Today’s Highlights:
“Tell The Story: Celebrating Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins“ event, featuring (from the upcoming production) Adam Chanler-Berat, Eddie Cooper, Tavi Gevinson, Brad Giovanine, Andy Grotelueschen, Bianca Horn, Judy Kuhn, Whit K. Lee, Rob Morrison, Steven Pasquale, Ethan Slater, Will Swenson, Wesley Taylor, Brandon Uranowitz, and Katrina Yaukey….. along with (from the 1990 world premiere at Playwrights Horizons) Patrick Cassidy, Victor Garber, Greg Germann, Annie Golden, Lyn Greene, Jonathan Hadary, Eddie Korbich, Terrence Mann, Debra Monk, William Parry, and Lee Wilkof from the 1990 world premiere at Playwrights Horizons…. as well as (from the 2004 Broadway production at Studio 54) Becky Ann Baker, Mario Cantone, Michael Cerveris, Mary Catherine Garrison, Alexander Gemignani, Ken Krugman, Marc Kudisch, Anne L. Nathan, Denis O’Hare, Chris Peluso, and Sally Wilfert…… directors Jerry Zaks and Joe Mantello, who will share memories from helming the Off-Broadway premiere and 2004 Broadway premiere and 2004 Broadway productions, respectively; director Doyle and music director Greg Jarrett of the upcoming CSC revival; and alumni of CSC and previous Doyle productions, including Quincy Tyler Bernstine, André De Shields, Raúl Esparza, Ann Harada, Audra McDonald, Mary Beth Peil, George Takei, and Tony Yazbeck, begins FREE streaming at 8 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company.
Neat, written & performed by Charlayne Woodard, begins FREE streaming at Manhattan Theatre Club.
An Iliad, adapted by Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare, directed by Jonathan Fox, featuring John Tufts, begins streaming at Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company.
Jason Graae: Perfect Hermany benefit concert, begins streaming at Musical Theatre West.
Terror in Tinseltown digital theatrical experience, where you can choose to be a part of the cast or enjoy the show as an armchair detective, hosted by Brandon Hicks, streams at 8 PM ET here.
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Video: Stars in the House, a “Cagney and Lacy” reunion, with special guests Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly, and Martin Kove. (1:27:27)
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Karen Olivo, a 2020-21 Tony nominee for her performance in Moulin Rouge!, has announced via Instagram that she will not return to the show when it reopens on Broadway.
“Social justice is more important than being the sparkling diamond,” she said. “Building a better industry is more important than putting money in my pockets. The silence about Scott Rudin… unacceptable.”
They continue: “I don’t need to be onstage. I need to be out here. People are more important than your pocketbook… I want a theatre industry that matches my integrity. Come on, ya’ll. It’s not here, obviously. Let’s go make it.”
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre will present two concerts, both directed by Brianna Borger, with music direction by Tom Vendafreddo.
Apr. 16 – Online: New Faces Sing Broadway 1961, hosted by Kelvin Roston.
here.
June 12 – Live: Ne here.
(for both shows): Lexie Bailey, Nicole Barth, Marcus Canada, Chloe Howard, Izzie Jones, Clare Kennedy, Maurice Rex Randle, Abraham Shaw, and Tommy Thurston.
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Shakespeare & Company presents King Lear July 2 – Aug. 29 at the New Spruce Theater in Lenox, MA, directed by Nicole Ricciardi.
Christopher Lloyd (King Lear) and more TBA.
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“The Son,” by Florian Zeller, adapted by Christopher Hampton, is currently in development. Timeline, additional casting, and more information TBA.
Hugh Jackman (Peter) and Laura Dern (Kate).
Peter has a busy life with new partner Emma and their baby. This is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas. We sense something is amiss from the first moment we meet Nicholas. He is troubled, distant, and angry, playing truant from school for months. Both son and mother need his father’s help. Nicholas’ wish is to live with his father for a change.
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Article. “Re-Animating Cabaret One Frame at a Time.” Fabulous!
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Video: Ali Stroker sings “Be a Lion” from The Wiz.
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Boston’s Huntington Theatre has announced its 2021-22 season:
Hurricane Diane (Aug. 27 – Sept. 26), by Madeleine George, directed by Jenny Koons. In the suburbs of the Garden State, the Greek God Dionysus returns from the heavens in the guise of a butch gardener named Diane, who’s hell bent on reversing climate change and restoring earthly order by seducing a band of mortal followers. Why not begin with four real housewives from New Jersey?
