This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, July 16
Short New Play Festival 2021 Benefit: Restoration, offering eight world premiere plays in one night, written by Constance Congdon, Rosslyn Cornejo, CA Johnson, George LaVigne, David Lefkowitz, Abigail C. Onunali, Charlotte Rahn-Lee, and Jose Rivéra, directed by Margo Bordelon and Timothy Douglas, featuring Zach Appleman, Franchelle Stewart Dorn, Sheria Irving, Marjorie Johnson, Sara Koviak, Anthony Michael Lopez, Junior Nyong’o, Abigail Onwunali, Luis Quintero, and Reggie D. White, concludes FREE streaming at Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater.
Saturday, July 17
Good, by C.P. Taylor, directed by Dominic Cooke, starring David Tennant, closes at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre.
Staircase, by Charles Dyer, directed by Tricia Thorns, featuring Paul Rider and John Sackville, closes at London’s Southwark Playhouse.
Steven Brinberg’s Simply Barbra concert closes at Provincetown’s The Art House.
Sunday, July 18
Another Gin Game benefit reading, by Gary Kaskel, featuring Ed Asner, Ruta Lee, and Donté Ahson Green, PT at 7 PM PT LA’s Theatre 40.
Extinct, by April De Angelis, directed by Kirsty Housley, featuring Kiran Landa, concludes streaming at London’s Theatre Royal East.
I Hate It Here, by Ike Holter, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, featuring Patrick Agada (Ace/Thomas), Jayson Brooks (Peter/Rah/Walsh), Sydney Charles Ashwana (Mrs. Marcy/Tanya), Behzad Debu (Manny/Worker/Ted), Kirsten Fitzgerald (Maya/Lisa/April), and Gabriel Ruiz (Martin/Alex/Frank), concludes streaming at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
Is There Still Sex in the City workshop production, written by & starring Candice Bushnell, closes at PA’s Buck’s County Playhouse.
Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose, written by & starring Ed Dixon, directed by Eric Schaeffer, concludes streaming here.
Together Again: Max & Celeste Sing Their Broadway Favorites outdoor concert, featuring Max Chernin & Celeste Rose, closes at CT’s Goodspeed Musicals.
Ambassador of Love: Celebrating Pearl Bailey outdoor concert, featuring Rashidra Scott, closes at Goodspeed Musicals.
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Complete casting has been announced for Douglas Lyons’ Chicken & Biscuits, to run Sept. 23 – Jan. 7, 2022 (opening Oct. 10) at Circle in the Square Theatre, directed by Zhailon Levingston.
Norm Lewis (Reginald Mabry), Michael Urie (Logan Leibowitz), Cleo King (Baneatta Mabry), NaTasha Yvette Williams (Brianna Jenkins), Devere Rogers (Kenny Mabry), Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Beverly Jenkins), Aigner Mizzelle (La’trice Franklin), and Alana Raquel Bowers (Simone Babry), with Dean Acree, Jennifer Fouché, Michael Genet, Miles G Jackson, and Camille Upshaw.
A raucous family comedy. The Jenkins family is coming together to celebrate the life of their father – hopefully without killing each other! But any hopes for a peaceful reunion unravel when a family secret shows up at the funeral.
Buy tickets for any performance through Jan. 2, and you can either refund or exchange your tickets for any other date until two hours before the performance.
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The National Theatre has announced the latest streaming productions available on the website’s platform.
A View from the Bridge (2014), directed by Ivo van Hove, starring Mark Strong and Nicola Walker.
Everyman, by Rufus Norris, newly adapted by Carol Ann Duffy, starring Chiwetel Eijofor.
Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle. starring Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch. 
During the run, the two stars alternated the lead character, and both versions are available here.
Hamlet, directed by Lyndsey Turner, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Medea, starring Helen McCrory
The Comedy of Errors, starring Lenny Henry.
Chewing Gum Dreams (2014), written & performed by Michaela Coel.
In addition, National Theatre at Home now has 26 productions available to stream at any time (see link above).
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Niki Haris in concert will take place Thurs. July 22 at 8:30 PM PT at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club, with music direction by Mitchel Forman.
Steve Tyrell.
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Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons has announced its 2021-22 season:
What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Sept. 24 – Oct. 17), by Aleshea Harris, directed by Whitney White. A play, a ritual, and a home-going celebration that bears witness to the physical and spiritual deaths of Black people as a result of racist violence.
