Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be limited theatre news for the foreseeable future. I will continue to search for anything meaningful and/or fun to report. Stay safe and healthy.
In addition, with national protests in full swing, and many events being postponed or cancelled, I don’t know when more theatre news will be available, so newsletters may be even shorter for awhile…
Today’s Highlights:
* Songs for Our City livestreamed concert series, presenting new, original songs, opens here.
* Red Bull Theater‘s The Government Inspector FREE reading, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, and directed by Jesse Berger, featuring Arnie Burton, Stephen DeRosa, Michael McGrath, Mary Testa, and Michael Urie, streamed at 7:30 PM ET.
* Jeremy Jordan & Seth Rudetsky in concert, streamed at 4 PM ET here (also June 16 at 3 PM ET). 
$25
* Muny Magic in Your Home FREE concert, featuring Beth Leavel, streamed at 8:15 PM CT here (also June 18).
* Anna Deavere Smith FREE conversation, streamed at 6 PM at NYC’s 92Y.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz – French 101 by Jim Bernhard
Match these French playwrights with their works:
| 1. Jean Cocteau | A. Huis Clos (No Exit) |
| 2. Molière | B. Les Bonnes (The Maids) |
| 3. Jean Anouilh | C. Les Pattes de Mouche (A Scrap of Paper) |
| 4. Jean Giraudoux | D. Le Dieu du Carnage (God of Carnage) |
| 5. Eugene Ionesco | E. La Puce à l’oreille (A Flea in Her Ear) |
| 6. Victorien Sardou | F. Le Bal des Voleurs (Thieves’ Carnival) |
| 7. Yasmina Reza | G. La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu (Tiger at the Gates) |
| 8. Jean-Paul Sartre | H. Les Parents terribles (Intimate Relations) |
| 9. Georges Feydeau | I. La Cantatrice chauve (The Bald Soprano) |
| 10. Jean Genet | J. L’École des femmes (The School for Wives) |
Scroll down for the answers…
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2020 Drama Desk Award winners:
Click here for the complete list of winners.
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The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater‘s Ailey Spirit Benefit Gala, featuring Leslie Odom Jr. Cynthia Erivo, Angela Bassett, Timothy Shriver, Lorraine Toussaint, and Bryan Stevenson, continues through June 18.
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Video: “Sweeney Frog – The Demon Muppets of Fleet Street” Hysterical!
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Tartuffe, translated by Richard Wilbur, will take place Tues. June 27 at 2 & 7 PM ET here, directed by Lucie Tiberghien. The production will be available through July 1 at 2 PM ET.
Raúl Esparza, Samira Wiley, Kaliswa Brewster, Naomi Lorrain, Jared McNeill, Jennifer Mudge, Rosmary Prinz, and Carter Redwood.
Following both performances will be a live Q&A with team members. Submit a question to communications@moliereinthepark.org.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with University of Michigan young alumni. (57:10)
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Video: “Stars in the House,” featuring original Cats 1982 Broadway cast members Betty Buckley (Grizabella), Donna King (Bombalurina), Terrence Mann (Rum Tum Tugger), and Ken Page (Old Deuteronomy). (1:14:50)
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Video: “Plays in the House,” with a reading of Macbeth, directed by Owen Sloan, hosted by André De Shields, and featuring Patrick Page (Macbeth), Hannah Yelland (Lady Macbeth), David Yelland (Duncan), Sherman Howard (Ross/Porter/Servant), Donna Bullock (Lady Macduff), Ty Jones (Macduff), Linda Kenyon (First Witch/Doctor), Owen Sloan (Fleance/Macduff’s Son), Rachel Crowl ( Second Witch / Gentlewoman / Murderer), Maurice Jones (Malcolm), and Gary Sloan (Banquo). (2:14:34)
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Video: “Stars in the House,” teen edition, offering a reading of Don Zolidis’ Oz, featuring Julia Cassandra, Brittney Johnson, Alisa Melendez, Sayo Oni, Kevin Wang, and JJ Willis. (1:06:42)
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The St. Louis Muny has announced its 10 weeks of free online entertainment for Summer 2020, every Monday night from June 15 – July 13 (with a repeat on Thursday nights) at 8:15 PM CT:
June 15 & 18: Muny Magic in Your Home, featuring Beth Leavel
June 22 & 25: A Night with the Buddy Holly Boys, featuring Andy Christopher, Joe Cosmo Cogen, Kyle Lacy and Nathan Yates Douglass.
