This Weekend’s Highlights:
Friday, October 9
* David Burnham benefit concert for Musical Theatre West, streams at 7 PM PT.
* The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall concert, featuring Sierra Boggess, Ramin Karimloo, Hadley Fraser, Keira Duffy, Daisy Maywood Barry James, Gareth Snook, Liz Robertson, and Wynn Evans, streams FOR FREE at 2 PM ET here (and will be available for 48 hours).
* Off-Broadway’s York Theatre‘s An Evening of New Musical Theatre, presenting material from 3 new musicals, streams for FREE at 7 PM ET.
* “The Forty Year Old Version,” by Radha Blank, featuring Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Imani Lewis, Haskiri Velazquez, Antonio Ortiz, TJ Atoms, Jacob Ming Trent, Stacey Sargeant, William Oliver Watkins, Meghan O’Neill, André Ward, Welker White, and Reed Birney, premieres on Netflix.
Saturday, October 10
* The Hudson Valley Dance Festival benefit, in support of Dancers Responding to AIDS, streams at 7 PM ET here.
* Next Fall benefit reading, by Geoffrey’s Nauffts, directed by Sheryl Kaller, featuring the original Broadway cast — Patrick Breen, Maddie Corman, Sean Dugan, Patrick, Heusinger, Connie Ray, and Cotter Smith, streams at 7 PM ET on Play-Per-View.
* “Stars in the House” presents a FREE benefit reading of Coastal Disturbances, by Tina Howe, directed by Annette Bening, featuring Annette Bening (Holly Dancer), Jonas Abry (Winston Took), Tim Daly (Leo Hart), Jean DeBaer (Ariel Took), Angela Goethals (Miranda Bigelow), Ronald Guttman (Andre Sor), Heather MacRae (Faith Bigelow), Mary Kay Place (MJ Adams), and Ed Begley Jr. (Dr. Hamilton Adams), streams at 7:30 PM ET here.
* Kansas City Starlight‘s An Evening with Starlight: The Sky’s the Limit, benefit, with special guests Laura Osnes, Kevin Cronin, Talya Groves, Betsy Struxness, Pat Monahan, Nikki Renée Daniels, and Jeff Kready, streams for FREE at 7 PM CT.
* CLUEbaret: A Comedic Musical Cabaret benefit, featuring Mariah Burks, John Treacy Egan, Donn English, Kathy Fitzgerald, Eleasha Gamble, Josh Innerst, Gregory James, Michael Kostroff, Alex Mandell, Mark Price, Graham Stevens, and Elisabeth Yancey, streams at 7:30 PM CT at Cleveland Playhouse.
* The American Popular Song Society’s Michael & Arthur: The Singer and the Composer FREE Zoom event, starring Michael Lavine and Arthur Siegel, with special guests Steven Brinberg, Bill Charlap, Fay DeWitt, Natalie Douglas, Jay Aubrey Jones, Jon Peterson, Tonya Pinkins, T. Oliver Reid, Steve Ross, Sandy Steward, KT Sullivan, and Sara Zahn, at 12 PM ET on Zoom.
* LA’s Group Rep‘s Nine Winning One-Acts Festival streams for FREE at 8 PM PT.
Sunday, October 11
* Hold on to Me, Darling table read, by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Neil Pepe, featuring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Cera, and Gretchen Mol, streams at 7 PM ET/4PM PT here.
* Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland concert, presented by Goodspeed Musicals, livestreams at 7 PM ET.
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The 2020 Tony nominations will be announced Thurs. Oct. 15 at Noon, streamed on YouTube.
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The Broadway League has announced another extension of the Broadway shutdown in NYC. It is expected that The League will announce a suspension of performances through May 30, 2021, marking another delay before shows will return.
As part of the announcement, it is expected that The Broadway League will announce refund information for tickets sold during the newly announced shutdown period.