Selling Kabul (Nov. 17 – Dec. 23), by Sylvia Khoury, directed by Tyne Rafaeli. Taroon once served as an interpreter for the UN military in Afghanistan. Now the Americans — and their promises of safety — have withdrawn, and he spends his days hiding, a target of the increasingly powerful Taliban. On the eve of his son’s birth, Taroon must remain in his sister’s apartment or risk his life to see his child.
Tambo & Bones (Jan. 12 – Feb. 20, 2022), by Dave Harris, directed by Taylor Reynolds. Tambo and Bones are two characters trapped in a minstrel show. It’s mad hard to feel like a real person when you’re trapped in a minstrel show. Their escape plan: get out, get bank, get even.
Wish You Were Here (Apr. 13 – May 22), by Sanaz Toossi, directed by GT Upchurch. It’s 1978 and protests are breaking out all across Iran, encroaching on this suburb where a tight-knit circle of girlfriends plan weddings, trade dirty joke, and tries to hang on to a sense of normalcy. But as the revolution escalates, each woman is forced to join the wave of emigration or face an equally uncertain future home.
Corsicana (June 2 – July 10), by Will Arbery, directed by Sam Gold. In Corsicana, a small city in Texas, a woman with Down syndrome named Ginny and her half-brother Christopher are unmoored in the wake of their mother’s death. Their close family friend, Justice, introduces them to a local artist name Lot, a recluse and outsider, hoping that he an Ginny can make a song together. That that’ll help somehow.
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David W. Unger’s Blood Money, directed by Gordon Edelstein, continues streaming through July 18 on Broadway on Demand.
Sam Waterston, Judith Ivey, Ari Brand, Maddie Corman, and James Waterston.
The true story of a New Jersey doctor who goes to prison for nearly 2 years over a rather simple business transaction.
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New York Stage and Film has announced complete casting for its 2021 summer season (July 17 – Aug. 1).
Mexodus (July 17-24), written by & starring Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson.
South, (July 23-24), by Florencia Iriondo & Luis D’Elias, starring Iriondo.
Interstate (July 25), by Melissa Li & Kit Yan, features Henry Gottfried, Ari Groover, Raymond J Lee, Geena Quintos, Sushma Saha, Michiko Sasaki, Theo Tiedmann, and Gianna Yanelli.
Sanctuary (July 29 – Aug. 2), streamed production, by Billy Porter (July 29 – Aug. 2)
White Girl in Danger (July 31 – Aug. 1), by Michael R. Jackson, features Liz Lard Brown, Latoya Edwards, Jennifer Fouché, Morgan Siobhan Green, James Jackson Jr., Farah Lopez, Alyse Alan Louis, Lauren Marcus, Eric William Morris, Ronald Peet, Natalie Walker, and NaTasha Yvette Williams.
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre will present its 2021 ICONS Gala on Wed. Oct. 20 at Galleria Marchetti (825 West Erie).
Chita Rivera (in person)
Performers TBA.
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Pittsburgh CLO has announced casting for it’s 75th Anniversary: A Broadway Musical Celebration, to run July 21-24 at Heinz Field, directed by Baayork Lee, with music direction by James Cunningham, and hosted by Clay Aiken.
Norm Lewis, Robbie Fairchild, Jackie Burns, Patrick Cassidy, Ali Ewoldt, Joshua Grosso, Manu Narayan, Genny Lis Padilla, Joe Serafini, Stephanie Umoh, Max Von Essen, and Allison Walsh, with Sophie Aknin, Jamary Gil, Akina Kitazawa, Connor McRory, Jerreme Rodriguez, and David Wayne.
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“On Broadway” will be released Aug. 20 in NYC and Aug. 27 in Los Angeles, followed by a national rollout. 
here.
Interviews with Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, August Wilson, Hal Prince, James Corden, Alex Baldwin, John Lithgow, Tommy Tune, Hugh Jackman, and Ian McKellen, along with behind-the-scenes looks at A Chorus Line and Hamilton.
The film examines the journey Broadway took from the 1970s, when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, through a re-invention leading to a modern robust industry.
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DC’s Signature Theatre has announced its 2021-22 season:
Rent (Nov. 2 – Jan. 2, 2022), directed by Matthew Gardiner, with choreography by James Alsop, and music direction by Mark G. Meadows.
Daphne’s Dive (Feb. 1 – Mar. 20), by Quiara Alegría Hudes, re-opens, directed by Paige Hernanadez. A Philadelphia bar becomes home for a disparate band of society’s outsiders.
She Loves Me (Mar. 1 – Apr. 24), directed by Matthew Gardiner, with choreography by Kelly Crandall d’Amboise, and music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch.
