Today’s Highlights:
The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie, the world’s longest-running show, featuring two casts: Cassidy Janson (Mollie Ralston), Danny Mac (Giles Ralston), Alexander Wolfe (Christopher Wren), Susan Penhaligon (Mrs. Boyle), Derek Griffiths (Maj. Metcalf), Lizzie Muncey (Miss Casewell), David Rintoul (Mr. Paravicini), and Paul Hilliar (Detective Sgt. Trotter…… and…… Kate Tydman (Mollie Ralston), Nicholas Bailey (Giles Ralston), Joshua Griffin (Christopher Wren), Louise Jameson (Mrs. Boyle), Paul Bradley (Maj. Metcalf), Sarah Moss (Miss Casewell), Tony Timberlake (Mr. Paravicini), and Charlie Clements (Detective Sgt. Trotter), re-opens at London’s St. Martin’s Theatre.
Sejanus, His Fall presentation, by Ben Jonson, adapted & directed by Nathan Winkelstein, featuring Laila Robins, Denis O’Hare, Shirine Babb, Grantham Coleman, Keith David, Manoel Felciano, Matthew Rauch, Liv Rooth, Stephen Spinella, Emily Swallow, Raphael Nash Thompson, Tamara Tunie, and James Udom, begins FREE livestreaming at Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater (and available through May 21.)
The Fatal Weakness filmed production, by George Kelly, directed by Jesse Marchese, featuring Cliff Bemis, Cynthia Darlow, Kristin Griffith, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Patricia Kilgariff, and Victoria Mack, begins streaming at Off-Broadway’s Mint Theatre.
Night of Covenant House Stars benefit concert, hosted by Audra McDonald and John Dickerson, featuring Meryl Streep, Vanessa Williams, Ariana DeBose, Kelli O’Hara, Sara Bareilles, Dolly Parton, Ryan Reynolds, Robin Roberts, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Brosnahan, Capathia Jenkins, Jo Ellen Pellman, John Dickerson, Darius De Haas, Daniel Yearwood, Ames Mcnamara, Laurie Metcalf, and more, streams for FREE at 7 PM CT/8 PM ET here.
Dancers Over 40 Spelling Bee benefit, featuring hard-to-spell names of Broadway and the dance world’s best performers, submitted by Jerry Mitchell, Karen Morrow, Steven Brinberg, Jim Brochu, Charles Busch, Ted Chapin, Penny Fuller, Jason Graae, Mary Testa, Lee Wilkof, Cheryl Clark, James Dybas, Ronald Young, and Josh Ellis…. and Broadway stars attempting to spell these names — James Dybas, Ronald Young Josh Ellis, Brad Oscar, Jamie De Roy, Michael Lavine, Barry Kleinbort, Bari Biern, George Dansker, Candy Brown, Lawrence Leritz, and Kevin Winkler, livestreams for FREE at 7 PM ET here.
Tales From the Wings: A Lincoln Center Theater Celebration conversation & song, featuring Patti LuPone (Anything Goes), Audra McDonald (Carousel), Rosemary Harris (A Delicate Balance), Steven Pasquale (A Man of No Importance), Paulo Szot (South Pacific), Seth Numrich (War Horse), Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I), Jordan Donica (My Fair Lady), Bartlett Sher (Oslo), and Lileana Blain-Cruz (2021-22 upcoming season), concludes FREE streaming at Lincoln Center Theatre.
Watch on the Rhine benefit reading, by Lilllian Hellman, directed by Sarna Lapine, featuring Ellen Burstyn, Mary Beth Peil, Jeremy Shamos, Carla Gugino, Alan Cox, Sasha Diamond, Alfred Enoch, Luca Padovan, Gabriella Pizzolo, and Neel Sethi, concludes streaming here.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Shakespearean Items by Jim Bernhard
Match these couples in Shakespeare’s plays — and name the plays they are in.
| 1. Claudio | A. Olivia |
| 2. Iago | B. Goneril |
| 3. Duke of Albany | C. Hermia |
| 4. Touchstone | D. Hero |
| 5. Fenton | E. Audrey |
| 6. Lorenzo | F. Helena |
| 7. Sebastian | G. Emilia |
| 8. Lucentio | H. Jessica |
| 9. Lysander | I. Anne Page |
| 10. Bertram | J. Bianca |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Joe DiPietro & David Bryan’s Diana: The Musical will resume previews Nov. 2 and open Nov. 17 at the Longacre Theatre, directed by Christopher Ashley, with choreography by Kelly Devine, and music supervision by Ian Eisendrath.
