Today’s Highlights:
Scott Alan: The Old and The New concert, with special guests Audrey Belle Adams, Beatriz Melo, Marylee Fairbanks, LaRaisha DiEvelyn Dionne, Carla Mongado, Ashlyn Combs, Natalie Ortega, Cassidy Ewert, Eli Thomas, T’Arica Crawford, Jenna Miller Ferreira, Julian Carli, and Kendall Paige Parrett, at 7 PM at NYC’s Birdland.
The Harlem Gospel Choir – A Gospel Concert with a Special Tribute to Aretha Franklin, at 8 PM at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
Waitress, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, featuring Jessica Vosk (Jenna), Devin DeSantis (Dr. Pomatter), Lissa deGuzman (Dawn), Nicole Michelle Haskins (Becky), Ben Crawford (Earl), Jonah D. Winston (Cal), Troy Iwata (Ogie), Torri Tripoli (Lulu), Cleavant Derricks (Joe) and Caitlin Witty (standby for Jenna), with Kaley Bender, Harter Clingman, Arnold Harper II, Alia Hodge, Josh Hoon Lee, Patricia Jewel, Vaughn Mariani, Gabriel Mudd, Owen Scales, Kaitlyn Louise Smith and Erica Stephan, closes at the St. Louis Muny.
*********************
Grace Notes Quiz: A Colonel of Truth, by Jim Bernhard
Match these colonels with the right play or musical:
| 1. Colonel Calverley | A. Jacobowsky and the Colonel or The Grand Tour |
| 2. Colonel Sir Francis Chesney | B. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest |
| 3. Colonel J. C. Kinkaid | C. Pride and Prejudice |
| 4. Colonel Pickering | D. Patience |
| 5. Colonel Matterson | E. Too True to Be Good |
| 6. Colonel Chowser | F. Charley’s Aunt |
| 7. Colonel Melkett | G. A Texas Trilogy: The Oldest Living Graduate |
| 8. Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky | H. Black Comedy |
| 9. Colonel Tallboys | I. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby |
| 10. Colonel Guy Fitzwilliam | J. Pygmalion or My Fair Lady |
Scroll down for the answers…
*********************
Reviews for Stephen Schwartz & Lindsey Ferrentino’s The Queen of Versailles at Boston’s Colonial Theatre:
Variety (Bob Verini): …offers the diva her richest opportunity to date to flex her dramatic muscles, while inspiring the composer-lyricist to the most emotionally affecting score, bar none, of his long career. This true-life riches-to-rags-to-rebirth saga … offers more in the way of sociopolitical critique than is usual for a mass-market entertainment. But it’s the production’s lavish appointments, and equivalent star power that offer the strongest prospects for commercial success when the show, now premiering at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre, lands on Broadway in 2025 or ’26… Chenoweth exudes exuberant humor and don’t-screw-with-me-fellas moxie as she shares her prodigious appetite for objects and children…. (her) rousing Act 1 closer, defying the gravity of their plight, confirms that her personal movie is far from over. Like Molly Brown, she ain’t down yet…. Much like the never-ending construction of the house, this show is very much still a work in progress as it heads to Broadway next season. Ferrentino smartly structures the show as a faithful translation of the documentary during Act I and what has essentially happened to the Siegels since during Act II — a riches to rags back to riches tale, if you will.
Theartrely (Jacob Miner): … Much like the never-ending construction of the house, this show is very much still a work in progress as it heads to Broadway next season. Ferrentino smartly structures the show as a faithful translation of the documentary during Act I and what has essentially happened to the Siegels since during Act II — a riches to rags back to riches tale, if you will. While clearly crafted with care from the creative team, the show at points suffers from too much exposition, lifting full scenes direct from the film to the stage. One can not argue that Kristin Chenoweth is giving a fabulous tour-de-force performance, rarely leaving the stage for the almost three hour musical except to quickly change into her next gorgeous outfit designed by Christian Cowan — 23 by my count… Where we falter is that Jackie as a character doesn’t feel fully formed as of yet, and the choice was made to cut the not-so-necessarily easy parts of her life…
Theatermania (Cameron Kelsall): The Palace of Versailles stands as a monument to hubristic excess. The decadence epitomized by its gilded walls and hall of mirrors led directly to the French Revolution. Socialites Jackie and David Siegel manage to keep their heads several centuries later, but The Queen of Versailles, the musicalization of their lives receiving its world premiere at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, loses its teeth along the way. Composer Stephen Schwartz and librettist Lindsey Ferrentino take a view-from-nowhere approach to the Siegels’ quest to become American royalty that neither properly indicts the pair for their follies nor sets them up as objects of sympathy…
*********************
Waiting for Godot will begin in Fall 2025 at a theatre TBA, directed by Jamie Lloyd.
Keanu Reeves (Stragon) and Alex Winter (Vladimir), and more TBA.
*********************
The PBS premiere of the filmed live capture of Waitress, originally scheduled for Nov. 15, has been canceled due to unforeseen contractual circumstances.
**********************
NYC’s Public Theater has announced its Under the Radar Festival, after recent setbacks, will return Jan. 4-19, 2025 (individual dates TBA).
A Knock on the Roof, by Khawla Ibraheem
By Body, My Archive: TECHNE, by Faustin Linyekula
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, by Shuji Terayama, with an all-female staging.
