Due to the COVID-19 virus, 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.
Today’s Highlights:
* Rise Up New York! benefit telethon, in support of NYC’s Robin Hood, hosted by Tina Fey, with a special appearance by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, and featuring Barbra Streisand, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Idina Menzel, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, Bette Midler, Chris Rock, Christopher Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Robert De Niro, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Sting, Spike Lee, Jimmy Fallon,, Trevor Noah, Eli Manning, and Michael Strahan, and more, at 7 PM ET on all NYC local stations, as well as CNBC.
* Red Bull Theater‘s “There’s a World Elsewhere,” offering two conversations re: Coriolanus, with Nathan Winkelstein, Dion Johnstone and Lisa Harrow, livestreamed for FREE at 7:30 PM.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz – Light Up the Sky by Jim Bernhard
Match these plays, all of which mention the sun in their titles, with their authors:
| 1. While the Sun Shines (1944) | A. Neil Simon |
| 2. Sunny (1925) | B. Peter Shaffer |
| 3. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1965) | C. Maxim Gorky |
| 4. A Raisin in the Sun (1959) | D. Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern |
| 5. Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (1992) | E. Don Black, Christopher Hampton, and Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 6. Sunset Boulevard (1994) | F. Dore Schary |
| 7. The Sunshine Boys (1972) | G. Wolcott Gibbs |
| 8. Sunrise at Campobello (1958) | H. John Guare |
| 9. Season in the Sun (1950) | I. Lorraine Hansberry |
| 10. The Children of the Sun (1908) | J. Terence Rattigan |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Video: Last night’s star-studded “Broadway Does Mother’s Day — A Benefit for BC/BFA” (1:13:42)
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Lincoln Center Theater has announced its own initiative to stream ALL musicals, plays, and operas for FREE from its archives on BroadwayHD. Once posted, each show will be available for one week (with a few exceptions)
Click here for the complete list of productions, which will be continually updated.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guest Melissa Errico and Feel Good Friday (1:05:48)).
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guests Jason Daniely and Kelli O’Hara (1:16:25))
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guests Chita Rivera, Jason Alexander, Rob Marshall, and Scott Ellis. (1:13:20)
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Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage has announced its 2020-21 season:
* Slave Play (dates TBA), by Jeremy O. Harris. directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene.
* Once On This Island (Oct. 23 – Nov. 21), directed by Pascale Florestal, with music direction by David Freeman Coleman.
* People, Places and Things (Jan. 8 – Feb. 6, 2021), by Duncan Macmillan, directed by David R. Gammons, featuring Marianna Bassham and John Kuntz. Emma is a 30-something actress who thinks she is having the time of her life, until she finds herself in rehab.
* Bright Star (Feb. 26 – May 27), directed by Paul Daigneault, with music direction by Eli Schildkraut, and choreography by Misha Shields, and featuring Laura Marie Duncan.
* The Inheritance: A Two Part Play (Apr. 20 – June 20), by Matthew Lopez, directed by Paul Daigneault, and featuring Nancy E. Carroll. A generation after the peak of the AIDS crisis, what is it like to be a young gay man in New York? What is the legacy left to them by previous generations? What do they owe the future and each other?
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Video: Lesli Margherita‘s audition for Mama Rose. Hysterical.
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Video: Musical Theatre West presents “David & Larry’s Mothers Day Special,” featuring a cast of LA’s best. (1:21:13)
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Video: Last night’s “The Disney Family Singalong” Volume II” complete concert (1:10:05)
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RIP: Jerry Stiller has died of natural causes, at the age of 92.
Broadway appearances include The Golden Apple (1954), The Ritz (1975), Unexpected Guests (1977), Passione (1980), Hurlyburly (1984), Three Men on a Horse (1993), What’s Wrong With This Picture (1994), and The Three Sisters (1997).
Off-Broadway, Stiller appeared in The Threepenny Opera (1955) and Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971).
After many years as a comedy team with his wife Anne Meara, Stiller is best know as George Costanza’s father on “Seinfeld,” as well as Arthur Spooner on “The King of Queens.”
On film, he appeared as Wilbur Turnblad in the original “Hairspray” film (1988), as well as “Mr. Pinky,” “Zoolander,” Heavyweights,” “Hot Pursuit,” The Heartbreak Kid” and “Zoolander 2.”
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City Center Encores’ Archives Project continues to post a plethora of fabulous moments from past Encores’ productions.
