Today’s Highlights:
Michelle Pawk begins her run as Madame Morrible in Wicked at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre.
Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Maria Friedman, featuring Jonathan Groff (Franklin), Lindsay Mendez (Mary), Daniel Radcliffe (Charley), Sherz Aletaha (Scotty/Mrs. Spencer/Auditionee), Krystal Joy Brown (Gussie), Katie Rose Clarke (Beth), Leana Rae Concepcion (Newscaster/Waitress/Auditionee), Carter Harris & Colin Keane (Frank Jr. (alternate as Frank Jr.), Corey Mach (Tyler/Make-Up Artist), Talia Robinson (Meg), Reg Rogers (Joe), Jamila Sabares-Klemm (Dory/Evelyn), Brian Sears (Photographer/Bunker), Christian Strange (RU/Newscaster/Reverend), Vishal Vaidya (Jerome), Natalie Wachen (KT), and Jacob Keith Watson (Terry/Mr. Spencer, with Morgan Kirner, Amanda Rose, Evan Alexander Smith, Koray Tarhan, opens at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
The Skivvies: Sleigh My Name concert, starring Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley, opens at Laguna Playhouse.
42nd Street Moon‘s Gypsy in Concert, directed by A.C. Carollo, featuring Melinda Meeng (Rose), Will Giammona (Herbie), Marah Sotelo (Louise), Danny Cozart (Jocko/Driver/Weber/Mr. Goldstone/Cigar/Bougeron Couchon), Colette Goodman (Baby June), Chloe Fong (Baby Louise/Edna Mae), Emery Cozart (Ballon Girl), Vivienne Davis (Charlie/RichBoy), Dresden Davis (Vladimir/Boy Scout), Erik Davis (Georgie/Pop/Pastey/Phil), Victoria Stewart Davis (Mom/Mazeppa), Laurie Strawn (Mom/Tessie Tura/Waitress/Miss Cratchitt/Renee), Catrina Manahan (Dainty June), Kayla Yee (Betsy Ann), Zanna Wyant (Mom/Agnes/Electra), Gwen Herdon (Marjory May), Katie Maupin (Geraldine), Edward Im (Yonkers), Alejandro Eustaquuio (L.A.), and Jacob Henrie-Naffaa (Tulsa), opens at San Francisco’s Alcazar Theatre.
Chess in Concert, a benefit in support of the Entertainment Community Fund, directed by Michael Mayer, featuring Darren Criss (Freddie Trumper), Lena Hall (Florence Vassey), Ramin Karimloo (Anatoly Sergievsky), Solea Pfeiffer (Svetlana Sergievsky), Bradley Dean (Ivan Molokoy), Sean Allan Krill (Walter de Courcey), and Bryce Pinkham (The Arbiter), with Kate Bailey, Joe Beauregard, Neal Benari, Brendon Chan, Nkrumah Gatling, Masumi Iwai, Nina Lafarga, Ross Lekites, Austin Lesch, Alicia Lundgren, Sean MacLaughlin, Robin Masella, Kaitlyn Mesh, Katerina Papacostas, Julius Rubio, Emily Stillings, Stephen Tewksbury, and Christopher Vo, at 7:30 PM at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre.
Red Bull Theater‘s Your Own Thing benefit concert performance, by Hal Lester & Danny Apolinar, directed by Gabriel Barre, featuring Santino Fontana, Eddie Cooper (Sebastian), Lilli Cooper (Viola), Kate Burton, Lesli Margherita, Simon Pearl, Michael Pilato, Jennifer Sánchez, Vaden Thurgood, Santino Fontana, Michael Cerveris, Robert Cucciolo, Tovah Feldshuh, Richard Kind, Ken Page, Patrick Page, Laila Robins, Estelle Parsons, Jay O. Sanders, Mary Testa, John Douglas Thompson, Michael Urie, and Bruce Vilanch, at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space.
