This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, November 4
2:22 – A Ghost Story, by Danny Robin, directed by Matthew Dunster, featuring Constance Wu (Jenny), Anna Camp (Lauren), Adam Rothenberg (Ben), and Finn Wittrock (Sam), opens at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Titanic The Musical In Concert, directed by Stephen Gray, featuring Anthony Warlow (Captain EJ Smith), Juan Jackson (Thomas Andrew), and Kane Alexander (J. Bruce Ismay), with Johanna Allen, Shannon Cheong, Martin Croft, Marissa Economo, Amy Fortnum, Natalie Gamsu, Madison Green, Jonathan Hickey, Martin Lane, James MacAlpine, Ava Madon, Alessandra Merlo, John O’Hara, Lisa-Marie Parker, Shanul Sharma, Samuel Skuthorp, Glaston Toft, Daisy Valerio, Samuel Ward, and Callum Warrender, opens at Melbourne’s Town Hall.
The Tattooed Lady, world premiere by Eric Courtney & Max Vernon, directed by Ellie Heyman, featuring Jackie Hoffman (Ida Gibson), Kim Blanck, James Dybas, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Anastacia McCleskey, Jessie Shelton, Katie Thompson, Grace Slear, Sophia Ramos, and Maya Lagerstam, opens at Philadelphia Theatre Company.
North Carolina Theatre‘s Steel Magnolias, directed by Lauren Kennedy, featuring Felicia Finley (Truvy), Alison Fraser (Clairee) Angela Pierce (M’Lynn), Meadow Nguy Shelby), Kathleen Garrett (Ouiser), and Carl Crissom (Annelle), with Bonnie Webster, Ali Evarts, and Susannah Hough, opens at Raleigh’s Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
Plays for the Plague Year, world premiere by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith, featuring Suzan-Lori Parks (The Writer), Greg Keller (Actor 1), Leland Fowler (Actor 2), Kenita Miller (Actor 3), Pearl Sun (Actor 4), Orville Mendoza (Actor 5), Lauren Molina (Actor 6), and Martín Solá (Actor 7), with Edward Astor Chin, Danyel Fulton, and Will Stone, begins previews at Off Broadway’s Joe’s Pub.
“Barbara Streisand – Live at The Bon Soir” released digitally & on CD.
The Violet Hour studio cast recording, by Will Reynolds & Eric Price, featuring Santino Fontana (John), Jeremy Jordan (Denny), Brandon Uranowitz (Gidger), Erika Henningsen (Rosamund), and Solea Pfeiffer (Jessie), released on all digital platforms.
Saturday, November 5
The Seagull, live screening from London, directed Jamie Lloyd, featuring Emilia Clarke, Rhys Harries, Daniel Monks, Sophie Wu, and Indira Varma, at 3 PM at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre.
Blues for an Alabama Sky, by Pearl Cleage, directed by Lynette Linton, featuring Samira Wiley (Angel Allen), Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo (Delia Patterson), Osy Ikhile (Leland Cunningham), Sule Rimi (Sam Thomas), and Giles Terera (Guy Jacobs) with Lincoln Conway, Eddie Elliott, Kimberley Okoye, and Helena Pipe, closes at London’s National Theatre.
The Crucible, directed by Lyndsey Turner, featuring Brendan Cowell (John Proctor) Erin Doherty (Abigail Williams), Eileen Walsh (Elizabeth Proctor), Fisayo Akinade (Reverend Hale), Karl Johnson ( Giles Corey), and Matthew Marsh (Danforth), with David Ahmad, Nathan Amzi, Zoë Aldrich, Stephanie Beattie, Raphael Bushay, Sophia Brown, Halle Brown, Anushka Chakravarti, Grace Cooper Milton, Rachelle Diedericks, Hero Douglas, Henry Everett, Nick Fletcher, Jersey Blu Georgia, Colin Haigh, Una Herrmann, Martin Johnston, Evie Marner, Gracie McGonigal, Alastair Parker, Joy Tan, Ami Tredrea, Tilly Tremayne, and Cadence Williams, closes at London’s Olivier Theatre.
The Gold Room, world premiere by Jacob Perkins, directed by Gus Heagerty, featuring Scott Parkinson and Robert Stanton, closes at Off-Broadway’s HERE.
