GRACE NOTES: Thursday, March 12, 2026

 

Today’s Highlights:

 

  Dragon Mamma, written & performed by Sara Porkalob, directed by Andrew Rusel, opens at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.

 

  Public Charge, world premiere by Julissa Reynoso & Michael J. Chepiga, directed by Doug Hughes, featuring Marinda Anderson, Nate Betancourt, Maggie Bofill, John J. Concado, Dan Domingues, Zabryna Guevara, Yesenia Iglesias, Paco Lozano, Nairoby Otero, Armando Riesco,Al Rodrigo, and Barbara Walsh, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Public Theatre.

 

  York Theatre‘s Monte Cristo, by Peter Kellogg & Stephen Weiner, directed by Peter Flynn, featuring Sierra Boggess, Adam Jacobs, James Mudy, Norm Lewis, Stephanie Jae Park, Danny Rutigliano, Eliseo Roman, Daniel Yearwood, and Karen Ziemba, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Jean’s.

 

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   Theater Breaking Through Barriers will present Transcendency Rising: Short Plays about Defying Limitation will run Mar. 21 – Apr. 11 at Theatre Row.

 

   John Patrick Shanley, Lyle Kessler, Bekah Brunstetter, Cate Allen. Kathryn Grant and Jeff Tabnick.

 

  Not reported.

 

   The production features six new plays exploring various aspects of transcendence – or moving beyond challenging circumstances – to reach higher ground, all written by an extraordinary roster of playwrights including Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck), Tony Award nominee Lyle Kessler (Orphans), and Tony Award nominee Bekah Brunstetter (The Notebook, “This Is Us”), alongside acclaimed writers Cate Allen (Lick), Kathryn Grant (The Good Counselor), and Jeff Tabnick (The Intimacy Effect). Together, these playwrights offer moving, provocative, and often unexpected portraits of resilience, illuminating the moments when individuals dare to transcend circumstance, expectation, and self-imposed boundaries in pursuit of something greater.

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  A NYC industry reading of Chilina Kennedy, Danie Stolller & Eric Holmes’ Wild About You will take place Mon. Mar.23, and directed by Kristin Hanggi at a location TBA.

 

   Jackie Burns, Jessica Phillips, Charlie Pollock, Noah J. Ricketts, Josh Strobl, and Chani Wereley.

 

  The musical, set to a pop-folk score, follows Olivia as she puts together the pieces of her life with a limited memory after finding herself in the hospital. Through a jumbled past, she wonders which one of the loves of her life is her emergency contact, and as she gains clarity, she remembers her greatest love: her son.

 

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   Chris DiGiovanni’s Twisted will run Apr. 3 – May 3 at Theatre West, directed by Marc Antonio Pritchett.

 

  Crystal Jackson, Isaiah Frazilus Jason, and Monty Renfrow.

 

  As Scilla begins the journey to uncover the truth of the tragic events that took place to her son on his college campus,  the path she’s on not only leads to changes in her life and world view, but ultimately changes in her relationship with her son, which may turn out to be the biggest tragedy of all.

 

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   OperaFest LA will return in Apr. & May, 2026 at a variety of locations.

 

Click here for complete details.

 

  OperaFest LA will rcontinue the collaborative celebration of opera across Los Angeles. First launched in 2024 alongside the OPERA America Conference and World Opera Forum, the festival spotlights the city’s rich and diverse opera landscape. OperaFest LA brings together leading companies including Beth Morrison Projects, LA Opera, Long Beach Opera, Overtone Industries, Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater, Synchromy, The Industry, The Wallis, and USC Thornton School of Music. This landmark collaboration is unprecedented, and collectively these organizations are uniquely positioned to shape the future of opera in Los Angeles, showcasing the incredible breadth of operatic voices and visions that define the city’s artistic identity.

 

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 Masquerade, which adapts Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music, directed by Diane Paulus, will now play an additional 9 weeks through  Sept. 6, 2026, at  a custom-built NYC space at  W. 57th St.

 

  Alaska, Lee H. Alexander, Laura Lee Anderson, Baby Byrne, Matthew Curiano, Nicholas Edwards, Gabriella Enriquez, Nicole J. Fergeson, Haile Ferrier, Nkrumah Gatling, Francisco Javier González, Cooper Grodin, Maxfield Haynes, Bryan Hernandez-Luch, Satomi Hofmann, Kody Jauron, Maree Johnson, Tia Karaplis, Nathan Keen, Joseph Kerr, Jeff Kready, Michael Kuhn, Jacob Lacopo, Rawb Lane, Eryn LeCroy, Telly Leung, Claire Leyden, Francesca Mehrotra, Georgia Mendes, Sami Merdinian, Anna Monoxide, Betsy Morgan, Dario Natarelli, Riley Noland, Charles Osborne, Hugh Panaro, Alex Ross, Chris Ryan, Kyle Scatliffe, Paul Adam Schaefer, Clay Singer, Phumzile Sojola, Cooper Stanton, Jeremy Stolle, Jack Sullivan, Olivia Tarchick, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Nik Walker, Andrew Wojtal, Nikita Yermak, Kevin Zambrano, and Anna Zavelson.

 

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   Nico Juber’s Millennials are Killing Musicals will run Apr. 30 – May 17 (opening May 2) at Burbank’s Colony Theatre, directed byKristin Hanggi.

 

  TBA.

 

  With a contemporary pop-rock score, this entirely original musical comedy offers a fierce, funny look at identity in the age of social media. Brenda, a single millennial mom, just wants to do better “adulting” (like the seemingly perfect Jake’s mom at her daughter’s school), when her younger #influencer sister Katrina shows up eight months pregnant and totally unprepared for motherhood. The three women work to shed the Greek Chorus of social media filters on their lives to achieve their dreams.

 

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  An industry reading of Chilina Kennedy & Dani Stoller’s  Wild About You will take place Mar. 23 (location and time not reported), directed by Kristin Hanggi.

 

  Jackie Burns, Jessica Phillips, Charlie Pollock, Noah J. Ricketts, Josh Strobl , and Chani Wereley.

 

  The musical, set to a pop-folk score, follows Olivia as she puts together the pieces of her life with a limited memory after finding herself in the hospital. Through a jumbled past, she wonders which one of the loves of her life is her emergency contact, and as she gains clarity, she remembers her greatest love: her son.

 

 

 

 


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