Today’s Highlights:
Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, written by & starring Kristina Wong, directed by Chay Yew, opens at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
Fannie (The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer), adapted by Cheryl L. West, directed by Henry Godinez, featuring E. Faye Butler, with musicians Deonté Brantley, Morgan E. and Felton Offard Oct. 15 -31) and Michael Ross (Nov. 3-14), opens at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
Sanctuary City, by Martyna Majok, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, featuring Jasai Chase-Owens (B), Sharlene Cruz (G), and Austin Smith (Henry), begins streaming at New York Theatre Workshop.
Trevor, Dan Collins & Julianne Wick Davis, directed by Marc Bruni, featuring Holden William Hagelberger, Mark Aguirre, Aaron Alcaraz, Ava Briglia, Sammy Dell, Tyler Joseph Gay, Ellie Kim, Colin Konstanty, Brigg Liberman, Diego Lucano, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Isabel Medina, Echo Deva Picone, Dan Rosales, Aryan Simhadri, Yasmeen Sulieman, Sally Wilfert, Aeriel Williams, and Jarrod Zimmerman, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Stage 42.
Keen Company‘s 22nd Annual Benefit Gala, honoring Pearl Cleage, hosted by John-Andrew Morrison, featuring Phylicia Rashad, Krysta Rodriguez, Tamika Sonja Lawrence, Tayari Jones, Zachary Noa Piser, and Rachel Christopher, streams at 7 PM ET.
Pericles pay-what-you-can livestream benefit reading, directed by Kent Gash, featuring Grantham Coleman (Pericles), Shirine Babb, Kimberly Chatterjee, Caroline Clay, Callie Holley, Mahira Kakkar, Jordan Mahome, Anthony Michael Martinez, Edward O’Blenis, Bhavesh Patel, Michele Shay, Timothy D. Stickney, and Craig Wallace, at 7:30 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater.
CANCELLED (due to unforeseen circumstances) Stars in the House in-person fundraiser, hosted by Seth Rudetsky & James Wesley, directed by Lisa Mordente, featuring Bebe Neuwirth, Chita Rivera, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Benanti, Marc Shaiman, Andy Karl, Anika Larsen, Brenda Braxton, Charlotte d’Amboise, Christine Pedi, Dana Delany, Linda Benanti, Liz Callway, Orfeh, and Schele Williams, Dr. Jon LaPook, and, at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Town Hall.
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Reviews for The Shark is Broken at London’s Ambassador Theatre:
The Guardian (Ryan Gilbey): In the waters off Martha’s Vineyard in 1974, three men in a boat – droning Roy Scheider, grizzled Robert Shaw and neurotic Richard Dreyfuss – are waiting for a mechanical shark named Bruce to start working. The second-best thing about The Shark Is Broken, a three-hander…about the making of Jaws, is Duncan Henderson’s dramatic set…. The highlight, though, is Shaw’s loving and eerily evocative portrayal of his own father… the tone of the show is boisterously comic…. Too much of the humour hinges on 21st-century hindsight…
The Independent (Anya Ryan) How do you film a shark movie without a working shark? Well, you spend a lot of time not actually doing much… Written and performed by [Robert] Shaw’s real life son, I the play is poignant despite its imperfections… while Shaw is impressive, our 90 minutes trapped on this boat feels slow and laboured… Shaw and Joseph Nixon’s script is very funny in parts…
the arts desk (Rachel Halliburton): …an enjoyable three-hander about the near-disasters behind the scenes in the film’s final sequence… actor and co-writer Ian Shaw is Robert’s real son (Joseph Nixon is the other writer), and he brings him astonishingly to life in his mordant, charismatic performance… The three actors complement each other well… it’s also somewhat sobering to reflect that the murderous shark was the product of a brief moment when it seemed that individualism and democracy had won…
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Reviews for Get Up! Stand Up! (the Bob Marley musical) at London’s Lyric Theatre:
The Guardian (Arifa Akbar): …pulsating production… character and dialogue are sacrificed but the music is infectious… – and there is a central performance from Arinzé Kene that soars and tingles the spine… It is a puzzle nonetheless that, with a writer as talented as Lee Hall, the book should be so minimal in its effects, with too-brief scenes incorporating Marley’s politics, consciousness-raising and Rastafarianism. They speak in statements or deliver information and we gain little sense of individual character….
Evening Standard (Jesse Thompson): …a joyful night out that also feels like an important cultural event… this may be a fairly conventional jukebox musical… Lee Hall’s book does away with clunky exposition… Admittedly this sometimes leaves the story feeling a bit vague, but we’re having too much fun to care… a visual delight as well as a musical one… Shelley Maxwell’s choreography is so good it made me giddy…
iNews (Sam Marlowe): …Directed by Clint Dyer, with a thrillingly charismatic lead performance from Arinzé Kene, it’s an exhilarating tribute to the man, his message and his music… Lee Hall’s book grapples with turbulent politics, Marley’s complex personal life and his Rastafarian faith… the passion and commitment of the cast, the elan of Dyer’s staging and the irresistible pulse of the songs sweep you along and hold you fast… a tour de force that brings to life a legend.
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Reviews for Fairycakes at Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Greene): Did you ever want to see a fairy-tale mash-up, set amid the magic of nature, offering clever rhyme and delightful song, with a powerful theme to bring it all home? Well, this isn’t that… the laborious new comedy… dares to enter the precincts of Into the Woods, upping the ante and losing the bet. Written mostly in ear-scraping doggerel… once their opening number ends and the plot begins, the poetry of the premise starts leaking out… It scans like an ice cream truck with a flat tire… At a baggy 2 hours and 15 minutes, it’s all too much, and too little.
