Today’s Highlights:
Lincoln Center Theater‘s Epiphany, by Brian Watkin, directed by Tyne Rafaeli, featuring Francois Battiste, Marylouise Burke, Heather Burns, Jonathan Hadary, Omar Metwally, Colby Minifie, David Ryan Smith, C.J. Wilson, and Carmen Zilles, opens at Off-Broadway’s Mitzi Newhouse Theatre.
Titanique, by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli & Tye Blue, directed by Tye Blue, featuring Marla Mindelle (Céline Dion), Constantine Rousouli (Jack), Frankie Grande (Victor Garber), Kathy Deitch (Molly Brown), Ryan Duncan (Ruth), Alex Ellis (Rose), John Riddle (Cal), and Jay Alexander (The Iceberg), with Courtney Bassett, Donnie Hammond, and Dimitri Moise, opens at Off-Broadway’s Asylum Theatre.
Mint Theatre‘s Chains, by Elizabeth Baker, directed by Jenn Thompson, featuring Jeremy Beck, Anthony Cochrane, Christopher Gerson, Olivia Gilliatt, Laakan McHardy, Ned Noyes, Brian Owen, Claire Saunders, Peterson Townsend, Amelia White, and Avery Whitted, opens at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill, world premiere by Matt Schatz, directed by Mike Donahue, featuring Jahbril Cook (The Son, and others), Zehra Fazal (The Lady on the Radio, and others), Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper (The Junior Rabbi/The Private Investigator, and others), Rivkah Reyes (The Daughter/The Reporter, and others), Danny Rothman (The Rabbi, and others), and Jill Sobule (The Canor/The Rabbi’s Wife, and others, opens at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
Roe staged readings, by Lisa Loomer, directed by Vanessa Stalling, featuring John Achorn, Kenya Alexander, Sufe Bradshaw, Pamela Dunlap, Aleisha Force, Christina Hall, Susan Lynskey, Ed Martin, Kate Middleton, Rob Nagle, and Xochitl Romero, begins previews at LA’s Fountain Theatre.
Happy Birthday Doug, directed by Tom DeTrinis, featuring Drew Droege, returns to Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse.
FULL OUT! An Evening with Jerry Mitchell benefit event, with music direction by Rachael Lawrence, hosted by Joseph Leo Bwarie, featuring Billy Porter, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Jackie Seiden, and Sabrina Sloan, at 7 PM PT at Burbank’s Garry Marshall Theatre.
Al Pacino: Live on Stage benefit, in support of the American Jewish University Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, at 8 PM PT at LA’s American Jewish University (Gindi Auditorium).
Broadway Showstoppers: Musicals of the 70s concert, hosted by hosted by Glen Rosenblum, with special guest Ilene Graff, at 7 PM PT at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep.
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Reviews for Corsicana at Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons:
NY Times (Jesse Green): …if its story began any earlier than it does, it would be an emotional blood bath… Instead, without ignoring the bone-deep sadness of characters confused and stymied by loss, it lets us watch them climb their way out of it — heading toward joy and sharing some in the process… “I can’t find my heart,” she tells Christopher, who likewise seems to have misplaced his. But if he is clueless about his own suffering, despite the torrents of words pouring out of him, he loves his sister too much not to act. He tries to help her re-engage with the world. How he does so, and how she responds, form the core of a play that is, paradoxically, almost too specific to describe…
Theatermania (Zachary Stewart): …a play that surprises at every turn. Just when you think you’ve figured out a heartwarming family drama about a brother and sister coming together following the death of a parent, Arbery hits you with a digression about the commodification of so-called outsider art, or a monologue about a suppressed memory recorded in a letter that might have been delivered by an angel, or a scene about rediscovering (against all reason) romantic love in one’s 60s… Bravely, Corsicana is a play that acknowledges the agency and sexual desires of people that still exist in the popular imagination as helpless and sexless — accessories to one’s altruism rather than complete and dynamic human beings.
Theatrely (Juan A. Ramirez): Will Arbery’s Corsicana, a two-act study in alienation, often cuts too close to that intended affect to land in a satisfying, or even totally compelling way… it glimmers with moments of brilliance but is ultimately too arid a portrait to properly appreciate… ably directed by Sam Gold… features is four remarkable performances, centered around the nervy-nerdy Will Dagger as Christopher, the Arbery stand-in with decaying dreams of filmmaking stardom, and the touchy-touching Jamie Brewer as his older half-sister Ginny, whose Down syndrome merely reflects conflicts experienced by all, rather than shoulder its blames… It is a work that reflects genius without constantly or properly finding its correct outlet.
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Lauren Hynek, Elizabeth Martin & Linda Woolverton’s animated musical “Spellbound,” with a score by Alan Menken & Glenn Slater, is currently in development. The release date and additional information are TBA.
Rachel Zegler, Nathan Lane (Oracle of the Sun), Jennifer Lewis (Minister Nazara Prone), André De Shields (Oracle of the Moon), Nicole Kidman (Queen of Lumbria), Javier Bardem (King of Lumbria), Jordan Fisher (Callan), John Lithgow (Minister Bolinar), and more TBA.
Princess Ellian is the tenacious princess who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters and threatens to cover Lumbria in darkness forever.
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Off-Broadway’s Soho Rep has announced its 2022-23 season:
Montag (Oct. 12 – Nov. 13), by Kate Tarker, directed by Dustin Wills. The comedic thriller explores female friendship with its story of best friends Faith and Novella, who are practicing unusual combat skills while hiding in a small German town near and American military base.
