Today’s Highlights:
Treason the Musical in Concert, by Ricky Allan & Allan Kieran Lynn, directed by Hannah Chissick, featuring Carrie Hope Fletcher (Martha Percy), Bradley Jaden (Thomas Percy), Simon-Anthony Rhoden (Robert Catesby), Les Dennis (Robert Cecil), Emilie Louise Israel (Eleanor Brooksby), Rebecca Lachance (Anne Vaux), Daniel Boys (King James), Cedric Neal (Earl of Northumberland), Waylon Jacobs (Jack Wright), Adam Pearce (Thomas Wintour), and Debris Stevenson (Narrator), opens at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The Great American Mousical benefit staged reading, by Zina Goldrich, Marcy Heisler & Hunter Bell, directed by Julie Andrews, featuring 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, with Adelaide Mestre, and Stephen Hamilton, at 7 PM ET at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
Amy Spanger in the Theatre concert, with special guests Brian Shepard and Liz Casasola, at 8:30 PM ET at NYC’s Birdland.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Sez Who (in Tennessee)? by Jim Bernhard
Name the characters who say the following lines in Tennessee Williams’ plays:
| 1. “Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” | A. Alma Winemiller in Summer and Smoke |
| 2. “There ain’t nothin’ more powerful than the odor of mendacity. You can smell it. It smells like death.” | B. Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
| 3. “You will go up, up, up, over Blue Mountain, on a broomstick with seventeen gentleman callers! You ugly, babbling old witch!” | C. Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon in The Night of the Iguana |
| 4. “Of course, you were crowned with laurel in the beginning, your gold hair was wreathed with laurel, but the gold is thinning and the laurel has withered. Face it–pitiful monster.” | D. Rosa Delle Rose in The Rose Tattoo |
| 5. “One of those no-neck monsters hit me with a hot buttered biscuit so I have to change!” | E. Steve in A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 6. “This game is seven card stud.” | F. Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie |
| 7. “I want to explain something to you… A man has got just so much in his emotional bank balance. Mine has run out. It’s stone dry. I can’t draw a check on it. There’s nothing left to draw out.” | G. Alexandra del Lago/Princess Kosmonopolis in Sweet Bird of Youth |
| 8. “But now I have changed my mind, or the girl who said “no”, she doesn’t exist anymore, she died last summer — suffocated in smoke from something on fire inside her.” | H. Blanche du Bois in A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 9. “Girls that aren’t cut out for business careers usually wind up married to some nice man.” | I. Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie |
| 10. “Everybody is nothing until you love them.” | J. Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Reviews for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Off-Broadway’s Theater at St. Clements:
NY Times (Juan A. Ramirez): …Williams would probably love Matt de Rogatis’s Brick… de Rogatis, tatted up and ab-tastic from his backlit shower entrance, compellingly finds the violence and identity crisis at Brick’s core in this contemporary staging… De Rogatis…convincingly hints at a torrid inner life, congealed into an imposing physique but betrayed by the anguish he voices at the mention of his ambiguously close relationship with a male friend… This production…has several excellent surfaces, though not all the elements rise to the occasion… Alison Fraser as Big Mama, marvelously attuned to the work’s tonal balances.
Theatermania (Kenji Fujishima): …It’s in the second act that this production springs to some semblance of life. As Big Daddy, Le Blanc roars onto the stage with the kind of snarling energy that could only come from a man feeling a new lease on life. But it’s about an hour and 15 minutes before he appears onstage, which means audiences have had to endure Mizuno’s astonishingly lifeless characterization of Maggie… Mizuno, saddling herself with a wretched Southern accent, never once conveys any sense of the kind of loneliness, desperation, and sexual desire that would suggest why Maggie would stay with a man who doesn’t really love her… Joe Rosario’s direction, though, actively harms his actors whenever it isn’t straight-up lazy.
theaterlife (Samuel L. Leiter): …mild distractions don’t overcome this sluggish, misconceived production’s problems… I heard a gentle chuckle or two over the course of its poorly paced, clumsily staged three hours, but the general impression was bleak, monotonous, and uninspired… As one might expect, the greatest fault lies in the casting… The sylph-like Ms. Mizuno can’t handle the Southern accent, screeches many of her lines… often depends more on feline, dancer-like movements than on histrionic depth to get her points across… Mr. de Rogatis…brings a believable sense of anguish to Brick… Alison Fraser’s Big Mama…is instead presented as a high-strung, slightly ditzy trophy wife…
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Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out will return to Broadway Oct. 27 – Jan. 29, 2023 at the Schoenfeld Theatre, directed by Scott Ellis.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams, with more TBA.