Returning productions are currently projected to resume performances over a series of rolling dates beginning June 2021.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with Ain’t It Grand – Celebration to support Redhouse, hosted by Fred Grandy & Ted Lange, with special guests Hunter Foster, Sutton Foster, Maia Sharp, Nikki Renee Daniels, Georgia Stitt, Jeremy Kushnier, Marya Grandy, Chrystee Pharris, Marcus Naylor, Steve Hayes and Trey Anastasio. (1:28:47)
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Red Bull Theater presents reading of Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor on Mon. Oct. 12 at 7:30 PM ET.
Keith Hamilton Cobb and Josh Tyson.
A passionate and poetic exploration, this is an essential look at the experience and perspective of black men in America while challenging the capacity of the American theatre to make all people fully visible and embraced.
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Video: VA’s Signature Theatre has released Episode 6 of The Signature Show, directed by Matthew Gardiner, featuring Christian Douglas, Claybourne Elder, Samantha M. Gershman, Zina Goldrich, Jeff Gorti, Marcy Heisler, Kevin McAllister, Mark G. Meadows, Crystal Mosser, Christopher Mueller, Katie Mariko Murray, Brynn O’Malley, , Awa Sal Secka, Shayla Simmons, and Kanysha Williams. (27:53)
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RIP: Tommy Rall, a musical theatre performer known for his work on the Broadway stage and in several movies, died Oct. 6 at the age of 90. His death, due to congestive heart failure.
Rall began dance lessons at the age of 4, and went on to perform as a child in Seattle vaudeville acts.
He first worked with Jerome Robbins in 1946 productions of Fancy Free and Interplay, followed by Look, Ma, I’m Dancin’! His collaboration with Robbins continued into the 1950s with Miss Liberty and Call Me Madam, Milk and Honey, Cafe Crown, and Cry for Us All.
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Charles Kirsch, the 13-year-old host of the new podcast, “Backstage Babble: New and Unique Stories of the Golden Age” which is now available on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, and Spotify. Visit the website here.
Hear stories about everything from Cabaret to Come From Away…
Upcoming guests: Chuck Cooper, Anita Gillette, Lee Roy Reams, Steve Ross, and more.
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Broadway For Biden Pep Rally will take place Wed. Oct. 14 at 8 PM ET here, hosted by Eric Ulloa.
Joel Grey, Donna Murphy, Harolyn Blackwell, James Monroe Iglehart, Telly Leung, Caissie Levy, Lesli Margherita, Patti Murin, Zachary Prince, Brandon Uranowitz, Matthew Dicarlo, Leslie Uggams, Alex Brightman, Sophia Anne Caruso, Dana Steingold, and more.
“The lights of Broadway may be dark due to this administration’s failure to control COVID-19, but the passion and activism of the Broadway community shines bright, as we fight for the leadership and change that arrives with a Biden-Harris Administration,” said Host Eric Ulloa. “To kick off the last few weeks before the election, we give you a Broadway Pep Rally to cheer on the future we can’t wait to see arrive when Joe and Kamala take center stage.”
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NYC bistros Bouillon Marseille and Nizza (both at 630 Ninth Ave. at 44th Street) have made an incredible offer for all Actors Equity members:
Starting Mon. Oct. 12, from 9 PM every night of the week, anyone with an AEA card can eat for FREE (not including drinks and gratuity)…. and pay later (if they can).
The restaurant will keep a house account for each person who dines, and when the theater returns to NYC, and actors start working again, the amount owed can be paid off as slowly or quickly as possible, if at all.
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& 
Long Island’s Bay Street Theater presents Awake at Night, a reading of 3 short plays based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe, on Tues. Oct. 20 at 7 PM ET, adapted & directed by Will Pomerantz. A talkback will follow, moderated by Scott Schwartz.
PLAYS:
* A Case of Romanee Conti, in which a young programmer funs into an old boss.
* Through My Flesh, in which a soon-to-be-retired professor elucidates a mysterious and tragic experience in Istanbul many years ago.
* 812 East 9th Street, in which a young man records his shocking visit with an old friend.
Ari Brand, Daniel Gerroll, Loren Lester, Michael Levi Harris, Kevin Orton, and Teal Wicks.
