GRACE NOTES: Thursday, October 20, 2022

 

Today’s Highlights:

  Top Dog/Under Dog, by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Kenny Leon, featuring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Booth) and Corey Hawkins (Lincoln), opens at Broadway’s John Golden Theatre.

  The National Alliance for Musical Theatre‘s 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals begins at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages.

   A Little Life, adapted by Koen Tachelet, directed by Ivo van Hove, featuring  Alyssa Diamond, Anuj Parikh, opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

  Roundabout‘s The Bandaged Place, world premiere by Harrison David Reivers, directed by David Mendizábal, featuring Stephanie Berry (Geraldine Irby), Jake Ryan Lozano (Sam Yates), Sasha Camilli Manuel (Ella Irby), Anthony Lee Medina (Ruben Torres), and Jhardon Dishon Milton (Jonah Irby), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Steinberg Center.

  Joey Arias in concert at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.

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  Due to bouts of Covid in the company, last night’s opening of The Public Theater‘s production of A Raisin in the Sun was postponed until Oct. 25.  Robert O’Hara directs.

To compensate, the production has also been extended through Nov. 13.

  Francois Battiste (Walter Lee Younger), Toussaint Battiste (Travis Younger alternate), John Clay III (Joseph Asaggi), Calvin Dutton (Bobo), Mister Fitzgerald (George Murchison), Perri Gaffney (Mrs. Johnson),  Paige Gilbert, Mandi Masden (Ruth Younger), Camden McKinnon Travis Younger alternate), Jesse Pennington (Karl Lindner), Tonya Pinkins (Lena Younger), and N’yomi Stewart, with Skyler Gallun and N’yomi Stewart.

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  “Sondheim Unplugged” The NYC Sessions – Volume Three” will be released Nov. 18 on all platforms, and also as a two-disc CD set.

George Lee Andrews, Danielle Ferland, Joy Franz, Annie Golden, Teri Ralston, Ken Jennings, Pamela Winslow Kashani, Pamela Myers, Sarah Rice, Melanie Faughn, Jim Walton, Romona Mallory, Claybourne Elder, Nicholas Rodriguez, Bruce Sabath, Eric Michael Gillett, Telly Leung, and Lucia Spina.

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“The People We Hate at the Wedding” will premiere Nov. 18 on Prime Video.

Ben Platt, Kristen Bell, Allison Janney, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Karan Soni, Dustin Milligan, Tony Goldwyn, Isaach De Bankole, Jorma Taccone, Julian Ovenden, and John MacMillan.

  Alice and Paul have reluctantly agreed to attend the wedding of their estranged, wealthy half-sister in the English countryside alongside their mother Donna. Over the course of the wedding week, the family’s many skeletons are wrenched from the closet, and the unlikely reunion gives everyone the motivation to move their own lives forward. A modern wedding comedy for anyone with a slightly dysfunctional family (everyone), or anyone who’s been forced to attend a wedding they tried to avoid (also everyone).

  Video: Trailer

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  The Sound of Music will run Dec. 2 – Jan. 1 (opening Dec. 4) at NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Mark S. Hoebee, with music direction by Meg Zervoulis.

Ashley Blanchet (Maria), Graham Rowat (Captain von Trapp), Caitlin Burke (Mother Abbess), Emily Borromeo (Elsa Schraeder), Gavin Lee ( Max Detweiler), Analise Scarpaci (Liesl), Andrew Alstat (Rolf), Stacia Fernandez (Frau Schmidt), Christopher Gurr (Herr Zeller), Paul Slade Smith (Franz), Mark Banik (Admiral von Schreiber), Coleman Simmons (Friedrich), Jacey Sink (Louisa), Cody Braverman (Kurt), Tara Rajan (Brigitta), Austin Elle Fisher (Marta), and Charlotte Sydney Harrington (Gretl), with Griffin Binnicker, Dean Cestari, Brittany Conigatti, Nick Davis, Vincent DePeri, Madeleine Doherty, Eric Michael Gillett, Gina Hanzlik, Katie Horner, Mary Illes, Meredith Lustig, Kate Mazza, Christopher Price, Chandler Reeves, Emily Royer, Kayleen, Seidl, Ariana Valdes, Kai B. White, Charlotte Ewing, Ethan Joseph.

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  The original cast recording of Frank Galati, Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens’ Knoxville will be released digitally on Fri. Oct. 21 and on physical CD on Nov. 11.    the CD here.

  Jason Daniely, Hannah Elless, Paul Alexander Nolan, Ellen Harvey, Nathan Salstone, and Joel Waggoner, with Jack Casey, Sarah Aili, Abigail Stephenson, Natalie Venetia, Dwelvan David, Scott Wakefield, William Parry, and Barbara Marineau.

The story begins as Agee struggles to write his greatest work – about the event that touched his young life and the effect it had on his mother, his town, and his own future. A powerful illumination of the forces that shape who we are, Knoxville is a universal coming-of-age story about family, faith, and love – and about the boy who will grow up to write about it.

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  George Brant’s Into The Breeches continues through Nov. 19 at CA’s North Coast Rep, directed by Diana Van Fossen.

