Today’s Highlight:
Shadow/land world premiere audio play, by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, directed by Candis C. Jones, featuring Te’Era Coleman, Lizan Mitchell, Lance E. Nichols, Lori Elizabeth Parquet, Sunni Patterson, and Michelle Wilson, begins FREE streaming at 7 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
“The Chance to Fly,” co-written by Ali Stroker & Stacy Davidowitz, released in Hardcover & Kindle here.
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Video: Jim Caruso’s Cast Party, with special guests Jackie Burns, Chase McDaniel, D’Marreon Alexander, and Emily West (1:28:10).
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Neat, written & performed by Charlayne Woodard, will stream Apr. 15-25 at Manhattan Theatre Club.
As this magnificent storyteller spins her own real-life remembrances of her disabled aunt, Neat, we find ourselves on an excursion from entrenched prejudice in the South to racial violence in the North, with side trips to teenage fashions, hairdos and pop music, family relations, friendship and religion.
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Master Voice’s Myths and Hymns — Love, Chapter 3 conceived by Ted Sperling, will stream Wed. Apr. 14 at 6:30 PM ET here. 
Chapters 1 & 2 are also available here.
Victoria Clark, Drew Gehling, Cheyenne Jackson, Shereen Pimentel, and more.
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Glenn Close has announced that the new film version of “Sunset Boulevard” will most likely begin production later this summer.
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As The Curtain Rises continues its audio stream of more episodes of AVATAR: The Musical on Apr. 15, 22 & 19 on the Broadway Podcast Network (or any podcast platform), written by Dori Berinstein & Mark Peikert, and directed by Berinstein.
James Monroe Iglehart (Steve Jones), Lilias White (Cheryl Phillips), Michael Urie (Bobby Kern), Ashley Park (Kay Fields), Ariana DeBose (Zoey Taylor), Andrew Barth Feldman (himself), Sarah Stiles (Emma-Olivia), Ramin Karimloo (Stavros), George Salazar (Maxell Fernsby), and Alex Brightman (Narrator).
After news about the top-secret, new mega-musical AVVATAR leaks, the Broadway community goes off-the-charts batty. Everyone wants “in.” Arch enemy mega Producder Steve Jones and Cheryl Phillips manage to score the rights…at least that’s what they think. As the drama continues, who’s pushing composer Bobby Kern’s buttons? Is his marriage to Lyricist Kay Fields spiraling into a calamari-infused tizzy? What’s going on between Director/Choreographer Zoey Taylor and Science Consultant Andrew Barth Feldman? Is Diva Emma-Olivia being devoured with jealousy over boyfriend and personal trainer-turned-triple threat Stavros? And is agent Maxwell Fernsby stepping into his boss’s slick shoes or is he stepping into something far less savory? Only the The Narrator knows for sure.
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The winners of Hollywood’s Blank Theatre’s Ucross + The Blank Theatre Future of Playwriting Prize have been announced, which celebrates young playwrights nationwide.
Kori Alston and Dave Osmundsen.
The winning playwrights will each receive a cash award of $5,000, professionally produced staged readings in The Blank Theatre’s Living Room Series (a new play development program), and two-week residencies at Ucross’s 20,000-acre ranch at the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains (including transportation). Learn more about the prize here.
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre has announced its New Faces Sing Broadway series, which will premiere Fri. Apr. 16 at 12 PM CT (and available through May16) with New Faces Sing Broadway 1961, directed by Brianna Borger, with music direction by Tom Vendafreddo, and hosted by Kelvin Roston,
Lexie Bailey, Nicole Barth, Marcus Canada, Chloe Howard, Izzie Jones, Clare Kennedy, Maurice Rex Randle, Abraham Shaw, and Tommy Thurston.
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Charlie & Stan, written & directed by Paul Hunter, will run July 14-24 at the Theatre Royal Bath.
Casting TBA.
The remarkable story of the greatest comedy double act that nearly was. In 1910, the then unknown Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel set sail onboard a tramp steamer from Liverpool to New York as part of Fred Karno’s famous music hall troupe. On the voyage, they shared a cabin, they shared comedy routines and by the end of the journey they had drifted apart…but they would both go on to become the biggest stars of the age.
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Two Sisters, written & directed by Nilo Cruz, will stream Apr. 21 – May 23 at New Normal Rep.
