Today’s Highlights:
Hamilton, featuring Karl Queensborough (Alexander Hamilton), Simon-Anthony Thoden (Aaron Burr), Ava Brennan (Angelica Schuyler), Sharon rose (Eliza Hamilton), Trevor Dion Nicholas (George Washington), Waylon Jacobs (Marquis De Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson), Emile Ruddock (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Khalid Daley (John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton), Emilie Louise Israel (Peggy Schuyler / Maria Reynolds), Harry Hepple (King George), and Nuno Queimado (Hamilton at select performances), with Jade Albertsen, Curtis Angus, Robson Broad, Matthew Caputo, Filippo Coffano, Ashley Daniels, Kelly Downing, Lydia Fraser, Jordan Frazier, Manaia Glassey-Ohlson, Jake Halsey-Jones, Olivia Kate Holding, Peter Houston, DeAngelo Jones, Nicolaie-Andre Kerry, Travis Kerry, Ella Kora, Natasha Leaver, Aaron Lee Lambert, Phoebe Liberty Jones, Sinead Long, Louis Mackrodt, Jay Perry, Lindsey Tierney, and Brandon Williams, re-opens at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre.
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Reviews for Cinderella at London’s Gillian Lynn Theatre:
The Guardian (Chris Wiegand): … The original story and book by Emerald Fennell have heart and a torrent of barbed wit, exposing the faulty morals in traditional fairytales without scrimping on glittering trimmings. David Zippel’s crystalline lyrics are attuned to Fennell’s dialogue, cheekily satirical yet wistful and uplifting too. Lord Lloyd-Webber’s richly enjoyable orchestrations… It adds up to not so much a ball as a blast: terrifically OTT and silly but warm and inclusive, with relatable, down-to-earth heroes and pertinent points about our quest for perfection and our expectations of each other and ourselves.
The Telegraph (Marianka Swain): …easily one of Lloyd Webber’s most entertaining musicals – a family-friendly extravaganza, with larger-than-life characters… Book writer Emerald Fennell… gives us a warmer version of that satirical observation, peppered with silly jokes, though the set-up takes too long. But, along with David Zippel’s brilliantly witty lyrics, this is a satisfyingly contemporary Cinderella that still retains its fairytale magic… Carrie Hope Fletcher is magnetic as the prickly heroine… But it’s the villains who have the most fun here – and, refreshingly, the show is ruled by older women. Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is a commanding Cruella of a Stepmother and Rebecca Trehearn’s Queen a regal diva.
What’sOnStage (Sarah Crompton)… Cinderella isn’t going to win any awards for subtlety – it features a dance routine where muscled men heave golden balls around while making jokes about being well equipped, for goodness sake – but it’s colourful, energetic and a huge amount of fun. It also, crucially, has a good heart and some sumptuous tunes, which makes you forgive its failings…. David Zippel’s outrageous and witty lyrics… Carrie Hope Fletcher is perfectly cast as Cinderella… sings like a dream… You can feel Lloyd Webber having fun with this score…
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Video: Stars in the House, offering Broadway by the Decade – The 70s, with special guests Len Carious and Cheryl Clark. (1:22:44)
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Following a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Museum of Broadway now aims to open its doors in Times Square in summer 2022.
While originally reported as a pop-up location, the museum, from producer Julie Boardman and Rubik Marketing founder Diane Nicoletti, intends to take up permanent residence at 145 West 45th Street (next door to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre).
Among the exhibits planned are a timeline charting the evolving landscape of New York City’s theatre district, a tribute to the various roles that go into creating a Broadway show, and an exploration of titles currently playing at that time. And yes, a gift shop will sell show merchandise, theatre treasures (like Al Hirschfeld prints), and more.
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Video: Stark Sands and Adrian Blake Enscoe perform “Murder in the City” from the Avett Brothers’ Swept Away., which premieres in January at Berkeley Rep.
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Lee Roy Reams – Remembering Jerry Herman will take place Mon. Sept. 20 at 7 PM ET at NYC’s York Theatre (in its temporary new home at Theatre at St. Jean’s, at 150 East 76th Street), with music direction by Alex Rybeck.
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A Sherlock Carol, a new holiday mystery written & directed by Mark Shanahan, will run Nov. 11 – Jan. 2, 2022 (opening Nov. 22) at New World Stages. Casting TBA.
A grown-up Tiny Tim turns to Sherlock Holmes to solve the peculiar death of Ebenezar Scrooge.
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The national tour of Pretty Woman: The Musical , directed & choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, will launch this Fall in Providence. Casting and additional dates TBA. Click here for tour dates and updated information.
Adam Pascal (Edward Lewis) and Olivia Valli (Vivian Ward), with more TBA.
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Medicine, written & directed by Enda Walsh, will run Nov. 11 – Dec. 5 at St. Ann’s Warehouse.
