This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, April 8
Beetlejuice, directed by Alex Timbers, featuring Alex Brightman, Kerry Butler, David Josefsberg, Adam Dannheisser, Leslie Rodruguez Kritzer, Kelvin Moon Loh, Danny Rutigliano, Dana Steingold, Elizabeth Teeter, Michelle Aravena, Zonya Love, Kate Bailey, Will Blum, Ryan Breslin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Brooke Engen, Eric Anthony Johnson, Andrew Kober, Elliott Mattox, Mateo Melendez, Ramone Owens, Commodore C. Primous III, Nevada Riley, and Graham Stevens, resumes performances at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre.
Brigadoon concert presentations, directed by Eleanor Holdridge, featuring Christopher Michael Richardson, Eymard Cabling, Kevin McAllister, Matthew August, Kelli Blackwell, Nick Lehan, Robert Mintz, MK Sagastume, Shawna Walker, Julia Wilson, Michael Wood, and Kenneth Derby, opens at MD’s Olney Theatre. All performances cancelled due to COVID breakouts.
Bright Half Life, by Tanya Barfield, directed by Amy K. Harmon, featuring Kacie Rogers (Vicky) and Tiffany Wolff (Erica), opens at North Hollywood’s Road on Magnolia.
The Concrete Jungle (A Chicano Horror Play), world premiere by Travyz Santos Gatz, directed by Mitch Rosander & Igancio Navarro, featuring Lemon Baardsen, Macedonia Bullington, Berenice Diaz, Kathleen Guevara, Sydney Jenkins, Jordan Klomp, Matt Lorenzo, and Alejandro Mungaray, opens at North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble.
Sam Harris: Openly Gray concert opens at San Diego’s Martini’s.
New Faces Sing Broadway 1947 concert, directed by Adrian Abel Azevedo, featuring Samantha Behen, Anna Brockman, Jonah Cochin, Breanna Ghostone, Nathan Karnik, Austin Nelston Jr, Oliver Schilling, Destiny Strothers, Ciarra Stroud, and Austin Winter, begins streaming at Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre.
Hangman, by Martin McDonagh, directed by Matthew Dunster, featuring Alfie Allen, David Threlfall, Tracie Bennett, Own Campbell, Jeremy Crutchley, Gaby French, Josh Goulding, John Hodgkinson, Richard Hollis, John Horton, and Ryan Pope, with Sebastian Beacon, Peter Bradbury, Katie Fabel, Colin McPhillamy, and Andy Nyman, resumes previews at Broadway’s Golden Theatre.
The Vagrant Trilogy, by Mon Mansour, directed by Mark Wing-Davey, featuring Bassam Abdelfattah, Tala Ashe, Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Ramsey Faragallah, Osh Ghanimah, Nadine Malouf, Rudy Roushdi, and Hadi Tabbal, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
The Huntington Theatre‘s Our Daughters, Like Pillars, world premiere by Kirsten Greenidge, directed by Kimberly Senior, featuring Lyndsay Allyn cox (Zelda), Lizan Mitchell (Yvonne), Julian Parker (Paul), Postell Pringle (Morris), Nikkole Salter (Lavinia), and Cheryl D. Singleton (Missy), begins previews at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion.
Flying Over Sunset original Broadway cast album, released on CD. Order here.
Saturday, April 9
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), opens at CA’s TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
Ensemble Theater Company‘s American Son, by Christopher Demos-Brown, directed by Jonathan Fox, featuring Tracey A. Leigh (Kendra), Jamison Jones (Scott), Alex Morris (Lieutenant John Stokes), and Toby Tropper (Officer Paul Larkin), opens at Santa Barbara’s New Vic.
42nd Street Moon‘s 2022 Annual Gala, hosted by Jason Graae & Klea Blackhurst, featuring Doris Bumpas, Tony Conaty, Khalia Davis, Renee DeWeese, Alison Ewing, Will Giammona, Anthony Jackson, Marcus Lovett, Meg Mackay, Dyan McBride, and Nicholas Yenson, at 5 PM PT at San Francisco’s Gateway Theatre.
