Today’s Highlights
Company national tour, directed by Marianne Elliott, featuring Britney Coleman (Bobbie), Judy McLane (Joanne), Kathryn Allison (Sarah), Matt Bittner (David), Ali Louis Bourzgui (Paul), Derrrick Davis (Larry), James Earl Jones II (Harry), Marina Kondo (Susan), Matt Rodin (Jamie), Emma Stratton (Jenny), Jacob Dickey (Andy), and Tyler Hardwick (PJ), opens at LA’s Pantages Theatre.
The Queen of Versailles, by Lindsey Ferrentino, directed by Michael Arden, featuring Kristin Chenoweth (Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel), F. Murray Abraham (David Siegel), Melody Butiu (Sofia), Stephen DeRosa (John, Greg Hildreth) (Gary, Tatum Grace Hopkins (Jonquil), Isabel Keating (Debbie), and Nina White (Victoria Siegel, with Anna Bakun, Stacie Bono, Yeman Brown, Amanda Jane Cooper, David Aron Damane, Drew Elhamalawy, Sara Esty, KJ Hippensteel, Diana Huey, Cassondra James, Andrew Kober, Jesse Kovarsky, Pablo David Laucerica, Travis Murad Leland,Michael Mulheren, Michael McCorry Rose, and Grace Slear, opens at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre.
Young Frankenstein, directed & choreographed by Gerry McIntyre, featuring Sean Bell (The Monster), Aaron Choi (Hermit), Veanne Cox (Frau Blücher), Matthew Hydzik (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein), James Romney (Igor), Kyla Stone (Inga, and Aléna Watters (Elizabeth Benning), with Savannah Cooper, Bradley William Gibbins, Brady Miller, Linda Neel, Christina Emily Jackson, Cullen J. Zeno, begins previews at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
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Marc Camoletti’s Don’t Dress for Dinner, adapted by Robin Hawdon, will run Sept 4 – 22 (opening Sept. 8) at Laguna Playhouse, directed by Christopher M. Williams.
Brian Robert Burns (Bernard), Kim Morgan Dean (Jacqueline), Veronica Dunne (Suzette), Brandon J. Pierce (Robert), Katy Tang (as “Suzanne), and Jared Van Heel (George).
There’s a married couple with sexy secrets, a cook mistaken for a mistress, a mistress who can’t cook, and enough mistaken identities and confused alibis to have audiences in stitches!
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Write Act Rep will present Hot Summer Nights – The Musical (2024) written and directed by Alicia Marie Agramonte, Susan C. Hunter, Jorge A. Pulido & Darrin Yalacki, to run aug. 10-25.
Alicia Agramonte, Lance Bagley, Sumeet Dang, Adanna Ehiribe, Nicole Foti, Joshua Gill, Narissa Johnson, Kelli Allen Lackey, Jackson Lyon, Mary Nakanishi, Shawn Plunkett, Jackie Shearn, Courtney South, Jeannette Srinivasan, Iskandria Sturdivant and Richard Yingling
The production offers a collection of 4 world premiere original one act plays written by various Write Act Repertory writers.
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Keith Bunin’s The Coast Starlight will run Sept. 3 – Oct. 6 (opening Sept. 6) at Milwaukee Rep, directed by Mark Clements.
Jack Ball (TJ), Emily S. Chang (Jane), Yadira Correa (Anna), Kelley Faulkner (Liz), Justin Huen (Noah) and Jonathan Wainwright (Ed).
The intensely funny and resonant play is about a young man armed with a secret that can land him in terrible trouble as he boards the Coast Starlight, the long-distance train that runs from Los Angeles to Seattle. With the help of his fellow travelers, all of whom are reckoning with their own choices, he has one thousand miles to figure out a way forward.
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Scott Elmergreen & Drew Fornarola’s Ghost of John McCain will run Sept. 3 – Nov. 5 (opening Sept. 24) at the Soho Playhouse, directed byCatie Davis, with choreography by Sunny Min-Sook Hitt.
Zonya Love (Vice President Kamala Harris) and more TBA.
The musical thrusts the late Senator into an afterlife he never expected when he finds that “heaven” is inside Trump’s brain. There, he encounters a “Greek Chorus” of iconic figures, including Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, Eva Perón, Teddy Roosevelt, Robert Jordan, Lindsey Graham, George W. Bush, Tiffany Trump, Grizabella from CATS, Barack Obama, Kanye West, Grant Woods, Elizabeth Warren, Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, Eric Trump, Clint Eastwood — and now Kamala Harris — who rebel against the former President’s relentless demands for affirmation.
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Lianne Marie Dobbs: The Windmills of my Mind… For Dusty Springfield will take place Thurs. Aug. 22 at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club, with music direction by Ron Abel.
