Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be limited theatre news for the foreseeable future. I will continue to search for anything meaningful and/or fun to report. Stay safe and healthy.
This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, May 22
* LA’s Celebration Theatre‘s FREE reading of Dear Harvey, by Patricia Loughrey, featuring Amy Pietz, Brittney S Wheeler, Bruce Vilanch, Calpurnia Addams, Caroline Stephanie Clay, David Tran, Lindsey Horvath (Mayor of LA), Reggie Lee, and Robin DeJesus, at 5 PM PT.
* 54 Below‘s I Wish…The Roles That Could Have Been FREE livestreamed concert, hosted by Alexandra Silber, featuring Elizabeth Stanley, Jelani Remi, Drew Gehling, Nicholas Barasch, Robyn Hurder, Samantha Massell, Isabelle McCalla, Julia Murney, Kirsten Scott, at 6:30 PM ET.
* NBC’s “The Sound of Music Live,” (2013), starring Carrie Underwood, Stephen Moyer, Audra McDonald, Christian Borle, and Laura Benanti, streamed here at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT. (available for 48 hours).
Saturday, May 23
* LAByrinth Theater Company‘s Our Lady of 121st Street FREE reading, by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Elizabeth Rodriguez, featuring (most of the original cast): Laurence Fishburne, Bobby Cannavle, Elizabeth Canavan, Liza Colón-Zayas, Scott Hudson, Russell G. Jones, Portia, Al Roffe, Felix Solis, David Zayas Rodriguez, John Doman, and Dierdre Friel, livestreamed at 8 PM ET.
* Mauricio Martinez FREE livestreamed concert, with special guests Orfeh and Mariand Torres, at 6:30 PM ET here.
Sunday, May 24
* #LincolnCenterAtHome’s Memorial for Us All livestreamed concert, offering the opportunity to heal through music, at 6 PM ET here.
* National Memorial Day Concert, hosted by Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, featuring Christopher Jackson, Cynthia Erivo, Kelli O’Hara, Renée Fleming, General Colin L. Powell, Trace Adkins, CeCe Winans, and Mary McCormack, with performances from previous concerts featuring Sam Elliott, Laurence Fishburne, and Esai Morales, at 8 PM ET on PBS.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guests Bonnie Milligan, Saycon Sengbloh, and Steven Weber. (1:13:30)
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Video: “Stars in the House,” a benefit for You Gotta Believe, with Kerry Butler, Willie Garson, Luke Islam, Anika Larsen, Beth Malone, Alec Mapa, and Nia Vardalos. (1:32:04)
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The U.K. short digital play series, Unprecedented, will run May 6-28 on BBC Four.
Episode 1 (May 26 at 10 PM BST):
* Viral, by James Grahan, directed by Ola Ince, featuring Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Laurie Kynaston, Archie Madekwe, and Stuart Thompson. After schools shut and A Levels are postponed, three teenagers use lockdown to come up with the next big viral craze.
* Penny, by Charlene James, directed by Holly Race Roughan, starring Lennie James. Ray has been moved into a hotel for the foreseeable future, yet he knows that survival is a lot more complicated than having a roof over your head.
* Going Forward, by John Donnelly, directed by Blanche McIntyre, featuring Paul Chahidi, Frances Grey, Lisa Kerr, Enyi Okoronkwo, Boadicea Ricketts, Sid Sagar, Gyuri Sarossy, Kiruna Stamell, Amy Trigg, Dickon Tyrrell, Gabby Wong, and Sargon Yelda. When team meetings move online, an under-pressure team leader takes drastic measures to make sure targets are met.
Episode Two (May 27 at 10 PM BST/5 PM ET/2 PM PT):
* Romantic Distancing, by Tim Price, directed by Jeremy Herrin, featuring Inès De Clercq and Arthur Darvill. Love in the time of coronavirus: can technology bridge the emotional gap as well as the geographical?
* Safer at Home, by Anna Maloney, directed by Brian Hill, featuring Gemma Arterton, Geraldine James, and Rory Keenan. As families and couples are forced into isolation, we see Mike taking pride in looking after his pregnant partner, Ellie. Mike’s mother, Betsy, is delighted, she’s extremely fond of Ellie; but she starts to see things about their relationship that unsettle her.