Theatermania (Pete Hempstead): It’s a rare joy to see several brilliant comic actors of the theater on one stage… as well as a kaleidoscope of colorful costuming, humorous flights of fancy held up on fairy wings… So it’s all the more disappointing that Fairycakes can’t keep itself aloft for more than a few moments at a time because of the ponderous weight of Beane’s script and direction… Beane might have made his preposterous collision of plots work too except for his decision to burden his script (and his actors) with a monotonous deluge of awkward rhyming couplets that not only fail to land their humor but also bloat the play into an unwieldy two and a half hours…
NY Theater (Jonathan Mandell): The recipe for Fairycakes: Start with a cast of beloved New York stage actors known for their comic flair (Julie Halston, Anne Harada, Jackie Hoffman, et al), stick rhyming couplets in their mouths and dress them in the most colorful costumes of the season, then dump them in a pan of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Pour in a heavy mash up of fairy and folk tales (Cinderella, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) Sprinkle with intermittent wit. Chop up, and mix, until unrecognizable. Then serve the resulting concoction both half-baked and overdone.
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For Sale, by Jim Bernhard
Match these sales people in plays and musicals with the merchandise they sell.
| 1. Willy Loman | A. Hats |
| 2. Harold Hill | B. Beer, wine, meat, soup, jam, jelly, belts, shoes, pistols, etc., etc. |
| 3. Ali Hakim | C. Hardware |
| 4. Theodore Hickman (Hickey) | D. Flowers |
| 5. Mother Courage | E. Musical instruments |
| 6. Richard Roma | F. Unspecified merchandise |
| 7. Irene Molloy | G. Perfume |
| 8. Seymour Krelborn | H. Bibles |
| 9. George Nowack | I. Real estate |
| 10. Jimmy Smith | J. Eggbeaters, silk garters, red flannel drawers, love elixirs, etc., etc. |
Scroll down for the answers…
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The world premiere of Nell Benjamin, Vishal Dadlani & Shehar Raviiani’s Come Fall In Love – The DDLJ Musical will open its pre-Broadway production Sept. 1 – Nov. 16, 2022 (opening Sept. 14) at San Diego’s Old Globe, directed by Aditya Chopra, with choreography by Rob Ashford, and music supervision by Bill Sherman.
Casting TBA.
Based on the India’s most popular film, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Layenge,” the story follows Simran, a young Indian-American woman, who has her future set: an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her very strict dad that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls for the charming Rog, and her careful, logical plans go out the window. Can she be true to both her heritage and her heart? Can carefree American Rog will over her traditional father? Take a whirlwind trip from Boston to Europe to India as cultures collide.
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The 13th annual Jimmy Awards will take place Mon. June 27, 2022 at 7:30 PM ET at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. The ceremony will feature nominees from over 40 regions around the US. Click here for more information.
The national talent showcase celebrates high school students from across the country and features dynamic ensemble and solo performances. At the ceremony, two talented students will be presented with a Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress award.
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A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage, adapted by Eric Schaeffer, will run Dec. 21-24 at the Palladium Times Square.
Casting TBA.
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Jennifer Ashley Tepper’s “Untold Stories from Broadway” (all volumes) might make a great holiday gift. Click here to view & purchase.
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Manhattan Theatre Club‘s Lackawanna Blues, written, directed by & starring Ruben Santiago-Hudson, has extended through Nov. 12 at Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
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Michael Berns & Ralph Pezzulo’s “Broadway Sings Blood Rock: The Musical – Bonus Edition,” a special EP comprised of 7 songs for the 2018 production by Michael Berns, has been released. 
Download here.
Damon Daunno, Robert Torti, Andy Mientus, Jennifer DiNoia, Aaron Durr, and Jennifer Fertado.
The musical tells the story of two rival vampire gangs that have been living secretly in the city of Philadelphia for hundreds of years.
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Audio: “Louder Than Words,” from the “Tick, Tick…BOOM!” Netflix film soundtrack, with Andrew Garfield, Vanessa Hudgens, and Joshua Henry.
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The Rhinebeck Writers Retreat will stream is 10th anniversary virtual fundraiser, Celebrating a Decade of Writers & New Musicals, on Thurs. Nov. 18 at 7 PM ET, hosted by Tracie Thoms.
with Joe Iconis, Max Vernon, Dawn Landes, Lynne Shankel, and Eric Ulloa.
Micaela Diamond, Bonnie Milligan, Zachary Noah Piser, and Heath Saunders.
Beth Malone, Emily Saliers, Cinco Paul, and Kyle Jarrow.
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Answers: For Sale
1-F. Willy Loman – Unspecified merchandise (Death of A Salesman)
2-E. Harold Hill – Musical instruments (The Music Man)
3-J. Ali Hakim – Eggbeaters, silk garters, red flannel drawers, love elixirs, etc., etc. (Oklahoma!)
4-C. Theodore Hickman (Hickey) – Hardware (The Iceman Cometh)
5-B. Mother Courage – Beer, wine, meat, soup, jam, jelly, belts, shoes, pistols, etc., etc.
6-I. Richard Roma – Real estate (Glengarry Glen Ross)
7-A. Irene Molloy – Hats (Hello, Dolly!)
8-D. Seymour Krelborn – Flowers (Little Shop of Horrors)
9-G. Georg Nowack – Perfume (She Loves Me)
10-H. Jimmy Smith – Bibles (No, No, Nanette)