Today’s Highlights:
Julie Halston: Back by Popular Demand concert, both live and livestreamed, at 7 PM at NYC’s Birdland.
Platinum Dreams new musical in concert, by Gary William Friedman & Stevie Holland, directed by Joe Barros, featuring Justin Sargent, Stevie Holland, and Gen Parton-Shin, at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.
54 Sings 2013: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of 10 Years Ago concert, with music direction by Aidan Wells, featuring Naima Andreanda Aladkham, Leanne Antonio, Khem Balram, Enmanuel (Manie) Delarosa, Keri Rene Fuller, Kalonjee Gallimore, Max Heitmann, Autumn Hurlbert, Bryson Jacobi Jackson, Emily Rose Lyons, Matt Manuel, Andrew Maroney, Tyler McCall, Henry Platt, Jelani Remy Lily Soto, Brook Wood, and Alyssa Wray, at 9:30 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz, It’s About Time by Jim Bernhard, by Jim Bernhard
Provide the missing words in these titles of plays and musicals:
| 1. ____ Time, musical by Sigmund Romberg, Dorothy Donnelly, et al | A. Cuckoo |
| 2. Next Time I’ll ____ to You, play by James Saunders | B. Remembered |
| 3. No Time for ____, play by Ira Levin | C. Borrowed |
| 4. On ____Time, play by Paul Osborn | D. Blossom |
| 5. The ____ Time, play by Samuel Taylor | E. Love |
| 6. The Time of the ____, play by Arthur Laurents | F. Sing |
| 7. Time and the ____, play by J. B. Priestley | G. Sergeants |
| 8. Time Out for ____, play by Ronald Alexander | H. Conways |
| 9. Time____ , play by Jean Anouilh | I. Ginger |
| 10. ____ Is A Time of Day, play by John Patrick | J. Happy |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Christopher Renshaw, Andrew Delaplaine & Aurin Squire’s A Wonderful World, based on the life of Louis Armstrong, will run oct. 11-29 at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, directed by Christopher Renshaw, with choreography by Rickey Tripp.
James Monroe Iglehart (Louis Armstrong) and more TBA.
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August Wilson’s Seven Guitars will run Mar. 7 – Apr. 2 at Milwaukee Rep, directed by Ron OJ Parson.
Saran Bakari (Ruby), Bryant Bentley (Red Carter), Kierra Bunch (Vera Dotson), Marsha Estell (Louise), Dimonte Henning (Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton), Vincent Jordan (Canewell), and Alfred Wilson (Hedley).
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The cast album of Dean Pitchford, Doug Mesterman & Timothy Allen McDonald’s The Big One-Oh is now available here, as well as on all digital outlets.
Christian Borle, Derek Klena, Patti Murin, Brittney Mack, Michael James Scott, Jaxon Daniel, Emmy Woodard, Claudia Bennett, Hatty King, Scott Nelson, Mason Risser, Amber Trottman, Elle Wesley, Riley West, and Emma Rose Williamson.
Charley Maplewood has never been one for parties – that would require friends, which he doesn’t have. Well, unless you count his monster friends, but they’re only imaginary. But now that he’s turning ten-the big one-oh-he decides to throw a birthday party for himself, complete with a “House of Horrors” theme. Of course, things don’t work out as he plans. Will Charley be able to pull it together before the big one-oh… becomes the big OH-NO!?
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Additional casting has been announced for Robert Horn, Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally’s Shucked, with will begin previews Mar. 8 and open Apr. 4 at the Nederlander Theatre, directed by Jack O’Brien, with choreography by Sarah O’Gleby, and music supervision by Jason Howland.
Alex Newell, Ashley D. Kelley, John Behlmann, Kevin Cahoon, Andrew Durand, Caroline Innerbichler, and Grey Henson, with Jimmy Brewer, Audrey Cardwell, Dwayne Clark, Rheaume Crenshaw, Jaygee Macapugay, Scott Stangland, Yasmeen Sulieman, Quinn VanAntwerp, Miki Abraham, Ken Clark, Traci Elaine Lee, and Alan Wiggins.
Details of the plot are still scarce, but press notes reveal that the piece is a “farm-to-fable musical” which will turn Broadway on its ear and offer a kernel of hope for our divided nation.
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National Theatre Live will screen the London production of David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy on Sun. Feb. 26 at 3 PM 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 (Walter McQuade), Siobhán Cullen (Finnuala Connell), Ian Kirkby (Lewis Mumford), Alana Maria (Shirley Hayes), Dani Moseley (Carol Ames), Guy Paul (Henry Vanderbilt), Helen Schlesinger (Jane Jacobs), Mary Stillwaggon Stewart (Nicole Sawyer), and Danny Webb (Governor Al Smith).
For 40 uninterrupted years, Robert Moses exploited this 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 parks, 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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Complete casting has been announced for Robert Horn, Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally’s Shucked, to begin previews Mar. 8 and open Apr. 4 at the Nederlander Theatre, directed by Jack O’Brien, with choreography by Sarah O’Gleby, and music direction by Jason Howland.
