Today’s Highlights:
Arms and the Man virtual production, directed by Coleman Domingo, featuring Phillip James Brannon (Captain Bluntschli), Allen Darbi (Russian Soldier), Allie Marie Evas (Raina), Kimberly Hébert Gregory (Catherine), Danny Scheie (Major Paul Petkoff), Ariel Shafir (Major Sergius Saranoff), Avanthika Srinivasan (Louka), and Liam Vincent (Nicola), begins streaming at San Francisco’s A.C.T.
Paradise Lost reading Part 1, adapted & directed by Michael Barakiva, featuring Stephen Bel Davies, Sheldon Best, Gisela Chipe, Robert Cuccioli, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Carol Halstead, Jason Butler Harner, Gregory Linington, Daniel Jose Molina, Sam Morales, Howard Overshow, and Cherie Corinne Rice, livestreams Part 1 for FREE at 7:30 PM ET at Off Broadway’s Red Bull Theater (Part 2 streams Apr. 26).
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GRACE NOTES Quiz – Bedtime by Jim Bernhard
1. N. Richard Nash’s Second Best Bed is a play about the marital life of… John F. Kennedy… William Shakespeare… Catherin the Great… Elizabeth Barret Browning.
2. In Once Upon a Mattress, what is under Princess Winnifred’s twenty mattresses that prevents her from falling asleep? … a frog who turns into a prince… a magic sword… a pebble… a pea.
3. And So To Bed, a play by J.B. Fagan, is based on the life of…Casanova… the Marquid de Sade… Samuel Pepys… King Louis XIV.
4. The musical I DO! I DO! is based on the play The Fourposter by… Jan De Hartog… Georges Feydeau… George Bernard Shaw… Edmond Rostand.
5. In the scene from Hamlet in Gertrude’s bedchamber, whom does Hamlet discover hiding behind the arras? …Claudius… Polonius… Rosencrantz and Guildenstern… Ophelia.
6. Bedroom Farce is a comedy by…Alan Ayckbourn… Edward Albee… Georges Feydeau… Lillian Hellman.
7. In The King and I, the King, on his deathbed, persuades Anna to take back what gift he has given her and she has returned to him? … a puppy… a crown… a ring… a silk scarf.
8. Irving Berlind’s “Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” was written when Berlin was drafter in the Army for what war? …Spanish American… World War I… World War II… Korean.
9. Early to Bed, a 1943 Broadway musical, had a score by what composer? …Cole Porter… Georges Bizet… Jerome Kern… Fats Waller.
10. What is unusual about the music for Songs from an Unmade Bed… a theatre piece for which Mark Campbell wrote the lyrics… it is play entirely on a bicycle pump… It was written by 18 different composers… It is a complete symphony by Shostakovich… There is no music.
Scroll down for the answers…
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Video: Stars in the House, celebrating BC/EFA’s Easter Bonnet Competition, with many past skits. (1:40:45)
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Video: Stars in the House, a cast reunion of “The Kids are All Right,” with Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, and Josh Hutcherson. (1:32:18)
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Becca, a benefit concert honoring Rebecca Luker, in support of Target ALS, written by Sarah Rebell & Schonberg, will stream Tues. May 4 at 7:30 PM ET here, hosted by Frank De Lella.
Laura Benanti, Sierra Boggess, Michael Cerveris, Kristin Chenoweth, Victoria Clark, Santino Fontana, Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, Norm Lewis, Tam Mutu Kelli O’Hara, and Sally Wilfert.
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The Stratford Festival’s production of Macbeth continues streaming through July 7 at LA’s Center Theatre Group, directed by Antoni Cimolino.
Ian Lake (Macbeth), Michael Blake (Macduff), Krystin Pellerin (Lady Macbeth), Sott Wentworth (Banquo), Sarah Afful (Lady Macduff), Rodrigo Beilfuss (Young Siward), and Tim Campbell (Angus).
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Video: The cast of “Glee” pays tribute to Naya Rivera and Santana Lopez, featuring Jacob Artist, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Jessalyn Gilsig, Dot-Marie Jones, Vanessa Lengies, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Alex Newell, Lauren Potter, Amber Riley, Harry Shum Jr., Becca Tobin, and Jenna Ushkowitz. (5:40)
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The Gingold Theatrical Group, in honor of Shakespeare’s birthday, will livestream it’s Shakespeare Sonnet Slam on Fri. Apr. 23 at 6 PM ET on the company’s Facebook page. 
Register on Facebook by Apr. 22 at 4 PM ET.
