Today’s Highlights:
Camelot, adapted by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Barlett Sher, featuring Andrew Burnap (Arthur), Phillipa Soo (Guenevere), Jordan Donica (Lancelot Du Lac), Dakin Matthews (Merlyn/Pellinore), Taylor Trensch (Mordred), Marilee Talkington (Morgan Le Fey), Anthony Michael Lopez (Sir Dinadan), Fergie Philippe (Sir Sagramore), Danny Wolohan (Sir Lionel) Andrew Burnap (Arthur), Phillipa Soo (as Guenevere), and Jordan Donica (Lancelot Du Lac), with Delphi Borich, Matías De La Flor, Sola Fadiran, Rachel Fairbanks, Nkrumah Gatling, Christian Mark Gibbs, Holly Gould, Monte Greene, Edwin Joseph, Tesia Kwarteng, James Romney, Ann Sanders, Britney Nicole Simpson, Philip Stoddard, Valerie Torres-Rosario, Frank Viveros, and Paul Whitty, opens at Broadway’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre.
Woman of the Year, directed by Robert W. Schneider, featuring Janine LaManna (Tess Harding), John Leone (Sam Craig), Eric Michael Gillett (Gerald), Rebecca Spigelman (Helga), Kelly Lester (Jan), and Jake Urban (Alexi), Sarah Mackenzie Baron (Ballet Mistress), Andrew Eckert (Chip Salisbury), Jeremy Konopka (Ellis), Tony Romero (Abbott), Timmy Lewis (Phil), and Eddie Marco (Pinky), Marcus Canada (Maury), with Tyler Mell and Nicole Weitzman, opens at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
On the Right Track, by Al Tapper & Tony Sportiello, directed by Mauricio Cedeño, featuring Dana Aber, Cody Gerszewski, and David L. Murray Jr., opens at Off-Broadway’s AMT Theatre.
42nd Street Moon‘s It’s Our Time gala, with special guests Jason Graae and Faith Prince, featuring Sophia Alawi, Caroline Altman, Doris Bumpus, Ashley Cowl, Renee DeWeese, Noel Anthony Escobar, Alison Ewing, Will Giamona, Cindy Goldfield, Cate Hayman, Ben Jones, Christina Lazo, Edu Gonzalez-Maldonado, Meg Mackay, Maureen McVerry, Nicole Helfer, Nick Nakashima, StephanieRhoads, Marah Sotelo, Gary Stanford, Jr., and Monica Turner, at 7 PM at San Francisco’s Gateway Theatre.
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Reviews for Fat Ham at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): What might life be like if we chose pleasure over harm?… Keep in mind that the young man, Tio, is stoned to the gills when he dreams this philosophy… that it is a raucous domestic comedy instead of a palace blood bath (and in Saheem Ali’s production, a nonstop pleasure in itself) means that despite the enduring belligerence of mankind, and especially of men, it sees a way out… That way out is softness… Fat Ham is certainly clever in its parallels with Hamlet… But you don’t need to make any of those Hamlet connections to enjoy Fat Ham, because the parallels are not as telling as the divergences….
NY Daily News (Chris Jones): …a smart, fearless and fun deconstruction of Hamlet … Forsooth, Ijames is going after those core Shakespearean assumptions which have echoed down the centuries on the Great White Way. The guy has guts… a left-leaning deconstruction not just of Hamlet but of tragedy itself… But there is nothing dour nor overly academic about Fat Ham, which has been given a blisteringly well-acted production… At no point does this play feel like anything other than a big-fun Broadway show: It’s a smart, fearless and often wildly entertaining 90 minutes, filled not just with radical ideas but with absurdist spectacle…
Variety (Naveen Kumar) … New York stages are rarely without some version of Shakespeare’s mopey Danish prince… But none has ever been quite like the protagonist of Fat Ham, Juicy…. one look at Juicy, played to downbeat, emo perfection by Marcel Spears, and it’s clear the only thing he’s going to slay is Radiohead’s “Creep” on the karaoke machine. His softness isn’t a weakness, though, but a shift in energy and temperament that’s essential to breaking the cycle… The exuberance of director Saleem Ali’s production likewise signals that its brisk and color-saturated 90 minutes are unlikely to end in a body pile… The brilliance of Ijames’ play lies in its manipulation of a canonical text in service of imagining Black futures and positing radical possibility where others see only foreclosure.
