Today’s Highlights:
Only Gold, world premiere by Kate Nash, Andy Blankenbuehler & Ted Malawer, directed & choreographed by Blankenbuehler, featuring Kate Nash, Terrance Mann, Karine Plantadit, Gaby Diaz, Hannah Cruz, Ryan Steele, and Ryan VanDenBoom, with Haley Fish, Jennifer Florentino, Jacob Guzman, Tyler Hanes, Thayne Jasperson, Reed Luplau, Morgan Marcell, Ximone Rose, Ida Saki, Ahmad Simmons, DeAnne Stewart, Voltaire Wade-Greene, Katie Webber, Jacob Burns, Phil Colgan, Bradley Dean, Victoria Fiore, Samantha Pollino, and Eleri Ward, opens at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater.
The Sex Party, world premiere written & directed by Terry Johnson, featuring Amanda Ryan (replacing Amanda Donohoe) Will Barton, Lisa Dwan, John Hopkins, Timothy Hutton, Jason Merrels, Pooya Nohseni (Lucy), Molly Osborne, and Kelly Price, begins previews at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory.
The Brothers Paranormal, by Prince Gomolvilas, directed by Jeff Liu, featuring David Huynh (Max), Roy Vongtama (Visarut), Tamika Simpkins (Delia), Jasper Louis (Felix), Emily Kuroda (Tasanee), and Pearrie Hammie (Jai), with Daniel Kim and Ratana, begins previews at LA’s East West Players.
Williamstown Theatre Festival‘s 2022 WTF Gala, featuring Alex Edelman, Christopher Fitzgerald, James Naughton, Steven Pasquale, Phillipa Soo, and more, at 6 PM at NYC’s City Winery.
The 3rd annual Remember the Ribbon: A Tribute to World AIDS Day benefit concert, directed by Bryan Campione, featuring Carolee Carmello, André Jordan, Darius Anthony Harper, and Anthony Wayne, with virtual appearances by Ariana DeBose and Judith Light. at 6:30 PM at NYC’s Sony Hall. 
The concert will also stream Dec. 1-3 on Playbill.com.
Foundation for New American Musicals’ MUSI-CAL concert, featuring excerpts from new musicals, at 7:30 PM at LA’s Bourbon Room.
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Reviews for Roundabout Theatre Company’s You Will Get Sick at Off-Broadway’s Laura Pels Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): Disease, dying and death are usually depicted as wretched or bloody onstage. We’re meant to cry or recoil… You Will Get Sick… is more matter-of-fact. It seems to promise a bald memento mori in the form of a fortune cookie… Yet the play, written by Noah Diaz, directed by Sam Pinkleton and starring the evergreen Linda Lavin, is far more than that. Neither prosaic nor clinical, it defies all expectations for a story in which the main character receives a fatal diagnosis, telling the tale in the most lively, surreal and surprising ways imaginable… Lavin, who is 85, does not play the character who’s ill. Turning the template upside down, she instead plays the caregiver, Callan — if you can call someone a caregiver whose every act of care is minutely monetized…
Vulture (Jackson McHenry): In a gig economy where you can hire someone to deliver your groceries or mount a TV, why not simply hire people to do the emotional heavy lifting for you? All the better if you can get Tony-winner Linda Lavin, grumbling at you over the phone as you tell her you’ve developed a mysterious sickness and soon, probably, will die. You get a bit of human connection… The cause of that interruption, COVID-19, stalks the corners of the play — the possibility of losing control of one’s body all the more present in the minds of the audience… the production itself also tends to overemphasize the bizarre, and runs away from itself….
New York Stage (Sandy MacDonald): Absurdism seems to have gone out of style, and more’s the pity… Enter Noah Diaz with…a script which predated the pandemic…but eerily embodies the atmosphere of a mysterious plague descending from out of the blue… The holy absurdity of dramatic pedagogy deserves an absurdist subcategory all its own. It has proved comic gold for centuries, and this sampling is 24-karat… Lavin, as a community-theatre aspirant, proves an apple-polisher extraordinaire. She has a major career goal in mind – too marvelous to reveal… Under Sam Pinkleton’s tight direction, this loopy lockdown-era play is simultaneously sobering and side-splitting.
