Today’s Highlights:
The Niceties filmed production, by Eleanor Burgess, directed by Kimberly Senior, featuring Lisa Banes and Jordan Boatman, begins FREE streaming at Manhattan Theatre Club.
An Evening with Sally Mayes concert opens in person at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse.
The Blues Brothers live drive-in show, directed by Kristine Bendul & Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva, featuring Charity Angel Dawson (Mrs. Murphy), Nick Rashad Burroughs (Reverend Cleophus James), F. Michael Haynie (Elwood Blues), Brian Charles Johnson (“Joliet” Jake Blues), Antoine L. Smith (Ray), Ladonna Burns (blues Sista), and Anne Fraser (Blues Sista), opens at Queen, NY’s Radial Park.
Caesar: A Surround Sound Experiment, adapted & directed by Joseph Discher, featuring Jacqueline Antaramian, Joel de la Fuente, January LaVoy, Sean Hudock, Mark H. Dold, Joseph Discher, Maurice Jones, Anthony Michael Martinez, Ryan McCarthy, Shane Taylor, Patrick Toon, Scott Wentworth, and Derek Wilson, concludes audio streaming here.
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Video: Stars in the House, offering a Game Night From Los Angeles, at Caroline Rhea’s Home, with Seth Rudetsky, James Wesley, Jack Plotnick, and Andrea Martin. (1:11:19)
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The 2020 Tony Awards will return Sept. 26 at 9 PM on a multi-platform event:
* Airs on network TV on CBS at 9 PM
* Live and on-demand on Paramount+ (7 PM ET/4 PM PT)
* Live and on demand on the CBS app
Click here for the complete list of nominees.
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Night of a Thousand Judys, written & hosted by Justin Sayre, in support of The Ali Forney Center, will stream Thurs. June 24 at 8 PM ET here, with music direction by Tracy Stark.
Alan Cumming, Mary Testa, Vivian Reed, Sam Harris, Karen Mason, Jose Llana, Margo Seibert, Grace McLean, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Nadia Quinn, Gabrielle Stravelli,
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Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre has announced its 2021-22 season:
The Full Monty (Sept. 24 – Oct. 17), directed by original Broadway cast member Jason Danieley,
Little Shop of Horrors (Nov. 19 – Jan. 2, 2022), directed by Michael Unger, with choreography by Gerry McIntyre.
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Jan. 14-30), by Joe DiPietro, Brendan Milburn & Val Vigoda, directed by Jill Anna Ponasik.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (May 20 – June 12), by Dennis DeYoung, directed by Michael Unger, starring Robert Cuccioli (Claude Frollo).
Raisin (Feb. 11-27), by Judd Woldin, Robert Brittan, Robert Nemiroff & Charlotte Zaltzberg, directed & choreographed by Kenneth L. Roberson.
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Video: The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates Harvey Milk Day. (26:54)
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PA’s Bucks County Playhouse has announced its upcoming concert series:
An Evening with Sally Mayes (May 27 at 8 PM ET & May 28 at 2 PM).
Eddie Bruce: The Music and Magic of Tony Bennett (May 29 at 8 PM ET & May 30 at 2 PM ET)
Melissa Errico: Ladies of the Playhouse (June 3 at 8 PM ET & June 4 at 2 PM ET)
Andrew Polec: Legacy of Love (June 5 at 8 PM ET & June 6 at 2 PM ET)
Christy Altomare (June 10 at 8 PM & June 11 at 2 PM ET)
Billy Stritch: Billy’s Place (June 12 at 8 PM ET & June 13 at 2 PM ET)
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Festival Opera presents the world premiere of A Jake Heggie Triptych (with librettos by Terrence McNally & Gene Scheer ) Aug. 13 (7:30 PM PT) & 15 (2 PM PT) at Walnut Creek, CA’s Hofmann Theatre – Lesher Center for the Arts, directed by Mark Foehringer.
* At the Statue of Venus
* Camille Claudel: Into the Fire
* For a Look or a Touch
Carrie Hennessey, Diana Tash, Curt Branom, and Zachary Gordin.
This world premiere features three song cycles reimagined as fully staged chamber operas. These three moving narratives share one common theme: the deep human desire for love and acceptance.
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LA Opera has announced its 2021-22 season:
OPERAS:
* Il Trovatore (Sept. 18 – Oct. 10)
* Tannhäuser (Oct. 16 – Nov. 6)
* “Get Out!” film (Oct. 9 – 31)
* Alcina (Nov. 2-5)
* Cinderella (Nov. 20 – Dec. 12)
* St. Matthew Passion (Mar. 12-27, 2022)
* Aida (May 21 – June 12m 2022)
CONCERTS
* Javier Camarena in Recital (Mar. 31 – Apr. 2, 2022)
* In Our Daughter’s Eyes, with Du Yun and Nathan Gunn (Apr. 13-17, 2022)
* Oedipus Rex (June 6, 2022)
* The Brightness of Light, by Kevin Putts, with Renee Fleming and Rod Gilfry (June 18, 2022)
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Signature Theatre will present Lynn Nottage’s The Watering Hole June 22 – July 25.
