Today’s Highlights:
Intimate Apparel, by Lynn Nottage & Ricky Ian Gordon, directed by Bartlett Sher, featuring Dominic Armstrong, Justin Austin, Errin Duane Brooks, Helena Brown, Kearstin Piper Brown, Chanáe Curtis, Adrienne Danrich, Leroy Davis, Matthew Gamble, Arnold Livingston Geis, Christian Mark Gibbs, Tesia Kwarteng, Anna Laurenzo, Justin Lee Miller, Jasmine Muhammad, Naomi Louisa O’Connell, Kimberli Render, Krysty Swann, and Chabrelle Williams, opens at Lincoln Center‘s Mitzi Newhouse Theatre.
Gem of the Ocean, by Augst Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith, featuring Sharif Atkins (Citizen Barlow), Syndey Charles (Black Mary), Lisa Gaye Dixon (Aunt Ester), Gary Houston (Rutherford Selig), Kelvin Roston, Jr. (Caesar), A.C. Smith (Eli) and James A. Williams (Solly Two Kings), opens at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
The Wonder of Women (The Tragedy of Sophonisba) benefit livestream reading, by John Marston, directed by Nathan Winkelstein, featuring Ro Boddie, Robert Cuccioli, Reynaldo Piniella, Cara Rickets, Derek Smith, and Sarin Monae West, at 7:30 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater.
Clear – A New Musical Experience, staged reading written & performed by Paul Oakley Stovall, at 7 PM CT at Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre.
Seth Rudetsky in concert, with special guest Jane Krakowski, at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Town Hall.
Major Attaway: The Genie’s Jukebox concert, at 9:45 PM ET at 54 Below.
A Collective Cy: Jeff Harnar Sings Cy Coleman concert, directed by Sara Louise Lazarus, with music direction by Alex Rybeck, at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Birdland.
“Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl” airs at 10 PM on NBC.
**********************
GRACE NOTES Quiz: Selling Points by Jim Bernhard
Match these theatre stars with the TV commercial phrases with which they were associated:
| 1. Karl Malden | A. “They make money the old-fashioned way—they earn it!.” |
| 2. John Gielgud | B. “It’s the quicker picker-upper.” |
| 3. Helen Mirren | C. “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” |
| 4. Ethel Merman | D. “Betcha can’t eat just one.” |
| 5. John Houseman | E. “It’s a coffee-lover’s dream.” |
| 6. J. K. Simmons | F. “Don’t leave home without them.” |
| 7. Nancy Walker | G. “We will sell no wine before its time.” |
| 8. Laurence Olivier | H. “Hands come up soft like roses, try Vel and you’ll see.” |
| 9. Lauren Bacall | I. “We’ve still got it, and we’re still worth it.” |
| 10. Bert Lahr | J. “Just touch the button, and in moments you have a picture.” |
Scroll down for the answers…
**********************
The world premiere of Peter Gil-Sheridan’s This Space Between Us will run Feb. 22 – Apr. 2 (opening Mar. 9) at the Keen Company, directed by Jonathan Silverstein.
Glynis Bell, Alex Chester, Joyce Cohen, Ryan Garbayo, Tommy Heleringer, and Anthony Ruiz.
A new comedy about trying to change the world while admitting home could use a little change, too. Nobody understands why Jamie wants to leave his cushy law office to work for a non-profit. His best friend is confused, his boyfriend is concerned, and his conservative Cuban-American family are sure they know what’s best. As Jamie announces his plans to serve those less fortunate, one shocking afternoon at the racetrack sparks unexpected and irreversible consequences for them all. This intergenerational comedy follows a raucous attempt to reach for something more without leaving the people you love behind.
**********************
New York Theatre Workshop‘s 2022 Gala will take place Mon. Apr. 11 at 6 PM ET at NYC’s Capitale (130 Bowery Street).
Artistic Director James C. Nicola.
Creative team, casting, and additional information TBA.
**********************
Edie Brickell’s new musical 38 Minutes will receive a workshop in February in Los Angeles, directed by Josh Rhodes, with music supervision by Rob Berman.
Carmen Cusack, and more TBA.
The story of Brickell’s personal experience living through the 2018 nuclear missile alert in Hawaii. The title refers to the length of time between when the residents of Hawaii were advised to seek shelter, and when they were told it was a false alarm caused by miscommunication during a drill at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. The piece focuses on a family vacationing in Hawaii when the alert turns their lives upside down and inside out, revealing more about each other than they’d previously known.
**********************
The Seth Concert Series has announced its upcoming livestreamed concerts. 
here.
Eden Espinosa (Feb. 6 at 8 PM ET)
Patti Murin (Feb. 13 at 2 PM ET)
Caitlin Kinnunen (Feb. 13 at 8 PM ET)
Rob McClure (Feb. 24 at 8 PM ET)
**********************
Hudson Stage‘s upcoming reading of Barbara Dana’s What Keeps Us Going has been rescheduled, and will now take place Sat. Feb. 5 at 7:30 PM ET at Armonk’s Whippoorwill Hall Theatre, directed by Austin Pendleton.
