Today’s Highlights:
Live at the New Am concert series, featuring Michael James Scott, Ashley Brown, Kissy Simmons, and Josh Strickland, opens at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre.
Johnny and the Devil’s Box outdoor concert, by Douglas Waterbury-Tieman, featuring Douglas Waterbury-Tieman and Annabelle Fox, opens at CT’s Goodspeed Musicals.
Come from Away, featuring Jenna Boyd, James Doherty, Mary Doherty, Mark Dugdale, Alice Fearn, Kate Graham, Alasdair Harvey, Jonthatn Andrew Hume, Harry Morrison, Gemma Knight Jones, and Sam Oladeinde, with Chiara Baronti, Ricardo Castro, Stuart Hickey, Sorelle Marsh, Alexander McMorran, Micha Richardson, Jennifer Tierney, and Matthew Whennell-Clark, resumes performances at London’s Phoenix Theatre.
The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe, directed by Lila Neugebauer, featuring Paola Sanchez Abreu, Mia Barron, Brenna Coates, Jenna Dioguardi, Samia Finnerty, Midor Francis, Lizzy Jutila, Sarah Mezzanotte, Tedra Millan, and Susannah Perkins, begins FREE streaming at Lincoln Center Theatre.
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder all-Asian abridged benefit production, directed by Alan Muraoka, featuring Cindy Cheung, Karl Josef Co, Ali Ewoldt, Diane Phelan, and Thom Sesma, concludes streaming on Broadway on Demand.
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Babylon’ Argyle Theatre (link TBA) presents Welcome Back! A Starry, Starry Night at the Argyle Theatre on Sat. Aug. 14 at 7:30 PM ET, hosted by Evan Pappas, with music direction by Ethan Andersen.
Joe Iconis and Robert Rokicki.
Gina Naomi Baez, Courtney Balan, Inga Ballard, Tiffan Borelli, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Hunter Brown, Todd Buonopane, Eddie Egan, Corri Farbstein, Katy Geraghty, Angel Harrison, Kimberly Immanuel, Robert Anthony Jones, Jillian Louis, Warren Nolan Jr., Jason Simon, Ryan Gregory Thurman, and Rose Van Dyne.
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MD’s Olney Theatre has announced its 2021-22 season:
The Thanksgiving Play (Sept. 29 – Oct. 31), by Larissa FastHorse, directed by Raymond O. Caldwell, featuring Parker Drown, David Schlumpf, Dani Stoller, and more TBA.
Beauty and the Beast (Nov. 5 – Jan. 2, 2022), directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, with choreography by Josh Walden, and music direction by Walter “Bobby” McCoy, featuring Jade Jones (Belle) and Evan Ruggiero (Beast).
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas (Nov. 26 – Dec. 26), adapted & performed by Paul Morella.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Nov. 26 – Jan. 2), directed by Johanna McKeon.
A.D. 16 (Feb. 4 – Mar. 6), world premiere by Cinco Paul & Bekah Brunstetter, directed by Stephen Brackett, with music direction by Christopher Youstra. 
This whimsical musical asks, “What if your first crush really was perfect?”
Dance Nation (Mar. 2 – Apr. 3), by Clare Barron, directed by Jenna Place.
Lautrec at the St. James concert (Mar. 11), by Julianne Wick Davis & John Dietrich.
Pippin in concert (Apr. 1-3).
Brigadoon in concert (Apr. 8-10).
The Joy That Carries You (May 11 – June 12), world premiere by Awa Sal Secka & Dani Stoller. Shiri and Alaia are navigating their first year together as a couple. Over the course of a few days, their relationship is tested by events that underline the radically different ways each experiences the world. Strikingly personal in its intimacies.
The Music Man (June 17 – July 24), directed by Michael Baron & Alexandria Wailes, with choreography by Karma Camp, and music direction by Christopher Youstra, The production will feature at deaf and hearing cast.
….and more TBA…
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Complete casting has been announced for the return of Hamilton, which will re-open Aug. 19 at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
Karl Queensborough (Alexander Hamilton), Simon-Anthony Thoden (Aaron Burr), Ava Brennan (Angelica Schuyler), Sharon rose (Eliza Hamilton), Trevor Dion Nicholas (George Washington), Waylon Jacobs (Marquis De Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson), Emile Ruddock (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Khalid Daley (John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton), Emilie Louise Israel (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Harry Hepple (King George), and Nuno Queimado (Hamilton at select performances), with Jade Albertsen, Curtis Angus, Robson Broad, Matthew Caputo, Filippo Coffano, Ashley Daniels, Kelly Downing, Lydia Fraser, Jordan Frazier, Manaia Glassey-Ohlson, Jake Halsey-Jones, Olivia Kate Holding, Peter Houston, DeAngelo Jones, Nicolaie-Andre Kerry, Travis Kerry, Ella Kora, Natasha Leaver, Aaron Lee Lambert, Phoebe Liberty Jones, Sinead Long, Louis Mackrodt, Jay Perry, Lindsey Tierney, and Brandon Williams.
