Today’s Highlights:
The Night of the Iguana full production, directed by Emily Mann, featuring Dylan McDermott, Phylicia Rashad, Roberta Maxwell, Austin Pendleton, Jean Lichty, and Keith Randolph Smith, begins livestreaming here.
“Looking Back at Contact“ reunion & conversation, moderated by Tomé Cousin, featuring director Susan Stroman, writer John Weidman, and original cast members Boyd Gaines, Seán Martin Hingston, Deborah Yates, and Karen Ziemba, streams for FREE at 7 PM ET at Lincoln Center Theater.
Paradise Blue audio play, by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Ruben Santiago Hudson, featuring André Holland, Kristolyn Lloyd, Simone Missick, Keith Randolph Smith, Blair Underwood, streams worldwide at 3 AM ET (yes, that’s correct) on Audible.
The Gaze … No Homo virtual production, written by & starring Larry Powell, concludes streaming at LA’s Center Theatre Group.
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Video: Stars in the House celebrating Broadway, West End, and Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof, with special guests Danny Burstein, Joel Grey, Judy Kuhn, and Andy Nyman. (1:28:04)
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BroadwayHD has announced its April lineup:
Easter Parade (premieres Apr. 1), starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, and Ann Miller.
“Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles” documentary (premieres Apr. 3), featuring Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, Joel Grey, Topol, Harvey Fierstein, Hal Prince, Itzhak Perlman, Stephen Sondheim, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The Container (premieres Apr. 6), by Clare Bayley, London production, directed by Tom Wright, featuring Mercy Ojelade, Hassani Shapi, Doreene Blackstock, Amber Agar, Abhin Galeya, and Chris Spyrides. 
The story of a group of asylum seekers being smuggled across Europe inside a shipping container, seeking refuge in England.
“Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon” documentary (premieres Apr. 15).
[Title of Show] (premieres Apr. 22), featuring Lucie Jones, Marc Elliott, Tyrone Huntley, Jenna Russell, and Ben Ferguso.
Shakespeare’s Women & Claire Bloom (premieres Apr. 29), offering a look at the art of Shakespearean acting.
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A new version of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, with additional material by Siân Owen, will be performed in-the-round June 16 – July 24 at the Olivier Theatre, directed by Lindsey Turner.
Michael Sheen, Karl Johnson, and Siân Phillips.
A community is sleeping. If you listen closely, you can hear their dreams. The retired sea captain yearning for his lost love. The landlady living in terror of her guests. A father who can no longer access his memories. A son in search of redemption. As they awake to boiled eggs and the postman, the residents of a small Welsh village juggle old secrets and new realities.
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Chicago’s Porchligh Music Theatre has announced its upcoming Movie Musical Mondays (all at 7 PM CT):
Mar. 29: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), with special guest Eric Lewis (from the national tour).
Apr. 5: “Evita” (1996), with special guest Samanthan Pauly ( from the West End production)
Apr. 12: “Bye Bye Birdie” (1663), hosted by Denise McGowan Tracy, with special guest Tammy Mader.
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A reading of Don DeLillo’s baseball novella, “Pafko at the Wall” (originally presented Oct. 3, 2019) will stream Mar. 28-30 at NYC’s 92Y, directed by
Billy Crudup, Zachary Levi, and Tony Shalhoub.
There’s a long drive. It’s gonna be. I believe. The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant.
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RIP: George Segal died Mar. 23 at the age of 87. His decades-long career began in New York as a student at the Actors Studio. He eventually landed a small role in The Iceman Cometh at Off-Broadway’s Circle in the Square in 1956, before being drafted to the Army.
Upon his return, George had some small film roles and appeared on Broadway in 1961’s Gideon and 1963’s Rattle of a Simple Man before his co-starring role in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” that kept him working in Hollywood for the next several decades. He did, however, return twice to Broadway in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1985) and again as a replacement in Art (1999).
