This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, January 12
18th annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals opens at CT’s Goodspeed.
Native Gardens, by Karen Zacarías, directed by Timothy Douglas, featuring Katya Collazo (Tania Del Valle) Michael Kostroff (Frank Butley) and Kelly Coffield Park (Virginia Butley), opens at Utah’s Pioneer Playhouse.
Mercury, by Steve Yockey, directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, featuring Meghan Holaway (Pamela), Andrea Flowers (Heather), Justin Lawrence Barnes (Nick), Danny Lee Gomez (Brian), Billy Baker (Sam), Gloria Ines (Alicia and Christina Carlisi (Olive), opens at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre.
The Connector, by Daisy Prince, Jason Robert Brown & Jonathan Marc Sherman, directed by Prince, featuring Scott Bakula, Ben Levi Ross, and Hannah Cruz, with Joanna Carpenter, Max Crumm, George Dvorsky, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Danielle Lee Greaves, Mylinda Hull, Daniel Jenkins, Cedric Lamar, Jessica Molaskey, Fergie Philippe, Eliseo Román, Ann Sanders, Kyle Sherman, and Michael Winther, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater.
Our Class, by Tadeusz Slobodzianek, directed by Igor Golyak, featuring Gus Birney (Dora), Andrey Burkovskiy (Menachem), Jack DiFalco (Zygmunt), José Espinosa (Rysiek), Tess Goldwyn (Zocha,) Will Manning (Heniek), Stephen Ochsner (Jakub Katz), Alexandra Silber (Rachelka/Marianna), Richard Topol (Abram), and Ilia Volok (Władek), begins previews at Brooklyn’s BAM.
Trouble in Mind, by Alice Childress, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, featuring Barlow Adamson, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Allison Beauregard, Kadahj Bennett, McConnia Chesser, Davron Monroe, Bill Mootos, James Turner, and Robert Walsh, begins previews at Boston’s Lyric Stage.
Guys on Ice, by Fred Alley & James Kaplan, directed & choreographed by Jeffrey Herbst, featuring Dan Klarer (Ernie), Steve Koehler (Lloyd), and Doug Mancheski (Marvin), begins previews at Milwaukee Rep.
Sukkot, world premiere by Matthew Leavitt, directed by Joel Zwick, featuring Natalie Lander (Eden Sullivan), Andy Robinson (Patrick Sullivan), Liza Seneca (Mairead Sullivan), and Jonathan Slavin (Asher Sullivan), previews at LA’s Skylight Theatre.
Eureka’s Castle concert, starring Eureka O’Hara, at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
Saturday, January 13
Sukkot, world premiere by Matthew Leavitt, directed by Joel Zwick, featuring Natalie Lander (Eden Sullivan), Andy Robinson (Patrick Sullivan), Liza Seneca (Mairead Sullivan), and Jonathan Slavin (Asher Sullivan), opens at LA’s Skylight Theatre.
Anything Goes, directed by Michael Weber, featuring Meghan Murphy (Reno Sweeney), Luke Nowakowski (Billy Crocker), Jack Evans (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh), Emma Ogea (Hope Harcourt), J. Steve McDonagh (Moonface Martin), Tommy Bullington (Ship’s Purser), Rachel Dec (Charity), Nick Dorado (Ship’s Captain), Emily Ling Mei (Chastity), Tafadzwa Diener (Erma), Josiah Haugen (Henry T. Dobson), Ciara Hichey (Dippy), Hannah Revian (Virtue), Nataki Rennie (Purity), and Anthony Whitaker (Elisha J. Whiteny) , with Logan Becker+ (Ensemble);, (Henry T. Dobson, Ensemble); Christian Hill+ (Ensemble); Kelsey MacDonald, Jenna Schoppe, Gabriel Solis, Jerod Turner, Genevieve VenJohnson.Gabriel Solis, Mack Spotts, Jerod Turner, begins previews at Chicago’s Porchlight Theatre.
Formidable! Aznavour concert, directed by Bil Marsalla, with special guests Melissa Errico and Jules Grison, at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Town Hall.
Dear England, by James Grand, directed by Rupert Goold, featuring Gina McKee (Pippa Grange), Josh Barrow (Jordan Pickford), Gunnar Cauthery (Gary Lineker), Will Close (Harry Kane), Crystal Condie (Alex Scott), Will Fletcher (Jordan Henderson), Sean Gilder (Sam Allardyce), Darragh Hand (Marcus Rashford), John Hodgkinson (Greg Clarke), Adam Hugill (Harry Maguire), Albert Magashi (Jadon Sancho), Matsena (Raheem Sterling), Abdul Sessay (Bukayo Saka), Lweis Shepherd (Dele Alli), Paul Thornley (Mike Webster), Tony Turnder (Greg Dyke), and Ryan Whittle (Eric Dier), with Nick Barclay, Tashinga Bepete, Will Harrison-Wallace, and Miranda Heath, closes at London’s Prince Edward Theatre.
