Today’s Highlights:
Off Broadway filmed production, by Torrey Townsend, directed by Robert O’Hara, featuring Dylan Baker, Becky Ann Baker, Jessica Frances Dukes, Jason Butler Harner, Hal Linden, Jillian Mercado, Richard Kind, and Kara Wang, begins FREE streaming (and continues through June 27). Advance email sign-up is requested here.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Virtual Live-Action Graphic Novel, directed by Ben Donenberg, featuring Keith David (Macbeth), Geoffrey Owens (Banquo, Duncan, Doctor), Simone Moore (Lady Macbeth), Emmie Nagata (First Witch, MacDuff, Narrator), Fiona Cheung (Second Witch, Fleance, Lady MacDuff, Gentlewoman), Sheldon Donenberg (Murderer, Sergeant, Narrator), and Evelyn Spahr (Third Witch, Macduff’s Child, Seyton), begins streaming at Shakespeare Center LA.
Glimmer of Light concert, in celebration of Pride 2021, featuring Alex Newell, Ariana DeBose, Jo Ellen Pellman, Marti Allen-Cummings, Max Crum, Blaine Alden Krauss, Brian Sim, DeMarius R. Copes, Ezra Menas, Legacy BQPC (Ashton Muñiz, Basit Shittu, Garret Allen &Kyle Carerrero Lopez), Jan Spot, Sis, Felicia Fitzpatrick, L. Morgan Lee, Peppermint, and Shkina Nayfack, begins FREE streaming here.
David Engel, Larry Raben & Bets Malone benefit concert, begins streaming at Musical Theatre West.
Night of a Thousand Judys benefit concert, featuring Alan Cumming, Mary Testa, Vivian Reed, Sam Harris, Karen Mason, Jose Llana, Margo Seibert, Grace McLean, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Nadia Quinn, Gabrielle Stravelli, streams at 8 PM ET here.
Stephanie J. Block iconversation & song benefit, hosted by Jason Graae & Jennifer Shelton, featuring Eileen Barnett, Doug Carfrae, Will Collyer, Kelley Dorney, Joshua Finkel, Zachary Ford, Julie Garnyé, Kelly Lester, Melissa Lyons Caldretti, Kevin McMahon, Gabriel Navarro, Monica Quinn, Glenn Rosenblum, Natalie Wachen, and Shannon Warne, streams for FREE at 6 PM PT at LA’s Musical Theatre Guild.
Wired concert streams for FREE at 6 PM PT at San Franciso Gays Men’s Chorus.
Lileana Blain-Cruz in Conversation: On Directing, Episode 3, streams for FREE at 7 PM ET at Manhattan Theatre Club.
Afterwards radio play, by Emily Kaczmarek & Zoe Sarnak, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, featuring Andi Alhadeff (Kali), Taylor Niemeyer (Simone), Amber Iman (Jo). Mari Nelson (Lydia), Brandon O’Neill (Jimmy), Saxton Jay Walker (Franklin), Kirsten deLohr Helland, and Danny Kam (Kali’s Voice), concludes streaming at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
Two Player Game, starring Joe Iconis and George Salazar, closes at 54 Below.
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Reviews for Under Milkwood at London’s National Theatre:
The Guardian (by Arifa Akbar: It is hard to go wrong with this tour de force of oral poetry which oozes word picture and onomatopoeic musicality. Lyndsy Turner’s production does it justice, accentuating the earthy comedy and romanticism of intimately live village life… The humour is eked out, as well as the intrigue of sexual passions and marital infidelities (the Pugh’s icy marriage is a highlight). But the drama as a whole – is beyond the father and son dynamic of the framing device – remains emotionally distant as one vignette after another is delivered and feels a little wrung out as Thomas’ language loses of its richness (he died without having revised or edited the piece fully).
Variety (by David Benedict): …The trouble with Thomas’ original, beautifully considered prose – a kind of “lives in the day” rather that “day in the life” – is it’s impressionistic rather than dramatic. Written for BBC Radio, it’s a consciously drifting pieces of narration, led by First Voice who revels in detail while describing the dreams of she sleepy and sleeping fairytale town of Llaregyb. In what slowly becomes a collective portrait, voices of the other characters flit in and out, but almost all of them are sketches rather than fully drawn people… But for all the attempts at contextualizing for added emotional weight, the effort shows. And the more Turner’s direction underlines the text literally, the more the mood is flattened rather than enlivened.
Evening Standard (Nick Curtis): … Lyndsey Turner’s production marks a triumphant reopening for the National’s Oliver Theatre…It begins oddly, though, in the middle-distant past with Sheen as an angry, wild-bearded writer visiting his demented father (Karl Johnson, heartbreaking) in a care home. Thomas’s poetry is the only way to reach the old man, and his fellow residents are duly summoned to incarnate the townsfolk of the author’s fictional Llareggub (“bugger all” backwards). But what a lovely, bittersweet spell this show casts. Sheen…has the contours of the language and the landscape in his head, and an orator’s relish for Thomas’s evocative phrasing… With a plethora of characters and a whole day crammed into 95 minutes it can be hard to keep track, and some performances are better than others.
