This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, August 5
Secondo, world premiere by Jacques Lamarre, directed by Rob Ruggiero, starring Antoinette LaVecchia, opens at TheaterWorks Hartford.
Saturday, August 6
A Little Night Music, directed by Julianne Boyd, featuring Emily Skinner (Desiree), Jason Danieley (Frederick), Sierra Boggess (Charlotte, Mary Beth Peil (Madame Armfeldt), Cooper Grodin (Count Carl Magnus), Liesl Collazo (Anne Egerman), Noah Wolfe (Henrik Egerman), Sophie Mings (Petra), Kate Day Magocsi (Fredrika), Adam Richardson (Mr. Lindquist), Rebecca Pitcher (Mrs. Nordstrom), Stephanie Bacastow (Mrs. Anderssen), Andrew Maughan (Mr. Erlanson), Leslie Jackson (Mrs. Segerstrom), and Slater Ashenhurst (Frid), opens at Pittsfield, MA’s. Barrington Stage.
Ragtime, directed by Will Pomerantz, featuring Kyrie Courter (Sarah), Derrick Davis (Coalhouse), Lora Lee Gayer (Mother), Zachary Prince (Tateh), Daniel Jenkins (Father), Harrison Bryan (Younger Brother), Davon Williams (Booker T. Washington), Clyde Voce (Matthew Henson), Rachel Parker (Sarah’s Friend), Taylor Jackson (Harlem Woman), Cathryn Wake (Evelyn Nesbit), Victoria Huston-Elam (Emma Goldman), Ryan Hunt (Willie Conklin), Cecelia Ticktin (Kathleen), Will Hantz (The Boy), and Sonnie Betts (The Girl), with Ian Lowe and Brianna Kaleen, opens at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater.
Xanadu, by Douglas Carter Beane, Jeff Lynne & John Farra, directed & choreographed by Paula Hammons Sloan, featuring Kristen Daniels (Kira/Clio), Dorian Quinn (Sonny), Jonathan Van Dyke (Danny/Zeus), Michelle Bendetti (Calliope/Aphrodite), and Judy Mina-Ballard (Melpomene/Medusa), with Daniella Castoria, Erika Harper, AJ Love, Alec Mittenthal, Patrick Murray, and Ellery Smith, opens at Laguna Playhouse.
Lavender Men, world premiere by Roger Q. Mason, directed by Lovell Holder, featuring Roger Q. Mason (Taffeta), Alex Esola (Elmer Ellsworth), and Pete Ploszek (Abe Lincoln), opens at LA’s Skylight Theatre.
Jason Graae’s Graaetest Hits concert, with music direction by Gerald Sternbach, at 8 PM PT at San Francisco’s Feinstein’s at the Nikko.
A Doll’s House, Part 2, by Lucas Hnath, directed by James Mcdonald, featuring Noma Dumezweni (Nora), Patricia Allison (Emmy), Brian F. O’Byrne (Torvald), and June Watson (Anne Marie), closes at London’s Donmar Warehouse.
The Tempest, directed by Deborah Warner, featuring Dickie Beau (Ariel), Gary Sefton (Stephano), William Chubb (Gonzalo), Stephen Kennedy (Trinculo), Nicholas Woodeson (Prospero), Pierro Miel-Mee (Ferdinand), Tanvi Virmani (Mirana), Natalie Winsor (Francisca), Finbar Lynch (Antonio), and Luke Mullins (Sebastian), closes at the UK’s Theatre Royal Bath.
Just for Us, written by & starring Alex Edelman, directed by Adam Brace, closes at MA’s Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Here There Are Blueberries, world premiere of Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich, directed by Kaufman, featuring Scott Barrow, Charles Browning, Rosina Reynolds, Jeanne Sakata, Elizabeth Stahlmann, Charlie Thurston, and Grant James, closes at La Jolla Playhouse.
The Nutty Professor, by Rupert Holmes & Marvin Hamlisch, directed by Marc Bruni, featuring Max Crumm (Julius Kelp/Buddy Love), Elena Ricardo (Stella Purdy), Klea Blackhurst (Miss Lemon), Mel Johnson Jr. (Harrington Winslow), and Jeff McCarthy (Dr. Warfield), with Parker Aimone, Alyssa Carol, Jillian Hope Ferguson, Joseph Harrington, Fernel Hogan, Corinne Munsch, Chase Peacock, Larkin Reilly, Ethan Rogers, Vanessa Sierra, Kyra Louise Smith, Jordan Stephens, Jake Urban, Jerome Vivona, and Blake Zelesnikar, closes at ME’s Ogunquit Playhouse.
