Today’s Highlights:
Nothing today…
**********************
Reviews for Glengarry Glen Ross at Broadway’s Palace Theatre:
NY Times: (Jesse Green) …in the weirdly limp revival that opened on Monday at the Palace Theater, something has flipped. As played by Kieran Culkin, leading a sales team that also features Bob Odenkirk, Bill Burr and Michael McKean, Roma is no longer the master of everyone else’s neuroses; he’s neurotic himself. Especially in the scene that ends the first act, as he winds up for a pitch into the soul of a schlub, he is so deeply weird and interior that any semblance of a confident exterior evaporates. The man couldn’t sell a dollar for a dime… Chalk this up to casting that confuses the flippant charm of Culkin’s usual characters…
Variety (Daniel D’Addario): Bob Odenkirk…Little wonder that he is among the actors doing excellent work in Broadway’s new revival of Glengarry Glen Ross… Odenkirk finds a small measure of pathos in his grifter, too… treats his character’s pain with a gentle touch… In the main, this is a surprisingly humane Glengarry — and that’s no criticism, but it does mean this production is a bit of a surprise… But a piece of theater that can easily be overplayed, one that’s likely best-remembered for a film adaptation that sizzles with intensity and volume, feels almost pointillist in the hands of director Patrick Marber…
Theatermania (Kenji Fujishima): If nothing else, the new Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross demonstrates just how difficult it is to get playwright David Mamet’s distinctive dialogue style exactly right… a slightly stilted quality in Odenkirk’s motormouthed delivery, with even the many profanities peppering his speech coming off as unnatural—and to a somewhat lesser degree in Kieran Culkin’s performance as young hotshot salesman Richard Roma. The magical fusion of high stylization and gritty naturalism that makes Mamet’s best work soar, never quite happens here—which is not to say the production doesn’t have its compensations.
**********************
“The Playbill Podcast: A Show on Broadway” will share everything you need to know about the latest Broadway play and musicals, while introducing you to the stars that are making them.You can subscribe to “The Playbill Podcast” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Hosted by Playbill Chief Operating Officer and Vice President Alex Birsh, the series will officially debut Apr. 7 with an episode on Hadestown featuring current stars Merle Dandridge and Carlos Valdes.
Subscribers can expect to hear episodes centered on SIX: The Musical with its creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss; Maybe Happy Ending with star and co-producer Darren Criss; Operation Mincemeat with two of its stars, Natasha Hodgson and Jak Malone; & Juliet with current stars Maya Boyd and Alison Luff; and lots more in the weeks ahead.
**********************
Video: “CBS News Sunday Morning” piece on Broadway’s Death Becomes Her: From screen to stage
**********************
RIP: Actor Denis Arndt, Tony-nominated for his 2016 performance in Broadway’s Heisenberg, has died at the age of 86.
Mr. Arndt was a regular cast member of the 1980’s sitcom, “Annie McGuire,” starring Mary Tyler Moore. His career took off in the 1990s, with screen roles such as “L.A. Law,” “Basic Instinct,” “How to Make an American Quilt”, and “Metro.” Murder, The Good Fight, and more.
In 2015, Mr. Arndt was cast as Alex Priest in Manhattan Theater Club’s production of Simon Stephens’ two-hander Heisenberg, starring opposite Mary-Louise Parker. The production transferred to Broadway the following year, opening October 13. Mr. Arndt earned a 2017 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance, which was his sole appearance on Broadway.
**********************
Gingold Theatrical Group‘s Hay Fever script-in-hand performance which will take place Mon. Apr. 14 at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s The Players, directed by Carl Andress, is already sold out.
Charles Busch (Judith Bliss), Thomas Hewitt (David Bliss), Evie Shuckman (Sorel Bliss), Rodd Cyrus (Simon Bliss), Dan Domingues (Sany Tyrell), Jennifer Van Dyck (Myra Arundel), David Staller (Richard Greatham), Jenifer Cody (Jackie Coryton), and Annie Golden (Clara).
The play follows the eccentric Bliss family, where a retired actress mother, Judith, and her novelist husband, David, along with their grown children, Simon and Sorel, engage in witty banter and theatrical antics, often blurring the lines between reality and performance
**********************
David Valdes’ The Great Reveal will run Apr. 4-27 (opening Ar. 6) at Boston’s Lyric Stage, directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary & Charlotte Snow.