Tony Danza: Standards & Stories concert, closes at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
Farragut North, by Beau Willimon, directed by Peter Allas, featuring Chris Wong, Jack Esformes, Camryn Mann, Amy Motta, K.J. Powell, David Reyes, and Michael Rubenstone, closes at North Hollywood’s Theatre 68.
Sunday, November 6
Roundabout Theatre Company‘s You Will Get Sick, world premiere by Noah Diaz, directed by Sam Pinkleton, featuring Marinda Anderson, Daniel K. Isaac, Linda Lavin, Nate Miller, and Dario Ladani Sanchez, opens at Off-Broadway’s Laura Pels Theatre.
A delicate Balance, by Edward Albee, directed by Jack Cummings III, featuring Tina Chilip, Carmen M. Herlihy, Paul Juhn, Mia Katigbak, Manu Narayan, and Rita Wolf, opens at Off-Broadway’s Transport Group.
Good Enemy, world premiere by Yilong Liu, directed by Chay Yew, featuring Francis Jue, Ron Domingo, Tim Liu, Geena Quintos, Alec Silver, Ryan Spahn, and Jeena Yi, opens at Off-Broadway’s Minetta Lane Theatre.
Parade, gala presentation, directed by Michael Arden, featuring Micaela Diamond (Lucille Frank), Ben Platt (Leo Frank), Courtnee Carter (Angela), Eddie Cooper (Newt Lee), John Dossett (Old Soldier/Judge Roan), Erin Rose Doyle (Mary Phagan), Manoel Feliciano (Tom Watson), Brody Grant (Young Soldier), Alex Joseph Grayson (Jim Conley), Danielle Lee Greaves (Minnie McKnight), Christopher Gurr (Mr. Peavy), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Britt Craig), Sean Allan Krill (Governor Slaton), Douglas Lyons (Riley), Erin Mackey (Mrs. Phagan), Ashlyn Maddox (Factory Girl), Sophia Manicone (Iola Stover), Gaten Matarazzo (Frankie Epps), Howard McGillin (Luther Rosser), Grace McLean (Sally Slaton), Ashlyn Maddox (Factory Girl), Sophia Manicone (Iola Stover), Paul Alexander Nolan (Hugh Dorsey), and Sofie Poliakoff (Factory Girl), with Jackson Teeley, Florrie Bagel, Stacie Bono, Max Chernin, and William Michaels, closes at New York City Center.
Titanic in concert, directed by Stephen Gray, featuring Anthony Warlow (Captain EJ Smith), Juan Jackson (Thomas Andrew), and Kane Alexander (J. Bruce Ismay), with Johanna Allen, Shannon Cheong, Martin Croft, Marissa Economo, Amy Fortnum, Natalie Gamsu, Madison Green, Jonathan Hickey, Martin Lane, James MacAlpine, Ava Madon, Alessandra Merlo, John O’Hara, Lisa-Marie Parker, Shanul Sharma, Samuel Skuthorp, Glaston Toft, Daisy Valerio, Samuel Ward, and Callum Warrender, concludes at Melbourne’s Town Hall.
Primary Stage‘s Peerless, by Jiehae Park, directed by Margo Bordelon, featuring Marié Both (Dirty Girl/Preppy Girl), Anthony Cason (BF), Sasha Diamond (M), Benny Wayne Sully (D/Brother), and Shannon Tyo (L), closes at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theatres.
Holiday, by Philip Barry, directed by Anita Maynard-Losh, featuring John Austin, Rachel Felstein, Todd Scofield, Jamie Smithson, Regina Aquino, Claire Blackwelder, Peter Boyer, Baize Buzan, Bowen Fox, Olivier Hebert, Ahmad Kamal, Emily King Brown, Andrés F. Roa, and Sean Wiberg, closes at DC’s Arena Stage.
Sally & Tom, world premiere by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, featuring Kristen Ariza (Lucy/Sally), Amari Cheatom (Kwame/James), Mee Chomet (Scout/Polly), Gillian Glasco (Maggie/Mary), Kadeem Ali Harris (Devon/Nathan), Kate Nowlin (Ginger/Patsy), Daniel Petzold (Geoff/Cooper/Cary/Tobias), and Luke Robertson (Mike/Tom), closes at Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theatre.
