Today’s Highlights:
Shucked, by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, directed by Jack O’Brien, featuring Grey Henson (Storyteller), Ashley D. Kelley (Storyteller), John Behlmann, Kevin Cahoon, Andrew Durand, Caroline Innterbichler, and Alex Newell, with Jimmy Brewer, Audrey Cardwell, Dwayne Clark, Rheaume Crenshaw, Jaygee Macapugay, Scott Stangland, Yasmeen Sulieman, Quinn VanAntwerp, Miki Abraham, Ken Clark, Traci Elaine Lee, and Alan Wiggins, opens at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre.
37th Annual MAC Awards presentation, honoring Ken Page and Ricky Ritzel, at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space.
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Complete casting has been announced for Jon Hartmere’s Once Upon a One More Time, to begin previews May 13 and open June 22 at the Marquis Theatre, directed & choreographed by Keone & Mari Madrid.
Briga Heelan (Cinderella), Justin Guarini (Prince Charming), Aisha Jackson (Snow White), Jennifer Simard (Stepmother), Adam Godley (The Narrator), Brooke Dillman (The O.F.G), Ryan Redmond (Stepsister Belinda), Tess Soltau (Stepsister Betany), Gabrielle Beckford (Rapunzel), Ashley Chiu (Sleeping Beauty), Nathan Levy (Clumsy), Ryan Steele (Prince Erudite), Morgan Whitley (Princess Pea), Lauren Zakrin (Little Mermaid), Liv Battista Belle), Karissa Bruno (Little Girl), Pauline Casiño (Esmerelda), Selene Haro (Gretel), Joshua Daniel Johnson (Prince Brawny), Amy Hillner Larsen (Goldilocks), Justice Moore (Red), Kevin Trinio Perdido (Prince Mischievous), Mikey Ruiz (Prince Gregarious), Josh Tolle (Prince Suave), Stephen Scott Wormley (Prince Affable), and Isabella Ye (Little Girl), with Matt Allen, Jacob Burns, Salisha Thomas, and Diana Vaden.
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Stages St. Louis has announced its 2023 season. Creative teams and casting TBA.
Aida (June 2 – July 2)
Clue (July 21 – Aug. 20)
Million Dollar Quartet (Sept. 8 – Oct. 8)
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Amas Musical Theatre has announced its 54th Anniversary Gala Benefit Concert: Oh Henry, the music of Henry Krieger which will take place Mon. May 15 at 6 PM at Off-Broadway’s Theatre 555, directed by Bill Russell, with music direction by Greg Jarrett. A post-concert reception will take place at Penthouse 45 (432 West 45th Street).
The evening will culminate with the presentation of the 2023 “Rosie” Award to Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Erin Davie, Bobby Daye, Alexaner Bello, Dewitt Fleming Jr., Robert Joy, Kelvin Moon Loh, Marcy Harriell, Javier Ignacio, Jeff McCarthy, Christianne Noll, Emily Padgett, Neptune, David St. Louis, Lillias White, and Sally Wilfert.
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Video: Lea Michele & Darren Criss sing “Suddenly, Seymour”
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Project Shaw will present a reading of Misalliance on Mon. Apr. 10 at 7 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space, directed by David Staller.
Fareeda Ahmed, Charles Busch, Nick Cearley, Dan Domingues, Aziza Gharib, Randy Graff, Christopher Innvar, Shawn Kumar, and AJ Shively.
In this high-flying comedy, Shaw examines a variety of mating comginations. The social and the political collide with the romantic and the practical; the aristocrats take on the middle classes and vice versa, and, to top it all off, there’s a glamorous lady aviatrix and tipsy gun-toting socialist loos on the grounds!
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Deborah Henson-Conant’s The Golden Cage will stream for FREE Apr. 27 – May 1 HERE, directed by R. Lee Kratzer. The musical will continue on with paid streaming, with an option for at 72 hour rental at $4.99.
Christopher Isolano and Maddie Allen
The musical is about a glorious, mythical cage that’s irresistible from the outside, and inescapable from the inside. This is the story of two creatures who meet in either side of its bars. Boris, half-man and half-bird, is stranded on the outside after a lifetime searching for the cage. Alphea, trapped on the inside, is a melodramatic diva who longs for freedom, yet fears the outside and can’t remember how she got trapped inside.