Jeanna de Waal (Diana), Roe Hartrampf (Prince Charles), Erin Davie (Camilla Parker Bowles), and Judy Kaye (Queen Elizabeth), with Zach Adkins, Tessa Alves, Ashley Andrews, Austen Danielle Bohmer, Holly Ann Butler, Stephen Carrasco, Richard Gatta, Lauren E.J. Hamilton, Emma Hearn, Shaye B. Hopkins, André Jordan, Gareth Keegan, Nathan Lucrezio, Tomás Matos, Chris Medlin, Laura Stracko, and Bethany Ann Tesarck.
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Initial casting has been announced for Carousel, to run July 31 – Sept. 225 at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, directed by Joanna Bowman, with music supervision by Tom Deering, and choreography by Drew McOnie.
Carly Bawden (Julie Jordan), Declan Bennett (Billy Bigelow), John Pfumojena (Enoch Snow), Joanna Riding (Nettie Fowler), and Natasha May Thomas (Louise), with more TBA.
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Westport County Playhouse has announced its Cabaret in the Robards concert series, all at 8 PM ET.
An Evening with Brad Simmons and Tonya Pinkins (June 26)
An Evening with Larry Owens (July 17)
An Evening with Ali Stroker (July 24)
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The UK tour of Dan Gillespie Sells & Tom MacRae’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will open Sept. 1 at The Lowry, Salford Quays, directed by Matt Ryan, with choreography by Kate Prince, and music direction by Ben Holder. Click here for the complete tour schedule.
Layton Williams (Jamie), Shane Richie (Hugo/Loco Chanelle — Sept. 1 – Nov. 20), Roy Haylock (Hugo/Loco Chanelle (Nov. 23 – Jan. 8, 2022), Shobna Gulati (Ray), Amy Ellen Richardson (Margaret), Sharan Phull (Pritti Pasha), Lara Denning (Miss Hedge), George Sampson (Dean), Richard Appiah-Sarpong (Cy), Simeon Becket (Levi), Kazmin Borrer (Vicki), Cameon Johnson (Jamie’s Dad), Jodie Knight (Fatimah), John Paul McCue (Laika Virgin), Jessica Meegan (Bex), Talia Palamathanan (Becca), and Rhys Taylor (Tray Sophisticay), with Alex Hetherington, Ellie Leah, and Emma Tobotam-Hunt.
Jamie New is sixteen and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. Jamie doesn’t quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. He is going to be a sensation.
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Steven Yockey’s Reykjavik continues through May 30 at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre Company, directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky.
Danny Lee Gomez, Stephen Tyler Howell, Brian Ibsen, Alaska Jackson, and Carlos Lacamara.
A series of interconnected vignettes featuring tourists mixing with the (sometime supernatural) Icelandic locals. We eavesdrop on the private lives of lovers, hospitality workers, party goers, and even a really handsome bird or tow. This play is a glimpse into a magical, dark, and sometimes violent world were everyone is still hoping to find love and joy beneath the glow of the Northern lights.
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Marck Schoenfeld & Barri McPherson’s BKLYN The Musical will stream June 4-6 on Broadway On Demand, directed by Meg Fofonoff.
Diana DeGarmo (Brooklyn), Miguel Cervantes (Taylor), Taylor Iman Jones (Faith), and Felicia Boswell (Paradice), with Thom Sesma, Nick Cearley, and Lauren Molina.
A tapestry of stories as rich and inspiring as the borough that inspired it. A girl named Brooklyn searches for the father she never knew. There is a troupe of street performers, struggling to be heard as artists… and seen as human beings. And there is an epic battle between the two divas, each striving to become The Queen of The City. BKLYN is a musical waiting for its moment… and that moment is now.
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Little Shop of Horrors will return to the Westside Theatre Sept. 21 – Jan. 2, 2022, directed by Michael Mayer.
Jeremy Jordan (Seymour), Tammy Blanchard (Audrey), Christian Borle (Orin Scirvello, D.D.S.), Tom Alan Robbins (Mushnik), Aaron Arnell Harrington (Voice of Audrey II), Salome Smith (Ronnette), Joy Woods (Chiffon), and Aveena Sawyer (Crystal), with Eric Wright, Teddy Yudain, Stephen Berger, and Chelsea Turbin.
