This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, April 2
Amour virtual production, by Michel Legrand, Jeremy Sams & Didier van Cauwelaert, directed by Meg Fofonoff, featuring Derrick Baskin (The Painter), Drew Gehling (Dusoleil), Kara Lindsay Madeleine), Kevin Massey (Bertrand), Adam Pascal (Prosecutor/Charles), Christiani Pitts (Isabelle), Jennifer Sánchez (Claire), Thom Sesma (Boss/Policeman), Vishal Vaidya (Doctor Roquefort/Monsieur Le President/Policeman), and Rachel York (The Whore), begins streaming at 8 PM ET here.
Blindness, a socially distanced sound and light live experience, adapted by Simon Stephens, opens at Off-Broadway’s Daryl Roth Theatre.
Saturday, April 3
The MisMatch Game Online benefit game show, featuring Julie Brown (Queen Elizabeth), Danny Casillas (Reba Areba), Jackie Clarke (Liz Taylor), Maile Flanagan (Danny Bonaduce), Danielle Gaither (Wendy Williams), and Tom Lenk (Zooey Deschanel), begins streaming at 7 PM PT here.
Revenge, a new FREE benefit thriller reading by Bruce Kimmel, featuring Linda Alznauer, Rox Carney, Clayton Conroy, Larry Eisenberg, Kait Hare, Doug Haverty, Clara Rodriguez, and Harley Walker, streams at 5 PM PT here.
“Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal” conversation, with special guests Aaron Tveit, Jeremy Pope, and Kathryn Gallagher, Daryl Roth, Derek DelGaudio, Orfeh, and Andy Karl, begins streaming at 6 PM ET here (and available through Apr. 4)
Sunday, April 4
The MisMatch Game Online benefit game show, featuring Jackie Beat (Bea Arthur), Danté (Jack Nicholson), Nadya Ginsburg (Cher), Rebekah Kochan (Pamela Anderson), Felix Pire (Ricardo Montalbán), and Marc Samuel (Morgan Freeman), streams at 7 PM PT here.
“Follies at 50: A Conversation with the Cast and Crew” of the Original Broadway Production, hosted by Charles Kirsch, featuring Marti Rolph (Young Sally), Kurt Peterson (Young Ben), Susan L. Schulman (Press Agent), Mary Jane Houdina (Young Hattie/Assistant to Michael Bennett), Michael Misita (Young Vincent), Joanna Merlin (Casting Director), and Ted Chapin (Production Assistant/Historian), streams for FREE at 7 PM ET here.
Amour virtual production, by Michel Legrand, Jeremy Sams & Didier van Cauwelaert, directed by Meg Fofonoff, featuring Derrick Baskin (The Painter), Drew Gehling (Dusoleil), Kara Lindsay Madeleine), Kevin Massey (Bertrand), Adam Pascal (Prosecutor/Charles), Christiani Pitts (Isabelle), Jennifer Sánchez (Claire), Thom Sesma (Boss/Policeman), Vishal Vaidya (Doctor Roquefort/Monsieur Le President/Policeman), and Rachel York (The Whore), concludes streaming here.
Jericho, by Jack Canora, directed by Marsha Mason, featuring Jill Eikenberry, C.K. Allen, Eleanor Handley, Jason O’Connell, Michael Satow, and Carol Todd, concludes streaming on demand at New Normal Rep.
Passing Through (recorded live in 2019), by Brett Ryback & Eric Ulloa, directed by Igor Golden, featuring Max Chernin (Andrew), Garrett Long (Andrew’s Mom), Celeste Rose (Karie), and Jennifer Leigh Warren (Emma/Professor), with Joan Almedilla, Reed Armstrong, Ryan Duncan, Linedy Genao, Charles Gray, and Mary Jo Mecca, concludes streaming on demand at Goodspeed Musicals.
Home Sweet Homeland on-demand benefit presentation, by Joanna Rush, directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, featuring Jonathan Brody, Robert Cuccioli, James Rana, Laila Robins, Joanna Rush, Chuja Seo, Sophia Stzougros, and Mia Mel Williamson, concludes FREE streaming here.
Brooklyn — The Musical filmed production, by Mark Schoenfeld & Barri McPherson, directed by Dean Johnson, featuring Emma Kingston (Brooklyn), Marisha Wallace (Paradice), Newton Matthews (Street Singer), Sejal Keshwala (Faith), and Jamie Muscato (Taylor), concludes streaming here.
