Today’s Highlights:
New York City Opera‘s Milestones of American Opera concert, featuring the works of Ricky Ian Gordon, Douglas Moore, Tobias Picker, Robert Ward, and Iain Bell, performed by Tatev Baroyan, Lisa Chavez, Mark Delavan, Kristin Sampson, and Victor Starsky, at 7 PM ET at Central Park’s Wolman Skating Rink.
An Evening with Ali Stroker concert, at 8 PM ET at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Where in the World? by Jim Bernhard
Where in the world is…
| 1. Upson Downs | A. Seattle |
| 2. Save-A-Soul Mission | B. The French Riviera |
| 3. Uncle Jocko’s Kiddie Show | C. Charleston, South Carolina |
| 4. Belmont | D. Paris |
| 5. Madame Dubonnet’s Finishing School | E. Washington state |
| 6. Angel’s Roost | F. New York City |
| 7. Catfish Row | G. Laurel, Mississippi |
| 8. Gowns by Roberta | H. Connecticut |
| 9. Belle Reve | I. New Hampshire |
| 10. Grover’s Corners | J. Italy |
Scroll down for the answers…
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A reading of Zina Goldrich, Marcy Heisler & Hunter Bell’s The Great American Mousical will take place Mon. Aug. 22 at 7 PM ET at Sag Habor’s Bay Street Theatre, directed by Julie Andrews, with music direction by Joseph Thalken. The reading will be followed by a talkback.
Debra Monk (Adelaide), Howard McGillin (Henry/Father), Jonathan Freeman (Harold), Hope Hamilton (Pippin), Victoria Huston-Elem (toby), Derrick Davis (Sky0Scud), Kyrie Courter (Wendy), Raymond J. Lee (Curly/Ping), Rachel Parker (Rose), Clyde Voce (Hysterium), Ryan M. Hunt (Emile/Uncle Bernier/Fausto), and Cecelia Ticktin, Adelaide Mestre, and Stephen Hamilton.
Below the bright lights of Broadway, in the depths of the historic Sovereign Theatre, an acting troupe of mice rehearse their new musical. When the theatre is threatened by demolition and their diva Adelaide disappears, it will take all paws on deck to fulfill the time-honored tradition: the show must go on!
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Hollywood’s Theatre West (link TBA) has announced its 2022-23 season:
Public readings of screenplays: Eddie’s Turn (Oct. 2) by Annika Hymlo… Tentpole (Oct. 23) by Linda Alexander… and Bullseye (Oct. 30) by Najla Zaldi.
WestFest (Oct. 7-16), showcasing what the theatre has been doing in its workshops, featuring company writers, directors, and actors, offering all new works.
Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground (Oct. 22 – Nov. 20, opening Oct. 28), world premiere by Richard Hellesen, directed by Peter Ellenstein, starring John Rubinstein.
Winter Wishes: A Holiday Cabaret Theatre (Dec. 2-11), directed by Victoria Lavan.
18 Minutes of Fame (Dec. 16-18), by Barbra Minkus & Susan Morgenstern, directed by Morgenstern, starring Barbara Minkus.
A Festival of New Full-Length Plays (Jan. 2023, dates TBA). Reading of new works from the Writers Workshop.
Hansel and Gretel (Feb. 18 – May 27), a Storybook Theatre musical, by Lloyd J. Schwartz & Hope Juber.
Moose on the Loose (Apt. 14 – May 21), by Dina Morrone. A comedy about an Italian family and a Canadian moose. Daughter Gina returns home from the big city with exciting new and an agenda on the same day that a moose has wandered out of the bush and is loose in the neighborhood.
Spring Workshop musical (dates TBA), by James A Goins, based on the life of Chevalier de Saint Georges (1745-1799), soldier, composer, and conductor.
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Video: Gavin Creel and Joshua Henry talk Into the Woods.
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The Joyce Theater has announced the opening of its 2022-2023 season with the U.S. dance theater debut of Alan Cumming & Steven Hoggett’s Burn, to run Sept. 20-25.
Alan Cumming
The piece explores the life and legacy of Scottish poet Robert Burns.
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The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) will present it 5th Annual Riverfront Jazz Festival Sept. 2-4 at Dallas’ Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. The event will present over 50 of the world’s best mainstream, cutting-edge traditional and contemporary artists.
Erykah Badu, Cameo, Dianne Reeves, Boney James, Eric Benet, Avery Sunshine, Hiroshima, Robert Glasper, Incognito, Paul Taylor, Kim Burrell, Spyro Gyra, B. Slade, Cory Henry, Marion Meadows, Arturo Sandoval, J. J. Sansaverino, Bob James, Poogie Bell, Jazzmeia Horn, Michael Lington, Alex Bugnon, Natural Change, Karyn White, Gerald Veasley, Keith Anderson, Nasty Brass Band, Carroll-Simmons-Sparks, Members of DSO, and John McLaughlin Williams.
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Broadway’s A Strange Loop begins its $55 digital rush tickets today, offering first-come, first-served tickets throughout the day, until 30 minutes before the performance at the Lyceum Theatre. Up to two tickets may be purchased. Click here for the lottery.
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Afterglow, written & directed by S. Asher Gelman, has extended again, now through Sept. 25 at Hollywood’s Hudson Theatre.
