Today’s Highlights:
Oliver, reconceived & directed by Cameron Mackintosh, featuring Cian Eagle-Service, Raphael Korniets, and Jack Philiptt (sharing the role of Oliver Twist), Simon Lipkin (Fagin), Shanay Holmes (Nancy), Aaron Sidwell (Bill Sikes), Billy Jenkins (Artful Dodger), Philip Franks (Mr. Brownlow, Oscar Conlon-Morrey (Mr. Bumble), Katy Secombe (Widow Corney), Stephen Matthews (Mr. Sowerberry/Dr. Grimwig), and Jamie Birkett (Mrs. Sowerberry/Mrs. Bedwin), with Toba Agbelusi, Zoe Akinyosade, Ben Birch, Finley Burrows, Preston Cropp, Benjamin Dalton, Kylan Michael Denis, Sebastian Elton, Liam Findlay, Rudy Gibson, Stanley Guy, George Hamblin, Lily Hanna, Charlie Hodson-Prior, Grace King, Cooper McCrae, Jonny Niland, Hugo Pechey, William Skinner, Dylan Xavier, and Aaron Zhao. Rudy Gibson, Charlie Hodson-Prior, and William Skinner, opens July 8 at the UK’s Chichester Festival, prior to transferring to London’s Gielgud Theatre.
MidNight in the Garden of Good and Evil, world premiere by Taylor Mac & Jason Robert Brown, directed by Rob Ashford, featuring J. Harrison Ghee (Lady Chablis), Tom Hewitt (Jim Williams), Sierra Boggess (Emma Dawes), Lance Roberts (Bobby Lewis), Austin Colby (Danny Hansford), Bailee Endebrock (Corrine Strong), Shanel Bailey (Lavella Cole), Jessica Molaskey (Alma Knox Carter), Brianna Buckley (Minerva), Mary Ernster (Serena Barnes/Dawn Avery), McKinley Carter (Vera Strong), Maya Bowles (Stacey Brown), DeMarius Copes (Jereiah Jones), Sean Donovan (Luther Driggers), Jason Michael Evans (Colonel Atwood/Burt), Christopher Kelley (Bubbles/Gregory), Andre Terrell Malcolm (Josiah Domingo), Aaron James McKenzie (Jethro Myles), Wes Oliver (Jack the One-Eyed Jill), Kayla Marie Shipman (Millicent/Mary), and Rory Shirley (Stefanie Davis), Calvin L. Cooper, with Daryn Whitney Harrell, Kayla Kennedy, Jake DiMaggio Lopez, Justin Thomas Rivers, opens at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
The Little Mermaid, directed by John Tartaglia, featuring Savy Jackson (Ariel), Michael Maliakel (Prince Eric), Nicole Parker (Ursula), Christopher Sieber (Chef Louis), Ben Davis (King Triton), Fergie L. Philippe (Sebastian), Leia Rhiannon Yogi (Flounder), Jen Cody (Scuttle), Kennedy Kanagawa (Flotsam), Adam Fane (Jetsam), and Rich Pisarkiewicz (Grimsby), with Matt Dean, Bryan Thomas Hunt, Ryan Lambert, Samantha Littleford, Nathaniel Mahone, Daniel Brooks McRath, Ruben Guadalupe Medina-Perez, Michael Milkanin, Georgia Monroe, Sydni Moon, Grace Marie Rusnica, Michael Santomassimo, Gordon Semeatu, Kelly Sheehan, Cecilia Snow and Meridien Terrell, opens at the St. Louis Muny.
What Fresh Hell Is This? benefit performance, written & directed by Douglas Carter Beane, featuring Julie Halston, Ann Harada, Jackie Hoffman, and Annika Larsen, at 9 PM at Off-Broadway’s Players Club.
Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes concert at 8 PM at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
Simply Barbra: The Book Tour reading, with author Steven Brinberg, at 7:30 PM at Wakefield, RI’s Theatre By the Sea.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: A Touch of the Poet, by Jim Bernhard
Match these titles of plays and musicals with the poets from whose work they are taken:
| 1. Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw | A. William Shakespeare |
| 2. Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward | B. John Milton |
| 3. Another Part of the Forest by Lillian Hellman | C. Percy B. Shelley |
| 4. Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill | D. Langston Hughes |
| 5. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry | E. William Blake |
| 6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck | F. Virgil |
| 7. A Passage to India by Samantha Rama Rau | G. Walt Whitman |
| 8. Days of Wine and Roses by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas | H. Edward FitzGerald |
| 9. Look Homeward, Angel by Ketti Frings | I. Robert Burns |
| 10. Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright by Peter S. Feibleman | J. Ernest Dowson |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Dolly Parton & Maria S. Schlatter’s Hello, I’m Dolly musical is currently in development, directed by Bartlett Sher. Learn more here. The musical is eyeing a 2026 Broadway opening.
The show will include a score of both new, original songs penned by Parton and some of the 11-time Grammy winner’s greatest hits. Parton is collaborating with Maria S. Schlatter on the musical’s book. The musical’s title has ties both to Parton’s career and the musical’s Broadway aspirations. “Hello, I’m Dolly” was the title of Parton’s 1967 debut album, which dropped just three years after Hello, Dolly! became a Tony-winning smash hit on Broadway.
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Ragtime will run July 11-20 (opening July 12) at Ithica’s Hangar Theatre, directed by Michael Lluberes.
Ben Cherry (Tateh), Jaden Dominique (Sarah), Erin Davie (Mother), Bill English (Father), Clude Voce (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Tori Bligen & Gemma Phipps (alternating as Coalhouse Walker III), Greg Bostwick (Harry Houdini/Henry Ford), Kemari Bryant (Harlem Man), Sydney Carmona (Evelyn Nesbit), Richard N. Coleman (Booker T. Washington), Dexter Conlin (Younger Brother), Enaw Elonge (Instrumenalist), Hugo Lloyd (Little Boy), Gabriella Rubacky (Little Girl), Ephraim Takyi (Harlem Man, Crystal Renee Wright (Sarah’s Friend), and Audrey Rose Young (Emma Goldman).
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Hello Dolly, currently in previews, will open July 18 and continue through Sept. 14 at the London Palladium, directed by Dominic Cooke, with choreography by Bill Deamer, and music direction by Nick Skilbeck.
Imelda Staunton (Dolly), Andy Nyman (Horace Vandergelder), Jenna Russell (Irene Molly), Tyrone Huntly (Barnaby Tucker), Harry Hepple (Cornelius Hackl), and Emily Lane (Minnie Fay), with Leo Abad, Craig Armstrong, Lindsay Atherton, Gemma Atkins, Alan Bradshaw, Jabari Braham, Kevin Brewis, Jenni Bowden, Daisy Boyles, Samara Casteallo, Olly Christopher, Brendan Cull, Hayley Diamond, Jacqueline Hughes, Ashlee Irish, Jodie Jacobs, Shirley Jameson, Paul Kemble, Emily Langham, Michael Lin, Amira Matthews, Laura Medforth, Matt Overfield, Tom Partridge, Wendy-Lee Purdy, Edwin Ray, Phil Snowden, Kraig Thornber, Gavin Wilkinson, and Liam Wrate.
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West Coast Jewish Theatre (link TBA) has announced its Antisemitism Play Reading Series, at the Venice United Methodist Church, directed by directed by Howard Teichman. Casting TBA.
The Last Yiddish Speaker (Aug. 11 at 2 PM), by Deborah Zoe Laufer. Sarah is struggling to survive her senior year of high school – new town, new school, new boyfriend. She’s also struggling to survive the new America, where the insurrection was successful and everything has changed. When an ancient Yiddish-speaking woman is deposited on their doorstep, Sarah and her father must decide whether to help the woman hide or to save themselves.
Two Jews Walk into a War… (Aug. 25 at 2 PM),By Seth Rozin. Ishaq and Zeblyan are the last two Jews in Kabul, Afghanistan. They seek to rekindle their faith, rebuild their synagogue and repopulate their community. But they hate each other. Driven apart by mutual animosity, this Middle-Eastern odd couple must commit to a great act of faith in order to achieve their shared goal of keeping the Jewish diaspora alive in Afghanistan. But will they kill each other first?
