Today’s Highlights:
Mean Girls national tour, by Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond & Nell Benjamin, directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, featuring Danielle Wade (Cady Heron), Mariah Rose Faith (Regina George), Megan Masako Haley (Gretchen Wieners, and Jonalyn Saxer (Karen Smith), Eric Huffman (Damian Hubbard), Gaelen Gilliland (Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury)/Mrs. George), Adante Carter (Aaron Samuels), Kabir Bery (Kevin Gnapoor), and Lawrence E. Street (Mr. Duvall, with Mary Kate Morrissey, Janis Sarkisian, English Bernhardt, DeShawn Bowens, Will Branner, Morgan Bryant, Sarah Crane, Ixchel Cuellar, Mary Beth Donahoe, Niani Feelings, Sky Flaherty, Samuel Gerber, Fernell Hogan II, Asia Marie Kreitz, Olivia Renteria, Grace Romanello, Sydney Mei Ruf-Wong, Marcus Shane, Kaitlyn Louise Smith, David Wright Jr. and Blake Zelesnikar, opens at LA’s Pantages Theatre.
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Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre & Tricia Paoluccio’s Here You Come Again will run Jan. 12-29 at Pittsburgh CLO, directed by Barre.
Tricia Paoluccio (Dolly Parton) and Jamison Stern (Kevin)
Dolly Parton appears to a struggling NYC comedian quarantining in his parents’ Texas attic after a break-up. Dolly uses her trademark charm to guide Kevin as he rediscovers hope in a trying time. They ling and swap stories — and while hand sanitizer may be scarce, laughter and rhinestones are not.
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Jonathan Hogue’s Stranger Sings! The Musical Parody, which was scheduled to close on Jan. 1, has been extended through Mar. 5 at Off-Broadway’s Playhouse 46, directed by Nick Flatto.
Jamir Blair (Lucas), Jeremiah Garcia (Dustin), Caroline Huerta (Joyce/Will), Jeffrey Laughrun (Mike), Garrett Poladian (Steve/Jonathan), Harley Seger (Eleven/Nancy), SLee (Barb), and Shawn W. Smith (Hopper), with Jean Christian Barry, Dashiell Gregory, and Hannah Clarke Levine.
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Unbossed & Unbowed, written & performed by Ingrid Griffith, will take place Sun. Feb. 19 at 2 PM at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
The play tells the largely unheard story of Shirley Chisholm, a Brooklyn-born politician of immigrant parents, who in the 20th century, was the first African-American woman to win a seat in Congress and to run for the Presidency. Using humor, history, and a call for present day activism, Shirley Chisholm is back with a forthright crispness and clarity that were distinctly her, inviting audiences to consider and redefine personal success and to understand the power of social commitment.
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Donna McKechnie – Take Me to the World: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim will take place Jan. 10 & 11, both at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
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Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who starred in the 1968 film adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” are suing Paramount for child abuse over the film’s bedroom scene, in which they claim to have been filmed nude without their knowledge.
It has been reported that the actors, who are now in their 70s, were assured by director Franco Zeffirelli, who passed away in 2019, that there would be no bare nudity in the film and that they would wear flesh colored garments in the scene. The lawsuit alleges that Zeffirelli pressured them into performing the scene nude with body makeup or “the picture would fail.” Hussey was only 15 at the time of filming and Whiting was 16.
Their complaint states that after Zeffirelli had showed them where the camera would be positioned and promised them that no nudity would be photographed or released, he was being dishonest to them and they were filmed nude without their knowledge. The final cut of the movie shows Hussey’s bare breasts and Whiting’s buttocks.
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Hadestown has just become the longest running show in history at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre.
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Complete casting has been announced for A Doll’s House, adapted by Herzog Lloyd, to run Feb. 3 – June 4 (opening Mar. 9) at the Hudson Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd.
Jessica Chastain (Nora Helmer), Arian Moayed (Torvald Helmer), Jesmille Darbourze (Kristine Linde), Tasha Lawrence (Anne-Marie), Michael Patrick Thornton (Dr. Rank), and Okieriete Onaodowan (Nils Krogstad), with Franklin Bongjio, Carey Rebecca Brown, Melisa Soledad Pereyra, and Jose Joaquin Perez.
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Video: Dame Judi Dench sings ABBA’s “Waterloo”
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Albee / Pinter, will run Jan. 25 – Feb. 5 at Venice’s Pacific Resident Theatre. A retrospective of two early one acts, both first produced in 1960.
The production will feature Fam and Yam, directed by Marilyn Fox ….. and The Dumb Waiter, directed by Marilyn Fox & Elina de Santos.
Jason Downs, Anthony Foux, Brad Greenquist, and Jennifer Knox.
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Complete casting has been announced for James Magruder’s adaptation of Head Over Heels, to run Jan. 26 – Mar. 4 (opening Feb. 1) at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre, directed by Tom Jackson Greaves.
Luke Bayer, Alison Driver, Iz Kesketh, Jenny O’Leary, Daniel Page, Maiya Quansah Breed, Samuel Routley, Khadija Sallet, Julie Stark, Marina Tavolieri, Timo Tatzber, and Fed Zanni.
The musical follows the escapades of a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction-only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts.
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Julie Halston: Back by Popular Demand will take place Mon. Jan. 30 at 7 PM at NYC’s Birdland.
Halston will assess the state of the world, the state of her life, and the state of her hair.
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The Lion King has set a new record for the highest-grossing week in Broadway history, with a gross of $4,315,264 for the week ending Jan. 1
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Manhattan Theatre Club has announced complete casting for Emily Feldman’s The Best We Could (A Family Tragedy), to begin previews Feb. 7 and open Mar. 1 at NYC Center – Stage 1, directed by Daniel Aukin.
Aya Cash, Brian D. Coats, Maureen Sebastian, Constance Shulman, and Frank Wood.
A daughter’s road trip with her father becomes a theatrical journey across more than just state lines.
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Video: Joaquina kalukango performs “Last Midnight” in Broadway’s Into the Woods.
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An Evening with Samantha Pauly (who originated the role of Katherine in SIX on Broadway) offers a livestream concert option on Jan. 23 at NYC’s Chelsea Table + Stage.
Brittney Mack, Trent Saunders, and Eleri Ward.
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Complete casting has been announced for Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, which will run Feb. 25 – Apr. 2 (opening Mar. 1) at CA’s Berkeley Rep, directed by Chay Yew.
Francis Jue (Duch, Abraham Kim (Rom/Journalist), Jane Lui (Pou/S21 Guard), Joe Ngo (Chum), Geena Quintos (Neary/Sothea), and Moses Villarama (Ted/Cadre/Leng), with Kelsey Angel Baehrens, Alex Lydon, and Vi Tran.
The story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in 30 years, as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia’s most infamous war criminals.
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The Piano Lesson, directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, which has extended its run through Jan. 29 at the August Wilson Theatre, has become the highest grossing August Wilson play in Broadway in history.
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Keith Bunin’s The Coast Starlight will begin previews Feb. 16 – and open Mar. 13 at Lincoln Center Theater, directed by Tyne Rafaeli.
Mia Barron, Camila Canó-Flaviám Rhys Coiro, Jon Norman Schneider, Michelle Wilson, and Will Harrison.
The play follows a young man with the knowledge of a troublesome secret as he boards the Coast Starlight. On the train headed for Seattle from Los Angeles, he is helped by his fellow travelers who are all facing the aftermath of their own choices.