This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, January 29
* The Fall of the House of Usher, by Philip Glass, Arthur Yorink, and Raúl Santos, directed by James Darrah, featuring Chelsea Basleras (Madeline Usher), Jesse Dardenas (Roderick Usher), Daniel Belcheras (William), Christon Carneyas (Physician), and Jorgeandres Camargoas (Servant), begins streaming at Boston Lyric Opera.
* “Carole King: Natural Woman” documentary begins streaming on demand here.
* Anjou: The Musical Horror Tale virtual FREE benefit performance, by Guillermo Mendez M., Guadalupe Sandoval & Javier Vilalta, directed by Roberto Araujo, featuring Javier Muñoz, Eden Espinosa, Shereen Pimentel, Bianca Marroquín, Julia Murney, Kristie Dale Sanders, Caroline Bowman, Eva Tavares, Austin Colby, Nathan Cockfroft, Kevin Curtis, Gabriel Hayman, and Michael Perrie Jr. streams at 8 PM ET here (and available through Feb. 2).
* Stars in the House, with guest host Christine Pedi, and special guests Bryan Batt, Jason Graae, Gerry McIntyre, Brad Oscar, and Michael West, streams at 8 PM ET here.
* The ShowBiz Quiz, offering 7 rounds of trivia, with prizes and surprises, livestreams at 8 PM ET here.
Saturday, January 30
* Layalina, FREE livesteam reading, by Martin Yousif Zebari, directed by Azar Kazemi, featuring Sahar Dika (Karima/Layal), Arash Navarro Fakhrabadi (Sahir/Amin), Ethan Hoya (Yasir/Mazin), Becca Khalil (Layal/Marwa), and Revon Yousif (Mazin/Yousif), livestreams at 7 PM CT at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
* The Actor’s Craft: Bringing a Character to Life FREE exploration, with Denis O’Hare, streams at 4 PM ET at Boston’s Commonwealth Shakespeare Company.
* Three Hotels benefit reading, in support of BC/EFA by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Moisés Kaufman, starring Bobby Cannavale and Marisa Tomei, concludes streaming here.
Sunday, January 31
* Six: Live in Concert! temporarily closes at London’s Lyric Theatre, with a reduced seating capacity.
* Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade, written by & starring David Arrow, directed by Eric Nightengale, concludes streaming here.
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Video: Stars in the House, a Baby reunion, hosted by Liz Callaway, with special guests Richard Maltby, Jr., David Shire, Todd Graff, Beth Fowler, Catherine Cox and Martin Vidnovic. (1:51:46)
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Video: Stars in the House, offering Games & Shenanigans, hosted by Jack Plotnick, with special guests Wilson Cruz, Merrin Dungey, Lesli Margherita, and Tom Lenk. (1:06:40)
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Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theatre has announced submissions for its Short New Play Festival 2021, presenting 10-minute plays of heightened language and classical theatre. The festival will be presented on Mon. July 12 online. Directors and casting TBA.
Click here for all submission guidelines.
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31st Annual Ovation Award nominations:
Click here for the complete list of nominations for theatre in Los Angeles.
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Amas Musical Theatre has extended it’s on-demand run of Rona Siddiqui & Scot Elmegreen’s Hip Hop Cinderella – A New Musical through Feb. 28.
Teenage Cinderella and her rapping robot companion Runka live on planet Zolla. They toil under the thumb of Cinderella’s stepmom, Lady Zurka, and her two social media obsessed stepsisters, Zig and Zag. The galaxy has lost its groove, and the Prince is throwing a Hip Hop Gall and Rap Competition to turn the beat around. Traveling via a quantum time warp, Cinderella transforms into “Ella C” and fights to win the competition. Upon returning to planet Zolla, Ella C is forced into a royal rap battle against Lady Zurka with a surprising result.
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Amazon’s “One Night in Miami” is offering a special screening event on Tues. Feb. 2 at 5 PM ET/ 2 PM PT. The film will be available for 24 hours. Register here.
Regina King (director), Kemp Powers (writer), and cast members Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr.
A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.
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Broadway on Demand this weekend:
* Bad Jews, by Joshua Harmon, starring Nick Cosgrove. The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal (& sometimes physical) battle. Watch here.
* Carol King: Natural Woman, featuring new interviews, rare home movies, performances, and photos. Watch here.
* The Pirates of Penzance (Jan. 30 & 31 only), filmed at London’s Palace Theatre, directed by Sasha Regan, and featuring an all-male cast. Watch here.
* Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade (through Jan. 31), written by & starring David Arrow. The play portrays Bobby during his short, electrifying run for President n 1968. Follow Bobby from this announcement to enter the race to his last speech at the Ambassador Hotel. Watch here.
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Video: San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus performs Andrew Lippa’s “What Will We Hear,” with special guest Kristin Chenoweth.
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RIP: Cicely Tyson died yesterday at the age of 96.