Co-Founders concert presentation, by Austen Adefela, Beau Lewis, Josh Carp Budo,’ Will Randolph, Brian ‘Deep’ Water & Cava Menzies, directed by Carlos Armesto, featuring Alysha Deslorieux, Tyler Hardwick, Christina Sajous, Wesley Taylor, Alex Wyse, Adesha Adefela, Ryan Nicole Austin, and Beau Lewis, at 7 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Joe’s Pub.
The Human Voice, adapted & directed by Ivo van Hove, starring Ruth Wilson, closes at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre.
The Merchant of Venice, directed by Abigail Graham, featuring Raymond Anum (Gratiano), Daniel Bowerbank (Lorenzo/Morocco), Ben Caplan (Arragon/Duke/Solania), Michael Gould (Antonio), Michael Marcus (Bassanio), Sophie Melville (Portia), Adrian Schiller (Shylock), Tripti Tripuraneni (Nerissa), Aaron Vodovoz (Launcelot Gobbo), and Eleanor Wyld (Jessica), closes at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe.
Sam Harris: Openly Gray concert closes at San Diego’s Martini’s.
Sunday, April 10
The Transport Group‘s The Patsy, by Barry Conners, directed by Jack Cummings III, featuring David Greenspan, opens at Off-Broadway’s Abrons Arts Center.
“Olivier Awards 2022” airs at 5:30 PM GMT at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Click here to stream on YouTube.
Jessica Rush concludes her run as Rhonda in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
The Chinese Lady, by Lloyd Suh, directed by Ralph B. Peña, featuring Daniel K. Isaac, Shannon Tyo, Cindy Im, and Jon Norman, closes at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
Labyrinth Theatre‘s BarnSeries of FREE readings, concludes at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters.
Heartland, by Gabriel Jason Dean, directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh, featuring Mari Vial-Golden, Mark Cuddy, and Owais Ahmed, closes at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters.
The Lehman Trilogy, by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, directed by Sam Mendes, featuring Simon Russell Beale (Henry Lehman), Adam Godley (Mayer Lehman), and Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman), closes at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Trayf, by Lindsay Joelle, directed by Maggie Burrows, featuring Ilan Eskenzai (Zalmy), Ben Hirschhorn (Shmuel), Louisa Jacobson (Leah), and Garrett Young (Jonathan), closes at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
Musical Theatre West‘s Spamilton, directed & choreographed by Gerry McIntyre, featuring Dedrick Bonner, Marqell Edward Clayton, Summer Greer, Cornelius Jones Jr., Andrew Puente, and Trisha Rapier, closes at Long Beach’s Carpenter Center.
The Last Five Years, directed by Jason Michael Webb, featuring Nasia Thomas and Nicholas Edwards, concludes streaming at Out of the Box Theatrics.
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The 2022 Tony Awards will take place Sun. June 12 at Radio City Musical Hall.
7-8 PM ET: “Exclusive content” streams on Paramount+
8-11 PM ET: The Awards presentations on CBS.
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Cabaret will run May 13 – July 3 (opening May 25) at CT’s Goodspeed, directed by James Vásquez, with choreography by Lainie Sakakura, and music direction by Adam Souza.
Jelani Remy (MC), Aline Mayagoitia (Sally Bowles), Bruce Landry (Cliffor Bradshaw), Jennifer Smith (Fraulein Schneider), Kevin Ligon (Herr Schultz), Tera C. MacLeod (Fraulein Kost), and Tim Fuchs (Ernst Ludwig), with Matt Allen, Shelby Finnie, Aurore Joly, Caroline Kane, Kathy Liu, Connor McRory, Christian Elán Ortiz, Antonia Raye, Adam Rogers, and Georgia Monroe.
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RIP: Nehemiah Persoff has died at the age of 102, due to heart failure.
In 1959 he starred on Broadway in Only in America as the newspaper editor/essayist Harry Golden. It was the last of more than a dozen Broadway appearances.
Among his many TV series are “Gunsmoke,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Route 66,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Columbo,” “Law and Order, ” and “Chicago Hope.”
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Mary Poppins will run July 5-13 at the St. Louis Muny, directed by John Tartaglia, with choreography by Patrick O’Neill, and music direction by Brad Haak.
