Today’s Highlights:
A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet world premiere by Alex Wyse & Ben Fankhauser, directed by Marshall Pailet, featuring lex Wyse, Ben Fankhauser, and Bryonha Marie Parham, opens at Off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre.
Boadway Sings the 2020 Lady Gaga album “Chromatica,” directed by Corey Mach, featuring Alice Ripley, Alex Newell, Olivia Lux, Krystina Alabado, Christine Dwyer, J. Harrison Ghee, Natalie Joy Johnson, Tamika Lawrence, Corey Mach, Larry Owens, Kyle Taylor Parker, Kate Rockwell, Mars Rucker, Heath Saunders, Nasia Thomas, and the a cappella group T.3, at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Sony Hall.
Melissa Errico Sings Her New York concert, both live & livestreamed, at 7 PM ET at 54 Below.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Mistaken Identities by Jim Bernhard
1. In My Fair Lady Zoltan Karpathy mistakenly identifies Eliza as…a Hungarian princess…Queen of Transylvania…Higgins’ American niece…his own cousin
2. In As You Like It, Rosalind disguises herself as…her friend Celia…her father Duke Senior…a fairy in Arden Forest…a young man named Ganymede
3. In Arsenic and Old Lace, Jonathan wants Dr. Einstein to change his facial identity so that he no longer resembles…his brother Mortimer…Bela Lugosi…Boris Karloff…Teddy Roosevelt
4. In School of Rock, rock musician Dewey Finn pretends to be his friend Ned Schneebly in order to get a job as…a substitute teacher…a band member…a DJ…a traffic cop
5. In Annie, Rooster Hannigan and Lily St. Regis disguise themselves as…Oliver Warbuck’s long-lost cousins…Secret Service agents…residents of Hooverville…Annie’s supposed parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mudge
6. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing misidentifies himself as…his friend Algernon Moncrieff…an invalid named Bunbury…a libertine named Ernest…Lady Bracknell
7. In Anything Goes, Public Enemy No. 13 Moonface Martin boards the SS American in the identity of ….the ship’s captain…Reno Sweeney…a clergyman…an FBI agent
8. In Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Benjamin Barker takes on the identity of…Judge Turpin…Anthony Hope…Mrs. Lovett…Sweeney Todd
9. At the 2014 Oscar ceremony, John Travolta misidentified what performer by garbling her name?….Maria Ouspenskaya…Idina Menzel…Kristin Chenoweth…Christine Baranski
10. In One Man, Two Guvnors, the gangster Roscoe Crabbe is, in reality….the Archbishop of Canterbury…Roscoe’s twin sister Rachel…Roscoe’s ghost…an actor doing research for a role in a crime movie
Scroll down for the answers…
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2020 Tony Award winners:
Click here for the complete list of winners.
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Video: “Broadway’s Back” concert last night on CBS, in its entirety. (1:46:03)
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Article: “What Happens Inside a Broadway Theatre Can Help Us Heal,” by Danny Burstein. Stunning.
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New Normal Rep will stream the world premiere of Julia Blauvelt’s F.I.R.E. Sept. 30 – Oct. 20, directed by Heather Arnson.
Jeffrey Bean, Kierra Bunch, Nathaniel P. Claridad, Ella Dershowitz, Aarom Matteson, Nygel D. Robinson, and Carol Todd.
It’s Summer Drinks Night at an average Fifth Avenue hedge-fund and, for the generally isolated back office accountants, the most important night of the year. But when an emergency audit comes crashing down on the team moments before she exodus, networking and free snacks are replaced with panic and chaos. If the gang is to get through the night unscathed, they will have to confront those all-t00 avoidable truths that conveniently slip into the shadows of corporate comfort.
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Manhattan Theatre Club will present the world premiere of Simon Stephens’ Morning Sun will begin previews Oct. 12 and open Nov. 3 at New York City Center, directed by Lila Neugebauer.
Blair Brown, Edie Falco, and Marin Ireland.