Theatermania (Pete Hempstead): …Funny and thought-provoking as it is, Fat Ham feels like the second-to-last draft of something better. About midway through, the play begins to meander with messy scenes that go strictly for laughs and crowd appeal as the story loses focus on its main character and begins to home in on another. The humor covers up some of the cracks, but not enough to make the surprise ending feel earned… With his fourth-wall-breaking side glances and cheeky asides, Spears gives an endearing and empathetic performance as the dithering Juicy… Unfortunately, these fun moments are all distractions from a story that loses its way toward the end in a series of chaotic scenes…
Video: production highlights
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2022 Olivier Award winners. Click here for the complete list.
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2022 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award winners. Click here for the complete list.
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Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company has announced its 2023-24 season:
Potus: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass… (Sept. 15 – Oct. 1), by Selena Fillinger.
The Band’s Visit (Nov. 10 – Dec. 10).
A Case for the Existence of God (Jan. 26 – Feb. 17), by Samuel D. Hunter
Cost of Living (Mar. 8-30), by Martyna Majok
A Strange Loop (Apr. 26 – May 15)
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J2 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company has announced complete casting for Jule Styne, Bob Merrill & Peter Stones Sugar, to run Apr. 27 – May 7 at Theatre Row, directed by Robert W. Schneider, with choreography by Caitlin Beck, and music direction by Miles Plant.
Chris Cherin, (Joe/Josephine), Andrew Leggiere (Jerry Daphne), Alexandra Amadeo Frost (Sugar Kane), Lexi Rhoades (Sweet Sue), Richard Rowan (Osgood Fielding III), and Orden Korenblum (Spats Palazzo), with Conor Coughlin, Caleb James Grochalski, Bobby MacDonell, Jordan Ari Bross, and Molly Samson.
The musical follows the zany antics of two male musicians of the Prohibition era who witnesses a gang slaying. Hoping to hide from the mob, Jerry and Joe disguise themselves as Daphne and Josephine and join and all-female orchestra. Complications ensue when Joe falls for Sugar Kane, the group’s lead singer.
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Highlights from Broadway Backwards 2023. The complete concert is still available for streaming through Apr. 16 here.
Video: Corbin Bleu — “Mein Herr”
Video: Joy Woods & Matt Doyle — “Suddenly Seymour”
Video: Bonnie Milligan — “Maria”
Video: Lea Solanga — “Love Who You Love”
Video: Corbin Bleu — “Mein Herr”
Video: Robbie Fairchild — “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”
…and many more…
Video: If you missed it last year’s event, here’s the complete 2022 concert.
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Alistari McDowall’s trilogy, all of it, will run June 6-17 (opening June 8) at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Vicky Featherstone & Sam Pritchard.
Kate O’Flynn.
The trilogy introduces three women whose ordinary lives mask extraordinary internal worlds.
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Jillian Leff’s Missed Opportunities will run Apr. 21 – May 14 at North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble, directed by Ignacio Navarro & Madylin Sweeten.
Bridget Avildsen, Macedonia Bullington, Kathleen Guevara, Silas Jean-Rox, Sydney Jenkins, Benjamin Marshall, Sean Mazur, and Nate Thurman.
In a hilariously modern twist on the traditional rom-com, friends, roommates, and lovers blur lines as a young women concocts a misguided plan to get closer to her BFF’s roommate, but ends up getting closer to herself.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream will run Apr. 14 – May 7 (opening Apr. 18) at Albany’s Capital Rep, directed by Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill.
Chauncy Thoms (Duke Theseus/King Operon), Yvonne Perry (Hippolyta/Queen Titania), Kyle Barvin (Puack), Kevin McGuire (Peter Quince), Oliver Wadsworth (Bottom), and David Girard (Egeus/Snug), Ethan Botwick (Lysander), Ellen Cribbs (Helena), Raya Malcolm (Hermia), Tamil Perisamy (Demetrius), John Romeo (Robin Starveling), Jovan Davis (Flute), Gabrielle Bazinet Douglas (Fairy), Josh DeMarco (Fairy), and Taylor Hoffman (Kafen Snout/Fairy).
