This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, May 20
Man of God, by Anna Ouyang Moench, directed by Maggie Burrows, featuring Shirley Chen (Samantha), Emma Galbraith (Jen), Erin Rae Li (Mimi), Albert Park (Pastor), and Ji-young Yoo (Kyung-Hwa), opens at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
Antaeus Theatre Company‘s Hamlet, directed by Elizabeth Swain, featuring Ramón de Ocampo (Hamlet), Gregg T. Daniel (Claudius), Veralyn Jones (Gertrude), Jeanne Syquia (Ophelia), Peter Van Norden (Polonius), Michael Kirby (Laertes), and Adam J. Smith (Horatio), with Sally Hughes, Lloyd Roberson II, and Joel Swetow, opens at Glendale’s Gindler PAC.
Erich Bergen in concert opens at NYC’s Café Carlyle.
Saturday, May 21
Little Women, by Allan Knee, Jason Howland & Mindi Dickstein, directed by directed by Bronagh Lagan, featuring Ryan Bennett (Professor Bhaer), Hana Ichijo (Meg), Sev Keoshgerian (Laurie), Anastasia Martin (Beth), Mary Moore (Amy), Bernadine Pritchett (Aunt March), Brian Protheroe (Mr. Lawrence), Lejaun Sheppard (John Brooke), Savannah Stevenson (Marmee), and Lydia White (Chee/Rags), with Jo Andrusier and Liv Andrusier, begins streaming on BroadwayHD.
The MisMatch Game $200K Edition game show, created by Dennis Hensley, featuring Danny Casillas (Reba Areba), Daniele Gaither (Wendy Williams), John Hill (Nicole Kidman), Felix Pire (Ricardo Montalbán), Craig Taggart (Bette Midler), and Lory Tatoulian (Sharon Osbourne), at 8 PT at Hollywood’s LGBT Center (also tomorrow with different guests).
H*tler’s Tasters, by Michelle Kholos Brook, directed by Sarah Norris, featuring Hallie Griffen (Liesel), MaryKathryn Kopp (Hilda), Kaitlin Paige Longoria (Anna), and Hannah Mae Sturges (Margot), closes at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
A Walk on the Moon, by Pamela Gray, Paul Scott Goodman & AnnMarie Milazzo, directed by Sheryl Kaller, featuring Jackie Burns (Pearl Kantrowitz), Jonah Platt (Marty Kantrowitz) and John Arthur Greene (Blouse Man Walker Jerome), with Jill Abromovitz, Carly Gendell, Cody Braverman, Maya Jacobson, Wesley Zurick, Blair Goldberg, Jonathon Timpanelli, David R. Gordon, Megan Kane, Stephanie Lynn Mason, and Dan Rosales, closes at NJ’s George Street Playhouse.
Afterwords, world premiere by Zoe Sarnak & Emily Kazmarek, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, featuring Andi Alhadeff (Kali), Mari Nelson (Lydia), Brandon O’Neill (Jimmy), Saxton Jay Walker (Franklin), Kirsten deLohr Helland (Kali’s Voice 1), Kerstin Anderson (Simone), Anastacia McClesky (Jo), Timothy Michael Keller (Kali’s Voice 2), Ashley Menestrina & Cara Diaz (The Process), closes at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
Erich Bergen in concert closes at NYC’s Café Carlyle.
Sunday, May 22
MCC Theater‘s Miscast 2022 Gala, featuring Uzo Aduba, Shoshana Bean, Raúl Esparza, Myles Frost, J. Harrison Ghee, Tamika Lawrence, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Lea Michele, Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Aaron Tveit, and more…, begins streaming at 7 PM ET (Preshow begins at 6:30 PM). Available through May 25.
Stephanie Sings the Stephens (Sondheim, Schwartz & Flaherty) concert, starring Stephanie J. Block, at 3 PM ET at NYC’s 92Y.
The MisMatch Game $200K Edition, created by Dennis Hensley, featuring Jackie Beat (Bea Arthur), Julie Brown (Queen Elizabeth), Danny Casillas (Reba Areba), Tom Lenk (Tilda Swinton), Lory Tatoulian (Sharon Osbourne), and March Samuel (Morgan Freeman), at 7 PM PT Hollywood’s LGBT Center.