Paige Clark (Lexie), Arthur Gomez (Christopher), Jupiter Lê (Linus), and Antonia Turilli (Dosia)
Newly married and seven months pregnant, Lexi has planned the perfect backyard gender-reveal party with every detail immaculately in place. But not everyone is as enthusiastic about the celebration. Her immature husband, Christopher, is rattled by what the future holds for him as a father. Her brother Linus, a trans man, is caught between his sister and his partner Dosia, who is tasked with making the cake for an event that goes against everything they stand for. When emotions escalate and revelations are shared, a family and the importance of being true to oneself is tested as they all grapple to find ways to keep on loving each other.
**********************
Ensemble Theatre Company will present Jonathon Silvestri & Hershey Felder’s Rachmaninoff and the Tsar Apr. 3 – 20 at Santa Barbara’s New Vic, directed by Silvestri.
Hersey Felder (Sergei Rachmaninoff) & Jonathan Silvestri (Tsar Nicholas II)
Having safely left Russia during the 1917 revolution, legendary pianist-composer Sergei Rachmaninoff made his home in the United States. In 1942, at the age of 68, he applied for American citizenship and bought a home in Beverly Hills, but his soul never left Russia. Six months thereafter, a terminal illness brought forth the memory of an encounter with Russia’s last Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Tsar’s daughter, the Grand Duchess Anastasia. This memory would haunt him until the end. Featuring Rachmaninoff’s most beautiful music including the Second Piano Concerto, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Preludes, Symphonic Selections and more…
**********************
Video: Kate Baldwin belts out ‘Mr. Right’ From Love Life at NY City Center.
**********************
The world premiere of Jonathan Spector’s Birthright will run Apr. 3-27 at Miami Beach’s Colony theatre, directed by Teddy Bergman.
Dani Stoller (Chaya), Krystal Millie Valdes (Alona), Arielle Goldman (Izzy), Stephen Socking (Noah), Danny Capote (Emerson), and Hale Appleman (Lev).
An unflinching, deeply personal theatrical event that examines the shifting tides of Jewish identity, the cost of belonging, and the fault lines that divide us. Spanning 18 years, Birthright follows six young American Jews who meet on a Birthright Israel trip in 2006, bound together by the intoxicating allure of connection—to each other, to heritage, and to history. What begins as a transformative journey soon collides with reality as social media, shifting global politics, and personal reckonings pull them apart. When the world is upended by the events of October 7, 2023, their bonds fracture, leading to an explosive confrontation with identity, loyalty, history, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.
**********************
Ken Davenport & Ann Marie Milazzo’s JOY: A New True Musical will begin previews June 21 and open July 20 at the Laura Pels Theatre, directed by Lorin Latarro, with choreography by Joshua Bergasse.
Betsy Wolfe (Joy Mangano), Jill Abramovitz (Toots), Honor Blue Savage (Christie), Charl Brown (Dan), Adam Grubber (Rudy), and Mauricio Martínez (Tony).
An uplifting work based on the true story of entrepreneur and inventor Joy Mangano. Her journey—also told in the 2015 film “JOY,” starring Jennifer Lawrence—now comes to life on stage. From single motherhood and financial struggles to building a business empire, Joy’s story epitomizes the power of resilience and determination, an inspiring celebration of a woman who never gave up and redefined the American Dream!
Video: Betsy Wolfe performs “The Shape of Things” from Joy: A New True Musical.
**********************
The world premiere of Jonathan Spector’s Birthright will run Apr. 3-27 at Miami Beach’s Colony theatre, directed by Teddy Bergman.
Dani Stoller (Chaya), Krystal Millie Valdes (Alona), Arielle Goldman (Izzy), Stephen Stocking (Noah), Danny Capote (Emerson), Hale Appleman (Lev), Irene Adjan (Deborah),
Spanning 18 years, the play follows six young American Jews who meet on a Birthright Israel trip in 2006, bound together by the intoxicating allure of connection—to each other, to heritage, and to history. What begins as a transformative journey soon collides with reality as social media, shifting global politics, and personal reckonings pull them apart. When the world is upended by the events of October 7, 2023, their bonds fracture, leading to an explosive confrontation with identity, loyalty, history, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.