Today’s Highlights:
The Beautiful Lady, by Elizabeth Swados, adapted by Jocelyn Clarke, directed by Anne Bogart, featuring Tom Nelis, Henry Stram, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Andrew Polec, Kate Fulgei, George Abud, Starr Busby, Djore Nance, Paula Gaudier, Red Guhde, Jacob Louchheim, and Maya Sharpe, opens at Off-Broadway’s La MaMa.
Trunk Songs from Some Like It Hot concert, featuring TyNia Brandon, Ian Campayno, Casey Garvin, KJ Hippensteel, Abby Matsusaka, Amber Owens, Kayla Pecchiono, Angie Schworer, Charles South, and Raena White, at 9:30 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.
Judy on TV!: Celebrating “The Judy Garland Show” concert, written & directed by Dick Scanlan, featuring Aisha de Haas, Gabrielle Stravelli, Alysha Umphress, and Max Von Essen, closes at NYC’s 92Y.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Hello and Goodbye by Jim Bernhard (you’ve got a 50-50 chance on this one!)
Fill in the missing word in each of these titles with “Hello” or “Goodbye”
- ____, Dolly! – musical by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman
- ____, Broadway! –musical by George M. Cohan
- ____ Fidel – play by Howard Sackler
- ____, Charlie – play by George Axelrod
- ____, Daddy – musical by Herbert and Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh
- ____, Lola –musical by Dorothy Donnelly and William B. Kernell
- ____, My Fancy– play by Fay Kanin
- ____, Out There –play by William Saroyan
- The _____ People – play by Herb Gardner
- The ____ Girl – musical by Neil Simon, Marvin Hamlisch, and David Zippel
Scroll down for the answers…
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2023 Lucille Lortel Awards have been announced. Click here for the complete list of winners (scroll down).
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The Kennedy Center has announced its 2023-24 theater season:
NOTE: All tours are AEA.
Tick, tick…BOOM! (Oct. 6-15),
Bluey’s Big Play (Nov. 22-26), for family audiences.
Girl From the North Country (Dec. 12-31) national tour.
Frozen (Dec. 20 – Jan. 21, 2024) national tour
Bye Bye Birdie (Jan. 26 – Feb. 4)
Ain’t Too Proud (Feb. 13-18) national tour
Company (Mar. 12-31) national tour
Message in a Bottle (Apr. 9-21), by Kate Prince
Dixie’s Tupperware Party (May 7 – June 2)
Nine (June 7-16)
Funny Girl (June 25 – July 14) national tour
Back to the Future (July 23 – Aug. 11) national tour
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The Complete History of American Musical Theatre in the 20th Century (with examples) will take place Fri. May 19 at 8 PM at LA’s Odyssey Theatre, narrated by Dan Fishbach, with music direction by Brad Gardner.
Brittany Anderson, Sophie Beck, Jason Graae, Emily Kinney, Kevin Matsumoto, Jonah Platt, Diane Vincent, and Robert Yacko.
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Read here (scroll down): “The Girls Upstairs: Stories of 1998’s ill-fated Follies.”
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Initial casting has been announced for West Side Story, to run July 15-21 at the St. Louis Muny, directed by Rob Buggiero, with the original choreography reproduced by Parker Esse, and music direction by James Moore.
Christian Douglas (Tony), Kanisha Feliciano (Maria), Jerusha Cavazos (Anita), Yurel Echezarreta (Bernard0), Sean Harrison Jones (Riff), Ken Page (Doc), and more TBA.
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Broadway Bets, Broadway’s official Texas Hold’em poker tournament in support of BC/EFA, will take place Mon. May 22 at 7 PM at NYC’s Sardi’s. Prizes go to all players who reach the final table.
Participants TBA.
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Connie Converse & Hope Levy’s The Connie Converse Universe will run May 20-21 at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre.
Hope Levy
The story of the first modern female singer-songwriter whose style of songs in the mid 19-50’s were ahead of their time, pre-dating releases by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Converse disappeared in August of 1974 and was never seen or heard from again. Decades later, the world discovered her music when a CD of her original 1954 demo recordings were released in 2009 and went viral on Spotify.
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The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, raised $1.2 million at its May 1 Annual Gala.
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The world premiere of Summer Stock, adapted by Cheri Steinkellner, will run July 7 – Aug. 27 at CT’s Goodspeed, directed & choreographed by Donna Feore, with music direction by Adam Souza.
Corbin Bleu (Joe Ross), Danielle Wade (Jane Falbury), and more TBA.
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Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones will star in “Voyagers,” directed by Sebastian Lelio. A release date is TBA. Additional casting is TBA.
The film unfolds in 1977 as NASA prepared to launch humanity’s first interstellar probes. A team led by Sagan sets out to create a message to accompany them, known as the Golden Record, which included music and images, for possible alien civilizations. But what starts out as a race-against-the-clock mission blossoms into a love story between Sagan and Druyan.
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Glendale’s Antaeus Theatre Company has announced its 2023-24 season:
SHE (Oct. 15 – Nov. 20), world premiere by Marlow Wyatt, directed by Andi Chapman. Desperate to escape small-town life, 13-year old SHE is forced to face the harsh realities of adult life when she’s offered a rare opportunity to attend a prestigious boarding school.
The Winter’s Tale (Feb. 4 – Mar. 11), directed by Elizabeth Swain.
Nora (Apr. 21 – May 26, 2024), adaptation directed by Cameron Watson. On Christmas Ever, Nora Helmer must confront blackmail, financial ruin, the consequences of her past actions, and the unsettling truth about her life.
The Importance of Being Earnest (July 14 – Aug. 19), directed by Gregg T. Daniel.
