• GRACE NOTES: Monday March 16, 2026

     

    Today’s Highlights:

     

      VA’s Signature Theatre‘s 2026 Stephen Sondheim Award Gala, honoring Vanessa Williams, hosted by Michael Urie, featuring Norm Lewis,Mark G. Meadows, Nova Y. Payton, and Awa Sal Secka, at 6 PM at DC’s The Anthem.

     

      54 Sings Lin-Manuel Miranda: Volume 3 livestream concert, at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below., featuring Jaci Maite Calderon, Kyle Castillo, Tré Frazier,  Isabel Gonzalez, Gabriela Henriquez, JP Lopez, Matte Martinez,  Melanie Moreno Gabriella Joy Rodriguez, Noah Simau, Vinny Supp, Cristina Vee, Joey B. Williams, Kaila Wooten, Danielle Yokley, and Bekah Zornosa.

      Rogue Machine‘s My Son the Playwright, world premiere by Justin Tanner, directed by Lisa James, featuring Mark Fite, Wayne Wilderson, and Peter Trencher, closes at LA’s Matrix Theatre.

     

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       I’m Just Wild About Harry by Jim Bernhard

     

    Match these characters named Harry with the shows they are in:

     

       1. Harry Beaton     A. Mamma Mia!
       2. Harry Bright     B. One Man, Two Guvnors
       3. Harry Brock     C. Ragtime
       4. Harry Dangle     D. Kiss Me, Kate
       5. Harry Hope     E. Inherit the Wind
       6. Harry Houdini     F. The Iceman Cometh
       7. Harry the Horse     G. Brigadoon
       8. Harry Trevor     H. Sweet Charity
       9. Harry Trott     I. Guys and Dolls
       10. Harry Y. Esterbrook     J. Born Yesterday

     

    Scroll down for the answers…

     

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       Gingold Theatrical Group will present a reading of  Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance on Mon. Apr. 20 at 7 PM at NYC’s The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South), directed by Carl Andress.

     

       Christopher Borg (Mr. Kelvil, M.P.), Charles Busch (Mrs. Arbuthnot), Rodd Cyrus  (Gerald Arbuthnot), Kate Hampton (Mrs. Allonby), Tom Hewitt (Lord Illingworth), John-Andrew Morrison (Archbishop Daubeny), Naima Randolph (Hester Worsley), Mary Testa (Lady Jane Hunstanton), Lenny Wolpe (Sir John Pontrefact), and Karen Ziemba (Lady Caroline Pontefract).

     

      A scandalous comedy of secrets and social scandal,  This witty play explores the shockingly archaic attitudes toward women in Victorian society. At the heart of the story, Lord Illingworth hires Gerald Arbuthnot as his private secretary—only to discover he is his illegitimate son! Long-buried truths about Mrs. Arbuthnot and Lord Illingworth surface, forcing everyone to confront past choices and consider their futures.

     

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      “Showstoppers: the Art of Stage oand Screen” continues through May 10 (both in-person and online) at NYC’s Helicline Fine Arts.

     

      Boris Aronson, Cecil Beaton, Leon Bibel, William Gropper, Edith Head, Al Hirschfeld, Mervyn Jules, Hilary Knight, Gaston Lachaise, Bob Mackie, Jo Mielziner, Anton Refregier, Irene Sharaff, Yves Saint Laurent, Tony Walton, Miles White, and Richard Whorf.

     

      The exhibition features more than three dozen works capturing the spectacle, glamour, and cultural force of Broadway, film, dance, opera, and popular entertainment.  Spanning the 1920s through the 1990s, Showstoppers brings together costume and set design drawings, illustrations, sculptures, and paintings inspired by performance. The exhibition reveals how visual artists helped define unforgettable moments on Broadway, in Hollywood, and beyond.

     

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      The Maltese Falcon, by Matthew Salazar-Thompson, directed by Todd Nielsen, has been extended through Apr. 5 at CA’s North Coast Rep,

     

      Richard Baird, Regina Fernandez, Louis Lortorto, Allison Scagliotti, Daniel A. Stevens, and Scott Paulson.

     

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      The world premiere of  John Patrick Shanley’s The Pushover will run Apr. 3-26 (opening Apr. 6) at the Chain Theatre, directed by Kirk Gostkowski.

     

      Rebecca De Mornay (Evelyn), Di D Zhu (Pearl), Christina Toth (Soochie), and Christopher Sutton (The Rapist).

     

       A play about three bad-ass women who collide and collude at a spa in New Mexico, and a bare-bones Asian restaurant in Queens. Dangerous and hungry, their weapons and their passions bleed into each other. They speak the language of the outcast, rough and sexual, and fight to survive, and to love.

