This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, April 29
Girl From the North Country, written & directed by Conor McPherson, featuring Mare Winningham, Todd Almond, Colin Bates, Jeannette Bayardelle, Jennifer Blood, Alex Joseph Grayson, Matthew Frederick Harris, Caitlin Houlahan, Robert Joy, March Kudisch, Luba Mason, Ben Mayne, Matt McGrath, Tom Nelis, Jay O. Sanders, John Schiappa, Austin Scott, Housso Semon, Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Edward Staudenmayer, Rachel Stern, Anastasia Talley, Chiara Trentalange, Bob Walton, Aidan Wharton, Chelsea, and Lee Williams, re-opens at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre.
Afterwords, world premiere by Zoe Sarnak & Emily Kazmarek, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, featuring Andi Alhadeff (Kali), Mari Nelson (Lydia), Brandon O’Neill (Jimmy), Saxton Jay Walker (Franklin), Kirsten deLohr Helland (Kali’s Voice 1), Kerstin Anderson (Simone), Anastacia McClesky (Jo), Timothy Michael Keller (Kali’s Voice 2), Ashley Menestrina & Cara Diaz (The Process), opens at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, by Anna Deveare Smith, directed by Chris Butler & Jenny Sullivan, featuring Chris Butler, opens at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.
Miss Coco Peru: Bitter, Bothered & Beyond opens at Hollywood’s LGBT Center.
An Evening with Santino Fontana benefit concert, at 8:30 PM CT at St. Louis’ Sheldon Concert Hall. Note: Santino Fontana replaces the previously announced Laura Benanti.
“Jesus Christ Superstar: Highlights From the All-Female Studio Cast Recording,” featuring Morgan James (Jesus Christ), Shoshana Bean (Judas Iscariot), Cynthia Erivo (Mary Magdalene), Ledisi (Simon), Bridget Everett (King Herod), Orfeh, Debbie Gravitte, and more, released on all digital music services.
Ivan Hernandez concludes his run as Larry Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre.
Saturday, April 30
Manoel Felciano begins his run as Larry Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre.
SpeakEasy Stage‘s The Inheritance (Parts 1 & 2), by Matthew López, directed by Paul Daigneault, featuring Eddie Shields (Young Man 9/Eric Glass), Jared Reinfeldt (Toby), Benjamín Cardona (Young Man 2/Jason 1 / Paul / Doorman), Brandon Curry (Young Man 6/Trisan / Stage Manager), Travis Doughty (Young Man 3/Young Henry), Kees Hoekendijk (Young Man 5/Charles Wilcox/Peter West/Toby’s Agent), Ricardo “Ricky” Holguin (Young Man 8/Jason 2), Greg Maraio (Young Man 7/Jasper), Paula Plum (Margaret Avery), Jo Michael Rezes (Young Man 4/Young Walter), Dennis Trainor Jr. (Henry Wilcox), Mishka Yarovoy (Young Man 1/Adam/ Leo), and Mark H. Dold (Morgan/Walther), opens (in rep) at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion.
The Three Musketeers, adapted by Catherine Bush, directed by Laura Kepley, featuring Leraldo Anzaldúa, Isaac Baker, Sean Maximo Campos, Nehassaiu deGannes, Kristina Gabriela, Josh Innerest, Bridget Kim, Eli Lynn, Gustavo Márquez, Hassiem Muhmmad, Tom Myers, Mark rose, Jasmine Rush, Jordan Taylor, Dawn L. Troupe, and Noah Williams, opens at Cleveland Play House.
The Bedwetter, by Joshua Harmon, Sarah Silverman & Adam Schlesinger, directed by Anne Kauffman, featuring Ashley Blanchet, Rick Crom, Charlotte Elizabeth Curtis, Zoe Glick, Darren Goldstein, Caissie Levy, Charlotte MacLeod, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Bebe Neuwirth, Margot Weintraub, and Emily Zimmerman, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater.
Zoey’s Perfect Wedding, by Matthew Lopez, directed by Rob Ruggiero, featuring Esteban Carmona, Hallie Eliza Friedman, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Rachel B. Joyce, Blair Lewin, and Daniel José Molina, begins previews at Theaterworks Hartford.
Broadway Celebrates the Soraya concert, conducted by Richard Kaufman, featuring Eden Espinosa, Joshua Henry, and Megan Hilty, at 7 PM PT at Northridge’s The Soraya.