In Greenwich Village a generation or so ago, the city is alive. Joni Mitchell sings, friend and lovers come and go, and the regulars change at the White Horse Tavern. As 50 years pass, one woman’s life is revealed in its complexity, mystery and possibility.
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Video: ‘Twas the Night Before the Tonys,” by Aaron Fuksa & Roberto Araujo, featuring Myra Lucretia Taylor, Celia Rose Gooding, Jelani Remi, Bianca Marroquín, Chris Giramo, and Ian Barford.
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Black Fest’s Hands Up: Seven Playwrights, Seven Testaments will run in person Oct. 8-31 (opening Oct. 13) and online Oct. 22 – Nov. 14 at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, directed by Isabel A. Curley-Clay and Moriah Curley-Clay.
Nathan Yungerberg, Idris Goodwin, Eric Holmes, and more.
Brandon Burditt, Marlon Andrew Burnley, London Carlisle, Sean M. Dale, Charence Higgins, Marcus Hopkins-Turner, Jessenia Ingram, Kala Ross, and Josh Turner.
Originally commissioned by the New Black Fest in 2015 in response to the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, and unarmed Black teenager. This piece includes separate monologues written by seven Black playwrights, which depicts the condition of Black America and illuminates the perspective of Black people of varying genders, sexual orientation, skin tones, and socioeconomic backgrounds toe create a holistic compilation of realistic Black American experiences.
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Steve Ross‘ interactive Story Book is now available here, which includes excerpts from many of the shows he has created and performed throughout the years.
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Mike Bartlett’s Cock will run Mar. 5 – June 4, 2022 at The Ambassadors Theatre, directed by Marianne Elliot.
Jonathan Bailey, Taryn Edgerton, Jade Anouka, and Phil Daniels.
A comic look at identity and sexuality. When John and his boyfriend take a break, the last thing he expects is to accidentally fall in love with the woman of his dreams. His boyfriend is willing to wait for him to make a choice, but so is his girlfriend. And both are willing to fight to keep them. Torn between the two and with pressure mounting, he has to determine who and what he is, and what his decision will be.
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NBC has picked up the new “Night Court” series, with a premiere date TBA.
Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette, and more TBA.
Unapologetically optimistic judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone, follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding.
The original “Night Court” ran on NBC from 1984-1992 for nine seasons and nearly 200 episodes. The series won seven Emmys throughout its run, including four for Larroquette in the best supporting actor in a comedy category.
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Roger Bean’s Sh-Boom! Life Could Be a Dream will run Oct. 13-31 (opening Oct. 17) at Laguna Playhouse, directed & choreographed by Jonathan Van Dyke, with music direction by Nick Guerrero.
Willie Beaton II (Wally), Alex Fullerton (Denny), Noah A. Lyon (Eugene), Dorian Quinn (Duke), and Sophia Swannell (Lois).
Hey cool cats! Take a trip to Springfield and meet the Crooning Crabcakes as they prepare to enter the Big Whopper Radio contest and realize their dreams of making it to the big time!
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Tony DiMurro’s 1-2-3 Manhunt will run Oct. 7-24 (opening Oct. 10) at the Theater for the New City, directed by William Roudebush.
Ilene Kristen, Anthony Barile, Chris Paul Morales, and Santo Fazio.
The play uses a tenement rooftop to set the stage for a smackdown between two vastly different natives of the Lower East Side — an old-school middle-aged Italian back in the neighborhood for his last hurrah and a Chinese American teenager whose dreams of playing major league baseball started to fade even before the pandemic turned his life upside down. Things get physical before this diverse pairing finds surprising common ground, turning their attention outward toward the city and the world at large.
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BC/EFA has announced new auction lots for its Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction on Sun. Oct. 3. The live auction will take place at 5 PM ET in the Times Square pedestrian plaza between 45th & 46th Streets, led by Will Roland (Dear Evan Hansen, TV’s “Billions”) who comes from a family of auctioneers.
The first lots are now available for pre-bidding here and include:
* Private Zoom conversations with David Byrne, André DeShields, Cellia Keenan-Bolger, Patti LuPone, Rob McClure, and more, along with VIP tickets to see their Broadway shows this Fall.
