Today’s Highlights:
Parade, by Alfred Uhry & Jason Robert Brown, directed by Michael Arden, featuring Ben Platt (Leo Frank), Micaela Diamond (Lucille Frank), Alex Joseph Grayson (Jim Conley), Sean Allan Krill (Governer Slaton), Howard McGillin (Old Soldier/Judge Roan), Paul Alexander Nolan (Hugh Dorsey), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Britt Craig), Kelli Barrett (Mrs. Phagan), Courtnee Carter (Angela), Eddie Cooper (Newt Lee), Erin Rose, Doyle (Mary Phagan), Manoel Feliciano (Tom Watson), Danielle Lee Greaves (Minni McKnight), Douglas Lyons (Riley), Jake Pedersen (Frankie Epps), Florie Bagel (Nurse), Stacie Bono (Sally Slaton), Max Chernin (Mr. Turner), Emily Rose DeMartino (Essie), Christopher Gurr (Luther Rosser/Mr. Peavy), Beth Kirkpatrick (Nina Formby), Ashlyn Maddox (Monteen), Sophia Manicone (Iola Stover), William Michals (Detective STarnes), Jackson Teeley (Officer Ivey), Charlie Webb (Young Soldier), and Ryan Vona (Leo Frank standby), with Harry Bouvy, Tanner Callicutt, Bailee Endebrock, Caroline Fairweather, Prentiss E. Mouton, Aurelia Williams, and Ryan Vona, opens at Broadway’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
Red Bull Theater‘s Arden of Faversham, by Jeffrey Hatcher & Kathryn Walat, directed by Jesse Berger, featuring Cara Rickets (Alice), Thomas Jay Ryan (Arden), and Tony Roach (Mosby), with Veronica Falcón, Zachary Fine, Emma Geer, Joshua David Robinson, Thom Sesma, David Ryan Smith, and Haynes Thigpen, opens at Off Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, by Luis Alfaro, directed by Laurie Woolery, featuring Romar Fernandez, Alejandro Hernández, Alma Martinez, Camila Moreno, nancy Rodriguez, and Mónica Sánchez, opens at Yale Rep.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, directed by Allen O’Reilly, featuring John Leonard (Vanya), Teresa DeBerry (Sonia), Andrea Schiavoni (Mash), Connor Tuohy (Spike), Anna Schiavoni (Nina), and Catherine Bromberg (Cassandra), opens at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
A Chorus Line, directed by Blake Robison, featuring Shiloh Goodin (Cassie), Drew Lachey (Zach), Courtney Arango (Diana Morales), Diego Guevara (Paul), Rei Akazawa-Smith (Lois), Evan Autio (Larry), Maria Briggs (Maggie Winslow), Claire Camp (Judy), Erin Chupinsky (Sheila Bryant), Maurice Dawkins (Mike), Nicolas de la Vega (Butch), Jonathan Duvelson (Richie), Derek Ege (Mark), Joseph Fierberg (Gregory), Francesca Granell (Bebe), Diego Guevara (Paul), Musa Hitomi (Connie), Cameron Holzman (Don), Jalen Michael Jones (Frank), Jacob Major (Al), Zoë Maloney (Vicki), Matthew Marvin (Roy), Alexa Racioppi (Val), Matthew Ranaudo (Bobby), and Antonia Raye (Kristine), Sammy Schechter (Tom), with jenna Bienvenue, Haley Haskin, and Christopher Wells, opens at Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park.
Did You See What Walter Paisley Did Today?, by Randy Rogel, directed by BT McNicholl, featuring Steven Booth (Walter Paisley), Vanessa Sierra (Carla), Ross Hellwig (Maxell Brock), Kingsley Leggs (Leonard DeSantis), Kathy Fitzgerald (Mrs. Swickert), Janna Cardia (Lili von Vondergraff), Ashley Moniz (Beatnik Girl), and Josh Adamson (Detective Lou Raby), James Caleb Grice (Beatnick Guy), and Jamir Brown (Clive), begins previews at CA’s La Mirada Theatre.