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Wallace Shawn & Andre Gregory will release 2 podcasts here:
The Designated Mourner (released June 25), featuring Jennifer Tilly, Julie Hagerty, Deborah Eisenbert, Larry Pine, and Emily Cass McDonald. Something’s happening in the country where Jack lives. There’s violence in the streets. Leaders are being replaced. Public life is transforming. The government is cracking down on anyone suspected of subversion. But Jack – consumed with his atrophying marriage to Judy, his corrosive envy of his famous poet-intellectual father-in-law Howard, and his disintegrating sense of self – barely notices. As the once-liberal society around him descends into authoritarianism, Jack plunges into his own parallel decline, a chilling abdication of everything he one valued.
Grasses of a Thousand Colors (released July 9), featuring Wallace Shawn, Jennifer Tilly, Julie Hagerty, and Emily Cass McDonald. In this disturbing and dreamlike drama, a doctor invents a groundbreaking nutrient intended to end world hunger. Instead it radically transforms the food chain, chemically disrupting animal and human bodies, leading to a global illness and outbreaks of disturbing behavior. Isolated from the worst of it by his wealth, the doctor loses himself in a series of tumultuous relationships with his wife Cerise, his mistress Robin, and his girlfriend Rose. A cat called Blanche, who leads him into an enchanted world of bizarre eroticism, also figures crucially in the drama.
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Seven Deadly Sins, a series of 7 short plays, will run June 22 – July 18 (opening June 29) in NYC’s meat-packing district here, directed by Moisés Kaufman.
Ngozi Anyanwu, Thomas Bradshaw, MJ Kaufman, Moisés Kaufman, Jeffrey LaHoste, Ming Pfeiffer, and Bess Wohl.
Casting TBA.
No subject is taboo as audiences rotate through seven uniquely designed storefronts, exploring the depths of desire, jealousy, rage, and more in a thrilling evening that merges live theater with performance art, dazzling design, and CDC-mandated regulations. The performances will continue rain or shine, involve walking approximately 3 blocks, and utilize headphones that will be provided to you. The performances will continue rain or shine, involve walking approximately 3 blocks, and utilize headphones that will be provided to you. This show contains mature content including nudity, adult language, simulated sex, simulated sexual violence, simulated sex work, and death.
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Video: Laura and Linda Benanti perform “A Quiet Thing,” from Flora the Red Menace.
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Kritzerland’s next concert, May Is Busting Our All Over will stream Mon. May 30 at 5 PM PT here, hosted by Bruce Kimmel, with music direction by Richard Allen.
Charles Busch, Marc Ginsburg, Lisa Livesay, Kerry O’Malley, Hartley Powers, Sami Staitman, Adrienne Stiefel, Walter Willison, and Robert Yacko.
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CT’s Goodspeed Musicals has announced its annual Goodspeed by the River concert series. All concerts perform Tues.-Sun. at 7 PM ET, with Wed., Sat., and Sun. matinees at 2 PM ET.
Turn Back Time: Ben & Dee Rock the 70s 80s and Beyond (June 10-20), featuring Ben Clark and Dee Roscioli.
Ambassador of Love: a Celebration of Pearl Bailey (June 22 – July 18), featuring Rashidra Scott, directed by T. Oliver Reid, with music direction by Michael O. Mitchell.
Bennet & Babs: The Songs of Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand (Jun 23 – July 4), featuring Jackie Burns and Joe Cassidy.
Together Again, Max & Celeste Sing Their Broadway Favorites (July 7-18), featuring Max Chernin and Celeste Rose.
Johnny and The Devil’s Box: In Concert (July 22 – Aug. 1), featuring Douglas Waterbury-Tieman and Annabelle Fox.
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MCC Theater’s MisCast Gala 2021 continues streaming here through May 21. (2:26:18)
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Shakespearean Items
1-D. Claudio – Hero (Much Ado About Nothing)
2-G. Iago – Emilia (Othello)
3-B. Duke of Albany – Goneril (King Lear)
4-E. Touchstone – Audrey (As You Like It)
5-I. Fenton – Anne Page (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
6-H. Lorenzo – Jessica (The Merchant of Venice)
7-A. Sebastian – Olivia (Twelfth Night)
8-J. Lucentio – Bianca (The Taming of the Shrew)
9-C. Lysander – Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
10-F. Bertram – Helena (All’s Well That Ends Well)