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Anna Deavere Smiths’ Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, written & newly revised by Anna Deavere Smith, will run Aug. 28 – Sept. 24 (opening Sept. 1) at Cambridge’s A.R.T., directed by Taibi Magar.
Elena Hurst, Wesley T. Jones, Francis Jue, Carl Palmer, and Tiffany Rachelle.
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Video: “I’m the Greatest Star” from Funny Girl at NYC’s Broadway at Bryant Park, featuring Julie Benko.
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That Physics Show, created by & starring David Maiullo & Andrew Yolleck, continues through Sept. 4 at Theatre 555, directed by Eric Krebs.
What damage can a ping pong ball do as it hurtles 700 miles per hour through a vacuum tube?
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Diane lane and Tom Hollander have joined the second season of “Feud” on FX.
The new season will follow Truman Capote, who was friends with several New York socialites until he published excerpts of his unfinished novel, “Answered Prayers,” with the excerpts begin and exposé about New York’s high society.
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Anteaus Theatre Company has announced its complete 2022-23 season at Glendale’s Gindler PAC. Casting TBA.
Everybody (Sept. 11 – Oct. 17, opening Sept. 16), by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Jennifer Chang. The tragi-comedy charts the quest of “Everybody” as they search for “Somebody” to accompany them on the journey of life just as it seems the end of the road is near.
Love and Information (Feb. 26 – Apr. 3, opening Mar. 3, 2023), by Caryl Churchill, directed by Emily Chase. Where does true love lie? How does information interfere with or enhance our existence? Meet over a hundred unique characters engaged in dozens of scenarios where human connection couldn’t be more critical.
The Tempest (June 11 – July 17), directed by Nike Doukas.
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The new ABC series “Avalon,” written by David E. Kelley & Michael Connelly will premiere this Fall (date TBA), starring Neve Campbell and Steven Pasquale.
The series takes place in the main city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where LA Sheriff Department Detective Nicole “Nic Searcy” heads up a small office. Catalina has a local population that serves more than 1 million tourist a year, and each day when the ferries arrive, hundreds of potential new stories enter the island. Detective Searcy is pulled into a career-defining mystery that will challenge everything she knows about herself and the island.
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Broadway Forever, a 4-day series of free pop-up concerts around New York City, inspiring mini-documentaries to celebrate arts workers of NYC and their dedication to the industry. The concerts will give free access to Broadway performances throughout the Boroughs in DOT’s pedestrian plazas. The concerts will run Aug. 23 – 26.
(all at 3:30 PM ET)
Tues. Aug. 23 at Cooper Square Plaza, featuring Shoshana Bean.
Wed. Aug. 24 at Diversity Plaza (Queens), featuring Jelani Remy.
Thurs. Aug. 25 at Quisqueya Plaza (Upper Manhattan), featuring Ashley De La Rosa.
Fri. Aug. 26 (Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn), featuring Matt Doyle.
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Kurt Peterson: Proud Ladies – Close encounters with and lessons learned from 23 of the talented women of the theatre memoire concert will take place Mon. Oct. 10 at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Merkin Hall, directed by Lisa Asher, with music direction by Ian Herman.
Kurt and Victoria Mallory were planning the future to included touring for many years… After her passing, he was lost. As he remembered their special time time together, he began to think of other women who had affected his life. It turned out that most of them were talented women of the theatre. So, in keeping with his promise to Vicki to “not let her be forgotten,” he celebrates her along with quite a few others… including Laura Benanti, Betty Buckley, Dorothy Collins, Yvonne De Carlo, Carole Demas, Patricia Elliott, Katherine Hepburn, Cady Huffman, Angela Lansbury, Rebecca Luker, Patti LuPone, Donna McKechnie, Ethel Merman, Dina Merrill, Bernadette Peters, Faith Prince, Kelli O’Hara, Paige O’Hara, Ethel Shutta, Alexis Smith, Elaine Stritch, and Nancy Walker.
