GRACE NOTES: Thursday, March 23, 2023

 

Today’s Highlights:

  Bad Cinderella, by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Emerald Fennell & David Zippel, directed by Laurence Connor, featuring Linedy Genao (Cinderella), Carolee Carmello (Stepmother), Grace McLean (Queen), Jordan Dobson (Sebastian), Morgan Higgins (Marie), Sami Gayle (Adele), Christina Acosta Robinson (Godmother), and Savy Jackson (Cinderella alternate), with Raymond Baynard, Michael Baerga, Lauren Boyd, Tristen Buettel, Kaleigh Cronin, Josh Drake, Ben Lanham, Angel Lozada, Cameron Loyal, Mariah Lyttle, Sarah Meahl, Christian Probst, Larkin Reilly, Julio Rey, Lily Rose, J. Savage, Tregoney Shepherd, Dave Schoonover, Paige Smallwood, Aléna Watters, Alyssa Carol, Gary Cooper, Robin Masella, Michael  Milkanin, Chloe Nadon-Enriquez, and Lucas Thompson, opens at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre.

  Sancocho, by Christin Eve Cato, directed by Rebecca Martínez, featuring Zuleyma Guevara (Renata) and Shirley Rumierk (Caridad), opens at Off-Broadway’s WP Theatre.

  Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, directed by Victoria Pearlman, featuring Brad Greenquist, Cyndy Fujikawa, Martha Hackett, Miranda Wynne, Zach Kanner, and Tania Getty, opens at Venice, CA’s Pacific Resident Theatre.

  According to the Chorus, by Arlene Hutton, directed by Chris Goutman, featuring Karen Ziemba (Audrey), Sofia Ayral-Hutton (Nicki), Dana Brooke (KJ), Joy Donze (Linda), Tabatha Gayle (Monica), Judy Hiller (Brenda), Brandon Jones (Peter), Ricki Lynée (Joyce), Kelly McCarty (Stacie), Kleo Mitrokostas (Jessica), Iraisa Ann Reilly (Mallory), and Will Sarratt (Van), with Kim Yancey Moore, Krista Grevas, and Olivia the Dog, previews at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theatres.

  AZUL EP Release Concert, by Jacinta Clusellas, Melis Aker, Tatiana Pandiani & Jacinta Clusellas, featuring Mandy Conzalez, Robin de Jesús, Katerina McCrimmon, Robi Hager, David Merino, Martin Sola, Henry Gainza, Florencia Cuenca, and Xavier Cano, at 9:30 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.

  Parade Broadway cast album, starring Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, released on all platforms.

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    The Rebecca Luker Songbook will take place Mon. May 22 at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, with music direction by Joseph Thalken. A portion of the proceeds will support ALS. Use code REBECCA for a 10% discount (for those who supported ALS Project ALS’ At Home with Rebecca Luker event in 2020).

Carmel Dean, Scott Eyerly, Jenny Giering, Mike Heitzman & Ilene Reid, Henry Krieger, Andrew Lippa, David Loud, Martin Lowe, Joshua Rosenblum, Sam Willmott, and many more.

  Mikaela Bennett, Julie Benko, Nikki Renée Daniels, Laura Darrell, Ali Ewoldt, Robyn Hurder, Emilie Kouatchou Emily Skinner, Jessica Vosk, Sally Wilfert, and Clyde Alves.

The concert will feature 20 world-premiere songs from the The Rebecca Luker Songbook – a collection of 80+ compositions inspired by and written especially for Rebecca’s unique and wide-ranging talent. In 2018, Rebecca performed 18 of the songs as part of the Broadway series at Symphony Space. The rest of the songbook has yet to be heard.

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Rick Elice & PigPen Theatre Company’s Water for Elephants will run June 7 – July 9 at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, directed by Jessica Stone, with music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, and choreography by Jesse Robb.

  Stan Brown (Camel), Joe De Paul (Walter), Bryan Fenkart (August), Sara Gettelfinger (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.

Based on the critically acclaimed and best-selling novel, the musical takes audiences on an adventure filled with romance, deception, and a little bit of magic, all beneath the big top of a traveling circus.

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  VideoAudra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell perform “Wheels of a Dream” at the recent Entertainment Community Fund’s benefit.

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  Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company has announced its 2023-24 season:

Dates, casting and additional information TBA.

  I Can Get It For You Wholesale, by Jerome Weidman & Harold Rome, directed by Trip Cullman, starring Santino Fontana and Judy Kuhn. It’s 1937 in NYC’s Garment District, and shipping clerk Harry Bogen would love to sell you a bill of goods. Bronx-born Harry must choose between the comfort of community and his own ambitious dreams. He’ll have to do whatever it takes to get ahead, and even more to stay there. Better watch your back – sewing needles can be sharp.

