This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, August 28
* Musical Theatre West‘s Keep the Lights On benefit concert, featuring David Engel, Larry Raben, and Bets Malone, streams anytime between 7 PM – 11:59 PM PT today (also Wed. Sept. 2 at 3 PM PT).
* The Ballad of Emmett Till reading, by Ifa Bayeza, directed by Shirley Jo Finney, featuring (2010 original Fountain Theatre cast) Bernard K. Addison, Rico E. Anderson, Lorenz Arnell, Adrenrele Ojo, and Karen Malina White, livestreams at 4 PM PT/7 PM ET here.
* “Stars in the House,” event, with special guests Shaina Taub, Johnny Butler, and Peter Shane, streams at 8 PM ET here.
Saturday, August 29
* Laguna Playhouse Annual Gala, featuring Nathan Gunn, The Skivvies, Kim Brockington, Jodi Long, Joe Mantegna, Alfred Molina, James Pickens Jr., and Tony Shalhoub, including a number from last year’s production of Mamma Mia!, streams for FREE at 7 PM PT.
* “Stars in the House,” a Next to Normal Broadway cast reunion, with Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer, Adam Chanler-Berat, Jennifer Damiano, Aaron Tveit and Louis Hobson, streams at 8 PM ET here.
Sunday, August 30
* “Stars in the House” The Smell of the Kill reading, by Michele Lowe, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, featuring Krysta Rodriguez, Courtney Reed, and Olivia Puckett, streams at 2 PM ET here (and available through Sept. 3 at 2 PM ET). 
Three wives realize their husbands have accidentally locked themselves in the walk-in freezer downstairs. Should they let them out? Or is this the perfect opportunity to free themselves from the flaws of their marriages?
* Broadway Whodunit: Escape From Camp Erie, an unscripted whodunit by Andrew Barth Feldman, featuring Rob McClure, Lesli Margherita, Solea Pfeiffer, Celis Rose Gooding, Andrew Barth Feldman, Sky Lakota-Lynch, Garbrielle Carrubba, Jason Tam, Alex Boniello, and Will Roland, livestreams at at 6 PM ET here.
* Stephanie J. Block in concert, streams at 2:30 PM BST (9:30 AM ET) & 6:30 PM BST (1:30 PM ET) at London’s Cadogan Hall.
* The Seth Concert Series, with special guest Sierra Boggess, streams at 8 PM ET here (and 3 PM ET tomorrow)
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guests Shoshana Bean, Laura Bell Bundy, and Anika Noni Rose. (1:15:49)
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CBS will begin airing Season 4 of the “One Day at a Time” reboot beginning Mon. Oct. 12, at 9 PM ET.
Justina Machado, Rita Moreno, Todd Grinnell, Isabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz, and Stephen Tobolowsky.
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Video: Episode 3 of The Signature Show, a bi-weekly half-hour digital experience featuring performance, interviews, and more, with Felicia Curry, Christian Douglas, Nkrumah Gatling, Adam Gwon, Mark G. Meadows, and Bobby Smith.
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Off-Broadway’s Amas Musical Theatre presents a Zoom-inspired video of “There’s Moonlight Over Brooklyn” from Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn, directed by Justin Ross Cohen, to stream Sept. 7-10, in support of the Food Bank of the City of New York.
Nikia Brushteyn, Anna Kostakis, Carlos Lopez, Michael Marotta, Michael Motardonato, Ari Rasking, Troy Valjean Rucker, Zach Schanne, Viet Vo, and Judy Mclane.
Romeo, yes, THAT Romeo, awakens and finds himself in 1960 Brooklyn, chasing a girl he believes is his beloved Juliet. But no, its Bernadette, the beautiful, foul-mouthed daughter of a crime family.
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Talking Statues Monologues are now accompanying the Talking Statues project in NYC’s Central Park. New Yorkers can listen to the voices of 35 statues across the city through a smartphone app. 
here and here.
Jane Alexander, Viola Davis, America Ferrera, Rita Moreno, Zoe Saldana, and Meryl Streep give voice to Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
If statues could talk, what would they say? Now you will be able to find out. Users will be able to scan the QR code found on a sign next to each statue or type in the web address into the web browser. The team behind the project chose the statues by looking at their historical significance to the city, especially those with a special tie to immigrant communities as well as artists who have contributed directly to the city.
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Video: Kurt Peterson remembers Victoria Mallory (Sept. 20, 1948 – Aug. 30, 2014)
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Playbill and The Broadway League present iViva Broadway! Hear Our Voices, in celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, on Thurs. Oct. 1 at 8 PM ET here (and available until Oct. 5 at 8 PM ET), written by Eric Ulloa directed & choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, with music direction by Jaime Lozano, and hosted by Andréa Burns. Proceeds will support to BC/EFA and Broadway Bridges.