The King and I, directed by Alan Paul, featuring Betsy Morgan (Anna Leonowens), Adam Jacobs (The King of Siam), Christine Bunuan (Lady Thiang), Paulina Yeung (Tuptim), Ethan LePhong (Lun Tha), Braden Crothers (Louis Leonowens), Nolan Maddox (Louis alternate), Matthew Uzarraga (Prince Chulalongkorn), Karmann Bajuyo (The Kralahome), and Victor Holstein (Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsey), with Kristine Bendul, Chih-Jou Cheng, Mai Claypool, Hannah Fernandes, Albert Hsueh, Kenway Hon Wai K. Kua, Kevin Kulp, Anthony Christopher Milfelt, Nich O’Neil, Yuki Ozeki, Aurora Penepacker, Richel Mari Ruiz, Garrett Shin, Marissa Swanner, Avana Strutz, Michiko Takemasa, AvelynChoi, Dante Garcia, Enzo Garcia, Elle Laroco, Vin Laroco, Rika Nishikawa, and Alender Salazar, closes at London’s Drury Lane Theatre.
Jersey Boys, directed by Des McAnuff, featuring Jonathan Cable, (Nick Massi), Aaron DeJesus (Frankie Valli), CJ Pawlikowski (Bob Gaudio), and Johne Rochette (Tommy DeVito), with Dianna Marie Barger, Tristen Buettel, Alex Dorf, Andrew Frace, John Gardiner, Rory Max Kaplan, Joey Lavarco, Austin Owen, Michelle Rombola, Paul Sabala, and Kit Treece, closes at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages, after 1,000+ performances.
True Stories (solo shows in rep), directed by Gretchen Cryer, written & performed by Jon Cryer, Linda Manning, Alex Petrullo, Abby Stokes, and Steve Wruble, closes at Off-Broadway’s Cherry Lane Theatre.
Nightclub Cantata, by Elizabeth Swados, Brian Avidan, Nazim Hikmet, Nancy Larrick, Isabel Leitner, Eve Merriman, Pablo Neruda, Sylvia Plath, Muriel Rukeyser, and Delmore Schwartz, directed & choreographed by Bill Castellino, featuring Noreen Crayton, Sarah Nandola, Pearl Rhein, Noah Ruebeck, Hansel Tan, Miles Whitaker, and Victoria Casillo, closes at Off-Broadway’s cell theatre.
New Works Festival 22, offering readings & discussions of new plays, concludes at Theaterworks Hartford.
The Three Musketeers, adapted by Catherine Bush, directed by Laura Kepley, featuring Leraldo Anzaldúa, Isaac Baker, Sean Maximo Campos, Nehassaiu deGannes, Kristina Gabriela, Josh Innerest, Bridget Kim, Eli Lynn, Gustavo Márquez, Hassiem Muhmmad, Tom Myers, Mark rose, Jasmine Rush, Jordan Taylor, Dawn L. Troupe, and Noah Williams, closes at Cleveland Play House.
A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder, directed by Spiro Veloudos, featuring Leigh Barrett, Tersa Winner Blume, Neil A. Casey, Aimee Doherty, Jennifer Ellis, Kate Klika, Lori L’Italien, Todd McNeel Jr., Karen Murphy, Robert St. Laurence, Phil Tayler and Jared Troilo, closes at Boston’s Lyric Stage Company.
Justice, by Bree Lawdermilk, Kate Kerrigan & Lauren Gunderson, directed by Melissa Crespo, featuring Nancy Opel (Sandra Day O’Connor), Joan Ryan (Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and Chanel Bragg (Vera), closes at Arizona Theatre Company (Tucson).
Bright Half Life, by Tanya Barfield, directed by Amy K. Harmon, featuring Kacie Rogers (Vicky) and Tiffany Wolff (Erica), closes at North Hollywood’s Road on Magnolia.
My Life’s Journey: An Evening with C.S. Lewis, by David Payne, starring Phil Crowley, closes at Hollywood’s Actors Co-op.
Both And (a play about laughing while black), world premiere written by & starring Carolyn Ratteray, directed by Andi Chapman, closes at Pasadena’s Boston Court.
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Three industry readings of Are You There? will take place (by invitation only) May 23 & 24 at Off-Broadway’s Chain Theatre, written & directed by Javier Daulte.
