Today’s Highlights:
The Shark is Broken, by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon, directed by Guy Masterson, featuring Ian Shaw (Robert Shaw), Alex Brightman (Richard Dreyfuss), and Colin Donnell (Roy Scheider), opens at Broadway’s Golden Theatre.
Not Another Deaf Story, written & directed by Hilari Scarl and Monique Holt, featuring Deaf actors: Marc Bowman, Holly Crowe, Lori Dunsmore, Mary Kim Hoang, Justin Jackerson, Tommy Korn, Gabriel Silve, and Amber Zion… and Hearing actors Cindy Baer, Brian Edward Campbell, Bert Emmett, Gabriel Gomez, Doug Haverty, Julie Pearl, Gita Reddy and Deb’e Taylor, opens at North Hollywood’s Lonny Chapman Theatre.
P3 Theatre Company‘s The Red Suitcase, world premiere by Jiggs Burgess, directed by Del Shores, featuring Emerson Collins (Pogue), Kristen McCullough (April), Bruce Melena (Bud), Charlotte Louise White (Grandma Evans), Mat Hayes (Player 1), Pam Trotter (Player 2), and Tiago Santos (Player 3), begins previews at Hollywood’s Broadwater Theatre Main Stage.
The Bridges of Madison County, directed by Hunter Foster, featuring Kate Baldwin (Francesca) Nicholas Rodriquez (Robert), Bart Shatto (Bud), Thomas Cromer (Michael), Emily Pellecchia (Carolyn), Giuliana Augello (Marion/Chiara), Mark S. Megill (Charlie), Nikki Yarnell (Marge), and Sealth Grover (Paolo), with Natalie Myrick, Lucy Horton, Lara Hayhurst and Rutledge Varley, closes at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse.
Rent, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, featuring Lincoln Clauss (Mark Cohen), Vincent Kempski (Roger Davis), Ashley De La Rosa (Mimi Marquez), Tré Frazier (Benjamin Coffin III), Lindsay Heather Pearce (Maureen Johnson), Anastacia McCleskey (Joanne Jefferson), Evan Tyrone Martin (Tom Collins), and Adrian Villegas (Angel Dumott Schunard), with Shelby Brown, Ricky Cardenas, Josh Hoon Lee, Sage Lee, Alicia Revé Like, Jhardon DiShon Milton, Eric Shawn, Erica Stephan, and Julia Yameen, closes at the St. Louis Muny.
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A revival of Eric Idle & John Du Prez’s Spamalot will begin previews Oct. 31 and open Nov. 16 at the St. James Theatre, directed & choreographed by Josh Rhodes, with music direction by John Bell.
James Monroe Iglehart (King Arthur), Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (The Lady of the Lake), Michael Urie (Sir Robin), Jimmy Smagula (Sir Bedevere), Nik Walker (Sir Galahad), Christopher Fitzgerald (Patsy) and Ethan Slater (The Historian/Prince Herbert). and more TBA.
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Brigadoon will run Nov. 15 – Dec. 23 at Ontario’s Shaw Festival, revised by Brian Hill, and directed by Glynis Leyshon, with music direction by Paul Sportelli, and original choreography by Linda Garneau.
. Stewart Adam McKensy (Tommy Albright), Kevin McLachlan (Jeff Douglas), Alexis Gordon (Fiona), Kristi Frank (Meg Brockie), Madelyn Kriese (Jean MacLaren), David Andrew Reid (Charlie Dalrymple), David Adams (Archie Beaton), and more TBA.
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Speakeasy Stage will present Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 (opening Sept. 17) at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion, directed by Paula Plum.
Marianna Bassham, Johanna Carlisle-Zepeda, Catia, Crystin Gilmore,
Laura Latreille, Monique Ward Lonergan, and Lisa Yuen.
The play celebrates the women who keep things running behind the scenes both in — and out — of the Oval Office.
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Video: Broadway’s Back to the Future performs “The Power of Love” and “Back in Time” on “Good Morning America.” Scroll down…
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Manhattan Theatre Club will present Jocelyn Biol’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, by with previews beginning Sept. 12 and an opening set for Oct. 3 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by Whitney White. 
Save on fees at the box office using code: JAJAFAF
Brittany Adebumola, Maechi Aharanwa, Rachel Christopher, Kalyne Coleman, Somi Kakoma, Lakisha May, Nana Mensah, Michael Oloyede, Dominique Thorne, and Zanai Williams.
