Today’s Highlights:
All of It, by Alistair McDowall, directed by Vicky Featherstone & Sam Pritchard, starring Kate O’Flynn, opens at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
The Public Theater‘s Hamlet, directed by Kenny Leon, featuring Ato Blankson (Hamlet), Brandon Gill (Guildenstern), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Osric/Priest), Greg Hildreth (Gravedigger), Colby Lewis (First Player), Warner Miller (Horatio), Daniel Pearce (Polonius), Solea Pfeiffer (Ophelia), Nick Rehberger (Laertes), John Douglas Thompston (Claudius), Lorraine Toussaint (Gertrude), and Mitchell Winter (Rosencrantz), with Safiya Kaija Harris, Jaylon Jamal, TrÍ Lê, Cornelius McMoyler, Laughton Royce, Lance Alexander Smith, and Lark White. Rounding out the company as understudies will be Liam Craig, Myxolydia Tyler, William Oliver Watkins, and Bryce Michael Wood, begins previews at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre.
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Monique Touko, featuring Tara Tijani (Paulina Sarpong), Anna Shaffer (Ericka Boafo), Heather Agyepong (Ama), Bola Akeju (Mercy), Deborah Alli (Eloise Amponsah), Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (Gifty), Jadesola Odunjo (Nana), and Alison A Addo ( Headmistress Francis), begins previews at London’s Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.
Ensemble Theatre Company‘s Seared, by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Jonathan Fox, featuring Ronald Auguste (Rodney). Andrew Elvis Miller (Harry), and Angela Sauer (Emily), begins previews at Santa Barbara’s New Vic.
She Loves Me, directed by Peet Cocke, featuring Marah Stelo (Amalia), Sophia Alawi (Ilona), Will Giammona (Kodaly), Riley McFarland (Georg), Nick Nakashima (Sipos), Roeen Nooran (Arpad), Jourdán Olivier-Verdé (Headwaiter), and Lee Strawn (Maraczek), with Milo Boland, Bekah Lynn Broas, Ben Chau-Chiu, Daniel Gilmer, Deborah Rosengaus, Monica Rose Slater, begins previews at San Francisco’s 42nd Street Moon.
Our Broadway: A Memoir in Song concert, featuring Terri Ralston & Alex Korey, at 7 PM at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep.
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In the Works – In the Woods, offering staged readings of new musicals, will run Sept. 8-10 at NY’s Forestburgh Playhouse. Casting TBA.
Invisible (Sept. 8-9) by Douglas Lyons, directed by Christopher Betts. 
The story of lifelong best friends Eemani and Jade, who decompress one afternoon over a good blunt. Unbeknownst to them, the blunt is laced with much more than weed, spiraling the duo into a wild hallucination where they are granted superpowers at a time when Black women were voiceless.
Stage Mother (Sept. 9-10), by Brad Hennig, Marcy Heisler & Zina Goldrich, directed by Brad Hennig. The story of lifelong best friends Eemani and Jade, who decompress one afternoon over a good blunt. Unbeknownst to them, the blunt is laced with much more than weed, spiraling the duo into a wild hallucination where they are granted superpowers at a time when Black women were voiceless.
In BeTween (Sept. 9-10), by Julia Gannon & Fernanda Douglas, directed by Roque Berlanga. A love letter to those kids stuck in the middle. A group of “theater kids” gather together awaiting the annual musical’s cast list. Drama ensues, and their stories are told when the kids find out the director is running an hour late!
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& 
An all-new production of The Wiz will launch its national tour this Fall before opening on Broadway in a limited engagement in Spring 2024. Book by William F. Brown, additional material by Amber Ruffin, score by Charlie Smalls (and others), directed by Achele Williams, with choreography by JaQuel Knight, and music supervision by Joseph Joubert. Click here for the show’s website.
(tour): Jan. 16 – Feb. 11, 2024 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theatre (link TBA), and Los Angeles (Feb. 13 – Mar. 3) at the Pantages Theatre (link TBA). Additional tour dates TBA..