42nd Street, directed & choreographed by Randy Skinner, featuring Max von Essen (Julian Marsh), Kate Baldwin (Dorothy Brock), Blake Stadnik (Billy Lawlor), Carina-Kay Louchiey (Peggy Sawyer), David Jennings (Abner Dillon), Patrick Oliver Jones (Pat Denning), E. Clayton Cornelious (Bert Barry), Lisa Howard (Maggie Jones), Eloise Kropp (Annie Reilly), and Lamont Brown (Andy Lee), with Willie Clyde Beaton II, Sarah Dearstyne, Berklea Going, Candice Hatakeyama, Danielle Jackman, Edward Juvier, Taylor Lane, Brian Shimasaki Liebson, Brady Miller, Christian Probst, Christopher Shin, Kirsty Fuller and Derek Luscutoff, closes at CT’s Goodspeed Musicals.
On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan, by Alexander Dinelaris, directed by directed & choreographed by Alex Sanchez, featuring Linedy Genao (Gloria), Brandon Espinoza (Emilio), Francisca Muñoz (Gloria Fajardo), Yajaira Paredes (Consuelo), Olivia Andrade-Marin & Natalia Artigas (sharing the role of Little Gloria), and Carlos Carreras (Nayib/Young Emilio/Jeremy), with Jonathan Arana, Mike Baerga, Brigitte Beach, Arthur Joseph Cuadros, Nicholas Cunha, Rubén Flores, Gabriela García, Diego Guevara, Rachel Josefina, Kyle Laing, Ángel Lozada, Risa Nicole, Vincent Ortega, Alexa Racioppi, Janina Rosa, Stefanie Renee Salyers, Vanessa Sierra, Luis Villabon, and Sarah Waite, closes at NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse.
The Secret of My Success, by Gordon Greenberg, Steve Rosen, Michael Mahler & Alan Schmuckler, directed & choreographed by Dan Knechtges, featuring Ben Fankhauser (Brantly Foster), Ashley Blanchett (Christy Lockhart), Sally Wilfert (Vera Prescott), Brian Mathis (Piers Johnson), Susan Koozin (Joann Foster), Melrose Johnson (Rose), Gemini Quintos (Lester Mann), Regina Hearne, Sylvia Popkin, and Ernie Lockhart (A.J. Dada), with Anthony Boggess-Glover, Austin Colburn, Jack Gereski, Miles Marmolejo, Trey Harrington, T.J. Newton, Chelsea Ryan McCurdy, Sarah Sachi, Briana Steptoe, Yasmyn Sumiyoshi, Holland Vavra, and Teresa Zimmermann. Lydia Berckley, Mariah Cooper, Izzy Harris, Lauren Schweers, Kyler Huyse, and Rizal Patagoc, closes at Houston’s TUTS.
Wine in the Wilderness, by Alice Childress, directed by Brandon J. Dirden, featuring Crystal Dickinson, Brittany Bellizare, Ricardy Fabre, Korey Jackson, and Keith Randolph Smith, closes at NJ’s Two River Theatre.
Lend Me a Tenor, by Ken Ludwig, directed by Todd Nielsen, featuring Michael Scott Harris (Tito Merelli), Jade Santana (Maria), Barry Pearl (Henry Saunders), Nick Tubbs (Max), Bella Hicks Maggie), Holly Jeanne (Julia), Kailyn Leilani (Diana), and Matt Curtin (Bellhop), closes at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
Cindy & The Disco Ball: The Musical, by Joseph Leo Bwarie, Lori Marshall & Rachael Lawrence, directed by Bwarie & Christine Lakin, featuring Christopher Baker, Jasiana, Caraballo, Malynda Hale, Hayden Kharrazi, and Abigail Kate Thomas, closes at Burbank’s Garry Marshall Theatre.
