Today’s Highlights:
Into the Woods, directed by Terry Gilliam & Leah Hausman, featuring Alex Young (Baker’s Wife), Audrey Brisson (Cinderella), Nicola Hughes (Witch), Julian Bleach (Mysterious Man), and Rhashan Stone (Baker), Gillian Bevan (Jack’s Mother), Nathanael Campbell (Wolf / Cinderella’s Prince), Maria Conneely (Rapunzil), Lauren Conroy (Little Red Riding Hood), Phoebe Fildes (Lucinda), Samuel Holmes (Steward), Charlotte Jaconelli (Florinda), Henry Jenkinson (Rapunzel’s Prince), and Barnet Wilkinson (Jack), opens at London’s Theatre Royal Bath.
Kinky Boots, directed & choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, featuring Callum Francis (Lola), Christian Douglas (Charlie Price), Danielle Hope (Lauren), Brianna Stoute (Nicola), Sean Steele (Don), and Marcus Neville (George), with Devin Bowles, Bella Coppola, Nick Drake, Ian Gallagher Fitzgerald, Ryan Halsayer, Matthew Michael Janisse, Lindsay Joan, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Marty Lauter, Tommy Martiniez, Ryah Nixon, Lucas Patrana, Liz Pearce, Rickey Schroeder, David J. Socolar, Ebrin R. Stanley, Tarion Strong, Ernest T. Williams, and Maria Wirries, opens at Off-Broadway’s Stage 42.
Los Otros, by Ellen Fitzhugh & Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Noah Himmelstein, featuring Luba Mason and Caesar Samayoa, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s A.R.T./New York Theatres.
An Evening with Julie Garnye concert, at 7 PM PT at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep.
Ben Jones: I Think We Should See Other People concert, with music direction by Ron Abel, at 9:30 PM ET at NYC’s 54 Below.
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Nominations for the 2022 Chicago Jeff Awards have been announced. Click here for the complete list of nominees.
The 54th anniversary awards will be presents Oct. 17 at Drury Lane.
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Transport Group and the National Asian American Theatre Company will present Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance, to run Oct. 22 – Nov. 20 (opening Nov. 6) at the Connelly Theater, directed by Jack Cummings III.
Tina Chilip, Carmen M. Herlihy, Paul Juhn, Mia Katigbak, Manu Narayan, and Rita Wolf.
Agnes and Tobias are a complacent middle-aged couple with a hanger-on of a house guest – Agnes’ alcoholic sister Claire. But when longtime friends Harry and Edna appear on their doorstop claiming a nameless “fear” has forced them from their home coincides with their four-times divorced daughter Julia’s moving home, their daily balance is shattered. Though Agnes and Tobias attempt to regain control, that may no longer be possible.
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SOMA Stage will present Broadway in the Park on Mon. Sept 5 at 4:30 PM ET at Maplewood, NJ’s Springfield Avenue Gazebo, with music direction by John O’Neill. Tickets: $15.
Whitney Bashor, Mark Evans, Becky Gulsvig, Laurel Harris, Lauren Hooper, Jeremy Jordan, Ross Lekites, Rob Marnell, Ginna Claire Mason, Kat Nejat, Christiane Noll, Alison Posner, Ashley Spencer, and Jared Zirilli.
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Boston’s Lyric Stage Company will present Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine Sept. 16 – Oct. 9 (opening Sept. 18), directed by Dawn M. Simmons.
Lyndsay Allyn Cox Undine), Barlow Adamson (Accountant), Shani Farrell (Mother), Damon Singletary (Father), Jaime José Hernández (Hervé/Guy), Brittani Jenese McBride (Stephie), Dayenne CB Walters (Grandma), and Sharmarke Yusuf (Flow).
Success. Love. Fabulous wardrobe. Undine has it all. Until her husband steals her hard-earned fortune, sending her tumbling down the social ladder. Pregnant and penniless, with life unraveling at every turn, Undine is forced to return home to Brooklyn and the family she left behind, in a complicated new reality.
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Video: “Billy Stritch &Jim Caruso: What Did You Do To Your Face?”
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A stage adaptation “loosely based” on the Martin Scorsese’s “New York, New York,” by John Kander, Lin-Manuel Miranda, David Thompson & Sharon Washington, will begin previews in March 2023 and open in April, directed & choreographed by Susan Stroman, with music direction by Alvin Hough.
Timeline, casting, and additional information TBA.
The 1977 film tracks a jazz saxophonist and a pop singer, played on screen by Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli, respectively, whose marriage falls apart after their careers take them on different paths. The stage musical will reportedly not include either of these characters nor much of the film’s storyline, though, like the film, it will be set in 1946 New York City. The film included four Kander and Ebb songs, including “But the World Goes ‘Round” and, most iconically, the title theme.
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Center Theatre Group has announce its lineup for its 2022 L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival, which will take place Sept. 9-11 & 16-18 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. This year, the workshop will feature all women playwrights. In addition, for the first time the history of these workshops, all 10 playwrights in the group will have their work presented in the theatre.
What Lies Behind the Tree (Sept. 9 at 8 PM PT), by Judy Soo Hoo. The play delves into Libby’s journey to find her lost sister while also caring for her elderly father.
Barbara George (Sept. 10 at 4 PM PT), by Penelope Lowder. The challenge to decode the human condition will be on display. This 90-minute nightmare follows a Crenshaw realtor who needs to figure out how she can stay visible in a community where she is slowly being erased.
Sifting Through Ashes In A Zen Garden…But That’s Japanese Not Korean, So Never Mind (Sept. 10 at 8 PM PT), by Jessica Ko. A fantastical tale about a woman who, upon receiving her grandmother’s ashes in the mail, must contend with the literal ghost of her newly awakened ancestor and ultimately her family’s legacy.
