Today’s Highlights:
Wicked national tour, featuring Talia Suskauer (Elphaba), Allison Bailey (Glinda), Sharon Sachs (Madame Morrible), Cleavant Derricks (The Wizard), Amanda Fallon Smith (Nessarose), Curt Hansen (Fiyero), and DJ Plunkett (Boq), with Natalia Vivino, Travante S. Baker, Anthony Lee Bryant, Nick Burrage, Jordan Casanova, Matt Densky, Marie Eife, Ryan Patrick Farrell, Sara Gonzales, Alison Jantzie, Kelly Lafarga, Marina Lazzaretto, Jordan Litz, Megan Loomis, Micaela Martinez, Alida Michal, Hayden Milanes, Dashi Mitchell, Jennafer Newberry, Alicia Newcom, David Scott Purdy, Jackie Raye, Rebecca Gans Reavis, Andy Richardson, Anthony Sagaria, Jenna Nicole Schoen, Wayne Schroder, Ben Susak, and Justin Wirick, resumes performances at Dallas’ Music Hall at Fair Park.
The Sound of Music, directed by Matt Kunkel, featuring Kate Rockwell (Maria), Michael Hayden (Captain von Trapp), Bryonha Marie Parham (Mother Abbess), Jenny Powers (Elsa), John Scherer (Max), Elizabeth Teeter (Liesl), Andrew Alstat (Rolf), Leah Berry (Sister Margaretta), David Hess (Franz), Michael James Reed (Herr Zeller), April Strelinger (Frau Schmidt), Jerry Vogel (Admiral von Schreiber), Jillian Depke (Brigitta), Parker Dzuba (Kurt), Abby Hogan (Marta), Amelie Lock (Louisa), Kate Scarlett Kappel (Gretl), and Victor de Paula Rocha (Friedrich), with Jordan Bollwerk, Emma Gassett, Madison Geiger, Ta’Nika Gibson, Julie Hanson, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Beth Kirkpatrick, Debby Lennon, Eric Jon Mahlum, Leann Schuering, Blakely Slaybaugh, and Taylor Tveten, opens at the St. Louis Muny.
Detroit ’67, by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Candis C. Jones, featuring Stori Ayers, JaBen Early, Valeka Jessica, Emily Kester, and Greg Alverez Reid, begins streaming at DC’s Signature Theatre.
2:22 – A Ghost Story, by Danny Robins, directed by Matthew Dunster, featuring Lily Allen (Jenny), Hadley Fraser (Sam), Julia Chan (Lauren), and Jake Wood (Ben), begins previews at London’s Noël Coward Theatre.
Bree Loudermilk & Friends concert, with special guests Kait Kerrigan, Krystina Alabado, Zach Altman, Charity Angél Dawson, Zoe Jensen, Kait Kerrigan, Danny Harris Kornfeld, Danny Harris Kornfeld, Sav Souza, and Cory Wade, at 9 PM ET at 54 Below (also Aug. 4).
“Putting it Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George” book release conversation with Sondheim & Lapine, moderated by Christine Baranski, streams at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Town Hall.
A Little New Music concert, spotlighting the music of Jessica Fleitman & Rick Bassett, livestreams for FREE at 7 PM PT here.
“Putting it Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George,” released on audiobook here.
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Video: Jim Caruso’s Cast Party variety show, with special guest Stephanie J. Block. (48:27)
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The world premiere of Alex Wyse & Ben Fankhauser’s A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, to run Sept. 17 – Nov. 14 (opening Sept. 27) at the DR2 Theatre, directed by Marshall Pailet, with music direction by Alex Goldie Golden.
Alex Wyse, Ben Fankhauser, and Bryonha Marie Parham.
Two nobodies dream of writing one hit song for everybody, but their day job composing jingles for commercials isn’t the big break they’s hoped. That is, until they’re plucked from obscurity by a world-famous pop star named Regina Comet, and she want’s them to create an anthem for her supernova pipes… and her new perfume.
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AMAZON:
“Annie,” starring Aileen Quinn, Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, Tim Curry, Ann Reinking, Albert Finney, and Geofrey Holder.
“Catch Me If You Can” musical, , directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz.
“Center Stage,” directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Peter Gallagher, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, and Priscilla Lopez.
“La La Land,” starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
“Annette” (begins Aug. 20) musical starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard.
A standup comedian and his world-famous soprano wife find their lives are upended after giving birth to a daughter with a special gift.
HBO MAX
“The Birdcage,” starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine, and Glenne Headly.
“The Other Two” (Season 2 begins Aug. 26), starring Heléne Yorke, Josh Segarra, Molly Shannon, Case Walker, and Ken Marino
HULU
“Bagdad Cafe” (Aug. 25-28).
A woman trapped i an unhappy marriage decides to leave her husband behind during a road trip and start working in a cafe in the middle of nowhere. Working with tough-as-nails Brenda, the two build a friendship and encounter some unique characters on their way to making the pit stop a place to remember.
“Plaza Suite,” (1971), directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Walter Mattheau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbra Harris, and Lee Grant.
