This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, January 5
Just For Us, written & performed by Alex Edelman, opens at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.
Saturday, January 6
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, begins previews at Broadway’s Studio 54.
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.
Sunset Boulevard, directed by Jamie Lloyd, featuring Nicole Scherzinger (Norma Desmond), Tom Francis (Joe Gillis), Grace Hodgett Young (Betty Schaefer), David Thaxton (Max Von Mayerling), Carl Au (Myron/Jones), Georgia Bradshaw (Lisa.Masseur), Hann Yun Chamberlain (Patsy/Beautician), Tyler Davis (Sheldrake), Kamilla Fernandes (Dorothy/Astrologer), Ahmed Hamad (Artie), Laura Harrison (Catherine/Doctor), Charlotte Jaconelli (Joanna/Masseur), Olivia-Faith Kamau (Nancy/Beautician), Luke Latchman (John/Guard), Emma Lloyd (Mary/Heather/ Analyst), Mireia Mambo (Jean Beautician/Dance Captain), Gregor Milne (Sammy), Kody Mortimer (Finance Man/Frank), Jon Tsouras (Finance Man/Cecil B. De Mille), Charlie Waddell (Morino/Hog-Eye), and Lara Denning (Standby Norma), with Jordan Cork, Shayna McPherson, Catherine Cornwall, Michael Lin, Jon Reynolds, Kirsty Anne Shaw, Harrison Wilde and Lillie-Pearl Wildman, closes at London’s Savoy Theatre.
The House of Bernarda Alba, adapted by Alice Birch, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, featuring Harriet Walter (Bernarda Alba), Isis Hainsworth (Adela), Rosalind Eleazar (Angustias), and Thusitha Jayasundera (Poncia), Lizzie Annis ( Martirio), Pearl Chanda (Magdalena), Bryony Hannah (Maid), Marcia Lecky (Prudencia), Eileen Nicholas (Maria Josefa), and Eliot Salt (Ameila), with Esma Akar, Livia Court, Sicily Rose De Bernardini, Catharine Humphrys, Asha Kingsley, Celia Nelson, Ellouise Shakespeare-Hart, Georgia Silver, Imogen Mackie Walker, Charlotte Workman, James McHugh, and Michael Naylor, closes at London’s Lyttelton Theatre.
Arabian Nights, reimagined by Sonali Bhattacharyya, directed by Blanche McIntyre, featuring Yasemin Özdemir, Sara Diab, Saikat Ahamed, Nicholas Karimi, Patrick Osborne, Ajjaz Awad, Arinder Sadhra, and Roxy Faridany, closes at London’s Old Vic.
Sunday, January 7
A Very Bad Cinderella, by Neil Hurst & Jodie Prenger, directed by Lizzy Connolly, featuring Veronica Green (Fanny), Imelda Warren-Green (Vajayjay), May Tether (Cinderella), and Keanna Bloomfield (Buttons/Prince Charming), closes at London’s The Other Palace.
Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, directed by Linda Goodrich, starring Gavin Creel, with special guests Sasha Allen, Madeline Benson, Chris Peters, Corey Rawls, Scott Wasserman, and Ryan Vasquez, closes at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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.
Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, by Gordon Greenberg & Steve Rosen, directed by Greenberg, featuring Jordan Boatman, Arnie Burton, James Daly, Ellen Harvey, and Taylor Trensch, closes at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages.
Bedlam Theatre‘s Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, directed by Eric Tucker, featuring Alan Altschuler, Lisa Birnbaum, Shaun Taylor Corbett, Caroline Grogan, Deychen Volino-Gyetsa, Mike Labbadia, Arash Mokhtar, Randolph Curtis Rand, Jamie “Smitty” Smithson, Zuzanna Szadkowski, Devin Vega, and Elan Zafir, closes at Off-Broadway’s West End Theatre.
Ragtime, directed by Matthew Gardiner, featuring Mathew Scott (Father), Nkrumah Gatling (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Jake Loewenthal (Mother’s Younger Brother), Awa Sal Secka (Sarah), Bobby Smith (Tateh), and Teal Wicks (Mother), closes at DC’s Signature Theatre.
Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Mark S. Hoebee, featuring Jordan Gelber (Tevye), Jill Abramovitz (Golde), Alexandra Socha (Tzeitel), Austen Danielle Bohmer (Hodel), Maya Jacobson (Chava), Etai Benson (Motel), David R. Gordon Perchik), Suzanne Grodner (Yente), Jeremy Radin (Lazar Wolf, and Andrew Alstat (Fyedka), with Paloma Maia Aisenberg, Sophie Aknin, Ari Axelrod, Ze’ev Barmor, Sabrina Brush, Michael Bullard, Mark Campbell, Will Stephan Connell, Nick Davis, Ira Denmark, Alex Dorf, Derek Ege, Carley Gilbert, Emerson Glick, Blair Goldberg, Susan J. Jacks, Michał Kołaczkowski, Kyra Leeds, Beatrice Owens, Nick Raynor, Anna Grace Rosenthal, and Price Waldman, closes at NJ’s Papermill Playhouse.
An Evening with Groucho, starring Frank Ferrante closes at Laguna Playhouse.
Just For Us, written & performed by Alex Edelman, closes at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.
Dog Man: The Musical, by Dav Pilkey, Kevin Del Aguila & Brad Alexande, directed & choreographed by Jen Wineman, featuring L.R. Davidson ((Li’l Petey), Chadaé Nichol (Flippy), Brian Owen (Dog Man; Marcus Phillips (George & Others). Bryan Daniel Porter (Petey), Max Torrez (Harold), Joe Balanza (George) Jasiana Caraballo (Flippy), and Reggie De Leon (Petey), closes at LA’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.