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Reviews for Almost Famous at Broadway’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green):At its best, rock ’n’ roll is “a form that is gloriously and righteously dumb” — or so decrees Lester Bangs, a character in the new musical Almost Famous. Alas, the show, which opened on Broadway on Thursday, gets the wrong part of that formula right. Though celebrating the rock world of 1973, when the real Lester Bangs was the field’s most influential critic, Almost Famous is neither glorious nor righteous. It barely even has a form… the stage musical misses every opportunity to be the sharp, smart entertainment it might have been… it lands instead in a mystifying muddle, occasionally diverting but never affecting…
NY Daily News (Chris Jones (Chris Jones): …in the first moments of the new Broadway musical based on the iconic 2000 movie, there’s our 15-year-old hero William Miller, emotionally over-actualized by Casey Likes, singing his face right off like he’s in Dear Evan Hansen… But it’s indicative, really, of one of the two intractable problems faced by Almost Famous… The art, he says, is a constant epic battle between phony pretension and honest truth… But in a Broadway musical with a traditional structure like this one, no such gradual awakening is really possible… As a film made back in 2000, “Almost Famous” was as inherently non-judgmental of behavior as it was discerning of true art… That’s all fraught now and the musical really had no alternative but to smooth out as many of those rough edges as possible…
Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney): …The movie is a tender coming-of-age drama… Did it need to become a stage musical? Debatable. But one thing the effusive show gets right, like the movie that spawned it, is the infectious energy of rock ‘n’ roll at a transitional moment — 1973 — when the raw, rebellious spirit of great rock was making way for the slicker, more commercialized sound of mass-consumption superstardom… one thing the effusive show gets right, like the movie that spawned it, is the infectious energy of rock ‘n’ roll… The other big plus the musical has going for it is its casting… Casey Likes makes a hugely appealing guide… Solea Pfeiffer makes an incandescent Broadway debut…
Variety (Frank Rizzo): …Broadway’s latest pedestrian film-to-stage adaptation… It’s all entertaining enough – but there’s nothing extraordinary in the transformation to the stage. Not even almost… Still…there are pleasures to be found… After all, Crowe has fashioned a wonderfully observed story with colorful-yet-nuanced characters, authentic details and humor both sharp-eyed and low-hanging… William’s enchantment with the liberated, communal, sexy and sexist world of rock and roll — and all the joys, adventures and aches that come with it — is the heart and soul of the film, and likewise here. But the dramatic beat remains in the constant conflict between home and music, dreams and reality, freedom and responsibility.
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Initial casting has been announced for Lincoln Center Theater’s Camelot, with a new book by Aaron Sorkin, to begin previews Mar. 9, 2023 and open Apr. 13 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, directed by Bartlett Sher, with choreography by Byron Easley, and music direction by Kimberly Grigsby.
Andrew Burnap (Arthur), Phillipa Soo (Guenevere), Jordan Donica (Lancelot Du Lac), and more TBA.
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Complete casting has been announced for a new production of As You Like It, to run Dec. 6 – Jan. 28, 2023 (opening Dec. 14) at the new Sohoplace Theatre, directed by Josie Rourke.
Leah Harvey (Rosalind), Rose Ayling-Ellis (Celia), Alfred Enoch (Orlando), Tom Mison (Touchstone), Martha Plimpton (Jaques), Tom Mison (Touchstone), Allie Daniel (Amiens), Tom Edden (Duke Frederick), Dickon Gough (Charles), Gabriella Leon (Audrey), Mary Malone (Phoebe), Syakira Moeladi (Hisperia), Cal Watson (Le Beau), June Watson (Adam/Corin), and Ben Wiggins (Oliver).
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The Who’s Tommy in Concert will take place Nov. 18 & 19 at Flint’s FIM Capitol Theatre, directed & choreographed by Devanand Janki, with music direction by Casey Baker.
George Salazar, Janet Dacal, Maurico Martinez, Jason Briggs, Noah Canales, Arielle Crosby, Rachael Cupples, Ian Deane, Elliott Dudek, Quinn Dudek, Emi Fishman, Musa Hitomi, Donovan Mahannah, Daniel Ryan May, Jeremiah Porter, Paris Parché Richardson, Lily Rose, Samuel Sommer, and Paul Whitty.
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Audio: “Revolting Children” from the “Matilda” film, for a limited release Dec. 9, with a full streaming release on Netflix on Dec. 25.
The soundtrack will be released digitally Nov. 18 on all platforms.
