Today’s Highlights:
MCC Theatre‘s The Bridges of Madison County benefit reading, directed by Bartlett Sher, featuring Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale, with Ephie Aardema, Jennifer Allen, Whitney Bashor, Charlie Franklin, Kevin Kern, Caitlin Kinnunen, Katie Klaus, Derek, Klena, Luke Marinkovich, Michael X. Martin, Cass Morgan, Aaron Ramey, and Dan Sharkey, at 7 PM at Carnegie Hall.
The People Versus Lenny Bruce staged reading, by Susan Charlotte, directed by Antony Marsellis, featuring Stephen Dexter (Lenny Bruce) Timothy Doyle (Jules Feiffer), Michael Citriniti (Herbert Ruhe), Greg Mullavey (Richard H. Kuh), Roberta Wallach (Dorothy Kilgallen), and Jack Wetherall (Marty Garbus/Narrator), at 7 PM at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (West 64th St. at Central Park West).
Red Bull Theater’s The Boys From Syracuse benefit concert, directed by Jesse Berger, featuring Murray Abraham, Delphi Borich, Steven Boyer, Eddie Cooper, Nikki Renee Daniels, Damon Daunno, Stephen DeRosa, Christopher Fitzgerald, Santino Fontana, Julie Halston, Nikki M. James, Ben Jones, Mark Linn-Baker, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Bonnie Milligan, Sarah Stiles, John Yi, …and more, at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space.
Emily Goglia Presents The Limelight Club concert, with special guests Benny Lipson, Juliette Goglia, and the legendary Harmony Boys (Aaron Matajasic, Al Rahn, Gabriel Oliva, and Michael Hoy). Goglia’s accompanist is Anthony Zediker, at 8 PM at West Hollywood’s Bar Lubitsch.
**********************
Pop Music Moonlighters by Jim Bernhard
Match pop music singer/songwriters with the Broadway musicals they have written.
| 1. Fats Waller | A. The Capeman |
| 2. Duke Ellington | B. Kinky Boots |
| 3. Paul Simon | C. Tarzan |
| 4. Edie Brickell | D. Taboo |
| 5. Cyndi Lauper | E. Really Rosie |
| 6. Bono | F. Bright Star |
| 7. Carole King | G. Early to Bed |
| 8. Barry Manilow | H. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark |
| 9. Boy George | I. Copacabana |
| 10. Phil Collins | J. Pousse-Café |
Scroll down for the answers…
**********************
Matthew Morrison: Rhythms & Revelations will run Dec. 27 – Jan. 8 at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Michael Lavine.
The performance on Dec. 28 will also be livesteamed.
**********************
One Knight Only! Sir Ian McKellen Onstage with Gandalf, Shakespeare, and YOU will take place Fri. Jan. 30 at 7 PM at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.
McKellen will share his illustrious 60-year career and reprise some of his most iconic roles. In addition, McKellen will present a free performance of One Knight Only for more than 600 Chicago-area students and teachers.
**********************
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas will run Dec. 18-21 at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre, directed byDavid Ralphe.
Joey Langford, Jack Rodgers, Dawn Michelle, KiSea Katikka, Peter Fair, Beth Stockton, Anna Marie Melendrez, Lexi Windisch and Will Palo.
**********************
Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon’s The Shark is Broken will run Mar. 4-22 (opening Mar. 8) at Laguna Playhouse, directed by Peter Flynn.
TBA.
**********************
The world premiere of Anna Zeigler’s Antigone (This Play I Read in School) will run Feb. 26 – Mar. 22 (opening Mar. 11) at the Public Theatre, directed by Tyne Rafaeli.
Ethan Dubin (Cop 3/Achilles), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Chorus), Katie Kreisler (Cop 1/Proprietor), Susannah Perkins (Antigone), Dave Quay (Cop 2/Palace Guard), Tony Shalhoub (Creon), Calvin Leon Smith (Haemon), and Haley Wong (Ismene).
Anna’s adaptation of Antigone pulls this ancient text into our modern moment without gimmick or reduction,” shares director Tyne Rafaeli. “By channeling what made the original so radical, she has created a singular theatrical world that straddles ancient Thebes and modern America and asks the most important question of our time: what is a citizen to do in the face of an unjust law? She does so with wild imagination, humor, sophistication, and visceral force. For the Greeks, theater was a democratic imperative, a space for the public to collectively process their world. Today, there is no better home for this play than The Public—one of the last true civic gathering places we have. I am thrilled to be working with The Public on this astonishing play that has survived millennia for a reason.”
**********************
An Evening with Len Cariou, both live & livestreamed, will take place Tues. Dec. 16 at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s Laurie Beechman Theatre.
Penny Fuller and Lee Roy Reams.
**********************
The world premiere of Anna Ziegler’s This Play I Read in High School will run Feb. 27 – Mar. 22 (opening Mar. 11) at NYC’s Public Theatre, directed by Tyne Rafaeli.
TBA.
The story of Oedipus’ daughter Antigone through a bold new lens. Written by award-winning playwright Anna Ziegler, this lyrical epic follows a fiercely independent young woman determined to control her own body in a kingdom ruled by archaic laws that regulate women’s autonomy. Incisively witty and breathtakingly intelligent, the play paints a world that is both modern and ancient; a world of lost leaders, hapless cops, and one very righteous daughter on an all-night bender.
**********************
Nico Juber’s Millenials Are Killing Musicals will run May 2-17 at Burbank’s Colony Theatre, directed by Kristin Hanggi.
Casting and additional information TBA.
The incredible true story that inspired it, Catch Me If You Can is a high-flying, splashy Broadway musical that tells the story of Frank W. Abagnale, Jr., a teenager who runs away from home in search of the glamorous life. With nothing more than his boyish charm, a big imagination and millions of dollars in forged checks, Frank successfully poses as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer – living the high life and winning the girl of his dreams. But when Frank’s lies catch the attention of FBI agent Carl Hanratty, Carl chases Frank to the end … and finds something he never expected.
**********************
Winner: The winner has been announced for DC’s Signature Theatre’s 2025 SigWorks; Musical Theater Lab, which offers writers an opportunity to focus on the artistic development of a brand-new musical over a two-week period.
Winner: hag, by Kate Douglas & Grace McLean.
A horror-comedy musical about the cultural fear of aging and decay. It’s Lois’s 50th birthday party, and she’s throwing her party at Chili’s. There’s a karaoke machine! Sure, Lois and her husband are getting a divorce, but it’s fine. Sure, her son’s just gone off to college, but it’s fine. Everything is really, really, really fine! But Lois is keeping a secret from all of them: she’s turning into a wolf! A chorus of hags moonlighting as waitresses at Chili’s gleefully steward Lois into this new bloody beginning.
**********************
Cameron Watson has been announced as the new Artistic Director of LA’s Skylight Theatre Company as of Jan. 1.
**********************
All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain will run Jan. 15-25 at LA’s Broad Stage.
Patrick Page.
This 90-minute tour de force exploring the twisted motivation and hidden humanity in Shakespeare’s greatest villains.
**********************
ANSWERS: Pop Music Moonlighters by Jim Bernhard
1-G. Fats Waller Early to Bed
2-J. Duke Ellington Pousse-Café
3-A. Paul Simon The Capeman
4-F. Edie Brickell Bright Star
5-B. Cyndi Lauper Kinky Boots
6-H. Bono Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
7-E. Carole King Really Rosie
8-I. Barry Manilow Copacabana
9-D. Boy George Taboo
10-C. Phil Collins Tarzan