GRACE NOTES: Thursday, July 14, 2022

 

Today’s Highlights:

  Bad Jews, by Joshua Harmon, directed by Jon Pashley, featuring Rosie Yadid (Daphna), Charlie Beaven (Jonah), Olivia Le Anderson (Melody, and Ashley Margolis (Liam), with Danny Becker and Ellie Sager, opens at London’s Arts Theatre.

  Still a Quiet Afternoon, written & performed by Katie Mazzini and Gabriel Thom Pasculli, directed by Guilherme Kirchheim & Tara Ostiguy, opens at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre.

  Steve Ross: Allons Enfants: Encore une Fois! concert, starring Steve Ross & Jean Brassard, with special guests Karen Akers, Greata, Meg Reichardt, and Kurt Hoffman, opens at NYC’s Pangea.

  The LA Philharmonic’s The Music of Leonard Bernstein concert, offering a concert variation of the documentary “The Music of Leonard Bernstein” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (Maria), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo), Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino), Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke), Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank), and Rita Moreno, with Iris Menas, Paloma Garcia-Lee, David and Jacob Guzman, Ricky Ubeda, Ben Cook, Sara Esty, Garett Hawe, Talia Ryder, Tanairi Vazquez, Eloise Kropp, Kevin Csolak, and Jess LeProtto, at 8 PM PT at the Hollywood Bowl.

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  Lyrics & Lyricists has announced its 2022-23 concert season at NYC’s 92Y. Performers TBA.

  California Dreamin’: Jessica Vosk Sings the Songwriters of Laurel Canyon (Nov. 5-7). Details

  Miss: Broadway’s Women Songwriters (Dec. 10-12), conceived by Georgia Stitt & Kate Baldwin, starring Kate Baldwin.  Details

  What’s Goin’ On: Songs of Social Change (Mar. 25-27, 2023).  Details

  Judy on TV: Celebrating the Judy Garland Show (May 6-8), featuring Billy Stritch, Klea Blackhurst, Aisha de Haas, Gabrielle Stravelli, and Max Von Essen. Details

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  The world premiere of Nell Benjamin, Vishal Dadlani & Sheykhar’s  Come Fall in Love: The DDLJ Musical will run Sept. 1 – Oct. 16 (opening Sept. 14) at San Diego’s Old Globe, directed by Aditya Chopra, with choreography by Rob Ashford.

  Shoba Narayan (Simran), Austin Colby (Rog Mandel), Irvine Iqbal (Baldev), Rupal Pujara (Lajjo), Vishal Vaidya (Ajit), Siddharth Menon (Kulit), Kate Loprest (Emily “Minky” Soulard), Juice Mackins (Ben), Hannah Jewel Kohn (Cookie), and Jeremy Kushnier (Roger Mandel, Sr.), with Amita Batra, Neha Dharmpuram, Tiffany Engen Rohit Gijare, Marc Heitzman, Usman Ali Ishaq, Nika Lindsay, Ilda Mason, Caleb Mathura, Meher Mistry, Shannon Mullen, Shahil Patel, Zain Patel, Becca Peterson, Kinshuk Sen, Jack Sippel, Michael Starr, Geatali Tampy, and Sonya Venugopal.

  Simran is a young Indian-American woman whose future is set: an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her very strict dad that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls for the charming Rog, and her careful, logical plans go out the window. Can she be true to both her heritage and her heart? Can carefree American Rog win over her traditional father?

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  “Uncoupled” will begin streaming July 29 on Netflix.

  Neil Patrick Harris, Tuc Watkins, Tisha Campbell, Brooks Ashmanskas, Emerson Brooks, and Marcia Gay Harden…… with guest stars André De Shields, Nic Rouleau, Jai Rodriguez, Byron Jennings, Colin Hanlon, Dan Amboyer, Gilles Marini, Peter Porte, and Stephany Faracy.