“Only Murders in the Building” (begins Aug. 31), starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez. and Nathan Lane
The lives of three true crime-obsessed strangers collide after they witness a murder. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the tree unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretches back years. Soon they realize a killer might be living amongst them, as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.
NETFLIX
“Vivo” (begins Aug. 6), an animated movie musical with songs by Lin Manuel Miranda.
A kinkajou must deliver a letter from his owner in Havana to a long-lost love in Miami, starring Mirand, Gloria Estefan, Juan De Marcos, Zoe Saldaña, Michel Rooker, Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo, Lidya Jewett, Brian Tyree Henry, Nicole Byer, Leslie David Baker, and Ynairaly Simo.
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Broadway in Hollywood and the Pantages theatre have announced vaccine ticket requirements:
* Ticket holders must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to see Hamilton, which run Aug. 17 – Jan. 2, 2022 at the Pantages Theatre.
* “Fully vaccinated” means the attended performance is at least 14 days after receiving the final vaccine dose. To enter the theatre, patrons must bring a photo ID and proof of vaccination.
* Guests who have not been vaccinated due to age restrictions, medical reasons, or a “sincerely held religious belief” must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to entering the theatre.
* Children under five will not be admitted to the theatre.
* This policy will remain in effect for performances through October 10 and then be re-assessed on an ongoing basis. As previously announced, the show will be performed to audiens at 100% capacity.
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“On Broadway” – written & directed by Oren Jacoby, which chronicles how Broadway, on the verge of bankruptcy in the ’70s, avoided collapse and reinvented itself – will be released in NYC on Aug. 20. The film will subsequently open in Los Angeles on Aug. 27 prior to a national rollout.
Trailer, featuring interviews with Hugh Jackman, Helen Mirren, George C. Wolfe, Ian McKellen, Christine Baranski, and Alec Baldwin.
The story of Broadway’s self-reinvention is told by a cast that also includes August Wilson, Hal Prince, James Corden, John Lithgow, Tommy Tune, Alexandra Billings, David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, Nicholas Hytner, Jack O’Brien, Daniel Sullivan, Trevor Nunn, Julie Taymor, Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, and Tony Kushner.
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Complete casting has been announced for the return of Moulin Rouge! The Musical when the show resumes performances on Sept. 24 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
Aaron Tveit (Christian), Natalie Mendoza (Satine), Danny Burstein (Harold Zidler), Sahr Ngaujah (Toulouse-Lautrec), Tam Mutu (The Duke of Monroth), Ricky Rojas (Santiago), Robyn Hurder (Nini), and Ashley Loren (Satine Alternate), with Jacqueline B. Arnold, Holly James, Jeigh Madjus, Joe Beauregard, Keely Beirne, Giovanni Bonaventura, Olutayo Bosede, Maya Bowles, Kyle Brown, Sam J. Cahn, bobby Daye, Mia DeWeese, Karlie Dinardo, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Aaron C. Finley, Bahiyah Hibah, Ericka Hunter, Cameron Mitchell Jackson, Tasia Jungbauer, Jose-Luis Lopez Jr, Reed Luplau, Kara Menendez, Kaitlin Mesh, Fred Odgaard, Dylan Paul, Khori Michelle Petinaud, Benjamin Rivera, Julius Anthony Rubio, and Branden Stonestreet.
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Nikkole Salter’s Lines in the Dust continues streaming through Aug. 8 at New Normal Rep, directed by Awoye Timpo.
Jeffrey Bean, Melissa Joyner, and Lisa Rosetta Strum.
It’s 2010 in Essex County, NJ. When Denitra loses the charter school lottery for her daughter, she must find another way to escape from their underperforming neighborhood school. The answer seems like a risk well worth taking, but may end up requiring a bigger sacrifice than she ever could have imagined. Set over a half-century after Brown Versus the Board of Education, the play questions how far we’ve come, and more importantly, where we go from here.
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San Francisco’s 42nd Street Moon has announced its 2021-22 season:
Chess in Concert (Sept. 24-26), directed by Daren A.C. Carollo, with music directed & conducted by Daniel Thomas.
A Little Night Music (Nov. 4-13), directed by Tom Ross.
Fun Home (Feb. 3-20, 2022), directed by Tracy Ward.
A Grand Night for Singing (Mar. 10-27), directed & choreographed by Cindy Goldfield.
The Scottsboro Boys (Apr. 21 – May 8), directed by Brandon Jackson.
The Pajama Game (June 2-19), directed by Marie Haven.
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Audio: Rebecca Luker performs “I Wish It So” from Juno.
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DC’s Signature Theatre presents Domique Morisseau’s Detroit ’67, which continues streaming through Sept. 16, directed by Candis C. Jones.
Stori Ayers, JaBen Early, Valeka Jessica, Emily Kester, and Greg Alverez Reid.
In 1967 Detroit, Motown has hit its groove, and the Poindexter siblings make ends meet by hosting parties in their basement. However, Lank and his friend Sly have dreams beyond the cellar shindigs, despite Chelle’s resistance. However, Lank and his friend Sly have dreams beyond the cellar shindigs, despite Chelle’s resistance. When Lank then brings home a mysterious white woman, the family’s simmering disagreements explode, as their streets erupt in riots, and life becomes a lot more dangerous.
