This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, August 21
* Broadway for Racial Justice‘s Amplified FREE benefit, in support of Broadway for Racial Justice Emergency Assistance Fund, featuring Haily Kilgore, Solea Pfeiffer, Shoshana Bean, Jessie Mueller, Sklar Astin, Kalen Allen, Brittany Campbell, Kayla Davion, Deon’te Goodman, Sapphire Hart, Morgan James, Andre Malcolm, Arianne Meneses, Joey Rosario, and Empty Royalty, livestreams at 8 PM ET.
* “Feelin’ Alive,” a benefit table reading of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” in support of CORE, introduced by screenwriter Cameron Crowe & director Amy Heckerling, featuring Jennifer Aniston, Dane Cook, Morgan Freeman, Henry Golding, Jimmy Kimmel, Shia LaBeouf, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts, and more TBA, livestreams at 8 PM ET on Facebook.
* Newsies benefit performance, featuring the national tour cast (at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre), with Jeremy Jordan (Jack Kelly), Kara Lindsay (Katherine), Ben Fankhauser (Davey), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Crutchie), Steve Blanchard (Joseph Pulitzer), Aisha de Haas (Medda Larkin), Ethan Steiner (Les), and more, streams at 7 PM ET here.
* Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre‘s Porchlight Palooza benefit, honoring Joel Grey, featuring Bob Balaban, Patrick Cassidy, Kristin Chenoweth, Raul Esparza, Josh Gad, Tom Kitt, David Mamet, Joe Mantegna, Howard McGillin, Mandy Patinkin, Benj Pasek, Bernadette Peters, Lonny Price, Chita Rivera, Susan Stroman, Paul Oakley Stovall, Stephen Wallem, Maury Yeston, Andres Enriquez, Erica Evans, Cory Goodrich, Christopher Kelley, Laura Savage, and Joey Stone, streams at 7 PM CT (available through Aug. 23).
* Jeff Calhoun in Conversation, livestreamed at 2 PM PT on Facebook.
* “A Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical” 9-episode digital series, by Jason Howland & Nathan Tysen, starring Jeremy Jordan, Alex Newell, Carolee Carmello, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Krystina Alabado, Michael James Scott, Jackie Burns, Drew Gehling, Laura Osnes, Jarrod Spector, and Miguel Cervantes, released digitally here.
Saturday, August 22
* Judgement Day benefit reading, by Rob Ulin, directed by Matthew Penn, featuring Patti LuPone, Jason Alexander, Santino Fontana, and Michael McKean, with Loretta Devine, Josh Johnston, Bianca LaVerne Jones, Julian Emile Lerner, Justina Machado, Carol Mansell, Michael Mastro, and Elizabeth Stanley, begins its FREE streaming at 7:30 PM ET at MA’s Barringston Stage Company (available through Aug. 25).
* Love in the Time of Corona starring Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson, premieres on Freeform (available through Aug.23)
Sunday, August 23
* The Seth Concert Series, with special guest Rachel Bay Jones, streams at 8 PM ET here (also at 3 PM ET on Aug.24).
**********************
Michael Burdette, Robert Scott & Brendan Cull’s Sleepless: A Musical Romance will begin previews Aug. 25 and open Sept. 1 at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, directed by Morgan Young, with music direction by Chris Walker.
Kimberly Walsh (Annie), Jay McGuiness (Sam), Daniel Casey (Walter), Harriet Thorpe (Eleanor), Tania Mathurin (Becky), and Cory English (Rob), Charlie Bull, Colin Burnicle, Christie-Lee Crosson, Laura Darton, Leanne Garretty, Matt Holland, Ross McLaren, Gary Murphy, Dominique Planter, Annie Wensak, Benjamin Wong, and Theo Collis, Mikey Colville, Jobe Hart & Jack Reynolds (sharing the role of Sam’s son, Jonah).
The musical adaptation of the romantic comedy has adapted to the current realities by implementing rapid-response COVID-19 testing on a daily basis for cast, crew, and theatre staff throughout the run of the show.
To ensure safety for the audience, there will be no physical contact between staff and ticket holders at any time. In addition, theatregoers will be temperature checked and requested to wear face masks.
Video: Trailer
**********************
Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guests Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. (1:03:20)
**********************
Amazon Prime will release Julie Taymor & Sarah Ruhl’s “The Glorias” on Sept. 25.
Gloria Steinem at various ages : Ryan Kira Armstrong (Young Gloria), Lulu Wilson (Teen Gloria), Alicia Vikander (Gloria ages 20-40), and Julianne Moore as Steinem (through the present)… with Bette Midler (Bella Abzug), Janelle Monáe (Dorothy Pitman Hughes), Timothy Hutton (Leo Steinem), Lorraine Toussaint (Florynce Kennedy), Enid Graham (Ruth), Kimberly Guerrero (Wilma Mankiller), Monica Sanchez (Dolores Huerta), and Margo Moorer (Barbara Jordan).
Spanning five decades, the film has cast multiple actors to play Gloria Steinem at various ages.
**********************
“Rebekah Luker: Leaving Home” album is now available digitally here.
