GRACE NOTES: Tuesday, August 31, 2021

 

Today’s Highlights:

Nothing today…

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&   Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s Designing Women will run Sept. 22 – Oct. 24 (and available to stream on Oct. 1) at Fayetteville, Arkansas’ TheaterSquared, directed by Amy Herzberg & Harry Thomason.

Carmen Cusack (Julia Sugarbaker), Amy Pietz (Suzanne Sugarbaker), Sarah Colonna (Mary Jo Shively), Elaine Hendrix (Charlene Frazier), Carla Renata (Cleo Bouvier), Kim Matula (Haley McPhee), and Elizabeth Ofodile (Alfie).

Set in 2020, Julia, Suzanne, Mary Joe, and Charlene are back — and they have plenty to say about our current times. COVID is raging, a consequential election is just days away, and Atlanta is at the center of the storm.

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  Jeff Smith & Len Wechsler’s The Last Night of Oki Dog will run Sept 22, 23 & 25 at Theatre Row, directed by Christopher Scott.

Kara Arena, Alina Carson, Joseph Elliot Rodriguez, John DeFilippo, Mirko Raienza, Evan Leone, Amir Malaklou, Alex Might, and William Valles.

On a warm December night in 1985 West Hollywood, the Oki Dog, infamous hangout for runaways and misfits, is forced to close. For Twilight and her friends, this means the uprooting of all that they know: their friendships, their makeshift home, even their hopeful Hollywood dreams. As Twilight clings to the only real family she’s ever known, their last night together forces a reckoning with the past and hesitant steps towards an uncertain future — one in which their security, relationships and their very lives remain in doubt.

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The national tour of My Fair Lady, directed by Bartlett Sher, will resume performances Sept. 14 at Houston’s Hobby Center. Click here for the complete tour schedule.

  Shereen Ahmed (Eliza Doolittle), Laird Mackintosh (Professor Henry Higgins), Leslie Alexander (Mrs. Higgins), Adam Grupper (Alfred P. Doolittle), Kevin Pariseau (Colonel Pickering), Gayton Scott (Mrs. Pearce), Sam Simahk (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), and Lee Zarrett (Zoltan Karpathy), with Rajeer Alford, Colin Anderson, Polly Baird, Mark Banik, Michael Biren, Mary Callanan, Elena Camp, Christopher Faison, Nicole Ferguson, Kaitlyn Frank, Juliane Godfrey, Colleen Grate, Patrick Kerr, Brandon Leffler, Nathalie Marrable, William Michals, Aisha Mitchell, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, George Psomas, Keven Quillon, JoAnna Rhinehart, Samantha Sturm, Sarah Quinn Taylor, Gerard M. Williams, Michael Williams, Richard Riaz Yoder, and Minami Yusui.

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  Virginia Stage Company has announced its 2021-22 season:

  Dear Jack, Dear Louise (Oct. 17 – Nov. 7), by Ken Ludwig, directed by Seema Sueko.  When two strangers meet by letter during Worl War II, a love story begins, about his parents’ courtship. And the results are anything by expected.

  Hold These Truths (Oc.t 17 – Nov. 7), by Jeanne Sakata, directed by Seema Sueko.  As the U.S. joins World War II, University of Washington student, Gordon Hirabayashi agonizes over government orders to forcibly remove and mass incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.

  A Merry Little Christmas Carol (Dec. 4-21), by Mark Shanahan, directed by Tom Quaintance.

  The Thanksgiving Play (Jan. 19 – Feb. 6, 2022), by Larissa Fasthorse, director TBA.

  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Mar. 2-20), , director TBA.

  Dreamgirls (Apr. 13 – May 1), director TBA.

  Every Brilliant Thing (May 11 – Jun 5), by Duncan Macmillan & Jonny Donahoe, director TBA.

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  NY’s 92 Y presents the following conversations:

  The Good Fight: Christine Baranski in Conversation (Thurs. Sept. 9 at 7 PM ET) FREE event.  Details here. Following Season 5, Baranski talks about the show incisive, ever-evolving topicality, featuring storylines in recent episodes centered on racial justice, police brutality, the Capitol riots, the pandemic, cancel culture, and more. She shares what might lie ahead for Diane Lockhart in the upcoming 6th season.