The MisMatch Game Online benefit game show, featuring Julie Brown (Queen Elizabeth), Danny Casillas (Reba Areba), Jackie Clarke (Liz Taylor), Maile Flanagan (Danny Bonaduce), Danielle Gaither (Wendy Williams), and Tom Lenk (Zooey Deschanel), concludes streaming at 7 PM PT here.
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Video: Stars in the House, with “The Amazing Race” game night, with Brittany Austin, Lucas Bocanegra, Chris Marchant and Trevor Wadleigh. (1:35:06)
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Video: Stars in the House, offering a Game Night, with special guests Tom Rock & Terry Cosentino and Brooke Camhi & Scott Flanary. (1:18:14)
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“Hemingway: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick,” a 3-part, 6-hour documentary, will premiere Apr. 5 on PBS.
The film examines the visionary work and turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway.
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for April:
HBO Max
The Bodyguard, the filmed West End production, starring Heather Headley.
“The Color Purple” film, starring Whoopi Goldberg. (also available on Hulu)
“Made for Love” 10-eisode series, starring Cristin Milioti and Billy Magnussen. A thirty-something woman is on the run after ditching her horrible marriage to a controlling tech billionaire who has implanted her with a tracking device that allows him to follow her emotional data.
“The Nanny,” offering all 6 seasons of the sitcom, starring Fran Drescher and Charles Shaughnessy.
“Mare of Eastown” (premieres Apr. 18), a limited series starring Kate Winslet, John Douglas Thompson, Jean Smart, Evan Peters, Guy Pierce, James McArdle, Neal Huff, and Eisa Davis. A small-town Pennsylvania detective investigates a local murder while trying to keep her own life from unravelling.
“Dreamgirls” film, starring Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson.
HULU
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” film, starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine, and Glenne Headly.
“The Preacher’s Wife” film, starring Denzel Washington, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines, Loretta Devine and Jenifer Lewis.
“Younger,” final season of the sitcom (premieres Apr. 15), starring Sutton Foster, Hillary duff, Nico Tortorello, Miriam Shor, and Debi Mazar.
“Wild Mountain Thyme” film (premieres Apr. 23), based on John Patrick Shanley’s play Outside Mullingar, starring Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan.
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” season 4 (premieres Apr. 28), starring lizabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, O-T Fagbenle, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Joseph Fiennes, and Bradley Whitford
Netflix
“Legally Blonde” film, starring Reese Witherspoon, Victor Garber, and Holland Taylor
“August: Osage County” film (premieres Apr. 27), starring Julia Roberts Juliette Lewis, Julianne Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margo Martindale, and Sam Shepart.
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A celebration of The Who’s 50th anniversary of The Who’s Who’s Next will stream Apr. 30 – May 2 at Long Island’s Bay Street Theater. This spectacular evening celebrating the groundbreaking album Who’s Next will be played track-by-track, note-for-note.
Constantine Maroulis, Lana Gordon, Justin Matthew Sargent, and Michael Wartella.
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RIP: Pat Collins, Tony-winning lighting designer, died Mar. 21 at the age of 88.
Pat’s work has been seen in over 30 Broadway productions, including I’m Not Rappaport, Doubt, Execution of Justice, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978), Into the Woods (West End 1990), Othello: A Dance in Three Acts (American Ballet Theater 1997), and Proof (2000).
After college, Ms. Collins spent time working as a stage manager for the Joffrey Ballet and worked under lighting designer Jean Rosenthal. Ms. Collins then made her Broadway debut with The Threepenny Opera in 1976, for which she earned a Tony nomination. She won the award in 1986 for I’m Not Rappaport and was nominated a third time for Doubt in 2005.
Ms. Collins’ prolific career spanned Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional and international theatres as well as a number of opera houses. She designed for Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, and London’s Royal Opera House. Her work was most recently seen in a Los Angeles production of Skintight at the Geffen Playhouse.
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“Live at The Lortel” has announced its upcoming podcast series in April, all of which stream Mondays at 7 PM ET here, hosted by Eric Ostrow, and offering theater fans the opportunity to view interviews and participate in a Q&A with artists.
Ryab Gaddad (Apr. 5)
Douglas Lyons (Apr. 12)
André De Shields (Apr. 19)
Sydney Harcourt (Apr. 26)
The series is dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and artists who stand in solidarity with the continued fight against institutional racism and racial injustice.