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Jeff Ward, featuring Aubrey Plaza (Roberta) and Christopher Abbott (Danny), closes at Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Sunday, January 14
Guys on Ice, by Fred Alley & James Kaplan, directed & choreographed by Jeffrey Herbst, featuring Dan Klarer (Ernie), Steve Koehler (Lloyd), and Doug Mancheski (Marvin), opens at Milwaukee Rep.
Voctave, an a capella concert, at 7 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space.
Shucked, by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark & Shane McAnnuly, directed by Jack O’Brien, featuring John Behlmann (Gordy), Kevin Cahoon (Peanut), Isabelle McCalla (Maizy), Andrew Durand (Beau), Alex Newell (Lulu), Ashley D. Kelley (Storyteller #1), and Grey Hensen (Storyteller 2), closes at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre.
Hell’s Kitchen, world premiere by Alicia Keys & Kristoffer Diaz, directed by directed by Michael Greif, featuring Shoshana Bean (Jersey), Chad Carstarphen (Ray), Brandon Victor Dixon (Davis), Vanessa Ferguson (Tiny), Crystal Monee Hall (Crystal), Jakeim Hart (Q), Chris Lee (Knuck), Jackie Leon (Jessica), Kecia Lewis (Miss Liza Jane), Maleah Joi Moon (Ali), Mariand Torres (Maria, (Understudy), and Lamont Walker II (Riq), with Reid Clarke, Chloe O. Davis, Nico DeJesus, Timothy L. Edwards, Desmond Sean Ellington, Badia Farha, David A. Guzman, Gianna Harris, Raechelle Manalo, Jade Milan, Onyxx Noel, Susan Oliveras, Sarah Parker, William Roberson, Niki Saludez, Donna Vivino, closes at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
Swept Away, by John Logan & The Avett Brothers, directed by Michael Mayer, featuring John Gallagher, Jr., Stark Sands, Adrian Blake Enscoe, Wayne Duvall, Hunter Brown, Matt DeAngelis, Taurean Everett, Cameron Johnson, Brandon Kalm, Michael Mainwaring, Orville Mendoza, Tyrone L. Robinson, John Sygar, and Jamari Johnson Williams, closes at DC’s Arena Stage.
18th annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals concludes at CT’s Goodspeed.
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Audible has announced complete casting for the world premiere of David Yazbek, Erik Della Penna & Itamar Moses’ Dead Outlaw, to run Feb. 28 – Apr. 7 at the Minetta Lane Theatre, directed by David Cromer, with music direction by Rebekah Bruce,
Jeb Brown, Eddie Cooper, Andrew Durand, Dashiell Eaves, Julia Knitel, Ken Marks, Trent Saunders, and Thom Sesmawith Emily Fink, Austin Ku, George Merrick, and Max Sangerman.
The musical follows Elmer McCurdy—an ambitious, turn-of-the-20th-century outlaw whose death ended a life of failed crime and alcoholism and began a brilliant career as a mummified side-show attraction that travelled the USA for decades.
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Mike Birbiglia: Please Stop the Ride will run July 26 – 27 at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
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Fiddler on the Roof will run Jan. 24 – Mar. 24 at Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre, directed by Elizabeth Margolis, with choreography by Rommy Sandhu, and music direction by Chris Sargent.
Mark David Kaplan (Tevye), Janna Cardia (Golde), Emma Rosenthal (Tzeitel), Yael Chanukov (Hodel), Abby Goldberg (Chava), Lea Grace Biwer (Schprintze), Estella Mccarthy Schultz (Bielke), Michael Kurowski (Motel), Zach Sorrow (Perchik), Grant Kilian (Fyedka), Molly Dibble (alternate Schprintze/Bielke), Janet Ulrich Brooks (Yenta), Joel Gelman (Lazar Wolf), Jeff Parker (Constable), with Dara Cameron (Fruma-Sarah), Thom Cox (Nachum/Yussel), Bill Mcgough (Rabbi), Karl Hamilton (Mordcha), Susan Hofflander (Grandma Tzeitel), Nathan Kabara (Avram), and Sam Shankman (Mendel), with Mack Alexander, Jenessa Altvater, Jessica Deahr, Daniel Hurst, Dani Johns, Will Leonard, Jordan Radis, Elizabeth Romero, Jacob Simon, Mitzi Smith, and Jodi Snyder.
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LA Theatre Works will present a screening of Jack Thorne’s The Motive and the Cue will take place Sun. Mar. 24 at 3 PM at UCLA’s James Bridge’s Theater, directed by Sam Mendes.
Mark Gatiss (John Gielgud) and Johnny Flyn (Richard Burton).
