Today’s Highlights:
Der Rosenkavalier, by Straus, featuring Lise Davidsen, Erin Morley, Simon Young, René Barbera, Katharine Goeldner, Thomas Ebenstein, Brian Mulliban, and Kang Wang, opens at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera.
Ragtime Benefit Reunion Concert, in support of The Entertainment Community Fund, directed by Santino Fontana, featuring Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Michele, Peter Friedman, Kelli O’Hara, Mark Aldrich, Shaun Amyot, John D. Baker, Dara Paige Bloomfield, Sandra M. Bonitto, Mark Cassius, Jamie Chandler-Torns, Albert Christmas, Dioni Michelle Collins, Jim Corti, Pierce Cravens, Larry Daggett, Bernard Dotson, Roberta Duchak, Donna Dunmire, Adam Dyer, Duane Martin Foster, Patty Goble, Darlene Bel Grayson, Elisa Heinsohn, David Hess, Rosena Hill, Adam Hunter, Mark Jacoby, Anne Kanengeiser, Judy Kaye, Mary Sharon Komarek (Dziedzic), Joe Langworth, Joe Locarro, Dan Manning, Michael X. Martin, Mary McCandless, Lea Michele Allyson Tucker Mitchell, Anne L. Nathan, Monica Patton (Richards), Lynette Perry, Orgena Rose, Gordon Stanley, Steven Sutcliffe, Todd Thurston, Vanessa Townsell-Crisp, Rema Webb, Leon Williams, Bruce Winant, and Eric Jordan Young, at 7 PM at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.
Maestra Music‘s Amplify 2023 live & livestreamed benefit concert, written, directed & hosted by Kate Baldwin, featuring Baldwin, Ellie Biron, Emily Borromeo, Kennedy Caughell, Tyler Hardwick, Bre Jackson, Gizel Jimeniz, Andy Kelso, Claire Kwon, Abby Mueller, Bryonha Marie Parham, Nicholas Rodriguez, Zoe Sarnak, Blake Stadnik, Katie Thompson, and Alysha Umphress. at 8 PM at NYC’s Chelsea Music Hall.
What’s Going On?: Songs of Change, written, directed & choreographed by Warren Adams, featuring Charl Brown, Patrice Covington, Valisia LeKae, Naturi Naughton, Ryan Shaw, Eric B. Turner, and Daniel J. Watts, concludes at NYC’s 92Y.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Toute Sweet, by Jim Bernhard:
Match these “sweet” songs with the musicals they are in:
| 1. Jelly Donuts and Chocolate Cake | A. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas |
| 2. Vanilla Ice Cream | B. Mary Poppins |
| 3. Hard Candy Christmas | C. South Pacific |
| 4. The Candy Man | D. She Loves Me |
| 5. Huckleberry Pie | E. Jelly’s Last Jam |
| 6. A Spoonful of Sugar | F. Jamaica |
| 7. Honey Bun | G. Charlie and Algernon |
| 8. Cookies | H. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| 9. Jelly’s Jam | I. The Color Purple |
| 10. Cocoanut Sweet | J. A Year With Frog and Toad |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Reviews for Sweeney Todd at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): … the ravishingly sung, deeply emotional and strangely hilarious “Sweeney” revival… Starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, and directed by Thomas Kail, it has a rictus on its face and a scar in its heart… And though it can’t be said that Groban invokes terror, that’s partly the result of Kail’s attention to naturalistic detail within an expressionistic palette… we always see Sweeney as a human being, albeit a strange one… most of the humor comes from Ashford herself, a brilliant comic for whom comedy is not the end but the means. Her Mrs. Lovett — despite a tip of the wig to Angela Lansbury, who originated the role — is not the music-hall zany Lansbury created, but a brutal schemer for whom zaniness is a useful cover. As she hilariously enacts her romantic dramas with a noncompliant Sweeney, you see that she is also trying to protect herself from his mania by getting his mind off avenging his wife and reclaiming Johanna. Later, as the evil begins to crowd in closer, the jokes go dry on her tongue… That the rest of the cast is also so specific is a Kail trademark…
NY Daily News (Chris Jones): …Thomas Kail’s triumphant revival… At once funny, scary and disarmingly moving, this must-see production is content to peel back any cobwebs or artifice and let Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Gothic revenge tragedy of a musical howl anew with the agony of human injustice and the ameliorating constancy of love… [Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett] have never been more fun, nor more potent, than when played by Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford in a shrewdly deceptive production… Ashford’s Mrs. Lovett is a performance to attend, if ever there was one; she wins a laugh on almost every line, spoken or sung, and does so without compromising her musical performance. Her improvising brain seems to dance across the stage, seemingly spontaneously making up the cascading rhyming jokes in Sondheim’s masterful Act I closer, “A Little Priest,” as if she were a diabolic baker in love with roasted human flesh… Ashford’s Mrs. Lovett is far more than comically seductive… Groban’s traumatized Sweeney, if only the barber was not so wracked with pain and regret. He shows us, and richly vocalizes, every moment of that fight, which is the key struggle of the show…
Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood): The new Broadway revival…may represent the greatest achievement of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, reaches a deliriously mad peak just when it should, as the bloodlust of the title character…unites with the desperate pragmatism of the pie-making Mrs. Lovett, embodied with hilarious zest by Annaleigh Ashford… The new production, directed by Thomas Kail, succeeds best at mining the grim comedy, with Ms. Ashford bringing a hilarious mixture of sentimentality and jovial ruthlessness to her performance as Mrs. Lovett—replete with the tufts of hair sprouting above her ears, a look made famous by the role’s originator, the great Angela Lansbury… Groban has not yet reached deeply enough into the tortured soul of the character, who was separated from his wife and daughter when the corrupt Judge Turpin (Jamie Jackson) had him transported… In the dark solo “Epiphany”… despite the natural beauty of his voice, it lies slightly higher than the darker-toned baritone voices of tradition.
Variety (Naveen Kumar): …the stately and star-filled revival… the people-to-pastries pipeline quickly assumes a grim air of mundanity… this lushly orchestrated and opera-scale production, from… director Thomas Kail, proves a magnificent showcase for their (Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford) respective, jaw-dropping talents. Groban’s weighted-blanket baritone makes the prospect of reclining in his company and never waking up again seem like a great way to go. And Ashford’s fleet, agile instinct for comedy… is like a dippy bird for dopamine. But only one of them is a genuine thrill… Kail’s production has an austere severity that’s suited to serial killings but also makes it feel coolly remote… Sweeney Todd is as dense as a flourless cake; there’s a lot worth savoring, and you feel the loss when occasional lyrics get swallowed by the space… Groban…is a gentleman’s Sweeney… it could all be more gruesome, more twisted and a bit less serious… Ashford, leaving her own indelible mark on the role, an especially exhilarating standout. Her wit carries an element of surprise that feels like its own kind of danger…
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Dr. Bradley Jones, LCSW, Psy.D, who performed in A Chorus Line on Broadway for a decade, and is the creator of the hit 2019 MAC award-winning cabaret, Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism, will present a psychoanalytic salon entitled Stephen Sondheim: Relational Psychoanalyst of the American Theatre. A Reading, by Ilene Philipson, PhD & D. Bradeley Jones, on Sat. May 6 at 4 PM at NYC’s West Bank Cafe.
KT Sullivan and Eric Yves Garcia.
“Sondheim was the first adult who told me the truth” (John DeVore). “I hear him everywhere I go. . . I discuss him with my shrink. Day after day after day, he gives me more to see” (Max Freedman, Jewish Currents). “He was my first psychoanalyst” (Matt Aibel, psychoanalyst). What could possibly account for this sort of response? After all this was a composer, not a psychoanalyst. How did he transform people’s lives such that they can claim he made them a person or provided their first experience of truth-telling?
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The King and I will run Apr. 21 – May 14 (opening Apr. 22) at CA’s La Mirada Theatre, directed by Glenn Casale, with choreography by Rumi Oyama, and music direction by Dennis Castellano.
Casting TBA.
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Video: Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell perform Ragtime‘s “Wheels of a Dream” on “The Today Show”
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RIP: Nicholas Lloyd Webber, the eldest son of Andrew Lloyd Webber, has died at the age of 43, at Basingstoke Hospital, Hampshire, after being treated for gastric cancer.
Nicholas is best known for his work on the BBC One’s “Love, Lies and Records,” which was based on the book “The Little Prince.” He also worked on his father’s 2021 “Cinderella,” earning a Grammy nod for best musical theater album.
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An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara will take place Fri. Nov. 17 at 8 PM at Carnegie Hall, with music direction by Steve Reineke.
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Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced its 2023 Summer WTF Cabaret:
Too much to post here, click the link above for the complete schedule of events, concerts, and readings.
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A staged reading of Harriet Robinson’s autobiographical But I Digress will take place Sat. Apr. 15 at 3:30 & 5 PM at Off Broadway’s Pearl Studios, adapted & directed by Jonathan S. Cerullo.
Harriet Robinson and Allison Deller
Harriet Robinson tries to thrive will all of life’s delicious and atrocious adventures. The angst of two teenagers, and the husband’s infatuation with his rock and roll history, make for an enchanting journey.
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Video: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez’s “Up Here,” currently streaming on Hulu, has posted a music video, “To Know Someone,” featuring Norm Lewis, Katie Finneran, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Aisha Jackson, Micaela Diamond, and more.
The series is set in New York City in the waning days of 1999, following the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple, Lindsay and Miguel (played by Mae Whitman and Carlos Valdes) as they fall in love and discover that the single greatest obstacle to finding happiness together might just be themselves – and the treacherous world of memories, obsessions, fears and fantasies that lives inside their heads.
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Complete casting has been announced for the West End Gala concert performance of Clive Richard Davis’ At Last, It’s Summer, to take place Sun. Apr. 16 at 7:30 PM at the London Palladium, directed by Ian Talbot, with choreography by Jordan Langford, and music direction by Jack Bennett.
Louise Dearman (Lady Serina), Rob Houchen (Count Orilov), Kelly Mathieson (Lady Alice Stansick), Joanna Riding (Countess Orilov), Gary Wilmot (Mr. Wellbeloved), Gerard Carey (Benny), Steve Fortune (Sir Garfield), Shannon Rewcroft (Francesca), Alan Titchmarsh (Narrator), Katherine Kingsley (Lady Sykes), Mark Wynter (Lord Stanwick), Jac Yarrow (Archie), and Cedric Neal (Gerald), with Samantha Bingley, Isabel Canning, Samara Casteallo, Lauren Chia, Julie Cloke, Jordan Cunningham, Philip Day, Nell Martin, Ellie Mitchell, Kody Mortimer, Matt Overfield, Angelo Paragoso, Oliver Ramsdale, Anthony Reed, Chloe Taylor, and Samuel Wilson-Freeman.
It’s summer 1920, and in an idyllic country estate in the leafy shires of England, the Lord of the Manor celebrates his birthday. While a new love blossoms, an unexpected arrival throws the whole house into disarray as dark secrets escape the past.
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Article: “David Hare Thinks Musicals are ‘strangling’ Traditional Theatre”
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Toute Sweet
1-H. Jelly Donuts and Chocolate Cake – Charlie and Algernon
2-D. Vanilla Ice Cream – She Loves Me
3-A. Hard Candy Christmas – The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
4-H. The Candy Man – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5-I. Huckleberry Pie – The Color Purple
6-B. A Spoonful of Sugar – Mary Poppins
7-C. Honey Bun – South Pacific
8-J. Cookies – A Year With Frog and Toad
9-E. Jelly’s Jam – Jelly’s Last Jam
10-F. Cocoanut Sweet – Jamaica