Josefina Scaro and Ben Becher.
A comedy and a love story about a New York couple, Anna and Frank, living together for the first time in a small and uncomfortable apartment. Impossibly in the chaos of moving boxes, problems with the heating and with the neighbor downstairs, there is also an invisible man, and a poltergeist who is not a bit happy about having roommates.
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Casting has been announced for the filmed version of London’s Heathers the Musical at The Other Palace, by Kevin Murphy & Laurence O’Keefe. The production is currently closed to allow for the filming. Performances resume May 20 and continue through Sept 4.
Ailsa Davidson (Veronica Sawyer), Simon Gordon (Jason “J.D” Dean), Maddison Firth (Heather Chandler), Vivian Panka (Heather Duke), Teleri Hughes (Heather McNamara), Vicki Lee Taylor (Ms. Fleming/Veronica’s Mom), Mhairi Angus (Martha Dunnstock), Liam Doyle (Kurt Kelly), Rory Phelan (Ram Sweeney), Oliver Brooks (Kurt’s Dad/Big Bud Dean/Coach Ripper), Andy Brandy (Ram’s Dad/Principle Gowan/Veronica’s Dad), Benjamin Karran (Beleaguered Geek), Chris Parkinson (Hipster Dork/Officer McCord), Jermaine Woods (Peppy Stud/Officer Milner), Eleanor Morrison Halliday (Young Republicanette), Mary-Jean Caldwell (Stoner Chick), Hannah Lowther (New Wave Party Girl), and May Tether (Drama Club Drama Queen).
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DC’s Signature Theatre has announced its 2022 Summer Season:
Signature Theatre Under the Stars outdoor concert (June 10 at 8 PM ET), featuring Mark G. Meadows and his band, The Movement.
Broadway in the Park concert (June 24 at 8 PM ET) at Wolf Trap, directed by Matthew Gardiner, with music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch. featuring Kelli O’Hara and Adrienne Warren, along with Erin Driscoll, Vincent Kempski, Rayshun LaMarr, Kevin McAllister, Donna Migliaccio, Nova Y. Payton, Awa Sal Secka, and Bobby Smith.
We Shall Someday Concert (June 30 – July 2), by Harrison David Rivers & Ted Shen, directed by Kelli Foster Warder, at the ARK Theatre. Performers TBA. A timely new musical chronicling three generations of a Southern Black family as they trace the effects of racism, activism and legacy from the Civil Rights Movement to the present.
Hotter Than July: Stevie Wonder concert (July 5-7) at the ARK Theatre. Performers TBA.
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Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses will run May 26 – June 12 (opening May 28) at Venice, CA’s Pacific Resident Theatre, directed by Max Mayer.
Melissa Webber Bales, Terry Walters, Brian Letscher, and Bruce Nozick.
In a little town in the mountains, two couples named Jones grapple with the big and small questions of life in funny and not so funny ways.
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James Ijames’ Fat Ham, currently in previews, will open May 26 at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater, and has just been extended through June 19. The production is directed by Saheem Ali.
Nikki Crawford (Tedra), Chris Herbie Holland (Tio), Billy Eugene Jones (Rev/Pap), Adrianna Mitchell (Opal), Calvin Leon Smith (Larry), Marcel Spears (Juicy), and Benja Kay Thomas (Rabby), with RJ Foster, Tanesha Gary, Marquis D. Gibson, and Alexandria Brienne Lewis.
A reinvention of Hamlet, exploding the psychological classic into a comic tragedy. Taking place at a cookout, Juicy, a queer Southern college kid, grapples with identity questions, the ghost of his father, a supernatural demand for vengeance, and the choice of breaking or continuing cycles of trauma and violence.
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Follies will run June 30 – Sept. 10 (opening July 6) at the San Francisco Playhouse, directed by Bill English, with music direction by Dave Dobrusky and choreography by Nicole Helfer.
