Today’s Highlights:
Love Never Dies in Concert, directed by Shaun Kerrison, featuring Norm Lewis (Phantom), Celinde Schoenmaker (Christine), Matthew Seadon-Young (Raoul), Courtney Stapleton (Meg), Sally Dexter (Madame Giry), Nic Greenshields ((Squelch), Charles Brunton (Gangle), and Lucie-Mae Summer (Fleck), with Chloe Campbell, Alex Christian, Courtney George, Aoife Kenny, Alex Pinder, and Emily Ann Potter, opens at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, directed by Dantee Kiehn, featuring Jacob Gotay (Anatole Kuragin), Natascia Diaz (Marya), Austen Danielle Bohmer (Mary), Billy Cohen (Andrey/Bolkonsky), Kennedy Caugh (Sonya), Sondra Okuboyejo (Natasha Rostova), Nick Rehberger (Pierre Bezukhov), Lili Thomas (Hélène Bezukhov), and Jamari Williams (Balaga), with Lawrence Alexander, Anna Bakun, Siggy Bijou, Matthew Diston, Zephaniah Divine, Kylie Edwards, Logan Farine, Mathew Fedorek, Nathan Fister, Katie Griffith, Kyra Klonoski, Kiara Lee, Alicia Newcom, Alexander Podolinski, Kiana Rodriguez, Austin Schulte, Laura Yen Solito, David Toole, Joseph Torello, Elizabeth Yanick, Genny Lis Padilla, and Sam Marzell, opens at Pittsburgh CLO.
Death Note The Musical in Concert, by Frank Wildhorn, Jack Murphy & Ivan Menchell, directed & choreographed by Nick Winston, featuring Adam Pascal, Aimie Atkinson, Rachel Clare Chan, Christian Ray Marbella, Frances Mayli McCann, Dean John-Wilson, and Joaquin Pedro Valdes, with Felipe Bejarano, Charlotte Coggin, Jade Copas, Eu Jin Hwang, Yojiro Ichikawa, Deena Kapadia, David Kar-Hing Lee, Nick Len, Jasmine Leung, Jojo Meredith, Marcel Li-Ping, and Janine Somcio, closes at the London Palladium.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz: Don’t Do It! by Jim Bernhard
Match these songs with the musicals they are from:
| 1. “Don’t Blame Me” | A. Babes in Toyland |
| 2. “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina | B. Sophisticated Ladies |
| 3. “Don’t Cry, Bo-Peep” | C. Cabaret |
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D. Funny Girl |
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E. Sugar Babies |
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F. Over Here |
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G. Evita |
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H. Follies |
| 9. “Don’t Rain On My Parade” | I. Little Shop of Horrors |
| 10. “Don’t Tell Mamma” | 10. Flower Drum Song |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Jon Hartmere’s Once Upon a One More Time, which opened in June, will play its final performance Sept. 3 at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre after 123 performances, 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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Initial casting has been announced Manhattan Theatre Club‘s production of Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic, to begin previews Dec. 19 and open Jan. 9, 2024 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by David Cromer.
Betsy Aidem, Francis Benhamou, Ari Brand, Anthony Edwards, Molly Ranson, Nancy Robinetter, Aria Shahghasemi, and more TBA.
In 1944, a Jewish couple in Paris desperately awaits news of their missing family. More than 70 years later, the couple’s great-grandchildren find themselves facing the same question as their ancestors: “Are we safe?”
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Video: Promo clip from The Bridges of Madison County at Bucks County Playhouse, starring Kate Baldwin and Nicholas Rodriguez.
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Inua Ellams’ The Half-God of Rainfall will run Sept. 8 – Sept. 24 (opening Sept. 12) at Cambridge’s A.R.T., directed by Taibi Magar.
Jason Bowen (Sàngó), Kelley Curan (Hera), Mister Fitzgerald (Demi), Patrice Johnson Chevannes (Osún), Russell G. Jones (Elegba), Michael Laurence (Zeus), and Jennifer Mogbock (Modúpé).