The following videos were added last week:
* Yvette Cason, “It’s a Woman’s Prerogative” (St. Louis Woman, 1998)
* Michael Arden & Celia Keenan-Bolger, “One Kind Word” (Juno, 2008)
* Tommy Tune, “Fascinating Rhythm,” (Lady Be Good, 2015)
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Video: “Longest Time – Quarantine Edition,“ by the Phoenix Chamber Choir. Just lovely.
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Video: “You’ve Got a Friend,” with Valerie Perri and her sons Jack and Benny Lipson.
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Video: Harvey Fierstein auditions for Mama Rose. Scroll down…
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London’s National Theatre’s “Shelter in Place” series presents Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Simon Goodwin, starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo. The event is currently available through May 14.
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Video: Kevin Chamberlin, “Wood,” from Encores The New Yorkers (2017). Scroll down…
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Video: Karen Mason, “Becoming My Mother” (2015), Stunning.
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“We All Play Our Part,” a livestreamed benefit for the Motion Picture Theatre Fund, will take place Fri. May 15 at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET, hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown and Tom Bergeron.
George Clooney, Michael Douglas, Jay Ellis, Daisy Fuentes & Richard Marx, Brad Garrett, Susanna Hoffs & Jay Roach, Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Leslie Odom Jr., Kimberly Williams Paisley & Brad Paisley, Rachel Platten, and Ray Romano.
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Video: Meryl Streep ‘s interview from 2000, where she shares stories about “Postcards from the Edge,” Mike Nichols, and more (1:05:26)
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Video: “A Classic Broadway Mother’s Day – Quarantine Edition,” a compilation of past Mother’s Day performances, with Owen Bakula, Scott Bakula, Paige Befeler, Roger Befeler, Karen Benjamin, Molly Chapman, Dante Damiano, Tami Tappan Damiano, Brad Ellis, Chelsea Field, Dianne Fraser, Jason Graae, Chelsy Gray, Larry Grossman, Kim Huber, Bill A. Jones, Samantha DV Jones, Kelly Lester, Julia Lester, Skye LaFontaine, Benny Lipson, Jack Lipson, Valerie Perri, Todd Schroeder, Hayley Silver, and Nita Whitaker. (1:12:27)
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London’s National Theatre at Home has announced upcoming livestreams.
All productions will be available to stream for free seven days following its premiere at 2 PM ET on its scheduled date of release.
May 14: Barber Shop Chronicles (2018), directed by Bijan Shebani, features Fisayo Akinade, Hammed Animashaun, Cyril Nri and Sule Rimi.
May 21: A Streetcar Named Desire (2013), directed by Benedict Andrews, feature Gillian Anderson (Blanche), Ben Foster (Stanley), and Vanessa Kirby (Stella).
May 28: This House (2013), by James Graham, directed by Jeremy Herrin, features Phil Daniels, Reece Dinsdale, Charles Edwards, and Vincent Franklin.
June 4: Coriolanus, directed by Josie Rourke, features Tim Hiddleston, Alfred Enoch, Deborah Findlay, and Mark Gatiss.
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Video: Audra McDonald, “Beyond the Moon” from the film “Hello, Again” (2017)
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Videos: The Kennedy Center offers its weekly Couch Concert Series.
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Video: Andrea Martin, “No Time at All” from Pippin at Cambridge’s A.R.T. (2012).
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Video: “Something’s Coming,” featuring Isaac Powell from Broadway’s West Side Story. Scroll down…
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Ruthie Ann Miles, and her husband Jonsthan Blumenstein welcomed a baby girl named Hope Elizabeth inApril.
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Video: Idina Menzel and Ben Platt, “A Whole New World.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Light Up the Sky
1-J. While the Sun Shines (1944) – Terence Rattigan
2-D. Sunny (1925) – Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern
3-B. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1965) – Peter Shaffer
4-I. A Raisin in the Sun (1959) – Lorraine Hansberry
5-H. Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (1992) – John Guare
6-E. Sunset Boulevard (1994) – Don Black, Christopher Hampton, and Andrew Lloyd Webber
7-A. The Sunshine Boys (1972) – Neil Simon
8-F. Sunrise at Campobello (1958) – Dore Schary
9-G. Season in the Sun (1950) – Wolcott Gibbs
10-C. The Children of the Sun (1908) – Maxim Gorky