Sunday, August 7
Xanadu, by Douglas Carter Beane, Jeff Lynne & John Farra, directed & choreographed by Paula Hammons Sloan, featuring Kristen Daniels (Kira/Clio), Dorian Quinn (Sonny), Jonathan Van Dyke (Danny/Zeus), Michelle Bendetti (Calliope/Aphrodite), and Judy Mina-Ballard (Melpomene/Medusa), with Daniella Castoria, Erika Harper, AJ Love, Alec Mittenthal, Patrick Murray, and Ellery Smith, opens at Laguna Playhouse.
LA Theatre Works‘ screening of Suzie Miller’s “Prima Facie,” directed by Justin Martin, starring Jodie Comer, at 3 PT at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre.
Jimmy Naughton & Friends: An Afternoon of Stories and Songs benefit concert, with special guests Kelli O’Hara, Greg Naughton, and Kiera Naughton, at 3 PM ET at MA’s Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Jen Colella concludes her run in Come From Away at Broadway’s Schoenfeld Theatre.
A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, by Anthony McCarten, directed by Michael Mayer, featuring Will Swenson (Neil Diamond – Then), Mark Jacoby (Neil Diamond – Now), Robyn Hurder (Marcia), Linda Powell (Doctor), Jessie Fisher (Jaye Posner), Michael McCormick (Fred Colby/Tommy O’Rourke), Tom Alan Robbins (Bert Berns/Kieve Diamond), and Bri Sudia (Ellie Greenwich/Rose Diamond), with Jessie Austrian, Neal Benari, Jordan Dobson, Ninako Donville, Paige Faure, Nick Fradiani, Kalonjee Gallimore, Samantha Gershman, Alex Hairston, Makai Hernandez, Jess LeProtto, Tatiana Lofton, Aaron James McKenzie, Mary Page Nance, Robert Pendilla, Max Sangerman, and MiMi Scardulla, closes at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre.
The Last Supper, world premiere by Jeremy Desmon & Jeff Thomson, directed by Sheryl Kaller, featuring Charlotte d’Amboise, Mark Evans, Alex Newell, Pomme Koch, Megan Kane, Allan K. Washington, and Wes Zurick, with Josh Canfield, Jennifer Frankel, and Alan Wiggins, closes at NJ’s South Orange PAC.
Freestyle Love Supreme, directed by Thomas Kail, featuring Andrew Bancroft, Richard Baskin jr., Jay C. Ellis, Aneesa Folds, Mark Martin, Kaila Mullady, Morgan Reilly, James Rushin, Victoria Theodore, and Anthony Veneziale, closes at Pasadena Playhouse.
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company‘s Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, featuring Remo Airaldi (Leonato), Siobhan Juanita Brown (Friar Francis), Sarah Corey (Borachio), Tia James (Benedick), John Kuntz (Antonio), Michael Underhill (Don Pedro), Gunnar Manchester (Don John), Erik Robles (Claudio), Rachael Warren (Beatrice), Rebecca-Anne Whitaker (Hero), and Debra Wise (Dogberry), with Zoe Abuyuan Siobhán Carroll, Nettie Chickering, Sarah Corey, Duncan Gallagher, Jessica Folden, Jaime Jose Hernandez, Jordyn Palmer, Jon Vellante, Xander Viera, and Dylan C. Wack, closes at The Boston Common.
Mister Miss America, world premiere written & performed by Neil D’Astolfo, closes at Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.
Get It Together, world premiere written & directed by Michael Quinn, featuring Joseph Basquill (Harold) and Hadley Durkee (Mary), closes at LA’s Zephyr Theatre.
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As previously reported, Into the Woods has been extended through Oct. 16 at Broadway’s St. James Theatre.
In addition, the entire original cast has extended their runs through Sept. 4. New casting for the extension is TBA.
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The world premiere of Sonali Bhattacharyya, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Ishy Din & Alexandra Wood’s Silence will run Sept. 1-17 at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Abdul Shayek.
Renu Brindle, Sujaya Dasgupta, Nimmi Harasgama, Bhasker Patel, Jay Saighal, Rehan Sheikh, and Martin Turner.
The 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan saw millions uprooted and resulted in unspeakable violence. It would shape modern Britain forever. Witnesses to this brutal moment in history live among us, yet the stories of that time remain shrouded in silence.
