Today’s Highlights:
That Is Not Who I Am, by Dave Davidson, directed by Lucy Morrison, featuring Priyanga Burford, Jake Davies, and Siena Kelly, opens at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
A Doll’s House, Part 2, by Lucas Hnath, directed by James Mcdonald, featuring Noma Dumezweni (Nora), Patricia Allison (Emmy), Brian F. O’Byrne (Torvald), and June Watson (Anne Marie), opens at London’s Donmar Warehouse.
The Orchard, conceived, adapted & directed by Igor Golyak, featuring Jessica Hecht (Lubov Ranevskaya), Mikhail Baryshnikov (Anton Chekhov / Firs), Anna Baryshnikov, Juliet Brett, Darya Denisova, John McGinty, Nael Nacer, and Mark Nelson, opens at Off-Broadway’s Baryshnikov Arts Center.
Love Quirks, by Mark Childers, Brian Childers & Seth Bisen-Hersh, directed by Brian Childers, featuring Maggie McDowell and Lauren Testerman, with Dylan Hartwell and Rori Nogee, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s AMT Theatre.
Peccadillo Theater Company‘s Uncle Ted: Scenes from the MacCarrick Report benefit staged reading, by Dan Wackerman, directed by Michael Parva, featuring Edward James Hyland and Robert Cuccioli, with John Fitzgibbon, Daren Kelly, Robert Verlaque, Kersti Bryan, Jonathan Brody, Jim Schubin, Michael Castillejos, John Mahanna, Haden Bercy, Luke Cawley, and Tony Triano, at 2 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Clements.
The Boys From Syracuse in Concert, with music direction by Michael Lavine, and hosted by Michael Portantiere, featuring John Drinkwater (Antipholus of Syracuse), Mathew Drinkwater (Antipholus of Ephesus), Leah Horowitz (Adriana), Jay Aubrey Jones (Sergeant of Police), Katie Dixon (Luciana), Kenny Rahtz (Dromio of Syracuse/Dromio of Ephesus), Janet Fanale Luce), Sara DiPasquale (Courtesan), Jay Aubrey Jones (Sergeant of Police), Klea Blackhurst (Seeress), Christine Pedi (Chief Courtesan), Megan Styrna (Courtesan), and Sara DiPasquale (Courtesan), at 9:30 PM ET at NYC’s 54 Below.
Steve Ross: Cole Porter and Beyond concert, at 7 PM PT at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep.
**********************
Off-Broadway’s Public Theater has announced its 2022-23 season:
Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge (Sept. 24 – Oct. 26), by Greig Sargeant & Elevator Repair Service, directed by John Collings, featuring Daphne Gaines, Gavin Price, Greig Sargeant, Christopher-Rashee Stevenson, and Ben Williams. 
In 1965, two of America’s intellectual giants were invited to debate whether “the American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro.
A Raisin In The Sun (Sept. 27 – Nov. 6), directed by Robert O’Hara.
Where We Belong (Oct. 28 – Nov. 27), by Madeline Sayet, directed by Mei Ann Teo, featuring Madeline Sayet. Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet moved to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, grappling with the question of what it means to remain or leave, as the Brexit vote threatens to further disengage the UK from the wider world.
Plays for the Plague Year (Nov. 4-27), world premiere by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. On Mar. 13, 2020, as theaters shut their doors and so many of us went into lockdown, Suzan-Lori Parks picked up her pen and set out to write a play every day. What emerged is a breathtaking chronicle of our collective experience throughout the troubling days and nights that followed.
Under the Radar Festival (Jan. 4-22, 2023). The festival will reflect the enormous changes in the field of live theater and performances since 2020.
The Harder They Come (Winter 2023), world premiere by Susan-Lori Parks, with songs my Jimmy Cliff, directed by Tony Taccone & Sergio Trujillo, with choreography by Edgar Godineaux, and music supervision by Kenny Seymour. Based on the 1972 film of the same name, this is 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 fins himself in a battle that not only threatens his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society.
Dark Disabled Stories (Winter 2023), world premiere by Ryan J. Haddad, and directed by Jordan Fein. This new autobiography is a series of unforgiving vignettes about the strangers he encounters while navigating a city (and a world) not built for his walker and cerebral palsy. the piece probes implicit ableism and the assumptions we make about people we’ll never really know.