Natascia Diaz (Sally Durant Plummer), Samantha Rose Cárdenas (Young Sally), Maureen McVerry (Phyllis Rogers Stone), Danielle Cheiken (Young Phyllis), Ryan Drummond (Buddy Plummer), Chachi Delgado (Young Buddy), Chris Vettel (Benjamin Stone), Cameron La Brie (Young Benjamin), Cindy Goldfield (Carlotta Campion), Lucinda Hitchcock Cone (Hattie Walker), Jill Slyter (Solange LaFitte), Caroline Louise Altman (Stella Deems), Louis Parnell (Dimitri Weismann), Frederick Winthrop (Roscoe), Eiko Yamamoto (Emily Whitman), and Rene Collins (Theodore Whitman), with Emily Corbo, Anthony Maglio, Catrina Manahan, and Anne Warque.
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Off-Broadway’s Primary Stages has announced its 2022 Fall season at 59E59 Theatres. Casting TBA.
New Golden Age, (currently running through June 9) by Karen Hartman, directed by Jade King Carroll, featuring Carmen Castillo, Ricardy Fabre, Doug Harris, Maria Kakkar, and Claire Siebers. In an era just beyond our own, two sisters fight for human connection as they face down a big tech dystopia. A folk-hero professor defends our most intimate relationships, while her sister attempts a perilous inside maneuver within the corporation that owns and sees all.
On That Day in Amsterdam (July 23 – Sept. 4, opening Aug. 11), by Clarence Coo, directed by Zi Alikhan. The morning after a one-night stand, a refugee from the Middle East wakes up next to an American backpacker who is himself the son of immigrants. With only a day until the two young men must each leave Amsterdam, they set off on a romantic journey through the city. Moved by the spirits of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Anne Frank, the play witnesses these two young dreamers count down their remaining hours together, discovering the meaning of art, love, and loss.
peerless (Sept. 24 – Nov. 6, opening Oct. 11), by Jiehae Park, directed by Margot Bordelon. The play is a comedy…until it’s not. This new version of the classic story centers on M and L, twin Asian-American siblings who have given up everything to get into The College. When another classmate claims what they feel is rightfully “their spot,” the twins decide they have only one option: murder.
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A private reading of Nathan Tysen, Jason Howland & Kait Kerrigan’s The Great Gatsby will take place today in NYC, directed by Marc Bruni.
Jay Armstrong Johnson (Jay Gatsby), Noah J. Ricketts, Phoenix Best, Alysha Umphress, John Behlmann, Eric Anderson, Paul Whitty, and Grace Yoo, with Milo Alosi, Tyrone Davis Jr., Victoria Huston-Elem, Danny Kornfeld, Elena Ricardo, Housso Semon, Yasmeen Sulieman, and Daniel Torres.
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Pasadena Playhouse has announced its 2022-23 season, which will include a 6-month Sondheim Celebration. Casting, creative teams, and additional information TBA.
Sanctuary City (Sept. 14 – Oct. 9), by Martyna Majok
Into the Woods (Jan. 26-27, 2023), performed by Pasadena Unified School District high school students.
Sunday in the Park with George (Feb.14 – Mar.19)
A Little Night Music (Apr. 25 – May 28)
Bernadette Peters in Concert (June 10-11)
Stew, (July 11 – Aug. 6), by Zora Howard
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Ensemble Theatre Company‘s Sleuth will run June 9-26 (opening June 11) at Santa Barbara’s New Vic, directed by Jenny Sullivan.
Daniel Gerroll (Andrew Wyke), Matthew Floyd Miller (Milo Tindle).
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New York City Center‘s Annual Gala will offer benefit presentations of Parade Nov. 1-6, directed by Michael Arden.
Ben Platt (Frank) and Micaela Diamond (Lucille), with more TBA.
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Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre has announced its 2022-23 season (dates TBA).
My Broken Language (Fall 2022), world premiere written & directed by Quiara Alegría Hudes. This adaptation of the playwright’s memoir blends monologue, literary reading, live music, and movement to chart the story of six women who relive life in the barrio in Philadelphia during the ’90s.
A Case for the Existence of God (Winter 2023), by Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Oliver Butler. This dark comedy centers on Will, a lapsed Evangelical who flees his Idaho hometown after a tragedy and forges connections with his Boise coworkers as he struggles to reconcile his life with his faith.
Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, and a Friendship (Early 2023), world premiere by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Kate Whorisky. Ruhl shares letters and poems passed between herself and former student Max Ritvo as the latter discusses terminal illness.
Grass (2023), world premiere by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The play follows a mother and son on a road trip with stops in numerous Civil Rights museums.