     

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      Simply Barbra, starring Steven Brinberg, has announced its upcoming Spring tour dates.  This is a new show celebrating the 50th anniversary of Streisand’s “A Star is Born.”

     

      Apr. 10 at 8 PM at NYC’s Hunt and Fish Club (125 W. 44th St.), with special guest star Blake Stadnik.  here.

     

      Thurs. Apr. 23 at 6:30 PM at London’s Crazy Coqs.  here.

     

      Mon. Apr. 27 at Chicago’s Studebaker. here.

     

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       John A. Goux’s Broadway Bound! A Love Letter to American Musical Theatre will run May 8-May 10 at Theatre West, directed by Victoria Lavan.

     

       Constance Mellors, Caroline Quigley, Lily Cadot, Coko Kirton, Emily Fabretti, Scottie Nevil, Victoria Lavan, Anibal Silveyra, David Mingrino, Michael Gabiano, Michael Van Duzer, and Beto Ruiz, with special guest vocalists Zach Gordon, Toni Lorene, Jerrell Melton, Vertreace Sanders, Harleigh Ford, Alyssa Rupert, and DC Carver.

     

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      The world premiere of  did you charge your phone for the  end of the world?, written & directed by Fletcher Michael, will run Apr. 1-11 at the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival.

     

      Lucy Boisvert, Collin Dennis, and Fletcher Michael.

     

      The year is 2034. A city-demolishing asteroid is heading straight for Brooklyn. Rather than alerting the public to the impending catastrophe, the government delays the announcement until a boutique advertising agency can devise a suitably “positive” rebrand for the calamitous space rock. In a culture obsessed with optics, messaging, and spin, the play skewers the absurdity of image management in the face of existential threat, blending sharp satire with Infinite Monkey’s signature absurdist edge.

     

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      The Verdi Chorus will present Verdi in España, on Apr. 18 & 19 at Santa Monica’s First Presbyterian Church, conducted by Anne Marie Ketchum.

     

      The program will also feature operatic sequences from Verdi’sDon Carlo, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Ernani and Bizet’s Carmen along with selections from Spanish composers Catán, Granados, Giménez, Torroba and De Falla.

     

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       Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Theatre Company has announced its 2026-27 season:.  Casting creative teams TBA.

     

      John Proctor Is the Villain (September 11–26, 2026) by Kimberly Belflower (September 11–26)

     

      Little Shop of Horrors (Oct 23–Nov. 7)

     

       The ManWho Came to Dinner (Dec. 4-19), by by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman

     

      Mean Girls (Jan. 29 – Feb. 13, 2027)

     

      Eureka Day (Mar. 12-27) by Jonathan Spector.

     

      TBA (Apr. 30 – May 15)

     

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       Virginia Stage Company has announced its 2026-27 season:

     

    Creative teams and casting TBA.

     

       Come From Away (Sept. 2–21)

     

       The Heart Sellers (Oct. 7-18), by Lloyd Suh.    Two women who have never met sit down together in a tiny apartment. One is from the Philippines. The other from South Korea. Neither has ever celebrated Thanksgiving before. Neither wants to spend it alone.What follows is a night of laughter, awkward honesty, and the quiet courage of starting over in a new country.

     

       A Merry Little Christmas Carol (Dec. 2-23).    This imaginative, heartwarming retelling of Dickens’ classic brings Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey to life with a small cast, big storytelling, and just the right amount of theatrical magic. Ghosts appear. Memories return. And a stubborn old miser discovers that redemption might still be possible.

     

       The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Jan. 20 – Feb. 7, 2027).  Agatha Christie’s most infamous mystery arrives at the Wells Theatre, bringing with it the brilliant and eccentric detective Hercule Poirot. Filled with twists, secrets, and revelations that will keep audiences guessing until the very end, this stage adaptation delivers the delicious suspense of a classic whodunit. Just don’t assume you know the ending.

     

      John Proctor is the Villain (Mar. 3-14)   High school students are reading The Crucible. Then someone asks a dangerous question. What if John Proctor… isn’t the hero?

     

       Cabaret (Apr. 14 – May 2)

     

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      Answers:  I’m Just Wild About Harry by Jim Bernhard

     

    1-G. Harry Beaton – Brigadoon

     

    2-A.  Harry Bright – Mamma Mia!

     

    3-J.  Harry Brock – Born Yesterday

     

    4-B.  Harry Dangle – One Man, Two Guvnors

     

    5-F.  Harry Hope – The Iceman Cometh

     

    6-C.  Harry Houdini – Ragtime

     

    7-I.  Harry the Horse – Guys and Dolls

     

    8-D.  Harry Trevor – Kiss Me, Kate

     

    9-H.  Harry Trott – Sweet Charity

     

    10-E.  Harry Y. Esterbrook – Inherit the Wind