She began her acting career in 1951 on the NBC series “Frontiers of Faith,” followed by her first film role in “Carib Gold” in 1956 and television roles in the celebrated series “East Side/West Side” and the soap opera “The Guiding Light.”
Cicely made her Broadway debut in 1959 as an understudy in Jolly’s Progress and appeared in a number of other Broadway productions throughout the 1960s including The Cool World, Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright, A Hand Is on the Gate, Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights, and Trumpets of the Lord. In 1961, Tyson also appeared in the original cast of French playwright Jean Genet’s The Blacks, the longest-running off-Broadway nonmusical of the decade (1,408 performances). The illustrious cast also featured James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Louis Gossett Jr., Godfrey Cambridge, Maya Angelou, and Charles Gordone.
In 1972, Tyson earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in the critically acclaimed film “Sounder,” and in 1974, she won two Emmy Awards for her leading role in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” She also portrayed Coretta Scott King in the television miniseries “Roots” and earned her third Emmy Award for her role in “The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.” Other notable film credits include “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” “The Help,” and “How to Get Away With Murder,” for which she earned five Emmy nominations.
After her string of stage productions in the 1960s, Tyson returned to Broadway in 1983 for a brief run in The Corn Is Green and made a triumphant return in a 2013 revival of Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful, starring opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams, Condola Rashad, and Tom Wopat. Her performance earned her Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. She made her final Broadway appearance in a 2015 revival of The Gin Game opposite James Earl Jones.
Tyson married legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis on November 26, 1981. The couple later divorced in 1988.
Her memoir, “Just as I Am,” was just released on Jan. 26, and can be ordered here.
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Video: Liz Callaway sings “The Story Goes On” (1984)
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre has announced its Chicago Sings Rock & Roll Broadway benefit concert, to stream Mar. 20 – Apr. 18, directed by Michael Weber, with music direction by Jerome Hill & Linda Madonia.
Terrell Armstrong, Adia Bell, Chuckie Benson, Blu, Lydia Burke, Ariana Burks, Darilyn Burtley, Elisa Carlson, Satay Chávez, Pierce Cleveland, Shantel Cribbs, Robin DaSilva, Andres Enriquez, Jillian-Giselle, Lucy Godínez, Allyson Graves, maya Hlava, Donterrio Johnson, Christopher John Kelley, Heidi Kettenring, Nik Kmiecik, Michelle Lauto, Eric Lewis, Eban K Logan, Melanie Loren, Alejandro Medina, Andrew Mueller, Jarais Musgrove, Juwon Tyrel Perry, Billy Rude, Lorenzo Rush Jr, Laura Savage, Oliver Schilling, Aalon Smith, Sawyer Smith, Kyra Sorce, TJ Tapp, Tiffany T. Taylor, Cherise Thomas, Benthany Thomas, and Ariel Etana Triunfo.
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Mark Jenkins’ solo play, Playing Burton, is now available on Audible, starring Matthew Rhys.
The play explores the life and career of Richard Burton, from his impoverished youth in South Wales to his love affair with Elizabeth Taylor to his public battle with alcoholism.
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MasterVoices will present a filmed concert of Adam Guettel’s song cycle, Myths and Hymns on Wed. Feb. 24 at 6:30 PM ET.
Shoshana Bean, Daniel Breaker, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Michael McElroy, Alyn Pérez, Nicholas Phan, John Lithgow, and the MasterVoices chorus.
A Kaleidoscopic collection of musical genres that explores the nature of faith and longing in a secular world.
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NYC’s newest public park, Little Island, has announced it roster of artists in residence. Currently under construction, Little Island is one of the latest additions to the four-mile-long Hudson River Park, located at Pier 55 at West 13th Street. The park is scheduled to open to the public this spring as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York arts recovery plan. Click here to learn more.
New Residents: Aydele Casel, Tina Landau, Michael McElroy, and PigPen Theatre Company will serve through the 2021-23 seasons.
During their three-year residencies, artists will perform and/or direct works, as well as curate events and festivals for the park and its community partners. Little Island’s design boasts several performance spaces for utilization—The Amph, a 700-seat amphitheater; The Glade, a smaller lawn venue for 200 visitors; and The Play Ground, an open plaza for recreation and educational programs.
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LA’s Center Theatre Group presents a reading of Kemp Powers’ Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue, to stream Feb. 4 – Apr. 4, directed by Jennifer Chang.
Giovanni Adams, Jovan Adepo, Amaia Arana, Lorena Martinez, Connor Paolo, Adam J. Smith, Cory Michael Smith, Larry Bates, and Justin Lawrence Barnes.
The play follows Bernard and Steven Gentry, twins who have lived starkly different lives. One is plagued by racism because of his dark skin, while the other passes as white. Moving between their ’80s New York City childhood and a Minnesota courthouse in 2006, the play is a meditation on race and privilege in America.