Menstruation: A Period Piece, by Miranda Rose Hall & Tova Katz, directed by Katie Lindsay, featuring Kaci Hamilton, Audra Isadora, Kate Lý Johnston, Jane Hae Kim, Jo Lampert, Bibi Mama, and Marnina Schon, begins previews at LA’s LGBT Center.
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Reviews for The Harder They Come at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater:
NY Times (Jesse Green): It looks like such a bright, sunshiny day as the lights rise on The Harder They Come… The patchwork vibrancy of Kingston, Jamaica, where the story takes place, is efficiently and joyfully sketched.. when we meet our hero, the “country boy” Ivan, who has come to the city to seek his fortune as a singer, he is bubbly and hopeful, with a bubbly and hopeful opening number to match: “You Can Get It If You Really Want.”But can you? Alas, over the next two hours or so, the answer will prove to be no, not just for Ivan but also for the audience… the songs and charisma of Jimmy Cliff, the musical…is yanked apart by irreconcilable aims.
Theatermania (Kenji Fujishima): …Suzan-Lori Parks is treading fresh territory with her new musical adaptation of the film… If only the sheer novelty of its sounds were quite enough to overpower the relative staleness of its story and the slickness of directors Tony Taccone and Sergio Trujillo’s world-premiere production… Though Parks has altered some plot points (most notably toward its guns-blazing climax) and character details, she has essentially kept the film’s core story intact… in the 50-plus years since the film’s release, the story itself has started to feel rather clichéd… The glitzy approach to some degree flattens out the film’s unsparing vision…
The Wrap (Robert Hofler): …Clearly, some people at the Public Theater believe Ivan needed some cleaning up, some cutting down to size, and with new songs and a book by Suzan-Lori Parks… In addition to writing the book,…Parks shows real talent for songwriting here… Several new songs have been added to the original soundtrack…while also providing the kind of book songs that reveal character and further the plot… Tony Taccone’s direction, Sergio Trujillo’s co-direction and Edgar Godineaux’s choreography deliver a couple of genuine showstoppers early in the first act… But what made Cliff’s film character so distinctive is that he’s not such a nice guy… In the stage musical, Natey Jones also charms, but he plays Ivan with the playful innocence of a deer lost in the headlights of an urban traffic jam…
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Video: Highlights from Dear World at NY City Center, starring Donna Murphy.
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Doug Wright’s Good Night Oscar will run Apr. 7 – Aug. 27 (opening Apr. 24) at the Belasco Theatre, directed by Lisa Peterson.
Sean Hayes (Oscar Levant), Emily Bergl (June Levant), Marchant Davis (Alvin Finney), Peter Grosz (Bob Sarnoff), Ben Rappaport (Jack Paar), Alex Wyse (Max Weinbaum), and John Zdroieski (George Gershwin), with Sam Bell-Gurwitz, Postell Pringle, Max Roll, Thomas Hammond, and. Stephanie Janssen.
It’s 1958 and Jack Paar is. hosting “The Tonight Show,” He’s He’s booked his favorite guest, a pundit as hilarious as he is unpredictable: Oscar Levant, who once famously proclaimed, “There’s a fine line between genius and insanity, and I have erased that line.” In 90 short minutes, Oscar will have audiences howling, censors scrambling, and – when it’s all over – America will be just a little less innocent than she was before.
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Video: Taylor Iman Jones and Daniel Yearwood perform Seussical‘s “Alone in the Universe”
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Eclipse Theatre Company will present an invitation-only industry reading of Chilina Kennedy & Eric Holmes’ With(out) Her on Fri. Mar. 24, directed by Lorin Latarro, with music direction by Daniel Edmonds.
Jenn Colella, Alison Luff, Nate Stampley, Noah Ricketts, and more TBA.
