Today’s Highlights:
Amra-Faye Wright (Velma Kelly) and Brandon Victor Dixon (Billy Flynn) begin their runs in Chicago at Broadway’s Ambassador Theatre.
The Capulets and the Montagues online reading, in a new rhyming verse translation by Dakin Matthews, directed by Melia Bensussen, featuring Junior Nyong’o (Romeo) and Cara Ricketts (Juliette), with Anita Castillo-Halvorssen, Christian DeMarais, Carson Elrod, Topher Embrey, Alejandra Escalante, Jake Hart, Paco Lozano, Dakin Matthews, Maria-Christina Oliveras, and Timothy D. Stickney, begins streaming at Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater.
Stranger Sings! (the parody of Stranger Things), by Jonathan Hogue, directed by Nick Flatto, featuring Caroline Huerta, Garrett Poladian, SLee, Jean Christian Barry, Jamir Brown, Jeremiah Garcia, Dashiell Gregory, Jeffrey Laughrun, Hannah Clarke Levine, Harley Seger, and Shawn W. Smith, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s St. Luke’s Playhouse 46.
American Theatre Wing Gala, directed by Nemuna Ceesay, featuring the work of Jeanine Tesori, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Kirsten Childs, Micki Grant, Lynn Ahrens, and more, and special guests Kate Baldwin, The Broadway Boys, Gretchen Cryer, Amber Gray, Aisha de Haas, Luna, Charlotte Maltby, Bonnie MillIgan, Leilani Patao, Caesar Samayoa, Tesori, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Sherz Aletaha, and Rona Siddiqui, at 6 PM ET at NYC’s Cipriani 42nd Street. 
: gala@americantheatrewing.org
Keen Company‘s 23rd Annual Benefit Gala, featuring Kate Baldwin, Adam Gwon, Marsha Mason, Jason Tam, Chisa Hutchinson, Paul Niebanck, Matt Servitto, and Sarah Lynn Marion, at 6:30 PM ET at Manhattan Penthouse (80 Fifth Avenue).
Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway concert, with special guest Jane Krakowski, at 8 PM ET at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Town Hall.
Karen Akers: Water Under the Bridge concert, at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Birdland.
Marabella FREE reading, by Boni B. Alvarez, directed by Fran de Leon, featuring Camila Ascencio, Danny Breslin, Julia Cho, Christine Corpuz, Crissy Guerrero, Geri-Nikole Love, Daniel Rashid, James Leo Ryan, Valerie Spencer, and Mary Kate Wiles, at 7:30 PM PT at Pasadena’s A Noise Within.
Broadway’s Cort Theatre officially renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre today.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Baby Talk, by Jim Bernhard
1. In the musical Baby, three couples find they are expecting a baby after a visit to…a psychic…a doctor…an adoption agency…a witch
2. In The Importance of Being Earnest it is revealed that Miss Prism, while nursemaid to the infant Jack, absent-mindedly left him in a handbag…at Buckingham Palace…at a firehouse…at Victoria Station…in the Tower of London
3. In real life, Baby June inGypsy grew up to be…June Havoc…June Allyson…June Lockhart…June Carter Cash
4. The infant Perdita appears in Shakespeare’s….The Winter’s Tale…Cymbeline…The Comedy of Errors…King Lear
5. The infant in Mary Page Marlowe, by Tracy Letts at Steppenwolf Theatre, was originally played by an actual baby, but was soon replaced by a doll because…the baby’s agent demanded too much money…the baby cried throughout its scene…the baby didn’t look real…the audience was uneasy and distracted seeing a baby left untended on stage
6. In the musical Bright Star, Mayor Dobbs takes Alice’s newborn child away in a valise and…trades it for a bag of magic beans…leaves it in a railroad station…takes it home to raise…throws it in a river
7. In Mame, who is given a makeover by Mame, told to go out and “live!” and returns six months later expecting a baby? Vera Charles…Agnes Gooch…Gloria Upson…Muriel Puce
8. The Play About the Baby was a 1998 play by…David Mamet…Theresa Rebeck…Edward Albee…Harold Pinter
9. The Johnny Mercer revue Dream featured the song “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” with Mercer’s lyrics. Who wrote the music?…George Gershwin…Harry Warren…Irving Berlin…John Philip Sousa
10. In the musical Waitress, the name of Jenna’s new baby, which also becomes the name of the diner where Jenna’s pies are featured, is…Patti…Peggy…Lily…Lulu
Scroll down for the answers…
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Lea Michele has tested positive for COVID and will return to Broadway’s Funny Girl on Sept. 20 at the August Wilson Theatre.
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Everything’s Fine, written & performed by Douglas McGrath, will begin previews Sept. 28 and open Oct. 13 at the DR2 Theatre, directed by John Lithgow.
The play recounts McGrath’s life as a 14-year-old in Midland, Texas – the town most famous for the disappearance below ground, and the recovery of above ground, of “Baby Jessica.” McGrath shares remembrances of the courtship of his one-eyed father and mother, who worked at Harper’s Bazaar for Diana Vreeland and became pals with Andy Warhol, and most intriguingly, and eights-grade teacher who would change his life in the most unexpected way.