1964: Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.
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Here We Are, currently running at Off-Broadway’s The Shed through Jan. 21, will release a cast album this Spring (date TBA).
Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos, with Bradley Dean, Adam Harrington, Bligh Voth, Adante Carter, Mehry Eslaminia, and Lindsay Nicole Chambers.
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Musical Theatre Guild‘s Live Laugh Love: A Sondheim Celebration, directed by Lewis Wilkenfeld, and hosted by Jason Graae, will take place in 2 locations:
Jan. 18 (7 PM) at Rancho Mirage’s Galen PAC.
Jan. 21 (7 PM) at Burbank’s Colony Theatre.
Eydie Alyson, Eileen Barnett, Jennifer Bennett, Doug Carfrae, Barbara Carlton Heart, Will Collyer, Susan Edwards Martin, Melissa Fahn, Joshua Finkel, Tal Fox, Julie Garnye, Ron Christopher Jones, Melissa Lyons, Tonoccus McClain, Kevin McMahon, Dana Meller, Lisa Picotte, Teri Ralston, Glenn Rosenblum, Brent Schindele, Leslie Stevens, Mary Van Arsdel, Paul Wong, Robert Yacko and David Zack.
Video: Interview with Jason Graae and Lewis Wilkenfeld.
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Open-Door Playhouse will present Joni Ravenna’s Beethoven and Misfortune Cookies beginning Feb. 28, directed by Devereau Chumrau. Open-Door Playhouse continues to present plays in podcast form.
Rayshawn Chism
The true story of Kabin Thomas, a musician and, for eleven years, a Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas. The show begins with Thomas teaching a lesson about the struggles of Beethoven, the composer of mixed European and Moorish ancestry who coped with hearing loss in his later years and creating his Ninth Symphony while deaf. Thomas later runs into trouble with the university authorities subsequent to his teaching a lesson about Abel Meeropol and his song made famous by Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit, about the lynching of Blacks in the Deep South. Thomas accompanies the lesson with a famous photograph of lynching victims.Relieved of his teaching position, Thomas subsequently comes to Hollywood and is cast on a reality TV show. Becoming aware of his father’s early demise related to mental illness, Thomas must overcome his own personal inner demons if he is to survive and attain any lasting measure of happiness.
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New York City Ballet‘s Tribute to Jerome Robbins will run Jan. 23 – Feb. 23.
The program unites three works that showcase his versatility and continual ingenuity: Fancy Free, Robbins’ first ballet, a classic comedy in dance depicting three sailors on a wild and woolly night of shore leave; In the Night, a quietly spellbinding ballet for three couples danced to four nocturnes from Chopin, one of Robbins’s favorite composers; and finally The Four Seasons, an exuberantly playful ballet that leaps nimbly between styles to suit the changing cycles of the year.
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Mary Zimmerman’s opera-in-miniature adaptation of The Matchbox Magic Flute will run Feb. 10 – Mar. 10 at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, directed by Zimmerman.
Marlene Fernandez (Pamina), Keanon Kyles (Sarastro), Russell Mernagh (Monostatos), Lauren Molina (Papagena/Lady), Tina Muñoz Pandya (Lady), Reese Parish (The Spirit), Shawn Pfautsch (Papageno), Emily Rohm (Queen of the Night), Billy Rude (Tamino), and Monica West (Lady).
Prince Tamino embarks on a journey to rescue Princess Pamina — the daughter of the Queen of the Night (Rohm)—all with the help of a magical flute.
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Unconditional: A Musical Memory, written & performed by Margot Rose, will run Jan. 19-21 at LA’a Fountain Theatre.
Margaret shares her funny and poignant story of family, loss, connection, community, and a backyard.
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The world premiere of Kate Hamill’s The Scarlet Letter will run Feb. 3-25 at NJ’s Two River Theater, directed by Shelley Butler.
Mary Bacon (Goody Hibbins), Nikki Calonge (Pearl), Kevin Isola (Chillingworth), Keshay Moodliar (Dimmesdale), Amelia Pedlow (Hester Prynne), and Triney Sanoval (Governor Hibbins).
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Video: Highlights from The Witches at London’s National Theatre, starring Sally Ann Triplett.
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Off-Broadway’s Bedlam Theatre has announced its 2024 season at off-Broadway’s West End Theatre.
The Assassination of Julius Caesar as Told by William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw (begins Feb. 24), world premiere by Eric Tucker. An in-depth examination of Caesar by combining Shakespears and Shaw’s character at one. Casting TBA.
Music City (begins Sept. 28), by J.T. Harding & Peter Zinn, directed by Eric Tucker. A first-hand account of the drug epidemic in America and a struggling artist’s attempt at overcoming that war to achieve the dream of becoming a successful Nashville singer/songwriter. Casting TBA.