“Daddy” A Melodrama, by Jeremy O. Harris, directed by Danya Taymor, featuring Terique Jarrett, Claes Bang, Sharlene Whyte, John McCrea, Ionna Kimbrook, and Jenny Rainsford, with Rebecca Bernice Amissah, Keisha Atwell, and T’Shan Williams, closes at London’s Almeida Theatre.
Justice, by Bree Lawdermilk, Kate Kerrigan & Lauren Gunderson, directed by Melissa Crespo, featuring Nancy Opel (Sandra Day O’Connor), Joan Ryan (Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and Chanel Bragg (Vera), closes at Arizona Theatre Company (Phoenix).
Celebration Theatre‘s Buyer & Cellar, by Jonathan Tolins, directed by Katie Lindsay, featuring Mike Millan, closes at Hollywood’s Broadwater Second Stage.
Sunday, May 1
Goldie, Max & Milk, by Karen Hartman, directed by Jackson Gay, featuring Blair Baker, Lauren Molina, Timiki Salinas, Shayna Nicole Small, and Beatrice Ethel Tulchin, with Victoria Huston-Elem, and Nick Piacente, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters.
Tambo & Bones, by Dave Harris, directed by Taylor Reynolds, featuring W. Tré Davis (Tambo), Tyler Fauntleroy (Bones), Tim Kopacz (X1), and Alexander Neher (X2), begins previews at LA’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.
Musical Theatre Guild‘s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying concert reading, directed by Yvette Lawrence, featuring Travis Leland (Finch), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Rosemary), Melissa Fahn (Hedy), Thomas Ashworth (Biggley), Todd Gajdusek (Gatch), Bryan Chesters (Bratt), James Gleason (Twimble/Womper), Joshua Finkel (Bud Frump), Katie DeShan (Smitty), Jennifer Bennett (Miss Krumholtz), Kim Yarbrough (Miss Jones), Brent Schindele (Executive), Mark Reis (Executive), Paul Wong (Executive), Kevin Matsumoto (Executive), Nancy Lam (Secretary), Sharon Logan (Secretary), and Susan Edwards Martin (Voice of the Book), at 7 PM PT at Glendale’s Alex Theatre.
Transport Group‘s The Patsy, by Barry Conners, directed by Jack Cummings III, featuring David Greenspan, closes at Off-Broadway’s Abrons Arts Center.
Pan Asian Rep‘s Citizen Wong, by Richard Chang, directed by Ernest Abuba & Chongren Fan, featuring Bonnie Black, Shing Chung, Scott Klavan, Nick Jordan, Malka Wallick, and Tobias Wong, closes at Off-Broadway’s A.R.T./New York Theatres.
I’ll Be Seein’ Ya, by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Robert Egan, featuring Sussan Deyhim, Justin Kirk, Christine Lahti, and Christopher Larkin, concludes streaming at LA’s Center Theatre Group.
New Age, world premiere by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Jade King Carroll, featuring Blair Medina Baldwin (Liberty), Lisa Harrow (Cass), Courtney Rackley (Candy), and Delissa Reynolds (Lisette), closes at Milwaukee Rep.
Dream Girls, directed by Anthony Stockard, featuring Katelan Corprew (Deena Jones), ShaaNi Dent (Lorell Robinson), Amorise White (Effie Melody White), Zipporah Gatling (Michelle Morris/Stepp Sister), Michael Giamille (Jimmy Early), Khan’El (Curtis Taylor Jr.), Adam Moskowitz (C.C. White), Myles Whitaker (Marty), William Belvin (Tiny Joe Dixon), Michael Alston (Mr. Morgan/Jerry Dwight/Stage Manager), Keighton Bell (Tru-Tone), and Aniyah Blair-Young (Stepp Sister), with Shevette Bryant, Micah Cook, Corasha ‘Coco’ Dent, Anthony Faulkner, Juan Purdie, Mikayla Revell, Xavier Smith, and Anthony Mark Stockard, closes at Virginia Stage.
Gem of the Ocean, by August Wilson, directed by Tim Bond, featuring Greta Oglesby (Aunt Ester), Edward Ewell (Citizen Barlow), Porscha Shaw (Black Mary), Kim Sullivan (Solly Two Kings), Jerome Preston Bates (Eli), Rodney Hicks (Caesar), and Dan Hiatt (Rutherford Selig), closes at CA’s TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
An Evening with Fran Lebowitz closes at LA’s Broad Stage.