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Reviews for 2:22 – A Ghost Story at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre:
LA Times (Charles McNulty): …The production…is trying to give sophisticated modern horror a run for its cinematic money… seems determined to make theatrical fright nights fashionable again… The occasionally over-the-top staging isn’t what ultimately holds the production back, though. The problem is the writing. The occult world is made to seem perfectly natural, but everyday reality sorely lacks credibility… The script by Danny Robins…strains the considerable talents of the American cast that has been assembled… they speak and act in ways that often don’t compute. Psychological coherence takes a back seat to tricksy plotting.
LA Excites (Imaam Jalali): …a superbly imaginative story that challenges what audience members think they might know with twists, turns, and unconventionalities that have everyone in the theatre on the literal edges of their seats for the play’s two-hour duration. 2:22’s ability to keep audiences in a state of thrilling suspense and tension is a grand achievement… The production, and its devilishly supercharged narrative, relies on the interaction of four characters who make the most of their unique relationship dynamics with each other… The quartet of accomplished actors, who are making their Ahmanson debut, share a captivating repartee, uttering their lines with a mastery that strikes just the right mood…
Haines His Way (Rob Stevens): …Little costumed trick or treaters may have provided more scares than what transpired on stage… reviewers were given a list of plot items to please not mention in their reviews, the better for future audiences to enjoy the supposed thrills… Robins’s script is basically two hours of marital discord, no matter how much director Matthew Dunster attempts to jolt the audience… Otherwise, the writing, directing and acting don’t really chill or thrill… The acting is fine although it substitutes lots of yelling and screaming for character development. Robins’s script could be trimmed by at least thirty minutes and its intermission and provide a tighter experience.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: The Comedians by Jim Bernhard
1. John Cleese of Monty Python is credited in the Spamalot playbill as a writer of the screenplay upon which the musical is based, and also as—King Arthur…The Lady of the Lake… Minister of Silly Walks… God.
2. The Marx Brothers were the subject of a musical called …High Marx… The Comedians… Minnie’s Boys… Animal Crackers
3. Billy Crystal wrote and produced a one-man show on Broadway called… Mr. Saturday Night… The King of Comedy… 7– Sundays… An Evening with Billy Crystal.
4. Which of these is not the title of a one-man Broadway show by Jackie Mason? Brand New… Freshly Squeezed… Mason Jars… Politically Incorrect
5. Joan Rivers appeared in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound as a replacement for…Linda Lavin… Bernadette Peters… Barbara Streisand… Angela Lansbury.
6. In Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the painter Pablo Picasso has a conversation with… Pope John XXIII… Albert Einstein… Andy Warhol… Mother Theresa.
7. Sarah Silverman, collaborating with Joshua Harmon and Adam Schlesinger, wrote the musical… Next to Normal… The Aristocrats… Fun Home… The Bedwetter.
8. Phyllis Diller’s only Broadway appearance was as a replace in … Hello, Dolly… Mame… The Sound of Music… Fiddler on the Roof.
9. Tina Fey wrote the book for the musical Mean Girls, which was based upon the movie of that name, with a screenplay by… Elaine May… Tina Fey… Martha Raye… Fay Wray.
10. Steve Allen wrote the music and lyrics for a 1963 Broadway musical based on the life of… Fannie Brice… Mae West… Ethel Waters… Sophie Tucker.
Scroll down for the answers…
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Off-Broadway’s Public Theater has announced its 18th annual Under the Radar Festival, to run Jan. 4-22, 2023, curated by Mark Russell.
“The events at this year’s Under the Radar Festival consider our complicated time on earth and its environment—including the social storms of the internet. They unearth ancient stories with new voices and perspectives using fierce poetry, astounding visuals, incisive humor, dust, salt, glitter, and song, to examine our past and point to the future.”
seven method of killing kylie jenner (Jan 10-15), by Jasmine Lee-Jones. 
The piece explores cultural appropriation, queerness, friendship, and the ownership of Black bodies online and IRL.