When Olivia finds herself in the hospital with limited memory, she must dig through her messy past to figure out which of the loves of her life is best to call to get her, only to understand that her desire to make everyone happy has left no one happy. Through a series of realizations, she reclaims her right to be flawed, yet loving and be loved in all our human complexity. However, as she regains clarity, tragedy strikes, but that’s when Olivia literally moves Heaven and Earth to reconnect with her greatest love – her son.
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Complete casting has been announced for Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden, to run Apr. 1-16 at BAM, directed by Indhu Rubasingham.
Clare Perkins ( Alvita), Marcus Adolphy (Winston/Mandela/Black Jesus), George Eggay (Pastor/Eldridge), Andrew Frame (Ian/Socrates/Bartosz), Troy Glasgow (Darren/Young Maroon), Claudia Grant (Polly/Sophie), Nikita Johal (Asma/Kelly), Scott Miller (Ryan/Colin), Jessica Murrain (Author/Zaire/Queen Nanny), and Ellen Thomas (Aunty P/Old Wife), with Sophie Cartman.
Wearing fake gold chains, dressed in knock-off designer clothes, and speaking in a mixture of London slang and patois, Alvita recalls her five marriages in outrageous, bawdy detail, rewrites her mistakes as triumphs, and shares her beliefs on femininity, sexuality, and misogyny with anyone willing to listen.
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Lincoln Center‘s next Songbook Sundays will take place Sun. Mar. 26 at 5 & 7:30 PM at Dizzy’s Club, hosted by Deborah Grace Winer,
Christiane Noll, Matthew Scott, and Ekep Nkwelle.
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Transport Group will host industry readings of Michele Lowe & Zoe Sarnak’s Split on Mar. 20 & 21.
Katie Thompson, Kerstin Anderson, Tyrone Davis Jr., Katrina Rose Diderickson, Santino Fonana, Jason Gotay, Monica Ramirez, and Jacob Keith Watson.
The musical follows a mother and daughter on a trip to the Grand Canyon in 1953. The pair shares a love for science, and mother Lillian hopes that throughout the trip she can inspire daughter Amy to leave her fiancé and enroll in college, but by the end of their journey together, it’s Amy who directs her mother on a different path.
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Who sang what at this year’s Broadway Backward Benefit Concert:
* Jenn Colella – “Willkomen”
* Corbin Bleu –”Mein Herr” 
Video
* Adrianna Hicks – “I’ve Got Your Number”
* A.J. Shively & Kyle Scatliffe – “All ‘Er Nothin’”, with Michal Kolaczkowski, Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva.
* Dormeshia – “The Right Girl”
* Eden Espinosa & Samantha Pauly – “Agony”
* Len Cariou – “Something Wonderful”
* Phillipe Arroyo, Bradley Dean, Jeigh Madjus, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Chris McCarrell, Turner Riley, Alexandra Silber, & Paul C. Vogt – “One Day More”
* Robyn Hurder, Samantha Gershman & Brinie Wallace – “Buddy’s Blues”
* Wayne Brady – “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”
* Anthony Rap – “I Can Do Better Than That”
* George Abud & Barrett Foa – “I Can Do Anything”
* Bonnie Milligan – “Maria”
* Robbie Fairchild – “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” Video
* Beth Leavel – “In Love With You”
* Paulo Szot – “Where is the Warmth”
* Ali Stroker – “What Do I Need With Love?”
* Lea Salonga – “Love Who You Love” Video
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Merrily We Roll Along will begin preview Sept. 19 and open on a date TBA at the Hudson Theatre, directed by Maria Friedman, with choreography by Tim Jackson. This is a limited 18-week run.
Daniel Radcliffe (Charley Kringas), Jonathan Groff (Franklin Shepard), Lindsay Mendez (Mary Flynn), Krystal Joy Brown (Gussie Carnegie), Katie Rose Clarke (Beth Shepard), and Reg Rogers (Joe Josephson), with Sherz Aletaha, Leana Rae Concepcion, Morgan Kirner, Corey Mach, Talia Robinson, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen, and Jacob Keith Watson.