This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, March 8
Sunday in the Park with George, directed & choreographed by Eamon Foley, featuring Graham Phillips (George), Talia Suskauer (Dot), Joy Haermalyn (Old Lady), and Bernard Dotson (Jules), with Kevin Arnold, Giuliana Augello, Anthony Cataldo, Katie Davis, Bridget Cooley, and James C. Harris, Isabel Lagana, Ella Mangano, Dylan Randazzo, Allie Seibold, Alyssa Harris, Giana Carroll, Lindsay Jorgensen, Olivia Miranda, Sarah Takash, and Gillian Worek, opens at NJ’s Axelrod PAC.
Speak Easy Stage Company‘s Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok, directed by Alex Lonati, featuring Lewis D. Wheeler, Gina Fonseca, Stephanie Gould, and Sean Leviashvili, opens at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion.
The Who’s Tommy, directed by Des McAnuff, featuring Ali Lous Bourzgui (Tommy), Alison Luff (Mrs. Walker), Adam Jacobs (Captain Walker), John Ambrosino (Uncle Ernie), Bobby Conte (Cousin Kevin), and Christina Jajous (The Acid Queen), with Haley Gustafson, Jeremiah Alsop, Ronnie S. Bowman Jr., Mike Cannon, Tyler James Eisenreich, Sheldon Henry, Afra Hines, Aliah James, David Paul Kidder, Tassy Kirbas, Lily Kren, Quinten Kusheba, Reese Levine, Brett Michael Lockley, Nathan Lucrezio, Alexandra Matteo, Mark Mitrano, Reagan Pender, Cecilia Ann Popp, Daniel Quadrino, Olive Ross-Kline, Jenna Nicole Shoen, Dee Tomasetta, and Andrew Tufano, begins previews at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre.
Escaped Alone, by Caryl Churchill, directed by Liz Diamond, featuring LaTonya Borsay, Mary Lou Rosato, Sandra Shipley, and Rita Wolf, begins previews at Yale Rep.
Saturday, March 9
Avaaz, written & performed by Michael Shayan, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, opens at VA’s Olney Theatre.
King James, by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Justin Emeka, featuring Joshua Echebiri (Shawn) and Caleb Foote (Matt), with Danny Adams and Kevin Alicea-Minor, begins previews at San Diego’s Old Globe.
I love you so much I could die, written by & starring Mona Pirnot, directed by Lucas Hnath, closes at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
Bonnie & Clyde, directed & choreographed by Gerry McIntyre, featuring Alana Saunders (Bonnie Parker), Michael William Nigro (Clyde Barrow), Mary Fanning Driggs (Cumie Barrow), Gina Milo (Annie)Mary Fanning Driggs (Cumie Barrow; Daniel Simons (Henry Barrow/Frank Hamer), April Armstrong (Emma Parker), Christian Brailsford (Sheriff/Preacher) Dan DeLuca (Buck Barrow), and Ben Jacoby (Ted Hinton), with Alexander Ríos, and Summerisa Stevens, closes at Utah’s Pioneer Playhouse.
Sunday, March 10
Grief Hotel, by Liza Birkenmeier, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad, featuring Nadine Malouf (Em), Ana Nogueira (Winn), Naren Weiss (Rohit), Obie Susannah Perkins (Teresa), Susan Blommaert (Aunt Bobbi), and Bruce McKenzie (Asher), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
2024 Oscar Awards ceremony, airs at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT on ABC, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Musical Theatre Guild‘s The Wedding Singer concert presentation, by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin & Tim Herlihy, directed by Mary Jo DuPrey, featuring Zachary Ford (Robbie Hart), Krista Feallock (Julia), Wendy Rosoff (Linda), Barbara Minkus (Grandma Rosie), Ashley Moniz (Holly), Will Collyer (Glen), Antoine Lee (Sammy), and Lyle Colby Mackston (George), with Matthew Patrick Davis, Tal Fox, Marie Guitierrez, Janaya Jones, Nancy Lam, Kyle Montgomery, Taubert Nadalini, and Trance Thompson, at 7 PM at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage.
We’ll Have Nun of It, by Rosie Dart & Finola Southgate, directed by Dart, featuring Angel Lema (Eliza), Chaya Gupta (Sarah), Heather Gourdie (Bernie), Juliette Artigala (Mary), and Michaela Murphy (Caragh), closes at the UK’s The Other Palace.
Roundabout Theatre Company‘s Jonah, by Rachel Bonds, directed by Danya Taymor, featuring Gabby Beans (Ana), Hagan Oliveras (Jonah), Samuel Henry Levine (Danny), and John Zdrojeski (Steven), closes at Off-Broadway’s Laura Pels Theatre.