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LA’s Blank Theatre has announced the winners of its 31st Annual Young Playwrights Festival:
Lox, by Leo Eigen, NYC
Slick, Slimy Grimy and Dead, by Audrey Hunter
An Actor Recalls, by Anna Parker
Beach Bushes, by Izzy Vismara
Opus 9 No. 2, by Alessio Vega
Bat Eaters, by Christine Lee
The Groundwater, by Dylan Malloy
Life Review, by Lola Podolner
Bowling!!!, by Quint Bastian
Waiting for the 6 Train, by Elizabeth Shannon (ELLIS)
Good, by Brian Guan.
Jonas Versus the Fairyarchy, by Catherine Day
The plays will be live this year at LA’s Skylight Theatre, divided into weekly offerings of 3 plays, running July 6-30.
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The world premiere of Anna Miriam Brown’s His Story The Musical continues through Sept. 10 at Dallas’ Grandscape, directed by Jeff Calhoun, with choreography by Eamon Foley, and music supervision by Rick Hip-Flores.
Max Kuenzer (Jesus), Lily Gast (mary Magdeline), Richard Chaz Gomez (Judas), Jataria Heyward (Mother Mary), Logan Dolence (Joseph), Casey Lamont (Lucifer), Caroloe Gutierrez (Gabriel), Bryan Munar (Peter), Camden Deal (Leper), Justin Taylor (Matthew), Caleb Bermejo (Pontius Pilate), Mat Blasio (Nicodemus), and Courtney Blanc (Caiaphus), with Ja’Naye Flanagan, Lia Karagianopoulos, Abby Murphy, Audrey Lee, Gigi Hausman, Nicholas Haas, and Mark Quach.
In this contemporary pop musical based on the life of Jesus, a common man arrives in the big city and defies expectations. He performs miracles and speaks great wisdom, but hangs out in the wrong part of town. Mocked by the establishment, he is adored by the people.
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Broadway Bares: Pleasure Park, in support of BC/EFA, will take place Sun. June 18 at 9:30 PM & Midnight at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom, directed by Laya Barak & Kellen Stancil.
The evening will include 150+ dancers (TBA)
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The national tour of SIX continues through June 10 at LA’s Pantages Theatre. Here are the guidelines for the digital lottery:
* Enter the lottery here.
* The lottery will open at 11 AM 2 days prior to each performance. The first lottery will open Sun. May 7.
* The lottery will close 1 day prior to each performance at 10 AM.
* Only 1 entry per person, per performance.
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Private industry readings of Nate Bertone’s The Sea View Nursing Home for the Newly Deceased will take place May 9 & 10 in NYC. directed by Bertone.
Jared Reinfeldt, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Kyra Kennedy, Kathy Fitzgerald, Mia Matthews, Heath Saunders, Alex Branton, and Tarra Connor Jones.
Six souls have woken up after recently passing in the abandoned Sea View Nursing Home. After coming to terms with being deceased and where they are, they encounter a real estate agent determined to sell the property—and the souls must figure out how to finish crossing over before she sells.
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Elizabeth Swados & Paula Schmidts’ The Beautiful Lady, adapted by Jocelyn Clarke, opens May 8 and continues through May 28 at La Mama, directed by Anne Bogart, with music direction by Adrian Ries.
Tom Nelis, Henry Stram, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Andrew Polec, Kate Fulgei, George Abud, Starr Busby, Djore Nance, Paula Gaudier, Red Guhde, Jacob Lousheim, and Maya Sharpe.
Set in the historic Stray Dog cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia during the Russian Revolution, the piece uses the word of influential poets from the time. As the revolution quickly turns and begins to persecute its own, the performers advocate for a free and just society, seeking meaning and purpose in their resistance.
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The Drama Desk will present Raul Esparza in Conversation on Tues. May 9 at 4 PM at NYC’s Ripley-Grier Studios, moderated by Michael Portantiere.
A limited number of $5 tickets are available by emailing michael@broadwaystars.com. Type “RSVP Esparza event” in subject line, and specify if you are or are not a Drama Desk member, and how many are in your party.
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A developmental workshop of Talisa Friedman’s Who By Fire will take place Mon. May 22 at 8 PM at North Hollywood’s Road on Magnolia (link TBA), directed by John Levey.
Laura Gardner (Jules Feinstein), Bruce Katzman (Len Feinstein), Lilli Passero (Eliza Feinstein), Christian Prentice (Noah Feinstein), Christian Telesvar (Everett Cole), and others.
Len and Jules Feinstein are your standard progressive, not-particularly-religious DC-area Jews. So when their eldest child Eliza brings her black boyfriend Everett home for Yom Kippur break fast, there’s no issue. Sure, the dog attacks him (“I’ve only seen him bark like that at the mailman”) and the quantity of African artifacts around the house feel a little appropriative, but it’s nothing too alarming. The biggest “problem” is that the family seems skeptical of the film that Eliza and Everett are collaborating on…but maybe they just don’t get it.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Hello and Goodbye
- Hello, Dolly!– musical by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman
- Hello, Broadway! –musical by George M. Cohan
- Goodbye Fidel – play by Howard Sackler
- Goodbye, Charlie – play by George Axelrod
- Hello, Daddy – musical by Herbert and Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh
- Hello, Lola – musical by Dorothy Donnelly and William B. Kernell
- Goodbye, My Fancy – play by Fay Kanin
- Hello, Out There – play by William Saroyan
- The Goodbye People – play by Herb Gardner
- The Goodbye Girl – musical by Neil Simon, Marvin Hamlisch, and David Zippel