  Sutton Foster in Conversation: Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life (Wed. Oct. 13 at 7 PM ET, both in person and online. Details here. How does the talented Foster make everything she does look so easy? An avid crafter from her early performing days when she picked up a cross stich needle to escape bullying chorus girls, Foster found that crafting kept her centered. She talks about it all, along with her reflections on her fraught relationship with her agoraphobic mother, a painful divorce, her struggle with infertility,  the joy of adopting her daughter, the thrill she experiences when performing, and her return to Broadway early next year in The Music Man with Hugh Jackman.

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NYC’s Town Hall presents a Centennial Concert on Mon. Sept. 20 at 7 PM ET at Bryant Park, to celebrate the venue’s 100th anniversary.

Chris Thile, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Sullivan Fortner, Zakir Hussain, Ganesh Rjagopalan, Damon Daunno, and Timo Andres, with more TBA.

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  LA Opera presents Verdi’s Il Trovatore Sept. 18 – Oct. 10 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, conducted by James Conlon.

Guanqun-Yu, Morris Robinson, Limmie Pulliam, and Gregory Kunde.

LA Opera has seats for every schedule and every budget, and you can buy with confidence thanks to state-of-the-art air filtration and new cleaning and safety protocols  and our ticket guarantee. This means you can transfer your tickets, swap your seats for livestream access, or request a refund at any time—and with zero fees.

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  The new drama, “The Girl From Plainville,” by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus, will stream on Hulu (release date TBA).

Elle Fanning, Norbert Leo Butz, Chloë Sevigny, and Colton Ryan.

The story is based on an Esquire article by Jesse Barron chronicling the “texting suicide” case of teen Michelle Carter and her relationship with Conrad “Coco” Roy III.

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  Video: Adrienne Warren performs “Being Alive.”

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David Harrower’s Blackbird will run Sept. 14 – Oct. 3 at the New Ohio Theatre, directed by Kim T. Sharp.

Francesca Ravera and Lenny Grossman.

Fifteen years ago, twelve-year-old Una and forty-year-old Ray’s sexual relationship ended abruptly. Now Una finds him again. A tense, riveting play that examines the aftermath of abuse.

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DC’s Folger Theatre has named Karen Ann Daniels its new Artistic Director and Director of Programming.  She succeeds Janet Alexander Griffin, who retired in Spring 2021.

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  DC’s Folger Theatre has announced its 2022 season:

  Nathan the Wise (Mar. 16 – Apr. 10), adapted by Michael Bloom, directed by Adam Immerwahr.  Inspired by Shakespeare, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s 1779 work explores religious tolerance and multiculturalism and has been compared to one of the Bard’s late comedies.

  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (July 12 – Aug. 28), directed by TBA.

  The Tempest (dates TBA), directed by Aaron Posner & Teller. Shakespeare’s final incantation, featuring choreography by Pilobolus and the songs of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.

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  Seth Rudetsky’s Seth’s Broadway Breakdown will run 3 times a week starting Oct. 15 at Off-Broadway’s Asylum NYC.

Seth will break down musical theatre performances to help us understand what makes them brilliant (or not!).

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  Fall Benefit :Light the Lights: A Drama League Celebration will take place Mon. Oct. 18 at 6 PM ET at NYC’s Players Club. The event will include cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and intimate musical performances.

Wayne Brady

Performers TBA.

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Searchlight Pictures’ dark comedy “The Menu” is currently in development, written by Will Tracy, and directed by Mark Mylod.  A release date is TBA.

Ralph Fiennes, Judith Light, John Leguizamo, Janet McTeer, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hong Chau, and, Nicholas Hoult.

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu — and some shocking surprises.

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  A Night With Deaf Broadway will present selections in ASL from Into the Woods on Wed. Sept. 15 at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Damrosch Park. Advance tickets are available through TodayTix, with walk-in seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Joshua M. Castille (Jack/Steward), Shelly Guy (Cinderella/Granny), Dickie Hearts (Rapunzel’s Prince/Florinda), Amelia Hensley (Baker’s Wife), John McGinty (Cinderella’s Prince/Lucinda/Wolf), Malik Paris (Baker), Anjel Piñero (Little Red/Rapunzel), Gabriel Silva (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Anne Tomasetti (Jack’s Mother/Stepmother), and Alexandria Wailes (Witch).

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  Video: Highlights from last weekend’s Elsie Fest.

More highlights here.

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  Jay Armstrong Johnson’s Jay’s Birthday Bash: There is No Place like Home will take place Wed. Sept. 1 at 9:45 PM ET at 54 Below, with music direction by Will Van Dyke.

Allison Robinson and Amanda Williams Ware.

 

 


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