967, where Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their family of Greaser “outsiders” dream about who they want to become in a world that will never accept them.

     

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       Victoria Lynne Barclay’s Camping, currently in previews, will open July 11 at Here Arts Center, directed byAdrienne Campbell-Holt.

     

       Alice Kremlberg and Colby Minifire.

     

      This is a love story. It’s hands that smell of Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue after days spent clutching fistfuls of her hair. It’s the rain hitting the earth in a way that reminds you of blood, that makes you think the world’s holding a knife to your underwear. It’s the spins. It’s running out of air because you gulped too much of it while you were sobbing. It’s waking up hot and sticky. It’s desperately falling in love with your best friend inside a camping tent while everything outside rages.

     

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       LA Opera‘s Carmen will run Oct. 17 – Nov. 7 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan.

     

     Rihab Chaieb (Carmen), Joshua Guerrero (Don José), Kathleen O’Mara ( Micaëla), and James Karai (Escamillo).