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RIP: Glynis Johns — the South African-born Welsh actor, singer, and dancer — known for introducing Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” in A Little Night Music, died Jan. 4 at the age of 100.
Too much to post here, click here for the complete article.
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Ain’t Misbehavin’ will run Jan. 24 – Feb. 11 (opening Jan. 28) at Laguna Playhouse, directed by Yvette Freeman Hartley, with choreography by Roxane Carrasco, and music direction by Abdul Hamid Royal.
Dedrick Bonner (Ken), Summer Nicole Greer (Armelia), jenelle Lynn Randall (Nell), James Tolbert (Andre), Amber Diane Wright (Charlaine), with T.J. Wilkins, Jodi, Marks, and Samantha M. Lawrence.
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NYC’s 92NY is offering a concert performance of Broadway’s Days of Wine and Roses, featuring Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James, on Thurs. Jan. 18 at 8 PM, followed by a talkback with the stars.
Seats are first-come-first-served. Tickets will be doled out accordingly upon arrival. You are paying for the section, not a specific seat.
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Amas Musical Theatre Lab will present Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart & Mark Saltzman’s Falling for Make Believe: The Life and Songs of Lorenz Hart , directed by Jeff Calhoun, on Mon. Jan. 22 at 6 PM and Tues. Jan. 23 at 1 & 4:30 PM at NYC’s Pearl Studios (500 8th Ave., Room 414). 
here.
Nikki Crawford, Claybourne Elder, Ben Fankhauser, Nicolas King, Susan Mosher, Jeff Woodman,
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Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara will present The Pianist of Willesden Lane Feb. 1 – 18 (opening Feb. 3) at the New Vic, adapted & directed by Hershey Felder.
Mona Golabek
The true and inspirational story of Lisa Jura, a young Jewish musician whose dreams are interrupted by the Nazi regime. In the piece, Mona shares the riveting true story of her mother’s true story of survival.
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The world premiere of Ed Weinberger’s The Journals of Adam and Eve will run Jan. 18-21 at Burbank’s Gary Marshall Theater, directed by Ben Donenberg.
Hal Linden and Sally Struthers.
The world’s first love story – as only they could tell it.
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Private industry readings of Lance Lewman, Kristan King & Gabriel Kane’s Brilliance on Jan. 25 & 26 in NYC, directed by Lewman, with choreography by Pierce Cassedy, and music direction by Evan Swanson.
Jill Paice (Frances Farmer), John Hillner, Liz McCartney, and Jeri Sager, with Jordan Alexander, Erica Dorfler, Cailen Fu, Megan Masako Haley, Ben Livingstone, Harris Milgrim, Alaina Mills, Regan Ogle, Noah Plomgren, and Lawrence Street.
The musical chronicles the meteoric rise, and tragic fall of Frances Farmer, a Hollywood movie star in the 1930s and 40s. The play takes us from the beginning of Frances’ career, through her unprecedented success as, what Paramount described as, “the next Greta Garbo,” to her involuntary commitment to an insane asylum by her own mother – and the eventual restoration of her own freedom and competency in 1953. The play explores the volatile mother- daughter relationship and the nature of fame in the “Silver Screen” era of old- style movie stardom… exploring what happens when a young girl’s love and adoration for her mother, and her own worship of the art of acting, are betrayed beyond measure, and where the fine-line between mental health and insanity is drawn.
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The world premiere of a.k. payne’s Furlough’s Paradise will run Jan. 31 – Mar. 3 at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden.
Asha Duniani and Kai Heath.
Cousins Sade and Mina, raised like sisters but now leading very different lives, return to their childhood town for a funeral. While Sade is on a three-day furlough from prison and Mina experiences a brief reprieve from her career and life on the West Coast, the two try to make sense of grief, home, love, and kinship. But traumas and resentments from the past, both real and surreal, threaten to pull them apart, all as time ticks towards the correctional officer’s impending arrival.
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CT’s Goodspeed has announced its Festival of New Musicals 2024.
Video: Announcement.
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Amas Musical Theatre will present developmental lab readings of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart & Mark Saltzman’s Falling For Make Believe: The Life and Songs of Lorenz Hart on Jan. 22 (6 PM) and Jan. 23 (1 & 4:30 PM) at NYC’s Pearl Studios (500 8th Ave.), directed by Jeff Calhoun, with music direction by Keith Harrison Dworkin. 
here.
Nikki Crawford, Claybourne Elder, Ben Fankhauser, Nicolas King, Susan Mosher, and Jeff Woodman.
The true story of Lorenz Hart is presented for the first time – his struggle with the closet and the bottle, his tortured relationship with his songwrting partner Richard Rodgers, and most poignantly, his ability to capture love in his lyrics, but not his life.
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Frederick KNott’s Dial ‘M’ for Murder will run Jan. 24 – Feb. 11 at Virginia Stage, directed by Mark Shanahan.
Jan Neuberger (Inspector Hubbard), Steve Pacek (Captain Lesgate) Michelle Liu Coughlin (Margot Wendice), Joe Delafield (Max Halliday), Daniel Domingues, Jr. (Tony Wendice), and Steve Pacek (Captain Lesgate)
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Open-Door Playhouse will present Rich Rubin’s Will’s Dramaturg, a short play in podcast form, beginning Jan. 31, directed by Kim Hlavac.
Jeffrey S.S. Johnson and Andrew Elvis Miller
A theatre pro offers advice to young Will Shakespeare.
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L.A. Theatre Works will present film screenings of 2 productions, both at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre.
The Importance of Being Earnest (Roundabout Theatre’s Broadway production), directed by & starring Brian Bedford, on Sat. Jan. 27 at 3 PM. 
here.
Dear England (Sat. Feb. 10 at 3 PM), by James Graham, featuring Joseph Fiennes. A gripping examination of nation and game. The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? here.