This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, January 26
tick, tick…BOOM!, directed by Neil Patrick Harris, featuring Brandon Uranowitz (Jon), Denée Benton (Susan), and Grey Henson (Michael), opens at the Kennedy Center.
Group Rep‘s 12 Angry Jurors, by Sherman L. Sergel, directed by Tom Lazarus, featuring Linda Alznauer (Juror 4), Jane Bonem (Guard), Paul Cady (Juror 2), Belinda Howell (Juror 10), Stephanie Keefer (Juror 11), Stan Mazin (Juror 9), Bob McCollum (Judge), Richard Reich (Juror 7), Mark Stancato (Juror 3), Melissa Strauss (Juror 1), Neil Thompson (Juror 8), Cathy Diane Tomlin (Juror 6), Mouchette van Helsdingen (Juror 12), Tamir Yardenne (Juror 5) and Tilly Ye (Juror 6 from Feb. 16-18), opens at North Hollywood’s Lonnie Chapman Theatre.
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, directed by Mathew Bourne & Julia McKenzie, featuring Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Haydn Gwynne, Damian Humbley, Bradley Jaden, Gavin Lee, Jason Pennycooke, Christine Allado, Janie Dee, Bonnie Langford, Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, Jac Yarrow, Marley Fenton, Beatrice Penny-Touré,Harry Apps, Bella Brown, and Monique Young, closes at London’s Gielgud Theatre.
The Homecoming, by Harold Pinter, directed by Matthew Dunster, featuring Jared Harris (Max), Joe Cole (Lenny), Lisa Diveney (Ruth), David Angland (Joey), Robert Emms (Teddy), and Nicolas Tennant (Sam), closes at London’s Young Vic.
Backstairs Billy, by Marcelo Dos Santos, directed by Michael Grandage, featuring Penelope Wilton (Queen Mother) and Luke Evans (William “Billy” Tallon), with Emily Barber, Iwan Davies, Ian Drysdale, Ilan Galkoff, Eloka Ivo, Michael Simkins, and Nicole Sloane, with David Buttle, Amy Newton, Keanu Adolphus Johnson, Georgie Rhys, and Jacob Ethan Tanner, closes at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre.
Saturday, January 27
Rogue Machine Theatre‘s Middle of the World, by Juan Jose Alfonso, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos, featuring Cheryl Umaña (Victoria), Christian Telesmar Glenn Joyne), Leandro Cano (Bob Gonzalez), Jennifer Pollono (Barbara Blanchard), and Dan Lin (Warren Lim), opens at Hollywood’s Matrix Theatre.
Brushstroke, world premiere by John Ross Bowie, directed by Casey Stangl, featuring James Urbaniak (Ted), Malcolm Barrett (Marvin), Brendan Hines (Allan), and Evangeline Edwards (Susan), opens at LA’s Odyssey Theatre.
Sweeney Todd in Concert (2001 production), starring George Hearn and Patti Lupone, will screen for FREE at 11 AM ET on YouTube.
Ensemble Theatre Company‘s Love Letters benefit performance, by A.R. Gurney, featuring Meredith Baxter and Michal Gross, at 2 PM at Santa Barbara’s New Vic.
The Witches, world premiere by Lucy Kirkwood & Dave Malloy, directed by Lyndsey Turner, featuring Katherine Kinglsey (Grand High Witch), Daniel Rigby (Mrs. Stringer), Sally Ann Triplet (Gran), Laura Medforth (Mum), Richard David-Caine (Dad), Ekow Quartey (Mr. Jenkins), Maggie Service (Mrs. Jenkins), Irvine Iqbal (Chef Chevalier at Hotel Magnificent), with witches Julie Armstrong, Chrissie Bhima, Zoe Birkett, Maddison Bulleyment, Miracle Chance, Daniele Coombe, Molly-May Gardiner, Tiffany Graves, Bobbie Little, Tania Mathurin, Amira Matthews, and Alexandra Waite-Roberts, along with Adrian Grove, Jacob Maynard, Ben Redfern, and many more, closes at London’s Olivier Theatre.
The Homecoming, by Harold Pinter, directed by Matthew Dunster, featuring Jared Harris (Max), Joe Cole (Lenny), Lisa Diveney (Ruth), David Angland (Joey), Robert Emms (Teddy), and Nicolas Tennant (Sam), closes at London’s Young Vic.
Backstairs Billy, by Marcelo Dos Santos, directed by Michael Grandage, featuring Penelope Wilton (Queen Mother) and Luke Evans (William “Billy” Tallon), with Emily Barber, Iwan Davies, Ian Drysdale, Ilan Galkoff, Eloka Ivo, Michael Simkins, and Nicole Sloane, with David Buttle, Amy Newton, Keanu Adolphus Johnson, Georgie Rhys, and Jacob Ethan Tanner, closes at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre.
