Today’s Highlights:
The New Group‘s The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, adapted & directed by Scott Elliott, featuring Ato Essandoh, David Cale, Patrick Foley, Hari Nef, Daniel Oreskes, Parker Posey, Bill Sage, Aleyse Shannon, Amy Siller, and Nat Wolff, opens at Off-Broadway’s Signature Center.
Oklahoma, reimagined & directed by Daniel Fish, featuring Arthur Darvill (Curly), Anoushka Lucas (Laurey), Patrick Vaill (Jud Fry), Georgina Onuorah (Ado Annie), Liza Sadovy (Aunt Eller), James Patrick Davis (Will Parker), Phillip Olagoke (Cord Elam), Stavros Demetraki (Ali Hakim), Raphael Bushay (Mike), Greg Hicks (Andrew Carnes), Rebekah Hinds (Gertie Cummings), and Marie-Astrid Mence (Lead Dancer), opens at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.
Dark Disabled Stories, world premiere by Ryan J. Haddad, directed by Jordan Fein, featuring Ryan J. Haddad, Dickie Hearts, and Alejandra Ospina, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
The Lonely Few, world premiere by Rachel Bonds & Zoe Sarnak, directed by Trip Cullman & Ellenore Scott, featuring Lauren Patten (Lila), Ciara Renée (Amy), Joshua Close (Adam), Damon Daunno (Dylan), Helen J Shen (JJ), and Thomas Silcott (Paul), begins previews at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
Black Broadway: A Proud History, A Limitless Future concert, featuring Nikki Renee Daniels, Norm Lewis, Stephanie Mills, Nova Payton, Corbin Bleu, Tiffany Mann, John Manzari, Amber Iman, Peppermint, Leah Flynn, and Sydney James Harcourt, premieres at 8 PM ET on PBS.
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Reviews for The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window at the Brooklyn Academy of Music:
New York Times (Jesse Green): …An indictment of what one of its characters calls “ostrich-ism” — “the great sad withdrawal from the affairs of men” — the play was, and remains, as brilliant and pugnacious a punch against liberal inertia as any thrown in real life… What it isn’t, quite, is coherent, as the revival that opened on Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music makes clear in making just some of it work. Its hailstorm of ideas remains stunning — and aptly painful if, as a proud progressive, you’re struck in the face by the ice of its wit. But as human drama goes, and despite fine performances by Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, it’s hard to discern a satisfying emotional shape in all the weather. It’s blurry…
Theatermania (David Gordon): … Anne Kauffman’s thrilling staging — led by the terrific Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan — brings Hansberry’s words to life with the urgency of something written yesterday. Sure, it’s a little hirsute (and at three full hours, extremely wearying), but the whole thing is just so alive that it’s nothing short of dazzling… Hansberry writes with the fervor of someone trying to get all her feelings out before it’s too late… But the warts are part of the charm, and it’s just so exiting to realize that this 59-year-old play speaks to our current social climate with such effortlessness, as Hansberry dares her characters (and especially the audience) to confront their own actions and inactions, and the realization that we all can be bought and sold without considering the ramifications…
The Daily Beast (Tim Teeman): …feels very much of its time, and dustily lost in it too… its concern is to show the depth and also frail pieties and concerted whining of the white ‘60s liberal. It is both merciful and merciless in this respect, and it is beautifully written as a piece of text. But it is a grating snooze of a play; it ponders, meanders, stalls, and ultimately gets stuck in its own plot-free thicket of words. Its characters circle each other, and its arguments do the same. Dramatically, it is rambling and unsatisfying… at least this production has a starry cast — Oscar Isaac, as Sidney, and Rachel Brosnahan as his wife Iris—and one standout performance, Miriam Silverman as Mavis…
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York Theatre Company‘s production of Jack Heifner & David Kirshenbaum’s Vanities – The Musical will run Mar. 21 – Apr. 22 (opening Mar. 30) at Theatre at St. Jean’s, directed by Will Pomerantz, with choreography by Shannon Lewis, and music direction by Deborah Abramson.
Jade Jones (Mary), Amy Keum (Kathy), and Hayley Podschun (Joanne), with Olivia Kaufmann.
A heartfelt and humorous chronicle of the lives of Joanne, Kathey, and Mary – tracing them from their late teen years through adulthood. The grow and changes, testing the limits of what they thought they knew about themselves, as well as the narrow views of women society has presented them.