Wolf Play (begins Jan. 2023, and will run at MCC Theater), by Hansol Jung, directed by Dustin Wills. The play explores queer parenting, international adoption, and the meaning of family.
Public Obscenities (Feb. 15 – Mar. 26, 2023), written & directed by Mikail Chowdhury, performed in Bangla and English. A queer studies PhD student returns to his family home in Kolkata with his Black American boyfriend Raheem. There, Choton makes a discovery and finds the limits of language in this play about what it means to live in translation.
The Whitney Album (May 24 – July 2), by Jillian Walker, directed by Jenny Koons. The play explores playwright Walker’s relationship to the work, life, and death of Whitney Houston, and how the American imagination perceives the artist in all of her facets.
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Video: Kelli O’Hara and Audra McDonald perform “Lily’s Eyes” in Miscast22.
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A Capitol Fourth concert will air July 4 at 8 PM on PBS (check local listings), with the National Symphony Orchestra, directed & conducted by Jack Everly.
Chita Rivera.
Darren Criss, Emily Bear, Loren Allred, Yoland Adams, Gloria Gaynor, Keb’ Mo’, and more…
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Cabaret will run June 30 – July 16 at Ithica’s Hangar Theatre, directed & choreographed by Sanaz Ghaiar & Ben Hobbs.
Trevor McQueen (Emcee), Candice Hatakeyama (Sally Bowles), Alex Hanna (Cliff), with Molly Bremer, Sebastien Diaquoi, Fred Frabotta, Jasmine Gobourne, Heidi Hayes, Kuppi Alec Jessop, Madalyn Macko, Kobe McKelvey, Brianna Puma, Justine Horihata Rappaport, Caleb Wilson Schaaf, Ema Zivkovic, and Cullen Zeno. Kamau Nosakhere, Owen Harrison, and Liz Gilmartin.
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Video: “Poetry” from Life After at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, with playwright/director Britta Johnson.
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Rogue Machine Theatre presents the world premiere of Tim Venable’s The Beautiful People, to run June 25 – July 31 at the Matrix Theatre, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos.
Alexander Neher and Justin Preston.
It’s the late 90’s and you’re hanging out in the basement of an average home, somewhere in suburban America, with two teenagers as they stay up on a school night chugging soda, watching MTV and preparing for the future. As the morning approaches, their seemingly innocent sleepover reveals another purpose…what are they doing down here? Will they only get our attention by acting out during a behavioral crisis?
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Disney Princesses – The Concert has announced Fall 2022 tour dates.
Click here for the complete tour schedule.
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NJ’s George Street Playhouse has announced its 2022-23 season:
Her Portmanteau (Oct. 11-30), by Mfoniso Udofia, directed by Laiona Michelle. Part 4 of a family cycle about the Nigerian American identity, which centers around reconciliation, reinvention, and the relationship between mothers and their daughters.
Joy (Dec. 7-30), world premiere by Ken Davenport & AnnMarie Milazzo, directed by Casey Hushion, with choreography by Joshua Bergasse. Based on the life of Joy Mangano – the entrepreneur, inventor, and best-selling author who invented the Miracle Mop.
Clyde’s (Jan. 31 – Feb. 19, 2023), by Lynn Nottage. The comedy spotlights the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff at a truck stop sandwich shop.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Mar. 14 – Apr. 9), directed by Colin Hanlon.
Tales from the Guttenberg Bible (Apr. 25 – May 21), world premiere by Steve Guttenberg, directed by David Saint. The autobiographical comedy details run-ins with everyone from Tom Selleck to Gregory Peck.
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Videos: Watch all 12 opening numbers from the Jimmy Awards: 2009 – 2021 (no awards in 2020).
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The Broadway cast album of Mrs. Doubtfire has been released. Download here.
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Video: Highlights from the immersive production of Next to Normal in Spain, starring Alice Ripley.
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RIP: James Rado, the sole surviving co-creator of Hair, died peacefully on June 21 in New York City at the age of 90.
Born in Los Angeles, he grew up in Rochester, NY, and Washington, DC. His daydream was to write a Broadway musical, so he taught himself how to write lyrics from intense study of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, and others, as well as pop music from the 30s – 60s. In college he wrote music & lyrics for two shows.
James moved to NYC after a gig in the U.S. Navy, and wanted to be an actor. In the early 60s he formed a singing group (writing all the songs). Five years later he got his first Broadway break when Lee Strasberg plucked him from an acting class for a small part in June Havoc’s Marathon ’33. This led to a string of acting roles, which later led to his meeting Gerome Ragni in 1964.
By 1967, Hair was ready to be seen. A chance meeting with Joe Papp on the subway led to the pair submitting the script to Papp. And the rest was history.
Hair opened on Broadway in the Spring of 1968 and starred Rado and Ragni in the lead roles of Claude and Berger (respectively).
Rado remained active until his death and in the intervening years, had been working on two other pieces: American Rainbow and Sun, in addition to supervising various productions of Hair around the world.
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Video: Cynthia Erivo sings “Edelweiss” to Julie Andrews.
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Bob Gale, Alan Silvestri & Glen Ballard’s Back to the Future is planning a Broadway bow in 2023, directed by John Rando. Click here for more information.
Dates, casting, and additional information TBA.
Video: Trailer for the London production.