Stephen Brown-Fried, Robert Cuccioli, Tyne Daly, George Dvorsky, Melissa Errico, Alison Fraser, Tom Hewitt, Daniel Jenkins, John-Andrew Morrison, Patrick Page, Maryann Plunkett, Tonya Pinkins, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, Renee Taylor, Jon Patrick Walker, and more TBA.
There will also be an open mic. Come as you are and share what you’d like: a Shakespeare Sonnet or quote or a song based on a Sonnet! This is a birthday party! Not a fundraiser!
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Niel Maxfield’s West End Musical Walking Tour takes tourists around London’s theatre district, discovering fascinating architecture, anecdotes, and historical figures from the 1700’s to day.
On Sun. Apr. 18, a Top Hat online tour will be available at 3 PM ET here. Maxfield will take audiences through stories of failed assassinations to ghosts, scandals, and more that still echo the walls and halls of classic theatres like The Prince of Wales, the Arts, the Lyric, the Apollo, and the Sondheim. Off-West End theatres such as the Windmill are also explored.
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2021 DGA Award winners. Click here for the complete list of winners.
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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will run July 1 – Sept. 5 (opening July 15) at the London Palladium, directed by Laurence Conner, with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter.
Alexandra Burke (Narrator), Jason Donovan (Pharaoh), Jac Yarrow (Joseph), and more TBA.
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A reading of Justin Sayre’s Babette in Retreat continues through Apr. 14 on Play-PerView, in support of the Ali Forney Center.
Nathan Lee Graham, Mary Testa, Jack Weatherall, Becca Blackwell, Randy Harrison, Auden Thornton, and Justin Sayre.
Babette, an aging Parisian courtesan, has decided to retire to her country house and live in isolation with only her beloved maid for company.
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Heathers will resume live performances (with socially distanced seating) June 21 – Sept. 12 at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Olivia Moore, Sophie Isaacs, and more TBA.
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Sutton Foster: Bring Me to Light will premiere Wed. Apr. 28 at 7 PM ET NY City Center, and will continue with on-demand viewing through Mar. 31, directed by Leigh Silverman, with music direction by Michael Rafter.
Raúl Esparza, Joaquina Kalukango, Kelli O’Hara, and Wren Rivera.
Through a collection of solos, duets, and group numbers, the cast enlivens the theater with the hope of things to come.
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Rachel Lynett has been awarded the 2021 Yale Drama Series Prize for her play Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson).
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Christy Altomare has released her fourth solo album, “Wandering Bird.” Click here to listen and purchase.
1. “Freedom Inside”
2. “Follow the Unknown”
3. “No One Needs to Know”
4. “Dancing in the Air”
5. “If I Can’t Be with You”
6. “Not Much Else”
7. “Whistling for the Birds”
8. “Haunt Me”
9. “Love Comes and Love Goes”
10. “Lightning Bug”
11. “All We Want”
12. “It’ll Get Easier”
13. “Love Myself”
14. “Wandering Bird”
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Nick Payne’s Constellations will run June 18 – Sept. 12 at the Vaudeville Theatre, with a rotating cast, directed by Michael Longhurst.
Sheila Atim and Ivanno Jeremiah (June 8 – Aug. 1), Peter Capaldi and Zoë Wanamaker (June 23 – July 24), Omari Douglas and Russell Tovey (July 30 – Sept. 11), and Anna Maxwell Martin and Chris O’Dowd (Aug. 6 – Sept. 12).
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Video: Scenes from the new production of Wicked in Korea.
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GRACE NOTE Quiz answers: Bedtime
1. N. Richard Nash’s Second Best Bed is about the marital life of William Shakespeare.
2. In Once Up a Mattress, a pea is under Princess Winnifred’s twenty mattress.
3. And So to Bed, a play by J. B. Fagan, is based on the life of Samuel Pepys.
4. The musical I Do! I Do! is based on the play The Fourposter by Jan De Hartog.
5. In the scene from Hamlet in Gertrude’s bedchamber, Hamlet discovers Polonius hiding behind an arras.
6. Bedroom Farce is a comedy by Alan Ayckbourn.
7. In The King and I, the King, on his deathbed, persuades Anna to take back a ring.
8. Irving Berlin’s “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” was written when Berlin was drafted into the Army for World War I. It was later used during World War II in the musical This Is The Army.
9. Early to Bed, a 1943 Broadway musical, had a score by Fats Waller.
10. The music for Songs from an Unmade Bed was written by 18 different composers.