Lebensraum (Sept. 8 at 2 PM), by Israel Horovitz. Based on the fanciful, explosive idea that a German Chancellor might, as an act of redemption, invite six million Jews to Germany and promise them citizenship and jobs. A resulting scenario unfolds that explores the effects of the policy on Jews and Gentiles, with widely varying outlooks: an out-of-work Jewish dock worker from Massachusetts who brings his Irish wife and his son to Bremerhaven to start a new life; a survivor of Auschwitz who returns to find the woman who betrayed his family to the Nazis; a young German smitten by a Jewish-American teenage girl; an unemployed German laborer; and scores of others.
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New York Stage and Film has announced casting for its Summer Season at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Mommy, A One Woman Cho (July 19), by Margaret Cho & Leah Nanako, directed by Leigh Silverman & Seonjae Kim. A work of fiction, Cho will share all of the things she wishes her mother had actually said.
Bigfoot (July 21), by Amber Ruffin, David Schmoll & Kevin Sciretta, directed by Ruffin, featuring Justin Guarini, Taran Killam, Janelle McDermoth, Larry Owens, and more. A small town mayor blames all problems on the famously elusive creature rather than his own ineptitude.
Game Night (July 26-27), by Shanessa Sweeney, Ray Mercer & Bongi Duman directed by Sweeney, featuring Andrew Bryant, Daniel Gaymon, Cabrielle Hamilton, Ghrai DeVore Stokes, Fana Minea Tesfagiorgis, Sir Brock Warren, and Darnell Isaiah Williiams, with the recorded voices of Ngozi Anyanwu, McKindly Belcher III, Charlie Hudson III, L’Oreal Lampley, Doron JéPaul Mitchell, Reynaldo :iniella, and Shanessa Sweeney. Seven friends gather for a night of games that may change their friend group’s future.
The Heart (Aug. 2-3), by Kait Kerrican, Anne Eisendrath & Ian Eisendrath, directed by Christopher Ashley, featuring Heidi Blickenstaff, Miguel Cervantes, Drew Gehling, Gizel Jimenez, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Taylor Iman Jones, Zachary Noah Piser, Wren Rivera, and Lisa Brescia. The work tracks 24 hours in the life of a dying man’s heart and a woman who gets a second chance at life
Tulipa (Aug. 1), by Kate Douglas, directed by Kate Whoriskey, featuring Jessica Hecht and Stephanie Crousillat. The piece explores what truly nourishes us against the Dionysian backdrop of 17th century Tulipmania
Réparer les Vivants (Aug. 2-3), adapted by The Heart, Kait Kerrigan, Anne Eisendrath, directed by Christopher Ashley, featuring Heidi Blickenstaff, Miguel Cervantes, Drew Gehling, Gizel Jimenez, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Taylor Iman Jones, Zachary Noah Piser, and Wren Rivera, with Lisa Brescia. The piece tracks 24 hours in the life of a dying man’s heart and a woman who gets a second chance at life.
After Peter (Aug. 3), by Adam Chanler-Berat & Grace McLean (Aug. 3), directed by Tyler Thomas, featuring Kyle Beltran, and Marin Ireland. A theatremaker works to finish a piece after her collaborator dies suddenly.
Dignity, Always Dignity (Aug. 4), by Zack Fine, Bryce Pinkham, Kirya Traber & Rona Siddiqui, starring Pinkham. A literally washed-up performer attempts to put up one last show before rising waters swallow him up while stranded on a deserted island.
New works (dates TBA), by Zoe Sarnak, Brian Feinstein & Erica Garcia, Julian Hornik & Ryan Dobrin, and Jerron Herman & Austin Regan.
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SkyPilot Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Kelli Bowlden’s Honeymoon Suite (with Apologies to Neil Simon), to run Aug. 2-25 at Hollywood’s Cole Theater, directed by Jenna Hoffman.
Jerry Campisi, Whitney Montgomery, Chris Periko, Lilly Weak, Lindsay Shelton, Piper Major, Grace Neiswander, Pete Navis, Stevie Kincheloe, Lindsay Gentile, Erin Astin, and Alex Borja.
There’s a subtitle to this show: “(with apologies to Neil Simon)”.There are certain obvious parallels to Honeymoon Suite and three of the late Simon’s plays: There are three couples, and each of them will experience pivotal moments in their relationship that will affect their marital destiny. The stories in this show, however, are all new.
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Fiddler on the Roof will run July 19-25 at the St. Louis Muny, directed by Rob Ruggiero, with choreography by Parker Esse, and music direction by Darryl Archibald.
