My apologies for yesterday’s “test” email. Merely an internal error. All is fine.
This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, August 14
* Marin Mazzie & Jason Danieley: Broadway & Beyond, the duo’s final concert together (in 2017 at 54 Below), with a pre-show featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell (at 7:30 PM ET), streams at 8 PM ET here.
* Lena Hall – Obsessed: Alanis Morissette virtual concert, streams at 9 PM ET here.
Saturday, August 15
* A Little Night Music live outdoor concert, directed by Alastair Knights, featuring Janie Dee, Joanna Ridings, Fra Fee, Sharif Afifi, Hiba Elchikhe, Danielle Fiamanya, Hilary Harwood, Emma Kingston), Emma Harrold), Nadim Naaman, Laura Pitt-Pulford, Kayi Ushe, and Ella Tronson, at 6 PM GMT/1 PM ET/10 AM PT at London’s Holland Park.
* The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity 10th anniversary benefit reading, written & directed by Kristoffer Diaz, featuring (original cast members) Usman Ally, Terence Archie, Desmin Borges, and Christian Litke, streams at 7 PM ET here.
* Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side concert, streams at 8 PM ET ET/7 PM CT here.
* Hollywood’s Blank Theatre‘s 28th Annual Young Playwrights Festival begins streaming (through Aug. 22).
Sunday, August 16
* “Stars in the House” presents Moments in the Woods Gala, in support of Hancock-French Woods Arts Alliance, featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jason Alexander, Jason Robert Brown, Andréa Burns, Mandy Gonzalez, and Marc Shaiman, streams at 7 PM ET here.
* Stephanie J. Block in Concert streams at 8 PM ET here.
* Bucks County Playhouse Virtual Variety Show, with special guests Patricia Richardson, Rob McClure, Maggie Lakis, Carter Calvert, Jeremy Dumont, and Soara-Joye Ross, streams for FREE at 7 PM ET here.
* Harry Clarke, a monologue play by David Cale, directed by Julianne Boyd, starring Mark H. Dold, closes at MA’s Barrington Stage Company.
**********************
The #ArtsHero campaign is asking the U.S. Senate to release $43.85 billion in relief to the arts industry. So far, the group has collected over 9,000 signatures—including Laura Linney, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Phillipa Soo, Glenn Close, and, Michael Urie—urging the government to enact a series of laws protecting unemployed arts workers until the crisis is over.
The campaign states that the arts and culture industry adds $877 billion in value to the economy annually, providing 4.5% of GDP and employing 5.1 million Americans. As it currently stands, there is $120 billion from the CARES Act that is approved but still unallocated, from which Senators could appropriate funds. Organizers also state that some of the relief aid should go directly to marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and persons with disabilities.
A $43.85 billion investment could potentially leverage up to $400 billion in economic development.
In addition to the $43.85 billion in support, the Open Call Letter to the 116th U.S. Congress written by Matthew-Lee Erlbach asks for an extension to the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program (FPUC) and a 100 percent subsidy for the COBRA with eligibility extended to 36 months. Click here to read and sign the letter.
According to #ArtsHero organizer Carson Elrod, an estimated 3.1 million arts workers were relying on FPUC for financial support. “It’s been two weeks since FPUC ended, evictions have already begun, and the recent executive orders appear to be nothing more than a distraction instead of real action,” says Elrod. “To anyone reading this, click here to contact your senators. Call them. Write them. Tag them on social media. Do anything and everything you can to remind them that millions of Americans need FPUC to survive, and that arts and culture is a cornerstone of the American economy.”
**********************
Video: “Stars in the House,” a cast reunion of the filmed version of Broadway’s Newsies, with Jeremy Jordan, Kara Lindsay, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Ben Fankhauser, and Aisha de Haas. (1:15:12)
**********************
Audio: Liz Callway performs David Shire’s “The Morning After”
**********************
The London revival of The Last Five Years will re-open Oct. 1 at the Southwark Playhouse, directed by Jonathan O’Boyle.
Casting TBA.
The musical, provided the U.K. government approves indoor performances, returns with a revised staging that includes plexiglass and limited seating to maintain social distancing.