Ulster American, by David Ireland, directed by Jeremy Herrin, featuring Woody Harrelson (Jay Conway), Andy Serkis (Leigh Carver), and Louisa Harland, closes at London’s Riverside Studios.
The Perfect Game: A Slam Dunk New Musical, by John Grissmer, directed by directed by Danny Salles, featuring Anthony Sagaria (Jim Naismith), David Beach, Tyler Belo, Nick Bernardi, Milena J. Comeau, Jesse Lynn Harte, Akina Kitazawa, Alec Ludacka, Steve McCoy, Lukas Poost, Elena Ricardo, Jamal Shuriah, Danielle J. Summons, Scott Whipple, and EJ Zimmerman, closes at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
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), closes at Utah’s Pioneer Playhouse.
Sunday, January 28
Days of Wine and Roses, by Adam Guettel & Craig Lucas, directed by Michael Greif, featuring Kelli O’Hara, Brian d’Arcy James, Byron Jennings, Charon Catherine Brown, Bill English, Olivia Hernandez, David Jenning, Steven Booth, Nicole Ferguson, Kelcey Watson, Tabitha Lawing tony Carlin, David Manis, and Addie Manthey, opens at Broadway’s Studio 54.
Ain’t Misbehavin’, directed by Yvette Freeman Hartley, featuring Dedrick Bonner (Ken), Summer Nicole Greer (Armelia), jenelle Lynn Randall (Nell), James Tolbert (Andre), Amber Diane Wright (Charlaine), with TJ Wilkins, Jodi, Marks, and Samantha M. Lawrence, opens at Laguna Playhouse.
Illinoise, by Justin Peck & Jackie Sibblies Drury, directed & choreographed by Peck, featuring Kara Chan, BenCook, Jeanette Delgado, Gaby Diaz, Robbie Fairchild, Christine Flores, Jada German, Zachary Gonder, Rachel Lockhart, Dario Natarelli, Tyrone Reese, Craig Salstein, Ahmad Simmons, Byron Tittle, Ricky Ubeda, and Alejandro Vargas, opens at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.
Romeo and Juliet, directed & choreographed by Matthew Bourne, begins previews at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Miki Abraham: Somewhere Thats Blue concert, with special guests Alex Joseph Grayson, Alyssa Wray, and Traci Elaine Lee, at 9:30 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.
Gutenberg! The Musical, by Scott Brown & Anthony King, directed by Alex Timbers, starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, closes at Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theatre.
MJ The Musical national tour, directed & choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, featuring Roman Banks (MJ). Jamaal Fields-Green (MJ Alternate), Brandon Lee Harris (Michael), Josiah Benson (Little Michael), Ethan Joseph (Little Michael), Devin Bowles (Joseph Jackson/Rob), Mary Kate Moore (Rachel), J. Daughtry (Berry Gordy/Nick), Josh A. Dawson (Tito Jackson/Quincy Jones), Jaylen Lyndon Hunter (Little Marlon), Matt Loehr (Dave), Da’Von T. Moody (Alejandro) Anastasia Talley (Katherine Jackson/Kate), Jacobi Kai (Jermaine Jackson), Jay McKenzie (Jackie Jackson), and Malcolm Miles Young (Randy Jackson, with JoJo Carmichael, Croix DiIenno, Kellie Drobnick, Kyle DuPree, Zuri Noelle Ford, Jahir L. Hipps, Rajané Katurah, Jordan Markus, Matteo Marretta, Janayé McAlpine, Kendrick Mitchell, Chelsea Mitchell-Bonsu, Zion Mikhail Pradier, Ayla Stackhouse, and Charles P. Way, closes at LA’s Pantages Theatre.
TheBuena Vista Social Club, world premiere by Marco Ramirez, directed by Saheem Ali, featuring Skizzo Arnedillo, Renesito Avich, Natalie Belcon, Angélica Beliard, Kenya Browne, Danaya Esperanza, Carlos Sanchez Falú, Jared Machado, Hector Juan Maisonet, Ilda Mason, Marielys Molina, Julio Monge, Leonardo Reyna, Mel Semé, Olly Sholotan, Jainardo Batista Sterling, Nancy Ticotin, and Luis Vega, closes at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theatre.
The Reading Room Festival, offering open rehearsals, screenings, and readings of world-premiere plays, concludes at DC’s Folger Theatre.
(Im)migrants of the State, by Jeremie Loncka, Richard Loya & and more, closes at LA’s Actors Gang.
