GRACE NOTES: Monday, July 7, 2025

 

Today’s Highlights:

 

  Audra McDonald returns to Gypsy at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre.

 

  ta-da!, written by & staring Josh Sharp, directed by Josh Finkleton, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theater.

 

  Backstage Babble Live & livestreamed concert, hosted by Charles Kirsch, featuring Karen Akers, Aeja Barrows, Craig Bierko, Lane Bradbury, Jim Brochu, Meg Bussert, Len Cariou, Nadia Duncan, Penny Fuller, Sara Gettelfinger, Annie Golden, Simon Jones, Janine SaManna,  Sally Murphy, Jenna Lea Rosen, Steve Ross, Anna Zavelson, and more… recreating songs that they’ve performed on or off Broadway, at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.

 

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GRACE NNOTES   Two-Handers by Jim Bernhard

 

Match each pair with the two-character play or musical in which they appear:

 

1. Peter and Jerry	A. I Do! I Do!
2. Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey	B. Topdog, Underdog
3. Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace   Ladd III	C. Sleuth
4. Mark Rothko and Ken	D. Educating Rita
5. Agnes and Michael	E. The Gin Game
6. Jamie and Cathy	F. Oleanna
7. Booth and Lincoln	G. The Last Five Years
8. Frank and Susan	H. The Zoo Story
9. Carol and John	I. . Love Letters
10. Milo Tindle and Andrew Wyke	J.  Red

 

Scroll down for the answers…

 

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  Lindsay Warren Baker & Amanda Jacobs” Austen’s Pride will run July 25 – Aug. 24 at Stages St. Louis, directed by Igor Goldin, with choreography by Lisa Shriver, and music direction by Sheela Ramesh.

 

  Olivia Hernandez Jane Austen), Delphi Borich (lizabeth Bennet), Dan Hoy(Fitzwilliam Darcy), Addie Morales (Jane Bennet), Cole Thompson (Charles Bingley), Sarah Ellis (Caroline Bingley), Mary Bennet, and Mrs. Gardiner), Kate Fahey as Lydia Bennet, Cali Noack (Kitty Bennet and Georgiana Darcy), Dianica Phelan (Cassandra Austen/  Charlotte Lucas), Paul Castree (Mr. Collins / Mr. Gardner), Kevyn Morrow ( Mr. Bennet),   Sally Wilfert (Mrs. Bennet / Lady Catherine de Bourgh), and Michael Burrell (George Wickham / Tom Lefroy), with with Travis Anderson, Matt Gibson, Keith Johnson,  Drew Tanabe, Brett Rawlings, Graham Keen, Abigail Isom, Jazmin Gorsline, and Caroline Santiago Turner.

 

  Jane Austen’s most beloved tale is reimagined when the esteemed author begins her own journey of self-discovery. As the stormy romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy unfolds in a fresh narrative, Austen gains new insights into both her creations and her own identity.

 

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   MCC Theater has announced first show of its 2025/26 season:

 

  Trophy Boys (begins Sept. 5, opens TBA), byPreston Max Allen ,directed by David Cromer.

 

  TBA.

 

   When Maddie is forced to seek the help of her long-estranged mother, she finds herself unable to shield her daughter Caroline from the inescapable circumstances that fractured their family.

 

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  The pre-Broadway production of Lindsay Warren Baker & Amanda Jacobs Jane Auston’s Pride will run July 26 – Aug. 4 at Stages St. Louis, directed by Igor Goldin, with choreography by Lisa Shriver, and music direction by Sheela Ramesh.

 

 Olivia Hernandez ( Jane Austen), Delphi Borich (Elizabeth Bennet), Dan Hoy Fitzwilliam Darcy), Addie Morales (Jane Bennet), Cole Thompson (Charles Bingley), Sarah Ellis (Caroline Bingley/Mary Bennet/, and Mrs. Gardiner/), Kate Fahey (Lydia Bennet), Cali Noack (Kitty Bennet / Georgiana Darcy), Diane Phelan (Cassandra/Austen/ and Charlotte Lucas), Paul Castree (Mr. Collins / Mr. Gardner), Kevyn Morrow (Mr. Bennet), Sally Wilfert (Mrs. Bennet / Lady Catherine de Bourgh), and Michael Burrell ( George Wickham / Tom Lefroy), with Travis Anderson, Matt Gibson, Keith Johnson, and Drew Tanabe as Redcoats, Brett Rawlings and Graham Keen (Dance Captain) as swings, and Abigail Isom, Jazmin Gorsline, and Caroline Santiago Turner.

 

The musical follows Jane Austen’s most beloved tale, as the author begins her own journey of self-discovery. As the stormy romance between Pride and Prejudice‘s Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy unfolds in a fresh narrative, Austen gains new insights into both her creations and her own identity.

 

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   Mozart’s Don Giovanni – A Rock Opera —a bold and electrifying adaptation of the iconic opera, translated, orchestrated, and directed by Adam B. Levowitz, continues through Aug. 26 at NYC’s Cutting Room.

 

  Ryan Silverman (Don Giovanni), Richard Coleman (Leporello, Rachel Zatcoff (Donna Elvira)  Anchal Dhir  (Donna Anna), Felipe Bombonato (Don Ottavio), and Edwin Jhamaal Davis (The Commander), with Sophie Belkin, Kevin Hegmann and Sean Mannix.

 

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  RIP:  Broadway playwright Richard Greenberg has passed away at the age of 67.

 

The list of plays he has written inlcudes include Eastern Standard, Take Me Out, The Violet Hour, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, Three Days of Rain, The Assembled Parties, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Our Mother’s Brief Affair, The Perplexed, and more.

 

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  Steve Ross has announced his upcoming concerts:

   Backstage Babble LIVE! (see info tonight’s concert at the top of this newsletter).

  54 Celebrates Henry Mancini (Wed. Aug. 11 at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below

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  Evita will run July 18-24 at Pittsburgh’s Muny, directed & choreographed by Josh Rhodes.

 

  Katerina McCrimmon (Eva Perón),  Paulo Szot (Perón), Omar Lopez-Cepero (Che), Daniel Torres (Magaldi), and Sabrina Santana (Perón’s Mistress) with Andrés Acosta, Leyla Ali, Marissa Barragán, Leah Berry, Patrick Blindauer, Jordan Casanova, Marilyn Caserta, Junior Cervila, Devin Cortez, Nicholas Cunha, Kyle de la Cruz Laing, Daniel Alan DiPinto, Kylie Edwards, Noelia Guerrero, Natalia Nieves-Melchor, Zibby Nolting, Arnie Rodriguez, Leann Schuering, Trevor Michael Schmidt, Sharrod Williams, and Noah Van Ess.

 

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  54 Celebrates Henry Mancini on Mon. Aug. 11 at 7 PM at  NY’s 54 Below, with music direction & hosted by Michael Lavine.

 

  Craig Bierko, Robert Cuccioli,Marilu Henner, Marilu Henner, Nicolas King, Javier Muñoz, Christine Pedi, Steve Ross,  AJ Shively, Jane Summerhays, and more TB

 

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  GRACE  NOTES  ANSWERS:  Two-Handers by Jim Bernhard