Michael Lawson seems to have figured it all out. He’s a successful New York City real estate agent with a great career, a supportive family, close friends and a loving relationship with his partner of 17 years, Colin. But when Colin unexpectedly moves out on the eve of his 50th birthday, Michael is completely blindsided. Overnight, he has to confront two nightmares: losing the man he thought was his soulmate, and suddenly finding himself a single gay man in his mid-forties in New York City.

  Video: Trailer

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  The world premiere of Stephanie Swirsky’s Don’t Do this To Us! will run Aug. 12-28 at The Tank, directed by Tasha Gordon-Solmon.

  Rivka Borek (Ravit), Grant Harrison (Jared Kushner), Chanel Karimkhani (Jodi), Mara Kassin (Rachel), Lilli Stein (Shira), and Alex Trow (Elisheva).

  The play follows a Jewish woman named Rachel as she grapples with growing anti-Semitism in the United States and across the globe. To cope, she blames Jared Kushner, husband Ivanka Trump, for his embodying the worst Jewish stereotypes on the public stage. She devises a plant to travel back to 1999 to prevent him from ever ascending to public life, and things quickly go off the rails.

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  The Lehman Trilogy will return to London Jan. 24 – May 20 (opening Feb 8) at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes.

Casting TBA.

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  International City Theatre will present Athol Fugard’s Valley Song Aug. 24 – Sept. 11 (opening Aug. 26) at the Long Beach Convention Center, directed by caryn desai.

Michael A. Shepperd and Belle Guillory

Written after the collapse of South Africa’s system of institutionalized racial oppression known as apartheid, the play reflects Fugard’s optimism for a new future as it examines a family’s intergenerational dynamics against the backdrop of political change.

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  Some Like It Hot, by Matthew Lopez, Amber Ruffin, Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman, will begin previews Nov. 1 and open Dec. 11 at the Shubert Theatre, directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell.

Adrianna Hicks, Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Kevin de Aguila, and NaTasha Yvette Williams, with more TBA.

The musical follows two Prohibition-era jazz musicians in Chicago who witness a mob hit and go into hiding by disguising themselves as members of an all-female band. Through their escape plot, the two become enamored with the band’s singer and ukulele player, Sugar. The film was previously adapted for the stage as the 1972 musical Sugar, with a score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill & a book by Peter Stone.

  Video: The title song

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  Actors’ Equity and United Scenic Artists Local USA 829, representing theatrical designers, have brought legal action against the producers of Paradise Square, citing nearly $350,000 in owed benefit contributions, wages, and payments.

The move comes just as the musical set a closing date for July 17.

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The South Carolina New Play Festival will run Aug. 12-14 at multiple venues throughout Greenville.

  Panel discussion (Aug. 12), moderated by Kimberly Colburn.

  The Scarlet Letter (Aug. 12), adapted by Kate Hamill, directed by Shelley Butler, featuring  Kim Blanck (Hester), Thomas Azar (Chillingworth), Kelli Barrett (Goody Hibbins), Chip Egan (Mayor Hibbins), and Ayden Woo (Pearl).

  Dodi and Diana (Aug. 13), by Kareem Fahmy, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, featuring Peter Mark Kendall (Dodi) and Rosaline Elbay (Diana).

  From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Aug. 13), by Adam Ben-Avid, Christyn Budzyna & Jessica Penzias, directed by West Hyler, featuring Liz Larsen (Mrs. Frankweiler), Anna Rae Haller (Claudia Kincaid), and Samuel Li Weintraub (Jamie Kincaid), with Evan Harris, James Hester, Breosha Jeter, Gianna Marullo, Max Quinlan, Janise Robinson, Waverly Speranza, Riley Fincher Foster, and Colten Bruce.

  Dragonsoul Offline (Aug. 14), by Samantha Miller, directed by Jeffrey Lo, featuring  Dennis Cheeks, Ali Bhamani, Shuan Schneider, and Jamaica Brewster.

  Concert (Aug. 14), featuring Jarrod Spector and Kelli Barrett.

