GRACE NOTES: Tuesday, August 20, 2024

 

Today’s Highlights:

  The Mountaintop, by Katori Hall, directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, featuring Rob Demery (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr). and Jade Paylton (Camae), begins previews at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.

  John Lloyd Young: Unchained Melodies concert, at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.

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  A concert reading of Carol Weiss’ The Door to America will take place Wed. Aug. 28 at 7 PM at Temple Israel of Hollywood, directed by Kay Cole. $5 here.

  TBA

 A couple arrive in America from Russia in 1909, facing discrimination, miserable working conditions, and heartbreaking loss. With their belief in the land of opportunity and the help of new friends, they find a new life as they make their way through “The Door to America.”

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  Sean Foley’s stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove will run Oct. 8 – Jan. 25, 2025 at the Noël Coward Theatre, directed by Foley.

  Steve Coogan, Giles Terera, and more TBA.

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  Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size will run Aug. 22 – Sept. 8 at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Bijan Sheibani.

  Alani iLongwe (Oshoosi Size), Malcom Mays (Elegba), Sheaun McKinney (Ogun Size).

  Drawing from the rich tradition of the Yoruba people of West Africa, The Brothers Size is a modern-day fable about two brothers in the Deep South. Ogun, the elder brother, embodies hard work and reliability, while Oshoosi, formerly incarcerated, is seemingly carefree and unpredictable. Their relationship is tested when the charismatic Elegba arrives, tempting Oshoosi back to his old habits. As the brothers wrestle with loyalty, freedom, and duty, their humanity is revealed through a raw and heartfelt exploration of the bonds of brotherhood.

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  The Vienna Philharmonic’s “Summer Night Concert 2024” will premiere Fri.. Aug. 23 at 9 PM ET on PBS (scroll down on the link for a preview)

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  Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me will run Sept. 24 – Oct. 13 (opening Sept. 27) at NJ’s George Street Playhouse, directed by Laiona Michelle.

  Kate Baldwin, with Nick Rodriguez, Niara Beckwith, and Wobirba Ekuba Sarpey.

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  “Keeping Company with Sondheim” (2021) is now available to stream on PBS, which includes  new interviews with Katrina Lenk, Patti LuPone, Sondheim, and more.

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  Gingold Theatrical Group‘s Golden Shamrock Gala will take place Mon. Sept. 23 at 6 PM at NYC’s Robert’s Restaurant (2 Columbus Circle), directed by TBA.

 Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty

Performers and additional details TBA.

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   Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre Company has announced its 2024-25 mainstage season:

  A Cowboy Lullaby (Dec. 4-22), world premiere by James O’Neil & Dan Wheetman, directed by TBA.    The truths, myths, lies and legends of the American West, and the poetry of characters with dreams as vast as the open range.

  Two Trains Running (Jan. 15 – Feb. 2, 2025), by August Wilson, directed by Lili-Anne Brown.

  Constellations (Feb. 19 – Mar. 9), by Nick Payne, both directed by Jonathan Fox.  Marianne, a quantum physicist, and Roland, a beekeeper, meet by chance at a barbecue. They hit it off, or not. They go home together, or not. Will a love of honey keep them together?

  Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness  world premiere (Mar. 26 – Apr. 6), by Sharon Scott Williams.  Laced with humor and pathos, this profound play follows a young girl’s decades-long dream of reconnecting with the mother she lost to mental illness. One actor plays 16 roles in the play.

  Bonnie & Clyde (Apr. 30 – May 18), by Ivan Menchell, Don Black & Frank Wildhornm directed by Scott Schwartz.

  The Epic Tale of Hi’Iaka: A New Hawaiian Musical (Oct. 22 – Nov. 9), by Roslyn Catracchia & Patrick Makuakáne. This spellbinding mew musical weaves together in an enthralling narrative of love, bravery, and the power of the elements. 

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  AudioEva Noblezada (Daisy Buchanan) performs “Beautiful Little Fool” from Broadway’s The Great Gatsby.

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  Lynn Taylor Corbett, Shaun Taylor Corbett, Chris Wiseman, Robert Lindsey-Naffis, & Michael Moricz’s Distant Thunder will run Sept. 25 – Oct. 27 (opening Oct. 3) at  A.R.T/New York Theaters, directed & choreographed by Lynn Taylor Corbett.

  Jeff Barehand, Spencer Battiest, Aubee Billie, Xander Chauncey, Bonale Fambrini, Brent Florend-Sitwallapum, Angela Gómez, Irma-Estelle Laguerre, Johnlee Lookingglass, Michelle Rios, Glenn Stanton, Sampwe Tarrant, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, and Chelsea Zeno

  A child is taken from his Blackfeet tribe and returns as an attorney with an opportunity that unwittingly sets off a firestorm. Pop-rock merges with native drumming and dancing, fusing cultures in this ultimately joyful first-of-its-kind musical.

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  Concord Theatricals has announced the winners of the 2024 Samual French Off Off Broadway Play Festival, the nation’s premiere short play competition.  The 6 winning plays will be published and available for licensing by Concord  Theatricals.

  A Neo-Vagina Monologue, by Aster Aguilar
  Pilloried, by Jillian Blevins
  A Mercy At Midnight Castle, by Phillip Gregory Burke
  Data Queen, by Adam Ashraf Elsayigh
  Beethoven’s Third, by Holward Ho
 A Definitive Ranking of the Closest Friends, by Jay Stalder

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   Fatherland , written & directed by Stephen Sachs, will run Sept. 18 – Nov. 23 (opening Sept. 26) at New York City Center Stage II.

  Ron Bottitta (Father), Patrick Keleher (Son), Anna Kahja (U.S. Attorney), and Larry Poindexter (Defense Attorney).

  The true story of a young man who must summon the moral courage to speak the truth at the risk of upending his life and casting his family into turmoil,” says Sachs in a statement. “Unlike characters in a scripted play, the people you meet in Fatherland are not made up. They are real. … In this urgent election year, when the fate of our nation teeters before us, Fatherland reminds us of the human cost of cult worship and dangerous ideology. A warning cry for our country, at its core, Fatherland brings home the struggle of a father and son, each called to take action without losing his soul. What would you do?”


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