Good Bones (Spring 2023), world premiere by James Ijames, directed by Saheem Ali. The play explore gentrification and the growing price of the American dream. A work opportunity to revitalize the blighted neighborhood she grew up in has led Aisha and her chef husband Travis to buy and renovate a charming old house. But as everyone knows, renovation is expensive and stressful – both the buildings and the communities that surround them.
Shadowland (Spring 2023), world premiere by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, directed by Candis C. Jones. Magalee and her daughter Ruth are face with the question of legacy when Ruth coaxes Magalee to sell their historic family-owned business as Hurricane Katrina begins her ruin.
…and more TBA…
**********************
Donja R. Love’s Soft has been extended through July 10 at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater, directed by Whitney White.
Leon Addison Brown (Mr. Cartwright), Biko Eisen-Martin (Mr. Isaiah), Dharon E. Jones (Antoine), Essence Lotus (Dee), Travis Raeburn (Bashir), Shakur Tolliver (Kevin), Davio Vazquez (Jamal), and Ed Ventura (Eddie).
The play follows a correctional boarding school teacher, Mr. Isaiah, and his response to one of his students dying by suicide.
**********************
Broadway By The Year: Almost on Broadway will take place Mon. June 27 at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Town Hall, written, hosted, and directed by Scott Siegel.
Christine Andreas, Jason Graae, Ed Staudenmayer, Kelli Rabke, Crystal Joy, Brian Charles Rooney, Pedro Coppeti, and Danny Gardner, with more TBA.
The concert will highlight songs that leapt to fame from shows that never actually made it to Broadway. Some of the shows that will be celebrated are Forever Plaid… Forbidden Broadway… Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah… Beehive… The World Goes Round… The Last Five Years… Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris… The Fantasticks……. along with shows that famously never made it to Broadway: The Baker’s Wife, Children of Eden, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
**********************
Complete casting has been announced for Graham Techler’s The Panic of ’29, to run July 23 – Aug. 20 (opening July 31) at 59E59 Theaters, directed by Max Friedman.
Will Roland, Olivia Puckett, Erik Lochtefeld, Joyelle Nicole, Johnson, Jaela Cheeks-Lomax, Rachel B. Joyce, Julia Knitel, Jared Loftin, Jack Maloney, Will Turner, and RJ Vaillancourt, with Devin Kessler, Brian Morabito, Jacob Presson, and Rachel Ravel.
A dark comedy that follows Dot, secretary to the New York Stock Exchange’s Vice President, as she skips town following the stock market crash. With a group of misfits, Dot goes on a decades-spanning journey as they try to escape the events of this alternate and wild reimagining of the Great Crash that ended the Roaring Twenties.
**********************
Billy Crystal will star in “Before,” Apple’s limited series, with a release date TBA.
Crystal will play Eli, a child psychiatrist who recently lost his wife when he encounters a troubled young boy.
**********************
The 2022 Chita Rivera Awards will be presented Mon. June 20 at 7:30 PM ET at NYC’s Skirball Center, hosted by Charlotte d’Amboise & Bianca Marroguín.
Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Wayne Cilento, Desmond Richardson, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Dylis Croman, and Rachel Zatcoff.
Charlotte d’Amboise, Bianca Marroguín, Bebe Neuwirth, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, American Dance Machine for the 21st Century, and dancers from the Pace University Commerical Dance BFA Program.
**********************
Al Pacino Live on Stage, in support of Shakespeare Center Los Angeles, will take place Thurs. June 23 at 8 PM PT at LA’s American Jewish University (Gindi Auditorium).
Following a sequence of film clips, Pacino will talk about his career, followed by an open Q+A session with the audience. The evening will end with him performing a dramatic reading.
**********************
George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum will run June 18 – July 24 at North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble, directed by Jazmine Nichelle.
Antwan Alexander II, Cassandra Carmona, Bahasi Chapman, Dorothea Saint Fleur, Sean James, Zenarra James, Matt Lorenzo, Bianca Ostojich, Ravyne Demyra Payne, Jessica Perkins, Twon Marcel Pope, Quan ‘Darius, Jefferson Reid, and Katisha Sargeant.
A satire of modern conventions surrounding Black identity, the play is set in a fictional museum where a collection of 11 “exhibits” have been mounted for public viewing. The sketches explore themes of slavery, stereotypes, Black identity, generational trauma, and intracommunal conflict.
**********************
5-Star Theatricals will present Newsies July 15-24 at Thousand Oaks Bank of America Performing Arts Center (formerly the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza), directed by Richard J. Hinds, with choreography by Anthony Raimondi, and music direction by Wilkie Ferguson.