* Tony Awards won by light designer Jules Fisher for Dancin’ and Pippin.
* Handwritten musical phrases from Beauty and the Beast, Coco, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, and more, signed by composers David Hein & Irene Sankoff, Kristen Anders0n-Lopec, Alan Menken, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek.
* Virtual meet-and-greets with Kristin Chenoweth, Ben Platt, and more.
* Limited-edition Al Hirschfeld prints autographed by Cher, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Bruce Springsteen, Patrick Stewart, and more.
* One-on-one Video Chats with Broadway favorites, from 11-AM – 4 PM ET here to reserve a slot. Guests available: Patrick J. Adams, Shoshana Bean, Nadia Brown, Ben Crawford, Gavin Creel, Jennifer DiNoia, Claybourne Elder, Drew Gehling, Thayne Jasperson, Jenny Jules, Eva Noblezada, Lindsay Pearce, L. Steven Taylor, and Nik Walker. Participants subject to change.
* Every 30 minutes throughout the day, new sets of theater memorabilia will be offered for in-person bidsm hosted by Todd Buonopane and Jennifer Cody. Learn more here.
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Nora Schell, one of the original Broadway company members of Jagged Little Pill, share a recent statement outlining allegations of mistreatment in regards to a medical condition.
Posted on Twitter, the account details how the stage management and creative teams of Jagged Little Pill asked Schell to postpone a surgery to receive treatment for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
“During previews…I was intimidated, coerced, and forced by multiple higher ups to put off critical and necessary surgery to remove growths from my vagina that were making me anemic,” writes Schell, who is Black and uses they/them pronouns. “Surgery my doctor told me was urgent.”
A spokesperson for the production did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Despite their gynecologist recommending immediate surgery, Schell waited a month to have the surgery due to fear of intimidation. During recovery, Schell felt a lack of support. “When I relayed the possibility of these growths returning/needing surgery again in the future, I was met with exasperation and told that if I had to take off [time], it wouldn’t be considered paid medical leave.” After relaying that exchange, Schell’s OB/GYN said she would no longer be ethically able to operate on them if they remained working at the show.
Celia Rose Gooding will also not be returning to the role of Frankie. While originally citing scheduling commitments, the Tony nominee said that while she will indeed perform at the 74th annual Tony Awards September 26, she “cannot ignore the harm Jagged has done to the trans and non-binary community, including cast members on stage, off stage, and behind the scenes in the production making process…I believe it will be in my best personal interest to focus more on work that I can align myself with emotionally and morally, just as Frankie would.” Read her full statement here.
Actors Equity has announced that they will launch an independent workplace investigation of Jagged Little Pill.
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Casting changes have been announced for Anything Goes, which will continue its run through Nov. 6 at the Barbicon Theatre.
Rachel York will succeed Sutton Foster (Reno Sweeney) and Haydn Gwynne will replace Felicity Kendal (Evangeline Harcourt) on Oct. 19.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Mistaken Identities
1. In My Fair Lady, Zoltan Karpathy mistakenly identifies Eliza as a Hungarian princess.
2. In As You Like It, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man named Ganymede.
3. In Arsenic and Old Lace, Jonathan wants Dr. Einstein to change his facial identity so that he no longer resembles Boris Karloff.
4. In School of Rock, rock musician Dewey Finn pretends to be his friend Ned Schneebly in order to get a job as a substitute teacher.
5. In Annie, Rooster Hannigan and Lily St. Regis disguise themselves as Annie’s supposed parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mudge.
6. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing misidentifies himself as a libertine named Ernest.
7. In Anything Goes, Public Enemy No. 13 Moonface Martin boards the SS American in the identity of a clergyman.
8. In Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Benjamin Barker takes on the identity of Sweeney Todd.
9. In the 2014 Oscar ceremony, John Travolta misidentified Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem.”
10. In One Man, Two Guvnors, the gangster Roscoe Crabbe is, in reality Roscoe’s twin sister Rachel.