This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, November 19
Chicken and Biscuits, by Douglas Lyons, directed by Zhailon Levingston, featuring Norm Lewis (Reginald Mabry), Michael Urie (Logan Leibowitz), Cleo King (Baneatta Mabry), NaTasha Yvette Williams (Brianna Jenkins), Devere Rogers (Kenny Mabry), Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Beverly Jenkins), Aigner Mizzelle (La’trice Franklin), and Alana Raquel Bowers (Simone Babry), with Dean Acree, Jennifer Fouché, Michael Genet, Miles G Jackson, and Camille Upshaw, resumes performances (after a COVID outbreak) at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre.
The Martha Graham Dance Company’s Appalachian Spring dance concert featuring Lloyd Knight, Xin Ying, Natasha N. Diamond-Walker, Lloyd Mayor, Anne O’Donnell, Lorenzo Pagano, Anne Souder, So Young An, Alessio Crognale, Laurel Dalley Smith, Jacob Larsen, Marzia Memoli, Richard Villaverde, Leslie Andrea Williams, Devin Loh, and Kate Reyes, at 8 PM PT at Northridge’s The Soraya.
“tick…tick…BOOM!,” directed by Lin Manuel Miranda, starring Andrew Garfield (Jon), Alexandra Shipp (Susan), Vanessa Hudgens (Karessa Johnson), Robin de Jesús (Michael), Jordan Fisher (Simon), Bradley Whitford (Stephen Sondheim), Joshua Henry (Roger), Judith Light (Rosa Stevens), MJ Rodriguez (Carolyn), Beth Malone (herself), Richard Kind (Walter Bloom), Noah Robins (Simon), Wilson Jermaine (Simon), Laura Benanti (Judy), Adam Pascal (roger), Joel Grey (Allen Larsen), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Todd), Phillipa Soo (Diner Patron), Chris Sullivan (Building Doorman), Joanna P. Adler (Molly), Kate Rockwell (Lauren), and Micaela Diamond (Peggy), released on Netflix.
Sierra Boggess and Julian Ovenden‘s new album, “Together… At A Distance” released on iTunes and all digital platforms. Click here to watch the duet perform select songs.
“Freedom Riders,” world premiere cast recording, by Richard Allen & Taran Gray, featuring Brynn Williams, Anthony Chatmon II, Deon’te Goodman, and Payson Lewis, released on iTunes and other platforms.
Saturday, November 20
Cinderella, by Rossini, conducted by Roberto Pavilion, featuring Serna Malfi (Angelina/Cinderella), Levy Sekgapane (Don Ramiro), Rodion Pogossov (Dandini), Alessandro Corbelli (Don Magnifico), Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Alidoro), Erica Petrochelli (Clorinda), and Gabriela Flores (Tisbe), opens in person & streaming at LA Opera.
A Christmas Carol, directed by Jessica Thebus, featuring Larry Yando (Ebenezer Scrooge), Gayatri Gadhvi (Tiny Tim), Allen Gilmore (Ebenezer Scrooge alternate), Rika Nishikawa (Belinda Cratchit), Milla Liss (Emily Cratchit alternate), Grier Burke (Turkey Child/Want), Kareem Bandealy (Ghost of Jacob Marley/Young Marley), Dee Dee Batteast (Frida), Terri Bell (Undertaker’s Assistant), Grier (Cratchit Child), Ariana Burks (Martha Cratchit), Thomas J. Cox (Bob Cratchit), Amira Danan (Belle/Philomena), William Dick (ortle/Old Joe), Cindy Gold (Mrs. Maud Fezziwig/Mrs. Dilber), Gregory Hirte (Dick Wilkins), Susan Jamshidi (Mrs. Cratchit), Paris Stricklan & Milla Liss (alternating as Emily Cratchit), Andy Nagraj (Abe), Rika Nishikawa & Rika Nishikawa (alternating as Belinda Cratchit), Christopher Sheard (Young Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Future), Lucky Stiff (Ghost of Christmas Past), Bethany Thomas (Ghost of Christmas Present), Penelope Walker (Mrs. Alice Fezziwig), and more, opens at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
Little Christmas Miracles, by Ryan Paul James, Pat Denson, David DeVaul, Nathan Demarco Jacobson & Jamie Floyd, directed by Denson, featuring Glauco Araujo, Jackson Ark, Sara Gerding, Tisa Harriott, Skyler Marie, Rachel McAlpine, Sam Neagle, Trinity Posey, Courtney Reece, Jordan Richards, and David Rodriguez, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Actors Temple Theatre.
Lisa Howard‘s new album, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” released on iTunes and all digital platforms.
