Today’s Highlights:
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, by Lorriane Hansberry, directed by Anne Kauffman, featuring Oscar Isaac (Sidney Brustein), Rachel Brosnahan (Iris Brustein), Gus Birney (Gloria Parodus), Julian DeNiro (Alton Scales), Glenn Fitzgerald (David Ragin), Andy Grotelueschen (Wally O’Hara), Miriam Silverman (Mavis Parodus Bryson), and Raphael Nash Thompson (Maz), with Joey Auzenne, Gregory Connor, Brontë England-Nelson, and Amelia Pedlow, opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
King Lear, directed by Simon Godwin, featuring Patrick Page (King Lear), Shirine Babb (Kent), Terrance Fleming (Burgundy), Jake Lowewenthal (Albany), Raven Lorraine (Ursula), Michael Milligan (Fool), Todd Scofield (Oswald), Craig Wallace (Glouster), Yao Dogbe (Corwall), Rosa Gilmore (Goneril), Matthew J. Harris (Edgar), Stephanie Jean Lane (Reagan), Julian Elijah Martinez (Edmund), Hunter Ringsmith (France), and Lily Santiago (Cordelia), with Ryan Neely, Bekah Zornosa, Robyn Cohen, Gil Mitchell, Jackson Knight Pierce, Rachel Sanderson, and James Whalen, opens at DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Anything Goes, directed by Nick Ishimaru, featuring Ashley Cowl (Reno Sweeney), Matt Skinner (Billy Crocker), Jas Cook (Hope Harcourt), Gary Stanford,Jr. (Elijah J. Whitney), Nick Nakashima (Evelyn Oakleigh), Heather Orth (Moonface Martin) Juanita Harris (Mrs. Harcourt), Catrina Manahan (Angel), and Jill Smith (Erma), with Kyle Arrouzet, Page Collazo, Tony Conati, Renee Deweese, Roy Eiklyberry, Paul Hovannes, Dustin Riggs, Katherin Stein, and Chloe Wintersteen, opens at San Francisco’s 42nd Street Moon.
1 + 1, by Eric Bogosian, directed by Matt Okin, featuring Michael Gardiner, Katie North, and Daniel Yaiullo, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse.
Red Bull Theater‘s Arden of Faversham, FREE podversation, hosted by Nathan Winkelstein, featuring Playwrights Jeffrey Hatcher & Kathryn Walat, director Jesse Berger, and scholars Brandi K. Adams and Tanya Pollard. The production will run Mar. 6 – Apr. 1 at Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre.
An Evening with Ada Vox concert at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
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A digital lottery for Broadway’s Sweeney Todd begins today!
A limited number of $30 tickets will be available for each performance.
Lottery entries for each performance will be accepted starting 9AM the day prior to the performance until 3PM the day prior to the performance. At that time, the lottery for that performance will be closed.
Once the lottery closes, winners will be notified within minutes and will have 60 minutes to claim and pay for tickets. Seat locations and number of tickets awarded by the lottery are subject to availability. (Lottery seats may be partially obstructed).
Limit one entry per person per day and limit of two tickets per entry.
Enter the lottery here.
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Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre (link TBA) has announced its 2024 season:
MJ (Dec. 20 – Jan. 28, 2024)
The Wiz (Feb. 13 – Mar. 13), a pre-Broadway production
Girl From the North Country (May 14 – June 2)
Mrs. Doubtfire (June 11-30)
Peter Pan (July 9-28), all-new production, directed by Lonny Price, with an additional book by Larissa FastHorse
Company, directed by Marianne Elliott (July 30 – Aug. 18)
Les Misérables (Aug. 1 – Sept. 10)
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The world premiere of Florence Welch, Thomas Bartlett & Martyna Majok’s Gatsby will run in 2024 (dates TBA) at Cambridge’s A.R.T., directed by Rachel Chavkin, with choreography by Sonya Tayeh.
Casting, creative teams, and additional information TBA.
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King Lear, directed by Simon Godwin, has been extended through Apr. 8 at DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Patrick Page (King Lear), Shirine Babb (Kent), Terrance Fleming (Burgundy), Jake Lowewenthal (Albany), Raven Lorraine (Ursula), Michael Milligan (Fool), Todd Scofield (Oswald), Craig Wallace (Glouster), Yao Dogbe (Corwall), Rosa Gilmore (Goneril), Matthew J. Harris (Edgar), Stephanie Jean Lane (Reagan), Julian Elijah Martinez (Edmund), Hunter Ringsmith (France), and Lily Santiago (Cordelia), with Ryan Neely, Bekah Zornosa, Robyn Cohen, Gil Mitchell, Jackson Knight Pierce, Rachel Sanderson, and James Whalen.
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VA’s Signature Theatre will present the 12th annual Stephen Sondheim Award at the theatre’s annual gala on Mon. Apr. 3 at the Embassy of Italy.
Chita Rivera
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Austin Colby, Natascia Diaz, Vincent Kempski, David Merino, Katie Mariko Murray, and Nova Y. Payton.