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Additional casting has been announced for Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens’ A Man of No Importance, to run Oct. 11 – Dec. 4 (opening Oct. 30) at Classic Stage Company, directed by John Doyle, with music direction by Caleb Hoyer.
Jim Parsons (Alfie Byrne), Alma Cuervo (Miss Oona Crowe), Kara Mikula (Mrs. Curtain), Da’Von T. Moody (Breton Beret), Mary Beth Peil (Mrs. Grace), Thom Sesma (Mr. Carney), A.J. Shively (Robbie Fay), Nathaniel Stampley (Father Kenny), Jessica Tyler Wright (Mrs. Patric), Joel Waggoner (Ernie Lally), Mare Winningham (Lily Byrne), and William Youmans (Baldy O’Shea).
Alfie Byrne is a bus driver in 1964 Dublin whose heart holds secrets that he can’t share with anyone but his imagined confidante, Oscar Wilde. When he attempts to put on an amateur production of Wilde’s Salome in the local church hall, he confronts the forces of bigotry and shame over a love “that dare not speak its name.” But the redemptive power of theatre changes his life and brings his friends back to his side.
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Sam Medes will team up with Audible to create 3 audio dramas adapted from classic Charles Dickens stories, featuring an “all-star British cast.”
One drama will be released this November, with two additional titles following next year.
Titles, casting, and additional information TBA.
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Video: Sara Barielles and Brian D’Arcy James perform “It Takes Two” from Broadway’s Into the Woods. Scroll down…
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Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre will stream an audio version of Jaime Jarrett’s musical radio play, Wonder Boy, Aug. 15-29, directed by Jéhan Òsanyìn, with music direction by Michael Nutting.
Jaime Jarrett, Gloria Alcalá, Rheanna Atendido, Rhy Daly, Rachel Guyer-Mafune, UJ Mangune, Aaron M. Davis Norman, Tyler Rogers, and Porscha Shaw.
Jackson is recovering from a break up, growing apart from his twin sister, and attempting to find a new normal in his identity as a transgender man. During this tumultuous time, he craves some kind of protection for his heart. When he ingests an experimental drug, he is transformed into Wonder Boy: a superhero who has the ability to create impenetrable forcefields. He uses his power to protect his college campus, but learns that protecting others (and himself) is more complicated than he thought. Jackson must face his masculinity, his vulnerability, what it means to be a superhero, and what it means to care for others.
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Vanessa Redgrave has exited My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum, explaining a need for rest following a bout with COVID. The production will close Aug. 27.
Redgrave as been replaced by Heather Jackson for the remainder of the run.
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The world premiere Sesame Street the Musical, written & directed by Jonathan Rockefeller, will run will run Sept. 8 – Nov. 27 at Theatre Row.
Casting and additional information TBA.
In addition to the new songs by Tom Kitt, Helen Park & Nate Edmondson, the show will also feature classic songs from the TV series.
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The world premiere of J. Nicole Brooks’ stage adaptation of Eve L. Ewing’s 1919 will run Oct. 4-29 at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, directed by Gabrielle Randle-Bent & Tasia A. Jones.
Sheldon D. Brown, Demorris Burrows, Jessica Dean Turner, Max Thomas, Sola Thompson, and Alexis Jean Ward.
Based on Ewing’s collection of poems about the killing of Black teenager Eugene Williams in 1919 off the segregated Chicago lakeshore – and how this tragedy reverberates today.
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Video: Arielle Jacobs and Jake David Smith on their experience in Between the Lines at Off-Broadway’s Tony Kiser Theatre.
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Center Theatre Group has announced the 2022-23 season for LA’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.
L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival (Sept. 9-11), with an all-women cohort of 10 writers. For the first time in the history of CTG Group’s L.A. Writers workshop, all 10 playwrights (all women) in the group will have their work presented at the Douglas: The writers (all women) include Jami Brandli, June Carryl, Penelope Lowder, Lisa Ramirez, Jessica Ko, Pia Shah, Judy Soo Hoo, Delanna Studi, Julie Taiwo Quarles, and Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera.
Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord (Feb. 12 – Mar. 12, 2023), by Kristina Wong, directed by Chay Yew.
Fetch Clay, Make Man (June 4 – July 2), by Will Power, directed by Debbie Allen.
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Aug. 20 – Sept. 17), by Alexis Scheer, directed by Lindsay Allbaugh.
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Lady Gaga will star in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” a sequel to “Joker.”
The film will be released Oct. 4, 2024, directed by Todd Phillips.
Casting and additional information TBA.