Gingold Theatrical Group‘s Mrs. Warren’s Profession, directed by David Staller, featuring Karen Ziemba (Mrs. Warren), Robert Cuccioli, David Lee Huynh, Alvin Keith, Nicole King ,and Raphael Nash Thompson, with Katya Collazo and Max Roll, closes at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
Fiasco Theater‘s Imogen Says Nothing, by Aditi Brennan Kapil, directed by Jessie Austrian, featuring Natalie Woolams-Torres, Devin Haqq, Noah Brody, Emily Young, Paul L. Coffey, Zack Fine, Gabriel Neumann, and Ben Steinfeld, closes at Off-Broadway’s Connelly Theater.
Speakeasy Stage‘s BLKS, by Aziza Barnes, directed by Tonasia Jone, featuring Thomika Marie Bridwell, Kesley Ferdinand, Meghan Hornblower, Sandra Seoane-Seri, Shanelle Chloe Villegas, and Sharmarke, closes at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion.
Sunday, November 21
Red Bull Theater‘s The Alchemist, newly adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by Jesse Berger, featuring Nathan Christopher, Stephen DeRosa, Carson Elrod, Manoel Feliciano, Teresa Avia Lim, Jacob Min-Trent, Louis Mustillo, Reg Rogers, Jennifer Sánchez, and Allen Tedder, opens at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages.
to the yellow house, world premiere by Kimber Lee, directed by Neel Keller, featuring Alton Alburo, Frankie J. Alvarez, Marco Barricelli, DeLeon Dallas, Deidrie Henry, Brooke Ishibashi, and Paco Tolson, with Grayson Heyl, Noah Israel, Noah Keeling Jada Alston Owens, Natalia Quintero-Riestra, and Jordan C. Smith, opens at La Jolla Playhouse.
Twilight: Los Angeles, by Anna Deavere Smith, directed by Taibi Magar, featuring Elena Hurst, Wesley T. Jones, Francis Jue, Karl Kenzler and Tiffany Rachelle Stewart, closes at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre.
Sanctuary City, by Martyna Majok, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, featuring Jasai Chase-Owens (B), Sharlene Cruz (G), and Austin Smith (Henry), concludes streaming at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
Fairycakes world premiere, written & directed by Douglas Carter Beane, featuring Mo Rocca (Geppetto), Kristolyn Lloyd (Peaseblossom), Sabatino Cruz (Pinocchio), Jackie Hoffman (Moth), Kuhoo Verma (Cinderella), Julie Halston (Titania/Elizabeth), Ann Harada (Musterseed), Arnie Burton (Oberon/Dirk), Jason Tam (Prine/Cupid), Z Infante (Cobweb), Jamen Nanthakumar (Changeling), and Chris Myers (Puck), closes at Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theater.
A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, world premiere by Alex Wyse & Ben Fankhauser, directed by Marshall Pailet, featuring Alex Wyse, Ben Fankhauser, and Bryonha Marie Parham, closes at Off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre.
Autumn Royal, by Kevin Barry, directed by Ciarán O’Reilly, featuring Maeve Higgins and John Keating, closes at Off-Broadway’s Irish Rep.
A Turtle on a Fence Post, by Hank Morris, Austin Nuckols & Lily Dwoskin, directed by Gabriel Barrie, featuring Garth Kravits, David Aron Damane, Erik Gratton, Joanna Glushak, Kate Loprest, Josh Marin, Richard E. Waits, Janet Aldrich, Joel Newsome, and Robbie Serrano, closes at Off-Broadway’s Theatre 555.
Celia and Fidel, by Eduardo Machado, directed by Molly Smith, featuring Marian Licha (Celia Sánchez), Andhy Mendez (Fidel Castro), Liam Torres (Manolo Ruiz), and Heather Velaquez (Consuelo), closes at DC’s Arena Stage.
A Little Night Music, directed by Brandon Jackson, featuring William Giammona (Count Carl-Magnus), Alison Ewing (Desiree), Shai Wolf (Henrik), Chloe Fong (Fredrika), Katrina Lauren McGraw (Charlotte), Cindy Goldfield (Madame Armfeldt), Trixie Aballa (Petra), Martin Bell (Frederik), Samantha Rose Cárdenas (Anne), Acqueline De Muro (Mrs. Segerstrom), Joshua Gonzales (Mr. Lindquist), Jennifer Mitchell (Mrs. Nordstrom), Jack O’Reilly (Frid), Stephanie Rhoads (Mrs. Anderssen), and Mark Robinson (Mr. Erlanson), closes at San Francisco’s 42nd Street Moon.