There’s something humbling and mortal about basketball in the sense that there’s a simple equation. The ball bounces; it comes back up to your palm. You can break that down. This is solitariness, which invites the blues and what it means to play the blues. There’s a longing. There’s a natural melancholy about it,” he added, which makes it “easier to pair with the human spirit.”
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A conversation and discussion with Julie Andrews & Emma Hamilton Walton about their new book, “The Enchanted Symphony,” will take place Sun. Sept. 10 at 3 PM at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre.
Pre-autographed copies of the book will be available at the event or may be purchased in advance with tickets.
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One performance of Henry Johnson, a world premiere by David Mamet, will take place Sept. 1 – 24 at Electric Lodge, directed by Marja-Lewis Ryan.
Shia La Beouf (Gene), David Paymer (Mr. Barnes), Dominic Hoffman (Jerry), and Evan Jonigkeit (Henry).
The play follows the plight of a man after an act of compassion upends his life.
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Video: Roger Bart discusses taking on the iconic role of Dr. Emmett Brown in Broadway’s Back to the Future the Musical.
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Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner & Alan Stevens Hewitt’s Lizzie will run Sept. 29 – Oct. 22 at Theaterworks Hartford, directed by Lainie Sakakura, with music direction by Erika R. Gamez.
Kim Onah (Alice Russell), Nora Schell (Bridget Sullivan), Sydney Shepherd (Lizzie Borden), and Lili Thomas (Emma Borden).
A searing rock concert re-telling of the mind-bendingLizzie Borden myth.
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Gordon Greenberg & Steve Rosen’s Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors will run Sept. 4 – Jan. 7, 2024 (opening Sept. 18) at New World Stages, directed by Gordon Greenberg.
Jordan Boatman, Arnie Burton, James Daly, Ellen Harvey, and Andrew Keenan-Bolger, with Kaitlin Boyer and Sean-Michael Wilkinson.
This lighting-fast comedic reimagining celebrates goth, camp, sexuality, and the magic of live theatre… in 90 minutes. This gender-bending, quick-change romp features a pansexual GenZ Count Dracula in the midst of an existential crisis. When he sets his sights on the brilliant young earth scientist Lucy Westfeldt, he meets his match for the first time – as well as a slew of other colorful characters including vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing, insect connoisseur Percy Renfield and behavioral psychiatrist Wallace Westfeldt, whose British country estate doubles as a free-range mental asylum.
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RIP: Chris Peluso passed away Aug. 15 at the age of 40. The sudden news came just one year after it was publicly revealed that Mr. Peluso had stepped away from theatre work to seek treatment for a schizoaffective disorder.
He made a name for himself on Broadway as a favored understudy, covering The Balladeer in the 2004 Tony-winning revival of Assassins, both Louis and Nicolas in Elton John’s Lestat, and all three leading male roles in Beautiful The Carole King Musical: Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, and Don Kirshner. Elsewhere on Broadway, he played Sky in Mamma Mia! On the road, he both starred and covered the role of Fiyero in multiple tours of Wicked. Off-Broadway, he starred in The Glorious Ones.
In London, where he had relocated, Mr. Peluso was equally prolific, appearing in The Woman in White, Death Takes a Holiday, and Show Boat, as well as starring as Chris in the revival of Miss Saigon opposite Eva Noblezada prior to the production’s transfer to Broadway. He also starred as Nick Arnstein opposite Sheridan Smith in the U.K. tour of Funny Girl.
Information on a public memorial and celebration of Mr. Peluso’s life is forthcoming.
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Boston’s Lyric Stage has announced its 2023-24 season:
Assassins (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), directed by Courtney O’Connore, with music direction by Dan Reodriguez.
The Game’s Afoot (Nov. 10 – Dec. 17), by Ken Ludwig, directed by Fred Sullivan Jr.