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Laura Osnes has released a new solo album, “On the Other Side, Pt. 1” with five original songs that “chronicle this past year’s journey of standing up, starting over, building strength, and finding hope on the other side of cancellation.”‘
The description references reporting in Page Six alleging that Osnes was fired from a one-night-only concert presentation of Crazy for You over her refusal to be vaccinated for COVID-19, allegations which the two-time Tony nominee has denied. She has since sued Page Six’s parent company the New York Post for defamation and is seeking $5 million in damages. Click here to read more.
“Thick Skin, Soft Heart”
” On the Other Side”
“Bitter”
“Anywhere”
“Great Divide”
The companion album, “On the Other Side, Pt. 2” will be released on a date TBA.
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Video: Nova Y. Payton performs “Last Midnight” from Into the Woods at DC’s Signature Theatre.
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Remember the Ribbon: A Tribute to World AIDS Day will take place Mon. Nov. 7 at 8 PM at NYC’s Sony Hall, co-directed by Bryan Campione & Leonard Rodino, with music direction by Joshua Stephen Kartes.
In addition, the event will stream on Playbill (and Playbill’s YouTube channel) Dec. 1-3. Proceeds will go to GLAAD.
Carolee Carmello, André Jordan, Darius Anthony Harper, Colin Cunliffe, and Anthony Wayne, with virtual appearances by Ariana DeBose and Judith Light.
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Video: Trailer for Godspell, directed by Antonio Banderas, at Spain’s Teatro del Soho CaixaBank.
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Van Hughes & Nick Blaemire’s Space Dogs is now available for streaming on BroadwayHD, directed by Ellie Heyman.
Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire
The incredible true story of Laika, a dog sent to space by a Russian scientist during the Cold War. A high-energy tale of inventions, betrayal, international political intrigue, and the friendship that exists between man and dog as they journey together to the stars.
Video: “Getting Me High”
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Sunset Boulevard will run Feb. 1-8, 2023 at the Kennedy Center, directed by Sammi Cannold, with choreography by Emily Maltby, and music direction by Ben Cohn.
Stephanie J. Block (Norma Desmond), Derek Klena (Joe Gillis), Auli’i Cravalho (Betty Schaefer), Nathan Gunn (Max von Mayerling), and more TBA.
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Only Make Believe 2022 Annual Gala (which introduces hospitalized children to the magic of theatre), has announced preliminary casting for its gala event on Mon. Nov. 14 at 7 PM at Broadway’s St. James Theatre, directed by Joe DiPietro, with music direction by Steven Jamail, and hosted by John Oliver.
Rob McClure, Telly Leung, Andy Karl, Beth Leavel, Bonnie Milligan, Brad Oscar, Kathryn Allison, Montego Glover, Orfeh, Alicia Quarles, Terry Theologides, and Collet Reyes, with more TBA.
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A film adaptation of Mark St. Germain’s “Freud’s Last Session” will begin production in January, 2023, directed by Matt Brown. A released date is TBA.
Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode, with more TBA.
Sept. 1, 1939. Sigmund Freud awaits the visit of soon-to-be-legendary author C.S. Lewis o nthe day World War II is declared. Lewis, a former atheist turned Christian is expecting to be taken to task for his recent satirization of Freud in a book. through an imagined conversation between a psychiatrist on the brink and the academic sho would go on to write books steeped in theology, the play gives a heightened tension to the age old questions of faith, love, sex, and existence itself.
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David Zippel, Robert Horn & Kwame Kwei-Armah’s Hercules will run Feb. 16 – Mar. 19 at NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Lear deBessonet, with music supervision by Michael Kosarin, and choreography by Chase Brock & Tanisha Scott.
Bradley Gibson (Hercules), Shuler Hensley (Hades), James Monroe Iglehart (Phil), and Isabelle McCall (Meg), with more TBA.
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Joe Keyes & Rob Elk’s Bob’s Holiday Office Party will run Dec. 2-18 at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, directed by Matt Rogh.
Joe Keyes, Rob Elk, Mark Fite, Maile Flanagan, Michael Halpin, Judy Henneghan, Andrea Hutchman, Sirena Irwin, Johanna mcKay, and Pat Towne.