TEAR! (Sept. 11 at 4 PM PT), by Pia Shah. The play takes on motherhood, childbirth, and marriage, giving voice to what is sometimes taboo to say aloud.
All Fall Down (Sept. 11 at 8 PM PT), by Lisa Ramirez. A semi-autobiographical memory play that harkens to larger themes of addiction and internal racism, which follows a family of five as they navigate what it means ot be a unit all the while the chorus of the past reflects on society today.
Girl Blue (Sept. 16 at 8 PM PT), by June Carryl. The play explores the mind of artist and activist Nina Simone, capturing two iconic years – 1968 and 1977 – where stories unfold at the center of The Troubadour night club in Los Angeles and the Airport Ramada Inn in New York City.
Blind Thrust Fault (Sept. 17 at 4 PM PT), by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera. This timely pandemic work when the profession of teaching has become even more challenging today shares stories from different educational professionals.
Yoj (Sept. 18 at 8 PM PT), by Julie Taiwo Quarles. Two couples debate the trademarking of African culture. The play foloows the Reeds, a bookstore owner and Yoj, descendant and a professor of African studies and blues, and the Wells, an adjunct professor of African and American literature, and a pastry chef and owner of the”Afro Artisanal” pastry business.
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Recently it was reported that The Door Christian Fellowship Ministries in McAllen, Texas had performed an unauthorized, wildly edited version of Hamilton earlier this month. The two illegal shows, for which they did not have the rights to perform, included vastly different dialogue and lyrics from the original.
Following updates from the production and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the church has now issued a statement that they will pay damages and acknowledging the copyright protections afforded to the artist’ work.
Meanwhile, a representative for Hamilton has announced that they will donate all damages paid by the church to the South Texas Equality Project (a coalition of organizations that work to advocate for, celebrate, uplift, educate, and provide support to the LGBTQ+ community of the Rio Grande Valley.
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Michael Orland – An Open Mic Event will take place Wed. Aug. 31 at 7 PM PT at Studio City’s Feinstein’s at Vitello’s.
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Our Town will run Sept. 15 – Oct. 9 at Baltimore Center Stage, directed by Stevie Walker-Webb.
Lance Coadie Williams (Stage Manager), Kimberly Dodson (Emily Webb), Avon Haughton (George Gibbs), KenYatta Rogers (Dr. Frank Gibbs), Susan Rome (Mrs. July Gibbs), Derek Garza (Editor Charles Webb), Rebecca L. Hargrove (Myrtle Webb), Kyle Hermary (Wally Webb), Chania Hudson (Rebecca Gibbs), Suzanna Fox (Mrs. Soames), O’Malley Steuerman (Howie Newsome), Nancy Linden (Professor Willard), Dagan Brown (Joe Crowell), Alexander Velasco Suro (Si Crowell), Frank Britton (Joe Stoddard), Jared Michael Swain (Sam Craig), Abigail Funk (Constable Warren), and Michael David Axtell (Simon Stimson), with Jared Alexander, Monique Barnes, Zipporah Brown, Dominic Gladden, Vicky Graham, and Isaac Loyal.
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Rena Strober‘s hit one-woman Off-Broadway show, “Spaghetti & Matzo Balls!”, has been turned into a short film, which will premiere Sun. Oct. 2 at 7:30 PM ET with a streaming live watch party. Immediately following, join a conversation with Rena, along with director Stuart K. Robinson. 
here.
The film focuses on the gripping story of how Strober was inspired to learn more about her heritage after witnessing a mob hit during a performance at an iconic Italian restaurant. An honest and raw look at how we discover who we truly are, with music ranging from Yiddish and Italian songs to Hebrew liturgy.
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RIP: Scott Barnes, a founding member of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, has passed away at the age of 69 after a battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
BC/EFA Executive Director Tom Viola shared the following message: “My dear pal Scott Barnes passed away peacefully today, August 23rd at 6;30 PM in the Palliative Care Unit at Mt. Sinai Hospital. There will not be any kind of funeral gathering or religious service. There is much for us all to settle in our hearts personally and in small groups over these next few weeks. Let’s take the time. If you are so inclined, donations in Scott’s memory can me made to BC/EFA here.”
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Video: Apple TV’s “Central Park” Season 2 trailer. The new season will drop Sept. 9.
Tituss Burgess, Daveed Diggs, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Emmy Raver-Lampman, Stanley Tucci, Kristin Bell, with guest stars Sam Richardson, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Schwartz, Zoë Chao, Ron Funches, Jack McBrayer, Amber Ruffin, Yvette Nicole Brown, Craig Robinson, Tim Meadows, David Alan Grier, and more.
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5-Star Theatricals presents Rick Elice & Andrew Lippa’s The Addams Family, to run Oct. 14-23 at Thousand Oaks’ Bank of America Performing Arts Center, directed by Kirsten Chandler, with choreography by Darby Epperson, and music direction by Ryan OConnell.
Teri Hatcher (Morticia) and more TBA.
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Greig Sargeant & Elevator Repair Service’s Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge will run Sept. 24 – Oct. 16 (opening Oct. 2) at The Public Theater, directed by John Collins.
Greig Sargeant (James Baldwin), Daphne Gaines (Lorraine Hansberry), Gavin Price (Mr. Heycock), Christopher-Rashee Stevenson (Mr. Burford), and Ben Jalosa Williams (William F. Buckley, Jr.).
The work recreates an infamous 1965 debate between Black writer James Baldwin and Staunch conservative William F. Buckley, Jr., ending with an imagined scene between Baldwin and A Raisin in the Sun’s playwright Lorraine Hansberry, researched and written by April Matthis & Greig Sargeant.