This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, March 31
The Color Purple, directed by Timothy Douglas, featuring Majesha McQueen (Celie), Angela Wildflower (Shug), Taylor J. Washington (Sofia), Torrey Linder (Harpo), and David Aron Damane (Mister), with D’Marreon Alexander, Katelyn Bowman, Elise Frances Daniells, Arnold Harper II, Rajané Katurah, Ne’Lashee’, Caleb Mitchell, Elixis Morton, Domonique Paton, Brad Raymond, Steven C. Rich, Nathan Andrew Riley, and Christine Wanda, opens at the Denver Center PAC.
Brief Encounter UK tour, adapted by Emma Rice, directed by Douglas Rintoul, featuring Nicola Bryan (Myrtle Bagot, Hanora Kamen (Laura Jesson), Jammy Kasongo (Dr. Alec Harvey), Samuel Morgan-Grhame (Albert Godby), Tom Self (Fred Jasson/Stephen Lynn), Lucy Elizabeth Thorburn (Beryl), Luke Thornton (Stanley), and Choima Uma (Dolly Messiter), launches at the Salisbury Playhouse.
Ain’t Too Proud, featuring Cameron Bernard Jones (Melvin Franklin), Kyle Cox (Paul Williams), Sifiso Mazibuko (Otis Williams), Tosh Wanogho-Maud (David Ruffin), and Mitchell Zhangazha (Eddie Kendricks), with Evonnee Bentley-Holder, Natalia Brown, Ryan Carter, Hannah Fairclough, Christopher Gopaul, Daniel Haswell, Naomi Katiyo, Akmed Junior, Khemalai, Holly Liburd, Darnell Mathew-James, Simeon Montague, Posi Morakinyo, Sadie-Jean Shirley, Michael James Stewart, Toyan Thomas-Browne, Dylan Turner, and Kevin Yates, begins previews at London’s Prince Edward Theatre.
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Joe Rosario, featuring Alison Fraser (Big Mama), Matt deRogatis (Brick), Courney Henggeler (Maggie), Frederick Weller (Big Daddy), Christine Copley (Mae), Adam Dodway (Gooper), Milton Elliott (Rev. Tooker), and Jim Kempner (Doc Baugh), closes at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Clements.
Saturday, April 1
Wall to Wall Women of Soul live FREE & livestreamed concert, featuring LaChanze, Lulada Club (an all-female salsa band), Mahogany L. Browne (poet), L. Brown (video), Nona Hendryx (with her all women orchestra), J. Hoard, Martha Redbone,, Maria Abney, Marcelle Davies Lashley, Anthony Mills, DJ Elew, Thmbisa Mshaka, and Xavier Smith, from 3 – 11 PM at at Off-Broadway’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre.
Carter Calvert: Viva La Diva concert, at 2 PM at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse.
The Wife of Willesden, by Zadie Smith, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, featuring Clare Perkins ( Alvita), Marcus Adolphy (Winston/Mandela/Black Jesus), George Eggay (Pastor/Eldridge), Andrew Frame (Ian/Socrates/Bartosz), Troy Glasgow (Darren/Young Maroon), Claudia Grant (Polly/Sophie), Nikita Johal (Asma/Kelly), Scott Miller (Ryan/Colin), Jessica Murrain (Author/Zaire/Queen Nanny), and Ellen Thomas (Aunty P/Old Wife), with Sophie Cartman, opens at Brooklyn’s BAM.
Dark of the Moon, world premiere by Jonathan Prince, Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett & Steve Robson, directed by James O’Neil, featuring Ava Delaney (Barbara Allen), Jake David Smith (John), Jennifer Leigh Warren (Conjur Woman), Timothy Warmen (Conjur Man), Lesli Margherita (Raven), Juliette Redden (Arwen), Dylan Goike (Devin), Terri Bibb (Gemma Allen), Joseph Fuqua (Thomas Allen), CJ Cruz (Floyd), Anna Demaria (Ella), and Jane Macfie (Patricia Bergen) (Devin), opens at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.
Kiss of the Spiderwoman (the play), directed by Michael Michetti, featuring Ed F. Martin (Molina) and Adrían González (Valentin), opens at Pasadena’s A Noise Within.