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Susan-Lori Parks’ The Harder They Come has been extended through Apr. 2 at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater, co-directed by Tony Taccone & Sergio Trujillo.
Jeanette Bayardelle (Daisy), Andrew Clarke (Lyle), Dominique Johnson (Jose), Dudney Joseph Jr. (Ray), Meecah (Elsa), Jacob Ming-Trent (Pedro), and Ken Robinson (Hilton), with Shawn Bowers, Jamal Christopher Douglas, Dana Marie Ingraham, Chelsea-Ann Jones, Morgan McGhee, Alysha Morgan, and Housso Semon, with Dwight Xaveir Leslie.
The story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamiacan society.
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Video: Take a peak at the “Carmen” film, starring Melissa Barrer and Paul Mescal. The opera will be released Apr. 21 in NYC and LA.
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Martyna Majok, Florence Welch & Thomas Bartlett’s Gatsby will run in 2024 (dates TBA) at Cambridge’s A.R.T. (link TBA), directed by Rachel Chavkin, with choreography by Sonya Yayeh.
Casting TBA.
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Susan-Lori Parks, Perry Henzell & Trevor Rhone’s The Harder They Come, currently in previews (opening Mar. 15), has been extended through Apr. 2 at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater, co-directed by Tony Taccone & Sergio Truijillo.
Jeanette Bayardelle (Daisy), Andrew Clarke (Lyle), Dominique Johnson (Jose), Dudney Joseph Jr. (Ray), Meecah (Elsa), Jacob Ming-Trent (Pedro), and Ken Robinson (Hilton), with Shawn Bowers, Jamal Christopher Douglas, Dana Marie Ingraham, Chelsea-Ann Jones, Morgan McGhee, Alysha Morgan, and Housso Semon, with Dwight Xaveir Leslie.
The story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society.
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RIP: Melinda Dillon, who made her Broadway debut when she originated the role of Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, died Jan. 9 at the age of 83.
Dillion’s Broadway debut was in You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running, followed by Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
She was also married to her occasional co-star, Richard Libertini, from 1963 – 1978,
Ms. Dillon retreated from acting by the end of the 1960’s, and focused her energies on raising her son, also named Richard, until her marriage ended, at which point she returned to the profession out of necessity. In time, she came to find acting to be a comfort.
In 1977 Ms. Dillon received an Oscar nomination for her work on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” leading to a shift of her career toward film and television. Known for her portrayal of psychologically fragile characters, Ms. Dillon was immortalized for generations as the frazzled Mother Parker in “A Christmas Story.”
She received a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Memphis Sue in the Woody Guthrie biopic “Bound for Glory,” starring alongside David Carradine, and in 1981, she was again Oscar-nominated, this time for the role of Teresa, the suicidal teacher in “Absence of Malice” opposite Paul Newman.
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Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile will run Feb. 24 – Apr. 2 at Santa Monica’s Ruskin Group Theatre, directed by Amelia Mulkey.
Isaac J. Cruz (Pablo Picasso), Fred Deni (Gaston), Teddy Garces (Freddy), Jackson Glenn (Visitor), Hudson Long Charles (Dabernow Schmendiman), Jack Merrill (Sagot), Amy Motta (Germaine), Ryan Stiffelman (Albert Einstein), and Ashley Barrett (Suzanne/The Countess/A Female Admirer).
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Roundabout Theatre Company has announced complete casting for the world premiere of Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust, to run May 4 – July 2 (opening May 25) at the Laura Pels Theater, directed by Knud Adams.
Jackson Harper, April Matthis, Eric Berryman, and Jay O. Sanders.
A recently laid-off bookstore employee is encouraged by a tiki bar waiter to try something new.
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The New Group‘s production of Thomas Bradshaws The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, adapted & directed by Scott Elliott, which opens Feb. 28, has been extended through Apr. 9 at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre.
Ato Essandoh, David Cale, Patrick Foley, Hari Nef, Daniel Oreskes, Parker Posey, Bill Sage, Aleyse Shannon, Amy Siller, and Nat Wolff.
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The Denver Center for the Performing Arts has announced two upcoming productions:
The Color Purple (Mar. 31 – May 7), directed by Timothy Douglas, with choreography by Dane Figueroa Edidi, and music direction by S. Renee Clark, featuring Majesha McQueen (Celie), Angela Wildflower (Shug), Taylor J. Washington (Sofia), Torrey Linder (Harpo), and David Aron Damane (Mister), with D’Marreon Alexander, Katelyn Bowman, Elise Frances Daniells, Arnold Harper II, Rajané Katurah, Ne’Lashee’, Caleb Mitchell, Elixis Morton, Domonique Paton, Brad Raymond, Steven C. Rich, Nathan Andrew Riley, and Christine Wanda. Click here for more information.
The 39 Steps (Apr. 14 – June 18), adapted by Patrick Barlow, directed by Meredith McDonough, featuring Henry Walter Greenbert (Clown), Nate Miller (Clown), Marco Alberto Robinson (Richard Hannay), and Amelia Pedlow (Annabella/Pamela/Margaret), with Annie Barbour and Seth Dhonau. Click here for more information.