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LA Theatre Week will run Mar. 13-26 at various locations.
Click here for the complete schedule of events.
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New York, New York, by Kander & Ebb, David Thompson, Sharon Washington, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, will begin previews Mar. 24 and open Apr. 26 at the St. James Theatre, directed & choreographed by Susan Stroman, with music direction by Alvin Hough.
Clyde Alves (Tommy Caggiano), John Clay III (Jesse Webb), Janet Dacal (Sofia Diaz), Ben Davis (Gordon Kendrick), Colton Ryan (Jimmy Doyle), Anna Uzele (Francine Evans), Oliver Prose (Alex Mann), Angel Sigala (Mateo Diaz), and Emily Skinner (Madame Veltri), with Wendi Bergamini, Allison Blackwell, Giovanni Bonaventura, Jim Borstelmann, Lauren Carr, Mike Cefalo, Bryan J. Cortés, Kristine Covillo, Gabriella Enriquez, Haley Fish, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Richard Gatta, Stephen Hanna, Naomi Kakuk, Akina Kitazawa, Ian Liberto, Kevin Ligon, Leo Moctezuma, Aaron Nicholas Patterson, Dayna Marie Quincy, Julian Ramos, Drew Redington, Benjamin Rivera, Vanessa Sears, Davis Wayne, Jeff Williams, and Darius Wright.
The new musical is set in 1946. The war is over, and a collection of artists has dreams as big and diverse as the city itself. Among them is Francine Evans (Uzele), a young singer just off the bus from Philly, who is destined for greatness. At least, until she encounters New York native Jimmy Doyle (Ryan), a brilliant but disillusioned musician.
Video: In rehearsal
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The Actors Studio, now celebrating its 75th anniversary, will open its doors to the public to observe “Actors Studio in Process” on Mar. 3 & 4 at 7 PM. Seating is extremely limited. 
here (required).
With this new series, the legendary Studio opens its doors to the public for a rare opportunity to observe representative work from its private sessions.
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Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre has announced its 2023-24 season:
1776 (Aug. 2-6) national tour, directed by jeffrey L. Page & Diane Paulus, with an all female, transgender, and non-binary cast.
The Little Mermaid (Sept. 14 – Oct. 8), directed by Glenn Casale, with choreography by John MacInnis, and music direction by RJ Tancioco.
Cambodian Rock Band tour (Sept. 29 – Nov. 5), by Lauren Yee.
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Nov. 25 – Dec. 27) directed by David Armstrong & James A. Rocco, with choreography by Rocco.
Something’s Afoot (Mar. 1-24, 2024), by James McDonald, David Voss, Robert Gerlach & Ed Linderman, directed by Bill Berry.
Spring Awakening (June 7-30), directed by Jay Woods, with music direction by RJ Tancico, and choreography by Katy Tabb.
Clue (July 9-21), by Jonathan Lynn, Hunter Foster, Sandy Rustin & Eric Price.
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Video: First look at songs from New York, New York, by John Kander, Fred Ebb & Lin-Manuel Miranda, which begins previews Mar. 24 and opens Apr. 26 at Broadway’s St. James Theatre.
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Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theatre presents its Zoom Poetry Slam 2023 Fri. Mar. 17 at 7 PM on the theatre’s website, or livestream on Facebook. Required: If watching on the theatre’s website, click on the link above to register.
Blair Brown, Charles Bush, Robert Cuccioli, Tyne Daly, Midori Francis, Alison Fraser, Daniel Jenkins, Howard McGillin, John-Andrew Morrison, Kerry O’Malley, Mary Beth Peil, Laila Robins, Thom Sesma… and you!
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LA Theatre Week will run Mar. 13-26 at various theatres throughout Los Angeles.
Click here for the complete schedule of events.
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PBS’ “Great Performances” will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special concert on Fri. May 12 at 9 PM (check local listings), directed by Warren Carlyle, with music direction by Patrick Vaccariello.
André De Shields, Robyn Hurder, Jane Krakowski, Norm Lewis, Donna McKechnie, Betty Buckley, Jessie Mueller, Chita Rivera, and Vanessa Williams.
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The new Museum of Broadway in Times Square has announced that its inaugural special exhibition, “The American Theatre As Seen by Hirschfeld” has been extended through Apr. 30.