Anthony Arkin, Amelia Campbell, Lee Wilkof and Blythe Danner.
A well-known veteran actress can’t remember her lines. A middle-aged woman who sacrificed her creative life to secure her marriage is left by her husband. When the women to collaborate on a precarious project, an unexpected friendship is born.
**********************
Holly Stars’ Death Drop will run Mar. 4 – Apr. 24 at the Criterion Theatre, directed by Jesse Jones.
RuPaul, Kitty Scott-Claus, Holly Stars, and many more…
It’s 1991 and a gaggle of guests gather on Tuck Island for a soirée like to no other. Tension rises as the outrageous guests reveal their suspicious and sordid pasts, and one by one they sashay away, until at the last, nerve-shredding, side-splitting moment, the surviving guests find out who-dunnit!
**********************
PlayCo will present Ebru Nihan Celkan’s Will You Come With Me? May 4 – June 5 at MITU580 (580 Sackett Street), directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant.
Casting TBA.
. Umut and Janina meet and fall in love in a chance encounter on an Istanbul street in 2013, where rebellion simmers amongst queer and displaced youth. Using video recordings and phone calls in the fight against physical and emotional distance, Umut is caught between the momentum of sociopolitical change in Istanbul and the promise of a quieter life in Berlin with Janina.
**********************
Off-Broadway’s York Theatre presents industry-only staged readings of Lissa Levin & Ron Abel’s Twist of Fate on Feb. 3 (3 PM ET) & Feb. 4 (1:30 PM ET), directed by Bill Castellino, with music direction by Ron Abel. For additional information, please email boxoffice@yorktheatre.org.
David Baida, Jake Boyd, Sophia Anne Caruso, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Lena Hall, Jillian Louis, and Ryan Silverman.
A fortuneteller is arrested in 1970’s Los Angeles, and to win the respect of her teenage daughter, fights the law instead of running from it. But first, she needs the respect of her court-appointed attorney. The musical is based on an actual first amendment case, set to a flamenco/pop score.
**********************
The Kaufman Music Center‘s Musical Storefronts Pop-Up Concerts (Northeast corner of Broadway & 62nd Street), will return Feb. 3 – Mar. 17.
Artists and programs TBA.
The series returns with a brand-new season of surprise performances ranging from classical, jazz, and the Great American Songbook to R&B, Gospel and groundbreaking new music by artists dynamically bridging genres and cultures. The 2022 performers include soloists, duos, string quartets, chamber ensembles, Broadway stars, vocal ensembles, and more, including many artists who have appeared at Merkin Hall.
**********************
Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater presents The Grift, conceived, written & directed by Tom Salamon, which will run Mar. 17 – Apr. 3 in a site-specific theater experience throughout Sag Harbor village.
Part theater and part game, The Grift is an immersive, site-specific experience. The audience will be immersed in an adventure in which they are trained in the art of the con, while participants meet characters, solve clues, and get a master class in the ways of the grifter, all in the interest of pulling off one final grift to take down a seamy criminal mastermind.
**********************
A new release date has been announced for the cast album of Lincoln Center’s Flying Over Sunset.
The album will now be released digitally on Feb. 18, and on CD on Apr. 1.
here.
**********************
The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, has decided to ban critics from attending performances until its Feb. 10 opening night at the Winter Garden Theatre.
Critics were reportedly informed of the move when interviews to review were sent Jan. 28.
**********************
Chita Rivera is working on a memoir (title TBA) with Patrick Pacheco, which is scheduled to be released in 2023 (exact date TBA) from HarperOne in both English and Spanish.
The book will dive into the life and path to stardom of Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson (Rivera’s given name). Expect chronicles of her experiences working with Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, Bob Fosse, Hal Prince, John Kander & Fred Ebb, as well as her experiences with stars like Elaine Stritch, Dick Van Dyke, Liza Minnelli, and Sammy Davis Jr.
**********************
GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Selling Points
1-F. Karl Malden – “Don’t leave home without them.” (American Express Travelers Cheques)
2-G. John Gielgud – “We will sell no wine before its time.” (Paul Masson – Orson Welles was also an earlier spokesman)
3-I. Helen Mirren – “We’ve still got it, and we’re still worth it.” (L’Oréal)
4-H. Ethel Merman – . “Hands come up soft like roses, try Vel and you’ll see.” (Vel detergent)
5-A. John Houseman – “They make money the old-fashioned way—they earn it!.” (Smith, Barney)
6-C. J. K. Simmons – “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” (Farmers Insurance)
7-B. Nancy Walker – “It’s the quicker picker-upper.” (Bounty paper towels)
8-J. Laurence Olivier – “Just touch the button, and in moments you have a picture.” (Polaroid Land camera)
9-E. Lauren Bacall – “It’s a coffee-lover’s dream.” (High Point coffee)
10-D. Bert Lahr – “Betcha can’t eat just one.” (Lay’s potato chips)