Transport Group‘s It’s a Wonderful Life benefit performance, adapted by Joe Landry, with music by Ted Shen & Carmel Dean, featuring Donna Lynne Champlin (George Bailey), Marc Kudisch (Nick the Bartender), Maryann Plunkett (Clarence), Mary Testa (Henry F. Potter), Barbara Walsh (Ma Bailey), Nick Westrate (Violet Bick), Michael Mastro (Uncle Billy), Barbara Andres (Mr. Gower), and Sherry D. Boone (Mary Hatch), with George Abud, Lauren Blackman, Michael Hartung, Colin Hanlon, Christopher Innvar, Tina Johnson, Kelly McAndrew, Jennifer Piech, Blair Ross, Tally Sessions, Cheryl Stern, and Tatiana Wechsler, with Tina Chilip, Tim Dolan, David Huynh, Francesca James, Kyra Kennedy, Erica Knight, Danny Kornfeld, Emma Orelove, Nancy Shayne, and John Wellmann, at 8 PM at Off-Broadway’s Sheen Center.
The 24 Hour Plays benefit performance, featuring 6 new plays, written, rehearsed & performed by local Philadelphia actors, directors, and playwrights, at 8 PM at Philadelphia’s Interact Theatre.
Joshua Henry: Holiday Concert at 8 PM at Harlem’s Red Rooster.
Get Happy: A Judy Garland Centennial Celebration concert, by Robert Cary & Jonathan Tolins, directed by Michael Arden, featuring Jessica Vosk and Andy Karl, at 8 PM at Carnegie Hall.
Advent Carolndar concert, directed by Tim Drucker, starring Julia Mattison and Joel Waggoner, at both 7 & 9:30 PM at NYC’s Chelsea Music Hall.
Lyrics & Lyricists’ MISS: Broadway’s Women Songwriters concert, co-written & directed by Kate Baldwin & Georgia Stitt, with songs by Kay Swift, Mary Rodgers, Micki Grant, Lucy Simon, Elizabeth Swados, Jeanine Tesori, Lisa Kron, Sara Bareilles, Erin McKeown, and Quiara Alegria Hudes, performed by Kate Baldwin, Kennedy Kanagawa, Bryonha Marie Parham, Nicholas Rodriguez, and Emily Skeggs, closes at NYC’s 92Y.
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Reviews for Some Like it Hot at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): …the obviously-a-hit new musical Some Like It Hot… J. Harrison Ghee plays the moment lightly yet fully, without losing the laugh. But it lands in a world so vastly different from Wilder’s, and in a version of the story so vastly retuned to address that world, that it seems like something much bigger. It’s an invitation, as is the show overall, to a new and intersectional stage of liberation… Not to put too much weight on what is in many ways a standard-issue Broadway musical comedy circa 1959: often silly, sometimes shaggy, but with entertainment always the top note. That’s a pretty high standard, after all, and in its staging (by Casey Nicholaw), its revamped plot (by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin) and especially its songs (by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), Some Like It Hot clears the bar handily…
Variety (Frank Rizzo): …the creative team of the latest stage musical version of the 1959 movie Some Like It Hot brings fresh perspectives and a different kind of fun to the iconic film… boasts swell performances, dandy twists and turns, razzmatazz dancing and a whole lotta energy (under the savvy, playful direction and choreography of Casey Nicholaw) — all of which should please new audiences without alienating fans of the original. If the songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman…don’t always score high marks, well: Nobody’s perfect… re-adjusts the film’s time and setting from the last hurrah of the Roaring ’20s to the…stylish Art Deco period — of 1933…
Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones): Some Like It Hot roars along like the 20th Century Limited, racing from rumba to samba and jive to paso doble, its book unfurling with breakneck zestiness and its fleet-footed dancers and singers speeding so fast from one transition to another that it feels as if someone has lit a fuse and the Shubert Theatre is set to burst into flames every night at 10:30… the ebullient choreographic and directorial stylings of Casey Nicholaw… The gently anachronistic musical… For the most part, the changes are smart… Borle and Ghee, both consummate, eminently likable pros, have a fun, genial rapport and the book offers some good laughs… The show hardly bristles with eroticism; indeed, it runs afeared thereof….