Lucie Arnaz, Gloria Estefan, John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Luis Miranda, Chita Rivera and Thalía, along with Melissa Barrera, Jaime Camil, Florencia Cuenca, Ariana DeBose, Raúl Esparza, Mandy Gonzalez, Raúl Gonzalez, Ivan Hernandez, Mauricio Martinez, Bianca Marroquín, Shereen Pimentel, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Philippa Stefani, Angélica Vale, and Ana Villafañe.
Performances from original cast members of In the Heights (Karen Olivo, Andréa Burns, Janet Dacal, Olga Merediz, Carlos Gomez and Luis Salgado)…….. and performances from new musicals & works including John Leguizamo’s Kiss My Aztec: Arrabal: Passing Through…….. and a look at the first Spanish-language production of A Chorus Line.
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Milwaukee Rep has announced its Curtain Call Ball, to stream Fri. Oct. 16 at 7 PM CT, in support of the Rep Rising Emergency Fund, hosted by James Pickering.
Mark Clements
Michael Doherty, Kelley Faulkner, Gavin Gregory, Alex Keiper, Jeffrey Kringer, Nova Y Payton, Matt Rodin, Nicholas Rodriguez, Bethany Thomas, Zonya Love, and more TBA.
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Video: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s No Longer Silent
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Article: J.K. Rowling returns Kennedy Family Award following Kerry Kennedy remarks.
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Video: “How Long,” from Shaina Taub’s Suffragist, currently in development, featuring Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Jenn Colella, Holly Gould, Stephanie Hsu, Nikki M. James, Grace McLean, Mia Pak, Phillipa Soo, Shaina Taub, Kuhoo Verman, Ada Westfall, and Kate Wetherhead.
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The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has announced that the company is moving from its longtime home in Garrison, NY to a new site in Philipstown, NY, as the company’s new home, which will serve as a year-round resource for theater artists, audiences, and the entire Hudson Valley community.
The 34-year-old not-for-profit repertory theater will rebuild its iconic tent as a permanent open-air structure and plans to commence performances at its new location in the Summer of 2022. HVSF will perform its final season at Boscobel House and Gardens in Garrison in the summer of 2021.
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“The Making Of,” a new film by Ed Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz, will begin production in Spring 2021. Additional information TBA.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Blake Lively, Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, and more TBA.
The story of a pair of married filmmakers (Gere and Keaton), who cast actors (Miranda and Lively) to play the younger versions of themselves.
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in September:
“The Birdcage” (premieres Sept. 1 on Hulu and Prime) starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.
“The Bodyguard” (premieres Sept. 1 on HBO Max) starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (premieres Sept. 1 on HBO Max), starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis.
“C.O.G.” (premieres Sept. 1 on Prime), starring Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, and Casey Wilson, . Davis is a young man trying to find his place in the world. Stuck up and staunchly atheist, he stumbles upon a community in Oregon that might just change his entire outlook on life.
“De-Lovely” (premieres Sept. 1 on Prime), starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. The story of Cole Porter, presented as a musical fantasy.
“Grease” (premieres Sept. 1 on HBO Max and Netflix), starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Didi Conn, Jeff Conoway, and more.
“Man of La Mancha” (premieres Sept. 1 on Hulu and Prime), starring Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren.
“The Producers” (premieres Sept. 1 on Netflix), starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.
“The Wedding Singer” (premieres Sept. 1 on HBO Max), starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (premieres Sept. 1 on HBO Max), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.
“Coastal Elites” (premieres Sept. 12 on HBO Max), starring Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, Dan Levy, Issa Rae, and Kaitlyn Dever. The satire explores how the COVID-19 pandemic and politics affects five individuals in a series of monologues.
“Ratched” (premieres Sept. 18 on Netflix), starring Sarah Paulson, Cynthia Nixon, Sophie Okonedo, Sharon Stone, Judy Davis, and Finn Wittrock. The series follows Mildred as she arrives in Northern California in 1947 to find work at a psychiatric hospital engaged in new and unsettling experiments, and becomes the infamous “Nurse Ratched.”
“Judy” (premieres Sept.25 on Hulu and Prime), starring Renée Zellweger, Finn Wittrock, and Jessie Buckley.
“Fargo” (Season 4 premieres Sept. 28 on Hulu), starring Chris Rock, Ben Whishaw, Jessie Buckley, Karen Aldridge, Timothy Olyphant.
“The Boys in the Band” (premieres Sept. 30 on Netflix), starring Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer, Robin De Jesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tuc Watkins, and Charlie Carver