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“Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age” will premiere Aug. 14 on PBS and the PBS Video app.
The film has been in development since the 2003 release of the initial film, and earlier versions have premiered at film festivals within the last decade. This new documentary tells the story of the heyday of Broadway from 1959-1983, utilizing interviews commingled with performance footage, home movies, and photos. It covers the rise of director/choreographers like Gower Champion, Michael Bennett, and Bob Fosses, explores the creations of shows like Fiorello!, Pippin, Ain’t Misbehavin’, A Raisin in the Sun, A Chorus Line, and Chicago, as well as following the struggle of Times Square and New York City in the 1970s.
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Complete casting has been announced for Chicago, to run Aug. 30 – Sept. 5 at the St. Louis Muny, directed & choreography by Denis Jones, with music direction by Charlie Alterman.
Sarah Bowden (Roxie Hart), J. Harrison Ghee (Velma Kelly), Emily Skinner (Matron “Mama” Morton), James T. Lane (Billy Flynn), Adam Heller (Amos Hart), and Ali Ewoldt (Mary Sunshine), with Carleigh Bettiol, Joe Bigelow, Victoria Byrd, Taeler Cyrus, Sean Ewing, Veronica Fiaoni, Abbey Friedman, Anna Gassett, Valton Jackson, Madison Johnson, Justin Keats, Connor McRory, Lizz Picini, Michael James Reed, Mikayla Renfrow, Nathaniel Washington, Davis Wayne, and Ricardo A. Zayas.
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North Hollywood’s Road Theatre Company has announced Week 2 of its Summer Playwrights Festival:
Earworm (July 22 at 6 PM PT), by Shualee Cook, directed by Ken Sawyer. Five people have five different reactions to a punk rock breakup song. Now the Song wants to know why…
Stoop Pigeons (July 23 at 6:30 PM PT), by Christin Eve Cato. In the early/mid 2000s in Brooklyn’s Bushwick are, we experience rapid gentrification.
The Big Red Naugahyde Booth (Or, Would-Be Elks) (July 24 at 2 PM PT), by Jennie Webb, directed by Laura Stribling. The play tracks the cocktails and confessions of a group of women who regularly meet to drink and dish.
Refugee Rhapsody (July 24 at 6 PM PT), by Yussef El Guindi, directed by Risan Brainin. Sakinah, an Arab American woman, undergoes a mental health evaluation to determine what led to the violent crime she committed against a rich heiress.
Family Tree (July 25 at 2 PM PT), by Erin K. Considine, directed by Lauren Patrice Nadler. Isabella is losing herself to Alzheimer’s.
Waiting for Godínez (July 25 at 6 PM PT), by Daniel A. Olivas, directed by Sara Guerrero. Each night, immigration officials kidnap Jésus and throw him in a cage with the intent of deporting him But each time, Jésus escapes and makes it back to the city park to be with Isabel to wait for the mysterious Godinéz.
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In honor of 9/11, a concert version of Come From Away, featuring cast members, will be performed Sept. 10 at 6 PM ET on the steps of DC’s Lincoln Memorial. Tickets are not required
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The Bridge Production Group presents world premiere short plays at the Brooklyn Navy Yards.
I Am Your Masseuse (six short digressions) (Aug. 18 & 22 at 8 PM ET), by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Claire Edmonds, featuring Christina Toth, Carlo Alban, Marcus Naylor, and Crawford M. Collins. Designed to aid the digestion and further erode our attention span.
A Golden City (Aug. 17 at 8 PM ET), by Lyle Kessler, directed by Kessler & Max Hunter, featuring Marcus Nay.or, Max Samuels, Christina Togh, Victor Slezak, Dana Mazzenga, and Margaret Ladd. A black comedy about the Great American Pastime.
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“The 44th Annual Kennedy Center Honors” will take place Dec. 5. The event will be televised at a later date TBA.
Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler, Berry Gordy, Lorne Michaels, and Justino Díaz.
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VTs Dorset Theatre Festival has announced its StageFree Audio Play Series, available on most podcast platforms.
Redeemed, by Chisa Hutchinson (available this week), directed by Jade King Caroll, featuring Vanessa Kai and Michael Esper. The fictional story of convicted murderer Trevor Barlow, who killed Claire Yiang’s brother 9 years prior and has written to Claire begging her to visit in him prison. When Claire arrives, the killer claims he’s a changed man thanks to the help of her brother’s ghost. Now Claire must decide whether her brother’s murderer is capable of redemption, or just attempting to impress the parole board.
Nightwatch (debuts later this year), by Theresa Rebeck. Casting TBA. A fictional true-crime podcast.
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Ambassador Theatre Group, which own and operates nearly 60 venues across Britain, the U.S., and Germany, will require proof of vaccination in all its U.K. theatres.
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Audio: Barbra Streisand performs “Living Without You” from her new album “Release Me 2.”
Click here to pre-order the album on iTunes (released Aug. 6)