International City Theatre‘s A Doll’s House, Part 2, by Lucas Hnath, directed by Trevor Biship-Gillespie, featuring Jennifer Shelton (Nora), Eileen T’Kaye (Anne Marie), Scott Roberts (Torvald), and Nicolette Ellis (Emmy), closes at Long Beach’s PAC.
Miss Coco Peru: Bitter, Bothered & Beyond closes at Hollywood’s LGBT Center.
A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, by Lucas Hnath, directed by Peter Richards, featuring Kevin Ashworth (Walt Disney), Thomas Piper (Roy Disney), Brittney Bertier (Diane), and Cory Washington (Ron), closes at LA’s Odyssey Theatre.
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Night of 1000 Madonnas, a 30-song retrospective in support of the Ali Forney Center, will take place Mon. June 20 at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Sony Hall, directed by Richard Amelius, with music direction by Steven Cuevas.
Miss Peppermint, JJ Niemann, Orfeh, Kathryn Allison, J. Harrison Ghee, Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert, Tomás Matos, Wren Rivera, and more TBA.
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Manhattan Theatre Club (link TBA) has announced four plays for its upcoming 2022-23 season. An additional two Broadway and one Off-Broadway productions are still to be scheduled. Casting for all are TBA.
Cost of Living (Broadway – Fall 2022), by Martyna Majok, directed by Jo Bonney, featuring Gregg Mozgala and Katy Sullivan. 
A look into the forces that bring people together, the complexity of caring and being care for, and the ways we all need each other in this world.
Where the Mountain Meets the Seas (Fall 2022), by Jeff Augustin, directed by Joshua Kahan Brody. A lyrical storytelling with live folk songs from indie-folk band The Bengsons about a son’s quest to connect with his father.
Summer, 1976 (Fall 2022), world premiere by David Auburn, directed by Daniel Sullivan. The play takes place over one fateful summer as an unlikely friendship develops between Diana, a fiercely iconoclastic artist, a single mom, and Alice, a free-spirited yet naive young housewife. As the Bicentennial is celebrated across the country, these two young women in Ohio navigate motherhood, ambition, and intimacy, and help each other discover their own independence.
Poor Yella Rednecks (Spring 2023), by Qui Nguyen, director TBA. The second installment of Nguyen’s autobiographical trilogy about an immigrant family’s bumpy road to the American dream. Told from a mother’s perspective, this is the story of a young family’s attempt to put down roots in Arkansas, a place as different from Vietnam as it gets.
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Principal casting has been announced for The Color Purple, to run Aug. 3-9 at the St. Louis Muny, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, with choreography Breon Arzell, and music direction by Jermaine Hill.
Brittney Mack (Celie), Tracee Beazer (Shug Avery), Evan Tyrone Martin (Mister), Nasia Thomas (Nettie), Gilbert Domally (Harop), and Nicole Michelle Haskins (Sofia), with more TBA.
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Broadway Backward 2022, in support of BC/EFA, will take place Mon. May 23 at 8 PM ET at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre, written, directed & choreographed by Robert Bartley, with music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, and hosted by Jenn Colella.
Bernadette Peters, Len Cariou, Lena Hall, and Lillias White as well as Alexandra Billings, Matt Doyle, Claybourne Elder, Lauren Patten, George Salazar, Brandon Uranowitz, Wayne Brady, and Mary Testa.
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Video: Tiler Peck, Shoba Narayan, Tony Yazbeck, and more celebrate International Dance Day.
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3-D Theatricals‘ Newsies will run May 13 – 29 (opening May 14) at CA’s Cerritos CPA, directed by T.J. Dawson, with choreography by Chaz Wolcott.
Dillon Klena (Jack Kelly), Allison Sheppard (Katherine), Rod Bagheri (Davey), Kyle Frattini (Crutchie), Norman Large (Joseph Pulitzer), Allen Everman (Governor Roosevelt), Carrie Compere (Medda Larkin), and Colton Dorman (Les), with Ryan Addison, Candice Rochelle Berge, Lucas Blankenhorn, Rorey Chavarria, Louis Reyes Chavez, James Everts, Jeff Garrido, David Kirk Grant, Callum Gugger, Brandon Taylor Jones, Philly Kang, Jonathan Kim, Anthony Klinner, Anneke May, Ryan Marks, Ariel Silvana Murillo, Daniel Peters, Matthew Rayan D.J. Smith, Scott Spraggs, Jenna Stocks, Rico Velazquez, and Paul Zelhart.