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The newly revised London version of Young Frankenstein will run Sept. 16 – Oct. 9 (opening Sept. 17) at CA’s La Mirada Theatre, directed by Jeff Whiting, with choreography by James Gray, and music direction by Benet Braun.
Sally Struthers (Frau Blücher), A. J. Homes (Frederick Frankenstein), Sarah Wolter (Elizabeth), Trent Mills (The Monster), Maggie Ek (Inga), Wesley Slade (Igor), and Joe Hart (Inspector Kemp and The Hermit), with Lexi Cross, Isabella DeSouza Moore, Carl Draper, Cheyenne Green, Colby Hamann, Grant Hodges, Missy Marion, Ryan Perry Marks, Ella May Patterson, Austin Schulte, and Rodrigo Varandas.
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Provincetown’s Town Hall Series, in support of Sandy Hook Promise, has announced its schedule here.
Indigo Girls (Aug. 21)
Audra McDonald (Aug. 28), with Seth Rudetsky
Edmund Bagnell (from Well-Strung) (Aug. 19-20)
Marilyn Maye: 94: Of Course There’s More (Aug. 23 – Sept. 3), with Tedd Firth, Daniel Glass & Steve Doyle.
Max von Essen (Aug. 26-27), with Billy Stritch
Simply Barbra (Sept. 1-2), with Steven Brinberg
Nicolas King (Sept. 3), with music direction by Tedd Firth.
Jessica Vosk (Sept. 4), with Seth Rudetsky
Beth Malone (Sept. 30 – Oct. 1), with Seth Rudetsky
Jinkx Monsoon (Oct. 29)
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& 
A reading & interview with David Loud and Debra Monk about Loud’s new book, “Facing the Music: A Broadway Memoir,” will take place Wed. Aug. 24 at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Barnes & Noble (Union Square, 22 East 17th Street). Doors open at 6 PM for ticket holders.
The book is an emotionally revealing memoir that explores David’s storied Broadway career, his struggle with Parkinson’s and his love of music. David worked with Debra in Steel Pier.
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TheaterWorks Hartford has announced its 2022-23 season:
Fun Home (Oct. 8-30, directed by Rob Ruggiero
Christmas On The Rocks, (Nov. 30 – Dec. 23)
Queen of Basel (Feb. 4 – Mar. 5, 2023), by Hilary Bettis, directed by Cristina Angeles.
The Rembrandt (Apr. 29 – May 28), by Jessica Dickey, directed by Tracy Brigden.
Clyde’s (July 8 – Aug. 6), by Lynn Nottage, directed by Mikael Burke.
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London’s National Theater Live production of David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy will be available to stream on Sat. Oct. 8 & Sat. Oct. 15, both at 3 PM PT at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre, directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Ralph Fiennes (Robert Moses), Alisha Bailey (Mariah Heller), Samuel Barnett (Ariel Porter), David Bromley (Stamford Fergus), Al Coppola (Sandy McQuade, Siobhán Cullen (Finnuala Connell), Ian Kirkby (Lewis Mason), and Alana Maria (Shirley Hayes).
For 40 uninterrupted years, Robert Moses exploited those in office through a mix of charm and intimidation. Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, he created parts, bridges, and 627 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. Faced with resistance by protest groups campaigning for a very different idea of what the city should become, will the weakness of democracy be exposed in the face of his charismatic conviction?
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Sez Who (in Tennessee)?
1-H. Blanche du Bois in A Streetcar Named Desire
2-J. Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
3-I. Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie
4-G. Alexandra del Lago/Princess Kosmonopolis in Sweet Bird of Youth
5-B. Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
6-E. Steve in A Streetcar Named Desire
7-C. Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon in The Night of the Iguana
8-A. Alma Winemiller in Summer and Smoke
9-F. Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie
10-D. Rosa Delle Rose in The Rose Tattoo