Sunset Baby, by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, featuring Russell Hornsby (Kenyatta), Moses Ingram (Nina), and J. Alphonse Nicholson (Damon), closes at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre.
I love you so much I could die, written by & starring Mona Pirnot, directed by Lucas Hnath, closes at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
Existentialism, world premiere created & directed by Anne Bogart, featuring Ellen Maddow and Paul Zimet, closes at Off-Broadway’s La MaMa.
Becoming a Man, written & directed by P. Carl & Diane Paulus, featuring Petey Gibson (Carl), Justiin Davis (Eddie), Elena Hurst (Lynette), Christopher Liam Moore (Carl’s Father), Stacey Raymond (Polly), Susan Rome (Carl’s Mother), and Cody Sloan (Nathan), closes at Cambridge’s A.R.T.
A View from the Bridge, directed by James Dean Palmer, featuring Dominic Fumusa (Eddie Carbone), Annie Parisse (Beatrice), Paten Hughes (Catherine), Patricia Black (Alfieri), Antonio Magro (Marco), Mark Junek (Rudolpho), with Mike Boland and Todd Ceveris, closes at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre.
10X10 New Play Festival, directed by directed by Alan Paul and Matthew Penn, concludes at MA’s Barrington Stage Company.
The Age of Innocence, newly adapted by Karen Zacarías, directed by Chay Yew, featuring Callum Adams (Newland Archer), Shereen Ahmed Ellen), Barzin Akhavan (Beaufort), Delphi Borich (May), Mahira Kakkar Mrs. Welland) and Medora Manson Narrator), Eva Kaminsky Narrator, Rami Margron (Mrs. Archer/Regina Beaufort, Sophia Oberg (Janey Archer/Opera Singer), and Nastasia, Socorro Santiago (Catherine Mingott/ Mrs. van der Luyden), Mike Sears (Sillerton Jackson/Mr. Letterblair/Mr. van der Luyden, and Michael Underhill (Dallas). with Luana Fontes, Chris Hathaway, Madeline Grace Jones, Erick Lindsey, Angelynne Pawaan, Akoni Steinmann, and Emma Svitil, closes at San Diego’s Old Globe.
Huntington Theatre‘s John Proctor is the Villain, by Kimberly Belflower, directed by Margot Bordelon, featuring Japhet Balaban (Carter Smith) and Maanav Aryan Goyal (Mason Adams), Olivia Hebert (Bailey Gallagher), Benjamin Izaak (Lee Turner), Brianna Martinez (Ivy Watkins), Victoria Omoregie (Nell Shaw), Jules Talbot (Beth Powell), Isabel Van Natta (Shelby Holcomb), and Haley Wong (Raelynn Nix), with Katherine Callaway, Jessica Golden, Jack Greenberg, Jaime José Hernandez, Patrick O’Konis, Valyn Lyric Turner, and Zehava Younger, closes at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion.
Where We Belong, written & performed by Madeline Sayet, directed by Mei Ann Teo, closes at DC’s Folger Theatre.
The Play That Goes Wrong, by Henry Lewis, Henry Shield & Jonathan Sayer, directed by Melissa Rain Anderson, featuring Marc Alkins, Josh Bates, Michael Doherty, Farah El-Ashram, Victoria Alev Duffy, Blake Henri, Dylan Ireland, Ben Liebert, Alfredo Ruiz, and Joz Vammer, closes at Cleveland Playhouse.
Lend Me A Soprano, by Ken Ludwig, directed by Eleanor Holdridge, featuring Carolann M. Sanita (Elena Firenzi), Tina Stafford (Lucille Wylie), Rachel Felstein (Jo), Maboud Ebrahimzadeh (Jerry), Tom Patterson (Leo), and Donna Migliaccio (Julia), with Graciela Rey and Benjamin Topa, closes at MD’s Olney Theatre.
Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, by Richard Hellesen, directed by Peter Ellenstein, starring John Rubinstein, closes at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.
Anything Goes, directed by Michael Weber, featuring Meghan Murphy (Reno Sweeney), Luke Nowakowski (Billy Crocker), Jack Evans (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh), Emma Ogea (Hope Harcourt), J. Steve McDonagh (Moonface Martin), Tommy Bullington (Ship’s Purser), Rachel Dec (Charity), Nick Dorado (Ship’s Captain), Emily Ling Mei (Chastity), Tafadzwa Diener (Erma), Josiah Haugen (Henry T. Dobson), Ciara Hichey (Dippy), Hannah Revian (Virtue), Nataki Rennie (Purity), and Anthony Whitaker (Elisha J. Whiteny) ,with Logan Becker, Henry T. Dobson, Christian, Kelsey MacDonald, Jenna Schoppe, Gabriel Solis, Jerod Turner, Genevieve VenJohnson.Gabriel Solis, Mack Spotts, Jerod Turner, closes at Chicago’s Porchlight Theatre.