Jeanna de Waal (Mary Poppins), Corgin Bleu (Bert), Andréa Burnes (Winifred Banks), Nehal Joshi (George Banks), and Darlesia Cearcy (Bird Woman/Miss Andrew), with more TBA.
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Kinky Boots will return this summer, with previews beginning July 26 and an opening set for Aug. 25 at Stage 42, directed by Jerry Mitchell,
Casting and creative team TBA.
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2022 Lucille Lortel Award Nominations: Click here for the complete list.
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Steve Ross: A Salute to Spring will take place Mon. Apr. 18 at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Birdland.
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Keen Company has announced its gala benefit reading of Moss Hart’s Light Up the Sky will take place Mon. Apr. 25 at 7 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row, directed by Jonathan Silverstein.
Arnie Burton, Jasminn Johnson, Lauren Molina, Reg Rogers, Ari’el Stachel, and Jasom Tam, with more TBA.
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Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars has announced nominations for its 2022 Tommy Tune Awards here.
The awards ceremony will take place virtually on May 27 at 7 PM CT on the theatre’s YouTube channel as well as on Facebook.
The Tommy Tune Awards Program celebrates the educational value, artistry, and community of high school musical theatre in the Greater Houston area.
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RIP: Actress Rae Allen died on Apr. 6 at the age of 95.
She trained at the HB Studio and American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making her Broadway debut in Where’s Charly? She later appeared in George Abbott’s Call Me Madam, The Pajama Game, and Damn Yankees (Tony nomination). She reprised her role in Damn Yankees in the 1958 film version as well.
Rae was nominated again for the Tony for Traveler Without Luggage (1967), and also was a replacement for Nancy in Oliver. She won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little.
TV credits include “The Untouchables,” “Car 54, Where Are You,” ” The Patty Duke Show,” “All In The Family,” “Seinfeld,” and “The Sopranos.”
Additional film credits include “Reign Over Me, Stargate,” “A League of Their Own,” and “Where’s Poppa?”
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Cambridge’s A.R.T. has announced complete casting for 1776, to run May 17 – July 24 (opening May 26), directed by Jeffrey L. Page & Diane Paulus. Following this run, the musical will transfer to Broadway’s Roundabout’s American Airlines Theatre before embarking on a 16-city tour in Feb. 2023.
(all identify as female, non-binary, and trans): Gisela Adisa (Robert Livingston), Nancy Anderson (George Read), Becca Ayers (Col. Thomas McKean), Tiffani Barbour (Custodian / Andrew McNair), Allison Briner Dardenne (Stephen Hopkins), Allyson Kaye Daniel (Abigail Adams / Rev. Jonathan Witherspoon), Elizabeth A. Davis (Thomas Jefferson), Mehry Eslaminia (Charles Thomson), Joanna Clushak (John Dickinson), Shawna Hamic (Richard Henry Lee), Eryn LeCroy (Martha Jefferson / Dr. Lyman Hall), Crystal Lucas-Perry (John Adams), Liz Mikel (John Hancock), Patrena Murray (Benjamin Franklin), Oneika Phillips (Josheph Hewes), Lulu Picart (Samuel Chase), Sara Porkalob (Edward Rutledge), Sushama Saha (Judge James Wilson), Brooke Simpson (Roger Sherman), Salome Smith (Courier), Sav Souza (Dr. Josiah Bartlett), Jill Vallery (Caesar Rodney), and Grace Stockdale (Standby).
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Broadway Celebrates the Soraya will take place Sat. Apr. 30 at 7 PM PT at Northridge’s The Soraya, music directed & conducted by Richard Kaufman.
Eden Espinosa, Joshua Henry, and Megan Hilty.
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Ana Nogueira’s Which Way to the Stage will run Apr. 14 – May 21 (opening May 10) at MCC Theater, directed by Mike Donahue, with choreography by Paul McGill.
Sas Goldberg, Max Jenkins, Evan Todd, and Michelle Veintimilla.
The year is 2015 and Jeff and Judy are right where they’re supposed to be: waiting outside the stage door of If/Then to get an autograph from the star. But the experience they have while they wait will change the course of their decades-long friendship.