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The world premiere of John J. Caswell, Jr’s Wet Brain will run May 17 – June 25 (opening June 6) at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Dustin Wills.
Frankie J. Alverez (Ron), Ceci Fernández (Angelina), Florencia Lozano (Mona), Julio Monge (Joe), and Arturo Luis Soria (Ricky).
An Arizona family deals with their father’s end-stage alcoholism. But, the play takes unexpected turns in its exploration of the permeating effects of addition. As the father is repeatedly abducted by aliens, the family must travel into outer space. Can they sort through their depths of loss and find closure lightyears away from Earth?
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Video: “New Cool” from the upcoming original series “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” which will premiere Apr. 6 on Paramount.
Marisa Davila (Jane), Cheyenne Isabel Wells (Olivia), Ari Notarttomaso (Cynthia), Tricia Fukuhara (Nancy), Shanel Bailey (Hazel), Madison Thompson (Susan), Johnathan Nieves (Richie), Jason Schmidt (Buddy), Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (Wally), and Jackie Hoffman (Asst. Principal McGee).
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Actor’s Equity Association has authorized a strike of all Broadway national tours following in impasse in negotiations with The Broadway League (which represents producers and theatre owners. If the strike happens, touring production will come to a halt.
The move follows a protracted battle (negotiations began in January) between the two organizations over the touring contract, which expired Feb. 5. Equity has been seeking to win increases in per diem payments to cover housing and food costs when its members are on the road, sufficient coverage for stage managers and actors (for when they’re sick and can’t work), and wage increases reflecting the current cost of living. The union hopes it will be able to establish a newly unified touring contract.
The current touring setup allows bigger budget shows to use the Broadway production contract with the addition of per diems, or a separate SETA (short-engagement touring agreement) contract that pays less—which was created for productions with lower guarantees. This secondary, lower-tier contract has become increasingly popular with Broadway-originating touring productions in recent years, and is the primary pain point for Equity’s membership.
The disparity between the two touring contracts can be extreme. The SETA contract allows for six categories of productions based on the tour’s guarantee, with weekly minimum salaries for actors ranging between $662-$1,255, and between $751-$2,063 for stage managers. Compare this to a weekly minimum of $2,439 for actors on Broadway and tours using the Production contract, and between $2,645 and $3,165 for stage managers.
Negotiations are set to resume Apr. 11 and 12, which could be when it will be determined if a strike will be necessary.
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The sold-out production of Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, currently running at Brooklyn’s BAM, directed by Anne Kauffman, will transfer to Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theatre, for limited engagement Apr. 25 – July 2 (opening Apr. 27).
Oscar Isaac (Sidney Brustein), Rachel Brosnahan (Iris Brustein), Gus Birney as Gloria Parodus, Julian De Niro as Alton Scales, Glenn Fitzgerald as David Ragin, Andy Grotelueschen as Wally O’Hara, Miriam Silverman as Mavis Parodus Bryson, and Raphael Nash Thompson as Max. Understudies include Joey Auzenne, Katya Campbell, Gregory Connors, and Brontë England Nelson.
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Faith Prince & Jason Graae in concert will take place at 8 PM Apr. 14 & 15 at San Francisco’s Feinstein’s at the Nikko, with music direction by Gerald Sternbach.
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Neil Patrick Harris will join the company of Peter Pan Goes Wrong (as Francis, the play’s narrator), from Apr. 11 -30 at the Barrymore Theatre. The production, currently in previews, will open Apr. 19
Note: Harris will not perform at the Apr. 21 evening or Apr. 22 performances.
Henry Lewis (Robert), Jonathan Sayer (Dennis (beginning Apr. 30), Henry Shields (Christ), Chris Leask (Trevor), Ellie Morris (Lucy), Charlie Russell (Sandra), Greg Tannahill (Jonathan), Nancy Zamit (Annie), Matthew Cavendish (Max), Bianca Horn (Jill), and Harry Kershaw (Francis), with Ryan Vincent Anderson, Stephen James Anthony, Fred Gray, and Breanan Stacker, and Bartley Booz (Dennis, through Apr. 9)
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Video: The complete 2023 Olivier Awards presentation (4:02:50).
Click here for the complete list of winners.