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Video: The world premiere of VIGIL pays tribute to Breonna Taylor (the EMT and aspiring nurse who was shot and killed by police in her home), created by Davóne Tines, Matthew Aucoin, Igée Dieudonné, and Conor Hanick.
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After surpassing its fundraising goal for last week’s “Mondays for Biden,” an encore performance of Dancing for Democracy will take place Mon. Oct. 12 at 9 PM ET here. The event was created to find a virtual place for busy artists, humanitarians, parents, and Joe Biden supporters.
Annaleigh Ashford, Laura Benanti, Chris Gatelli, Nikki M. James, Kathleen Marshall, Jerry Mitchell, Sergio TRujillo, Adrienne Barbeau, Danny Burstein, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Robert La Fosse, Beth Malone, Rory O’Malley, Valarie Pettiford, Jessica Lee Goldyn, JoAnn M. Hunter, Jess LeProtto, Gerry McIntyre, Josh Walden, James Kinney, and more.
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LA’s Fountain Theatre has released a Video-on-Demand rental its 2010 production of Ifa Bayeza’s The Ballad of Emmett Till.
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Video: Liz Callaway & Ann Hampton Callaway sing “Wind Beneath My Wings” (1989)
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A concert version of Disney’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” will take place Sat. Oct. 31 at 7 PM ET, in support of the Lymphoma Research Foundation and The Actors Fund. 
here.
James Monroe Iglehart, Adrienne Warren, Danny Burstein, Rafael Casal, Lesli Margherita, and Rob McClure.
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Video: A tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsberg, with the help of soprano Christine Goerke and pianist Bradley Moore, who perform an aria from Beethoven’s Fidelio.
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RIP: Maurice Edwards, opera and stage director and actor, has died at the age of 97 due to Covid-19.
Edwards directed many operas and stage plays, and acted in Broadway and Off Broadway productions. He made his Broadway debut in Happy as Larry (1950), and also appeared in The Golden Apple, as well as Fiddler on the Roof (1964). His many off-Broadway credits include The Threepenny Opera and The Fantasticks.
He also directed dozens of plays for the Classic Theater, the Cubiculo and other groups, in additional to several operas, many of which were at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
In 1974, Edwards was a founder of the Off-Off-Broadway theatre troupe, the Classic Theater (serving as Artistic Director from 1974 – 1989, and directed The Country Gentleman for the troupe in 1978. He later became Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, which he had been involved with for decades.
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TheaterWorksUSA and Paper Mill Playhouse will produce a fully staged, socially distanced production of 2008’s We the People: America Rocks!, by Joe Iconis, Eli Bolin, Douglas Lyons, Brad Alexander, Kevin Del Aguila, Sam Forman, Tommy Newman, Adam Overett, Erik Weiner, Mark Weiner, and Jordan Allen-Dutton, directed by Gordon Greenberg, and will debut on Sat. Oct. 24 at 8 PM ET on “Stars in the House” (link TBA).
Rashidra Scott, Zach Piser, Josh Breckenridge, Orville Mendoza, and Dan Rosales.
The musical sees America’s founding fathers become a rock group to help an ambitious teen on her journey to win her school election.
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“Reel Stories, Real Lives” will be livestreamed Tues. Oct. 27 at 6:30 PM PT here, hosted by Hugh Jackman. 
Sign up for reminders here.
This is the night we tell real stories of real people whose live we’ve been honored to touch. They illustrate our mission, our purpose, and most of all, the beauty and resilience of the human spirit. Please join us for this memorable evening as industry stars share stories that highlight the extraordinary impact of MPTF on the entertainment community.
* Angela Bassett performs the story of Toni Vaz, a former stuntwoman, actress, and creator of the NAACIP Image Awards, who wanted better roles for herself and fellow people of color. The story was written by Charla Lauriston.
* Jason Bateman shares the love story of television writer-producer Joel Deborah Rogosin, whose curiosity and creativity flourished in their later years at MPTF’s Country Home. The story was written by Erica Rivinoja.