Wayne Brady (The Wiz, on Broadway), Alan Mingo Jr. (The Wiz on tour), Kyle Ramar Freeman (Lion), Phillip Johnson Richardson (Tinman), Avery Wilson (Scarecrow), and more TBA.
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Mark St. Germain’s Eleanor continues through July 9 at CA’s North Coast Rep, directed by David Ellenstein.
Kandis Chappell (Eleanor Roosevelt).
While sitting on a park bench in Washington, D.C., contemplating the death of her husband, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt candidly reveals the many facets of her storied life.
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Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run June 16 – July 2 at Venice’s Pacific Resident Theatre, directed by Victoria Pearlman.
Brad Greenquist (Vanya), Tania Getty (Sonia), Martha Hackett (Masha), Zach Kanner (Spike), Miranda Wynne (Nina), and Cyndy Fujikawa (Cassandra).
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Video: In rehearsal for Cabaret at MA’s Barrington Stage Company, featuring Nik Alexander and Krysta Rodriguez.
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Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre has announced the remainder of its 2023 season:
Water for Elephants (through July 9), directed by Jessica Stone, featuring Stan Brown (Camel), Joe De Paul (Walter), Bryan Fenkart (August), Sara Gettlefinger (Barbara), Harry Groener (Mr. Jankowski), Isabelle McCalla (Marlena), Wade McCollum (Wade), and Ryan Vasquez (Jacob), with Brandon Block, Antoine Boissereau, Paul Castree, Taylor Colleton, Isabella Luisa Diaz, Gabrielle Elisabeth, Keaton Hentoff-Killian, Nicolas Jelmoni, Caroline Kane, Joel Malkoff, Michael Mendez, Jo’Nathan Michael, Gabriel Olivera De Paula Costa, Samuel Renaud, Marissa Rosen, Alexandra Gaelle Royer, Sean Stack, Matthew Varvar, and Michelle West.
The Incredible Book Eating Boy (July 13 – Aug. 14), by Madhuri Shekar, Christian Magby & Christian Albright, directed by Jamil June.
Everybody (Sept. 2 – Oct. 2), by Branden Jacobs’Jenkins, directed by Susan V. Booth & Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, featuring Andrew Benator, Brandon Burditt, Shakirah Demesier, Skylar Ebron, Deidrie Henry, Chris Jayser, Bethany Anne Lind, Courtney Patterson, and Joseph Pendergrast.
A Christmas Carol (Nov. 12 – Dec. 24), directed by Leora Morris
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Transport Group will present Nine: In Concert, on Mon. June 26 at 8 PM at NYC’s Merkin Hall, directed by Jack Cummings III, with music direction b Joey Chancey. A Q&A follows, with Maury Yeston and original Broadway cast member Karen Akers.
Santino Fontana (Guido), Klea Blackhurt, Lilli Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Jessica Fontana, Julia Murney, Alexandra Silber, Emily Skinner, Elizabeth Stanley, Jessica Vost, Benjamin Pajak, Ethan Joseph, Matthew Lamb, Jayden Theophile, Julia Adams, Erin Anderson, Gina Naomi Baez, Victoria Baroni, Elizabeth Brady , Brianna Brice, Katie Cox, McKenzie Custin, Madison Barcia, Sarah Killough, Gaby Mank, Alison McCartan, Emily Nies, Aubrie-Mei Rubel, Maureen Taylor, Stephanie Toups, Sophia Tzougros, and Katrina Wischusen.
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The Who’s Tommy, re-imagined by Pete Townhend & Des McAnuff, will run June 13 – July 23 (opening June 26) at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, directed by McAnuff.
