Today’s Highlights:
White Rose: The Musical, by Brian Belding & Natalie Brice, directed by Will Nunziata, featuring Collette Guitart (Sophie), Tobias Turley (Hans,) Owen Arkrow (Will), Danny Colligan (Max), Charley Robbie (Lila), Thomas Sutcliffe (Karl), Danny Whelan (Christoph), Mark Willshire (Kurt Huber), and Ollie Wray (Frederick), with Millie Robins and Nathan Shaw, begins previews at London’s Marylebone Theatre.
Broadway’s Swept Away cast album released on all platforms. Click here for more information.
**********************
Ken Davenport & AnnMarie Milazz’s JOY: A New True Musical will begin previews June 21 and open July 20 at the Laura Pels Theatre, directed by Lorin Latarro, with music supervision by Andy Einhorn, and choreography by Joshua Bergasse.
Jill Abramovitz and Honor Blue Savage.
An uplifting work based on the true story of entrepreneur and inventor Joy Mangano. Her journey—also told in the 2015 film JOY, starring Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence—now comes to life on stage. From single motherhood and financial struggles to building a business empire, Joy’s story epitomizes the power of resilience and determination, an inspiring celebration of a woman who never gave up and redefined the American Dream!
**********************
Musical Theatre Guild‘s concert presentation of The Drowsy Chaperone will take place sun. Mar. 23 at Santa Monica’s Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, directed by Lewis Wilkenfeld, with Music Direction by Brad Ellis, and
Choreography by Heather Castillo.
Michael Kostroff (Man in Chair), Ashley Moniz (Janet), Matthew Patrick Davis (Robert), Diane Vincent (Drowsy), Trance Thompson (Aldolpho), Keven Symons (Feldzieg), Jasmin Ejan (Kitty), Joshua Finkel (George), Will Collyer (Gangster #1), Leslie Stevens (Gangster #2), Barbara Carlton Heart (Mrs. Tottendale), Robert Yacko (Underling), Domonique Paton (Trix), andGabriel Navarro (Super).
**********************
Little Shop of Horrors will run Mar. 12 – Apr. 6 at Virginia Stage, directed by Tom Quaintance, with music direction by Calvin Hitchcoc and choreography by Briana Reed.
Robert Ariza (Seymour), Mya Ison (Audrey), Richard R. Henry (Mr. Muschnik), Daniel DiPinto (Orin), Je’Shaun Jackson (Audry Two), Jonica Bernard (Chiffon), Reyanna Edwards (Ronnette), Matthew Donahue (Puppeteer), Mary Hall (Puppeteer), Cree Carrico, Shaani, Diego Echeverria De Cordova, Rook A. Haddock, Robyn Riddick, Jhayda Washington, Scott Whichmann, and Teresa Nikki Wilson.
**********************
Vape! The Grease Parody, by Catie Hogan & Sketchworks Comedy, with Lyrics & Additional Book by Billy Recce Danny Salles, will take place Tue. Mar. 11 at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Town Hall, with Seth Rudetsky & James Wesley Jackson as creative consultants, and direction by Jack Plotnick. Proceeds will benefit the Entertainment Community Fund.
Kerry Butler (Sandy), James Carpinello (Danny), Ann Harada (Jan) Jackie Hoffman (Rizzo) Aisha Jackson (Frenchie) Joel Perez (Kenicki), and Jelani Remy (Sonny).
An hilarious send-up of the iconic and timeless musical Grease. The show pokes loving fun at all the wonderful moments, sexual innuendos, outrageous characters, rivalries and secret romances from the original, while taking a satirical look at the state of youth culture today, which may have evolved, but never really changes.
**********************
Manhattan Theatre Club is holding a high school musical theatre competition for New York City high schools, titled New Friends. The program is inspired by MTC’s upcoming Broadway revue Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, set to begin previews Mar. 25 and open Apr. 8 opening night at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
Interested students must register by Mar. 7, and submit their videos by Mar. 17. Click here for more information about eligibility and how to register,
All currently enrolled high school students in New York City are eligible to submit a video of themselves performing a Sondheim song, and seven finalists will be selected to perform their chosen song live at Steinway Hall before a panel of judges. The winner will receive audition coaching from MTC’s casting team, an invitation to MTC’s 2025 Spring Gala, and tickets to Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends on Broadway.
**********************
Jamie deRoy & Friends will present The Kleinbort Collection: The Songs of Barry Kleinbort on Mon. Mar. 3 at 7 PM at NYC’s Birdland.
Loni Ackerman, Lewis Cleale, Lorna Dallas, Gregg Edelman, Penny Fuller, Eric Michael Gillett, Judy Kaye, Nicolas King, Karen Mason, Gretchen Reinhagen, Caroline Roelands, and Haley Swindal.
**********************
Musical Theatre West‘s Into the Woods will run Mar. 28 – Apr. 13, directed by Kari Hayter, with music direction by Anthony Zediker, and choreography by Christine Negherbon.
Madison Claire Parks ( Cinderella), Amanda Angeles (Little Red), Daebreon Poiema (Witch,) Cayman Ilika (Baker’s Wife), Derek Manson (Baker), Richard Bermudez (Cinderella’s Prince/ the Wolf), and Wayne Bryan (Narrator/Mysterious Man),
**********************
Red Bull Theater‘s The Jew of Malta reading (in-person & simulcast), by Christopher Marlowe, will take place Mon. Mar. 24 at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space, directed by Jesse Berger. The reading will also be available on demand Mar. 26 at 7:30 PM ET & Mar. 30 at 11:59 PM ET.
Samuel Adams, Jason Bowen, Grantham Coleman, Sheldon Donenberg, Zack Fine, Andy Grotelueschen, Priyanka Kedia, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Matthew Rauch, Socorro Santiago, Derek Smith, and Sarin Monae West.
Written four centuries ago, this incendiary early modern drama is a play for our time: a world of Machiavellian politics, corruption, tribalism, and casual violence, in which tensions between Jews, Muslims, and Christians reach the boiling point.
**********************
The national tour of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical has recouped its initial investment after only five months of performances.
Since beginning performances in September 2024, the production has broken box office records in multiple cities, added extra shows to bookings to meet ravenous demand, and will welcome its millionth audience member this week in Charlotte, NC.
**********************
The stage adaptation of Conor McPherson’s The Hunger Games will begin Oct. 20 at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre, directed by Matthew Dunster.
TBA
The play is adapted from the first in Suzanne Collins’ epic book series, initially published in 2008, and its 2012 film version. The dystopian series is in a future in which children from poverty-stricken districts are selected via a lottery to participate in a televised death match. Everything is thrown into disarray when Katniss Everdeen is chosen as tribute from her district and rises to become the head of a new rebellion.
