Today’s Highlights:
The Father and the Assassin, by Anupama Chandrasekhar, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, featuring Sagar Arya, Ayesha Dharker, Shubham Saraf, and Peter Singh, begins previews at London’s Olivier Theatre.
Roundabout‘s …what the end will be, by Mansa Ra, directed by Margo Bordelon, featuring Emerson Brooks (Maxell Kennedy), Gerald Caesar (Tony Kennedy), Randy Harrison (Charles), Keith Randolph Smith (Bartholomew Kennedy), Ryan Jamal Swain (Antoine), and Tiffany Villarin (Chloe), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Steinberg Center.
Fat Ham, by James Ijames, directed by Saheem Ali, featuring Nikki Crawford (Tedra), Chris Herbie Holland (Tio), Billy Eugene Jones (Rev/Pap), Adrianna Mitchell (Opal), Calvin Leon Smith (Larry), Marcel Spears (Juicy), and Benja Kay Thomas (Rabby), with RJ Foster, Tanesha Gary, Marquis D. Gibson, and Alexandria Brienne Lewis, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
Soft, world premiere by Donja R. Love, directed by Whitney White, featuring Leon Addison Brown (Mr. Cartwright), Biko Esisen-Martin (Mr. Isaiah), Dharon Jones (Antoine), Essence Lotus (Dee), Travis Raeburn (Bashir), Shakur Tolliver (Kevin), Dario Vazquez (Jamal), and Ed Ventura (Eddie), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater.
Between Two Knees, by The 1491s sketch comedy group, directed by Eric Ting, featuring Edward Chin-Lyn, Rachel Crowl, Derek Garza, Justin Gauthier, Shyla Lefner, Wotko Long, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, and Sheila Tousey, begins previews at Yale Rep.
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Reviews for Which Way to the Stage at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater:
NY Times (Elisabeth Vincentelli): If you have ever fantasized about casting your favorite musical or ranked the actresses who have played Mrs. Lovett, chances are you will be familiar with Jeff and Judy. You might even be them… Admittedly this is a fairly conventional setup, but Nogueira spins zippy fun out of it… Mike Donahue, imparts a nice screwball-comedy pace. Then come the variations on the theme… Nogueira’s writing is at its best when she lets anger bubble to the surface, but like Jeff and Judy with theater, it seems as if she can’t quite decide whether her play is, at heart, about love or cynicism…
Theatermania (David Gordon): …More than anything else, Which Way to the Stage is a coming-of-age story, and Nogueira branches out that topic to cover friendship, theater-industry competition, the politics of bisexuality, the misogyny of drag, learning how to harness your personal powers, loving musicals, and what it means to worship at the altar of your idol, all in roughly 110 minutes…. I wish Nogueira had found a way to present the central “drama” of it all in a way that was as unique and promising as the setup.
Theatrely (Christian Lewis): The show is a love letter to theatre people, working actors, those who love to stage door, fans, audience members, and everyone that sings along to cast recordings. It is an expertly crafted list of niche references and inside jokes that would confuse or go over the heads of an average person, but will make musical theatre fans cackle… Sas Goldberg, who I’ve loved since Significant Other, and Max Jenkins, who I recently adored in Special, both give flawless performances. They are perfectly cast, have impeccable chemistry and comedic timing…
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Reviews for The Vagrant Trilogy at Off-Broadway Public Theater:
NY Times (Laura Collins-Hughes): …Mansour’s rich trilogy about a displaced Palestinian family is captivating, and for all the protean theatricality of Mark Wing-Davey’s gorgeous production, watching it feels somehow like being engrossed in a novel, with that same luxuriant sense of immersion and transport. Woven of poetry and politics, threaded with comedy, it’s Stoppardian in its intellectualism and doesn’t shy from poignancy… Mansour has calibrated the narrative tension so expertly that in each reality we are deeply invested in the fates of her characters…
Theatermania (Zachary Stewart): …a trio of interconnected one-act plays that examine the life of one Palestinian man who had the option to get out… performed by a shapeshifting ensemble of talented actors and is more bingeable than a Netflix series… Abdelfattah and Cassidy leave us wanting for nothing with a chemistry that feels natural and grows in complexity as the play progresses… The other outstanding performance of Vagrant comes from Malouf, who gives Catherine Tate a run for her money with a series of comic relief roles… Mark Wing-Davey’s versatile staging…
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The 2022 Tony Awards (Sun. June 12) will be hosted by Darren Criss & Julianne Hough.
As previously reported, “The Tony Awards: Act One” will stream exclusive content only on Paramount+ (7-8 PM ET).
At 8 PM ET, CBS will air the live broadcast, hosted by Ariana DeBose.
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Video: Patti LuPone responds to an audience member who refuses to wear a mask. Scroll down to watch…
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Britannicus, by Jean Racine, adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker, will run May 26 – June 25 at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, directed by Atri Banerjee.
Nathaniel Curtis, William Robinson, Sirine, Saba, Hanna Khogali, Helena Lymbery, Nigel Barrett, and Shyvonne Ahmmad.
