Today’s Highlights:
Hairspray, directed by John Waters, featuring Katy Geraghty (Trace Turnblad), Richard Kind (Edna Turnblad), John Bolton (Wilber Turnblad), Charity Angél Dawson (Motormouth Maybelle), Sara Gettelfinger (Velma Von Tussle), Madison Thompson (Amber Von Tussle), Ben Jackson Walker (Link Larkin), Ashlyn Maddox (Penny Pingleton), Nicholas A. Wilkinson (Seaweed J. Stubbs), Paul Schwensen (Corny Collins), Elizabeth Rhodes (Little Inez:), Hannah Solow (Female Authority FigureP, and Kevin Zak (Male Authority Figure), opens at The Muny,
A Walk on the Moon, by Pamela Gray & Ann Marie Milazzo, directed by Sheryl Kaller, featuring Talia Suskauer (Pearl Kantrowitz), Max Chernin (Marty Kantrowitz), Sam Gravitte (Walker), and Andréa Burns (Lillian), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Laura Pels Theatre.
Luigi: The Musical reading, by Luigi Mangione & Nova Bradford, directed by Bradford, featuring Mike Cefalo (Luigi Mangione), Andre Margatini (Sam Bankman-Fried), Cnine Koro (Diddy), and Philip Taratula (The Guard), begins its 3-night run at NYC’s Green Room 42.
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Grace Notes Quiz: First Name First, by Jim Bernhard
Match these characters in plays and musicals with their first names.
| 1. Col. Pickering in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady | A Eugene |
| 2. Babcock in Auntie Mame and Mame | B. Boris |
| 3. Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner | C. Marcellus |
| 4. Bloom in The Producers | D. Hugh |
| 5. Trigorin in The Sea Gull | E. Max |
| 6. Belch in Twelfth Night | F. Emile |
| 7. Marchbanks in Candida | G. Sheridan |
| 8. De Becque in South Pacific | H. Dwight |
| 9. Detweiler in The Sound of Music | I. Leo |
| 10. Washburn in The Music Man | J. Toby |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Mexodus, written & performed by Brian Quijada & Nygel D. Robinson, will run July 8 – Aug. 22 (opening July 12) at the Pasadena Playhouse, directed by David Mendizábal.
Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson
A unique story of the Underground Railroad that led south, taking 4,000 to 10,000 enslaved people to seek freedom in Mexico. This groundbreaking musical amplifies the story of a freedom seeker and an unlikely ally as they forge a remarkable bond that transcends borders.
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Opening Night at the Bowl: The Best of Broadway will take place Sat. June 20 at 8 PM at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted byThomas Wilkins.
Halle Bailey, Darren Criss, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Lea Salonga.
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The studio cast recording of Kait Kerrigan, Bree Lowdermilk & Elizabeth Sayre’s The ERNXST, or The Importance of Being Being Earnest (Studio Cast Recording) has been released on all platforms.
J. Harrison Ghee, Jeff Hiller, Ryan McCartan, and Joy Woods.
The album re-imagines the classic farce to break down traditional boundaries around gender and identity. An electro-pop romp through manners and misgivings in the search for love.
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The Return of Classic Broadway will take place Sun. June 28 at 1 PM at Studio City’s The Velvet Martini Lounge, with music direction by Brad Elllis.
Dianne Fraser, Julie Garnye, and Eydie Alyson.
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Slam Frank, by Andrew Fox & Joel Sinensky will return to the Orpheum Theatre on Oct. 9, directed by Sam LaFarge.
TBA.
The work follows a performatively progressive community theatre trying to decolonize Frank’s diary, was inspired by a viral thread on Twitter asking the incendiary question, “Did Anne Frank ever acknowledge her white privilege?”
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The Fiddle and the Drum will take place Tues. Sept. 22 at 8 PM at LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Renée Fleming and banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck.
A celebration of Appalachian folk music.
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The studio cast album of Ernxst, Or The Importance Of Being, by Kait Kerrigan, Bree Lowdermilk & lJustin Elizabeth Sayre, a new queer adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, has been released on Concord Theatricals, and also be can be streamed or downloaded here.
J. Harrison Ghee, Emmy winner Jeff Hiller, Tony winner Bonnie Milligan, Ryan McCartan, Joy Woods, Anna Zavelson, Wren Rivera, and Tony winner Beth Leavel. Bonus tracks feature Ari Notartomaso, Jesse James Rose, Anania, Krysta Rodriguez, Andy Mientus, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and Ryan McCartan.
An electro-pop romp through manners and misgivings in the search for love, expanding Wilde’s vision by breaking down boundaries around gender and identity.
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Click here to learn How to buy Tickets to Every 2026 Tony Award-winning Broadway show.
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Slam Frank, by Andrew Fox & Joel Sinensky, will return Oct. 4 to the Orpheum Theatre, directed again by Sam La Frage.
TBA.
A performatively progressive community theatre tries to decolonize Frank’s diary, was inspired by a viral thread on Twitter asking the incendiary question, “Did Anne Frank ever acknowledge her white privilege?” The incendiary work reimagines Anne Frank’s story through an “intersectional, multiethnic, genderqueer, Afro-Latin hip-hop lens.”
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Film Strips 2: Back in the Habit of Electric Boogaloo, featuring The Skivvies (featuringNick Cearley & Lauren Molina), will take place Mon. July 20 at 9:30 PM at NYC’s Joes Pub, with music direction by Alex Harrington.
Matt Doyle, Maria Wirries, John Riddle, Nora Schell, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andy Mientus, and Kuhoo Verma.
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Click here to listen to the new Elaine Paige single, “Only a Lifetime” from Paige’s upcoming new album “Miscellaneous Paige“ featuring songs by Ben Platt, Carole King, and more.
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The cast album of Jeffrey Scharf’s Reunions has been released digitally here.
Bryan Fenkart (Sir Harry), Joanna Glushak (Dona Laura), Chilina Kennedy (Kate), Courtney Reed (Lady Sims), Daniel Torres Edward/Juanito), and Chip Zien (Don Gonzalo), with Janet Aldrich, Keith Lee Grant, and Pearl Rhein.
A musical adaptation of two famous one-acts, The Twelve Pound Look, by J.M. Barrie, and A Sunny Morning, by the Quintero Brothers. Both follow a common theme of rediscovering a life not lived, with each act of Reunions focusing on a different story. The production ran Off-Broadway at New York City Center Stage last Fall, directed & choreographed by Gabriel Barre.
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I Put A Spell On You, by Jay Armstrong Johnson, will return for it’s 11th year on Mon. Oct. 12 at NYC’s Webster Hall, in support of The Ali Forney Center. 
Tickets will go on sale in Sept. (date TBA).
TBA.
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Grace Notes Quiz answers, First Name First by Jim Bernhard
1-D. Col. Hugh Pickering in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady
2-H. Dwight Babcock in Auntie Mame and Mame
3-G. Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner
4-I. Leo Bloom in The Producers
5-B. Boris Trigorin in The Sea Gull
6-J. (Sir) Toby Belch in Twelfth Night
7-A. Eugene Marchbanks in Candida
8-F. Emile De Becque in South Pacific
9-E. Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music
10-C. Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man