* House Party, by April De Angelis, directed by Holly Race Roughan, featuring Patricia Allison, Risteárd Cooper, Gabriel Harland, Cecilia Noble, James Norton, Rhashan Stone, Meera Syal, Olivia Williams, and Fenella Woolgar. A street in South London get together on “Houseparty” for a virtual drinking session in the first week of isolation, but not everyone is in the mood for a party…
Episode 3 (May 28 at 10 PM BST/5 PM ET/2 PM PT):
* Grounded, by Duncan Macmillan, directed by Jeremy Herrin, featuring Arlo Dollimore, Michael Elwyn, Katherine Parkinson, and Alison Steadman. Liz is stressed by her parents’ cavalier attitude to the virus. Their age and health conditions put them heavily at risk. However, when overcome by the stress of her work, Liz is the one who needs looking after.
* Fear Fatigue, by Prasanna Puwanarajah, directed by Brian Hill, featuring Esh Alladi, Natalie Dew, Paterson Joseph, Rory Kinnear, Anna Madeley, and Jodie McNee.
Based on conversations with NHS workers in March 2020, the play documents the feelings and fears of frontline staff in the days and weeks before the coronavirus lockdown.
Episode Four (May 28 at 10:30 PM BST/5 PM ET/2 PM PT)
* Kat and Zaccy, written & directed by Deborah Bruce, featuring Starring Monica Dolan and Alex Lawther. Zac is reluctant to come home from university during lockdown; how long can he ignore his mother’s emotional pleas for his return?
* The Unexpected Expert, by Matilda Ibini, directed by Debbie Hannan, featuring Saida Ahmed, Lucianne McEvoy, and Golda Rosheuvel, This crisis will have a huge impact on Roxy’s social care package. The Local Authority thanks her for her understanding, yet she feels significantly misunderstood.
* The Night After, by Josh Azouz, directed by Ned Bennett, featuring Kathryn Hunter and Marcello Magni. A couple in their sixties try to make contact with the outside world. Is it a distress signal? Or a message to a specific loved one? Greek Gods, a noose, and the past all threaten to overwhelm them. A touching tale of toast, taboos and toddlers.
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Video: Sharon McNight, “Haiku.” Hysterical!
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The new David E. Kelley Netflix anthology series, “Anatomy of a Scandal” is in development, directed by S.J. Clarkson.
Casting, premiere date, and additional information TBA.
An insightful and suspenseful 6-part series about a sexual consent scandal amongst British privileged elite and the women caught up in its wake.
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Video: Kelli O’Hara, “I’m Going Back,” from Encores’ Bells are Ringing (2010)
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Audio: Karen Mason, “Better Days.” Simply stunning.
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Video: Broadway’s Hadestown performs “Road to Hell,” featuring Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Patrick Page, Anaïs Mitchell, and Rachel Chavkin,
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Audio: Phillipa Soo sings demo of “How Far I’ll Go,” from “Moana”
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The Dramatist Guild has announced that Khivon Hursey (DGF Fellow) has been named this year’s recipient of the Stephen Schwartz Award.
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& 
Harvey Granat on Leonard Bernstein will take place Thurs. June 18 at 11:30 AM ET here.
Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano.
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Video: Paper Mill Playhouse takes an inside look at the work of Jerry Herman, during rehearsals for Mame (1999). (1:32:57)
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Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Playwrights Theater presents Pride Plays 2020, offering live streamed readings of plays by and about the LGBTQIA+ community, will take place at 7 PM ET every Friday in June, in support of BC/EFA. Casting TBA.
June 5: Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy, by The Five Lesbian Brothers (Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey, and Lisa Kron) directed by Leigh Silverman.
June 12: one in two, by Donja R. Love. A portrait of what it means to be black and queer in America today.
June 19: Masculinity Max, by MJ Kaufman, directed by Will Davis.
June 26: Men From the Boys, by Mart Crowley, directed by Zachary Quinto. Those boys [from The Boys in the Band] changed the lives of so many and we always wondered what happened to them as they became men.
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Video: “Puttin’ on the Mask,” with Diane Vincent and Sam Kriger
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Project Shaw’s reading of Candida, a benefit for The Actors Fund, adapted & directed by David Staller, is now available through May 24 here. (1:54:50).
Andréa Burns, Santino Fontana, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Jay O. Sanders, and Michael Benjamin Washington.
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Video: “Viral Vignettes #6,” in support of The Actors Fund, presents “Care Package,” directed by Don Most, starring Lydia Cornell and Linda Purl.
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Video: Christian Borle, “Lambeth Walk,” from Encore’s Me and My Girl (2018)