New York Stage Review (Frank Scheck): …From its opening moments to its last, the show practically wears itself out attempting to pull out all the stops with the sort of theatrical pizzazz… If at times the strenuous efforts feel too exhausting, bless their hearts for trying so hard… That the show works to the extent that it does is a testament to the formidable talents of its creators, including composer/co-lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman…, book writers Matthew Lopez…and Amber Ruffin, and, perhaps most importantly, director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw, who brings to this fast-paced production the same effervescence and flair he delivered in such shows as the not dissimilar The Drowsy Chaperone….
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Teachers’ Pets by Jim Bernhard
Match these teachers with their students:
| 1. Marian Paroo | A. Katherina Minola |
| 2. Ralph Devine | B. Polly Browne |
| 3. Henry Higgins | C. Sidney Cohn and Frankie Frayne |
| 4. Lucentio | D. Patrick Dennis |
| 5. Anna Leonowens | E. Mary MacGregor |
| 6. Mme. Dubonnet | F. Morgan Evans |
| 7. Andrew Crocker-Harris | G. Amaryllis |
| 8. Phil “Junior” Dolan | H. Prince Chulalongkorn |
| 9. L. C. Moffat | I. Eliza Doolittle |
| 10. Jean Brodie | J. John Taplow |
Scroll down for the answers…
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2023 Golden Globes nominations:
Click here for the complete list.
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Off-Broadway’s Public Theater has announced its Winter/Spring 2023 season (scroll down):
The Harder They Come (begins Feb. 16), by Suzan-Lori Parks & Trevor Rhone, directed by Tony Taccone & Sergio Trujillo, with choreography by Edgar Godineaux & Sergio Trujillo, with music direction by Kenny Seymour. 
Featuring the music of Jimmy Cliff, this is the story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star.
Dark Disabled Stories (dates TBA), by Ryan J. Haddad, directed by Jordan Fein. An autobiographical series of unforgiving vignettes about the strangers he encounters. An autobiographical play which 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.
Shadow/Land (begins Apr. 20), by Erika Dickerson-Despenza. An examination of the ongoing effects of disaster, evacuation, displacement, and urban renewal.
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Dave Malloy’s Preludes will run Jan. 6 – Feb. 5 (opening Jan. 28) at Boston’s Lyric Stage Company, directed by Courtney O’Connor, with music direction by Dan Rodriguez.
Aimee Doherty, Will McGarrahan, Anthony Pires Jr., Dan Prior, Kayla Shimizu, and Dan Rodriguez, with Allison Beauregard and Matthew Zahnziger.
A musical fantasia, Preludes unfolds in the hypnotized mind of composer and virtuoso pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff as he attempts to overcome his writer’s block following a disastrous premiere of his Symphony No. 1 in D minor. In array of hypnotic reveries, he is invigorated by some of the most influential artists of the time, including Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Tchaikovsky. A glorious journey on an artist’s quest to secure a legacy and reclaim a voice.
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Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’ will close Sun. Dec. 18 at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre, after 22 previews & 21 regular performances performances, directed by Stevie-Walker Webb.
Jordan E. Cooper (Peaches), Crystal Lucas-Perry (Passenger #5), Fedna Jacquet (Passenger #1), Marchant Davis (Passenger #2), Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Passenger #4), and Shannon Matesky (Passenger #3), with Nik Alexander, Jasminn Johnson, Michael Rishawn, Kedren Spencer, Brennie Tellu, and Emma Van Lare.
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Dino! An Evening with Dean Martin, starring Tally Sessions, will run Jan. 20 – Mar. 19 (opening Jan. 22) at Milwaukee Rep, directed by Jonathan Hetler.
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Manhattan Theatre Club‘s Winter Benefit 2023: An Evening with Kelli O’Hara will take place Mon. Jan. 23 at 7 PM at NYC’s Ziegfeld Ballroom, directed by Scott Ellis, with music direction by Dan Lipton.
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The Lehman Trilogy will run June 13 – July 16 at Boston’s Huntington Theatre (link TBA), directed by Carey Perloff.