Our Country (Jan. 10-22), by Annie Saunders & Becca Wolff. The play brings origin myths down to earth in an intimate portrait of a complex sibling relationship.
Otto Frank (Jan. 13 – 22), created & performed by Roger Guenveur. Otto Frank addresses his daughter beyond her time and his own, navigating the loss as the only survivor of his immediate family, and negotiating his subsequent service to the living and the dead as the steward of her work.
Your Sexts Are Shit: Older Better Letters (Jan. 11-15), written & performed by Rachel Mars. A gloriously rude new show that unearths the hot-as-hell letters that make sexts blush.
….and many more…
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A benefit reading of Angela J. Davis’ Griswold, in support of A IS FOR, will take place Fri, Nov. 11 at 7 PM at NYC’s Cooper Union (Great Hall).
Annette Bening.
On the eve of the sexual revolution, a bold and iconoclastic woman in her sixties will engineer her own criminal arrest, resulting in the landmark and now increasingly relevant Supreme Court case, Griswold v. Connecticut, which establishes a right of sexual privacy directly paves the way for other guarantees of liberty, including, on the 60th anniversary of the Griswold case, the right of same-sex couples to marry.
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The world premiere of Kevin Puts & Phelim McDermott’s The Hours Nov. 22 – Dec. 15 at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera, with music direction by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Renee Fleming (Clarissa Vaughan), Kelli OpHara (Laura Brown), Joyce Didonato (Virginia Wolf), Denyce Graves (Sally), Kathleen Kim (Barbara/Mr. Latch), Sylvia D’Eramo (Kitty.Vanessa), John Holiday (Man Under the Arch/Hotel Clerk), Kyle Ketelsen (Richard), William Burden (Louis), Sean Panikkar (Leonard Woolf), and Brandon Cedel (Dan Brown).
Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” the opera take place in a single day and concerns three women from different eras – Virginia Woolf (in London in 1923), as she struggles to write her masterpiece … “Mrs. Dalloway, Los Angeles housewife Laura Brown, in 1949, who years for an escape from her loving family at the same time as she prepares for her husband’s birthday … and editor Clarissa Vaughan, a New Yorker haunted by the past as she plans a party to celebrate her closest friend in his final hours.
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RIP: Playwright/director/actor Douglas McGrath died suddenly of a heart attack on Nov. 3 at the age of 64. He was currently starring in his autobiographical solo show Everything’s Fine at Off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre, which has closed following McGrath’s passing.
Born in 1958 in Midland, Texas, McGrath got his start as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” before moving on to film and stage projects. For the stage, McGrath wrote the Tony-nominated book to Beautiful: The Carole King Musical… Checkers… and The Age of Innocence.
He wrote and directed “Emma,” “Company Man,” “Nicholas Nickleby,” and “Infamous” for the screen, additionally directing “His Way,” “I Don’t Know How She Does It,” and “Becoming Mike Nichols.” His 1994 screenplay to “Bullets Over Broadway” also served as the source material for a 2014 stage adaptation.
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& 
Vocal Ease Annual Benefit Performance will take place Wed. Nov. 9 at 7 PM at NYC’s Chelsea Table & Stage, hosted by Jarrod Spector and Kelli Barrett.
In-person tickets here.
Livestream tickets here. (available for 48 hours after the concert)
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60 years after recording “Barbra Streisand – Live at the Bon Soir,” the album has been released here, and on all platforms as well.