The immersive theatrical project moves audiences through the theatre via a series of 10 installation inspired in part from water itself as they flow from all directions into a larger whole. The pieces explore how the theatre can serve artists and communities after the pandemic’s shuttering of theatres and a year of uprisings for social justice.
The installation will be open to the public with staggered entry in physically distanced groups of four, with start times between 11:30 AM – 8 PM on weekends, and between 8-7 PM on weekdays, with additional 3:15-4:15 PM times weekdays during the 2nd week. The experience takes about 80 min. to walk through. A digital presentation of the installations is planned for the final weeks of the run.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on May 27. Weekday viewings Tuesday – Thursday will be ticked on a choose-what-you-pay basis. This option will be available for the first block of tickets Friday – Sunday, as well as $25 tickets in the afternoon and $35 tickets in the evening.
As of now, Signature Theatre will require physical distancing and masks to keep audiences and staff safe, with reduced capacity limited to 100 guests in the building at any given time. Plans are subject to change as city guidelines develop. The theatre is not planning to require proof of vaccination and/or negative test results for guests.
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Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater has announced its Freshplay Fridays, which will stream every week throughout the month of June.
The Hidden Colors of Their True Selves, (June 4 at 6 PM ET), a new musical by Mima Pierre, directed by Brandon Webster. Five young adults reveal five different perspectives on heartbreak, identity, and the pursuit of something better as they try to navigate their way through life. Friendship are tested an stand the test of time, some blossoming into something more.
Margaret and Rita (June 11 at 6 PM ET), by Andie Grene. After inheriting an ice cream parlor in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, Margaret and her daughter Rita scoop ice cream for the summer and attempt to navigate the complexities of motherhood, teenagehood, and personhood together.
Arduna Chatmon Must Change (July 18 at 6 PM ET), by Gerland Jeter. Black teenagers, Stephan and Alan, form an after-school club meant to educate other black kids on systematic racism and social justice. City councilman and superintendent Mr. Regal seeks to close down the school and blackmails teacher Mr. Johnson into helping him do so. It falls to Mr. Johnson to find a way to support Alan and Stephan while also realizing his own hopes for the future that were crusted in his youth by a country built again him.
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MA’s Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced its 2021 Summer Season:
Celebrating the Black Radical Imagination: Nine Solo Plays
WEEK 1 (July 6-10), directed by Colette Robert
* Border of Lights, by Guadalís Del Carmen
* Ghosts of the Diaspora, by France-Luce Benson
* Freaky Dee, Baby, by NSangou Nijkam
WEEK 2 (July 13-28), directed by Wardell Julius
* Black Moon Lilith, by J. Nicole Brooks
* A Ghost in Satin, by Terry Guest
* don’t get got, by Ike Holter
WEEK 3 (July 21-25), directed by Candis C. Jones
* Mark It Down, by Charly Evon Simpson
* The Last…..(A Work in Progress), by Ngozi Anyanwu
* The Master’s Tools, by Zora Howard
Row (July 13 – Aug. 8), world premiere by Daniel Goldstein & Dawn Sandes, directed by Tyne Rafaeli, featuring Grace McLean. The Clark’s serene reflecting pool becomes the stage for this uplifting musical that interrogates the resilience, fear, and ambition inside one individual as she aims to be the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic.
Alien/Nation (July 20 – Aug. 8), world premiere by Eric Berryman, Jen Silverman, and the company of the Forest of Arden. The piece takes audiences on multiple journeys throughout Williamstown, by foot and by car.
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre will present its next Movie Musical Monday on Mon. June 7 at 7 PM CT with a discussion about “Funny Girl,” hosted by Rhona Frazin. 
here.
Bruce Vilanch
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The Callaway Sisters: Side by Side continues through May 31 here.
Video: Watch the opening number.
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The Progress of Pride Spectacular will premiere Sat. June 26 at 8 PM ET here, hosted by Lea DeLaria. The event will offer musical performances, archival footage of past marches, and more.
Lea DeLaria, BD Wong, L. Morgan Lee, Alex Newell, Blake Hammond, Brad Bradley, Christine Dwyer, Claybourne Elder, Eri Ulloa, Harvey Firestein, J. Cameron Barnett, Jenn Colella, Jerry Mitchell, Kathryn Gallagher, Mars Rucker, Nathan Lee Graham, Vishal Vaidya, David Correa, Sue Doster, and Kazz Alexander.