This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, July 8
Kinky Boots, directed & choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, featuring yne Brady (Lola), Jake Shears (Charlie), Kelly Marie Tran (Lauren), Mark Ballas (Harry), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Pat), Haley Orrantia (Nicola),Jim J. Bullock (George), Daniel Stewart Sherman (Don), Jennifer Perry (Trish), Patrick Scott McDermott (Young Charlie), Walter Russell III (Young Lola), James Olivas (Richard Bailey), Brian Cali (Mr. Price), Terron Brooks (Simon Sr.), Ernest T. Williams (Angel), Tyler Keller (Angel), Matthew Varvar (Angel), Eric Stanton Betts (Angel), Tommy Martinez (Angel), Juan Torres-Falcón (Angel), and Jake Dupree (Angel), with Jon Robert Hall, Desmond Newson, Kim Steele, Ashley Moniz, Joanne Javien, Morgan Anita Wood, Mia Gerachis, and Drew Seeley, opens at the Hollywood Bowl.
Sanctuary City, by Martyna Majok, directed by David Mendizábal, featuring Hernán Angulo, María Victoria Martinez, and Kim Fischer, opens at CA’s Berkeley Rep.
30th Annual Young Playwrights Festival opens at Hollywood’s Blank Theatre.
Sanctuary City, by Martyna Majok, directed by David Mendizábal, featuring Hernán Angulo, María Victoria Martinez, and Kim Fischer, opens at CA’s Berkeley Rep.
Grease, directed by Snehal Desai, featuring Monika Pena (Sandy), Jonah Ho’okano (Danny), Stephanie Bull (Jan), Janaya Jones (Marty), Rachel Kay (Frenchy), Isa Briones (Rizzo), Brian Whiteall (Kenickie), Kris Bona (Doody), Laura Leo Kelly (Sonny), Jalon Mattews (Roger), Austin Owens Kelly (Eugene), Devan Watring (Patty Simcox), Aurelia Michael (Cha-Cha), and AJ Rafael (Johnny Casino), with Quintan Craig), Kurt Kemper, Anyssa Navarro, Max Torrez, and Virginia Trent, previews at Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West.
Dance to the Movies concert, featuring Barbara Eden, George Chakiris & Margaret O’Brien, and Debbie Wileman, with Anna Trebunskaya, Dmitry Chaplin, and more, at 8 PM PT at CA’s La Mirada Theatre.
Saturday, July 9
Grease, directed by Snehal Desai, featuring Monika Pena (Sandy), Jonah Ho’okano (Danny), Stephanie Bull (Jan), Janaya Jones (Marty), Rachel Kay (Frenchy), Isa Briones (Rizzo), Brian Whiteall (Kenickie), Kris Bona (Doody), Laura Leo Kelly (Sonny), Jalon Mattews (Roger), Austin Owens Kelly (Eugene), Devan Watring (Patty Simcox), Aurelia Michael (Cha-Cha), and AJ Rafael (Johnny Casino), with Quintan Craig), Kurt Kemper, Anyssa Navarro, Max Torrez, and Virginia Trent, opens at Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West.
Tony [The Tony Blair Rock Opera], world premiere by Harry Hill & Steve Brown, directed by Peter Rowe, featuring Charlie Baker (Tony Blair), Gary Trainor (Gordon Brown), Howard Samuels (Peter Mandelson), Rosie Strobel (John Prescott), Madison Swan (Princess Diana), Holly Sumpton (Cherie Blair), Kaye Brown (Robin Cook), Adam Price (Neil Kinnock), and Marisa Harris (ensemble), closes at London’s Park Theatre.
Snow in Midsummer, by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, directed by Zi Alikhan, featuring Tommy Bo, Wai Ching Ho, Paul Juhn, Kenneth Lee, Julian Leong, Dorcas Leung, Teresa Avia Lim, Fin Moulding, Alex Vinh, and John Yi, closes at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage.
Sunday, July 10
Into the Woods, directed by Lear deBessonet, featuring Sara Bareilles (Baker’s Wife), Brian D’Arcy James (Baker), Patina Miller (Witch), Phillipa Soo (Cinderella), Gavin Creel (Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince), Nancy Opel (Cinderella’s Stepmother), Joshuah Henry (Rapunzel’s Prince), Alysia Velez (Rapunzel), Ta’Nika Gibson (Lucinda), Annie Golden (Cinderella’s Mother/Grandmother/Giant’s Wife), Albert Guerzon (Cinderella’s Father), Brooke Ishibashi (Florinda), Kennedy Kanagawa (Milky White), David Patrick Kelly (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Julia Lester (Little Red Riding Hood), Cole Thompson (Jack), Aymee Garcia (Jack’s Mother), and David Turner (Steward), with Jason Forbach, Mary Kate Moore, Cameron Johnson, Delphi Bortich, Felicia Curry, Alexander Joseph Grayson, Paul Kreppel, Diane Phelan, and Lucia Spina, opens at Broadway’s St. James Theatre.
Millennials, written & composed by Elliot Clay, directed by Hannah Benson, featuring Luke Bayer, Hiba Elchikhe, Luke Latchman, Hannah Lowther, Rob Madge, and Georgina Onuorah, opens at London’s The Other Palace.
The Public Theater‘s Richard III, directed by Robert O’Hara, featuring Danai Gurira (Richard III), Wyatt Cirbus (Prince of Wales), Sanjit De Silva (Buckingham), Sam Duncan (Duke of York),Monique Holt (Duchess of York), Gregg Mozgala (King Edward IV/Richmond), Paul Niebanck (George), Michael Potts (Lord Stanley), Ariel Shafir (Lord Hastings, Heather Alicia Simms (Queen Elizabeth), Ali Stroker (Anne), Sharon Washington (Queen Margaret), and Daniel J. Watts (Catesby Ratcliffe), with Maleni Chaitoo, Thaddeus Fitzpatrick, Skyler Gallun, Sara Nina Hayon, Matthew Jeffers, Matt Monaco, Xavier Pacheco, Marcus Rae Perez, Grace Porter, and N’yomi Stewart, opens at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre.
Macbeth, directed by Sam Gold, featuring Daniel Craig (Macbeth), Ruth Negga (Lady Macbeth), Phillip James Brannon (Ross), Grantham Coleman (MacDuff), Asia Kate Dillon (Malcolm), Maria Dizzia (Lady Macduff), Amber Gray (Banquo), Emeka Guindo (Fleance), Paul Lazar (Duncan), Bobbi MacKenzie (Macduff’s Child), Michael Patrick Thornton (Lennox), Danny Wolohan (Seyton), and Stevie Ray Dallimore (standby for Macbeth), with Che Ayende, Eboni Flowers, and Peter Smith, closes at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre.
American Buffalo, by David Mamet, directed by Neil Pepe, starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss, closes at Broadway’s Circle in the Square.
Plaza Suite, directed by John Benjamin Hickey, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker (Karen Nash, Muriel Tate, and Norma Hubley), Matthew Broderick (Sam Nash, Jesse Kiplinger, and Roy Hubley), Danny Bolero (The Waiter), Molly Ranson (Jean McCormick/Mimsey Hubley), and Eric Wiegand (The Bellhop/Borden Eisler), with standbys Michael McGrath and Erin Dilly, and understudies Laurie Veldhee and Cesar J. Rosado, closes at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre.
Roundabout’s …what the end will be, by Mansa Ra, directed by Margo Bordelon, featuring Emerson Brooks (Maxell Kennedy), Gerald Caesar (Tony Kennedy), Randy Harrison (Charles), Keith Randolph Smith (Bartholomew Kennedy), Ryan Jamal Swain (Antoine), and Tiffany Villarin (Chloe), closes at Off-Broadway’s Steinberg Center.
The Bedwetter, by Joshua Harmon, Sarah Silverman & Adam Schlesinger, directed by Anne Kauffman, featuring Ashley Blanchet, Rick Crom, Charlotte Elizabeth Curtis, Zoe Glick, Darren Goldstein, Jessica Vosk, Charlotte MacLeod, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Elizabeth Ward Land, Margot Weintraub, and Emily Zimmerman, closes at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater.
The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Shana Cooper, featuring Armando Durán (Baptista), Felicity Jones Latta (Tranio), Orville Mendoza (Grumio), Jesse J. Perez (Gremio), Cassia Thompson (Bianca), John Tufts (Hortensio/Biondello/Merchant), James Udom (Petrucio), and Deborah Ann Woll (Katherine), along with students in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, closes at San Diego’s Old Globe.
Kinky Boots, directed & choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, featuring Wayne Brady (Lola), Jake Shears (Charlie), Kelly Marie Tran (Lauren), Mark Ballas (Harry), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Pat), Haley Orrantia (Nicola),Jim J. Bullock (George), Daniel Stewart Sherman (Don), Jennifer Perry (Trish), Patrick Scott McDermott (Young Charlie), Walter Russell III (Young Lola), James Olivas (Richard Bailey), Brian Cali (Mr. Price), Terron Brooks (Simon Sr.), Ernest T. Williams (Angel), Tyler Keller (Angel), Matthew Varvar (Angel), Eric Stanton Betts (Angel), Tommy Martinez (Angel), Juan Torres-Falcón (Angel), and Jake Dupree (Angel), with Jon Robert Hall, Desmond Newson, Kim Steele, Ashley Moniz, Joanne Javien, Morgan Anita Wood, Mia Gerachis, and Drew Seeley, closes at the Hollywood Bowl.
To T, or Not To T? A Comedic Trans Journey through (T)estosterone, written by & starring D’Lo, directed by Adelina Anthony, closes at LA’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.
ROE staged readings, by Lisa Loomer, directed by Vanessa Stallings, featuring John Achorn, Kenya Alexander, Sufe Bradshaw, Pamela Dunlap, Aleisha Force, Christina Hall, Susan Lynskey, Ed Martin, Kate Middleton, Rob Nagle, Xochitl Romero, closes at LA’s Fountain Theatre. 
FREE livestream of the final performance at 8 PM PT here.
Group Rep‘s The Desperate Hours, by Joseph Hayes, directed by Jules Aaron, featuring Jackson Bethel (Ralphie), Van Boudreaux (Robish), Fox Carney (Jesse Bard), Dave Buzzotta (Glenn Griffin), Katelyn Ann Clark (Harry Carson), Joseph Eastburn (Lt. Car Fredericks), Lareen Faye (Miss Swift), Lee Grober (Dan Hilliard), Bruce Nehlsen (Tom Winston), Kat Kemmett (Cindy Hilliard), Mason Kennerly (Chuck Wright), Duke Pierce (Hank Griffin), Steve Shaw (Mr. Patterson), and Gina Yates (Eleanor Hilliard), closes at North Hollywood’s Lonnie Chapman Theatre.
**********************
Manhattan Theatre Club will present Anthony McCarten’s The Collaboration, to begin previews Nov. 29 and open Dec. 20 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
Paul Bettany, Jeremy Pope, and more TBA.
In the summer of 1984, longtime international superstar Andy Warhol and the scene’s newest wunderkind, Jean-Michel Basquiat agree to work together on what may be the most talked about exhibition in the history of modern art. But can these two creative giants co-exist, or even thrive? The stage is their canvas.
**********************
North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble has announced its 2022-23 season:
Mud (opens Aug. 19), world premiere written & directed by Bree Pavey. After the collapse of society, a group of people band together for safety, survival, and community. As they begin to rebuild, they examine the failures of the past with an eye on the truth.
Mass Graves (opens Sept. 30), world premiere by Cris Eli Blak. A group of men, struggling with the consequences of their past actions, tries to recover their lives inside a confined halfway house. As their cohabitants and families start closing in, each is forced to confront the crimes they committed.
Mrs. Dilber’s Fabulous Bedcurtains (Nov. 12 – Dec. 18), world premiere by Arthur M. Jolly. The reimagining of A Christmas Carol centers on Mrs. Dilber and her epic attempt to claim Scrooges bedcurtains despite a series of ghosts and other diversions, including Dr. Jekyll, the little matchstick girl, and an oddly Mr. Hyde-esque tiny Tim… on a night adjacent to … the more familiar holiday story.
Katrina (opens Jan. 27, 2023), by LaDarrion Williams, co-directed by Jennifer Christina DeRosa & Sara Nilsen. Two strangers stuck in an abandoned hospital during Hurricane Katrina’s landfall realize they may have nothing left but each other, and that just might be all they need.
Gifted (Mar. 10 – Apr. 2), by Bob DeRosa, co-directed by Jennifer Christina DeRosa & Sara Nilsen. A group of people with small but extraordinary gifts explores how those gifts can be used to benefit their own lives and the lives of those around them, examining whether even the smallest power can be super.
Missed Opportunities (opens Apr. 21), by Jillian Leff, directed by Ignacio Navarro & Madylin Sweeten Durrie. A young writer is mistaken as a lesbian by her college crush, and hilarity ensues when she and his roommate (actually lesbian and newly single) cook up a scheme to help her get closer to him … and, it turns out, to herself.