The Cherry Orchard, adapted & directed by Robert Falls, featuring Kate Fry (Lubov Ranyevskaya), Will Allen (Semyon Yepikhodov), Kareem Bandealy (Lopakhin), Janet Ulrich Brooks (Carlotta), Felipe Carrasco (Yasha), Stephen Cefalu (Petya Trofimov), Matt DeCaro (Boris Semyonoy-Pishchik), Christopher Donahue (Leonid Gayev), Amanda Drinkall (Dunyasha), Alejandra Escalante (Varya), Francis Guinan (Firs), Sam Hubbard (Stationmaster), John Lister (Postmaster), Bill Mcgough, Tyler Meredith, Flavia Pallozi, Tiffany Scott, Eric Slater, and Raven Whitley, begins previews at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
Keen Company‘s Crumbs from the Table of Joy, by Lynn Nottage, directed by Colette Robert, featuring Shanel Bailey, Jason Bowen, Sharina Martin, Natalia Payne, and Malika Samuel, closes at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
Red Bull Theater‘s Arden of Faversham, by Jeffrey Hatcher & Kathryn Walat, directed by Jesse Berger, featuring Cara Rickets (Alice), Thomas Jay Ryan (Arden), and Tony Roach (Mosby), with Veronica Falcón, Zachary Fine, Emma Geer, Joshua David Robinson, Thom Sesma, David Ryan Smith, and Haynes Thigpen, closes at Off Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Bedlam Theater‘s The Good John Proctor, by Talene Monahan, directed by Caitlin Sullivan, featuring Tavi Gevinson (Abigail Warren), Brittany K. Allen (Betty Parris), Sharlene Cruz (Mercy Lewis, and susannah Perkins (Mary Warren), closes at Off-Broadway’s Connelly Theater.
Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, by Luis Alfaro, directed by Laurie Woolery, featuring Romar Fernandez, Alejandro Hernández, Alma Martinez, Camila Moreno, nancy Rodriguez, and Mónica Sánchez, closes at Yale Rep.
Broadway the Calla Way concert, starring Liz & Ann Hampton Callaway, closes at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center.
Sunday, April 2
Roundabout‘s The Wanderers, by Anna Ziegler, directed by Barry Edelstein, featuring Katie Holmes (Julia Cheever), Sarah Cooper (Sophie), Lucy Freyer (Esther), David Klasko (Schmuli), and Eddie Kaye Thomas (Abe), closes at Off-Broadway’s Laura Pels Theatre.
How to Defend Yourself, by Liliana Padilla, directed by Liliana Padilla, Rachel Chavkin & Steph Paul, featuring Amaya Braganza, Sebastian Delacasas, Jayson Lee, Ariana Mahallati, Teagan Meredicth, Gabriela Ortega, Sarah Marie Rodriguez, and Talia Ryder, closes at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
SoHo Rep’s Wolf Play, by Hansol Jung’, directed by Dustin Wills, featuring Christopher Bannow (Peter), Esco Jouléy (Ash), Brian Quijada (Ryan), Nicole Villamil (Robin), and Mitchell Winter (Wolf), closes at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater.
Selling Kabul, by Sylvia Khoury, directed by Shadi Ghaheri, featuring Mazin Akar (Taroon), Neagheen Homaifar (Leyla), Yousof Sultani (Jawid), and Awesta Zarif (Afiya), with Raghad Almakhlouf and Ramtin Yaziri, closes at DC’s Signature Theatre.
Layalina, world premiere by Yousif Zebari, directed by Sivan Battat, featuring Atra Asdou (Karima/Layal), Waseem Alzer (Sahir/Amin), Ali Louis Bourzgui (Young Mazain/Yousif), Mattico David (Yasir/Mazin), and Becca Khalil (Young Layal/Marwa), closes at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
The Outsiders, world premiere by Adam Rapp, Jamestown Revival & Justin Levine,, directed by Danya Taymor, featuring Brody Grant (Ponyboy), Sky Lakota-Lynch (Johnny), Daniel Marconi (Randy), Kevin William Paul (Bob), Brent Comer (Paul), Ryan Vasquez (Darrel), Da’Von T. Moody (Dallas), Jason Schmidt Sodapop), Trevor McGhie (Two-Bit), Piper Patterson (Cherry), and Kiki Lemieux (Marcia), with Annelise Baker, Jordan Chin, Milena Comeau, Barton Cowperthwaite, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Spencer McCabe Hunsicker, Sean H. Jones, L’ogan J’ones, Renni Magee, Tristan McIntyre, Junior Nyong’o, Melody Rose, and Daryl Tofa, closes at La Jolla Playhouse.