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Reviews for Doubt at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): …a sturdy melodrama, an infallible crowd-pleaser, a detective yarn, a character study and an inquest into the unknowable… It is also, in the handsome revival that opened on Thursday at the Todd Haimes Theater, something I hadn’t really noticed before: a battle of the sexes. For in the church of that day, as perhaps in our own, mutual distrust often arose between the men who had all the power and the women who saw how they used it… it takes immensely skillful writing to cause an audience to suspend its judgment in the face of such a charge… The entire play is like that: ideally worded, ingeniously structured, sinewy and swift. It never lets you, or poor Sister James, reach a conclusion as to which, if either, of her superiors is right…
Daily News (Chris Jones): Twenty years later, all reasonable doubt has been removed from Shanley’s parable. This taut drama, back in a gripping new Broadway production from the Roundabout Theatre Company and director Scott Ellis, plays like a cautionary tale, an ode to those who found the courage to stand up to abusers and side with the young and the vulnerable. I used to think that was because it was deftly structured almost like a procedural, even an 85-minute crime thriller… Ryan, whose performance is tart, vulnerable, and unstinting, shows us a character slowly realizing that her unswerving belief in the hierarchy she serves… The similarly excellent Kazan, whose teaching nun has the assets and drawbacks of youth, can only stare horrified at a future that she now understands is coming for her, too. It’s just a matter of time.
Variety (Aramide Tinubu): …With just four characters, Doubt works best when it showcases what happens to controlled environments like churches when people no longer abide by archaic rules or standards of behavior… Across the copious amounts of dialogue squeezed into a 90-minute run time, the audience races to examine everyone’s unique understanding of the matter… With just four characters, “Doubt” works best when it showcases what happens to controlled environments like churches when people no longer abide by archaic rules or standards of behavior. A small encounter between Father Flynn and a pupil early in the school year shifts Sister Aloysius’ perception of him, and immediately puts her on alert… Like the nuns, viewers waver between certainty and suspicion, so the production remains intriguing despite the wordy dialogue… Schreiber’s standout performance…
New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski): …It’s as weighty and confident as American plays four times its age — not to mention leagues better than most of the new crop… The script is the marquee star. And although the head-to-head battles between Sister Aloysius (Ryan) and Father Flynn (Schreiber) don’t explode as powerfully here as they are capable of doing, the words are never less than riveting… With some distance from those terrible headlines, viewers appear less sure whose camp they’re in… I had never felt a theater be so sympathetic toward the accused priest… That response could be because Schreiber exudes such a warm, paternal energy that never feels sinister or remotely creepy… But director Scott Ellis’ production has a bothersome tendency to ride the brakes. Every time the drama is about to really pack a punch, it stops and slows down. Shanley’s thunderous climax drizzles.
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Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate will launch its UK tour on Apr. 11, directed by Gaynor Faye. Click here for the tour schedule
Gaynor Faye, Oliver Anthony, Samantha Giles and Brooke Vincent, with Rosa Coduri-Fulford, Jade Golding, William Ilkley, Jerome Ngonadi, Benedict Shaw, and Connor James-Ryan.
The play is based on the first TV series and tells the story of five supermarket workers whose lottery syndicate numbers come in, just as their jobs and livelihoods are under threat. Will a share of the jackpot make their dreams come true or their nightmares a reality? One thing’s for certain, the win of a lifetime will change the lives, loves and relationships of the syndicate members forever.
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MA’s Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced its 2024 Summer season:
The Plastic Bag Store (May 9 – Sept. 2), created, written, designed & directed by Robin Frohardt, with music by Freddi Price.
Dragon Mama (July 2-14), by Sara Porkalob, directed by Andrew Russell.
Death, Let Me Do My Show (July 5-14), by Rachel Bloom, directed by Seth Barrish.
WTF Cabaret (July 5 – 14), with music direction by Joel Waggoner.
Pamela Palmer (July 23 – Aug. 10), world premiere by David Ives, directed by Walter Bobbie.
WTF Is Next (Aug. 1-4). An expansive 4-day preview of the future of the festival.
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All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain will run Oct. 12 – Nov. 17 at Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theatre, created & performed by Patrick Page.
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Zoe Sarnak & Rachel Bonds’ The Lonely Few will run Apr. 26 – June 2 (opening May 20) at MCC Theatre, directed by Trip Cullman & Ellenore Scott.