Agrippina – desperate to cling onto power – has ensured her son, Nero, is the Roman Emperor, in place of his half-brothers and the rightful heir. But the corridors of power and Nero’s own obsession turn a one-virtuous ruler into an oppressive tyrant.
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David Dean Bottrell Makes Love: A One-Man Show will run June 12 (7 PM PT), Wed. June 5 (8 PM PT), Sun. June 19 (7 PM PT) and Tues. June 21 (8 PM PT) at Sherman Oaks’ Whitefire Theatre.
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An industry reading of Justine Gelfman’s In Sisters We Trust, or My Fucked up American Girl Doll Play will take place May 12-13 at NYC’s Open Jar Studios, directed by Susanna Wolk.
Lauren Patten, Gabby Beans, Kristine Nielsen, Catherine Cohen, Caitlin Kinnunen, Laura Dreyfuss, Nicole Villamil, Christine Jones, Jonathan Burke, Elizabeth O’Donnell, and Sohina Sidhu.
The play brings together now-matured American Girl Dolls in a televised reunion that goes awry. When reality glitches, the dolls are thrown into a glossy feminist workplace where they must face the problems haunting corporate feminism and explore new ways of how to empower. When reality glitches, the dolls are thrown into a glossy feminist workplace where they must face the problems haunting corporate feminism and explore new ways of how to empower.
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Peter Straughan’s “Conclave” is currently in development, directed by Edward Berger. Additional casting, timeline, and release date TBA.
Ralph Fiennes (Cardinal Lomeli), John Lithgow (Cardinal Tremblay), Stanley Tucci (Cardinal Bellini), Isabella Rossellini (Sister Agnes), and more TBA.
The story of the political machinations that grip the Vatican following the death of a pope and the jockeying that takes place as a group of cardinals from across the globe gather to select a new leader for the Catholic Church.
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Songs from Brian Belding & Natalie Brice’s White Rose: The Musical will take place Thurs. May 19 at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Green Room 42, directed by Will Nunziata. Proceeds will be donated to Human Rights Watch, which investigates abuses happening in all corners of the world, protecting vulnerable civilians, as well as refugees and children.
Mauricio Martinez, Wren River, Nic Rouleau, Chad Burris, and Nathan Salstone.
The true story of a group of German university students who secretly met to write , print, and distribute leaflets exposing Hitler’s lies and deception to their fellow Germans during WWII. In the musical, Sophie Scholl arrives in Munich to join her brother, Hans, at the university. Inspired by a rebellious professor, she joins with a group of fellow students to meet, discuss, and carry out their plans for resisting Nazi rule. Sophie is passionate, impulsive, and bold…traits that are dangerous in Hitler’s Germany.
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Video: New highlights from Broadway’s The Music Man (scroll down)
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Life of Pi, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti, will run Dec.-Jan. (dates TBA) at Cambridge’s A.R.T., directed by Max Webster. The play recently won 5 Olivier Awards (including Best New Play) for it’s London production.
Casting TBA.
Sixteen-year-old Pi and his family set off to emigrate from India, but after their ship sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Pi is left stranded on a lifeboat with just four other survivors–a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive?
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David Payne’s My Life’s Journey: An Evening with C.S. Lewis will run May 13-22 at Hollywood’s Actors Co-op.
Phil Crowley
The year is 1963 and C.S. Lewis is hosting a group of American writers at his home near Oxford. They are about to experience a captivating evening with a man whose engaging conversation and spontaneous humor made him one of the great raconteurs of his day. Seated in his living room, he recalls the people and events that inspired his thought and shaped his life: his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien, why he nearly abandoned the Narnia Chronicles, how he came to embrace Christianity, and the American woman who turned his life upside down.
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Broadway Bares: XXX, celebrating its 30th anniversary, in support of BC/EFA, will take place Sun. June 26 at 9:30 PM & Midnight at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom, directed by Laya Barak.
Laya Barak, Nick Kenkel, Jonathan Lee, Al Blackstone, Jessica Castro, Armando Farfan, Ricky Hinds, Stephanie Klemons, Sekou McMiller, Michael Lee Scott, Gabby Sorrentino, Kellen Stancil, Andrew Turteltaub, James Alonzo White.
TBA.
Video: Teaser.
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A new film adaptation of Bruce Norris’ “Clybourne Park” is currently in development, directed by Pam MacKinnon. Timeline, additional casting, release date, and more TBA.
Sarah Paulson, Uzo Aduba, Anthony Mackie, Martin Freeman, Nick Robinson, and Hillary Baack, with more TBA.
In 1959, the house, which is located in a white neighborhood at 406 Clybourne St. in Chicago, is sold to an African-American family (the Younger family in A Raisin in the Sun). Then in 2009 after the neighborhood has changed into an African-American community, the house is sold to a white couple. It is through this prism of property ownership that Norris’ lacerating sense of humor dissects race relations and middle class hypocrisies in America.