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Kevn Murphy & Laurence O’Keefe’s Heathers the Musical, currently running at London’s The Other Palace, will be filmed for future release (date TBA). The musical is directed by Andy Fickman, with choreography by Gary Lloyd.
The production will temporarily close May 3-19 to allow for filming, with performances resuming May 20 – Sept. 4.
Ailsa Davidson (Veronica Sawyer), Freddie King (Jason “J.D.” Dean), Emma Kingston (Heather Chandler), Inez Budd (Heater Duke), Teleri Hughes (Heather McNamara), Vicki Lee Taylor (Ms. Fleming/Veronica’s Mom), Lizzie Bea (Martha Dunnstock), George Maddison (Kurt Kelly), Tom Scanlon (Ram Sweeney), and Kieran Brown (Ram’s Dad/Coach Ripper), with Jacob Fowler, Jordan Cunningham, Iván Fernández González, Eliza Waters, Mary-Jean Caldwell, Hannah Lowther, and Kayleigh McKnight.
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PA’s Bucks County Playhouse has announced its Summer 2022 season: Casting, creative teams and additional information TBA.
American Jade (May 20 – June 11), written by & starring Jodie Long, directed by Eric Rosen.
Kinky boots (June 24 – July 30)
Dames at Sea (Aug. 12 – Sept. 11)
Evita (Sept. 23 – Oct. 30)
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Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 will return to the Mark Taper Forum (link TBA) during the 2022-23 seasons (dates TBA), directed by TBA.
The play, originally performed as a solo show, has been reimagined for a cast of five actors (TBA).
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Songbook Sundays will premiere Sun. May 22 at 4 & 7:30 PM ET at Lincoln Center‘s Dizzy’s Club, with Got Gershwin hosted by Deborah Grace Winer.
Karen Ziemba and Sydney James Harcourt.
The concert series will continue with:
Cole Porter (July – dates & performers TBA)
Duke Ellington (Sept – dates & performers TBA)
Irving Berlin (Nov. – dates & performers TBA)
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Washington’s Village Theatre will host a NYC industry reading of Christine Toy Johnson & Jason Ma’s Broken Ground on Fri. May 6, directed by Alan Muraoka, with music direction by Fiona Santos.
Ali Ewoldt, Diana Huey, Kennedy Kanagawa, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Delphi Borich, Kevin Scheuring, Brian Kim McCormick, Caitlin Burke, and Alan Ariano.
18-year-old Xuě Lán sets out on the path created for her, by both tradition and her family, to marry a young soldier. The musical follows her as she grieves her mother and twin brother, and the journey she goes on after she looks to Guān Yīn, the goddess of compassion, and the spirit of her mother for guidance.
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Joshua Harmon, Sarah Silverman & Adam Schlesinger’s The Bedwetter, which begins previews Apr. 30 (see above in the Highlights section), has already extended its run through June 26 at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theatre Company.
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DC’s Arena Stage has announced its 2022-23 season:
American Prophet (July 15 – Aug. 28), world premiere by Charles Randolph-Wright & Marcus Hummon, starring Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frederick Douglass).
Holiday (Oct. 8 – Nov. 6), by Philip Barry, directed by Anita Maynard-Losh. The story of a Wall Street lawyer looking forward to an early retirement once he’s made enough money, a plan at odds with those of his well-to-do fiancée.
Sanctuary City (Oct. 21 – Nov. 7), by Martyna Majok. The play follows two DREAMers fighting to establish a place for themselves in America.
Ride the Cyclone (Jan. 13 – Feb. 19, 2023), by Brooke Maxwell & Jacob Richmond. A tragicomedy, the musical follows six teenagers who attempt to sing their way back to life after a freak amusement park accident.
The High Ground (Feb. 10 – Apr. 2), by Nathan Alan Davis, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian. The play takes place during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches (Mar. 24 – Apr. 23), directed by János Szász.
Exclusion (May 7 – June 25), by Kenneth Lin. The play follows a female scholar who becomes overwhelmed while defending the authenticity of her best-selling book on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 after it is optioned for, and becomes, a hit TV show.