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“Gaslit” will premiere on Starz on a date TBA.
Dan Stevens (John Dean), Julia Roberts (Martha Mitchell), and Sean Penn (John Mitchell), with more TBA. Note: Dan Stevens has replaced Armie Hammer.
The story of Watergate.
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RIP: Louis St. Louis, Broadway composer, arranger and music director, died peacefully on Mar. 26 at the age of 78.
At the age of 14, Louis became the music director of Detroit’s Pentecostal Church. In the late 1960s he shifted his focus to musical theatre.
Louis was best known for the Broadway & film versions of Grease, and co-wrote (with Scott Simon) the song “Sandy,” performed by John Travolta. He also arranged the music for Smokey Joe’s Café, and played the piano in the original production. He also produced the “Grease 2” soundtrack, for which he wrote 5 original songs.
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Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater will present a new dramatization of John Milton’s poem “Paradise Lost,” adapted & directed by Michael Barakiva.
With its exquisite language and Shakespearean scale, John Milton’s epic poem explores the fundamental questions of the human experience: What is evil? If God is all-powerful, why did he allow evil to exist? Do humans have free will? Is our life predestined? Dubbed “an immorality play” by adapter/director Michael Barakiva, this new adaptation will be presented in two parts:
Part 1: The Fall of Lucifer (Mon. Apr. 12 at 7 PM ET), featuring Jason Butler Harnar, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Stephen Bel Davies, Sheldon Best, Gisela Chípe, Robert Cuccioli, Carol Halstead, Gregory Linington, Daniel José Molina, Sam Morales, Howard Overshown, and Cherie Corinne Rice.
Part 2: Eve and Adam (Mon. Apr. 26 at 7 PM ET), featuring Sam Morales, Howard Overshown, and Cherie Corinne Rice.
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Off-Broadway’s Clubbed Thumb will present the world premiere of Rinne B. Groff’s 3-part presentation of The Woman’s Party, to stream in 3 parts on Apr. 22, Apr. 29, and Apr & May 6, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad.
Rosalyn Coleman, Alma Cuervo, Laura Esterman, Marga Gomez, Marceline Hugot, Emily Kuroda, Lizan Mitchell, Socorro Santiago, Rebecca Schull, and Connie Winston.
1947 is the year that the savvy politicos of the National Woman’s Party will finally get the ERA passed—once they quash that insurgency. Or oust the old guard. Failure is Impossible.
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Leslie Odom, Jr. and Nicolette Robinson welcomed the arrival of Able Phineas, born March 25.
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Aleshea Harris’ Brother Brother will stream Apr. 26 – July 25 at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury.
André De Shields, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Amari Cheatom, and Owen Tabaka.
The new work follows brothers Jim and Wally, who are traveling Appalachia by a tandem bicycle, stopping to play shows on their way to make it big in Tennessee. When a man in a maroon suit starts following them, they come face-to-face with their pasts.
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Several theatres are revoking their membership to the LA Stage Alliance due to a number of slights made during the recent Ovation Awards.
The LA STAGE Alliance Board of Directors has responded to the controversy with the following statement:
“LA STAGE Alliance takes full responsibility for the mistakes made in the Ovation Awards presentation on Tuesday, March 30. We sincerely apologize to Jully Lee and to the AAPI community, as well as to our members, voters, and the community at large.
A written apology can only do so much, especially when there are underlying issues that need to be addressed. LA STAGE Alliance takes its dedication to equality and support of its diverse theatre community and representations seriously. With that in mind, effective immediately, LA STAGE Alliance will focus on undertaking a visible and transparent transformation so it can be held accountable to the community it serves.
Click here to read the entire article.
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An all-star lineup of predominantly LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC artists will appear in a virtual presentation of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart on Sat. May 8 at 5 PM PT here, directed by Paris Barclay.
The presentation is in support of ONE Archives Foundation and Invisible Histories Project, which both honor the legacies of HIV/AIDS activists through education and outreach resources.
Jeremy Pope, Laverne Cox, Sterling K. Brown, Jake Borelli, Vincent Rodriguez III, Guillermo Díaz, Ryan O’Connell, Daniel Newman, Jay Hayden, and Danielle Savre.
The play chronicles a man’s slow response to the AIDS epidemic as he struggles to create support for himself and his illness.