Mamma Mia, directed by T.J. Dawson, featuring Marie-France Arcilla (Donna Sheridan), Eric Kunze (Sam Carmichael), Gabriela Carrillo (Sophie Sheridan), Taubert Nadalini (Sky), Danny Bernardo (Harry Bright), Michael Cavinder (Bill Austin), Emily King Brown (Tanya), Candi Milo (Rosie), Joi D. McCoy (Ali), Momoko Sugai (Lisa), Rodrigo Varandas (Pepper), Dillon Klena (Eddie), and Dylan Pass (Father Alexandrios), with Chris Bona, Gillian Bozajian, Markesha Chatfield, Juan Guillen, Brandon Halvorsen, Michael James, Ashley En-Fu-Matthews, Jonathan McGill, Isabella Olivas, Christina Papandrea, Kelly Powers-Figueroa, Hannah Jean Simmons, Scott Spraags, Fana Tesfagiorgis, and Adam Turney, closes at CA’s La Mirada Theatre.
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Roundabout’s Trouble in Mind at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): … for sheer crackling timeliness, the play most of the moment is in fact the oldest: Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind … it is only now getting the mainstream attention it deserves, in a Roundabout Theater Company production that does justice to its complexity… And justice, both broadly and narrowly, is the point…. LaChanze…a wonderfully rangy and compelling performance… we understand that Trouble in Mind, its title taken from a classic blues song about suicide, is, for all its backstage comedy, a tragedy of waste — not, like lynching, the waste of what happens so much as the waste of what doesn’t.
Broadway News (Charles Isherwood): Better late than never. Or rather: much, much better late than never… The central character is Wiletta Mayer, an experienced actress (as was Childress), played by the marvelous LaChanze… Millie Davis (a vibrantly funny Jessica Frances Dukes, making a smashing Broadway debut)… Enjoyable as it is… Randolph-Wright’s production has some shaky aspects… But in any case the play’s most powerful, and memorable, moments belong to [Chuck] Cooper and LaChanze… Cooper’s Sheldon virtually stops the show cold… And yet it is primarily the captivating LaChanze who carries the show by creating in Wiletta a fully realized, deeply felt portrait of a woman of warm if wry humor, inquisitive intelligence and, in the end, hard-won righteousness.
Variety (Ayanna Prescod): …It seems unbelievable this play from the 1950s fits so neatly into the 2021 Broadway puzzle…. What the Great White Way is only fully recognizing now, Childress long ago detailed in a play that, despite its trenchant observations, takes too long to get to the point… What helps smooth this show’s slow race to the crux is the stellar acting from a cast led by Tony winner LaChanze, under the marvelous direction of Charles Randolph-Wright… A performer best known for her work in musicals, LaChanze is this production’s heartbeat… she delicately embodies a middle-aged woman who deeply loves an art form that ignores her… Quick-witted Millie Davis (a hysterical Jessica Frances Dukes) serves as the show’s comedic relief and offers jokes with a side of veracity…
NY Daily News (Chris Jones): …a fascinating Alice Childress play from 1955 set backstage on Broadway… I just wish this remarkable piece of writing had been given a more truthful production… Roundabout’s overly mannered and diffused revival from the director Charles Randolph-Wright makes the mistake of heightening everything and, it sometimes feels, encouraging broad performances… The show feels conceived as a star vehicle for LaChanze, an enigmatic performer in every way, but this is an ensemble piece. And I suspect LaChanze, powerful as her performance can be, would have preferred it stayed that way… Simply put, the show just needed to reveal the everyday…
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Paradise Square pre-Broadway production at Chicago’s Nederlander Theatre:
Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones): …a substantial, new Civil War-era musical… an honorable, serious, talent-stacked show wrestling with issues of race and American history… The show has a star turn from Joaquina Kalukango that will be formidable competition for anyone and everyone come Tony Awards time… excitingly choreographed by Bill T. Jones and with an exceptionally promising score from the gifted, youthful Jason Howland, shines through in this Chicago tryout… But the show has yet to fully find its emotional or its dramatic through-line… an overcomplicated hierarchy of characters, a confused relationship with the music and character of Stephen Foster, lost visual bearings and a consequent dissipation of the requisite dramatic tension.
Variety (Steven Oxman): …a serious and awfully big effort, emerging at a sensitive moment for a theater world that sure could use an explosive new hit, with an abundance of artistic craft onstage deserving of effusive praise and two soaring moments of transporting entertainment. Yet it must, as a whole, currently be considered unsettled at best… despite all the skill that polishes away plenty of over-complication, the show feels a bit like it’s negotiating with itself. It’s hard to figure out exactly what core audience would be its champion… But the path from Paradise Square being “in my bones” to “let it burn” — if it’s there, it’s so subtle as to be invisible. And that makes the joy of the high notes merely a fleeting moment, followed by a more lasting sense of puzzlement.
