This Weekends’ Highlights:
Friday, Feb. 7:
Relax, let go, let fly…
Saturday, Feb. 8:
Stephen Sndheim’s Old Friends, directed by Matthew Bourne, featuring Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Jacob Dickey, Jasmine Forsberg, Kate Jennings Grant, Bonnie Langford, Beth Leavel, Gavin Lee, Jason Pennycooke, Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, Kyle Selig, Maria Wirries, Daniel Yearwood, Kevin Earley, Paige Fauer, Alexa Lopez, and Peter Neureuther, opens at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Betrayal, by Harold Pinter, directed by Susan V. Booth, featuring Helen Hunt (Emma), Ian Barford (Robert), Robert Sean Leonard (Jerry), opens at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
Hamlet, adapted & directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck, featuring Will Block (Hamlet), Jono Eiland (Horatio), Matt Foyer (Polonius/Captain/Gravedigger), Rafael Goldstein (Laertes/First Player/Barnardo), Sammy LInkowski (Marcellus/Orsic/Guildenstern/Priest), Corey Jones (Orsic/Guildenstern/Priest), Paige Lindsey White ((Gertrude), and Ana Nicolle Chavez (Ophelia/Francisco), opens at Santa Barbara’s New Vic.
Hamlet, directed by Rupert Goold, featuring Luke Thallon, (Hamlet), Nancy Carroll (Gertrude), Jared Harris (Claudius), Anton Lesser (Ghost/first Player, Elliot Levey (Polonius), Kel Matsena (Horatio), Lewis Shepherd Laertes), and Nia Towle (Ophelia), begins previews at London’s Royal Shakespeare Company.
Eden, by Steve Carter, directed by Brandon J. Dirden, featuring Chaundre Hall-Broomfield, Russell G. Jones, Juice Mackins, Prentiss Patrick-Carter, Alicia Pilgrim, Christina Acosta Robinson, Heather Alicia Simms, and Lauren F. Walker, closes at CT’s Yale Rep.
Speakeasy Stage‘s Ain’t No Mo, by Jordan E. Cooper, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, featuring Schanaya Barrows, Dru Sky Berrian, MaConnia Chesser, Grant Evan, De’Lon Grant, and Kiera Prusmack, closes at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion.
Sunday, Feb. 9
Local Singles: A New Musical, by Nick Navari, directed by Clint Hromsco, featuring Rylee Carpenter, Hudson Brown, Paul Tuaty, Alana Knobel, Oscar Izenson, Ella Dolynchuk, Georgia Billington, and Gabe DeRose, closes at Off-Broadway’s Players Theatre.
The Seagull, directed by Bruce Katzman, featuring Sasha Alexancert, James Tupper, Cece Kelly, Carlos Carrasco, Carolyn Crotty, Joe Hulser and Will Dixon. Filling out the cast are Brianna Bryan, Matthew Hartley, Lukas Jann, and Hannah May Howard, closes at LA’s Odyssey Theatre.
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The Wallis Delivers: A Benefit Evening to Support Wildfire Recovery will take place Wed. Apr. 30 at 6 PM at LA’s The Wallis, hosted by Jane Fonda.
Performers and additional information TBA.
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LA’s Theatre West (link TBA) will present a series of readings of new works, written, directed, and performed by company members, all at 7:30 PM.
Feb. 18: A Christmas Carol, by Tom Walla, directed by Michael van Duzer.
Mar. 4: The Conference, by Lloyd J. Schwartz, directed by Bill Sehres.
Ox-Bow Incident, by Jim Beaver, directed by Charlie Mount, adapted from the novel by Walter Van Tilburg.
Mr. Sam’s Place (Mar. 18), written & directed by Mark Bowen
Scream! (Mar. 25), by Chirs DiGiovanni, directed by Arden Teresa Lewis.
A Wonderful View (Apr. 1), by Kres Mersky, directed by Paul Bersten.
In a Yellow Wood (Apr. 8), by Garry Kluger, directed by Arden Ersa Lewis.
In a Yellow Wood (Apr. 15), by Garry Garry Kluger, directed by Arden Teresa Lewis
Here Be Dragons (Apr. 20) written & directed by Charlie Mount.
Miss Eugenia Rose (Apr. 20), written & directed by Elayne Heilveil.
Acceptance (Apr. 27), writted & directed by Marc Litman.
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The world premiere of Liana Sonenclar’s Before This New Year will run Mar. 19 – May 11 (opening Apr. 4) at The Duke, directed by knud Adams.
