Today’s Highlights:
The New Group‘s Black No More, by John Ridley & Tariq Trotter, directed by Scott Elliott, featuring Tariq Trotter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Lillias White, Jennifer Damiano, Tamike Lawrence, Theo Stockman, Tracy Shayne, Ephraim Sykes, Walter Bobbie. Leanne Antonio, Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Elijah A. Carter, Ryan Fitzgerald, Polanco Jones Jr., Zachary Daniel Jones, Sarah Meahl, Mary Page Nance, Oneika Phillips, Nicholas Ranauro, Malaiyka Reid, Mars Rucker, Angela M. Sauers, Katie Thompson, Akron Watson, Nyla Watson, and Edward Watts, opens at Off-Broadway’s Signature Center.
The Mint Theatre‘s The Daughter-in-Law, by D.H. Lawrence, directed by Martin Platt, featuring Amy Blackman, Ciarán Bowling Seth Andrw Bridges, Tom Coiner, Katie Fanning, Polly McKie, Sandra Shipley, and Tina Stafford, opens at NY City Center.
South Pacific, directed by Taibi Magar, featuring Natalie Ballenger (Nellie Forbush), James D. Sasser (Emile De Becque) Melody Butiu (Bloody Mary), Rei Akazawa-Smith (Liat), Trey Harrington (Luther Billis), Nigel Huckle (Lt. Joseph Cable), Paul Hope (Capt. George Brackett), Philip Kershaw (Commander William Harrison), Logan Keslar (Stewpot), Christopher Tipps (Professor), Jesse Yip (Jerome), and Kelsey Yip (Ngana), with Michael Alonzo, Mateus Barbosa Da Silva, Courtney Chilton, Sophia Clarke, Jeremy Gee, Miles Marmolejo, Riley McShanog, Joline Mujica, Sarah Sachi, Christopher Scurlock, Yasmyn Sumiyoshi, Holland Vavra, Geoffrey Hahn, and Steven Bogard, opens at Houston’s TUTS.
The Play That You Want, by Bernardo Cubría, directed by Michael John Garcés, featuring Peter Pasco (Bernardo), Chelsea Gonzalez (Vera), Nathalie Llerena (Chloe/Mija/Jlo), Jonathan Nichols (gilbert Cruz/Alfred Molina), Roland Ruiz (Lin-Manuel Miranda/Mijo/Pablo/John Leguizamo), Christopher Larkin (Sam Gold/Chay Yew/Variety Reporter), and Stewart J. Zully (Oskar Eustis/Scott Rudin), opens at North Hollywood’s Road on Magnolia.
The Power of Sail, by Paul Grellong, directed by Weyni Mengesha, featuring Bryan Cranston (Charles Nichols), Hugo Armstrong (Frank Sullivan), Amy Brenneman (Amy Katz), Donna Simone Johnson (Quinn Harris), Tedra Millan (Maggie Rosen), Seth Numrich (Lucas Poole) and Brandon Scott (Baxter Forrest), begins previews at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
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Reviews for Tambo & Bones at Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons:
NY Times (Maya Phillips): The minstrel show…And yet, I bet that even today, most Black Americans have witnessed or participated in a minstrel show of some sort — a performance of Blackness that simplifies and debases it… aims to be a sharp satire about the intersection of race and performance… it lacks the lyrical dexterity and layered meanings… Tambo & Bones drops its two characters — actually, more like archetypes (the Black activist, the Black businessman) — into the supposedly satirical world of the play and shuffles them around with little development of the central themes and progression of the main ideas.
Theatermania (Haley Levitt): …takes our cherished principle of empathy — the very thing we like to believe separates arts lovers from the animals — and shines a big ugly spotlight on it until you don’t just question your own moral virtue; you begin to wonder, “Should I even be here?”… You’ll certainly slink down a little lower in your seat with all the discomfort Harris and director Taylor Reynolds rain down in this unabashed mission to alienate audiences… Emotional whiplash is piled into these three disjointed acts that make bounding leaps from one to the next like a mechanical bull trying with all its might to shake the cowboy off its back…
The Wrap (Robert Hofler): It begins as a minstrel show, extends that racist form into a national hip-hop tour, and ends with a post-Civil War lecture… At its core, “Tambo & Bones” is not about “da word” or “da blues” or “da funk” or even “what’s next.” It’s about the hot-house world of the theater, especially the theater in New York City at this exact moment in time. It can entertain, it can distract, but with its hermetically sealed, mostly white audience, the theater is no game-changer.