**********************
Video: Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert perform “Tonight”
**********************
MA’s Barrington Stage Company will stream Jeffrey Hatcher’s new play, Three Viewings Sept. 23-26, directed by Julianne Boyd. An in-person production is expected on a later date.
Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith
Three darkly funny and touching stories, connected by common threads of characters and plots, which all take place in a small Midwestern funeral parlor .
**********************
RIP: Playwright Dr. Kenneth Bernard, whose experimental works pushed the boundaries of theatre, died August 9 at the age of 90.
Bernard’s plays were mounted by Playhouse of the Ridiculus and La MaMa, among others. His plays include The Moke Eater, Night Club, and The Magic Show of Dr. Ma-Gico.
In addition to theatre, the writer composed poetry and fiction throughout his career.
**********************
Video: Ben Platt’s opening monologue as a guest host for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — a loving tribute to all things Broadway. (8:18)
**********************
Kritzerland‘s 109th concert will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Sun. Sept. 13 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET here, with music direction by Richard Allen,
Petula Clark
Daniel Thomas Bellusci, Jason Graae, Peyton Kirkner, Beth Malone, Pamela Myers, Kerry O’Malley, Hartley Powers, Sami Staitman, Adrienne Stiefel, Robert Yacko, and Miss Mackenzie Wrap.
**********************
Video: Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theatre’s Shelter, a ballet by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, (21:09)
**********************
at NYC’s 92Y:
Cabaret Conversations with Michael Kirk Lane, all at 6 PM ET.
Sept. 14: Karen mason
Oct. 5: Natalie Douglas
Nov. 16: Chita Rivera
Dec. 7: Sidney Myer
More here
Harvey Granat Concert Series:
Sept. 24 (12 PM ET): Jerry Herman Online Class, with special guests Lauren Maslon, Jason Danieley, and Mark Nadler
More here
Sept. 24 (1:30 PM ET), Sondheim, Part III: Company -The Complete Score
More here
Sept. 25 – Oct. 23 (Fridays, all at 1 PM ET: Knowing the Score: How Music Makes Movies Come Alive
More here
**********************
Michael Burdette, Robert Scott & Brendan Cull’s Sleepless: A Musical Romance will begin previews Aug. 25 and open Sept. 1 at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, directed by Morgan Young.
Kimberly Walsh (Annie), Jay McGuiness (Sam), Daniel Casey (Walter), Harriet Thorpe (Eleanor), Tania Mathurin (Becky), and Cory English (Rob), Charlie Bull, Colin Burnicle, Christie-Lee Crosson, Laura Darton, Leanne Garretty, Matt Holland, Ross McLaren, Gary Murphy, Dominique Planter, Annie Wensak, Benjamin Wong, and Theo Collis, Mikey Colville, Jobe Hart & Jack Reynolds (sharing the role of Sam’s son, Jonah).
The musical adaptation of the romantic comedy has adapted to the current realities by implementing rapid-response COVID-19 testing on a daily basis for cast, crew, and theatre staff throughout the run of the show.
To ensure safety for the audience, there will be no physical contact between staff and ticket holders at any time. In addition, theatregoers will be temperature checked and requested to wear face masks.
Video: Trailer
**********************
A reading of B.J. Tindal’s Goodnight, Tyler will be livestreamed Thurs. Aug. 27 at 8 PM ET here (and available through Aug. 31), directed by Kent Gash.
Jelani Alladin, Johanna Braddy, Danielle Deadwyler, Jack Quaid, Alex Gibson, and Michele Shay.
The ghost -love story of Tyler Evans, a Black boy who wants to be remembered for who he was rather than how he died. After urging his best friend to “protect his legacy” from beyond the grave, Tyler loses control over the narrative of his life. As his loved ones quibble over their placement in his life, Tyler comes face to face with the reality of whose grief matters and whose lives matter most.
**********************
Florida’s Maltz Jupiter Theatre, the largest regional theater in the southern half of the United States, is moving forward with a $30 million expansion to create a “Broadway-scale stage and production facilities.”
The first phase of improvements were completed in the summer of 2019, with fundraising for the expansion beginning five years ago. The construction plan, which was hoped to start this past April, will be compressed into the next 13 months as the theater is already closed due to the Covid crisis. The theater will create a stage that will allow it to qualify for “pre-Broadway or national tour development” productions, three floors of state-of-the-art production facilities, a redesigned entrance and expanded lobby, a second theater space, and an “innovative dining experience.”
**********************
The world premiere of Cavan Hallman & Nancy Hill Cobb’s The Suffragist will run July 16-18, 2021 at the University of Iowa’s Bluedorn PAC (link TBA), directed by Rachel Klein.
Nancy Opel (Chapman Catt) and more TBA.
August 18, 2020 marked the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which allowed it to become the law of the land after a more than 70-year effort by multiple women, including Iowa’s Carrie Chapman Catt. The musical also features major characters from the movement such as Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Burns and Inez Milholland. The story depicted in the musical centers on the bravery and persistence of the women who fought for the rights that we have today, despite the abuses they endured.