1. Introduction by David Kapralik (Columbia Records)
2. “Much More” (Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt)
3. “Napoleon” (Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg)
4. “I Hate Music” (Leonard Bernstein)
5. “Right As The Rain” (Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg)
6. “Cry Me A River” (Arthur Hamilton)
7. “Value” (Jeff Harris)
8. “Lover, Come Back To Me” (Oscar Hammerstein II/Sigmund Romberg)
9. Band Introductions
10. “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” (Harvey Schmidt/Tom Jones)
11. “Come To The Supermarket (In Old Peking)” (Cole Porter)
12. “When The Sun Comes Out” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler)
13. “Happy Days Are Here Again” (Jack Yellen/Milton Ager)
14. “Keepin’ Out Of Mischief Now” (Andy Razaf/Thomas “Fats” Waller)
15. “A Sleepin’ Bee” (Harold Arlen/Truman Capote)
16. “I Had Myself A True Love” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer)
17. “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart)
18. “Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?” (Frank Churchill/Ann Ronell)
19. “I’ll Tell The Man In The Street” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart)
20. “A Taste Of Honey” (Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow)
21. “Never Will I Marry” (Frank Loesser)
22. “Nobody’s Heart Belongs To Me” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart)
23. “My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms” (Herman Ruby/Joseph Meyer)
24. “I Stayed Too Long At The Fair” (Billy Barnes)
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RIP: Aaron Carter, American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer, was found dead in his home in California on Nov. 5.
Carter began performing at age seven and released his self-titled debut album in 1997 at age 9, selling a million copies worldwide. He began making guest appearances on Nickelodeon and touring with the Backstreet Boys. He also appeared on Broadway ins Seussical and Off-Broadway in The Fantasticks.
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Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West has announced its New Works New Voices 2022 New Musical Festival, to take place Nov. 12-13. The event will offer a stripped down reading of each musical. Although the event is free, registration is required here.
Hay Fever, The Musical (Nov. 12 at 7:30 PM), by David Howard & Bret Simmons. Based on Noel Cowards play, the piece recounts a crazy weekend at the county home of the eccentric bohemian Bliss family. Parents Judith and David and their two grown children, Sorel and Sim each invite a guest for the weekend that quickly transforms into a whirlwind of head games and romantic entanglements.
Missing Peace (Nov. 13 at 1 PM), by Kalani Queypo & Kyle Puccia, directed by Jon Rivera, with music direction by Marc Mcalintal. When Chase wakes up from a coma at the Wellness Center on Native land in Northwest Idaho, his past is a blur. And much to his family’s surprise, he is happy and carefree…until the dark memories flood back like quick cuts of a movie trailer that just don’t add up. With his history to contend with, will Chase ever be able to confront his staggering mountain of regret to discover a sky full of music and second chances?
América Tropical (Nov. 13 at 4 PM), by Gina Gallego, Jan Roper & Joel S. Bailey, directed by Benjamin Perez. Decades after it was whitewashed, América Tropical, a mural deemed too offensive for the public re-emerges. Its reappearance brings bittersweet memories of Prohibition era Los Angeles to Rita Rey – a time when she fought a crooked system to save her family and bring justice to the Mexican American community.
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Upcoming Seth Rudetsky Concerts, all at 8 PM at NY City Center (all at 8 PM).
Andrea McArdle (Nov. 13)
John Riddle (Nov. 21)
Niki M. James (Nov. 27)
Claybourne Elder (Dec. 4)
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The Music Man, originally announced to close Jan. 1 at the Winter Garden Theatre, has been extended, now through Jan. 15, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.
Upon closing, the production will have played 46 previews and 374 regular performances.
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Video: “Broadway Rising” documentary trailer. The film will be released Dec. 5.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: The Comedians by Jim Bernhard
1. John Cleese of Monty Python is credited in the Spamalot playbill as a writer of the screenplay upon which the musical is based… and also as God.
2. The Marx Brothers were the subject of a musical called Minnie’s Boys.
3. Billy Crystal wrote and produced a one-man show on Broadway call 700 Sundays.
4. Mason Jars is not the title of a one-man Broadway show by Jackie Mason.
5. Joan Rivers appeared in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound as a replacement for Linda Lavin.
6. In Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the painter Pablo Picasso has a conversation with Albert Einstein.
7. Sarah Silverman, collaborating with Joshua Harmon and Adam Schlesinger, wrote the musical The Bedwetter.
8. Phyllis Diller’s only Broadway appearance was as a replacement in Hello, Dolly!
9. Tina Fey wrote the book for the musical Mean Girls, which was based upon the movie of that name, with a screenplay by Tina Fey.
10. Steve Allen wrote the music and lyrics for a 1963 Broadway, Sophie, musical based on the life of Sophie Tucker.