Casting TBA.
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Roundabout Theatre‘s Gala 2023 will take place Mar. 6 at NYC’s Ziegfeld Ballroom. Director and music director TBA.
Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Scott Ellis, and Black Theatre United.
Sutton Foster
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Wuthering Heights, adapted & directed by Emma Rice, will run Jan. 27 – Feb. 19 at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, with choreography by Etta Murfitt, and music direction by Pat Moran.
Sam Archer (Lockwood/EdgarLinton/The Moors), Leah Brotherhead (Catherine), Georgia Bruce (Isabella Linton/Little Linton/The Moors), Lloyd Gorman (Mr. Earnshaw/The Moors), TJ Holmes (Dr. Kenneth/The Moors), Jordan Laviniere (Leader of the Yorkshire Moors), Tama Phethean (Hindley Earnshaw/Hareton Earnshaw/The Moors), Eleanor Sutton (Frances Earnshaw/Catherine Linton/The Moors), and Liam Tamne (Heathcliff), with Stephanie Elstob.
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Theatre West & New Los Angeles Repertory Company‘s production of the world premiere of Richard Hellesen’s Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, has extended its run through Dec. 18, now playing at LA’s Hudson Mainstage Theatre, directed by Peter Ellenstein.
John Rubinstein (Dwight D. Eisenhower).
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The cast album of York Theatre Company’s production of Peter Kellogg & Stephen Weiner’s Penelope, or How the Odyssey Was Really Written, has been released on Jay Records. The production is directed & choreographed by Emily Maltby, with music direction by David Hancock Turner.
Philippe Arroyo, Leah Hocking, Cooper Howell, Ben Jacoby, David LaMarr, Jacob Alexander Simon, Britney Nicole Simpson, George Slotin, Sean Thompson, Maria Wirries, Bebe Browning, and Constantine Pappas.
Penelope is married to Odysseus, the rightful King of Ithaca. For the last twenty years, she’s been waiting for him to return from the Trojan War. Meanwhile, a bevy of suitors have gathered, each wanting to marry her and take over the kingdom. Since they have little else to do but eat and drink, they decide to form an a cappella group. (The acoustics in the great hall are terrific.) To stall them, Penelope writes letters to herself and pretends they’re from Odysseus saying he’s on his way. Little does she know, her letters gathered together are creating the story of The Odyssey. (Since no one knows who really wrote The Odyssey, this theory is as good as any other.)
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& 
The Ilene Graff Holiday Show will take place both live & livestreamed on Wed. Dec. 28 at 9:45 PM ET/6:45 PM PT at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Ben Lanarone.
Lori Tan Chinn, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, and more TBA.
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Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy, adapted by Ben Power, will run June 13 – July 16 at Boston’s Huntington Theatre (link TBA), directed by Carey Perloff.
Casting TBA.
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Additional casting has been announced for the “Wicked” film. As previously announced, the two-part film will be released Dec. 25, 2024 and Dec. 25, 2025
Previously announced: Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba).
Newly cast: Jeff Goldbloom (Wizard), Marissa Bode (Nessarose), Bowen Yang (Pfannee), Bronwyn James (ShenShen), Keala Settle (Miss Coddle), Aaron Teoh (Avaric) Colin Michael Carmichael (Professor Nikidik), Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Ethan Slater (Boq).
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Teachers’ Pets
1-G. Marian Paroo – Amaryllis in The Music Man
2-D. Ralph Devine – Patrick Dennis in Mame
3-I. Henry Higgins – Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady or Pygmalion
4-A. Lucentio – Katherine Minola in The Taming of the Shrew
5-H. Anna Leonowens – Prince Chulalongkorn in The King and I
6-B. Mme. Dubonnet – Polly Browne in The Boy Friend
7-J. Andrew Crocker-Harris – John Taplow in The Browning Version
8-C. Phil “Junior” Dolan – Sidney Cole and Frankie Frayne in On Your Toes
9-F. L. C. Moffat – Morgan Evans in The Corn Is Green
10-E. Jean Brodie – Mary MacGregor in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie