Today’s Highlights:
Plaza Suite, directed by John Benjamin Hickey, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker (Karen Nash, Muriel Tate, and Norma Hubley), Matthew Broderick (Sam Nash, Jesse Kiplinger, and Roy Hubley), Danny Bolero (The Waiter), Molly Ranson (Jean McCormick/Mimsey Hubley), and Eric Wiegand (The Bellhop/Borden Eisler), with standbys Michael McGrath and Erin Dilly, and understudies Laurie Veldhee and Cesar J. Rosado, opens at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre.
The Last Five Years, directed by Jason Michael Webb, featuring Nasia Thomas and Nicholas Edwards, begins streaming here.
Newsies: 10th Anniversary Celebration benefit concert, in support of Covenant House, with music direction by Steven Malone, featuring Aaron Albano, Mark Aldrich, Joe Barreiro, Giuseppe Bausilio, Turner Birthisel, John E. Brady, Joshua Burrage, Kevin Carolan, Caitlyn Caughell, Corey Cott, Ben Fankhauser, Jonathan Fenton, Kaitlyn Frank, Damon J. Gillespie, Liana Hunt, Thayne Jasperson, Molly Jove, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Beth Stafford Laird, Jess LeProtto, Kara Lindsay, Stuart Marland, Tommy Martinez, John Michael Pitera, Daniel Quadrino, Andy Richardson, Anthony Rosenthal, Jordan Samuels, Jack Sippel, Ethan Steiner, Stephanie Styles, Nick Sullivan, Daniel Switzer, Madeline Trumble, Laurie Veldheer, Andrew Wilson, Lavon Fisher Wilson, Alex Wong, Ian Young, and Stuart Zagnit, at 7 & 9:45 PM ET at NYC’s 54 Below (also Mar. 29).
Maestra Music’s Amplify 2022 benefit concert, with special guests Micki Grant, Alanis Morissette, Jeanine Tesori, Shaina Taub, and more, featuring Elizabeth Stanley, Jessica Vosk, Mikaela Bennett, Bonnie Milligan, Darius de Haas, Grace McLean, Heidi Blickenstaff, Bryonha Marie Parham, Lourds Lane, and Kennedy Cuaghell, ET (both in-person & livestreamed) at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge.
Desaparecidas concert, by Jaime Lzano, Florencia Cuenca & Rachel Stevens, music directed by Jhoely Garay, featuring Daphne Rubin-Vega, Florencia Cuenca, Sonia de los Santos, Aline Mayagoitia, and Majo Rivero, at 8 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Joe’s Pub.
Broadway’s Future Songbook FREE concert, directed & hosted by John Znidarsic, featuring songs by Anessa Marie, performed by Andrea Prestinario, Chloe Kostman, Ellis Gage, Kathryn Allison, Dillon Heape, Keith White, and Tina Stafford, at PM at NYC’s Bruno Walter Auditorium. 
here.
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Reviews for The Human Voice at London’s Pinter Theatre:
The Guardian (Arifa Akbar): Jean Cocteau’s 1930 play is a monologue disguised as a series of breakup phone calls in which we hear the anguish of a woman being left by her partner… That drama is not captured here, nor its tension. The director Ivo van Hove also adapts Cocteau’s script and manages to divest it of its raw emotional power and momentum. It becomes as stripped and sterile as the empty glass box of a set…which seems to keep us at arm’s length with its clinical inscrutability… Ruth Wilson…variously underplays and over-eggs her character’s suffering… cringing moments of overt theatricality…
Evening Standard (Nick Curtis): Not even Ruth Wilson’s limpid talent can breathe life into this dated, 70-minute solo show, in which a woman goes to pieces discussing the end of an affair with her unheard lover over the phone… Here, it’s given a tricksy, , pretentious production by the fêted but erratic Belgian director Ivo van Hove… I lost patience when Wilson was required to growl, whine and bark like a dog, then balance the receiver on her face, praying to God for a callback. This splendidly truthful actress handles most of the script’s emotional hairpin turns with poise and nuance…
Time Out (Caroline McGinn): Despite Ruth Wilson’s spirited performance, Cocteau’s 1930 phone monologue feels dated and sexist… The play, written in 1930, is by Jean Cocteau: surrealist, Dada-ist and inspirational force in avant-garde Paris. So it’s a shame that it is boring, predictable and sexist, tapping into the oppressive conventions of that era and those cultural movements instead of their wild, boundary-ripping creativity… Ivo van Hove’s weird, monochrome production of a weird, monochrome play… boring, predictable and sexist… glamorously staged misery monologue…
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Reviews for Confederates at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre:
NY Times (Maya Phillips): … It makes sense then that Confederates… feels like an elegant experiment, thoughtful and put-together but not quite realizing its full potential… [playwright] Morisseau typically opts for realism and traditional, chronological storytelling. In fact, she excels at it.. This play’s structure, however, is different. There’s a textbook quality to it… What action there is consists of arguments and discussions… It appears that the play is going into more experimental territory as the characters’ entrances and exits begin to overlap across the timelines, but Ayers seems wary of doing anything more than having them pass like anonymous commuters at Port Authority… Too often her approach seems procedural…
New York Theatre (Jonathan Mandell): …Dominique Morisseau presents in alternating scenes the stories of two Black women in eras 160 years apart… some nimble acting by its capable cast of five and some clever touches by director Stori Ayers. Putting these two stories together in the same play is an intriguing choice. Ultimately, though, Confederates works better theatrically than dramatically or thematically… Several scenes are meant to be parody or farce or absurdist or at least ridiculous, but wind up less funny or pointed than a tad awkward or confusing…
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: College Daze by Jim Bernhard
Match the play or musical with the college or university featured in it.
| 1. Leave It to Jane | A. Shiz University |
| 2. All American | B. University of Heidelberg |
| 3. The Male Animal | C. Atwater College |
| 4. Wicked | D. Knickerbocker University |
| 5. Hamlet | E. Oxford University |
| 6. Legally Blond | F. Southern Baptist Institute of Technology |
| 7. Where’s Charley? | G. Midwestern University |
| 8. Good News | H. Tait College |
| 9. The Student Prince | I. Wittenberg University |
| 10. On Your Toes | J. UCLA and Harvard Law School |
Scroll down for the answers…
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2022 Academy Awards Click here for the complete list of winners.
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Girl From the North Country will return to the Belasco Theatre Apr. 29 – June 11, written & directed by Conor McPherson.
Mare Winningham, Todd Almond, Colin Bates, Jeannette Bayardelle, Jennifer Blood, Alex Joseph Grayson, Matthew Frederick Harris, Caitlin Houlahan, Robert Joy, March Kudisch, Luba Mason, Ben Mayne, Matt McGrath, Tom Nelis, Jay O. Sanders, John Schiappa, Austin Scott, Housso Semon, Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Edward Staudenmayer, Rachel Stern, Anastasia Talley, Chiara Trentalange, Bob Walton, Aidan Wharton, Chelsea, and Lee Williams.
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In Solidarity, a day of livestream readings and in support of Ukrainian theatre artists, take place Fri. Apr. 1 at 2:30 & 5:30 PM GMT here.
Click here to donate. Proceeds will go to UNICEF UK.
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The digital lottery for Mr. Saturday Night at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre, starring Billy Crystal, begins today here, offering $45 tickets.
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Michelle Kholos Brooks’ H*itler’s Tasters will run Apr. 14 – May 21 (opening May 3) at Theatre Row, directed by Sarah Norris.
Hallie Griffin (Liesel), MaryKathryn Kopp (Hilda), Kaitlin Paige Longoria (Anna), and Hannah Mae Sturges (Margot).
Three times a day, every day, a group of young women have the opportunity to die for their country. This is a dark comedy about the young women who have the “honor” of being Hitler’s food tasters. And what do girls discuss as they wait to see if they will live through another meal? Like all girls, throughout time, they gossip and dream, they question and dance.
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Into the Woods will run Apr. 19 – May 15 at Arkansas Rep, directed by Addie Gorlin-Han, with choreography by Dorse Brown, and music direction by Michael Rice.
Mimi Bessette (Jack’s Mother), Cooper Grodin (Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), Aidan O’Reilly (Mystery Man), Keith Watson (Baker), Ximone Rose (Baker’s Wife), Miranda Jane (Witch), Erica Durham (Cinderella), William Romain (Jack), Annslee Clay (Little Red Ridinghood), Monica Clark-Robinson (Narrator), Hannah Gothard (Rapunzel), Augustine Nguyen (Rapunzel’s Prince), Satia Spence (Stepmother), Hannah Fairman (Florinda), Bridget Davis (Lucinda), Shelton Harden (Cinderella’s Father), Karen Q. Clark (Cinderella’s Mother), Judy Trice (Granny), Ben Grimes (Steward), and Jacob Rivera (Milky White), with Hannah Hill, Ruby Reeves, Chad Bradford, Frederick Webb Jr…. and Hillary Clinton (The Giant).
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Complete casting has been announced for Anais Mitchell & Rachel Chavkin’s Hadestown, to run Apr. 26 – May 29 (opening (Apr. 27) at the Ahmanson Theatre, directed by Chavkin.
Nicholas Baraasch (Orpheus), Morgan Siobhan Green (Eurydice), Levi Kreis (Hermes), Kimberly Marable (Persephone), Kevyn Morrow (Hades), Belén Moyano (Fate), Bex Odorisio (Fate), and Shea Renne (Fate), with Lindsay Hailes, Chibueze Ihuoma, Will Mann, Sydney Parra, and Jamari Johnson Williams, Tyla Collier, Ian Coulter-Buford, Alex Lugo, Eddie Noel Rodríguez, and J. Antonio Rodriguez.
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Standard Time with Michael Feinstein: A Century of Romance: 100 Years of Love Songs will take place Wed. Apr. 6 at 7:30 PM ET at Carnegie Hall.
Catherine Russell.
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Video: “The Aging Ingenue,” Episode. 6, with Sara Jean Ford.
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The world premiere of Sarah Silverman, Joshua Harmon & Adam Schlesinger’s The Bedwetter will begin previews Apr. 30 and open May 23 at the Atlantic Theater Company, directed by Anne Kauffman, with choreography by Byron Easley, and music direction by Byron Easley.
Caissie Levy, Bebe Neuwirth, Ashley Blanchet, Rick Crom, Zoe Glick, Darren Goldstein, and Ellyn Marie Marsh, with Charlotte MacLeod, Charlotte Elizabeth Curtis, Margot Weintraub, and Emily Zimmerman.
Meet Sarah. She’s funny. She’s dirty. She’s 10. And she’s got a secret that you’ll never guess (unless you read the title).
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Musical Theatre Guild will present How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying on Sun. May 1 at 7 PM PT at Glendale’s Alex Theatre.
Casting and creative team TBA.
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An industry reading of Andrew Stein’s Disruption will take place Thurs. Mar. 31 at 4 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Open Jar Studios, directed by Hersh Ellis. Contact: disruptiontheplay@gmail.com
Heidi Blickenstaff, David Wilson Barnes, Tina Benko, Victoire Charles, Avanthika Srinivasan, Paco Tolson, Sathya Sridharan, and Tommy Schrider.
With every aspect of human life documented with data and disrupted by technology, will computers soon be able to tell us what will make them truly happy? And should we listen? One tech gazillionaire thinks so and is using his friends to prove it.
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The world premiere of Three Tables, written & directed by Murry Mednick, will run Apr. 23 – May 22 at the Zephyr Theatre.
Laura Liguori, Corey Rieger, Michael Uribes, Eric Stanton Better, Raquel Cain, Dennis Renard, Steve Apostolina, and Matt Gottlieb.
Three overlapping conversations take place at three separate tables, occupied by a trio of actors, theater people and waiters, who are probably descendants of Holocaust survivors.
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An invitation-only workshop of Anna Miriam Brown’s His Story, The Musical will take place Thurs. Apr. 7 at 11:30 AM ET & 3:30 PM ET, and Frid. Apr. 8 at 11:30 AM ET & 3:30 PM ET at NYC’s New 42 Studios, directed by Jeff Calhoun. Inquiries: HisStoryTickets@gmail.com
In a poor small town in the Holy Land, a humble yet hopeful teen girl pleads with God to send the Messiah and establish a kingdom of hope and justice. God hears Mary’s prayers and sends an angel to give her a mission: to bear the promised savior. Thus this virgin brings Jesus into the world, while her boyfriend Joe doesn’t know quite what to think. Fast forward 30 years. common-man-from-a-sketchy-family Jesus arrives in the big city, upending the traditional kingly expectation of the Messiah. He performs “miracles” and speaks great wisdom, but chooses friends from the dregs of society and hangs out in the wrong part of town. Mocked by the establishment, he is adored by the people.
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Hollywood’s Blank Theatre has announced finalists for the 2nd annual UCross + The Blank Theatre – Future of Playwrighting Prize, honoring young playwrights nationwide
Jeesun Choi, Katherine Gwynn, Onyekachi Iwu, Andrew Siañez-De La O, and Gage Tarlton.
The five finalists will now receive an online personal interview with the administrative body of the jury, including representatives from Ucross. The winner will be announced on Apr. 1 and a cash award and residency at Ucross will follow.
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Afterglow, written & directed by S. Asher Gelman, will run Apr. 28 – June 19 (opening May 5) at Hollywood’s Hudson Theatre.
Noah Bridgestock (Josh), James Hayden Rodriguez (Alex), and Nathan Mohebbi (Darius).
A raw, one-act play exploring the emotional, intellectual, and physical connections between three men and the broader implications within their relationships. When Josh and Alex, a married couple in an open relationship, invites Darius to share their bed one night, a new intimate connection begins to form and all three men must come to terms with their individual definitions of love, loyalty, and trust, as futures are questioned, relationships shaken, and commitments are challenged.
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Four invitation-only workshop presentations of Anna Miriam Brown’s His Story, The Musical will take place Apr.7 & 8 at NYC’s New 42 Studios, directed by Jeff Calhoun. Inquiries: HisStoryTickets@gmail.com
Joshua Bess, Sam Brackley, Blake Du Bois, Travis Flynt, Emile Hassandzadeh, Gigi Hausman, Jataria Heyward, Madeline Hudelson, Lauren Johnson, Casey Lamont, Jared Mazeika, Bryan Munar, Kaitlin Niewoehner, Alexa Renee, Jonathan Reyes, Cameron Sirian, Sean Stack, and Charles P. Way.
In a pool small town in the Holy Land, a hopeful teen girls pleads with God to sent the Messiah and establish a kingdom of hope and justice. Jump ahead 30 years, a common man-from-a-sketchy-family, Jesus, arrives in the big city, upending the traditional kingly expectation of the Messiah. He performs miracles and speaks great wisdom, but attracts followers from the dregs of society and hangs out in the wrong part of town. Mocked by the establishment, he is adored by the people.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: College Daze
1-C. Leave It To Jane – Atwater College
2-F. All American – Southern Baptist Institute of Technology
3-G. The Male Animal – Midwestern University
4-A. Wicked – Shiz University
5-I. Hamlet – Wittenberg University
6-J. Legally Blonde – UCLA and Harvard Law School
7-E. Where’s Charley? – Oxford University
8-H. Good News! – Tait College
9-B. The Student Prince – University of Heidelberg
10-D. On Your Toes – Knickerbocker University