Today’s Highlights:
* Carmen (2014), by Bizet, featuring Anita Hartig, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ildar Abdrazakov, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, streams for FREE at 7 PM ET at 7:30 PM at NYC Opera (and available for 23 hours).
* Martin Luther King Day: Empathy Concert & Conversations webinar, hosted by Elliott Masie, featuring Joshua Henry, Telly Leung, and Melinda Doolittle, streams on Zoom at 4 PM ET here.
* Making Friends, written by & starring Tom DeTrinis, directed by Drew Droege, concludes streaming at LA’s IAMA Theatre Company.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Reasonable Facsimiles by Jim Bernhard
Match these stars with their replacements during the Broadway run:
| 1. Robert Preston in I Do! I Do! | A. Edward Mulhare |
| 2. Brian Stokes Mitchell in Kiss Me, Kate | B. Eddie Albert |
| 3. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady | C. Jerry Lester |
| 4. Gregory Hines in Jelly’s Last Jam | D. Thomas Gomez |
| 5. Zero Mostel in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | E. Gordon MacRae |
| 6. Robert Morse in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | F. Robert Preston |
| 7. Burl Ives in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | G. Billy Dee Williams |
| 8. Robert Preston in The Music Man | H. Burke Moses |
| 9. George C. Scott in Sly Fox | I. Brian Stokes Mitchell |
| 10. James Earl Jones in Fences | J. Darryl Hickman |
Scroll down for the answers…
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2020 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award winners have been announced.
Click here for the complete list of winners.
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Video: Stars in the House, with special guests Liz Callaway & Dan Foster, Marc Shaiman & Lou Mirabal, and Jack Plotnick (1:42:50)
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Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage has announced its Spring 2021 season. Each show will be fully produced and professionally filmed with the goal of offering a viewing experience as close to live as possible.
* The Pink Unicorn (Mar. 5-11), by Elise Forier Edie, directed by M. Bevin O’Gara, starring Stacy Fischer.
Trisha Lee considers herself open-minded and accepting, at least, compare to other mothers in her conservative hometown of Sparkton, Texas. But when her teenager Jo comes out as genderqueer, Trisha’s comfortable life comes under attack by her church, the local high school, and even her own family. The play traces one conservative woman’s journey from tolerance to acceptance to solidarity.
* TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever (Apr. 16-22), written & directed by James Ijames,
This wildly irreverent and whip-smart satire dissects a sordid slice of American history with the goal of reimagining the future. When Sally, a young Black college student, is faced with unwanted advances from the college’s white Dean of Students, she sets out, amidst a swirl of marching bands, beauty pageants, and bubbly tour guides, to dismantle the legacies that bind us.
* The Boston Project: Project Resilience (June 4-10). Boston Playwrights, directors and casting TBA.
Five Boston playwrights will be commissioned to each write a brand-new, site-specific, ten-minute play that explores and celebrates the resilience that guides us through each day.
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Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons has announced 4 new additions to its Board of Directors:
* Robert O’Hara (playwright)
* Larissa FastHorse (playwright)
* Bash Doran (playwright)
* Alan Poul (director-producer)
The quartet marks the first artistic representation on the company’s board in its 50-year history.
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Sarasota’s Asolo Rep has announced its 2021 outdoor season, to be performed in its newly constructed, socially distanced Terrace Stage venue. This newly announced season replaces the previously announced productions of Our Town, Grand Horizons, Knoxville, and Hood, which are now slated for the 2021-22 season.
* Laura Osnes in concert (Feb. 5-6)
* Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Feb. 17 – Mar. 3), by Cheryl L. West, starring E. Faye Butler.
* Camelot in Concert (Mar. 17 – Apr. 1), directed by Celine Rosenthal, with new orchestrations & music direction by Steve Orich. Casting TBA.
* Ana Isabelle & Friends in Concert: Stand Back Sarasota! (Apr. 15-24), directed by Josh Rhodes, with special guests Junior Cervila and Guadalupe Garcia.
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Broadway’s Black Voices of the Future will stream Mon. Jan. 25 at 5:30 PM ET here.
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Zhailon Levingston, Nik Alexander, Nehemiah Luckett, Tracey Conyer Lee, Sissi Liu, Kirya Traber, Alex Hare, Derrick Byars, Tia DeShazor, AriDy Nox, and Brandon Webster.
