This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, Nov. 14
Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet, by Pete Townsend, directed by Rob Ashford, featuring Ansel Elgort ( Father) and Paris Fitzpatrick (Jimmy), with Curtis Angus, Dan Baines, Jonathon Luke Baker, Harrison Coll, Jōvan Dansberry, Anya Ferdinand, Amaris Gillies, Seirian Griffiths, Gabriel Hyman, Dylan Jones, Serena McCall, Joshua Nkemdilim, Alice O’Brien, Zach Parkin, Yasset Roldan, Pam Pam Sapchartanan, Kate Tydman, Jack Widdowson, and Taela Yeomans-Brown, opens at Off-Broadway’s NY City Center.
Paranormal Activity, by Levi Holloway, directed by Felix Barrett, featuring Melissa James and Patrick Heusinger, opens at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Fun Home, directed by Logan Ellis, featuring Sara Bockel (Alison), Maya Jacobson (Medium Alison), Lyla Randall (Small Alison), Nick Duckart (Bruce Bechdel), Jennifer Ellis (Helen Bechdel), Odin Vega Christian Bechdel), Caleb (John Bechdel), Wyatt Anton (Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby Jereny), and Sushma Saha (Joan), with Maren Phifer, Maya Bea Scott-Luib, Ryan Spry, and Nick Sulfaro, opens at Boston’s Huntington Theatre.
A Sherlock Carol, by Mark Shanahan, directed by Ilyse Robbins, featuring Leigh Barrett, Christopher Chew, Mark Linehan, Paul Melendy, Michelle Moran, and Jon Vellante, opens at Lyric Stage Boston.
Passion, directed by James Esposito, featuring David Callander, Renee Cohen, Mary Delan, Lisa Dyson, Nora Elkind, Gavin Michael Harris, Paul Luoma,Tyler Marshall, Lia Peros, Richard Rosales, Lyla Ross, John Sala, Chris Spangler, Jack Stuhley, and Elias Wygodny, opens at LA’s Zephyr Theatre.
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, directed by Hunter Foster, featuring Omar Lopez-Cepero (Bob Wallace),Bruce Sabath (BGeneral Henry Waverly), Jonalyn Saxer (Judy Haynes), Lauren Nicole Chapman (Betty Haynes), Aurelia Williams (Martha Watson), and Sofie Nesanelis (Susan Waverly), with Sydney Chow, Jeff Gallup, Jasmine Ashanti Gillenwaters, Laura Guley, Jay Aubrey Jones, Linda Neel, Keyon Pickett, Daniel Reardon, Colleen Roberts, and Travis Ward-Osborne, begins previews at CT’s Goodspeed.
Saturday, Nov. 15
The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by by Melissa Rain Anderson, featuring Kristen Hahn (Cecily Cardew), Anthony Michael Martinez (Algernon Moncrieff), Jan Neuberger (Miss Prism), Michael Raver (Jack Worthing), Triney Sandoval (Rev. Canan Chasuble), Mark Silence (Merriman /Lane ), and Katy Tang (Gwendolyn Fairfax), closes at CT’s Westport Country Playhouse.
Arrest the Clowns — Insolent Until Proven Guilty, by Megan Stogner, directed by Chas Harvey, featuring Chas Harvey, Megan Stogner, Willa Fossum, Cihan Sahin, and Zoe Molina, closes at LA’s Actors Gang.
Sunday, Nov. 16
Doctor Glas, by Hjalmar Soderber, directed by & featuring Daniel Gerroll, opens at LA’s Pacific Resident Theatre.
Barbara Minkus: About Life concert, at 7 PM at Venice, CA’s Pacific Resident Theatre.
What Doesn’t Kill You Hurts You Longer reading, by Steve Apostolina, directed by Michael Donovan, featuring Joe Abraham, Kay Cole, Cheryl Daro, Barry Pearl, Hadiyyah Noelle Smith, Whitney Kathleen Vigil, and Kate Woerner, at 3 PM at Burbank’s Colony Theatre.
Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet, by Pete Townsend, featuring Ansel Elgort ( Father) and Paris Fitzpatrick (Jimmy), with Curtis Angus, Dan Baines, Jonathon Luke Baker, Harrison Coll, Jōvan Dansberry, Anya Ferdinand, Amaris Gillies, Seirian Griffiths, Gabriel Hyman, Dylan Jones, Serena McCall, Joshua Nkemdilim, Alice O’Brien, Zach Parkin, Yasset Roldan, Pam Pam Sapchartanan, Kate Tydman, Jack Widdowson, and Taela Yeomans-Brown, closes at NY City Center.
Caroline, by Preston Max Allen, directed by David Cromer, featuring Veanne Cox, Jeffrey Carlson, Clea Lewis and Florencia Lozan, closes at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theatre.
Beside Myself, by Paul Slade Smith, directed by David Ellenstein, featuring Tom Daugherty (Colin), Erin Noel Grennan (Gemma), Matthew Henerson ((Karl) , Jacquelyn Ritz (Dr. Alanna ). J. Smith (Sylvie,) et al, and Christopher M. Williams (Jerry), closes at CA’s Laguna Playhouse.