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Kyle Falconer & Laura Wilde’s ‘s No Love Songs will run Sept. 27 – Oct. 20 at CT’s Goodspeed, directed by Andrew Panton & Tashi Gore.
Casting and additional information TBA.
In a hopeful and empowering tale of modern romance, No Love Songs tells the story of Jessie and Lana―young and in love one second and pregnant the very next. When Jessie is called away to tour with his band in America and post-partum depression sets in for Lana, they must learn to navigate the unique challenges of their new lives as parents.
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Dakin Matthews and Red Bull Theater’s Nathan Winkelstein dissect Bassanio’s speech in Merchant of Venice, Act 3 Scene 2: “What find I here? Fair Portia’s counterfeit!” Available on most podcast platforms.
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Gingold Theatrical Group will present its Golden Shamrock Gala 2024 on Mon. Sept. 23 at 6 PM at NYC’s Robert Restaurant.
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.
The 2024 Gala, which will transport attendees to a 1930s deco nightclub featuring a live dance orchestra and musical performers, will support GTG’s upcoming production of George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, which will begin performances at Theatre Row October 15.
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Grease will run Aug. 9 – Sept. 8 (opening Aug. 10) at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse, directed by Hunter Foster, with music direction by Luke Molloy.
David Nick Alea, Brianna Ascaone, Giuliana Augello, Jordan Bollwerk, Sherrod D. Brown, Seth Clayton, Nathan Cockroft, Toni Dibuono, Tiffany Engen, Maya Kazzaz, Erin, Kommor, Stanley Martin, Keaton Miller, Joe Montoya, Brianna Brito Mooney, Stephanie Prestage, Lorenzo Pugliese, JP Qualters, Suayna Smith, and Alyssa Wray.
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“Julian Schlossberg: My First Book – Part 2: A Producer’s Life Continues” is now available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook, read by the author.
Another must-read for film, television, and theater enthusiasts alike. Julian Schlossberg is a Broadway, Off-Broadway, film and TV producer; a radio and TV host; and documentarian. With his latest memoir, Julian looks back on his six decades in show business with a cast of characters including friends and collaborators Mel Brooks, Charlton Heston, Warren Beatty, George C. Scott, Paddy Chayefsky, Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Zero Mostel, Woody Allen, Peter Falk, Jackie Mason, Danny Aiello, Eli Wallach, and F. Murray Abraham …to name a few. Written with engaging humor and behind-the-scenes, never-before-told anecdotes, you don’t need to have read Julian’s first book to love “My First Book – Part 2.”
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Romeo and Juliet will run Aug. 31 – Oct. 6 (opening Sept. 5) at Cambridge’s A.R.T, directed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
Terence Archie (Lord Capulet) Jason Bowen (Prince), Sharon Catherine Brown (Nurse), Bradley Dean (Lord Montague/Friar John), Brandon Dial (Benvolio) Adi Dixit (Paris), Terrence Mann (Friar Laurence), Abiola Obatolu (Lady Montague, Rudy Pankow (Romeo), Alex Ross (Tybalt), Will Savarese (Abraham), Adam Shaukat (Sampson,), Clay Singer (Mercutio), Emilia Suárez (Juliet), and Nicole Villamil (Lady Capulet).
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Tennessee Shakespeare Company has announced its 2024-25 season:
The Comedy of Errors (Sept. 27 – Oct. 20), directed by Dan McCleary.
Twelfth Night (Dec. 6 – 22), directed by directed by Stephanie Shine.
The Grace of Grace: Shining a Light Through Shakespeare’s Broken Villains (Jan. 25 – Feb. 9, 2025), by Dan McCleary, with Lauren Gunn.
Saint Joan (Apr. 4-19, directed by Stephanie Shine.
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The world premiere of Mary Leeholland’s Are You Listening will run Aug. 9-25 at Hollywood’s Actors Co-op, directed by Chloe Babbes & Mary Leeholland.
Mary Lee Holland (Ruth), Daniel Kim (Jason), FREEDOM (Dalton), Tony Deaver (Mom/Cheryl), Randahl Briscoe (Abby), Jonas Grosserhode (Erik/Peter), Jessica Woehler (Jessica/Rachel), and Michael T. Kachingwe (Erik/Peter final weekend).
As Ruth, a clumsy yet determined aspiring actress, leaves both the confines and comfort of small town Mississippi to prove herself in the big City of Angels, she is soon confronted with the reality that if things are going to “happen” for her, it won’t come easily. As she journeys through loneliness, failed relationships, and identity crisis on the way to her dreams, she searches for guidance in the prayers prayed out her small apartment window. Ultimately she must confront the question she’s been running from, “What is she left with if nothing goes according to plan?”