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Feb. 6. Click here (and scroll down).
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2022 Oscar Award nominations. Click here for the complete list.
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Complete casting has been announced for Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, which will run Feb. 25 – June 26 (opening Mar. 28) at the Hudson Theatre, directed by John Benjamin Hickey.
(the complete 2020 cast): Sarah Jessica Parker (Karen Nash, Muriel Tate, and Norma Hubley), Matthew Broderick (Sam Nash, Jesse Kiplinger, and Roy Hubley), Danny Bolero (The Waiter), Molly Ranson (Jean McCormick/Mimsey Hubley), and Eric Wiegand (The Bellhop/Borden Eisler), with standbys Michael McGrath and Erin Dilly, and understudies Laurie Veldhee and Cesar J. Rosado.
Video 1 About the production
Video 2 Show footage
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An encore presentation of Harrison David Rivers’ This Bitter Earth will stream Feb. 12-20 at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre Company, directed by Gregg T. Daniel.
Matthew Hancock (Jesse) and Chase Cargill (Neil).
Jesse, an introspective black playwright, finds his choices called into question when his boyfriend, Neil, a white Black Lives Matter activist, calls him out for his political apathy. As passions and priorities collide, this couple is forced to reckon with issues of race, class, and the bravery it takes to love out loud.
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Amber Gray (Persephone) will depart the Broadway production of Hadestown on Feb. 16 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
Gray’s replacement is TBA.
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Complete casting has been announced for the world premiere of Prospect Theater Company‘s Notes From Now, to run Mar. 2-20 (opening Mar. 10) at 59E59 Theaters, directed & choreographed by Billy Bustamante, with music direction by Sean Peter Forte.
Ashley Blanchet, Thani Brant, Darron Hayes, Josh Lamon, Aline Mayagoitia, Judy McLane, and John Yi, with Genesis Adelia Collado.
A roster of songs composed by Jay Adana, Troy Anthony, Masi Asare, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Georgie Castilla & Jaime Lozano, Gretchen Cryer, Tia DeShazor & Derrick Byars, Alexandra Elle & Stephen Schwartz, Adam Gwon, Douglas Lyons & Ethan Pakchar, Peter Mills, Ryan Scott Oliver, Michelle J. Rodriguez, Angela Sclafani, Paulo Tiról,, and Amanda Yesnowitz & Deborah Abramson.
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LA’s Echo Theatre presents Echo LABFest 2022, which will stream Feb. 15-20:
Mother of God (Feb. 15 at 7:30 PM PT), by Ricardo Perez Gonzalez, directed by Susan Dalian, featuring Christian Henley, Cornelius Jones, Rebecca Metz, Sophia Ramos, Yolanda Snowball, and Tonatiuh. Raising a teenage Jesus is hard enough, but when Holy Mary, Mother of God, decides to divorce the big G himself, all hell breaks loose.
Hurt People (Feb. 16 at 7:30 PM PT), by LaDarrion Williams, directed by Ignoisco, featuring Christopher Akens, Abraham Amkpa, DeJuan Christopher, Roderick Davis, Atika Greene, and Mildred Marie Langford. A coming-of-age story that takes on the art of Black masculinity, Black manhood, and true the saying “hurt people hurt people” really is.
Helicopter Typhoon Carabao! Or, To Survive an Apocalypse Now (Feb. 17 at 7:30 PM PT), by Amanda L. Andrei, directed by Rebecca Wear, featuring Jessica Andres, earl Baylon, Danice Cabanela, Alexis Camins, Tess Lina, Michael R. Rosete, and Irene Suico Soriano. It’s 1976, and the Philippines is a mess! Some crazy filmmaker named Francis Ford Coppola is shooting an epic-action-adventure war movie called “Apocalypse Now,” and he and his crew are treating the homeland like it’s a neocolonial playground.
