GRACE NOTES: Thursday, August 20, 2026

 

 

Today’s Highlights:

 

  Noises Off, by Michael Frayn, directed by Gordon Greenberg, featuring Erin Davie (Belinda Blair), Abby Leigh Huffstetler ( Poppy Norton-Taylor), Nehal Joshi (Garry Lejeune), Leslie Margherita (Dottie Otley), Orville Mendoza (Selsden Mowgray), James Josephe O’Neil (Frederick Fellowes), Geoff Packard (Lloyd Dallas), Jennifer Sánzhez (Brook Ashton), and Evan Alexander Smith (Tim Allgood), opens at MA’s Barrington Stage Company.

 

  Captain Show Biz free benefit reading, by Bruce Vilanch, featuring Lesley Ann Warren, Alec Mapa, Garrett Clayton, and more, at 8 PM at LA’s Harmony Gold.

 

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   Shelter in Place, by Henry Feldman, continues through Oct. 4 at Theatre Row, directed by Joan Kane.

 

   Mike Roche (Frank Bennett, the hotel keeper), Martin Revere (George Bennett, his father), Alyssa Simon (Heidi Murphty, the TV spychologist, Aaron Lamm (Sam Bennet, Frank’s son, and Haley Zale (Mildred Bennett, Frank’s Wife).

 

   A category 3 hurricane is heading toward the Pelican Bay Bed and Breakfast, but the real storm is brewing inside. A Gulf Coast innkeeper who, attempting to secure his bed and breakfast during a hurricane, finds himself trapped inside with the people who complicate his life the most.

 

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   Our Man in Santiago, by Mark Wilding, will run Sept. 10 – 20 at the Odyssey Theatre, directed by Elizabeth Herron.

 

  Mark Irvingsen (Jack Wilson), Toby Guthrie (Daniel Baker), anfelina Ramirez (Maria Troncoso), allen Wasserman (Henry Kissinger), and Edward Giron (President Richard Nixon).

 

  A comic political spy thriller about a bothched 1970 operation in Chile.  Not everything goes smoothly. Especially regime change. Of course, when the CIA sends a glee club to overthrow Chile’s President, what can you expect next? The answer is OUR MAN IN SANTIAGO. Chile. 1973. After the first bungled attempt to overthrow President Allende, the CIA sends in two decidedly unsuitable agents to oust the Chilean President.

 

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   Rent continues through Sept. 13 at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse, directed & choreographed by Jennifer Weber.

 

   Austin Turner (Roger Davis), Sam Primack (Mark Cohen), Alysia Velez (Mimi Marquez), Owen Scales (Tom Collins,) David Merino (Angel Schunard), Veronica Otim (Joanne Jefferson), Tiernan Tunnicliffe (Maureen Johnson) and Kevin Trinio Perdido (Benjamin Coffin III), with Dré Hinds, Aubrey Jones, ack Hopewell, Michael Marrero, Lauren Soto, and Sunayna Smith.

 

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  Unconditional, A Musical Memoir, by William Mellon, will run Oct. 15 – 25  at Club La Mama, directed by Anne Kenny.

 

  Margot Rose

 

   The remarkable true story of two women who dared to build a family on their own terms. In a time when LGBTQ+ families had few roadmaps and even fewer legal protections, the story follows their years-long journey through fertility treatments, financial sacrifices, community support, and unwavering commitment to becoming parents until… the unspeakable happens. What begins as a deeply personal quest becomes a celebration of chosen family, perseverance, and the extraordinary things people will do for love.

 

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   Kaiju, by Dan Caffrey will run Sept. 22 – Nov. 1 (opening sSept. 25) at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre, directed by Ken Sawer.

 

  Leandro Cano, Cherish Monique DukeJon Snow, Gabie Faulkner, Noa Lev-Ari,  Billy Baker, Sapna Kumar, Ann Hearn, and Genki Hall.

 

  The play follows two 250-foot tall mythical monsters debating the morality of a citywide destruction they just caused, cutting back and forth with a group of human theatergoers aggressively arguing at a post-show talkback, serving as an audacious satire on ar t, destruction, and live performances.

 

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   Newsies will run Sept. 8-13 at (opening Sept. 9) at Kansas City Starlight, directed & choreographed by David Grindrod.

 

   Lucas Pastrana (Jack Kelly), Graham Rowat (Joseph Pulitzer), Aubrey Matalon (Katherine Plummer), Bryonha Marie (Medda Larkin), Andy Bakun (Davey), Ryan Jacobs (Crutchie), Carson Cornwell (alternating as Les), and Lucas Gutierrez-Sullenger (alternating as Less), Maddox Bane (Oscar Delancey, and Jake Bartley (Sepcs), with Tessa Brethowr.

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   Musical Theatre Guild  will present of Here’s to Us!—The Musical Theatre Guild Celebrates 30 Years on Sun. Oct. 11 at 7 PM at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage, conceived and created by Kim Huber  & Michael Kostroff.

 

  Elizabeth Adabale, Eydie Alyson, Eileen Barnett, Anastasia Barzee, Roger Befeler, Jennifer Bennett, Patrick Beller, Teri Bibb, Jill Marie Burke, Melissa Lyons Caldretti, Barbara Carlton Heart, Stan Chandler, Will Collyer, Karen Culliver, Lauren Curet, Tami Damiano, Matthew Patrick Davis, Susan Edwards Martin, Melissa Fahn, Joshua Finkel, Tal Fox, Ashley Fox Linton, Spencer Frankeberger, Zachary Ford, Julie Garnyé, James Gleason, Jason Graae, Jennifer Gordon, Scott Harlan,  Damon Kirsche, Carol Kline, Maura M. Knowles, Michael Kostroff, Valarie Larsen,  Brian Kim McCormick, Kevin McMahon, Dana Meller, Mia Michaud, Barbara Minkus, Domonique Paton, Lisa Picotte, Teri Ralston, Trisha Rapier, Jenna Lea Rosen, Glenn Rosenblum, Brent Schindele, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Chantal Tribble,  Mary VanArsdel, Shannon Warne, Paul Wong, Robert Yacko, and David Zack.

 

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  BBC Radio the Royal Court Theatre will celebrate  contemporary playwriting  with a new radio production of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children, to be curated by Mark Ravenhill, and broadcast across the UK onSat. Sept. 26 on BBC Radio 4 from 3 – 4:30PM.

 

  Anastasia Hille and Stanley Holloway.

 

  The play follows retired nuclear physicists Hazel  and Robin (Stanley Holloway), who wonder why their former colleague Rose (Emma Fielding) has turned up at their house near the damaged power station where they used to work. Over the course of the play, old alliances and divisions are exposed and it becomes clear that Rose has a challenging proposition for her old friends, as the play explores personal and professional responsibility within the context of a global crisis.

 

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   BBC Radio 4 & the the Royal Court Theatre will present a radio broadcast of Les Misérables on Sept. 26 – Oct. 2  from 3-4:30 PM, directed by David Byrne.

 

   Aimee Doherty (Madam Thenadier), Paul Mesendy (Mr. Thenardier), with Christopher Chew, Kristian Espiritu, and De’Lon Grant.

 

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  Little Women will run Nov. 6 – 22 at Musical Theatre West at Long Beach’s Carpenter for the Performing Arts Center, directed & choreographed by Cate Caplin.

 

   Jenna Lea Rosen ( Jo March), and more TBA.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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