  Pericles (the Fiasco Theater production), directed by Ben Steinfeld. Pericles takes the Prince of Tyre on a Mediterranean adventure full of riddles, betrayals…and pirates! From confident leader to yearning lover to seeker of meaning.

  Wine in the Wilderness, by Alice Childress, directed by LaChanze. Furtune has smiled on artist Bill Jameson – his friends just introduced him to a model for the final piece of his triptych on Black womanhood. But this woman, Tomorrow Marie, is no mere muse, and she’s about to give Bill much more than he bargained for.

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  Ann Hampton Callaway & Liz Callaway: Broadway the Calla-Way! will take place Fri. May 26 at 6 PM at Palm Spring’s Purple Room.

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Bob McSmith, Tobly McSmith & Billy Recce’s Singfeld! A Musical Parody About Nothing! will begin previews Apr. 17 and open in early June (date TBA) at the Jerry Orbach Theatre, directed by Marc David Wright.

Casting and additional details TBA.

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  in honor of Stephen Sondheim’s Mar. 22 birthday. the 2021 streamed revue of DC’s Signature Theatre’s Simply Sondheim has been resurrected and will be available again via MarqueeTV through Mar. 21, 2024, directed by Matthew Gardiner, with music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch.

Norm Lewis, Solea Pfeiffer, Conrad Ricamora, Emily Skinner, Nicholas McDonough, Donna Migliaccio, Christopher Mueller, katie Mariko Murray, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Paul Scanlan, Awa Sal Secka, and Bobby Smith.

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  Robert Askins’ Hand to God will run Mar. 28 – Apr. 9 at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep, directed by Craig Wells.

Blake Kevin Dwyer (Timothy), Aleisha Force (Margery), Lea Madda (Jessica/Jolene), Kenny Stevenson (Pastor Greg), and Luke Wehner (Jason/Tyrone).

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  Patti LuPone: Don’t Monkey with Broadway will take place Thurs. June 15 at 8 PM at Westport Country Playhouse, directed by Scott Wittman, with musical direction by Joseph Thalken.

The concert will explore how her life-long love affair with Broadway began, and the unpredictability of the Great White Way. She’ll reflect on her theatrical career through interpretations of classic Broadway show tunes by the likes of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jule Styne, Stephen Schwartz, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin.

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  NYC Ballet has announced its Spring 2023 season (Apr. 18 – May 28):

  All Balanchine (Apr. 18-20, Apr. 22, Apr. 26, May 5).
  Master at Work: Balanchine & Robbins II (Apr. 21, 23, 27, 28, 30)
 Balanchine + Ratmansky I (Apr. 25, 29, May 3)
  21st Century Choreography I (May 2, 11, 13, 17, 18)
 21st Century Choreography II (May 4, 6, 9, 13, 16).
  Masters at Work: Balanchine & Robbins III (May 10, 23, 27)
  Copland Dance Episodes (May 12, 14, 20, 24, 25)
  Balanchine + Ratmansky II (May 19, 20, 21, 26, 28)

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  54 Celebrates Rita Gardner will take place Mon. May 1 at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below, directed by Barry Kleinbort, with music direction by Alex Ryback.

  Laura Benanti, Liz Callaway, Lewis Cleale, Melissa Errico, Jeff Harner, Paula Dione Ingram, Heather MacRae, Amanda McBroom, Kurt Peterson, Sarah Rice, and Ann Talman.

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  An American in Paris will run Apr. 14-30 (opening Apr. 15) at Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West, directed & choreographed by Jeffry Denman.

  Sareen Tchekmedyian (Lise), Luke Hawkins (Jerry), Louis Pardo (Adam), Michael Bullard (Henri), Leslie Stevens (Madame Baurel), Rebecca Ann Johnson (Milo Davenport), and many more.

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The 20th Anniversary Celebration Concert Benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will take place Sun. May 21 at 8 PM at NYC’s Sony Hall, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, with choreography by Baayork Lee & Kyle Garvin, and music direction by Kevin Stites.

  Chita Rivera & Richard Ridge.

Michael Arden, Shoshana Bean, Laura Benanti, Liz Callway, Jenn Colella, Deborah Cox, Debbie Gibson, Oliva Elease Hardy, Brittney Johnson, Howard McGillin, Donna McKechnie, Orfeh, Christopher Sieber, Blair St. Clair, Paulo Szot, Elizabeth Teeter, Natalie Toro, Michael Urie, and Jessica Vosk.

 


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