Noah Bridgestock (Josh), James Hayden Rodriguez (Alex), and Nathan Mohebbi (Darius).
A raw one-act play exploring the emotional intellectual, and physical connections between three men and the broader implications within their relationships. When Josh and Alex, a married couple in an open relationship, invite Darius to share their bed one night, a new intimate connection begins to form and all three men must come to terms with their individual definitions of love, loyalty, and trust as futures are questioned, relationships are shaken, and commitments are challenged.
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Liz Callaway & Jason Graae in concert will take place Sat. Aug. 20 at 8 PM at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
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Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company has announced its Curtain Up fundraiser (which includes a silent auction), which will take place Sun. Aug. 21 at 5 PM PT at the Santa Barbara Club.
Linda Purl
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Video: Highlights from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the St. Louis Muny, featuring Jason Gotay (Joseph), Jessica Vosk (Narrator), Eric Jordan Young (Jacob/Potiphar), and Mykal Kilgore (Pharaoh).
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Ben Jones: I Think We Should See Other People will take place Thurs. Aug. 25 at 9:30 PM ET at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Ron Abel.
The concert will feature songs by Joni Mitchell, Harold Arlen, John Mayer, Bruno Mars, Peter Allen, Bo Burnham, Stephen Sondheim, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
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Off-Broadway’s Public Theater has announced its 2022-23 season:
Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge (Sept 24 – Oct. 16), by Greig Sargeant, directed by John Collins. In 1965, two of America’s intellectual giants were invited to debate whether “the American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro,” bringing into sharp focus our country’s deepest divisions.
A Raisin in the Sun (Sept. 27 – Nov. 6), by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Robert O’Hara.
Where We Belong (Oct. 28 – Nov. 27), by Madeline Sayet, directed by Mei Ann Teo. In 2015, Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet moved to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, grappling with the question of what it means to remain or leave, as the Brexit vote threatens to further disengage the UK from the wider world, Moving between nationals that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism, she finds comfort in the journeys of her Native ancestors who to cross the ocean in the 1700s to help her people.
Plagues for the Plague Year (Nov. 4-27), by Suzan-Loir Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. On Mar. 13, 2020, as theaters shut their doors and so many of us went into lockdown, Susan Lori Parks picked up her pen and set out to write a play every day. The piece will be performed in Joe’s Pub, and is at once a personal story of one family’s daily lives, as well as a sweeping account of all we faced as a city, a nation, and a global community.
The Harder They Come (Winter 2023) world premiere by Suzan-Lori Parks & Jimm Cliff, directed by Tony Taccone & Sergio Truillo. Based on the film of the same name. Ivan, a young singer, arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful musical mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society.
Dark Disabled Stories (Winter 2023), by Ryan J. Haddad, directed by Jordan Fein. The autobiographical play is a series of unforgiving vignettes about the strangers he encounters while navigating a city (and a world) not built for his walker and cerebral palsy.
Good Bones (Spring 2023), world premiere by James Ijames, directed by Saheem Ali. A work opportunity to revitalize the blighted neighborhood she grew up in has led Aisha and her chef husband Travis to buy and renovate a charming old house. But as everyone knows, renovation is expensive and stressful—both for buildings and the communities that surround them. Aisha’s young contractor Earl grew up in the area too, but his memories are of more than just dangerous streets and hollowed-out homes. When their purely professional relationship gives way to heated debate about who gets to stay and who has to go, Aisha is forced to reckon with the choices she’s made to get ahead and the painful, joyful, complicated ghosts that haunt her dreams… and her dream house.
shadow/land (Spring 2023), world premiere by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, directed by Candis C. Jones. Magalee and her daughter Ruth are faced with the question of legacy when Ruth coaxes Magalee to sell their historic family-owned business as Hurrican Katrina begins her ruin.
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at NYC’s 92Y
California Dreamin’: Jessica Vosk Sings the Songwriters of Laurel Canyon (Nov. 5-7). Details here.
Miss: Broadway’s Women Songwriters (Dec. 10-12), directed by & starring Kate Baldwin. Details here.
An Evening with Kelli O’Hara (Feb. 16, 2023), Details here.
What’s Going On? Songs of Social Change (Mar. 25-27), with songs by Marren Adams, conceived & directed by warren Adams, featuring Michael O. Mitchell, exploring the Black songwriters and artists whose work has been a catalyst for social change. Details here.
Judy on TV!: Celebrating “The Judy Garland Show” (May 6-8), with music direction by Billy Stritch, featuring Klea Blackhurst, Aisha de Haas, Gabrielle Stravelli, and Max Von Essen. Details here.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Where in the World?
1-H. Upson Downs – Connecticut (Mame)
2-F. Save-A-Soul Mission – New York City (Guys and Dolls)
3-A. Uncle Jocko’s Kiddie Show – Seattle (Gypsy)
4-J. Belmont – Italy (The Merchant of Venice)
5-B. Madame Dubonnet’s Finishing School – The French Riviera (The Boy Friend)
6-E. Angel’s Roost – Washington state (The Golden Apple)
7-C. Catfish Row – Charleston, South Carolina (Porgy and Bess)
8-D. Gowns by Roberta – Paris (Roberta)
9-G. Belle Reve – Laurel, Mississippi (A Streetcar Named Desire)
10-I. Grover’s Corners – New Hampshire (Our Town)