Company XIV‘s Nutcracker Rouge, directed & choreographed by Austin McCormick, hosted by J. Harrison Ghee, featuring Storm Marrero & Brandon Looney (Dosselmeyer), Megumi “Meg” Iwama & Ellen Akashi (Marie-Claire), Marcos Antonio & Jack Blackmon (Nutcracker Prince), Robyn Adele Anderson & Melike Konur (Susan Queens), Nolan (Candy Cane), Lola Carter (Cherries), Alisa Mae & Kylie Rose (Champagne), Uys du Buisson (Absinthe), TJ (Turkish Delight), Daniel Darling (Cotton Candy), and Duane Gosa (Mother Ginger), with Erin Dillon, Nicholas Katen, Clarisa Patton and Morgan Lee Wade, closes at Brooklyn’s Théâtre XIV (383 Troutman St.).
Death Trap, by Ira Levin, directed by Gillian Roberts, featuring Mark S. Megill (Sydney Bruhl), Cindy Chait (Myra Bruhl), Garrett Gallinot (Clifford Anderson), Laurd J. Cooke (Helga ten Dorp), and Brendan Flanagan (Porter Milgram), closes at NJ’s Algonquin Arts Theatre.
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Reviews for Once Upon a Mattress at NY City Center Encores:
NY Times (Elisabeth Vincentelli): …Foster’s glee in taking possession of the stage creates an all-encompassing manic energy that both the audience and her scene partners feed off. Prime among them are the archly imperial Harriet Harris…as Queen Aggravain and Michael Urie as her son, the bumbling Prince Dauntless — not the sharpest halberd in the castle, but still smart enough to become endearingly smitten with a shaggy princess who goes by Fred… The supporting cast is stuffed to the gills with game talent, including the recent Tony Award winner J. Harrison Ghee as the narrating jester. But let’s single out the presence of Cheyenne Jackson, too rare on our stages, as Sir Harry.
Theatermania (David Gordon): …Lear deBessonet’s daffy production… lets too much of the book remain… perfectly cast from top to bottom… Cheyenne Jackson, perfect as the brawny dimwit)… While Harris (sauntering around like the Queen of Hearts), Kelly (making a silent meal out of silly gestures), Ghee (suave), and Francis Jue (as the magical Wizard) are clearly having a grand ol’ time… Foster seizes the spotlight from the second she climbs onstage… It’s as much of a death-defying acrobatic turn as it is a comedic one. And it’s just so satisfying…
Vulture (Jackson McHenry): … Foster…runs circuits around the City Center stage, performing escalating feats of strength (picking up a goofily large prop dumbbell), flexibility (the splits!), musicality (a bit of operatic yodeling), drinking (first with steins, then with a beer helmet), and more… full of real pros — Michael Urie as Prince Dauntless, J. Harrison Ghee as the Jester, Cheyenne Jackson and Nikki Renée Daniels winsomely playing winsome lovers, Harriet Harris in full high-comedic dudgeon as Queen Aggravain… Lear DeBessonet…encourages the feeling of a pantomime… Foster doesn’t match the gale force of Burnett’s belt, which powered a lot of the show’s comedy, but she so commits to the physicality of her lovelorn swamp woman that it rights the ship…
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Broadway Cares will present Broadway Backwards, in support of the LGBTQ+ community, on Mon. Mar. 11 at 8 PM at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre.
Performers and additional information TBA.
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Michele Aldin Kushner’s Radio Galaxy will have an invitation-only reading on Fri. Feb. 2 at 11 AM & 2 PM at the New York Library for the Performing Arts, directed by David Esbjornson.
Tony Danza, Oscar Williams, Ritisha Chakraborty, Ami Sheth, and Alok Tewart.
Tino, a 17-year-old science prodigy from a hard-working, blue-collar family, dreams, eats, and sleeps astronomy. Unexpectedly, his biological father, Raju, an astrophysicist, enters his life. Tino has the chance to help Raju’s sick daughter and – for the first time in his life – have his dreams of studying the cosmos realized – if only his dad would let him.
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Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age will take place Mon. Mar. 11 at 7:30 PM at Broadway’s Studio 54, with music direction by Henry Koperski.
An evening of story mixed with song mixed with a joyful and mischievous exploration of our most communal of pastimes: aging! Here, Cumming covers all the bases: sex, death, and bacchanalia, with a set list as eclectic as the man himself – Kander and Ebb tunes blended with contemporary favorites, and even a self-penned paean against plastic surgery. He also discusses the effects of gravity, the time the mom from the Brady Bunch punched him, and what his dog taught him about the quality of life.