Geno Carr, Rosemarie Chandler, Taylor Henderson, Melanie Lora, Mikaela Macias, Katie MacNichol, James Newcomb, and Shana Wride.

The play is set at a small American playhouse in 1942. With the actors and director off at war, a small group of passionate women face the daunting challenge of preserving the theatre’s reputation for mounting outstanding Shakespearean productions.

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Warner Chappell Music will release a new podcast, “Setting the Standard: Stories From the Great American Songbook” on Oct. 25 on all platforms, hosted by Joe Levy. The series will include new interviews with Michael Feinstein, Billy Corgan, and Justin Tranter.

The 8-episode series will offer a deep dive into the work and cultural history behind some of Broadway’s best Golden Age songwriters, including Jule Styne, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, and many more. The series will launch with an episode of film composer Harry Warren, who with lyricist Al Dubin, provided the songs for 42nd Street on stage & screen. Other podcasts will include interviews with Michael Feinstein, Billy Corgan, and Justin Tranter.

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  Judy Carmichael: Let’s Swing! will take place Sat. Dec. 18 at 8 PM at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater.

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   Lindsey Hope Perlman’s A Sign of the Times, a 1960s jukebox musical, will hold a series of developmental workshop readings Oct. 24-28 at NYC’s Open Jar Studios, directed by Gabriel Barre, with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, and music supervision by Joseph Church. The musical is based on an original story by Richard Robin.  Click here to learn more about the musical.

Chilina Kennedy (Cindy), Ryan Silverman, CJ Pawlikowski, Caitlin Kinunen, Ryah Nixon, Lauren Boyd, Brad Bradley, Melessie Clark, Jeremy Gaston, Aaron Kaburick, Chani Maisonet, Alexandra Matteo, and Ralph Meitzler

The pulse of a changing era lures Cindy from Middle America to the swirl of New York City. Set against the backdrop of women’s liberation, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War, she pursues her passion of making a difference in the world.

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Broadway’s The Piano Lesson has announced ticket discount options:

  $35 rush tickets are available for every performance at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, starting at 10 AM. A limit of 2 tickets per person, and subject to availability.

  Digital lottery is now open here. Entries start at 12 AM one day before the performance, and end the same day at 3 PM. Winners are drawn at 9 AM & 3 PM. Winners may purchase up to t 2 tickets at $57 each.

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On Nov. 1, the Nederland Organization will officially re-name the Brooks Atkinson Theatre as the Lena Horne Theatre. This event will mark the first time a Broadway theatre has been named for a Black woman.

  Gail Lumet Buckley (Lena Horne’s daughter) and the Horne Family have released a statement: “On Feb. 13, 1939, Brooks Atkinson wrote a review of the musical Blackbirds of 1939 for the New York Times. His review was generally unfavorable except for the mention of ‘a radiantly beautiful girl, Lena Horne, who will a winner once she has the proper direction.’ The proper direction came from within Lena herself. She sought an artistic education, and a political education. She sought her own voice, found it, and then fought for the right that was always denied her – the right to tell her own story. In 1981, James M. Nederlander offered her their stage and Lena’s one woman show, The Lady and her Music ran for more than a year. 366 performances in three countries. It was her fullest expression as an artist and storyteller.

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 Primary Stages will present a developmental reading of Roger Q. Mason’s THE PINK: An Intimacy Ritual on Fri. Nov. 4 at 3 PM at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters, directed by é boylan.  here.

Roger Q. Mason and Dylan Guerra.

A hook up performed in real time between two queer people of color seeking intimacy in the age of dating apps and digital sex. As these two humans, Mel and Herman, grasp for “the real” in the bedroom, their conversations, silences, and moments of touch blur the lines between affection, sex, and euphoric romance.

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  Jonathan Hogue’s Stranger Sings: The Parody Musical continues through Jan. 1, 2023 at Theatre at St. Lukes, directed by Nick Flatto, with choreography by Ashley Marinelli.

Jamir Brown, Jeffrey Laughrup, Harley Seger, and Shaw W. Smith, with Jean Christian Barry, Dashiell Gregory, and Hannah Clarke.

  Take a trip back to Hawkins, Indiana: 1983… when times were simpler, hair was bigger, and unsupervised children were getting snatched by inter-dimensional creatures.

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  Amas Musical Theatre will present developmental readings of Jill Santoriello, Jason Huza & Jeremiah James’ It Happened In Key West, on Thurs. Oct. 27 (2 PM) and Fri. Oct. 28 (1 PM) at Off-Broadway’s The Theater Center, directed by Rebecca Martinez, with music direction by Saul Nache.  boxoffice@amasmusical.org

Darilyn Castillo, Xander Chauncey, Henry Gainza, Iliana Garcia, Ryan Morales Green, Alexandra Imbrosci-Viera, Cedric Leiba Jr., Travis Kent, Wade McCollum, Mia Pinero, Nancy Ticotin, and Miguel Angel Vasquez.

Do you believe in undying love? This new romantic musical comedy is based on a true story of obsessive love that is as quirky as it is romantic, heartfelt, and life-affirming.

 


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