Grey Henson (Storyteller), Ashley D. Kelley (Storyteller), John Behlmann, Kevin Cahoon, Andrew Durand, Caroline Innterbichler, and Alex Newell, with Jimmy Brewer, Audrey Cardwell, Dwayne Clark, Rheaume Crenshaw, Jaygee Macapugay, Scott Stangland, Yasmeen Sulieman, Quinn VanAntwerp, Miki Abraham, Ken Clark, Traci Elaine Lee, and Alan Wiggins.
What do you get when you pair a semi-neurotic, New York comedy writer with two music superstars from Nashville? A hilarious and audacious farm-to-fable musical about the one thing Americans everywhere can’t get enough of: corn. Shucked is the new musical comedy that proves sometimes tearing down a few walls, rather than growing them, is the only way to preserve our way of life. Shucked is about to turn Broadway on its ear and offer a kernel of hope for our divided nation.
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The 66th Annual Obie Awards will take place Mon. Feb. 27 at NYC”s Terminal 5 (610 W. 56th St.).
Host, award recipients, and additional details TBA.
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Albee/Pinter, directed by Elina De Santos & Marilyn Fox, has been extended through Feb. 5 at Venice, CA’s Pacific Resident Theatre.
Jason Downs, Brad Greenquist, and Anthony Foux.
A retrospective of two early one-acts, running in tandem, both first produced in 1960. Albee’s Fam and Yam, set in an upper Eastside penthouse, examines an encounter between two unnamed playwrights, one famous, one not. This brief curtain raiser is an eloquent example of Albee’s biting wit and incisive satire. In Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter, two hitmen wait in a basement for their next assignment. The play combines the classic characteristics of early Pinter – a paucity of information and an atmosphere of menace, working- class small-talk in a claustrophobic setting – with an oblique but palpable political edge, and can be seen as containing the germ of Pinter’s entire dramatic oeuvre.
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Suzan-Lori Parks, Jimmy Cliff & Trevor Rhone’s The Harder They Come will run Feb. 16 – Mar. 26 (opening Mar. 15) at The Public Theater, directed by Tony Taccone & Sergio Trujillo, with choreography by Edgar Godineaux.
Jeannette Bayardelle, Shawn Bowers, Andrew Clarke, Jamal Christopher Douglas, Dana Marie Ingraham, Dominique Johnson, Chelsea-Ann Jone, Dudney Joseph Jr. Dwight Xavier Leslie, Morgan McGhee, Meecah, Jacob Ming-Trent, Alsha Morgan, Ken Robinson, and Housso Semon.
The story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music 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.
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Matthew Doherty’s Brothers Play continues through Feb. 6 at Legacy LA (1350 San Pablo St.), directed by james Eckhouse.
Rob Nagle, Jeffrey Nordling, and Jamie Wollrab.
A rip-roaring comedy about the long-term effects of trauma.
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“Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” will air Wed. Apr. 26 at 8 PM on NBC, and will begin streaming Apr. 27 on Peacock.
Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Jane Lynch, Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth, Aileen Quinn, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Bob Mackie, Cher, Ellen DeGeneres, Julie Andrews, Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern, Lily Tomlin, Marisa Tomei, Sofia Vergara, Steve Carell, Susan Lucci, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Vicki Lawrence.
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Complete casting has been announced for Alfred Uhry & Jason Robert Brown’s Parade, which will run Feb. 21 – Aug. 6 (opening Mar. 16) at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, directed by Michael Arden, with choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant & Christopher Cree Grant, and music direction by Tom Murray.
Ben Platt (Leo Frank), Micaela Diamond (Lucille Frank), Alex Joseph Grayson (Jim Conley), Sean Allan Krill (Governer Slaton), Howard McGillin (Old Soldier/Judge Roan), Paul Alexander Nolan (Hugh Dorsey), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Britt Craig), Kelli Barrett (Mrs. Phagan), Courtnee Carter (Angela), Eddie Cooper (Newt Lee), Erin Rose Doyle (Mary Phagan), Manoel Feliciano (Tom Watson), Danielle Lee Greaves (Minni McKnight), Douglas Lyons (Riley), Jake Pedersen (Frankie Epps), Florie Bagel (Nurse), Stacie Bono (Sally Slaton), Max Chernin (Mr. Turner), Emily Rose DeMartino (Essie), Christopher Gurr (Luther Rosser/Mr. Peavy), Beth Kirkpatrick (Nina Formby), Ashlyn Maddox (Monteen), Sophia Manicone (Iola Stover), William Michals (Detective STarnes), Jackson Teeley (Officer Ivey), Charlie Webb (Young Soldier), and Ryan Vona (Leo Frank standby), with Harry Bouvy, Tanner Callicutt, Bailee Endebrock, Caroline Fairweather, Prentiss E. Mouton, and Aurelia Williams.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: It’s About Time
1-D. Blossom Time, musical by Sigmund Romberg, Dorothy Donnelly, et al
2-F. Next Time I’ll Sing to You, play by James Saunders
3-G. No Time for Sergeants, play by Ira Levin
4-C. On Borrowed Time, play by Paul Osborn
5-J. The Happy Time, play by Samuel Taylor
6-A. The Time of the Cuckoo, play by Arthur Laurents
7-H. Time and the Conways, play by J. B. Priestley
8-I. Time Out for Ginger, play by Ronald Alexander
9-B. Time Remembered, play by Jean Anouilh
10-E. Love Is A Time of Day, play by John Patrick