Chicago Sun Times (Catey Sullivan): …shaped by visually lush, emotionally intricate storytelling largely created through Bill T. Jones’ vivid choreography and Jason Howland’s gripping score… Paradise Square has a lot of plot to cover before the riots… Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare’s lyrics capture sweeping issues and personal dilemmas alike… shows precisely how it becomes weaponization via a grooming process thick with misinformation… The score includes scorching anthems…and reclaimed Stephen Foster minstrels… the score doesn’t have a weak number. In all, it’s a rich, relevant world inside an outlier bar in the eye of a maelstrom, star turns by Kalukango and DuPont at its center.
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“The Gilded Age” will premiere Jan. 24 on HBO.
Christine Baranski, and Cynthia Nixon, with recurring stars Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Kelli O’Hara, Donna Murphy, Debra Monk, Michael Cerveris, Katie Finneran, Bill Irwin, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Kristine Nielsen, Patrick Page, Douglas Sills, John Douglas Thompson, Carrie Coon, and Denée Benton.
In a new world, a new age is about to begin. The Gilded Age begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?
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We’re Old-Fashioned, celebrating the songs of Jerome Kern, starring Steve Ross & Shana Farr, will take place Mon. Nov. 22 at 2 PM ET at NYC”s National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South). No reservations or registration required.
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“Everything is Choreography: The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune” is now available in Hardcover here.
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Video: Lin-Mauel Miranda talks about “Tick, Tick…Boom!” with Jimmy Fallon.
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Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West has announced its 22 season:
Casting, creative teams, and additional information TBA.
The Andrews Brothers (Feb. 11-27). When the Andrews Sisters fail to appear shortly before curtain, three stagehands are determined to go on with the show.
On This Side of the World (Mar. 25 – Apr. 10), world premiere. The new musical gives voice to Filipino immigrants navigating old lives and new beginnings, as a one-way ticket sends them on a journey 8,000 miles from home.
Grease (July 8-24).
Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Oct. 14-30).
Cinderella (Dec. 2-18)
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Video: Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” One Voice featurette.
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The film of Off-Broadway’s “Love Linda: the Life of Mrs. Cole Porter,” starring Stevie Holland and directed by Richard Maltby Jr., is now available on both BroadwayHD and Amazon.
The story of Linda Lee Thomas, the Southern beauty who was the driving force behind Cole Porter. Though Porter was gay, their companionship and love lasted through 35 years of marriage, and together they lived a spectacular, glamour-filled life.
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NYC’s Park Avenue Armory has announced its 2022 season:
Upload (Mar. 22-30), a new opera by Michel van der Aa. A daughter uploads the thoughts and memories of her father in order to have a “virtual resurrection” following his death.
Hamlet and Oresteia in rep (May 31 – Aug. 13), offering modern interpretations, directed by Robert Icke.
Rothko Chapel (Sept. 27 – Oct. 8), a new musical by Tyshawn Sorey, directed by Peter Sellers.
Euphoria (Nov. 30 – Jan. 1, 2023), by Julian Rosefeldt. A new multi-channel film and musical installation exploring the concerts of capital. money, greed, and “the destructive potential of unlimited economic growth.
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Video: American Dance Machine for the 21st Century called on original Broadway cast members of The Will Rogers Follies to join them in their latest video, the famous seated kick-line number “Our Favorite Son.” Cady Huffman, who played Ziegfield’s Favorite in the original company, takes the center chair as Will Rogers in the AMD21 video.
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Complete casting has been announced for NBC’s “Annie Live,” to air Thurs. Dec. 2 at 8 PM, directed by Lear deBessonet & Alex Rudzinski, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo.
Celina Smith (Annie), Taraji P. Henson (Miss Hannigan), Harry Connick Jr. (Daddy Warbucks_, Nicole Scherzinger (Grace), Titus Burgess (Rooster), Megan Hilty (Lily St. Regis), Andrea McArdle (Eleanor Roosevelt), Alan Toy (President Roosevelt), Felice Kakaletris (Molly), Cate Elefante (Kate), Sophie Knapp (July), Tessa Frascogna (Tessie), Arwen Monzon-Sanders (Duffy), and Audrey Cymone (Pepper), with Wendi Bergamini, Jadaya Bivins, Brittany Conigatti, Ben Davis, Zachary Downer, Karla Garcia, Kayla Goins, Luke Hawkins, Christopher Hernandez, Afra Hines, Trinity Inay, Jeff Kready, McKenzie Kurtz, Jenny Laroche, Brandt Martinez, Morgan Marcell, Liz McCartney, Anastasia McCleskey, Giana Rice, Eliseo Roman, Lily Tamburo, Sherrod Tate, Kennedy Thompson, Tanairi Vazquez, Jacob Keith Watson, Alex Wong, and Corde Young.