Jaja’s bustling hair braiding shop is in Harlem, where every day a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders create masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed. The uncertainty of their circumstances simmers below the surface of their lives and when it boils over, it forces this tight-knit community to confront what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home.
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Off-Broadway’s York Theatre Company will present the 31st Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala on Mon. Nov. 13 at NYC’s Edison Rooftop (223 West 46th St.), directed & hosted by Gerry McIntyre, with music direction by Deniz Cordell.
Patti LuPone and Jamie deRoy
Charles Busch, Christine Ebersole, Bridget Everett, Norm Lewis, Andrew Rannells, and more TBA.
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Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre & Tricia Paoluccio’s Here You Come Again continues through Aug. 27 at CT’s Goodspeed, directed & choreographed by Barre.
Tricia Paoluccio (Dolly Parton) and Matthew Risch (Kevin)
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Video: Lindsay Heather Pearce and Anastacia McCleskey perform “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent at the St. Louis Muny.
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Adam Rapp, Justin Levine, Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance’s The Outsiders, based on the film, which had its world premiere earlier this year at La Jolla Playhouse, continues to be in development, with a Broadway production hopefully in the future (specific plans to be announced soon), directed by Danya Taymor, with music supervision by Justin Levine, and choreography by Rick Kuperman & Jeff Kuperman.
A story of the bonds that brothers share and the hopes we all hold on to, this gripping new musical reinvigorates the timeless tale of ‘haves and have nots’, of protecting what’s yours and fighting for what could be.
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Open Fist Theatre Company will present Dominique Morisseau’s Blood at the Root Sept. 9 – Oct. 28 at the Atwater Village Theatre, directed by Michael Shepperd.
Malik Bailey, Deandra Bernardo, Emma Bruno, Nychelle C.E. Hawk, Nicholas Heard, Jeremy Reiter II, Caroline Rose, Jack David Sharpe, Grace Soens, Amber Tiara and Azeem Vecchio.
Infused with hip-hop music and movement, the play sheds light on escalating tensions between Black and White students at a Southern high school, delving into the double standard often applied to racially charged situations.
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The Huntington Theatre will present Richard Marsh’s Yippee Ki Yay Dec. 27-30 at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion, directed by Hal Chambers.
Darrel Bailey.
When gunmen seize an LA skyscraper, off-duty policeman John McClane is the hostages’ only hope. This uplifting action romp (and unauthorized parody) pays affectionate tribute to the iconic 80s fan favorite, and is essential viewing for Hans Gruber superfans and newcomers alike.
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Video: Promo for Guys & Dolls at Pittsburg CLO, featuring Nikki Renée Daniels, John Treacy Egan, and more…
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Complete casting has been announced for Albert M. Tapper’s Bettinger’s Luggage, to run Sept. 19 – Oct. 26 at the AMT Theater, directed by Steven Ditmyer.
Richard MacDonald (Lou Bettinger), Connor Stewart (George Bettinger), Lori Marcus (Bessie Bettinger), and Sean Church Gonzalez (Angel Diaz).
Based on a true story, the play follows a Jewish family and their friends on the Lower East Side in the 1970s as they struggle to find success, love, and happiness. Lou Bettinger runs a luggage shop inherited from his father that he plans to pass on to his son, George, who wants nothing to do with the shop. Amidst the tension with George, Lou must contend with his sister Bessie, who thinks she knows best how to run the store, his employee Angel—who feels more like a son than George does—and a young girl facing abuse from her husband.
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Abby Mueller in concert will run Apr. 26 & 27, both at 7 PM, at NYC’s 54 Below.
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Off-Broadway’s Ensemble Studio Theatre has announced its 2023-2024 season:
Redwood (Oct. 18 – Nov. 12, opening Oct. 26), by by Brittany K. Allen, directed by Mikhaela Mahony. When Steve Durbin goes down the rabbit hole of his family’s genealogy, an unwelcome discovery throws the entire family into turmoil. Exploring interracial family relationships in a deeply scarred country, the play is partially a dance piece.
Las Borinquenas (Apr. 2024), by Diaz-Marcano, directed by Rebecca Aparicio. Set in 1950’s Puerto Rico, the play centers on five women struggling to live full lives under crushing societal expectations, when a doctor in the United States suddenly offers them a path to bodily freedom: by participating in the preliminary trials for the birth control pill.