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London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has announced its 2024 summer season. Casting and creative teams TBA.
Twelfth Night (or What You Will) (May 3 – June 8, opening May 9), by Owen Horsley, Suhayla El-Bushra, Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab & Tom Brady, directed by Emily Lim & Toby Olié.
The Enormous Crocodile (May 17 – June 8, opening May 22), by Suhayla El-Bushra, Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab & Tom Brady), directed by Emily Lim & Toby Olié.
The Secret Garden (June 15 – July 20, opening June 25), adapted by Holly Robinson, directed by Anna Himali Howard.
Fiddler on the Roof (July 27 – Sept. 32, opening Aug. 6), directed by Jordan Fein, with choreogography by Julia Cheng, and music supervision by Mark Asinall.
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Black Rock Theater’s Cinderella will run Feb. 17-25 at CT’s Westport Country Playhouse, directed by Connor Dean.
Cady Huffman (Marie), Kaitlyn Davidson (Cinderella), Tate McElhaney (Jean-Michel), William Ryall (Sebastian), Antonio Cipriano (Prince Topher), Ta’Rea Campbell (Madame), and more TBA.
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Audra McDonald: Musings through Music with Andy Einhorn will take place Feb. 8 & 9 (both at 7:30 PM) at NYC’s 92NY.
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Lydia Higman, Julia Grogan & Rachel Lemon’s Gunter will runApr. 3-27 (opening Apr. 5) at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, directed by Rachel Lemon.
Hannah Jarrett-Scott and Norah Lopez Holden.
In a small village just outside Oxford in 1604, Anne Gunter starts convulsing, vomiting pins, and accusing local woman of bewitching her. Two boys have been murdered by local brute Brian Gunter at a football match and their mum wants justice. But Brian is the richest and most powerful man in the village, and has an ego too fragile to tolerate public slander. A nasty feud begins, and when Brian’s daughter Anne starts demonstraiting strange afflictions, an allegation is made: she has been bewitched.
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Anything Goes, directed by Michael Weber, has been extended through Mar. 10 at Chicago’s Porchlight Theatre.
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, (Henry T. Dobson), Christian Hill, Kelsey MacDonald, Jenna Schoppe, Gabriel Solis, Jerod Turner, Genevieve VenJohnson.Gabriel Solis, Mack Spotts, and Jerod Turner.
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Pitsburgh CLO has announced its 2024 summer season.
Creative teams, casting, and additional information TBA.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (May 17 – June 30)
West Side Story (June 11-16)
The Color Purple (June 25-30)
The Music Man (July 9-14)
Young Frankenstein (July 19 – Sept. 1)
Seussical (July 30 – Aug. 4)
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Milwaukee Rep has announced casting for the final 3 plays of its 2023-24 season.
The Chosen (Mar. 5-31), adapted by Aaron Posner & Chaim Potok, directed by Aaron Posner, featuring Eli Mayer Ron Orbach, Hillel Rosenshine, and Steve Routman
Piano Men 2 (Mar. 22 – May 19), featuring Kenney Green-Tilford & Steve Watts. An anything-can-happen cabaret.
Nina Simone: Four Women (Apr. 16 – May 12), by Christina Ham, directed by Malkia Stampley, with choreography by Marc Wane, featuring Alexis J Roston, Matthew Harris, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, Brittney Mack, and Toni Martin. A play with music that shines a light on how Nina Simone found her true calling and gave voice to a movement through impactful and inspirational songs.
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The world premiere of The Connector, by Daisy Prince, Jason Robert Brown & Jonathan Marc Sherman, has been extended through Mar. 3 at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater, directed by Prince.
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.
Two talented young journalists on increasingly diverging paths. Set in the late 1990s amid a rapidly changing media landscape we meet a fast-rising journalist, Ethan Dobson, and an assistant copy editor, Robin Martinez, at the revered magazine The Connector. In a world that values the next big sensation, Ethan’s writing prowess and ambition force him to confront how far he’ll go for the ultimate scoop and Robin to consider how far she’ll go to stop him.
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Cinderella will run Feb. 18-25 at CT’s Westport Country Playhouse, directed by Connor Dean, with choreography by Alex DeLeo, and music direction by Garrett Taylor.
Cady Huffman (Marie), Kaitlyn Davidson (Cinderella), Tate McElhaney (Jean-Michel), William Ryall (Sebastian), Antonio Cipriano (Prince Topher), Ta’Rea Campbell (Madame), and more TBA.
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Nick Cearly: I Didn’t Recognize You With Your Clothes On will take place Fri. Feb. 9 at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Lance Horne.
Andy Mientus