Today’s Highlights:
Film Strips 2: Back in the Habit of Electric Boogaloo concert, with music direction by Alex Harrington, featuring The Skivvies ( fNick Cearley & Lauren Molina), with special guests Matt Doyle, Maria Wirries, John Riddle, Nora Schell, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andy Mientus, and Kuhoo Verma. at 9:30 PM at NYC’s Joes Pub.
Gingold Theatrical Group‘s reading of Noël Coward’s This Was a Man, directed by David Staller, featuring Wesley Taylor (Evelyn Bathurst),AJ Shively (Edward Churt), Jane Bruce (Lady Morgot Butley), Stella Everett (Carol Churt), Vanessa Kai (Zoe St. Merryn), and Carman Lacivita (Harry Challoner), with Lor Robert Romford, at 7 PM at NYC’s Players Club.
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It’s Elementary by Jim Bernhard
Complete these show titles with one of the four classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire, or Water:
1. ____ for Elephants, musical by Rick Elice and PigPen Theatre Co.
2. The Good ____, play by Owen Davis and Donald Davis
3. Handful of ____, play by N. Richard Nash
4. A Glass of ____, play by Eugene Scribe
5. The Spirit of the ____, play by George Loder
6. The ____ Engine, play by David Mamet
7. Thunder in the ____, play by Robins Millar
8. Hot ____, play by Helena Dayton and Louise Bascom Baratt
9. The ____ Between, play by Virgil Geddes and Eugene O’Neill
10. A Little ____ on the Side, play by William Collier and Grant Stewart
Scroll down for the answers…
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Noises Off will run Aug. 19 – Sept. 6 at MA’ Barrington Stage Company, directed by Gordon Greenberg.
Erin Davie (Belinda Blair), Abby Leigh Huffstetler (Poppy Norton-Taylor), Nehal Joshi (Garry Lejeune, )Lesli Margherita (Dottie Otley), Orville Mendoza (Selsden Mowbray), James Joseph O’Neil (Frederick Fellowes,) Geoff Packard (Lloyd Dallas), Jennifer Sánchez (Brooke Ashton), and Evan Alexander Smith ((Tim Allgood.
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, by Rachel Sheinkin, will now run though Sept. 6 at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages, directed & choreographed by Danny Mefford.
Kevin McHale (William Barfée), Jon Cryer (Vice Principal Douglas Panch), Laura Marano (Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre), Philippe Arroyo (Chip Tolentino), Leana Rae Concepcion (Marcy Park) and Matt Manuel (Mitch Mahoney).
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An I-Max screening of “The Odyssey” will take place Fri. July 31 at 2 PM at LA’s The Grove (189 The Grove Drive).
Matt Damon (Ocysseus), Anne Hathaway (Queen Penelope of Ithaca, Odysseus’s wife), Tom Holland (Telemachus, Odysseus’s son), Robert Pattinson (Antinous) Zendaya (Athena), Lupita Nyong’o (Helen of Troy/Clytenmestra), Samantha Morton (Circe), and John Leguizamo (Eumaeus), and more…
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Rent will run Aug. 13 – Sept. 13 at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse, directed & choreographed by Jennifer Weber.
Austin Turner (Roger Davis), Sam Primack (Mark Cohen), Alysia Velez (Mimi Marquez), Owen Scales (Tom Collins,) David Merino (Angel Schunard), Veronica Otim (Joanne Jefferson), Tiernan Tunnicliffe (Maureen Johnson) and Kevin Trinio Perdido (Benjamin Coffin III), with Dré Hinds, Aubrey Jones, ack Hopewell, Michael Marrero, Lauren Soto, and Sunayna Smith.
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Composer Tom Kitt: My Life: the Musical 2026 will take place Mon. Aug. 10 at 8 PM at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
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Video Chanel: For those of you who are Marilyn Michaels fans, check out her YouTube channel for more than 50 videos.
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Birthright, by Jonathan Spector, has been extended through Aug. 23 at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater, directed by Teddy Bergman.
Hale Appleman, Molly Bernard Eli Gelb, Abbi Jacobson, Liz Larsen), Nate Mann, and Zoë Winters.
The play holds up a mirror to our times and captures the combustible dynamics of modern friendship and chosen family: the longing to understand each other, the fear of saying the wrong thing, and the pain of realizing that love does not always guarantee agreement. The play asks whether connection is still possible when every conversation feels like it could be the one that breaks everything apart.
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Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre has announced its 2026-27 season:
Casting TBA.
Top Dog / Underdog (Sept. 17 – Nov. 1), directed by Kenny Leon, featuring Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood. Brothers Lincoln and Booth, named in jest, are two Black men living in America just trying to get by. Lincoln dresses like his namesake, reenacting his assassination for money and laughs. Booth stays stuck in their apartment, working tirelessly on his three-card hustle. Sibling rivalry and a lifetime of resentment come to a head in this fast-paced and ferocious thrill ride from Suzan-Lori Parks.
Adirondack Chair Circle,(Oct. 22 – Dec. 6) directed by Pam MacKinnon, featuring Audrey Francis and Caroline Neff. Beneath the charcuterie boards, backyard soirees and pickleball, there’s a funny feeling bubbling underneath this seemingly perfect facade. Is it the pressure to save her children from the beliefs of the school district? Or is it just that suspicious crow watching her every move? A piercing world premiere from a playful Chicago voice, Stephanie Alison Walker’s Adirondack Chair Circle exposes the hilarious hypocrisy of the clubs we join and the company we keep. And has a damn good time doing it.
The Comeuppance (Feb 4 – Mar 21, 2027), by Branden Jacobs-Jenins, directed by Tina Landau, featuring Celeste M. Cooper, Caroline Neff, Karen Rodriguez and Namir Smallwood. The piece revolves around five millenial former classmates who formed “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group,” in high school. On the eve of their 20th reunion in Maryland, they gather to drink and reminisce, ultimately confronting the brutal reality of aging and their own mortality.
Ellen B. (april 1 – May 29), by Marius von Mahenburg, directed by Whiteny White. Astrid, a teacher, lives with Klara, her considerably younger partner—and also her former student. When Wolfram, the school’s headmaster, drops by for a visit, he brings with him uncomfortable accusations, and the search for truth erupts into a wicked game of power and desire. In this psychological thriller with no easy answers, internationally-lauded playwright Marius von Mayenburg touches the nerve between past and present, professional and private, truth and lie.
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Answers It’s Elementary by Jim Bernhard:
- Water for Elephants, musical by Rick Elice and PigPen Theatre Co.
- The Good Earth, play by Owen Davis and Donald Davis
- Handful of Fire, play by N. Richard Nash
- A Glass of Water, play by Eugene Scribe
- The Spirit of the Air,play by George Loder
- The Water Engine, play by David Mamet
- Thunder in the Air, play by Robins Millar
- Hot Water, play by Helena Dayton and Louise Bascom Baratt
- The Earth Between, play by Virgil Geddes and Eugene O’Neill
- A Little Water on the Side, play by William Collier and Grant Stewart