Ali Louis Bourzgui (Tommy), Adam Jacobs (Captain Walker), Alison Luff Mrs. Walker), John Ambrosino (Uncle Ernie), Bobby Conte (Cousin Kevin), and Christina Sajous (Acid Queen), with Jeremiah Alsop, Stephen Brower, Haley Gustafson, Sheldon Henry, Aliah James, Gabriel Kearns, Tassy Kirbas Lily Kren, Nathan Lucrezio, Alexandra Matteo, Morgan McGhee, Mark Mitrano, Reagan Pender, Daniel Quadrino, Jenna Nicole Schoen, Zach Sorrow, Ayana Strutz, and Andrew Tufano. The role of Young Tommy will be in rotation with Ava Rose Doty, Presley Rose Jones, Annabel Finch, and Ezekiel Ruiz,
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The Metropolitan Opera‘s 2023 Summer HD Festival, offering 10 screenings, will run Aug. 26 – Sept. 4 at the Lincoln Center Plaza on a big screen on the facade of the opera house.
A special screening of “Moonstruck,” starring Cher and Nicholas Cage, will open the festival on Aug. 25 at 8 PM.
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Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater has announced its 2023 Short New Pay Festival, to run June 27 – July 2, and available in-person and on demand. Casting TBA.
Forbidding Love, by Peter Gray. In a slightly dystopian future, two passionate censors fall in love as they collaborate to excise any objectionable content from Romeo & Juliet.
One Moment Please, by Delaney Kelly. Based on the myth of Narcissus and Echo, one man falls in love with his hyper-curated, people-pleasing Amazon Alexa device.
Of Love of God of Love , by Rachel Leopold. Psyche loves Cupid. Psyche does not know Cupid. Cupid asks for 24 hours’ notice if you have to cancel or else he has to bill you in full. Based on the myth of Cupid and Psyche from The Metamorphoses, Of Love of God of Love explores the magic and the tragedy of the relationship between therapist and client.
The Western Canon, by Craig Lucas. The Western Canon means to gravely wound the patriarchy. Naturally, it fails. But these things take time. The defeat of fascism would help.
Conferring By the Parlor Fire, by Maggie Lou Rader. Kate the shrew, Bianca, and the Widow sit by the parlor fire while their husbands enjoy the wedding. But what happened around that fire that led to Kate’s famous tamed speech? These three ladies are up to something that Shakespeare left out of his famous play.
The Coronation, by Heather Raffo. A woman confronts the legacy of empire, while under anesthesia.
Taboo is the Thing, by Jazui Shiel. Nurse is tired of nursing everyone- in every classical play where there ever has been a nurse. She is also tired of being dictated to by the god Dionysus who rules with an iron fist and takes exception to anytime she has a forbidden affair with any other character- or anyone really. She finds herself being placed in theatrical purgatory where she meets other characters with their own struggles and convinces them to stand up to the tyrant god.
The Whole Entire Life Iphigenia, by Frank Winters. The night before her death, Iphigenia reckons with what remains of the rest of her life.
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The producers of Broadway’s Here Lies Love (Patrick Catullo, Hal Luftig and Kevin Connor, Jose Antonio Vargas, Diana DiMenna, and Clint Ramos) have released another statement in response to the recent revelation that the production plans to perform with pre-recorded tracks in lieu of live musicians. Past stagings have included cast members playing instruments live for one number, and apparently we can expect that to carry over to the upcoming Broadway premiere.
The production claims the decision is not a cost-cutting measure, but rather an artistic decision derived from the Filipino tradition of karaoke. The Local 802 of American Federation of Musicians, which represents musicians on Broadway, has been firm in opposing the move, framing the brouhaha as a labor issue.
The use of pre-recorded tracks is not entirely without precedent. Contact, which won Best Musical at the 2000 Tony Awards, performed entirely to pre-existing, pre-recorded tracks—though the production’s designation as a musical rather than a dance piece drew critique from many in the industry, since there was also no live singing. More recently, the also-dance-heavy The Little Prince performed without any live musicians—though, like Contact, the piece was not what most would call a traditional musical theatre production.
Here Lies Love is scheduled to begin previews June 17 at the Broadway Theatre. Should an agreement not be made by June 17 between the show and the union, the production will likely face picketing musicians at the Broadway Theatre and mounting pressure for other Broadway unions to join the picket line.