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 Complete casting has been announced for Legally Blonde The Musical, to run July 25 -31 at the St. Louis Muny, directed by Maggie Burrows, with choreography by William Carlos Angulo, and music direction by Lon Hoyt.

  Kyla Stone (Elle Woods), Fergie L. Phillipe (Emmett Forest), Patti Murin (Paulette), Sean Allan Krill (Professor Callahan), Hayley Podschun (Brooke Wyndham), Kelsey Ann Brown (Margot), Gabi Campo (Serena), Kerry George (Enid), Khailah Johnson (Pilar), Dan Tracy (Warner Huntington III), and Olivia Kaufman (Vivienne Kensington (Mackenzie Bell), with Mackenzie Bell, Gregory Lee Rodriguez, Dave Schoonover, Andrés Acosta, Angela Birchett, Veronica Sofia Burt, Shea Coffman, Taylor Marie Daniel, Abigail Isom, Sydney Jones, Emily Madigan, UJ Mangune, Alora Tonielle Martinez, Adelina Mitchell, Natalia Nieves-Melchor, Ben Nordstrom, Liam Pearce, Gabriel Reyes, Matt Rivera, Cristina Sastre, Rochelle Scudder, Christopher De’Shawn Tipps, Julien Valme, Ricke (Bruiser), and Myrtle (Rufus).

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. Additional casting has been announced for Matthew López’ “Red, White, and Royal Blue,” to debut on Prime Video (date TBA).

  Sharon D. Clarke, Thomas Flynn, Malcolm Atobrah, Nicholas Galitzine, Taylor Zakhar, Clifton Collins Jr., Stephen Fry, Sarah Shahi, Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, Aneesh Sheth, Polo Morin, Ahmed Elhaj, and Akshay Khanna.

  The series follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, who is promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal following his mother’s election as president. His public image falls under scrutiny when his long-running feud with his royal counterpart across the pond catches wind of the tabloids. The two agree to enter a fake “Instagrammable” relationship, which later turns into something more meaningful.

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  Video: Trailer for the Netflix film, “13: The Musical,” which well be released Aug. 12.

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Lolita Chakrabarti’s Life of Pi has been extended through Jan. 15, 2023 at the Wyndham Theatre, directed by Max Webster. The production will welcome a host of new cast members on Sept. 7.

(remaining with the production): Tom Espiner (Father Martin/Commander Grant-Jones, and puppeteers Daisy Franks, Romina Hytten, Tom Larkin Chris Milford, and Tom Stacy.

(through Sept. 4): Hiran Abeysekera (Pi), Mina Anwar (Ma), Nicholas Khan (Father), Payal Mistry (Rani), Tom Espiner (Father Martin/Commander Grant-Jones), Raj Ghataak (Mamaji/Pandit-Ji), Syreeta Kumar (Mrs. Biolog Kumar/Zaida Khan), David K.S. Tse (Mr. Okamoto), Kirsten Foster (Lulu Chen), and Habib Nasib Nader (Cook/Voice of Richard Parker).

(New), Nuwan Hugh Perera (Pi), Chirag Benedict Lobo (alternate Pi), Davina Moon (Ma), Ameet Chana (Father), Tanvi Virmani (Rani), Saikat Ahmad (Mamaji/Pandit-Ji), Sakuntala Ramanee (Mrs. Biology Kumar/Zaida Khan), Kevin Shen (Mr. Okamoto), Phyllis Ho (Lulu Chen), Kazeem Tosin Amore (Cook/Voice of Richard Parker), and Owain Gwyn (Puppeteer), with Lilian Tsang and Mohit Mathur.

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  Audio: Elizabeth Ward Land performs “Blue Bayou” from her new album offering the songs of Linda Ronstadt, “Still Within the Sound of My Voice.”

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  The Brits Off-Broadway Festival will take place in May & June 2023 at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theatres, and are now seeking new works.

 Click here for more information and how to submit.

 


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