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The world premiere of Arlene Hutton’s According to the Chorus will run Oct. 18 – Dec. 11 (opening Oct. 21) at North Hollywood’s Road Theater Company, directed by Emily Chase.
Samantha Tan (KJ), Avery Clyde (Audrey), Amy Tolsky (Brenda), Juan Pope (Peter), Meeghan Holloway (Mallory), Jacqueline Mesaye (Nicki), Julia Manis (Linda), Gloria Ines (Monica), Kristyn Evelyn (Jessica), Sorel Carradine (Joyce), Mara Klein (Stacie), Danny Lee Gomez (Van), and Fox (Olivia the Dog).
In the basement quick change room of a Broadway theatre in the mid-1980s, life is full of angst as the long-running production may close at any time and the chorus women are at war with the wardrobe department. Will the new dresser, with here own sad past and uncertain future, be able to navigate this minefield?
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August Wilson’s Radio Golf will run Oct. 16 – Nov. 23 (opening Oct. 22) at Pasadena’s A Noise Within, directed by Gregg T. Daniel.
Christian Telesmar (Harmon Wilks), DeJuan Christopher (Roosevelt Hicks), Sydney A. Mason (Mame), Alex Morris (Joseph Barlow), and Gilbert Glennh Brown (Sterling Johnson).
Harmond Wilks, Pittsburgh’s first Black mayoral candidate, finds himself on the verge of the business breakthrough of a lifetime. The arrival of an unexpected visitor with surprising news forces Harmond to choose between his personal aspirations and his integrity.
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“Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration,” a 2-hour animated and live-action blended special will air Thurs. Dec. 15 at 8 PM, narrated by Rita Moreno, and will be available the next day on Disney+.
Josh Groban (The Prince/Beast), H.E.R. (Belle), Joshua Henry (Gaston), and more TBA.
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Video: Highlights from A Beautiful Noise, which begins previews Nov. 2 at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre, starring Will Swenson.
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LA’s IAMA Theatre Company has announced its 2022-23 season, which will run at the Atwater Village Theatre. Casting TBA.
Smile (Nov. 10 – Dec. 5), world premiere by Melissa Jane Osborne, directed by Michelle Bossy. The play explores the ways we learn to silence trauma and the repercussions to those around us.
The Bottoming Process (May 18 – June 12, 2023), world premiere by Nicholas Pilapil, directed by Rodney To, featuring George Salazar and more TBA. Two writers meet at WeWork and fall in love – or something like it. One is a famed novelist, the other is a nobody who’s mostly funny on Twitter. One is nearing middle age, the other is flailing through their twenties. One is White, and the other is definitely NOT.
Our Dear Dead Dug Lord (Aug. 27 – Sept. 17), at LA’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, by Alexis Scheer, directed by Lindsay Allbaugh. An abandoned tree house, a Quija board, and a group of teenage girls set the scene for a wild and twisted exploration into the young minds of women as they attempt to summon the ghost of Colombian drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar.
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Eileen Barnett: You Must Believe in Spring will take place Thurs. Oct. 13 at 8 PM PT at Studio City’s Feinstein’s at Vitello’s, with music direction by Michael Collum.
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An industry staged reading of Scott Elmegreen’s Tiananmen, a brave and necessary new musical will take place Sept. 20 in NYC, directed & choreographed by Darren Lee, with music direction by Steven Cuevas.
Cáitlín Burke, Kai An Chee, Grace Choi, Karl Josef Co, Troy Iwata, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh, Jason Ma, Sami Ma, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, Gen Parton-Shin, Sam Tanabe, Elena Want and Paulina Yeung.
An original rock musical that follows the story of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
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Jack & Benny Lipson: When There’s Music will take place Wed. Sept. 14 & 15 (both at 9:30 PM ET) at NYC’s Chelsea Table & Stage.
Valerie Perri and Katheryne Penny.
The twin composers, songsters, and multi-instrumentalist bound towards what’s next in the world of sound, where their theater, jazz, and classical roots score trenchant lyrics at once satirical and optimistic, contemporary and utterly nostalgic. In an exhibition of pieces hilarious, sentimental, even zany, the Lipsons guide audiences on a candid tour the the millennial mind.
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Manhattan Theatre Club has announced the world premiere of Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, which will begin performances in Fall 2023 (date TBA) at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by Whitney White.
Casting and additional information TBA.
The play takes place in Harlem at Jaja’s salon and follows a tight-knit community of West African immigrant hair braiders.
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The Huntington Theatre‘s production of Enda Walsh, John Carney & Gary Clark’s Sing Street has been extended through Oct. 9 at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion, directed by Rebecca Taichman.