Witch (Oct. 15 – Nov. 14), by Jen Silverman, directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. This fiendishly funny new play follows an alluring devil named Scratch as he arrives in the country village of Edmonton, and he promises to make the darkest dreams of its locals come true in exchange for their souls. When he meets Elizabeth Sawyer, she should be the easiest to convince — she’s an outcast, branded as a witch for years. So why does she resist Scratch’s deal?
Teenage Dick (Dec. 3 – Jan. 2, 2022), by Mike Lew, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel. A ruthless and hilarious play about a young man who, after years of torment by his classmates for his cerebral palsy, decides to campaign for student body president. But is it better to be loved or feared? And how far will he go to realize his ambition?
The Bluest Eye (Jan. 28 – Feb. 27), adapted from Toni Morrison’s novel by Lydia R. Diamond, directed by Awoye Timpo. The story of Pecola, a young Black girl who believes everything in her world would be made wonderful if only she had blue eyes.
What the Constitution Means to Me (Feb. 22 – Mar. 20), by Heidi Schreck, directed by Oliver Butler.
Our Daughters, Like Pillars (Apr. 8 – May 8), world premiere by Kirsten Greenidge, directed by Kimberly Senior. Lavinia is bringing her sisters and mother on a much-needed family vacation. She has planned the week to the smallest detail – antiquing in the afternoons, grilled steaks for dinner, absolutely no cellphones allowed – and if Lavinia gets her way, they will stay forever. What will her sisters have to say?
Common Ground Revisited (May 27 – June 26), world premiere by Melissa Bensussen & Kirsten Greenidge, adapted by Greenidge, directed by Melia Bensussen.
The play brings Boston’s history to life in the 1960s and ‘70s, culminating in three families’ experiences in court-mandated busing. Diverse in both race and class, what can these families’ experiences tell us about our own time? Especially when Boston Public Schools are more segregated now than they were in 1974.
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Red Bull Theater‘s Paradise Lost, Part 1 – The Fall of Lucifer, adapted & directed by Michael Marakiva, is available until Fri. Apr. 16 at 7 PM ET.
Stephen Bel Davies, Sheldon Best, Gisela Chípe, Robert Cuccioli, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Carol Halstead, Jason Butler Harner, Gregory Linington, Daniel José Molina, Sam Morales, Howard Overshown, and Cherie Corinne Rice.
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The London production of Kinky Boots will continue streaming through Apr. 20 here.
Killian Donnelly (Charlie) and Matt Henry (Lola), with Natalie McQueen, Sean Needham, Cordelia Farnworth, and Antony Reed.
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Off-Broadway’s Keen Company presents the world premiere of Kate Cortesi’s Radio Nowhere, to begin streaming Apr. 23 at 7 PM ET on all your favorite Podcast platforms, directed by Taylor Reynolds.
Alfredo Narciso, George Salazar, and Amelia Workman.
An irreverent comedy about a young artist’s attempt to save his strange little radio show by selling off an even stranger set of valuables. Tune in and join DJ Anonymous as his scrappy telethon turns into an exploration of grief, art, popularity, and the myth of the white male genius.
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Video: Jason Graae and Susan Moniz perform “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”
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Tectonic Theater Project will present The Seven Deadly Sins, which will begin previews June 23 and open June 28 in NYC’s Meatpacking District, conceived by Michel Hausm &Moisés Kaufman and directed by Kaufman. Casting TBA.
Each writer selected one of the Deadly Sins as the inspiration for their short play: Ngozi Anyanwu (Gluttony), Thomas Bradshaw (Sloth), MJ Kaufman (Pride), Moisés Kaufman (Greed), Jeffrey LaHoste (Envy), Ming Peiffer (Wrath), and Bess Wohl (Lust).
Welcome all sinners and saints who like to flirt with sin! The event will take audiences on a tantalizing tour of their inner demons. No subject is taboo as seven of the country’s most provocative writers plumb the depts of desire, jealousy, rage, and more, in a thrilling evening that mergers live theater with performance art, dazzling design, new technology, and CDC-mandated regulations. A carnival for the senses. Audiences will explore the perils and pleasures of the sins outdoors as they rotate through a series of cleverly designed storefront windows, throughout the Meatpacking District, in small, socially distanced groups, while wearing masks. They will watch and listen to the seven world premiere plays, all 10 minutes in length, through provided disposable earbuds, to actors standing behind a glass barrier to isolate themselves from the other actors, production staff and keeping the audience safe.
A pre-show bar, aptly named “Purgatory,” will be open 30 minutes prior to curtain. Ticket holders will be encouraged to arrive early to enjoy libations before receiving official instructions and a brief performance at Purgatory, after which they will depart on their journey to experience The Seven Deadly Sins.