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Video: Stars in the House presents Broadway for Orlando and the release of the cover of “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” featuring Wayne Brady, Keala Settle, Liz Callaway, Ann Hampton Callaway, Rosie O’Donnell, and Orfeh, along with George A. Wallace (Executive Director of The Center Orlando). (1:30:41)
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Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater has announced its Short New Play Festival 2021: Restoration. Enjoy eight world premiere plays in one night, to stream July 12 at 7:30 PM ET, then on demand through July 16.
Constance Congdon, Rosslyn Cornejo, C.A. Johnson, George LaVigne, David Lefkowitz, Abigail C. Onunali, Charlotte Rahn-Lee, and Jose Rivéra.
Margo Bordelon and Timothy Douglas.
TBA.
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Video: Stephen Colbert and Christine Baranski perform “Side by Side.”
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“Stars in the House” will celebrate raising $1 million for The Actors Fund over the last 15 months, with a special in-person broadcast on Wed. June 30 at 8 PM ET at Asylum NYC (307 West 26th Street). For this milestone occasion, a longtime friend of “Stars in the House,” will match all donations on June 30 up to $15,000, in honor of all the people who make theater happen, on stage and off, including the behind-the-scenes staff and volunteers of “Stars in the House.” For those who will watch from home, click here.
Brenda Braxton, Josh Bryant, Andréa Burns, Liz Callaway, Paul Castree, Kristin Chenoweth, Darius de Haas, Colin Donnell, Dr. Jon LaPook, Beth Leavel, Andrea Martin, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lisa Mordente, Patti Murin, Jack Plotnick, Chita Rivera, Marc Shaiman, Pearl Sun, Nina West, and more.
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Callie Khouri, Halley Feiffer & Neko Case’s Thelma and Louise is currently in development, directed by Trip Cullman.
Timeline, casting, and additional information TBA.
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Laiona Michelle & Devanand Janki’s Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical will run Aug. 4-29 at CT’s Goodspeed by the River, directed by Devanand Janki, with music supervision by Mark Fifer.
Laiona Michelle
From classical music-prodigy to “High Priestess of Soul,” this story taps int othe legend that is Nina Simone with an honest and powerful portrait of her rich life and her ultimate decline. Follow the passion, joy, and pain of a woman adored by millions – then and now.
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The Theatre World Awards will present a one-night only virtual event, a Special Gala Award Benefit, in support of Theatre World Awards, to stream Sun. July 11 at 7 PM ET on Broadway World (link TBA), directed by Tom D’Angora and Michael D’Angora.
Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and André De Shields.
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Video: Jennifer Nettles performs “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’”
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A revival of Charles Dyer’s late 60’s comedy, Staircase, continues through July 17 at Southwark Playhouse, directed by Tricia Thorns. 
Both the matinee & evening performances on July 3 will be available to live stream here.
Paul Rider and John Sackville.
Charlie and Harry are an aging gay couple who spend an evening in their Brixton barbershop examining their secret relationship.
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“Crossovers Live,” a new talk show hosted by Brian Stokes Mitchell will launch July 26 on Stellar.
* Vanessa Williams (July 26)
* Marc Shaiman (Aug. 30)
* Bernadette Peters (Sept. 27)
* Kristin Chenoweth (Oct. 25)
* David Hyde Pierce (Nov. 22)
* Holiday Finale (Dec. 20), with guests TBA.
The show will feature icons who’ve made the jump from stage to film, television, or music. Cheeky, though-provoking and wildly entertaining: these iconic artists share stories and elaborate on their transition between different types of stardom. Candid discussion, rare footage, and unexpected laughs are abundant and should not be missed.
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Casting has been announce for the reading of Lavina Jadhwani’s Shakuntala, which will stream Sat. June 26 at 7 PM CT at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, directed by Sophiyaa Nayar.
Jesse Bhamrah (King), Anand Bhatt (Pandu/Durvasas), Vikram Konimalla (Boy), Shishir Kurup (Kanva), Miriam A. Laube (Mother Guatami/Queen Mother), Tina Muñoz Pandya (Priya), Aila Peck (Shakuntala), Jasmine Sharma (Anushka), and Levin Valayil (Madhavva).
Shakuntala is celebrating her new marriage to the king when a sage places a spell on her beloved so that he forgets his wife’s face.
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Elsie Fest will return to NYC on Aug. 29 as part of the BRIC Celebrates Brooklyn! Festival at the Prospect Park Bandshell.
The lineup is TBA, but fans can sign up to be alerted when tickets on sale here.