Beheading Columbus (Feb. 18 at 7:30 PM PT), by Diana Burbano, directed by Celia Mandela Rivera, and featuring Troy Blendell, Gloria Ines, Amir Levi, Bella Medina, and Jenelle Valle. Lana looks white: her sister Susi doesn’t. Through love and a massive sense of humor, the sisters work at decolonizing themselves from the outside.
Lucky (Feb. 19 at 3 PM PT), by Liza Powel O’Brien, directed by Kate Sullivan, and featuring Eve Gordon, Sharon Lawrence, Elizabeth Liang, Brooke Lyons Osswald, Christopher Rivas, and Xochitl Romero. What harms are being done in the effort to do good? In this super-realistic, sometimes absurdist exploration into the nature and practice of philanthropy, a committee of do-gooders gathers to decide which “underprivileged teen” should bet a scholarship to college.
Proud Boy (Feb. 19 at 7:30 PM PT), by June Carryl, directed by Michael Matthews, and featuring John Colella, Christian Henley, and Julanne Chidi Hill. A Black officer investigating the murder of a Black motorist by a While police officer is faced with a dilemma when the officer under investigation threatens to reveal incriminating evidence about her husband.
Grief World (Feb. 20 at 4 PM PT), by Hannah Kenah, directed by Hannah Wolf, and featuring Makeda Declet, Erin Henriques, Anna LaMadrid, Marie Ponce, Jenny Soo, Paige Tautz, Lauren White, and Jacqueline Wright. A dark comedy deep dive into misogyny that derides the notion of healing — especially via equestrian therapy.
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Is He Musical?, by Jude Taylor, will premiere in 3 productions throughout the month of February across England, as well as a livestream option, directed by Matt Powell, with music direction by Francesca Fenech.
Click here for both the live and livestreamed options.
Barry O’Reilly (Laurence) and Teddy Hinde (Wilfred).
The musical comedy draws upon true stories of queer friends in 1930s London. Set at the end of 1933, Laurence and Teddy are caught up in a furor of decadent nights out in the West End with their fellow queer friends, and with the looming fragility of their hidden world.
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A presentation of David Yazbek, Itamar Moses & Erik Della Penna’s Dead Outlaw will take place Mon. Mar. 14 at 7 PM ET at 54 Below,
Based on a true story, the musical centers on Elmer McCurdy, a turn-of-the-century outlaw killed by a sheriff’s posse only to find new life – for his remains, that is – as a traveling side-show attraction.
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Gingold Theatrical Group‘s Valentine Slam will take place Mon. Feb. 14 at 6 PM ET (and also on Facebook), and will offer a virtual open mic.
Brenda Braxton, Charles Busch, Robert Cuccioli, Tyne Daly, Joel Grey, Jefferson Mays, Renée Taylor, and Bruce Vilanch.
Feel free to participate with:
* A poem, limerick, sonnet, quote or song/song lyric dealing with any aspect or point of view about love.
* 3-minute performance limit.
* Celebrate any writer or one of your own creations.
* If you are going to participate, please let Gingold know ASAP.
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& 
Red Bull Theater will present a live & livestreamed staged reading of Aimé Césaire’s A Tempest (Une Tempête) on Mon. Feb. 28 at 7:30 PM ET at NYC’s Florence Gould Hall, directed by Lanise Antoine Shelley. The reading will be available on video-on-demand through Mar. 6.
Stephen DeRosa, Isabel Ellison, Kimberly Exum, Manoel Feliciano, Enid Graham, Isaiah Johnson, Paul Niebanck, Jay O. Sanders, Derek Smith, Anthony Venturini, and more…
A striking adaption of Shakespeare’s celebrated Jacobean play through a post-colonial lens. The characters and plot are largely unchanged: Prospero conjures a violent storm to drive his enemy’s ship ashore on the island on which he is exiled with his daughter. Césaire’s island is located specifically in the Caribbean, and Caliban and Ariel are depicted here as black slaves to Prospero, are centralized. Their opposing voices echo Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Written in the tumultuous 1960s, A Tempest confronts complex intersections of race, power, and anti-imperialism with intelligence, wit, and beauty.