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Miranda Rose Hall & Tova Katz’s Menstruation: A Period Piece continues through Apr. 16 at LA’s LGBT Center, directed by Katie Lindsay.
Kaci Hamilton, Audra Isadora, Kate Lý Johnston, Jane Hae Kim, Jo Lampert, Bibi Mama, and Marnina Schon.
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Danny Robin’s 2:22–A Ghost Storywill transfer to the Apollo Theatre May 14 – Sept. 17, directed by Matthew Dunster.
Sophia Bush (Lauren), Ricky Champ (Ben), Clifford Samuel (Dan), and Jaime Winstone (Jenny).
In the thriller, Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Belief and skepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they’re going to stay up… until 2:22… and then they’ll know.
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Video: “Rise of the Pink Ladies” Episode 1, on Paramount, featuring Marisa Davila (Jane), Cheyenne Isabel Wells (Olivia), Ari Notartomaso (Cynthia), Tricia Fukuhara (Nancy), Shanel Bailey (Hazel), Ari Notartomaso (Cynthia), Tricia Fukuhara (Nancy), Shanel Bailey (Hazel), Madison Thompson (Susan), Johnathan Nieves (Richie), Jason Schmidt (Buddy), Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (Wally), and Jackie Hoffman (Asst. Principal McGee).
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Complete casting has been announced for Spamalot, to run May 12-21 at the Kennedy Center, directed & choreographed by Josh Rhodes, with music direction by John Bell.
Alex Brightman (Sir Lancelot), James Monroe Iglehart (King Arthur), Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Lady of the Lake), Rob McClure (The Historian/Prince Herbert), Harvey Guillén (Patsy), Michel Urie (Sir Robin), Jimmy Smagula (Sir Bedever), and Nik Walker (Sir Galahad), with Phillip Attamore, Daniel Beeman, Maria Briggs, Michael Fatica, Ryan Kasprzak, Eloise Kropp, Damiel May, Shina Ann Morris, Kaylee, Olson, and Kristin Piro.
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Complete casting has been announced for the world premiere of MJ Kaufman, Joey Soloway & Faith Soloway’s A Transparent Musical, to run May 20 – June 25 (opening May 31) at the Mark Taper Forum, directed by Tina Landau, with choreography by James Aslop.
Adina Verson (Ali Pfefferman), Daya Curley (Maura Pfefferman), Liz Larsen (Shelley Pfefferman), Zachary Prince (Josh Pfefferman), Sarah Stiles (Sarah Pfefferman), Kasper (Ezra), Peffermint (Davina), and Murphy Taylor Smith (rabbi Raquel), with Samora la Perdida, Justin Rivers, Futaba Shioda, Natalie Weiss, Robert Pieranuzi, Jimmy Ray Bennett, Pat Towne, and Dahlya Glick.
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre has announced New Faces Sing Broadway 1984, to take place Apr. 25 at Evanston Space and Apr. 26 at The Den Theatre (both at 7:30 PM), directed by Tommy Novak, with music direction by Mickey York.
Neala Barron, Frankie Leo Bennett, Dawn Bless, Katherine Bourne, Kayla Boye, Anna Brockman, Tim Foszcz, Haley Gustaffson, Josiah Haugen, Cam Turner, Jerod Turner, and Evan Wilhelm, Lydia Burke, and Molly Kral, with Darilyn Burtley, Max Cervantes, Maddison Denault, David Moreland, Gilbert Domally, Andres Enriquez, Nik Kmiecik, Ziare Paul-Emile, Alis Rhode, Thero Germaine, Lucy Godinez, Emily Goldberg, Nicole Michelle Haskins, Michelle Lauto, Yando Lopez, Henry McGinniss, Brandy Miller, Bryce Ancil, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, Anthony Norman, Patrick Rooney, Aalon Smith, Katherine Thomas, Aeriel Williams, Nicole Lambert, Courtney Mack, Mallory Maedke, and Samanthan Pauly.