Wes Williams (Jack Kelly), Jonalyn Saxer (Katherine), Frankie Zabilka (Davey), Nolan Almeida (Crutchie), Gregory North (Joseph Pulizter), Ray Mastrovito (Governor Roosevelt), Amanda Baily (Medda Larkin), and Zachary Michael Thompson (Les), with Kevin Corte, Joah Ditto, Craig First, Chase Graham, Cheyenne Green, Callum Gugger, Christopher Ho, Gerry Kenneth, Drew Lake, Tyler Luff, Ryan Marks, TJ McCarthy, Chase McFadden, Tristan Michael McIntyre, Zachary Quinn Neiman-Macak, Luke Pryor, Tyler Rhoades, Callula Sawyer, Michalis Schinas, Craig Sherman, Michael Swain Smith, John Wallis, and Isaac Yescas.
**********************
Video: “Matilda The Musical” trailer. The film premieres on Netflix during the 2022 Fall holiday season (date TBA), starring Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull.
*********************
Cambridge’s A.R.T. has announced its 2022-23 season:
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Aug. 28 – Sept. 23), by Anna Deavere Smith, directed by Taibi Magar.
Life of Pi (Dec. 4 – Jan. 29, 2023), by Lolita Chakrabarti, directed by Max Webster. Sixteen-year-old Pi and his family set off to emigrate from India, but after their ship sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Pi is left stranded on a lifeboat with just four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh. Who will survive?
The Wife of Willesden (Feb. 25 – Mar. 18), adapted by Zadie Smith, directed by Indhu Rubasingham. A proper local legend, Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the local West London pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman’s got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables. And her love life? It’s an epic poem.
**********************
Kinky Boots will run June 24 – July 30 (opening June 25), at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse, directed by Sheryl Kaller & Hope Boykin, with choreography by Boykin, and music direction by Chris Burcheri. 
The production will feature a new song by Cyndi Lauper, “So Long, Charlie,” which was written for the original Broadway production, but never used.
Richard E. Waits (Lola), Jimmy Brewe (Charlie), Scarlett Walker (Lauren), Mikaela Nina Secada (Nicola), Michael Thatcher (Don), and David La Marr (George), with Aaron Alcaraz, Olivia Lacie Andrews, Andrew Capozzola, Kyle Caress, Aaron Graham, Thersa Hall, Ian Knauer, Amy Hillner Larsen, Sarah Lynn Marion, Michael Francis McBride, Mallorie Mendoza, Easton Noble, Emilio Ramos, William Roberson, Isaiah Tucker, and Hayoi Wen
**********************
Beanie Feldstein (Fanny Brice) and Jane Lynch (Mrs. Brice) will depart the Broadway production of Funny Girl on Sept. 25 at the August Wilson Theatre.
Their replacements are TBA.
**********************
Off-Broadway’s The New Group has announced its 2022-23 season:
Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (Fall 2022), by Will Arbery, directed by Danya Taymor. Winters keep getting worse in Evanston, IL, where salt truck drivers Peter and Basil battle the ice and snow and pass the time with jokes and stories. But what’s with this creeping sense of dread? Is it because their boss Maiworm has noble visions of new green technology that would make their jobs obsolete? Or is there a more terrifying warning calling out from under these roads? At least they have each other, right?
The Seagull/Woodstock, NY (Winter 2023), by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by Scott Elliot. A modern take on this tragicomic classic brings fresh, fun emphasis to Chekhov’s sharp satirical eye for the self-absorption and emotional volatility of ambitious artists.
Bernarda’s Daughters (Spring 2023), by Diane Exavier, directed by Dominique Rider. A sensual and entrancing portrait of a family at a crossroads amid gentrifying construction, street protests, and a sweltering summer in Flatbush.
“Lypsinka Must Be Destroyed… Again” film (Summer 2023), written & performed by John Epperson, directed by Chloë Sevigny. Downtown legend Lypsinka – a surrealist stage creation with this brand new work.
**********************
The touring production of Freestyle Love Supreme will run July 12 – Aug. 7 at Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Thomas Kail.
Andrew Bancroft, Richard Baskin jr., Jay C. Ellis, Aneesa Folds, Mark Martin, Kaila Mullady, Morgan Reilly, James Rushin, Victoria Theodore, and Anthony Veneziale.