**********************
Podcast: Today Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage launches “The Boston Project Podcast.” The first two episodes drop today, followed by one new installment dropping every Friday for 5 weeks.
The inaugural presentation is an audio recording of writer MJ Halberstadt’s new play, The Usual Unusual, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, which is a fictional account of efforts to unite a fractured community to save Boston’s last remaining queer bookstore.
Rasheedat “Ras” Badejo, Lily Chrones, Michael John Ciszewski, Olivia Z. Cote, Will McGarrahan, Han C. Park, Eddie Shields, and Debra Wise.
The podcast is an extension of its popular new play series, The Boston Project, which for the past 5 years, has commissioned 3 playwrights to each write a new play set in and around Boston that captures what it means to live in our region and which taps pinto the full breadth of experiences and identities that make up life in the Hub.
**********************
New York City Opera has announced its 2021 Spring Season:
* The Garden of the Finzi-Continis staged concert presentation (April dates TBA), by Ricky Ian Gordon & Michael Korie, directed by Richard Stafford, presented at NYC’s Museum of Jewish Heritage.
* The Central Park Five staged concert presentation (dates TBA, at a venue TBA), by Richard Wesley & Anthony Davis.
**********************
The studio cast recording of Michael Friedman’s 2006 musical, (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch, will be released today here.
Mary Testa, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Adam Chanler-Berat, Nick Blaemire, Quincy Tyler Berstine, Brad Heberlee, Daoud Heidami, Osh Ghanimah, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Jennifer R. Morris, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Brian Charles Rooney, Stephen Schapero and Jacob Keith Watson.
Audio (scroll down): Mary Testa performs “The Song of Progressive Disenchantment”
**********************
Video: The Public Theater’s Much Ado About Nothing (2019 production at NYC’s Shakespeare in the Park), directed by Kenny Leon, starring Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman (available through Sept. 11). (2:14:14)
**********************
Audio: Laura Bell Bundy‘s new power anthem, “Get It Girl, You Go,” with Anika Noni Rose and Shoshana Bean.
The trio moves through Andrews Sisters-style throwback harmonies as they empower women of all ages through the boogie-woogie tune.
**********************
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has released 2 videos:
Video 1: Ella, which uses a live recording of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Airmail Special”
Video 2: In/Side, originally commissioned by Dance New Amsterdam as part of a celebration of male dancers in NYC in light of the AIDS epidemic.
**********************
Tell the Los Angeles City Council to vote Yes on the motion to invest $20 million of CARES Act funding in arts & culture.
**********************
Five theater organizations have announced the formation of the #theatre5alliance to bring the arts to people’s home and to highlight the importance of keeping local theater alive and thriving. 
Click here for more information.
:
Berkshire Playwrights Lab
Durango PlayFest
Laguna Playhouse
New Jersey Rep
Seven Angels Theatre
The alliance will harness the writing talents of dozens of well-known screen and stage actors to create original vignettes of 3-10 minutes each. Creator by Dan Lauria called upon friends in the industry to create videos of themselves reading works they’ve written under the banner “Keeping Live Theatre Alive.”
Filmmaker Jeremy Fletcher will edit individual videos to make them available on their websites starting Aug. 29.
Kim Brockington, Bryan Cranston, Bruce Davison, Andre De Shields, Judd Hirsch, Stacy Keach, Dan Lauria, John Larroquette, Judith Light, Hal Linden, John Lithgow, Jodie Long, Priscilla Lopez, Wendie Malick, Joe Mantegna, Carolyn McCormick, Patty McCormack, Laurie Metcalf, Alfred Molina, Ed O’Neill, Lou Diamond Phillips, James Pickens Jr., Stephen Root, Tony Shalhoub, Charles Shaughnessy, Peter Scolari, Joe Spano, Chris Sullivan, Reno Wilson, Henry Winkler, and Robert Wuhl.
The content will be available to view by each theatre and they will use the vignettes in creative ways to raise awareness of their organizations, as well as thank their patrons for their support during this difficult year.
**********************
Video: Marilyn Michaels on “The Red Skelton Hour” (1967)