Nik Alexander, Kirya Traber, Tracey Conyer Lee, Nehemiah Luckett, Avionce Hoyles, Matthew Greer, John Carlin, Amara Brady, Richard Baskin, Tonilyn Sideco, Missy Wise, Jeannette Bayardelle, Kayla Davion, Kevin R. Free, Denise Manning, Carla R. Stewart, Ashley Jenkins, Nattalyee Randall, Ashley Jenkins, Ashanti J’Aria, Ck Edwards, Desiree Murphy, Renee Reid, Leandra Ellis-Gaston, Alaina Newell, Corey Barrow, Hk Wall, Tayler Harris, Marthaluz Veliz, Tyler McKenzie, Caleb Spainhour, and Max Morter.
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Haley Swindal: To New York, With Love has been extended through Feb. 14 at NYC’s Birdland, in support of The Actors Fund.
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Cambridge’s A.R.T. will present a digital version of Idris Goodwin’s Hype Man: a break beat play this Spring (dates TBA), directed by Shawn LaCount.
(original): Kadahi Bennett, Rachel Cognata, and Michael Knowlton.
Frontman Pinnacle and his hype man Verb have been making Hip-Hop together since they were kids. Now that they’ve got top-notch beatmaker Peep On e in the mix, the group is finally on the verge of making it big — until the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager shakes the trio to its core, and forces them to navigate issues of friendship, race, and privilege. The play asks us: who has the responsibility to speak up in the face of social injustice?
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ABC Daytime: Back on Broadway, in support of BC/EFA, will stream Thurs. Feb. 11 at 8 PM ET here, directed by John Dietrich.
Bobbie Eakes, Melissa Claire Egan, Vincent Irizarry, Eva La Rue, Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison, Eden Riegel, Chrishell Stause, Walt Willey from, Kristen Alderson, BethAnn Fuenmayor, Kathy Brier, Kassie DePaiva, David Gregory, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Catherine Hickland, Mark Lawson, Hillary B. Smith, Jason Tam, Brittany Underwood, Bradford Anderson, Brandon Barash, and Anthony Geary.
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Music Theatre Wichita has announced initial information for its 2021 season.
Audiences will be socially distanced in “pods” for both the indoor and outdoor shows, and the theatre will follow a myriad of safety precautions. There will be 6 performances each of most shows. Additional details on all events TBA.
* Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Apr. 28 – May 2), concert-style, featuring Julius Thomas III, Erin Clemons, and more TBA.
* No More Talk of Darkness (May 13-28) concert, starring Jeremy Stolle.
* TBD Pre-Broadway musical (June 16-20)
* Red White and Broadway (July 2-3), featuring local performers with Broadway credits.
* Golden MTWichita at 50 (August. 25-29) concert, featuring Matt Bogart and Desi Oakley.
* Grease (Sept. 15-19).
* Twelfth Night (November dates TBA), a musical version.
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Video: Betty White and Carol Channing perform “Bosom Buddies” on “The Love Boat.”
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The Reading Series, in support of The Actors Fund, has announced Rabbit Hole, by David Lindsay-Abaire, will livestream Sat. Jan. 23 at 8 PM ET here, directed by Alison Tanney.
Celia Keenan-Bolger (Becca), Mary Testa (Nat), Lauren Molina (Izzy), Andrew Barth Feldman (Jason), and more TBA.
The play explores the grieving process of a couple who have lost their only child to a senseless car accident and are now attempting to survive the enormous loss that threatens to bring them down.
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Video: Hamilton has created a side-by-side video comparing “Satisfied” and “Helpless.”
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Reasonable Facsimiles
1-E. Robert Preston in I Do! I Do! – Gordon MacRae
2-H. Brian Stokes Mitchell in Kiss Me, Kate – Burke Moses
3-A. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady – Edward Mulhare
4-I. Gregory Hines in Jelly’s Last Jam – Brian Stokes Mitchell
5-C. Zero Mostel in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – Jerry Lester
6-J. Robert Morse in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Darryl Hickman
7-D. Burl Ives in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Thomas Gomez
8-B. Robert Preston in The Music Man – Eddie Albert
9-F. George C. Scott in Sly Fox – Robert Preston
10-G. James Earl Jones in Fences – Billy Dee Williams