Seven Guitars, by August Wilson, directed by Ron OJ Parson, featuring Saran Bakari (Ruby), Bryant Bentley (Red Carter), Kierra Bunch (Vera Dotson), Marsha Estell (Louise), Dimonte Henning (Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton), Vincent Jordan (Canewell), and Alfred Wilson (Hedley), closes at Milwaukee Rep.
American Ballet Theatre’s Like Water for Chocolate, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, closes at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Hall.
Cambodian Rock Band, by Lauren Yee, directed by Chay Yew, featuring Francis Jue (Duch), Abraham Im (Rom/Journalist), Jane Luis (Pou/S21 Guard), Joe Ngo (Chum), Geena Quintos (Neary/Sothea), and Moses Villarama (Ted/Cadre/Len), with Kelsey Angel, Baehrens, Alex Lydon, and Vi Tran, closes at CA’s Berkeley Rep.
Did You See What Walter Paisley Did Today?, by Randy Rogel, directed by BT McNicholl, featuring Steven Booth (Walter Paisley), Vanessa Sierra (Carla), Ross Hellwig (Maxell Brock), Kingsley Leggs (Leonard DeSantis), Kathy Fitzgerald (Mrs. Swickert), Janna Cardia (Lili von Vondergraff), Ashley Moniz (Beatnik Girl), and Josh Adamson (Detective Lou Raby), James Caleb Grice (Beatnick Guy), and Jamir Brown (Clive), closes at Ca’s La Mirada Theatre.
5 Star Theatricals‘ Ragtime, directed by Jeffrey Polk, featuring Marty Austin Lamar (Coalhouse), Brittany Anderson (Sarah), Misty Cotton (Mother), Michael Scott Harris (Father), Hank Jacobs (Tateh), Samantha Wynn-Greenstone (Emma Goldman), Ceron Jones (Booker T), Monica Ricketts (Evelyn Nesbit), Jeremy Ingraham (Younger Brother), Steven Perren (Grandfather), Jacob Hoff (Harry Houdini), Josh Christoff (JP Morgan), Davis Hamilton (Henry Ford), Lila Dunham (Little Girl), Daxton Bethoney (Little boy), and Jordan Jackson (Sarah’s Friend), with Christopher D. Baker, Emily Cochrane, Domo D’DAnte, BK Dawson, Julia Feeley, Glen Hall, Tyler Marshall, Almand Martin, Jr., Donovan Mendelovitz, Kristen O’Connell, Will Riddle, Zara Saje, Leasa Shukiar, Kumari Small, Tania Pasano Storrs, Dekontee Tucrkile,and more, closes at Thousand Oaks’ Bank of America Performing Arts Center.
Gifted, by Bob DeRosa, directed by Jennier DeRosa & Sarah Nilsen, featuring ,Biniyam Abreha, Antwan Alexander II, Lemon Baardsen, Isaac Deakyne, John Goodwin, Jay Hoshina, April Littlejohn, Ignacio Navarro, Jazmine Nichelle, Danielle Ozymandias, Bree Pavey, Benjamin Rawls, Madylin Sweeten, and Nate Thurman closes at North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble.
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Reviews for Life of Pi at Broadway’s Schoenfeld Theatre:
New York Times (Alexis Soloski): …With dazzling imagination and sublime control, the show’s cast and crew conjure a delirious, dynamic, highly pettable world. And oh, is it a wonder. Though the play is ostensibly about one boy’s fraught survival after a disaster, that story is somewhat thin. Life of Pi instead succeeds as a broader tribute to human ingenuity and animal grace… Between Richard Parker and Pi, adamant carnivore and lifelong vegetarian, there is a desperate struggle for dominance. Richard Parker needs to eat. Pi would prefer not to be eaten… a work of magical realism. Webster, the director, makes sure to deliver the magic and the realism both…
Theatermania (Kenji FujiShima): …as a piece of stagecraft at least, the show is a sight to behold…. The puppets that bring Richard Parker and the many other animals to life in Pi’s story are the most astonishing features in Life of Pi… immaculate direction of an army of onstage puppeteers to make these creatures feel lifelike without diminishing the childlike sense of wonder that can make puppetry so magical… But besides the puppetry, most instrumental to the spectacle is Andrzej Goulding’s animation and video design…. There is a larger philosophical point to the spectacle… Life of Pi essentially becomes a meditation on the nature of truth and the comforting power of storytelling, which Martel implicitly equates to a leap of spiritual faith… but… a little cheap and gimmicky…
New York Stage Review (Frank Scheck): The art of stagecraft is on stunning display in the new theatrical version of Life of Pi… If the metaphysical underpinnings of the tale don’t fully register in Lolita Chakrabarti’s Olivier Award-winning adaptation, audiences will nonetheless be thrilled by the spectacular Broadway production featuring virtuosic puppetry… thrilling on its own terms, especially in this galvanizing staging by Max Webster in which all the animals are brought to life by an expert team of puppeteers… Bear in mind, by the way, that this is not a show for young children, as the puppet animals, as adorable as they sometimes are, are shown behaving in typically animalistic bloodthirsty fashion that proves a far cry from The Lion King… the production features stunning projection designs, special effects, lighting, sound design and musical underscoring that combine to create a truly stunning experience….
Time Out (Adam Feldman): …Life of Pi is a wedge of fantasy… demands imagination, and director Max Webster provides it in abundance. Animal puppetry, lights, action, music and sound flood the theater, especially in the show’s second half; stage magic crashes out then gently recedes, tugging us into its currents… sensitively articulated puppet designs… The result is something like children’s theater for adults… The production is often beautiful, especially when seen from above… But if Life of Pi is transporting, where does it leave you?… what makes Life of Pi work as theater, a form in which such suspension is all but required. But Martel’s book isn’t just a fantastical tale of adventure at sea. It also aspires to philosophical depth…
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The world premiere of Tori Sampson’s This Land Was Made will begin May 18 – June 25 (opening June 4) at the Vineyard Theatre, directed by Taylor Reynolds.
Antoinette Crowe-Legacy (Sassy), Leland Fowler (Drew), Matthew Griffin (Troy), Sean Patrick Higgins (Officer Heanes), Yasha Jackson (Gail), Ezra Knight (Mr. Far), Julian Elijah Martinez (Huey), Curt Morlaye (Gene), and Oliver Palmer (Officer Frey), and more TBA.
Set in a bar in Oakland in 1967, the new play looks at a time when the city was a powder keg of social activism ready to boil over into radical action. How will the patrons of Miss Trish’s bar react when the “seductive and explosive force of revolution walks through the door?”
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Complete casting has been announced for the world premiere of Kenneth Lin’s Exclusion, which will run May 5 – June 25 (opening May 18) at DC’s Arena Stage, directed by Trip Cullman.
Tony Nam, Josh Stamberg, Michelle Vergara Moore, Karen Li, Jonathan Feuer, and Ryan Dalusung.
The play follows an award-winning historian whose book about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is optioned for a mini-series. Her euphoria turns to disillusionment, however, as she finds herself defending its authenticity in the struggle between what’s true and what sells.
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Pittsburgh CLO has announced its Summer 2023 season:
Anything Goes (June 13-18), directed by Ameenah Kaplan, with choreography by Mara Newbery Greet, and music direction by James Cunningham, featuring Rashidra Scott (Reno Sweeney), A.J. Shively (Billy Crocker), and Weinzierl (Erma), and more TBA.
Into the Woods (June 27 – July 2), directed by Scott Weinstein, with choreography by William Carlos Angulo, and music direction by James Cunningham, featuring Patti Murin (Baker’s Wife), Manu Narayan (Baker), Joe Serafini (Jack), and more TBA.
The Sound of Music (July 11-16), directed & choreographed by Marc Robin, with music direction by Thom Culcasi, Hanley Smith (Maria), Will Ray (Captain Von Trapp), Madeline Dick (Liesl Von Trapp, and more TBA.
Once On This Island (July 25-30), directed & choreographed by Gerry McIntyre, with music direction by James Cunningham, featuring Mason Reeves (Daniel Beauxhomme), Darius Harper (Papa Ge), Melessie Clark (Mama Eurali), and more TBA.
Guys & Dolls (Aug. 8-13), directed by Darren Lee, with choreography by Mark Esposito, and music direction by James Cunningham, featuring Jeff Kready (Sky Masterson), Nikki Renee Daniels (Sarah Brown), Chris Laitta (General Cartwright), and more TBA.
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Aug. 22-27), directed by Dontee Kiehn, with choreography by Charlie Sutton, and music direction by James Cunningham, with Jason Gotay (Anatole Kuragin), Kennedy Caughell (Sonya), Kylie Edwards (ensemble), and more TBA.
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NY City Center Encores! has announced casting for Oliver, adapted by Deborah Stein, to run May 3-14, directed by Lear DeBessonet, with music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell.
Julian Lerner (Artful Dodger), Lilli Cooper (Nancy), Raúl Esparza (Fagin), Tam Mutu (Bill Sikes), Brad Oscar (Mr. Bumble), Benjamin Pajak (Oliver Twist), and Mary Testa (Widow Corney), with William Thomas Colin, Charity Angel Dawson, Julian Marcus DeGuzman, Zachary Downer, Sam Duncan, William Foon, Ethen Green-Younger, Jeff Kready, Jenny Laroche, Devin Miles Lugo, Morgan Marcell, Lindsay Roberts, Eliseo Roman, Michael Cash Savio, and Jacob Keith Watson.
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The Mar. 27 Entertainment Community Fund’s Ragtime benefit concert raised more than $1 million!
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Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre has announced its 2023-24 season. Creative teams and casting TBA.
English (Aug. 16 – Sept. 17), by Sanaz Toossi.
The Shining (Sept. 15 – Oct. 1), opera by Paul Morayec & Mark Campbell.
Furlough’s Paradise (Jan. 31 – Mar. 3, 2024), world premiere by a.k. payne.
A Tale of Two Cities (Feb. 21 – Mar. 17), world premiere adaptation by Brendan Pelsue.
Fat Ham (Apr. 3 – May 12), by James Ijames. A reinvention of Hamlet, following a queer Southern college kid named Juicy.
The Preacher’s Wife (May 11 – June 9), world premiere by Tituss Burgess & Azie Dungey. Based on Robert Nathan’s novel and set in Harlem, the musical follows Preacher Henry and his wife Julia, who struggle to keep their congregation going. When all seems lost, Henry asks God for help and receives it in the form of an angel.
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Judy on TV!: Celebrating “The Judy Garland Show” will run May 6-8 at NYC’s 92Y, written & directed by Dick Scanlan.
Aisha de Haas, Gabrielle Stravelli, Alysha Umphress, and Max Von Essen.
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Red Bull Theater will present a reading of David Grimm’s Kit Marlowe on Mon. Apr. 3 at 7:30 PM at Brooklyn’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center, directed by Emma Rosa Went.
Helen Cespedes, Mo Gooding-Silverwood, Amy Jo Jackson, Merritt Janson, Rami Margron, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Yasmin Bascall, Sushma Saha, han Van Sciver, and Ching Valdes-Aran.
Performed by an all women and non-binary company, the play is set in the seedy underworld of Elizabethan England. The story of the meteoric rise and fall of Christopher Marlowe – playwright, poet, spy, and sexual outlaw – charts the ambitions of youth in a cold and unforgiving world.
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The international musical and dance sensation Notre Dame de Paris will return to Lincoln Center June 22 – July 9 featuring a 30-member cast.
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Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things will run May 24 – July 1 (opening May 30) at the Park Theatre, directed by Nicky Allpress.
Luke Newton, Amber Anderson, and more TBA.
In the darkly humorous play, an art student befriends a museum guard, peeling back the layers of artifice on modern relationships through four key questions: How far would you go for love? How far for art? What would you be willing to change? Which price might you pay?