Jimmy Smits, Florencia Lozano, Gary Perez, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
Set in 1991, during the Pan American Games in Havana and while the Russians are pulling out of Cuba, the play portrays two sisters, Maria Celia, a d novelist, and Sofia, a pianist, serving time under house arrest. Passion infiltrates politics when a lieutenant assigned to their case becomes infatuated with Maria Celia, whose literature he has been reading.
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Phillipa Soo in concert will stream Fri. Apr. 16 at 8 PM ET here, in support of the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund.
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Lyricist-composer Amanda Green has been elected the first woman president in the 100 year history of The Dramatist Guild, alongside the newly-elected Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins as Vice President.
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at NYC’s 92Y:
Alan & Marilyn Bergman conversation & concert (Thurs. Apr. 22 at 12 PM ET here), hosted by Harvey Granat, with special guest Alan Bergman, and featuring Christine Andreas and Ann Hampton Callaway.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum — Sondheim in the Realm of Farce discussion (Thurs. Apr. 29 at 1:30 PM ET here), with instructor Lewis Rosen.
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A video presentation of Robin Gerber’s The Shot will stream Sat. Apr. 24 at 5 PM PT at LA’s Skylight Theatre, directed by Michelle Joyner. A Q&A will follow.
Sharon Lawrence
The story reveals the well-kept secrets of American icon Katherine Graham, who, before becoming the publisher of The Washington Post, endured the physical and emotional abuse of Phil Graham, the husband she love and admired.
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Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Playwright Theater has announced its May online programming with New Songs Now In Your Living Room, which features new songs from different artists each night, all of which begin at 7 PM ET.
May 3: Emma Claye and Aridy Knox
May 4: Ada Westfall, Jo Lampert, and Dawn Landes
May 5: Zeniba Now, Rodney Bush, and Jay Adana
May 6: Melissa Li and Kit Yan
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The world premiere of Uniting in Movement will take place Sun. Apr. 25, then stream May 12-26 at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center.
The new project brings 18 dancers together for safe collaboration and exhilarating performance. ABT, America’s National Ballet Company®, has been in residence at the Center since March 22, rehearsing this new program. Uniting in Movement is comprised of three works by contemporary choreographers, each with very personal and unique visions for the future of ballet: Jessica Lang, Lauren Lovette, and Darrell Grand Moultrie.
The choreographs, dancers and ABT artistic staff have been living and rehearsing in a quarantined ‘bubble,’ isolating themselves at the Avenue of the Arts Costa Mesa A Tribute Portfolio Hotel across the street from the Center. All rehearsal and performance activity is adhering to strict medical and safety guidelines, with an initial quarantine and testing period prior to the start of ABT’s residency.
Let Me Sing Forevermore, by Jessica Lang, set to songs sung by Tony Bennett, is a vibrant, energetic pas de deux blending ballet and jazz vocabulary.
La Follia Variations, by Lauren Lovette, set to music of the same name by Francesco Geminiani, brims with poetry, wit, nuance and power.
Grand Pas Classique, by Victor Gsovsky, represents the epitome of classical purity and precision, allowing dancers to demonstrate their energy, endurance, and musicality through Victor Gsovsky’s brilliant and exacting choreography.
Variations, by Darrell Grand Moultrie, set to music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti and Billy Strayhorn, is an expansion of his earlier work for the Company created in an East Coast bubble in fall 2020.
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Waiting for Godot will begin streaming May 6 at 7 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s The New Group, directed by Scott Elliott.
Ethan Hawke (Vladimir), John Leguizamo (Estragon), Wallace Shawn (Lucky), Tarik Trotter (Pozzo), and Drake Bradshaw (Boy).
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Marilyn Maye: Broadway, the Maye Way will stream May 8-29 at NYC’s 54 Below.
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“Broken Records, The Albums You Wouldn’t Shut Up About,” is a weekly podcast hosted by Ben Rimalower & Daniel Nolen, who chat with guests about one album they were obsessed with, how they discovered it, what it led them to, where they were in life when it impacted them and how it’s stayed with them since. The podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, and all podcast platforms.
The newest episode, “Roses and Daffodils: The Essential Gypsy Playlist,” which offered listeners the opportunity to vote song-by-song for their favorite recorded Mama Rose, and then compiled the master playlist.