Trouble in Mind (Jan. 12 – Feb. 24, 2024) by Alice Childress, directed by Dawn M. Simmons. A Black actress makes her 1955 Broadway debut in a backstage story crackling with wit and startling revelations.
Thirst (Feb. 23 – Mar. 17), by Ronán Noone, directed by Cournet O’Commor. Two Irish Immigrant women search for love, serenity, and a place to call “home.”
The Drowsy Chaperone (Apr. 15 – May 12), directed & choreographed by Larry Sousa, with music direction by Larry Stern
Yellow Face (May 31 – June 23), by David Henry Hwang, directed by Ted Hewlett.
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The world premiere of Taylor Mac & Jason Robert Brown’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will run June 25 – Aug. 4, 2024 at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, directed by Rob Ashford, with choreography by Tanya Birl.
Casting and additional information TBA.
The story of a socially prominent Savannah, Georgia, antiques dealer who was tried, and retried, for murder.
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Video: Norm Lewis performs “Til’ I Hear You Sing” in rehearsal from Love Never Dies.
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Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company has announced its 2023-24 season:
Agatha Christie’s Murder on he Orient Express (Sept. 22 – Oct. 7), directed by Melissa Rain Anderson, featuring Bonnie Black (Princess Dragomiroff), Amy Bodnar (Greta Ohlsson), Andrea Morales (Mary Debenhan), Robert Scott Smith (Colonel Arbuthnot/Samual Ratchett), Anne Tolpegin (Helen Hubbard), with Gisela Chípe (Countess Andrenyi), Edward Juvier (Monsieur Bouc), Matthew McGloin (Hector MacQueen), Alec Michel the Conductor/Head Waiter), and John Tufts (Hercule Poirot).
The Rocky Horror Show (Oct. 20-31)
Christmas in Connecticut (Dec. 1-16)
Native Gardens (Jan. 12-27, 2024)
Bonnie & Clyde (Feb. 23 – Mar. 9)
The Lehman Trilogy (Mar. 29 – Apr. 13)
Nathasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (May 10-25)
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Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline, directed by Bryan Keith, has been extended through Aug. 26 at Hollywood’s Art of Acting Studio.
Lou Acosta, Jon Gentry, Fadhia Carmelle Marcelin, Nate Memba, Jennifer Sorenson, Ariana Sucar, and Omari Williams.
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Celebration Theatre‘s The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen, written & performed by Les Kurkendaal-Barrett, will run Aug. 31 – Sept. 24 (opening Sept. 9) at the LGBT Center, directed by Tom Trudgeon.
While under anesthetic euphoria, a Black gay artist names Les is visited by the effervescent spirit of William Dorsey Swan, aka “The Queen,” who, during their journey, provokes him to challenge all too familiar modern-day monsters.
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Listen: “Every Single Day” from Broadway’s upcoming Harmony.
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Backstage Babble Celebrates Tony Awards History, celebrating all things Tony Awards between the years 1969 – 2022, will take place Mon. Aug. 28 at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Alex Rybeck.
Willy Falk, Penny Fuller, Anita Gillette, John-Andrew Morrison, Jill O’Hara, Lee Roy Reams, Austin Pendleton, Virgtinia Seidel, Jane Summerhays, and Martin Vidnovic, with Elena Bennett and Damon Evans, with a video message from Daisy Eagan.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: Don’t Do It!
1-E. “Don’t Blame Me,” song from Sugar Babies
2-G. “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” song from Evita
3-A. “Don’t Cry, Bo-Peep,” song from Babes in Toyland
4-I. “Don’t Feed the Plants,” song from Little Shop of Horrors
5-B. “Don’t Get Around Much Any More,” song from Sophisticated Ladies
6-H. “Don’t Look At Me,” song from Follies
7-J. “Don’t Marry Me,” song from Flower Drum Song
8-D. “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” song from Funny Girl
9-F. “Don’t Shoot the Hooey to Me, Louie,” song from Over Here
10-C. “Don’t Tell Mama,” song from Cabaret