Domhnall Gleeson, Clare Barrett, Aoife Duffin, and percussionist Seán Carpio.
The play follows John Kane, who is undergoing treatment with two attendants (both named Mary), as they replay trauma from John’s life both before and during his years-long institutionalization. Walsh wrote the play after coming across accounts of abuse in psychiatric institutions and watching his mother’s experience with Alzheimer’s in a retirement home.
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David Zellnik & Eric Syejcar’s Loveville’s Lovevill High: A Prom in Nine Musical Podcasts will be re-released Aug. 20 on most podcast platforms, with a special bonus episode featuring the writers.
Ali Stroker, Kathryn Gallagher, Isaac Powell, Mason Alexander Park, Ryann Redmond, Kathryn Allison, Troy Iwata, Hailey Kilgore, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Gizel Jiménez, and Andrew Durand.
Each 10-minute episode, originally released in 2019, is a self-contained musical telling a different love story at a high school prom — from friendships to romance.
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Second Stage Theatre has announced complete casting for Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s, to begin previews Nov. 3 and open Nov. 22 at the Hayes Theater, directed by Kate Whoriskey.
Edmund Donovan, Uzo Aduba, Ron Cephas Jones, Reza Salazar, and Kara Young.
The play follows a truck stop sandwich shop that offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at redemption. Even as the shop’s callous owner tried to keep them under her thumb, the staff members are given purpose and permission to dream by their share quest to create the perfect sandwich.
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Ben Platt: The Reverie Tour will launch Feb. 23, 2022 in Orlando, with 26 other cities to follow.
Click here for the complete tour schedule.
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Pasadena Playhouse has announced it 2021-22 season:
Head Over Heels (Nov. 9 – Dec. 12), re-imagined by Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton. A musical comedy adaptation of Sir Philip Sidney’s The Arcatia, this version is set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s.
Teenage Dick (Feb. 1-27, 2022), by Mike Lew, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel. An hilarious high-school spin on Shakespeare’s Richard III.
Ann (Mar 23 – Apr. 24), written & performed by Holland Taylor. An uplifting tribute to Texas Governor Ann Richards.
freestyle love supreme (July 12 – Aug. 7).
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New City Music Theatre has announced additional casting has been announced for Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World on Wed. Aug. 26 at 7:30 PM ET at Long Island’s Radial Park at Hallets Point, directed by Miles J. Sternfeld, with music direction by Edinger, and choreography by Ahmad Simmons.
Previously announced: Christy Altomare, Derek Klena, Shereen Pimentel, Ciara Renée, Bonnie Milligan, and Kyle Taylor Parker. Jenn Colella has withdrawn due to “personal reasons.”
Newly announced: Telly Leung, Michael James Scott, Nancy Opel, Bre Jackson, Marc G. Dalio, Heath Saunders, Darian Sanders, Grace Stockdale, Nya, Nick Drake, and Rick Edinger, plus dancers Yeman Brown, Jennifer Florentino, Zuri Noelle Ford, Yuka Notsuka, and Michael Anthony Sylvester.
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Second Stage Theatre has announced a casting update for Lynne Nottage’s Clyde’s, to run Nov. 3 – Jan. 16, 2022 (opening Nov. 22) at the Helen Hayes Theater, directed by Kate Whoriskey.
Previously announced: Uzo Aduba, Ron Cephas Jones, Reza Salazar, and Kara Young.
Newly announced: Edmund Donovan.
A truck stop sandwich shop with a kitchen staff made up of formerly incarcerated individuals, who search for redemption in their lives after prison, while seeking to craft the perfect sandwich.
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Congratulations to Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost on the birth of their son Cosmo.
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Complete casting has been announced for Dame Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, the final installment of the Wolf Hall series, to begin previews Sept. 23 and open Oct. 6 at the Gielgud Theatre, directed by Jeremy Herrin.
Ben Miles (Thomas Cromwell), Nathaniel Parker (Henry VIII), Melissa Allan, Samuel Awoyo, Ian Drysdale, Jo Herbert, Andrew Hodges, Niamh James, Umi Myers, Liam Smith, Nicholas Tizzard, Nicholas Boulton, Matt Pidgeon, Giles Taylor, Rosanna Adams, Paul Adeyefa, Aurora Burghart, Terique Jarrett, Jordan Kouamé, Geoffrey Lumb, Olivia Marcus, Tony Turner, Leo Wan, and Nicholas Woodeson.
England, 1536. Anne Boleyn’s fate has been sealed by the executioner, Jane Seymour must deliver King Henry a healthy heir. And to the disgust of Henry’s nobles, Thomas Cromwell continues his ruthless ascent from the gutters of Putney to the highest rank beside his master. But Cromwell is vulnerable and his enemies are poised to strike.