Behind the Six (opens June 2), by Dan Perry, directed by Sarah Sommers & Sarah Nilsen. A man goes undercover to infiltrate the crime gang that murdered his brother and falls in love with a grifter. But can he trust him or his heart?
Penthesilea (opens July 14), by Danielle Ozymandias, directed by Bree Pavey & Ozymandias. When Amazon women warriors went to the Trojan War, they intended to show their might in order to protect their world, but with their power and love, they created a legend.
**********************
The Public Theater has announced complete casting for its FREE production of As You Like It, adapted by Shaina Taub & Laurie Woolery, to run Aug. 10 – Sept. 11 (opening Aug. 30) at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre, directed by Woolery, with choreography by Billy Griffin.
Damion Allen (William), Tristan André (De Boys/Attendant), Ato Balankson-Wood (Orland0), Lori Brown-Niang (Agent), Brianna Cabrera (Silvia), Darius de Haas (Duke Senior), Bianca Edwards (Phoebe), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Rosalind), Jonathan Jordan (Andy), Renrick Palmer (Oliver), Eric Pierre (Duke Frederick), Idania Quezada (Celia), Christopher M. Ramirez (Touchstone), and Shaina Taub (Jaques), with Amar Atkins, Sean-Michael Bruno, Danyel Fulton, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Pierre Harmony Graves, Trevor McGhie, Mike Millán, Bobby Moody, Edwin Rivera, Kevin Tate, and Claudia Yanez.
**********************
Complete casting has been announced for Chess the Musical in Concert, to run Aug. 1-2 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, directed & choreographed by Nick Winston, with music direction by Freddie Tapner.
Samantha Barks (Florence), Hadley Fraser (Anatoly), Joel Harper-Jackson (Freddie), Frances Mayli McCann (Svetlana), Ako Mitchell (The Arbiter), and Craige Els (Molokoy), with Joshua Robinson, Joseph Craig, Darius J James, Aoife Kenny, Jessica Lee, Nick Len, Natasha May-Thomas, Alice Readie, Stuart Rouse, Phoebe Samuel-Gray, Grant Thresh, and Libby Watts.
**********************
Cameron Crowe & Tom Kitt’s Almost Famous will begin previews Oct. 3 and open Nov. 3 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, directed by Jeremy Herrin, with choreography by Sarah O’Gleby, and music direction by Bryan Perri.
Chris Wood, Anika Larsen, Solea Pfeiffer, Drew Gehling, Rob Colletti, and Casey Likes, with Matt Bittner, Chad Burris Gerard Canonico, Julia Cassandra Brandon Contreas, Jakeim Hart, Van Hughes, Jana Djenne Jackson, Katie Ladner, Danny Lindgren, Erica Mansfield, Alisa Melendez, Emily Schultheis, Daniel Sovich, Libby winters, and Matthew C. Yee.
The year is 1973 and it’s all happening. Led Zeppelin is king, Richard Nixon is President, and idealistic 15-year-old William Miller is an aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, William is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide.
**********************
Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars has announced its updated 2022-23 season:
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Sept. 20 – Oct. 2, directed by Monique Midgette
The Secret of My Success (Oct. 25 – Nov. 6), by Gordon Greenberg, Steve Rosen, Michael Mahler & Alan Schmuckler, directed & choreographed by Dan Knechtges.
Mary Poppins (Dec. 6-24), directed & choreographed by Dan Knechtges
Chicago (Feb. 7-19, 2023). Creative team TBA.
Legally Blonde (April 11-23). Creative team TBA.
Rent (May 16-28). Creative team TBA.
**********************
Audio: Emma Hutton performs “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” from the “Rockers on Broadway: Live – Volume 1”
**********************
Article: Julia Lester on being the last Little Red Stephen Sondheim sent Into the Woods.
**********************
CA’s Coachella Valley Rep has announced its 2022-23 season:
The Humans (Nov. 8-20), by Stephen Karam, directed by
Fun Home (Dec. 6-18),
Dirty Blonde (Jan. 17-29, 2023), by Claudia Shear
Once (Feb. 21 – Mar. 5),
Hand to God (Mar. 28 – Apr. 9), by Robert Askins
**********************
Jazz at Lincoln Center‘s Dizzy’s Club, hosted by Deborah Grace Winer, continues on Wed. July 17 at 5 & 7:30 PM ET with Anything Goes! Cole Porter and More Cole Porter, with music direction by Joe Davidian.
Christine Andreas and Allison Blackwell.