Damon Duanno, Taylor Iman Jones, Peter Mark Kendall, Loren Patten, Helen J. Shen, and Thomas Sillcott.
Lila and her band, The Lonely Few, have a standing gig at Paul’s Juke Joint in their small Kentucky town. When an established musician, Amy, gives them a chance to join her on tour, they take it. Love blossoms between Lila and Amy on the road, but can it endure?
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The Classical Theatre of Harlem will present Renaissance Reborn: Reimagining the Past, Igniting the Future on Thurs. Mar. 21 at 7 PM at NYC’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Ave., at 112th St.). 
(free) here.
The event will feature luminaries in history, Black arts, and Harlem culture, CTH is hosting a public panel discussion on the Harlem Renaissance, commemorating the centennial of a dinner hosted by Charles S. Johnson in 1924. This dinner marked the first time Harlem’s centrality to America’s extraordinary Black literary output of the day was recognized. As a company, CTH is working to reorient New York City’s cultural axis further north, with a Renaissance Reborn by commissioning original works of theatre by today’s burgeoning talents, offering free access to its work for everyone, and making deep investments in community care that now encompasses work with dozens of health NGOs, local micro-business entrepreneurs, and its peer arts and culture groups.
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Heidi Schreck’s new translation of Uncle Vanya will begin previews Apr. 2 and open Apr. 24 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, directed by Lila Neugebauer.
Steve Carell (Uncle Vanya), Alfred Molina, Anika Noni Rose, Jonathan Hadary, William Jackson Harper, Jayne Houdyshell, Spencer Donovan Jones, and Mia Katigbak.
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Fatherland, conceived & directed by Stephen Sachs, has been extended through May 26 at LA’s Fountain Theatre, conceived & directed by Stephen Sachs.
Ron Bottitta, Patrick Keleher, Anna Khaja, and Larry Poindexter
As a work of political theater, it’s a trenchant cautionary tale about the threat posed by extremist groups. As a family drama, it brings the story of America’s polarization into the kitchen, living room and backyard.
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Zoe Sarnak & Rachel Bond’s The Lonely Few will run Apr. 27 – June 2 at MCC Theater, directed by Trip Cullman & Ellenore Scott. Helen J Shen, Thomas Silcott,
Damon Daunno, Taylor Iman Jones, Peter Mark Kendall, and Lauren Patten.
Lila and her band, The Lonely Few, have a standing gig at Paul’s Juke Joint in their small Kentucky town. When an established musician, Amy, gives them a chance to join her on tour, they take it. Love blossoms between Lila and Amy on the road, but can it endure? rock musical about the forces that launch us from home and the gravitational pull that can bring us back.
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Liz Callaway: Their Story Goes On, A Musical Celebration of The York will take place Mon. Apr. 15 at 7:30 PM at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Jeans, directed by Joseph Hayward, with music direction by Alex Rybeck.
boxoffice@yorktheatre.org
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Stephen Cole’s first novel, “MARY & ETHEL… and Mikey Who?” was published on Jan. 16, and is now available in hard cover, Kindle, and audio book (performed by Anita Gillette) on most platforms, as well as Amazon.
The novel is a wild rollercoaster ride of a novel that hurls the reader time-traveling through decades of Broadway & Hollywood history with Ethel Merman & Mary Martin, as a boy from Brooklyn gets to live out his dream with these two Broadway legends. Stephen’s unique friendship with both of these Broadway icons imbues this novel with a reality on top of the fantasy & is chock full of juicy tidbits.
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Suzan-Lori Parks’ Sally & Tom will run Mar. 28 – May 5 (opening Apr. 16) at The Public Theater, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III.
Sheria Irving (Luce/Sally), Gabriel Ebert (Mike/Tom), Sun Mee Chomet (Scout/Polly), Leland Fowler (Devon/Nathan), Kristolyn Lloyd (Maggie/Mary), Alano Miller (Kwame/James), Kate Nowlin (Ginger/Patsy), and David Petzold (Geoff/Cooper/Colonel Carey/Mr. Tobias).
Founding father Thomas Jefferson returns to his Monticello plantation home as his relationship with Sally Hemings, sister of his enslaved valet and chef, begins to unfold. Parks has set the story inside a modern theatrical framing device that allows exploration into the parallels between 1790 and today.
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York Theatre Company will present Liz Callaway: Their Story Goes On: A Musical Celebration of the York on Mon. Apr. 15 at 7:30 PM at Off-Broadway’s Theater at St. Jean, directed by Joseph Howard, with music direction by Alex Rybeck.