Emily Carey (Haley), Kaci Walfall (Alison), Arjun Biju (Brandon), Pete Simpson (Coach), Melanie Nicholls-King Mom) and Ella Stiller (Jen).
High-school track star Alison Bennett (Kaci Walfall) had met every expectation — until it all fell apart. After her first semester of college, Alison returns home for the holidays and reconnects with her former teammate Haley (Emily Carey). As old feelings resurface, they must confront the choices that ended their running careers and reshaped their lives. Sharp, funny, and poignant, the play is a powerful exploration of love, loss, identity, and coming-of-age in today’s relentlessly high-pressured world.
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Pittsburg CLO has announced its 2025 Summer Season. Casting and creative teams TBA.
Camelot (June 17-22)
Back to the Future (July 1-6)
Frozen (July 18-27)
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The smash-hit production of All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich has officially broken the house record for a play at at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre for the week ending February 2, 2025, with a total gross of $2,080,707.
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Pittsburg CLO has announced its 2025 summer season. Creative teams and casting TBA.
Camelot (June 17-22)
Back to the Future : The Musical (Julu 1-6)
. Frozen (July 18 – 27)
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Speak Easy Stage‘s A Man of No Importance, by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens, will run Feb. 21 – Mar. 22 (opening Feb. 23) at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion, directed by Paul Daigneault, with music direction by Paul S. Katz, and choreography by Ilyse Robbins.
Eddie Shields, Aimee Doherty, Kerry A. Dowling, Jennifer Ellis, Meagan Lewis-Michelson, Will McGarrahan, Billy Meleady, Keith Richardson, Rebecca Rae Robles, Sam Simahk, and Kathy St. George.
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Dorian Harewood: Songs from the Brill Building will be livestreamed Tues. Feb. 25 at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Tony Daniels.
The concert is in support of the families of California’s Altadena community One of the first communities devastated by the recent California wildfires. Harewood will present a reflective and beautifully diverse set of melodies such as “One Fine Day” (The Shirelles), “Make It Easy on Yourself” (Jerry Butler), “Stand By Me” (Ben E. King), “On Broadway” (The Drifters), “What The World Needs Now Is Love” (Jackie DeShannon), “Love Potion No. 9” (The Clovers), “Breaking Up Is Hard Do” (Neil Sedaka), and “I’m a Believer” (Neil Diamond). A special moment of the concert will include Harwood debuting an original song he has written, titled “Off Rhythm.”
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The world premiere of Willy Holtman, David Spangler, Jerry Taylor & Marty Dodson’s Hard Road to Heaven will run Feb. 28 – Mar. 23 (opening Mar. 8) at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse, directed by Jackson Gay, with choreography by Brandon Kelly.
Jackie Burns (Jenny Dixon), Leah Hocking (Linnell Dixon), Elizabeth Teeter (Anna Grace Dixon), J. Robert Spencer (Hank Dixon), Bryan Fenkart (Jimmy Lee Stewart, Jerry Dixon (Charlie Morgan), Nathaniel Hackmann (Kellin Wayne) and Marcus Gladney, Jr. (Marcus Dorsey), with Imani Brissett, Grad Greer, Alec Ludacka, Christopher McCrewell, Claire Newumann, Shannon Stasiulis, and Cecilia Trippiedi.
A powerful new musical that explores the heart and soul of country music through the themes of fame, family, and faith. Jenny Dixon, the reigning queen of country, navigates the ups and downs of a superstar career and the gospel-singing family she left behind. With unforgettable songs and a gripping narrative, Hard Road to Heaven is a tale of ambition, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bonds of family.
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York Theatre‘s production of Stevie Holland, Gary William Friedman & Will Holt’s Platinum Dreams will run Mar. 8-16 at Theatre at Theatre at St. Jean’s, directed by Joseph Hayward, with choreography Y Kody Jauron.
TBA.
The story of Lila Halliday, a musical movie star of the 1940’s hoping to make a comeback by recording her first-ever solo album, Dan Hardin, a hot rock ‘n’ roll star looking to keep his relevance on the charts, and Jamie Stiles, a record producer/studio owner who is Dan’s former writing partner and former lover. Set in 1977, with a score encompassing 70’s rock, 40’s big-band, and a contemporary theatre sound, Platinum Dreams is about how destiny brings together three disparate, talented people with their own agendas, and how they ultimately grow to accept each other and go on with their lives and fulfill their dreams.
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The Last Five Years will run Mar. 21 – May 18 at Milwaukee Rep, directed by Kelley Faulkner.
Grace Bobber (Cathy) and Asher Muldoon (Jaime).