The Chirstine Jorgensen Show, by Donald Steven Olson’s & Mark Nadler, directed by Michael Barakiva, featuring Augustine Lorrie (Christine) and Scott Ahearn (Myles Bell, closes at Cleveland Playhouse.
Rogue Machine Theatre‘s anthropology, by Lauren Gunderson, directed by John Perrin Flynn, featuring Alexandra Hellquist (Merril), Kaylee Kaneshiro (Angie), Julia Manis (Raquel) , and Nan McNamara (Brin), closes at LA’s Matrix Theatre.
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Virginia Stage Company will present 2 holiday events both by Mark Shanahan, running in rep Dec. 4-28:
Merry Little Christmas Carol, directed by Maryanne Kiley, featuring Adalee Alt, Beatty Barnes, Elena Camp, Ellie Ruffing, Emma Plotner, Greg Dragas, Indya Jackson, Odette Pham, Patrick Halley.
A Sherlock Carol by Mark Shanahan (Dec. 4-28), directed by Steve Pacek, featuring Scott Wichmann, Beatty Barnes, Greg Dragas, Elena Camp, Patrick Halley, and Indya Jackson.
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Angelica Chéri’s Phenomenal Woman, Maya Angelou will premiere in 2028 at a theatre TBA, directed by Debbie Allen.
TBA.
The piece examines the iconic figure, as authorized by the estate of the beloved poet, author, teacher, and civil-rights leader.
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Steve Ross – “Sondheim and Before” will take place Mon. Nov. 17 at NYC’s Birdland.
Laura Lavelle and Benjaman Weil.
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A screening of “Song Sing Blue” will be followed by a conversation on Sun. Dec. 14 at NYC’s 92NY, moderated by Annette Insdorf.
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.
the film is based on the true story of two down-on-their-luck musicians (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) who form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it’s never too late to find love and follow your dreams. The film is written & directed by Craig Brewer.
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Interact Theatre Company will present a staged reading of Jeff Kaufman’s Life, Death, and Other Opportunities on Sun. Dec. 7 at 2 PM at LA’s Odyssey Theatre, directed by Andy Wolk.
John Glover, John Ross Bowie, Amy Pietz, Rob Nagle, Erin Pineda, Nicole Javier, and Logan Leonardo Arditty.
A sharply funny and deeply humane family drama exploring the bonds that hold us together when life pushes us to the edge. With humor, heart, and unexpected turns, Kaufman’s newest work examines love, aging, identity, connection, and what it truly means to show up for one another—especially when it’s hardest.
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Melissa Errico: The Diary of Mrs. Santa will take place Tues. Dec. 16 at 8:30 PM at LA’s Catalina Bar & Grill, with music direction by Billy Stritch.
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L.R. Gordon’s Cranes will run Nov. 20 – Dec. 7 at CA’s Pacific Resident Theatre, directed by Ann Bronston.
Martha Hackett and Taubert Nadalini.
Jason, a young science teacher, is hired to help Barbara, an agoraphobe, with her irrational fears of the physical dangers of the world. But Jason is dealing with his own deep distress—his wife’s infertility is linked to their genetic incompatibility. This unlikely pair wades into the emotional waters of love, death, and parenthood, coming to terms with the cost of fear—and the inherent gamble that is life.
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Seth Rudetsky and his Broadway Friends will take place Tues. Nov. 25 at 7 PM at Carnegie Hall.
Kerry Butler, Santino Fontana, Erika Henningsen, Nikki James, Norm Lewis, Taylor Louderman, Andrea Martin, Jessie Mueller, Javier Muñoz, and Zachary Noah Piser.
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A staged Reading of ‘s All About Eve will take place Mon. Nov. 17 a 7 PM at NYC’s West Park Presbyterian Church (165 West 86th St.), directed by Scott Wittman.
Scarlett Johansson, J. Smith-Cameron, Alec Baldwin, Charles Everett, Nicole Ari Parker, Michael Mastro, Charles Busch, Ella Stiller, John Benjamin Hickey, and more TBA.
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Barney Norris & Sting’s revised The Last Ship will run June 9-14, 2026 at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera, directed by Leo Warner.
Sting, and more TBA.
Rooted in his own childhood in the British shipbuilding town of Wallsend, The Last Ship tells the story of a community of shipbuilders in the northeast of England, faced with the closure of their shipyard—the heart of their existence. Jackie White is the shipyard’s foreman, whose health is failing just as his leadership is needed most. In this personal show, the artist immerses the audience in a hometown he was desperate to escape, a world where love, loss, and hope intertwine.
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David Auburn’s Proof will begin previews Mar. 21, 2026 and open Apr. 16 at the Booth Theatre, directed by Thomas Kail.
Ayo Edebiri (Catherine) Samira Wiley (Claire), Don Cheadle (Robert), and Jin Ha (Hal).
On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness—or genius—will she inherit?