Adam Bregman (Conor Lawlor), Courtnee Carter (Raphina), Billy Carter (Robert Lawlor), Jack DiFalco (Barry Bray), Dónal Finn (Brendan Lawlor), Anthony Genovesi (Declan), Michael Lepore (Gary), Diego Lucano (Darren Mulvey), Elijah Lyons (Larry), Alexa Xioufaridou Moster (Anne Lawlor), Anne L. Nathan (Sandra), Gian Perez (Kevin), Dee Roscioli (Penny Lawlor), Armand Schultz (Brother Baxter), and Ben Wang (Eamon), with Gable Kinsman, Ale Philippides, and Virginia Vogel.
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NYC’s Symphony Space will present a one-night-only celebration of Mary Rodgers and her just-published memoire by Rodgers & Jesse Green – “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” – on Sun. Sept. 18 at 5 PM ET.
The program of readings and music will feature Jesse Green, Deborah S. Craig, Kelli O’Hara, and author Meg Wolitzer.
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Funny Girl will begin offering Standing Room tickets on Sept. 27 at the Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre.
A limited number of standing room spots will be available for purchase for sold-out performances only. SRO tickets can only be purchased on the day of the performance, on a first come, first served basis.
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The Jesse Walker Show Comes to Broadway, in support of Project ALS, will take place Mon. Oct. 24 at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Don’t Tell Mama. Cash only.
Tatiana Wechsler, Nicolas King, and Broadway celebrity guests TBA.
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Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Theater has announced its annual Season Jam, which previews selections from the upcoming season, to take place Wed. Sept. 14 at 7 PM ET, both in-person and virtually, hosted by Jesse Eisenberg.
Basil Kreimendahl, Dael Orlandersmith (a.k. payne), Arturo Louis Soría, May Treuhaft-Ali, Minghao Tu, and Jennifer Westfeldt.
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Primary Stages has announced complete casting for Jiehae Park’s Peerless, to to run Sept. 24 – Nov. 6 (opening Oct. 11) at 59E59 Theatre, directed by Margo Bordelon.
Marié Both (Dirty Girl/Preppy Girl), Anthony Cason (BF), Sasha Diamond (M), Benny Wayne Sully (D/Brother), and Shannon Tyo (L).
A darkly comedic twist on Macbeth set in the cutthroat world of elite college admissions, which is a comedy…until it’s not. The story centers on M and L, twin Asian-American siblings who gave up everything to get into The College. When another classmate claims what they feel is rightfully “their spot,” the twins decide they have only one option: murder.
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Manhattan Theatre Club has announced its Fall 2022 season:
Broadway (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre)
Cost of Living (begins Sept. 13), by Martyna Majok, directed by Jo Bonney, featuring Gregg Mozgala, Katy Sullivan, Kara Young, and David Zayas. The play focuses on the the forces that bring people together, the complexity of caring and being card for, and the ways we all need each other in this world.
Off-Broadway (NY City Center Stage 1)
Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (begins Oct. 11), by Jeff Augustin & the Bengsons, directed by Joshua Kahan Brody, featuring Abigail Bengson, Shaun Bengson, Billy Eugene, and Chris Myers. A Haitian immigrant travels from Miami to California on a once-in-a-lifetime road trip. Years later, his son makes the same journey in reverse. Along the way, blurring the lines of time, these two finally discover common ground and make a connection that has eluded them for decades.
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Video: Trailer for “Disenchanted,” the all-new live-action musical comedy, featuring new songs by Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz, which will premiere Nov. 24 on Disney+, directed by Adam Shankman.
Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Idina Menzel, James Marsden, Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Jayma Mays.
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Rockers on Broadway: She Rocks, in support of The PATH Fund, will take place Mon. Oct. 3 at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge,
Jarrod Spector, Constantine Maroulis, Ari Groover, Tamika Lawrence, Ryann Redmond, Amanda Green, Morgan James, Alexa Ray, Lauren Molina, Jim Newman, Max Sangerman, Justin Sargent, and Bligh Voth, with Samantha Parrish, Sam Behr, The Braganza Sister, Isabelle Gottfried, Gracie McGraw, Avery Rehl, Matteo Russo, gus Schonfeld, and Joshua Torchin.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Baby Talk
1.. In the musical Baby, three couples find they are expecting a baby after a visit to a doctor.
2. In The Importance of Being Earnest it is revealed that Miss Prism left the infant Jack in a handbag at Victoria Station.
3. In real life Baby June in Gypsy grew up to be June Havoc.
4. The infant Perdita appears in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
5. The infant in Mary Page Marlowe was replaced by a doll because the audience was uneasy and distracted seeing a baby left untended on stage.
6. In the musical Bright Star, Mayor Dobbs takes Alice’s newborn child away in a valise and throws it in a river.
7. In Mame, Agnes Gooch is given a makeover by Mame, told to go out and “live!” and returns six months later expecting a baby.
8. The Play About the Baby was a 1998 play by Edward Albee.
9. The Johnny Mercer revue Dream featured the song “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” with music by Harry Warren.
10. In the musical Waitress, the name of Jenna’s new baby is Lulu.