The Upstairs Department (Apr. 26 – June 12), world premiere by Chelsea Marcantel, directed by Holly Twyford. A young man wakes up with the power to communicate with the dead (or so he believes). Desperate for guidance and to connect with their late father, he and his skeptic sister set out to test his paranormal talent at the Lily Dale Spiritualist community.
We Won’t Sleep (May 31 – July 3), world premiere by Laruen M. Gunderson & Ari Afsar, directed by Erin Ortman, with choreography by Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Jeannette Rankin shocked the world when she was elected to Congress in 1916, four years before white women got the right to vote.
The Color Purple (Aug. 16 – Oct. 9), directed by Timothy Douglas, with choreography by Figueroa Edidi, and music direction by Mark G. Meadows, and starring Felicia Curry (Celie).
KPOP (dates TBA), by Jason Kim, Helen Park & Max Vernon, directed by Teddy Bergman, with choreography by Jennifer Weber.
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Mary Poppins will return Aug. 7 at the Prince Edward Theatre, directed by Richard Eyre & Matthew Bourne, with choreography by Bourne,.
Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins), Charlie Stemp (Bert), Charlie Anson (George Banks), Amy Griffiths (Winifred Banks), Petula Clark (Bird Woman), Liz Robertson (Miss Andrew), Claire Machin (Mrs. Brill), Jack North (Robertson Ay), Paul F. Managhan (Admiral Boom/Bank Chairman), Katie Cox, Rose Dawson, Megan Donovan, Megan Judge, Ellie It Jones & Maddison Thew (alternating as Jane Banks), Logan Clark, George Hamblin, Charlie Irwin, Charlie Murphy, Frankie Treadaway, and Fred Wilcox (alternating as Michael Banks), with Yves Adang, Angeline Bell, Lydia Boulton, Alison Connell, Adam Davidson, Danielle Delys, Joseph Dockree, Charlie Connelly, Stan Doughty, Glen Facee, Davide Fienauri, Harry Francid, Lyndsey Gardiner, Ian Gareth-Jones, Maria Garrett, Mark Goldthorp, Jaqueline Hughes, Emma Hunter, Jason Kajdi, Sam Lathwood, Jordan Livesey, Tanis Mathurin, Laura Medforth, Alex Pinder, Ben Redfern, Clare Rickard, Lucie-Mae Summer, Scott Waugh, and Monique Young.
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Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater presents an outdoor staged concert production of Camelot Aug. 5-29 at an outdoor location in Bridgehampton, directed by Scott Schwartz, with music direction by Matt Hinkley, and choreograph by Marcos Santana.
Jeremy Kushnier (Arthur), Britney Coleman (Guenevere), Deven Kolluri (Lancelot), Aaron Dalla Villa (Mordred) and more principals TBA…… with Kyle Lopez Barisich, Hope Hamilton, James Harkness, David LaMarr, Cecelia Ticktin, and Kevin Wang.
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Article: Barry Sonnenfeld explains how “Shmigadoon” turned him into a Broadway believer.
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The world premiere of What Happened?: The Michaels Abroad, written & directed by Richard Nelson, will run Aug. 28 – Oct. 8 (opening Sept. 8) at NY’s Hunter College.
Jay O. Sanders, Maryann Plunkett, Charlotte Bydwell, Haviland Morris, Matilda Sakamoto, Rita Wolf, and Yvonne Woods.
The play is set on Sept. 8, 2021 in Angers, France, as the Michaels attend a student dance festival, and explores what happened over the last year and where they go from here.
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NYC’s 54 Below has announced its new Diamond Series, featuring concert-length performances (all at 8:30 PM ET).
* Kelli O’Hara (Sept. 28 – Oct. 3) Details.
* Laura Benanti (Oct. 5-10) Details.
* Megan Hilty (Nov. 2-7) Details.
* Jennifer Holliday (Feb. 8-13, 2022) Details.
Guests will be greeted with a welcome drink and hors d’oeuvres prior to a three-course specially curated dinner.
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David West’s & Juliet will return Sept. 24 to the Shaftesbury Theatre, directed by Luke Sheppard, with music supervision by Bill Sherman.
Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Cassidy Janson (Anne Hathaway), David Bedella (Lance), Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse), and Tim Mahendran (Francois), and Alex Thomas-Smith (May), with Roshani Abbey, Jocasta Almgill, Josh Baker, Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Kieran Lai, Nathan Lorainey-Dineen, Jaye Marshall, Grace Mouat, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Billy Nevers, Kerri Norville, Christopher Parkinson, Kirstie Skivington, Alex Traner, Sophie Usher, and Rhys Wilkinson.