Adam Heller (Tevye), Jill Abramovitz (Golde), Samantha Massell (Tzeitel), Hannah Corneau (Hodel), Emerson Glick (Chava), Clay Singer (Perchik) Andrew Alstat (Fyedka), Max Chernin (Motel), Jeremy Radin (Lazar Wolf, u/s Tevye), Cheryl Stern (Yente), James A. Butz (Constable), Max Chucker (The Fiddler), Bob Amaral (Rabbi), Ben Rosenbach (Mendel), Price Waldman (Mordcha), David Perlman (Avram), Jerry Vogel (Nachum), Ellie Schwartz (Shprintze) and Zoe Klevorn (Bielke). Members of the ensemble and swings: Ze’ev Barmor, Jonathan Bryant, Michael Bullard, Derek Ege, Mathew Fedorek, Blair Goldberg, Susan J. Jacks, Michał Kołaczkowski, Barrie Kreinik, Erica Mansfield, Nick Nazzaro, Nick Raynor, Caitlin Stebelman, Zoe Vonder Haar and Annie Zigman.
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My Uterus, written & performed by Dina Morrone, will take place Sun. July 21 at 2 PM at LA’s Theatre West, directed by Peter Flood.
Dina digs deep into her pelvic cavity to explore what the Uterus really is, what it means to own one, and to probe and examine how it continues to get screwed over again and again by those who have no business being in there.
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Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes will run Dec. 2 – Feb. 8, 2024 at the Young Vic, directed by Lyndsey Turner.
Anne-Marie Duff (Regina Hubbard Giddens), and more TBA.
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Darko Tresenjak & Oran Eldor’s As for the Moon will run July 19 – Aug. 11 (opening Aug. 7) at CT’s Goodspeed, directed by Tresenjak.
Jamison Stern (Schroeder/Persimmon/Misha/Grider), Luba Mason (Helene Huber), Ali Ewoldt (Clair), and Alex Dreschke (The Body Double)
Set sail on the Jewel of the Sea ocean liner with a scheming widow, a vengeful lawyer, and a volatile nurse. Enjoy the vocal stylings of Misha and Grisha, the squabbling Carpathian twins. Get the latest fashion tips from Persimmon De Vol, stylist par excellence. But only venture into the Poseidon Suite at your own peril…
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Elton John, Shaina Taub & Kate Wetherhead’s The Devil Wears Prada continues through Aug. 17 at the UK’s Theatre Royal Plymouth, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. West End performances will begin Oct. 24 at London’s Dominion Theatre.
Vanessa Williams(Miranda Priestly),Georgie Buckland (Andy), Amy Di Bartolomeo (Emily), James Darch (Christian), Rhys Whitfield (Nate), Matt Henry (Nigel), with Maddy Ambus, Selena Barron, Robertina Bonano, Lloyd Davies, Elishia Edwards, Akeem Ellis-Hyman, Natasha Heyward, Samuel How, Luke Jackson, Liam Marcellino, Robbie McMillan, Ciro Lourencio Meulens, Theo Papoui, Eleanor Peach, Ethan Le Phong, Harriet Samuel-Gray, Olivia Saunders, Kayleigh Thadani, Ella Valentine, and Tara Yasmin, with standby Debbie Kurup and swings Gabby Antrobus, Pamela Blair, Elizabeth Fullalove, Jinny Gould, Gabriel Mokake, Christopher Parkinson, and Jon Reynolds.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: A Touch of the Poet Bernhard
1-F. Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw – Virgil, The Aeneid
2-C. Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward – Percy B. Shelley – “To A Skylark”
3-A. Another Part of the Forest by Lillian Hellman – Willliam Shakespeare, As You Like It (stage direction)
4-H. Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill – Edward FitzGerald, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
5-D. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry – Langston Hughes, “Harlem”
6-I. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – Robert Burns, “To A Mouse”
7-G. A Passage to India by Samantha Rama Rau – Walt Whitman, “A Passage to India”
8-J. Days of Wine and Roses by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas – Ernest Dowson, “Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam”
9-B. Look Homeward, Angel by Ketti Frings – John Milton, “Lycidas”
10-E. Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright by Peter S. Feibleman – William Blake, “The Tyger”