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Hartford Stage has announced its Virtual Gala 2021, which will stream Sat. Apr. 10 at 8 PM ET (and available through Apr. 17), hosted by John-Andrew Morrison.
The Bacon Brothers (Michael and Kevin).
The event includes a Bacon Brothers concert, a Breakdancing Shakespeare performance, and more.
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The Reading Series will present 2 Neil LaBute plays:
Reasons to be Happy (Wed. Mar. 31 at 8 PM ET), directed by Alison Tanney, featuring Andrew Kober (Greg), Jessica Vosk (Steph), Janine DiVita (Carly), and Kahlil Garcia (Kent).
Reasons to be Pretty Happy (Fri. Apr. 30 at 8 PM ET), directed by Alison Tanney, featuring Andrew Kober (Greg), Jessica Vosk (Steph), Janine DiVita (Carly, and Kahlil Garcia (Kent).
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Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater is now accepting submissions for its 11th Annual Short New Play Festival, which will stream Mon. July 12. Six brand new short plays will be selected from this open-submission process to be presented in online readings alongside two new short plays by commissioned writers, José Rivera and C.A. Johnson.
* Deadline for submission is Mon. Apr. 5 at Noon ET.
* $10 submission fee.
* Use the theme “Restoration”
* Use heightened language and/or is in conversation with a classical theme, style, or story.
* Is suitable for online performance.
* No more than 10 minutes in length.
* Self-contained with a beginning, middle, and end.
* Original, unpublished, and never previously produced new work.
* Selection Criteria: Plays will be based on the excellence of the work, relevance to Red Bull Theater’s mission, incorporation of the theme “Restoration,” utilization of the language/classical conversation guidelines listed above, and suitability for online performance.
Click here for complete details and to submit.
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Video: “Laura Bell Bundy – Money Ho” music video.
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“The Fabulous Invalid” podcast has released “We Got Annie: Anne Reinking (1949 – 2020),” which is now available here. (1:50:29)
Candy Brown, Marilu Henner, Bebe Neuwirth, and Michael Berresse.
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A new production of A Chorus Line will run Dec. 3-31 at the Curve Leicester, directed by Nikolai Foster.
Casting and additional information TBA.
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Melvin Van Peebles’ Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death will be revived on Broadway in 2022, directed by Kenny Leon. Theater, dates, casting and additional information TBA.
The original Broadway production ran Oct. 20, 1971 – July 30, 1972, starring Bill Duke and Garrett Morris, with Phylicia Rashad as a standby.
The musical blends early hip hop and spoken word, jazz and blues, humor and pain to offer a raucous celebration of – and clear-eyed look at – America.
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Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its New Classics: Songs from the New Golden Age of Musical Theater, a virtual cabaret, to premiere Thurs. June 10 at 7 PM CT, with music direction by David Chase.
Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, Henry Krieger & Bill Russell, Michael John LaChiusa, Jason Robert Brown, William Finn, Lucy Simon & Marsha Norman, Jeanine Tesori & Dick Scanlan, Andrew Lippa, David Yazbek, and Adam Guettel.
Gavin Creel, Nikki Renée Daniels, and Norm Lewis, with Amanda Castro, Jenn Gambatese, Jo Lampert, and Heath Saunders.
The New Classics will highlight the best of new and old Broadway, featuring a combination of classic musical theater songs performed in intimate new arrangements, coupled with songs from newer shows that are the inheritors of the classic style. The cabaret will also touch on the history of the Lyric Opera House space in which some of the artists recorded their numbers, and will explore recurring themes of love and longing, journeys of transformation, and celebrations of survival.
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David Thompson’s John Cullum: an Accidental Star will stream Apr. 8-22 at Off-Broadway’s Vineyard Theatre, directed by Lonny Price & Matt Cowart, with music supervision by Georgia Stitt. Two live watch party events will take place Apr. 8 at 7 PM ET and Apr. 17 at 2 PM ET,
Cullum will share anecdotes, songs, and stories.