Little Murmur, by Akash Odedra
Under the Radar Symposium
**********************
Kenneth Lonergan’s Hold On to Me Darling will run Sept. 24 – Dec. 22 (opening Oct. 16) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, directed by Neil Pepe.
Adam Driver (Strings McCrane) and more TBA.
Country music icon Strings McCrane abandons the limelight to return to his small Tennessee hometown after the death of his mother.
**********************
Video: Donna McKechnie performs“My Life in the Theatre” (47:09)
**********************
Catherine Gropper’s The Meeting: The Interpreter continues through Aug. 25 at Theatre at St. Clements, directed by Brian Mertes.
Frank Wood and Kelley Curran
Set against the backdrop of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, the play tells the story of an international interpreter thrown up against government systems, catapulting him into circumstances beyond his control.
**********************
Video: Aaron Tveit and Joanna “JoJo” Levesque perform “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge.
**********************
Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company has announced its 2024-25 season:
Freeky Introduction (Oct. 16 – Nov. 17), by NSangou Njikam, directed by Dennis A. Allen II, starring Freeky Dee and DJ Monday Blue. An evening of poetry, ministry, and magic..
Grief Camp (Jan. – Feb. 2025, dates TBA), by Eliya Smith, directed by Les Waters. A study of loss and adolescence, set at a Virginia summer camp.
I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan (Jan.-Feb. 2025 (at the Stage 2 space), by Mona Pirnot, world premiere, directed by Ken Russ Schmoll. Greenspan will star as four millennial women. The work is reportedly about life as a career playwright.
Let’s Love (Mar. – Apr., dates TBA), by Ethan Coen, directed by Neil Pepe. A trio of one-acts exploring love.
Lowcountry (May-June), by Abby Rosebrock, directed by Jo Bonney. An under-employed actor returns to her rural hometown and finds herself romantically linked to a high school teacher with a record.
**********************
Arsenic and Old Lace will run Sept. 4-22 at Virginia Stage, directed by Nicola Minas.
Victoria Alev (Elaine Harper), Alvan Bolling II (Officer Brophy), John Cauthen (Rev. Dr. Harper), Dan Cimo (Officer Klein), Ryan Clemens (Teddy Brewster), Arthur Lazalde (Jonathan Brewster), Steven Minow (Dr. Einstein), Darius Nelson (Officer O’Hara), Ron Newman (Mr. Gibbs), Tom O’Reilly (Mr. Witherspoon), Michael Raver (Mortimer Brewster), Scott Rollins (Lieutenant Rooney), Linda Slade (Abby Brewster), Kathryn Strouse (Martha Brewster),
**********************
Jez Butterworth’s The Hills of California will run Sept. 11 – Dec. 8 (opening Sept. 29) at the Broadhurst Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes.
Laura Connelly (Joan/Veronica), Leanne Best (Gloria), Ophelia Lovibond (Ruby), Helena Wilson (Jill), Nancy Allsop (Young Gloria), Sophia Ally (Young Ruby), Lara McDonnell (Young Joan), and Nicola Turner (Young Jill), with Bryan Dick, Richard Short, David Wilson Barnes, Richard Lumsden, Ta’Rea Campbell, Sawyer Barth, Ellyn Heald, Cameron Scoggins, and Max Roll… and understudies Erin Rose Doyle, Sadie Veach, Liz Pearce, Jessica Baglow, Liam Bixby, and Q. Smith.
Set in a swelteringly hot 1970s summer, the Webb sisters return to their childhood home in the English seaside town of Blackpool. One sister hasn’t been heard from in two decades, but her siblings hope that with their mother close to death upstairs that she might reappear.
**********************
Video: Highlights from A Little Night Music at ME’s Ogunquit Playhouse, featuring Kathleen Turner, Julia Murney, Mike McGowan, Nik Walker, Lora Lee Gayer, Lauren Maria Medina, Steven Telsey, and Gianna Yanelli.
**********************
Gage Tarlton’s Pretty Perfect Lives will run Aug. 17 – Sept. 8 at the Flea Theater, directed by Gabi Carrubba.
Elizabeth, Zane Phillips, and Nic Ashe.
Set in the near future, the play follows lifestyle influencer couple TIFFANY&TUCKER, whose relationship is put to the test when they are selected to join the Internet Reality Simulation-Project: a new digital program that allows you to travel through different versions of your life via augmented reality.
**********************
(listen) Aaron Lazar & Josh Groban perform “Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot” from n a newly released track from Lazar’s upcoming ALS benefit album, “Impossible Dream.”
**********************
King Lear, directed by Jonathan Munby, starring Ian McKellen, will screen Sun. Aug. 13 at 3 PM at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater.
**********************
Grace Notes Quiz answers: A Colonel of Truth, by Jim Bernhard
1-D. Colonel Calverley – Patience
2-F. Colonel Sir Francis Chesney – Charley’s Aunt
3-G. Colonel J. C. Kinkaid – A Texas Trilogy: The Oldest Living Graduate4-J. Colonel Pickering – Pygmalion or My Fair Lady/Pygmalion
4-J. Colonel Pickering – Pygmalion or My Fair Lady/Pygmalion
5-B. Colonel Matterson – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest6-I. Colonel Chowser – The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
6-I. Colonel Chowser – The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
7-H. Colonel Melkett – Black Comedy
8-A. Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky – Jacobowsky and the Colonel or The Grand Tour
9-E. Colonel Tallboys – Too True to Be Good
10-C. Colonel Guy Fitzwilliam – Pride and Prejudice