June 29 & July 2: Our Leading Ladies, featuring Danielle Bowen, Ali Ewoldt, Stephanie Gibson, and Elena Shaddow.
July 6 & 9: Our Leading Men, featuring Ben Davis, Davis Gaines, Mykal Kilgore, and Jay Armstrong Johnson.
July 13 & 16: Mikaela Bennett and Alex Prakken
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Video: “Original Cast Album: Company” conversation, featuring the writers & cast from “Now! Parody, Original Cast Album: Co-op,” John Mulaney, Seth Meyers, Alex Brightman, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Richard Kind, and Paula Pell.
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New Works Provincetown is developing its first full length musical, The Last Diva, by Jonathan Tolins, Scott Frankel & Michael Korie.
Workshops will take place in July in Provincetown, with subsequent workshops in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, which will culminate in public presentations at Provincetown’s Art House Theatre.
Casting and additional information TBA.
Victoria Merritt is a gorgeous, superstar soprano, with an outsized personality. The musical dramatizes her conflicts at a major opera house in the wild world of classical music in the 1990s, as she grapples with artistic and professional pressures.
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Video: Muny Cast Party for Guys and Dolls (2019), with Ben Davis, Kendra Kassebaum, Jordan Gelber, Zoe Vonder Haar, Kevin Cahoon, Orville Mendoza, Jared Gertner, Gordon Greenberg, Patrick O’Neill, and Lorin Latarro. (1:07:58)
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Video: Eva Cassidy performs “Over the Rainbow.” Extraordinary interpretation.
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Article: “At Home with Lucie Arnaz”
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Video: Liz Callaway performs David Shire‘s 1968 protest song “The Morning After”
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The Times Square Alliance has announced upcoming events, in support of BC/EFA:
June 22: Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy, by The Five Lesbian Brothers
June 26: Men from the Boys, by Mart Crowley
June 27: Masculinity Max, by MJ Kaufman
June 26: Pride Spectacular concert, hosted by Michael Urie.
……….and………..
June 20: The Gorgeous Nothing: In Concert, directed by Travis Russ, hosted by Beth Kirkpatrick, Gideon Glick, and Telly Leung, and featuring Kevin Smith Kirkwood, James Jackson Jr., Stephen DeRosa, Nick Cearley, Aaron Kaburick, Devin Ilaw, Seth Sikes, and Joe Kinosian, for FREE at 8 PM ET here.
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BroadwayHD is now offering 25 % off an annual subscription …or… 25% off a monthly subscription for 3 months, using code MAY25 for both offers.
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Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre (link TBA) will present a fully staged production of Hands Up during the 2020-21 season (dates TBA), directed by Alexis Woodard & Keith Arthur Bolden.
Casting TBA.
In an effort to provide a platform for Black artists, this is a series of one-act plays depicting the realities of Black America from the perspective of varying genders, sexual orientations, skin tones, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
* Superiority Fantasy, by Nathan James
* Holes in My Identity, by Nathan Yungerberg
* They Shootin! Or I Ain’t Neva Scared, by Idris Goodwin
* Dead of the Night… The Execution of…, by Nambi E. Kelley
* Abortion, by Nsangou Njikam
* Walking Next to Michael Brown, by Eric Micha Holmes
* How I Feel, by Dennis A. Allen II
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Video: Coronials world premiere musical, created by the Box Elder High School Theatre Department, with Jeffrey Scott Parsons. (40:42)
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Video: Stephen Sondheim & Barbara Cook 2004 interview (51:26).
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: French 101
1-H. Jean Cocteau – Les Parents terribles (Intimate Relations)
2-J. Molière – L’École des Femmes (The School for Wives)
3-F. Jean Anouilh – Le Bal des Voleurs (Thieves’ Carnival)
4-G. Jean Giraudoux – La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu (Tiger At the Gates)
5-I. Eugene Ionesco – La Cantatrice chauve (The Bald Soprano)
6-C. Victorien Sardou – Les Pattes de Mouche (A Scrap of Paper)
7-D. Yasmina Reza – Le Dieu du Carnage (God of Carnage)
8-A. Jean-Paul Sartre – Huis Clos (No Exit)
9-E. Georges Feydeau – La Puce à l’oreille (A Flea In Her Ear)
10-B. Jean Genet – Les Bonnes (The Maids)